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Jill Schlesinger
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Mark
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Jill Schlesinger
Welcome to the Jill on Money Show. It's Monday, May 19th and we are here helping you answer your own question. And what I mean by that is oftentimes you are wrestling with a big decision and obviously when you're making a big life decision, your money can often get involved. So the times that I think we have the most fun with you guys is being able to listen to you and have you articulate what you'd like to do and then present a couple of different options for how to get there. And I think this is basically what we'd like as human beings. We want to take some control over our destiny. We want to know that there are different ways to do it. And you know, frankly, if you are feeling pressure or anxiety about something and you don't know where to turn, I know maybe you have a financial advisor, maybe just want someone separate to weigh in. Mark and I are both certified financial planners. But you know the great thing is we really don't have any skin in the game. We don't really care if you are going to take the advice or the guidance that we give you or not. We're just going to tell you what we think is available to you. You can go ahead and make your own decision. That's why sometimes you hear Mark laughing in the background where he's like, that guy's not going to do what you tell him to do because it's okay. We know that you have your ideas. If you'd like to get in touch with us, just go to jillonmoney.com click the contact us button and let us know if you'd like to join us on the air live by checking the box. While you're on the website, don't forget that there's all sorts of stuff there. Our content lives there. We've got another podcast, we've got a radio show, we've got blogs, I'm on television. So that you'll see videos, resources, and of course you should sign up for the free weekly newsletter. Okay, today we're going to do some emails to kick off the week because we've been getting a lot and the first one is from George, who was going to come on the program with us, but I don't know, he got busy and everything. And I just wanted to touch base on this question because I think it's an interesting one. A lot of folks have been asking me about this. So George writes that he and his wife are 55 years old. They've paid their home off many, many years ago. They live in an area that is a high tax state. And he also says that because they live near a lake, he's got high cost of insurance. So here's the question. Ready? My wife and I both love Hawaii and we travel to the islands often. We know it's very expensive to live there, but we really would like to sell our home and rent there. And he says we would both work and I want to know if this is possible. So, you know, I think the most important thing that you mentioned in this email, George, is that you're familiar with how much the cost of living really is there. So let's say that you are thinking about something like this. Anybody listening? The real issue is how much money have you saved so far? How much is the differential in the cost of living? Because obviously renting in a place like Hawaii is expensive, right? And so what we're really trying to do is the same thing we do when we do any kind of Planning, and that is figure out what is the cost of your day to day expenses. Plus I'm sure you're going to want to go back to the, to the state which is your first love or where you grew up and had your lives. And so you want to figure out what are your expenses. Then you're going to figure out, hey, can our income cover those expenses? And if not, if you want to use the proceeds of the house sale to help you out, that's fine, but you still have to figure out your retirement part. So we still would have to do just the standard form financial planning to see whether your retirement goals are still within reach. But I like the idea of just thinking like this, which is maybe I don't have to own, maybe I could rent. It doesn't mean that you don't have to do the other work though. So get back in touch with us or just go on and run those numbers yourself. Okay. Patrick writes, how do you determine whether to take a lump sum offer from a company in lieu of monthly pension payments? My monthly pension amount is $3,400. How much should the lump sum offer be to get me to take it? What interest rate do you assume I would use? 30 years as the number of years the pension would be drawn. How do you factor in the fact that a lump sum is a guaranteed payment, whereas the pension would end if I got hit by a bus one day after I retire. Thanks, Pat. Okay, Pat, here's the thing. This is an interesting observation about two parts of a pension. One is that you get all the money up front, which is great. It sounds like your pension doesn't have any kind of survivor benefit attached to it, or maybe you're not, maybe you're not even married, I don't know. But I think the idea would be, is that they'll give you these choices. We don't have to back end it. So once you get the actual lump sum amount that the company offers, then we would determine, well, how much is that worth? Is it better to have that money in hand, have full control over it, rather than get that monthly payment? Sometimes the pension, the monthly payment is a better deal based on the fact that it's a guaranteed stream of income with a certain amount of cost of living adjustment attached to it. But a lot of this is not just a straight up which one is better, it's what's better for you. So I want to hear more about who you are, what else is going on in your life and get that lump sum offer and we can start to pound the numbers with you. Okay, good. All right, next up we have Jason, who writes both my wife and my employer offer a 32 hour per week schedule with a 20% reduction in pay. We currently gross just over $200,000. My wife is 46. I am 52. We have a 14 year old and a 6 year old. Oh, my gosh. That's a big age difference. Okay, so Jason says we would like to know if we could both take advantage of this reduced schedule without risking our future retirement. We like the idea of being around more while our kids are at home. I would like to fully retire at age 67. My wife is more insure, but somewhere between 62 and 65. All right, here's what we got. 401K. $650,000. These are combined numbers. Six hundred and fifty grand in traditional. They're putting $37,000 a year in with a 14% employer match. That's a lot of money. Wow. Roth IRAs. 680,000. Currently maxing out. Okay. And they're maxing out at 15 grand a year because she's under 50. He's over 50. HSAs. 30,000. They contribute 8,000. It's good. These accounts are invested, not being used for current health expenses. 520900 grand. Contributing $650 per month. They've got a primary home that is worth about $250,000 with a $47,000 mortgage. 3.6%. Oh, boy, here we go. Four rental properties. Oh, my God. Lot of money in these properties. And let's just say forgetting about this because I'm not going to talk about selling these proper right now, because he's not here to answer some questions. But they basically have $2,000 per month cash flow from the properties. But they've been saving the money in just an account because they've got to do some repairs and updates. Okay. $6,000 a month is what their current spend is. His Social Security at age 67. 3200. Wife's is similar, but she would prefer to retire before 67 if possible. Okay, so here's the thing. If he were to take a 20% pay cut, the question is, could we reduce our 401k contributions to what level? We need to contribute 3% in each account to get the full match. All right, so they're young, you know, so we're talking about 20 years or so before Social Security kicks in. I guess the question is if you were to look at your spend right now. If you have your $200,000, let's say it's you know, 205 or 210. What I would do is I would back into the reduction on your retirement accounts. What I would look at is on our 32 hour per week schedule managing that, what would you need to do to make sure you could spend the $6,000 per month? My guess is that something will have to give. Probably I would give on the pre tax 401k. I think that I would likely pull that back and make sure that whatever you're not getting paid in that, you know, because you've taken the reduction in your incomes, that you probably would just take it out of the pre tax 401k. I would continue doing Roth, I'd continue doing your HSAs, I'd keep putting money in your 529s. I think you're going to be fine. It's just really the question is that, you know, you've got all these rental properties, you say you're going to get paid off in 10 or 12 years. Maybe not each one is doing exactly what you wanted to do. So maybe that's some money there. But I think it's possible. If we took that reduction, what would our take home pay be and then go back into it? I'm guessing they put $37,000 a year into their 401k in a pre tax 401. You know, honestly they could definitely pull back by 10, 15, maybe 20 grand. That would be fine. And the money will grow and then we always have, you know, potentially the sale of a couple rental properties. You know, he doesn't have a ton of money in the rental properties. Like his equity is, you know, 300 grand or so. But it sounds like they're in pretty good shape. Mark, do you agree with that, that we would pull back from the pre tax, the traditional 401k rather than the Roths?
Mark
Yeah, that's the place to do it. I think they can do this. They're not talking about, you know, one of them stop and work altogether. They're both going to be working. There's just a little bit of a reduction, but they've already got, you know, $1.3 million saved. So I think they can do it.
Jill Schlesinger
I think they can do it also. So what? You know, give us a holler back if you need some more info. Okay, so Avis writes, mark, this is right up your alley in when the stock market goes down, is it a good time to transfer money from my 403B and 401K to a Roth IRA. I think what she means is converting. She's 68, getting closer to required minimum distributions. She's got $1.75 million in taxable retirement accounts. These include a rollover IRA, a 401K and a 403B. She's been transferring funds. I think she means she's been converting funds to the Roth for the last three years that keep her in the 24% bracket. But I fear when my 73rd birthday comes around because it's, it's not 75 for her because she's a little bit older, I'm going to have a huge tax bill. I'm retired. I have a few, I have few daily expenses. Expenses, no mortgage or credit card balances. So, Mark, I guess the question is, given these, these facts, should Avis go above the 24% bracket, go into the 32% bracket and convert more money considering she's only five years away?
Mark
Yeah, I just don't know how much she's going to get done in five years. And I also don't know how much cash she has on the sidelines to pay the tax bill. So I don't know. I mean, just given the time frame here, I'm inclined to just, you know, this is one of those good problems to have.
Jill Schlesinger
Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure I would do it either, but I think that continuing to convert at your 24% bracket would be great. And then get in touch with us because we'd like to talk a little bit about what things you can do at age 73 to maybe change the trajectory of what those RMDs look like. Okay. Scott is asking about having several different investments. Okay, so here's what he has. He's got two annuities, a 401k, and he wants to know how to best allocate these assets for streamlining and best performance. I'm 61. I still run my own construction company. I'm curious as to if there is a better way to think about retirement perhaps at age 65. So here's the deal, Scott. I don't know what kind of annuities you have. I don't know. You know, I'm just thinking they could potentially be IRA annuities, but they may not be. They might be non qualified, non retirement annuities. So you have to, basically, if you're going to streamline, you have to keep like to like. So if you have a 401k and you're still, and you're currently operating, that, that's your own 401k. Right. Then that is fine. Keep using it. If you've got these two annuities that were also maybe from previous employers and they were retirement annuities, meaning they say IRA or their 403 or 401k on that, you could probably combine everything. But if these annuities are non qualified, they just are in your name. Personally, you can't really do anything with those except combine them with one another. And then the question is if they're old, why would I necessarily do that? Because maybe I should just take some of the money out. So what we need from you, Scott, is a lot more information about what it is that you think you'd want. Maybe these annuities are worth annuitizing when you turn 65. Maybe that's the way to make them go away. And you know, I know that, that, you know, gang, I feel like sometimes I say so often like, oh, I hate annuities, but I don't always hate them and if you have one then it's okay. We are certainly able to do something with an old annuity contract that may make sense for you. So get in touch with us. If you've got a question, go to jillonmoney.com, click the contact Us button. Write us a note. Let us know if you want to come on the air by checking that box. We'd love to help you out. You can subscribe to us on the Odyssey app or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Please leave us a rating and review. Wherever you listen and try to lift someone up today, change your work, change your wealth, change your life. Thank you for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Buying a home in California can certainly feel intimidating. We hear from listeners all the time throughout the state and they want to know where can they even start? Many of them find that turning to a Realtor changed everything. Realtors can help buyers understand what they can afford. They can explain all of the steps that are involved in purchasing a home home. And they can walk you through every detail, from making an offer to closing the deal. Working with a realtor can help you feel less alone or unsure about the process and that peace of mind that is the power of having a realtor by your side. Whether you're ready to move or just starting to dream, don't go it alone. Don't let what you don't know stop you from starting your next chapter. Find your realtor@championsofhome.com that's championsofhome.com when you're.
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Jill Schlesinger
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Detailed Summary of "Can We Go On a Reduced Schedule?" Episode from Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger
In the episode titled "Can We Go On a Reduced Schedule?" released on May 19, 2025, Jill Schlesinger, CFP®, along with her co-host Mark, delves into listeners' financial dilemmas surrounding significant life decisions. The episode is structured around answering listener emails, providing actionable insights without the overwhelming financial jargon. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn during the episode.
Jill Schlesinger opens the show by emphasizing the importance of addressing substantial life decisions that intertwine with financial considerations. She highlights the show's objective to help listeners "articulate what they'd like to do and then present a couple of different options for how to get there." Jill reassures listeners that both she and Mark are certified financial planners who offer impartial advice without any vested interests.
Listener: George and his wife, both 55, have paid off their home and are considering selling it to rent in Hawaii to enjoy their frequent travels. They are concerned about the high cost of living and maintaining their retirement goals.
Jill's Advice:
Assess Financial Readiness: Jill stresses the importance of evaluating their "cost of day-to-day expenses" in Hawaii versus their current expenses.
Income vs. Expenses: Determine if their current income can cover the higher living costs without jeopardizing their retirement savings.
Retirement Planning: Even if they sell their home, they need to ensure that their retirement plans remain intact.
Notable Quote:
"Maybe I don't have to own, maybe I could rent." — Jill Schlesinger
Timestamp: [05:30]
Listener: Patrick is contemplating whether to take a lump sum offer from his employer instead of receiving monthly pension payments of $3,400. He is concerned about determining the appropriate lump sum amount, the interest rate to assume, and the risk associated with the pension ending unexpectedly.
Jill and Mark's Advice:
Evaluate Lump Sum Offer: Assess the total value of the lump sum compared to the present value of the monthly payments.
Control vs. Security: A lump sum offers more control and flexibility, whereas a pension provides a "guaranteed stream of income."
Personal Circumstances: Consider personal factors such as marital status, longevity, and financial needs.
Notable Quote:
"Sometimes the pension, the monthly payment is a better deal based on the fact that it's a guaranteed stream of income with a certain amount of cost of living adjustment attached to it." — Jill Schlesinger
Timestamp: [09:45]
Listener: Jason and his wife are offered a 32-hour workweek with a 20% pay reduction. They currently earn over $200,000 annually and have substantial retirement savings. They seek advice on whether this reduction will impact their future retirement plans.
Jill and Mark's Advice:
Adjust Retirement Contributions: Recommend reducing contributions from their pre-tax 401(k) accounts to accommodate the reduced income while maintaining the employer match.
Maintain Key Investments: Advise continuing contributions to Roth IRAs, HSAs, and 529 plans despite the pay cut.
Leverage Existing Assets: Utilize rental property cash flow and consider the potential sale of some properties to bolster savings if necessary.
Notable Quotes:
"Yeah, that's the place to do it." — Mark
"They've already got $1.3 million saved. So I think they can do it." — Mark
"I think they're in pretty good shape." — Jill Schlesinger
Timestamp: [12:01 - 12:12]
Listener: Avis, aged 68, is concerned about converting her 403(b) and 401(k) into a Roth IRA amidst a declining stock market. She aims to stay within the 24% tax bracket but fears a significant tax bill as she approaches her 73rd birthday.
Jill and Mark's Advice:
Continue Conversions Within Current Bracket: Advise maintaining conversions within the 24% tax bracket to manage tax liabilities effectively.
Plan for RMDs: Encourage planning strategies for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) to mitigate tax impacts later on.
Notable Quote:
"Continuing to convert at your 24% bracket would be great." — Jill Schlesinger
Timestamp: [13:22]
Listener: Scott, 61, owns a construction company and seeks advice on streamlining his investments, which include two annuities and a 401(k), as he contemplates retirement at 65.
Jill and Mark's Advice:
Understand Annuity Types: Determine whether the annuities are qualified or non-qualified to decide on possible consolidation.
Streamline Accounts: Consider combining like accounts (e.g., consolidating retirement annuities with the 401(k)) for easier management.
Evaluate Annuity Options: Assess whether to annuitize the contracts at retirement or explore other distribution strategies.
Notable Quote:
"We are certainly able to do something with an old annuity contract that may make sense for you." — Jill Schlesinger
Timestamp: [16:00]
Jill wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to reach out for personalized advice through the website jillonmoney.com. She highlights additional resources available, including podcasts, radio shows, blogs, and a free weekly newsletter. Jill and Mark invite listeners to subscribe, leave reviews, and engage with the community to foster financial well-being.
Final Thoughts
This episode of Jill on Money masterfully addresses common financial concerns related to major life changes, such as altering work schedules, managing retirement savings, and making informed investment decisions. Jill and Mark provide thoughtful, practical advice tailored to each listener's unique situation, empowering them to make confident financial choices.
For more detailed discussions and personalized advice, listeners are encouraged to visit jillonmoney.com and connect with the hosts directly.