Kate (3:46)

Right.

Mark (3:46)

All right. So what brings you to us?

Kate (3:49)

I'm coming to you because I am trying to rebuild a bit after a divorce this year. I just turned 50, was divorced earlier this year and have a really great job and some opportunity coming my way with some RSU vesting. And I just want to get advice on how to make the best decision decisions.

Mark (4:08)

All right. Now, how you doing after the divorce? You okay?

Kate (4:11)

I'm good.

Mark (4:12)

Yeah.

Kate (4:12)

New chapters.

Jill (4:13)

Are you one of those like, oh.

Mark (4:15)

No, we get along. Are you one of those trying.

Kate (4:17)

Yeah, I know he's a very kind, kind person. Yeah.

Mark (4:20)

No, sounds like a loser, right? Mark, when you someone says kind person, I'm just kidding. I'm only kidding. You okay? Do you have kids?

Kate (4:30)

Yes, one daughter. She's 13.

Mark (4:32)

Oh, boy, that's hard.

Kate (4:34)

Yeah.

Mark (4:34)

All right, so let's talk a little bit about the rebuilding because actually, you know, it's funny, you should get in touch with us. I just was asked by somebody in the hallway who was telling me they're getting divorced. And I said, you know, it is a real financial upheaval to get divorced as you have found, and I understand that. So let's talk a little bit about how we're going to rebuild. So you said you're 50, you've got the daughter and you're working full time. How much do you earn, Kate?

Kate (5:03)

My base is 295.

Mark (5:05)

Okay. And you are entitled to bonuses or. Okay, how much have those bonuses been running? I mean, not in the best year, not in the worst year, but, like, what do you feel is, like, a good number to count on?

Kate (5:17)

We are in a really great place. Last year it was 140% of.

Mark (5:21)

Whoa.

Kate (5:22)

And we're anticipating a similar pace payout this year.

Mark (5:25)

Oh, my God. So what was your. What was your taxable income last year?

Kate (5:31)

My taxable income last year because of some RSU vests, I did have to take an IRA withdrawal to help keep my house. So it was about 460k.

Mark (5:40)

And then what do you expect? This year is going to be more like four?

Kate (5:44)

Yeah. Yeah.

Mark (5:44)

Okay. Okay. So last year was a weird year because of the divorce. So let's. So I'm going to. So is it okay for me to sort of count on you making 400?

Kate (5:54)

Yeah.

Mark (5:54)

Okay, great. Let's talk about the assets. After the split, were you more of.

Kate (5:59)

The primary wage earner in the later years? Yeah.

Mark (6:04)

Okay, so you bought him out of the house?

Kate (6:07)

I did, yeah.

Mark (6:08)

Okay. How much is the house worth?

Kate (6:10)

The house was assessed in January for $1,089,000.

Mark (6:13)

Oh, my God. I'm going to say $1,900,000. Is there a mortgage remaining on it? Yep.

Kate (6:18)

800.

Mark (6:19)

And that's in your name, right?

Kate (6:21)

Yep.

Mark (6:21)

And what's the interest rate?

Kate (6:24)

6.75.

Mark (6:25)

All right. Could be worse. Ma', am. Let's. We'll get through this. Could be better, could be worse. And is that the only debt, that mortgage, or is there anything else?

Kate (6:36)

I have, you know, just a small amount of personal debt, like a car.

Mark (6:39)

How much is the car loan?

Kate (6:41)

The car loan is about 8 left on it.

Mark (6:43)

What's the interest rate?

Kate (6:45)

4.25.

Mark (6:46)

Okay, for your daughter, is there any college savings that you guys have done?

Kate (6:52)

Yes. Her godmother actually set up a 529 for her that has about 15 in it.

Mark (6:57)

Okay, 15 grand. Okay, so now we've got, like, the illiquid assets. Let's talk about retirement plans. So did you have to give him money from your retirement plan through a quadro, or was the house more of the big payout for him?

Kate (7:14)

No, I had to give him 25k of my IRA.

Mark (7:18)

Okay. How much is in your IRA right now?

Kate (7:20)

So remaining is $306,000.

Mark (7:23)

Do you have a 401k at work?

Kate (7:24)

Yes. So I stopped it in anticipation of the divorce, but then I restarted it this spring, so it's got nine in it now.

Mark (7:32)

Just $9,000?

Kate (7:33)

Yep.

Mark (7:33)

Okay. And the IRA is just an old preach like from an old employer. Okay, I got you. Okay. The current 401k, the current company. You happy there? Is everything good?

Kate (7:44)

Yeah, everything's really good.

Mark (7:45)

Okay, awesome. And the ira, where is that held? At what company?

Kate (7:50)

Morgan Stanley.

Mark (7:51)

Okay. Do you have an advisor you work with or. And do you like that person so far?

Kate (7:57)

Yeah.

Mark (7:57)

Okay. How much does that person charge you?

Kate (8:01)

That's a great question. Would it. I'm not 100% sure. Would it 1% of the total make sense? Okay.

Mark (8:08)

Yep. Okay. You are once again putting money in the 401k. Are you maxing it?

Kate (8:15)

I'm not. So it's 100% match up to 4% and I'm contributing 6.

Mark (8:19)

Any other assets that are out there, like any Roth assets or any investment accounts, brokerage accounts, anything out there?

Kate (8:30)

I have $30,000 in cash, so that's in a high yield savings. I have RSUs with my company that are unvested. They vest in February and March each year. So I'll have a vest in 26. The current awards are. I have through 2029. That's through the vesting schedule. So right now the total value is 500.

Mark (8:53)

500 grand?

Kate (8:54)

Yeah.

Mark (8:55)

Unvested, but unvested. I understand. Got you. And it's a publicly traded company, so there is a liquid market for when these vest. Right, right.

Kate (9:05)

Yeah.

Mark (9:05)

Okay, great. Anything else that is on your near term horizon?

Kate (9:12)

No, I mean the goal now is to get my daughter through high school, you know, keep her stable until at least 2030, but. And my mother lives with me. We have an accessory dwelling on the house. So she gives me some money each month for the mortgage. I also get child support. So between those two sources it's an additional 3,500amonth.

Mark (9:31)

What happens to that $3,500 a month right now.

Kate (9:34)

So right now I apply it to the mortgage. My mortgage payment is 7,150. So I apply that and then I pay the remainder.

Mark (9:41)

Okay. And this house that you, you know, killed yourself to buy, knucklehead out of, this house is something you want to keep or is this like. No, I wanted to keep it. I didn't want to disrupt my daughter. We'll get through high school and then I'm going to sell this sucker.

Kate (9:57)

Well, I think right now it's let's get through high school and reassess it. Is my mom's house too, one floor living. It's very Comfortable for her. So, you know, as long as it makes financial sense. I think in 2030, we'll see where she is and we'll see how she's feeling. Hopefully she's still around then, you know, I think we have to make a decision taking into account the. The financial picture, for me.

Mark (10:19)

Yeah. I mean, how old's your mom?

Kate (10:21)

She is 81.

Mark (10:22)

And her health is.

Kate (10:24)

Her health is good. Her mobility is not great. And so I think she wants to stay in a first floor living. So that's in the back of my mind.

Mark (10:33)

Okay, got it. But she can take care of herself in terms of like managing her day to day?

Kate (10:39)

Sure. Yep.

Mark (10:39)

Okay. Okay, great. So for now, given that this big event occurred, you had to take money out of your retirement account, not just to give him some, not just to buy out the house. But now that's all behind you. And how is the cash flow considering, like forgetting about the 3,500amonth for a second, but like your 400 grand a year, how is your cash flow?

Kate (11:08)

So the 400 grand a year is somewhat new. And then this year so far it's been okay. And there's certainly things I could cut back on to make it work. I do rely on that 3500 to give me a little bit more discretionary spend each month. Um, it's fine. I don't feel like I'm saving as much as I would like. And certainly the retirement is light.

Mark (11:29)

Do you feel like you could put. Instead of putting the 3,500amonth that you are receiving from mom and the child support down on that mortgage, do you feel like you could inch up your retirement contribution a little bit instead of doing that? Or do you feel like. No, no, no, no. Like, emotionally I have to be able to do this.

Kate (11:54)

I could. I think what I was thinking is I get another increase that should be about three and a half percent in March, and then throwing that at my contribution versus, you know, obviously living off of that. So I just moved to the six about a month ago. Before that, it was at the four. Okay, I'm gonna inch my way north.

Mark (12:14)

Okay. And so the, the 500 grand in RSU is what's available in February and March.

Kate (12:21)

It would be between the both of them, based on at least today's or this week's price would be about 140.

Mark (12:28)

All right, so we get a slug of 140. Come. Stop it. You had the worst divorce lawyer I ever heard about.

Kate (12:37)

My God, one of the grants, he gets less than I forget the amount Is but a percentage less than 50 of 1 of them.

Mark (12:44)

So, okay, so let's just say in March, what do you think you'll clear after he gets his share? You pay taxes. What do you think you have free and clear in at by the end of March?

Kate (12:56)

Yeah, let's assume 90. Okay, so now that's not including my bonus. So I get my bonus too, at the end of February.

Mark (13:03)

Oh, so in February. So we have 90 free and clear. Again, you're accounting for taxes. Right, Right. Okay. And in February, the bonus would likely be.

Kate (13:14)

I think I would net around 70.

Mark (13:16)

Okay, so we're going to have a big chunk of money to make a difference. Okay, so now what I would do, frankly, is of that 160 that you're going to clear, I would put at least 50 grand in your high yield savings account. Even let's say 60. Let's just for the time being say that by the end of March there's going to be $100,000 available for you to do something with. I think your high yield savings account is light right now. Okay, so if we take of the 160, we put 60 in the high yield savings, then you have 90 in there. Now I feel a little better. And then what we want you to be able to do is sort of feel like, okay, let's see if I go from my 6% contribution to an 8% contribution, and let's see how we feel. Right, that's number one then with that hundred. You know, it's interesting. I'm, I'm kind of thinking about the Kid, about the 529 plan. How important is it to fund that for you?

Kate (14:18)

It's interesting because I, I want to contribute to her school, and I expect my ex husband will do some as well. But I also don't feel obligated to fully pay for her college.

Mark (14:31)

Okay, so would you feel okay taking of the hundred? What part portion of that do you want to say? We could put some of this in college. What? Of the hundred that we have something to do with next year, what do you think goes to college?

Kate (14:47)

What about 10?

Mark (14:48)

Okay, so 10 to the 529, which leaves us with 90.

Kate (14:52)

Yep.

Mark (14:53)

Okay. Do you desperately want to pay down your house? I know you do, but I'm not going to let you do that yet.

Kate (14:58)

Well, it's so funny because I hear people talk about this and it's. Does that make sense? I obviously want to refinance if I can, to kind of get that number down, but to throw more money at.

Mark (15:09)

The principal Yeah, I mean, I don't really want you to put anything more towards the principal. I mean, I get that the mortgage payment is a lot. Okay. But I wouldn't really touch it right now. I want to build more. The rebuilding after a divorce to me has three components. One is to just beef up your accessible cash, which we're going to do after March. That's good. I'm happy about that. The second thing will be to slowly increase your 401. You go from 6, you go to 8%. Let's see how that goes. And if you feel like, man, this is amazing, and you know, it's September or something, you're like, I feel great, I'll go to 9 or 10, that's fine. But let's go from 6 to 8. The third component is we gotta kind of boost up the 529. So you're gonna put your 10 grand into the 529. And then each year we're probably gonna be in a place where we can do that. But I don't want. I think it's a little bit dangerous to pay down your mortgage. So we have one part of your balance sheet, the right side, the liabilities, which is kind of bugging you. The car is going to go away when? In the next year or two.

Kate (16:21)

Well, does it make sense to pay.

Mark (16:23)

It off or it's four and a quarter. I wouldn't pay it off. I mean, if you want to because it annoys you, that's fine. I'm fine with that, truly. If you say, okay, so out of our hundred, we put 10 into the 529, we pay off your, your car loan because it's annoying. You know, this is going to make the contribution to go from 6 to 8% a lot easier for you to swallow. Right, right. You're not going to feel it now. You have to be honest with yourself. Come March, you do all this and then you spend six months telling me, like, how you feeling? How's the cash flow? Like, what are you, what are you spending right now, expense wise? What does it look like for you?

Kate (16:59)

I did the, I did it yesterday. I looked, looked at everything. And of course I'm spending more than my numbers are telling me. So I've got to pull myself together, but I'm spending just under 15amonth.

Mark (17:09)

Okay, well, you know, this is what happens when you go through divorce. Can't say no. Got it. Can't. The, the kids got to be taken care of. You got to be taken. All right, party's over. Party's over Kate. Now we're going to buckle down here, but I think that you're going to be fine. I mean, you make a lot of money, so that's good. And I think that if. I think that the game plan for you is, the most important thing to keep in mind is liquidity, is having that, you know, access to your money and being able to do something with it. I'm not convinced that in five years that you stay in this house for lots of reasons, not the least of which is if your mom's mobility is not so great right now at 81, when she's 86, I want to make sure you're in a place where she really is. Like, you may need to have her closer, not in a separate unit. You might need to have her with you or she may need something else. So I think it is entirely possible that that house is not the house you stay in for the next 30 years, 20 years, 10 years. So I think that in that case, happy to refinance when that opportunity arises. I know I wouldn't throw extra money on it right now. I really wouldn't. So liquidity first. So we got to make sure you bump up that retirement account eventually. I don't. I know it probably feels like far away, but I feel like in the next couple of years, yeah, you're going to be putting away, you know, not just the 23 5, that as a regular contribution, you'll make a catch up contribution. You'll be able to put $31,000 a year away. And I think you'll be like, wow, it's really starting to crank. And every time those RSU's come up, we're going to start. You make that decision every March. You say, okay, where, where does this need to go? Remember, Jill said liquidity, so don't be. Unless you had some crazy event where it's like the stock went bananas and you said, oh my God, it's like, I have so much money. Then we make different decisions. You come back on the air. But this, this rebuilding at age 50, completely doable and you make a lot of money. So I think you're in very good shape. I mean, hopefully as your, you know, as time goes by, you know, you'll be able to feel a lot more confident, I think. You know, I mean, obviously this huge house, this, this massive asset has, has lots of, there are lots of reasons not to do anything for the next five years. Lots of reasons. I guess my other question for you is, you know, you're secure now in this job, that's great. You know, kiddo will go off to college and do something. Does mom have her own money?

Kate (19:41)

Well, mom had to contribute as part of the divorce to pay the mortgage down for us to stay in the house. So when the house is sold, I am going to owe her about 460.

Mark (19:52)

Do you have a sibling?

Kate (19:54)

I have two. So we've already talked about, you know, and it depends on if mom's still around or not. If mom is not around when I sell the house, then I'll have. I'll owe each of them a hundred.

Mark (20:05)

Okay.

Kate (20:06)

And so, you know, there's a few different scenarios on how that will play out, but.

Mark (20:09)

Okay.

Kate (20:10)

We continue living together, which I expect we will after the house is sold. And some of that I expect will be able to roll into wherever we're going to land next.

Mark (20:17)

Okay, that sounds great. Okay. And siblings nearby. Yep. Okay. And have you guys papered this agreement? Like, is it official on in? Yes. Yep. Okay. You redid all of your documents after the divorce.

Kate (20:30)

Now you've got the first thing I did after listening to you guys. Do you have all your estate planning docs done?

Mark (20:34)

Yeah.

Kate (20:35)

And it was a great investment. So all of that is settled.

Mark (20:38)

I think you're in very good shape, Kate. You feeling you like you're ready? You're in rebuilding mode. Watch the expenses. You got to pull those back.

Kate (20:45)

I do. Too many Dunkin Donuts, iced coffees.

Mark (20:48)

That's what you think you spend 15 grand on? I have a feeling there's some other.

Kate (20:52)

Things in there with a 13 year old.

Mark (20:54)

Oh, my gosh. Okay. Kate, I wish you a very happy divorce and I hope you find happiness alone or with someone else, it does not matter to me. I'm very grateful that you came on the program and shared this. I think this is a very common story to hear about with anyone going through divorce. Both sides end up poorer after a divorce, so I get it. And if there's anything else we can do as things come up, give us a holler back, okay?

Kate (21:23)

Absolutely. I appreciate it.

Mark (21:24)

Thank you. Our pleasure. Okay. If you are like Kate and big transition in your life, get in touch with us. Go to jillonmoney.com, click the contact us button. Write us a note. If you want to join us live, just check the box. Mark will do everything else. Hey, while you're on the website, sign up for the the free weekly newsletter comes out every single Friday. You can subscribe to us on the.

Jill (21:44)

Odyssey app or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Mark (21:48)

Try to do something nice for someone else today. Change your work, Change your wealth. Change your life. Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

Jill (22:01)

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Vaughn Miller (23:07)

Is Vaughn Miller, Super Bowl MVP, chicken farmer, and now host of Free Range. This is a show where I go off the field and off the script. We're talking what's hot in music, film, trending news and everything blowing up your feed. If you love football, you'll feel at home. But if you're here for the vibes, the Internet deep dives, the conversation, this is your podcast. Join me every Wednesday. Follow and listen to Free Range with me, Vaughn Miller everywhere. You get your podcast.