The application period for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) kicks off on Dec. 1 for the 2025-2026 school year. The FAFSA helps connect students with resources to fund their education. EP Wealth Advisors associate director of financial planning and certified college financial consultant ​​Mike Ramirez joins Wealth! Host Brad Smith to discuss what families with college students in the 2025 to 2026 school year need to know.

"Right now is the correct time to prepare. There are things that families can do today in order to log in to Studentaid.gov and be ready to go," Ramirez says, outlining that some of the things that students and their families can do to prepare are creating an FSA ID, gathering tax returns and social security information, collecting statements from checking and brokerage accounts "so you're not scrambling."

Watch the video above for more on the upcoming FAFSA application period. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here.

This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.