@19parent See my answer above.
But to give you the best advice, what is your pension income?
True, some schools require the Fafsa to be filed to get merit aid. But the merit aid will be based on her SAT score, not what’s on your Fafsa. Not sure why they want the Fafsa. Maybe if they see you are a kazzillionaire they won’t bother with the merit money. I wouldn’t worry about rearranging finances to get merit aid.