Prepping finances for aid/loans for grad school

My husband is preparing to apply to graduate school. I'm curious if there are certain things that we should do with our finances to optimize his financial aid and loan prospects.

We have some joint debt, should we transfer it all into his name to show greater need? Should we transfer it all in my name to show that he is a good loan candidate? Should we make a concerted effort to pay it off between now and when he applies? Should we not worry about it?

We are both semi-self employed. Are there certain (legal) things we can do with our finances to improve our tax returns for the purpose of being evaluated for financial aid?

Are you filing your taxes as married joint? If so I don't think transfering the debt will make a difference. Someone else can correct me but I believe they will be looking at the combined assets and financial situation of you both to determine the amount you have to pay for school.

One this I know you can do is try to put excess cash and investments into retirement accounts. Alot of fin aid offices will use house values, income, anythinggggg to show you have the ability to pay, but they will not include money you have in retirement accounts.

As far as self employment...do you have a tax entity setup? Sheltering some of the assets within a seperate tax entity such as an LLC may help you out. If you have a tax basis in a business then I would reduce the amount you take out of the business and claim as personal income.

Once again, I hope someone else jumps in here but I am just trying to help a bit.

Thanks.
Tim
www.college-investor.com

Yes we will be filing jointly. So will they also consider money in CDs as possibly being used for payment? What about money in my daughter's savings account? Should we move that to a 529 for her?