How will investing in the stock market affect my college financial aid package?

George asked:


I have been playing with my parent’s retirement account and have been making steady returns. Now i want to do this for real.

Let’s hypothesize that i receive 10k in federal student aid. If i invest with a 10k account in stocks, how will that affect my financial aid package? And how much? What is the best way of investing in the market while minimizing the impact in my financial aid?

ALVIN