If it is any consolation, I have a twin sister who managed to squirrel away $2k by the end of high school, while I had $50 to my name. When FAFSA came back, I qualified for exactly $2k more in aid than she did. If your $500 hadn’t been taken from you, it likely would have affected the amount of aid you had received.

(This was my first “Don’t naively do the right thing and expect the system to reward you. Do the right thing by individuals, but when it comes to the system, read the rules and leverage them all you can” moment)