(MONEY Magazine) – Q. I own 50 AT&T bonds that mature in 2022. They pay 81/8% a year in interest. The company has announced that it is going to split into three parts. How would this change affect my bonds? --BENJAMIN SNYDER New York City

A. It's too soon to tell, because the company has not revealed its plans for the bonds. Laying off 40,000 people--that it knows. Obviously, you don't want your bonds to be assigned to any but the most profitable corporate entity. And well you might worry. In 1993, according to Richard Lehmann, president of the Bond Investors Association, Marriott restructured by abolishing its parent company and splitting into two firms. Some of the parent's bonds wound up with the division that was bogged down with debtridden real estate, and those bondholders took a hit. Lehmann thinks that since Ma Bell isn't scrapping its parent company, there's a good chance that your bonds will not get shuffled off to Buffalo or anywhere else. So if you're happy with your investment now, you'll probably be just as happy after the split.

That's reassuring, but you should still look out for numero uno. Ask yourself what purpose the bonds serve in your portfolio. If you bought them to speculate on interest rates in hopes of producing some capital gains, then you might sell them now because the bonds are presently selling for $107.75, above their call price of $103.21 in 2002. If you bought the bonds for income alone, hang on, because in today's interest-rate environment, 81/8% for the next six years ain't bad.

Q. Lately, I have received notices from companies whose stocks I own through dividend-reinvestment plans and from my mutual fund companies asking whether I would like to designate my accounts as "transfer on death" (TOD) to avoid estate taxes. Could you explain how this works? --ORVA ARMACOST Findlay, Ohio

A. Transfer on death rules have absolutely nothing to do with estate taxes, and anybody who tells you otherwise is full of baloney. This designation merely keeps your stocks and funds out of probate court after you die. That way, those you name as beneficiaries will get the shares immediately upon your death without having to wait the year or so for a court to decide if your will is valid before the executor can distribute the bequests. But all your assets are counted as part of your estate for federal and state tax purposes, whether they go through probate or not. TOD designations are very handy for folks who want their heirs to have the money immediately. Ohio and 15 other states allow these designations. To find out if your state does, buy or borrow a copy of Denis Clifford's Plan Your Estate (Nolo, $24.95), which lists the states that give a nod to TOD.

Q. I am a 30-year-old restaurant manager in Honolulu earning $40,000 a year. I want to become a lawyer and have applied to several law schools in Boston. My problem: I don't know how I will be able to pay for tuition and living expenses. I have only $5,000 in savings, and I don't think I'll be able to work during my first year. Where can older students find aid for graduate school? --GREGORY MOFFITT Honolulu

A. I hope that law is more than a passing fancy, because you can pretty much figure that tuition, room, board and incidentals will run you $30,000 to $35,000 a year. Multiply that by the three years it takes to get a degree, and you begin to understand why Johnnie Cochran is said to charge $300 an hour. Worse yet, there are no federal grants for law school and very few state- or school-sponsored grants. So if you don't have the cash, you'll have to borrow it--and, shame on you, single guy with no dependents, for not saving more of your ample salary! Fortunately, there are plenty of loans available from the federal government and private sources.

The government offers two types of student loans: Stafford, which you get through a bank, and Federal Direct, which come straight from the government. For either kind, your first step is to fill out the federal application for student financial assistance. You can get the form from the financial aid officers at any schools that interest you. Typically, you qualify for aid based on your current income. But the form does ask whether you expect your income to change when you enter school, so you can report that yours will be zilch. The maximum you can get each year from the feds under either loan program is $18,500 ($10,000 of which starts accruing interest while you're still in school). The interest rate is the three-month Treasury bill rate plus 2.5%. Lately, that put the loan rate at about 7.5%.

The school may also give you a loan, but you will have to borrow the rest privately. Try Lawloans (800-366-5626), a St. Paul firm that offers 15-year loans of as much as $60,000 at a variable rate pegged at 3.25% above the three-month T-bill rate (an 8.25% loan rate today), or the Law Access Loan Program (800-282-1550), a Washington, D.C. group that offers similar terms. You'll have to start paying these loans back nine months after you get your degree.

Q. I would like to buy a computer printer to use with my TurboTax software this year. I used to fill out my tax returns by hand after the software did all the calculations, but that's pretty time consuming. Does the IRS specify a special printer that must be used for computer-generated returns? --BILL WOLCHAK Stafford, Va.

A. The IRS does publish guidelines about legibility and lots of other stuff, but you don't have to worry about those for printing out your federal return. The software manufacturers, including TurboTax publisher Intuit, have to make their products conform to the IRS guidelines. For your federal return, you can use any printer you wish, from the old-fashioned but serviceable dot matrix to the fancier and clearer ink-jet printer to a state-of-the-art laser jet. All produce a tax return so lovely that you might not even notice how much you are paying. Well, maybe you might.

You shouldn't have a problem with your state filing, either. Virginia accepts anything the feds have approved. Readers in other states should call their state tax department--ask for someone in "electronic filing"--to find out if there are any restrictions on the printers they can use.

Q. I have a collection of Elvis Presley's records, including the blue vinyl version of the Moody Blue album, his last recording. It is in perfect condition, and I have heard that it is worth $3,500. I also have a black silk hand-sewn scarf that Elvis Presley gave me at a 1971 Las Vegas performance. It was part of his costume, not one of the acetate scarves that he handed out years later as part of his act. What can I get for them? --JEANNE PELLICANI East Northport, N.Y.

A. Talk about the blues! Here's what The King might sing were he still around, assuming he isn't:

Well, I got me some Elvis stuff; I heard it's worth big dough. Yeah, I got me some Elvis stuff; I heard it's worth big dough. Then that Money Helps lady said, "No, I don't think s-o-o." I got those $5-blue-vinyl-Moody-Blue blues, and I'm feelin' sad and low.

It turns out that RCA issued 250,000 blue vinyl Moody Blue LPs in July 1977, and millions more after Elvis--um--passed on that August. Bottom line: Your album is not at all rare. It's worth only $5 to $10. To price out the rest of your record collection, thumb through the Official Price Guide to Elvis Presley Records and Memorabilia by Jerry Osborne (Ballantine, $14) and you'll see that most aren't worth much. You can try selling your collection by advertising in either of two magazines for collectors of old records and music industry memorabilia: Goldmine ($8.75 for 25 words; 800-942-0673) or Discoveries ($4 for 25 words; 800-334-7165).

Your scarf could be worth $200 to $400, but you'll have to be able to prove that it really belonged to Elvis and not Howdy Doody. A photo of The Pelvis bestowing the scarf upon you would be ideal. Failing that, maybe somewhere in an Elvis concert video or coffee-table book you can find a picture of him at that Las Vegas performance wearing your scarf. Good luck.

--Reporter associate: Barbara Solomon