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Suze Orman
Hi, everybody. Suzio here. Now, what is the goal of money? The goal of money is for you to be secure. And there is no better way for you to be secure than having an emergency savings account. It is essential for your financial foundation. So all of you should be participating in the Ultimate Opportunity savings account at Alliant Credit Union. Go to myalliant.com to find out more. And be secure. We are strong, we are wise we will not apologize we are here we will thrive Together we will rise With a little bit of faith and everything it takes we are strong, we are wise Together we will rise. June 29, 2025. Welcome, everybody, to the Women and Money podcast and everybody smart enough to listen. No, today is not Susie school.
KT
It's ask. KT's here. So it's ask KT and Susie anything.
Suze Orman
Sunday, because God forbid you should go more than a week or two without hearing kt, who you just all adore. I hope you all do. But anyway, so we switched Thursday to be Suzy's school a few days ago, and you should all listen.
KT
It was a good. I'm glad you switched.
Suze Orman
And now here we are. I just want to inform you all right, now, obviously Next Thursday is July 3rd, but we're going to be doing the podcast on July 2nd instead. So tune in one day early because I have a very special just for all of you on this podcast from Alliant Credit Union, and you do not want.
KT
Don't miss our.
Suze Orman
You're really going to want to tune in because I don't know how long it will last. That is July 2nd. All right, KT, are you ready for me? I just have to say, because people are yelling at me. Well, how do we write in a question? So, because we haven't said it for some reason, I just forget to do it sometimes. If you want to ask a question, go to asksusepodcastmail.com send it in, and if KT chooses it, we will answer it on the podcast. But you have to listen every week to see if your question was answered. All right, kt.
KT
So, Susie, first question's from Gloria. Hi, Susie. I have a question.
Suze Orman
That's a great name, right? Glory.
KT
That was a great song, wasn't it? I have a. I have a savings account that gives me 3.75% monthly.
Suze Orman
I doubt it.
KT
With $88,000 in that account. I have a home equity line of credit that I owe $43,000 on, and I'm paying $500 a month in charges. Should I take some money out of my Savings account to pay that off.
Suze Orman
All right, everybody, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Did you notice anything in Gloria's email that made absolutely no sense whatsoever? Uh huh. No responses. Listen, Gloria, it is impossible that you are making 3.75% monthly on your $88,000. That would mean that you are being paid 45% a year in interest. You're making 3.75% APR. That is what you are making over the entire year. Therefore, you should absolutely take $43,000 out of that savings account. And do what with it? Pay off your home equity line of credit. All right, next. Kt.
KT
Okay, from Jeff. This is very sweet. Hey Susie and kt, thank you for continuing to give us guidance when you could clearly just stop and enjoy your retirement years.
Suze Orman
Yeah, I've been talking to KT about that lately, haven't I?
KT
Maddie, your advice has been life changing. I dread the day you decide to call it Qu. Oh, she's not going to quit, Jeff. As long as I'm around, she'll never quit.
Suze Orman
Uh huh. Go on.
KT
My husband retired early at the age of 57 and has a 401k, both Roth and regular. Because our company didn't offer the Roth in the beginning, our financial advisor has suggested we roll it over to him after seeing financial institutions fail around 2008. Now that was a long time ago. I'm hesitant to put all our eggs in one basket. I believe our balances are larger, more than a million than brokerage account insurance is allowed, but I'm not exactly sure how this works. The fees are also higher with the financial advisor, but he's been worth his weight in gold with other accounts he manages, which is great. Jeff, our financial advisor's with Morgan Stanley. Should we go ahead and roll over the 401k to him in both the traditional and Roth, or should we keep them where they are? All right, what's your advice to Jeff?
Suze Orman
So here's the thing, Jeff. You're 57 and you retired at the age of 57. Okay? There is a rule called 72T that if you leave service in the year that you turn 55 or later, you access any money you want in your 401k without any penalties whatsoever. Obviously you would have to pay taxes on it, but you could access some of that money right now. If you roll it over to your financial advisor, you cannot touch that money until you are 59 and a half years of age. Now do you already have a Roth IRA with that financial advisor? Because if not your 401k. Roth is going to have to start the five year period all over again. So you're not going to be able to access that either without penalty and possibly taxes. Therefore, I would think about this. You also don't have to be an all or nothing investor. You feel comfortable with the money. Obviously, in your 401k, it's doing great. Hopefully in your 401k. The question that you have to ask and answer with this financial advisor, if you roll it over to him, is it true that he will be able to make you more, in his opinion that will cover the management fee than you would make simply leaving it in the 401k? You also could leave some of the money in the traditional 401k just so that you can access it if you need to without the penalty. Just something to think about because you lose that if you roll it over. So. Up to you. One last thing. Even though I know Ms. Travis thinks it's too much information, I always think you know what you need to know. Everything you need to know when it comes to your money. Remember, your husband may still be working one day. You may decide to go back to work and earn even more money. And if you're making more than the modified adjusted gross income limits for Roth IRAs, you will not be able to contribute to it unless you do a backdoor Roth. But you won't be able to do a backdoor Roth if you have an ira. You will be able to do it if you have a traditional 401K. Just saying. KT, don't look at me like that.
KT
About a front door Roth. Okay. All right. Sherry.
Suze Orman
She so hates when I go too long.
KT
Tell everybody. No, no, no, no. It's not. It's not too long. Actually, there's some questions in here where I want to have conversations with you. It's the Roth.
Suze Orman
Oh, so.
KT
And everyone knows that it's confusing. So I think the least amount of information is to put under your hat with the Roth the best.
Suze Orman
But kt, you've got to know these things.
KT
I know, but you can know them one at a time. Not all in one question.
Suze Orman
But he needs to know because he's about to do an IRA rollover with his broker.
KT
All right?
Suze Orman
And if he does, he'll never be able to do a backdoor Roth.
KT
Okay, so now you have all the information you need, Jeff and husband.
Suze Orman
Thanks, wife.
KT
Okay, are you ready?
Suze Orman
Yeah.
KT
All right, next question is from Sherry. I like this question because this is information everyone has to have. Good day. I am about to get our will trust and all must have documents in order. Where do you recommend I keep the final forms safe? What if they get destroyed in a natural disaster such as a hurricane? You can also add on to that fire, tornado, flood. I mean add everything on there. Sherry with the weather these days. And then she asks a good question. Question, Susie. Should I make duplicates of signed forms and then share with certain family members? I assume they would be valid too. Are they?
Suze Orman
No.
KT
Yeah, they're not.
Suze Orman
They're not valid.
KT
Only reasonable as valid. But what is that? Still a good safeguard.
Suze Orman
But that doesn't mean that her family shouldn't know what her intentions were.
KT
Okay.
Suze Orman
Right.
KT
And then it says thank you Susie, for your invaluable advice. So tell everyone where to get mustache.
Suze Orman
If I were you, I would keep them at home in a fireproof and waterproof box. I know, I know. I'm so sorry that we're no longer manufacturing the gold box, the silver box, the blue box that met those needs. But we're just not right now. You never know when we'll bring them back. But for now, we're not.
KT
So some people keep them in their safe deposit box in a bank.
Suze Orman
If you do keep it in a safety deposit box, then you have to make sure the relative you die, how are they going to get to it? So you have to make sure that your relative and another relative know they happen to be on the name of the safety deposit box. And what happens kt, I know you're going to think I'm nuts, but what happens if there's a tornado and all of a sudden the bank office that has all of that has been blown away, they're not open, you can't get to it. Right. And you happen to be killed in that disaster. I mean, things can happen. I would have them in either a waterproof, fireproof box that I kept or keep it at another person's home, that is the person that would need it in case something happened to you. So it's not at your home and hopefully they live somewhere safe that's safe, but that if they ever had evacuate, they just take it with them. So there are boxes that aren't so heavy that you can just grab and go with them and just know that the only thing that's valid is the original. So like with the must have docs that let's say you lost them, all right? They went away somehow, you can go right online again and print them out and then go get them notarized once again. And then there's valid all over again. So that's what I would be doing if I were you.
KT
Now tell them where to get them.
Suze Orman
Oh, if you want to get the must have docs, go to musthavedocs.com and that's where you get them. Currently, they are $99 for $2,500 worth of state of the art documents. Good in all 50 states. And I just think they're fabulous.
KT
But anyway, everyone has to have must have documents.
Suze Orman
All right, go on.
KT
Okay, Janet.
Suze Orman
And you know, it's funny, kt, the commercial that you see on television all the time where this guy pops up and goes, no, it doesn't work. They're charging $199 just.
KT
Just for the will.
Suze Orman
The will? Are you kidding me?
KT
I mean, you can anyway, you can write a will.
Suze Orman
This is $99 for the will. The living revocable trust, the advance directive and durable power of attorney for healthcare, and the financial power. And anytime you want to change them, you can do it again and again. You want to share your activation code with members of your family, you can do it. If the company that manufactures it ever has an upgrade, you get the update for free. Right. For those of you who have lost your activation code, we give you a new one. Are you kidding me? Anyway, go on.
KT
Okay, next question is from Janelle and Patrick. Hi, Susie and KT. My husband and I are 65 years old. Can you educate us about the ins and outs of converting traditional IRA dollars to a qualified longevity annuity contract, known as a QLAC, as a tax strategy to defer RMDs. When we turn 73, we won't need the RMD dollars for living expenses and have concerns about income exceeding IRMAA brackets. So, Susie, how does that all work?
Suze Orman
Right. So basically what concerns me is you say currently you don't need your RMDs, which are required minimum distributions. And I don't know exactly how much you have within your IRAs and things like that, but if you did a qualified longevity annuity contract and everybody. It's just a special kind of like deferred income annuity. And it can be purchased, however, with funds from a traditional IRA or a qualified retirement plan. So why would people do that? Because you can defer required minimum distributions beyond the age of 73, but only up to the age of 85, which could possibly help you manage taxable income and Medicare and things like that. What concerns me is, all right, you said that you don't need your RMDs, but what if you needed the actual principal that's generating the RMDs. Because once you do this, that's it. You can't really do anything else with it. The money is removed to the annuity. And what this does is you can't touch it, but it guarantees you income later in life. So if you live to 85 and beyond, the qualified annuity ensures that you won't outlive your money. Now, I don't think it's worth it, to tell you the truth. I just don't. The maximum you can do is 200,000 per person from your traditional. But I don't know, it's not indexed for inflation. It's. I just don't think it's.
KT
So they shouldn't do it.
Suze Orman
I wouldn't do it if I were.
KT
Okay, there you go.
Suze Orman
I would want to know I could have access to my money and if I really didn't need it, then maybe you should start converting it to a Roth so that you know eventually when you do take it out because you're only 65. Right. That won't qualify for RMDs anyway. I just don't like them.
KT
All right.
Suze Orman
Also, do me a favor. Ask your financial advisor the commission they'll make if you buy one.
KT
Okay.
Suze Orman
Oh, what does that remind me of?
KT
She loves the commercial. What is it for?
Suze Orman
I don't even know. I just wait and watch him go.
KT
Oh, the little boy. His dad looks at his daddy, who. Who hits a baseball, breaks a windshield. It's for. For the windshield replacement company.
Suze Orman
I don't know.
KT
Little boy looks at his daddy, he goes, oh, like you did it. And Susie loves that commercial.
Suze Orman
But then I stop watching after he does that. All right, anyway.
KT
All right, so, from Lori. Hi, Susie. I've been listening to you for many years and try to take your advice as often as possible. I am a teacher that is starting to look at what my retirement could look like possibly three years from now. First of all, we want to both say we love teachers and we love your profession. It's very, very important.
Suze Orman
There's this commercial where you see this teacher taking some pill that's making her feel great, whatever, but she's dancing through the classroom and she's doing these great things, and she just looks so happy. And I was thinking, oh, maybe I need to be a teacher. And then I thought, you are a teacher. No, but couldn't you see me in a room with little kids?
KT
Oh, being a teacher for children.
Suze Orman
Yeah. No, never mind.
KT
No, no, I cannot.
Suze Orman
Okay, forget.
KT
Stay with the big kids.
Suze Orman
All right, sorry.
KT
All right, stay with the old king.
Suze Orman
What was I thinking?
KT
And then she said, susie, you've always advised opening a trust. I was informed that a trust should not contain your pension and tda.
Suze Orman
Correct?
KT
Yeah, it wouldn't contain the pension. As a divorced mother of two, I want to protect and plan for myself and make sure my hard work will go to my children without any issues. Can you elaborate on trust and why this is not an option for me and what I should be doing?
Suze Orman
Yeah, easy, easy.
KT
I think the trust is an option.
Suze Orman
You have to do the trust for other things like your house, your bank account, your investments, all of those things to make it easier for your children. However, an individual retirement account, ira, I'm just going to start there to make it easy for you. It's an individual that owns that retirement account. So given an individual cannot be a trust, it cannot be in a trust. The same is true with your pension as well as your tax deferred annuity. Now your tax deferred annuity because you are a teacher is exactly like a 401k or 403b. And it has to be in the employee's name, not in the trust name. So it is the school district that has hired you, not the trust. But you can if you want, just name your children as long as they're like over 18 or 19 or they're responsible with money as the beneficiaries of that tda and then it will go to them directly, just that simple. Also with your pension, usually your pension upon your death also goes away unless you do a joint and survivor pension with your spouse. I don't know if they allow you to do it with children, but you should have a trust. But no individual retirement accounts, pensions, annuities and things like that when you're an employee cannot be owned in a trust.
KT
Okay, so my final question is from Laura and it's a really great one. I have a question about a sticky situation. And Susie, after I read this, I said, ooh, this is a sticky question. And I'm really excited to hear how you're going to respond. A divorce in our family left our sister in law at 72, still working full time in a Montessori school, living in a one bedroom apartment and struggling to make ends meet, she unwisely emptied her retirement account to support her son in trying and failing to become a trader. She tried to be a day trader. At the time, we covered the unexpected tax consequences for her. Now ready? This is the sticky part. Our brother is remarried and has Homes in Rio de Janeiro, Chicago and recently is considering buying a third property, joining together with a third sibling. Our family's providing our sister in law with $1,000 a month in order to ease her situation. So they're subsidizing a sister in law, the rest of the siblings. Our decision in this case is becoming more difficult for me because I can feel as though by helping our sister in law, which feels like the right thing to do, we are enabling our brother to live an expensive lifestyle and shirk his own responsibilities. He does live up to the letter of their settlement agreement, but no more, thus leaving his ex wife vulnerable. To be honest, I find this situation to be undermining if not damaging my relationship with my brother and his second wife. In addition, Susie, my husband is comfortable continuing with this and I do not feel that my concerns are being heard or addressed by him. We have always been on the same page when it comes to money matters. Susie, I'd love to hear your take on this and I would appreciate any advice you can give us.
Suze Orman
Laura, we have two separate issues here and you need to separate them. Number one, let's first deal with the easy one which is your husband. Sometimes it's easier just to give money than to deal with a situation that's going on. And your husband may be somebody, number one, who doesn't like conflict, but number two, he doesn't have the connection, the natural connection like you do with your brother. It's his brother in law and he may not have been close with him, maybe he was, who knows. But again, you need to be a little bit compassionate in that maybe he doesn't, like I said, like conflict. And it's just easier to come up with a few hundred dollars every month to spend support the sister in law than have to deal what could happen with your brother, not his brother. So you need to understand that he doesn't have that blood relationship like you do. That's number one. Number two, it's your sister in law. And I can tell you with my sister in laws I don't feel like they're my sister in laws. I feel like they are my sisters and I have long conversations with them and love with them as if they are my sisters. But I don't quite feel that way with the brother in laws. Right. I love them but I don't have these long conversations except with one. Right. So I feel different towards them. So I think it would make sense that you feel closer to your sister in law then your husband probably felt towards her and you just need to understand that as well. This really boils down to issue number two, which is you and your brother, we don't know why they got divorced, number one, so KT and I can't comment on that. Your brother however is living up to his agreement that they made. So at least he's doing that. So you should not be punishing him at all for his success. If he wants to buy five homes, 15 homes, all right, that's his prerogative. But what you need to do is sit down and talk with him. Not to him, but with him. You must not make him feel bad that he's been successful and he's buying homes. There's nothing wrong with that. He obviously doesn't have an emotional attachment to his ex wife. So you should talk to your brother about how it's affected you to see her suffer so much. And the real question becomes here, how old is the son now? What is the son doing now? Is the son making money now? Because again, your sister in law emptied her retirement account in order to support her son. No matter what she did with it, she did it to support her son. And now if her son, because she's 72, so her son very well should be in his 30s right now, maybe even 40s at this point in time. Is he working and why isn't he helping her? So you have two issues here. The son isn't helping her obviously because you don't say so in your email and her ex husband isn't helping her and you need to deal with those two things. So if I were you, forget your husband in terms of him not wanting to do it, that's fine. Understand that and don't take it personally. It's not damaging your relationship in reality, it's just in your head. I would sit down and have a one on one talk with my brother from your heart and what could he do possibly to make it easier on his ex wife and therefore make it easier on you as well. And again, I would be sitting down with the sun and saying what are you doing? How much money are you making? Do you understand that we're supporting your mother and if anything happens to us, what is your mother going to do? So therefore you need to get involved with your mother now. That's what I would tell Laura.
KT
KT, great. I agree 100%.
Suze Orman
I didn't want too long.
KT
No, but I really love what you said about her and her husband. She's getting frustrated with the husband, but it has nothing to do with them. They have a great relationship so it's really. It's a sticky question, though, isn't it? I mean, it's very interesting.
Suze Orman
It's sticky. But it's not. Because again, when you get divorced, who knows why you got divorced, number one. And you maybe get divorced from somebody and you really do not like that person anymore and you want to have nothing to do with them. Kt, truthfully, my last relationship before you, I want nothing to do with this person. I could care less. What? I mean, I could go on and on.
KT
We're not going to do that.
Suze Orman
All right, but do I care if she's doing well financially or not? And da, da, da. Not on any level. However, there are exes, right, kt, that I have that I'm still close with. And they were good people, honorable. And I helped them financially.
KT
Help them financially. Standing up when they're in need.
Suze Orman
Yeah. And I love doing that. So it all comes down to under what circumstances did they get divorced and why did they get divorced? All right, all right.
KT
So everybody, that was a good Sunday conversation. I like that question.
Suze Orman
All right, so we. Oh, maybe we need to do Sunday conversation. No, we're going to keep it how it is.
KT
No, we're going to keep Sunday chats with kt.
Suze Orman
Oh, you like that idea?
KT
Yes. Why don't you put me on both Thursday and Sunday and then if you have to do a Susie school, I'll.
Suze Orman
Just listen because you distract me when you're here. You're.
KT
So if you all want to have Sunday chats with Katie.
Suze Orman
No, do not even go there, Katie. All right, listen to me, everybody.
KT
Sunday brunch with kt.
Suze Orman
Right? Sunday brunch. By the way, what is for brunch today?
KT
I wanted. I've been craving pancakes. And I'm not a sweet. I don't like sweet things in the morning. But I've been craving pancakes. I have no idea why. And we have gluten. Oh, Susie. Susie's a creature of habit. And she loves the mariposa gluten free cinnamon raisin toast. And she actually has this sent to her from San Francisco, which was the bakery that we would go to all the time, every weekend. And she has it sent to her in like, you know, six loaves at a time so that she freezes it. And loves her two slices of mariposa gluten free raisin cinnamon toast with a cup of coffee every morning.
Suze Orman
That's my favorite.
KT
And a matter of fact, sometimes as a treat instead of dinner, she looks at me with these puppy eyes and says, KT don't say no. Katie, don't say no.
Suze Orman
This happened last night, which is why she's talking about kt.
KT
Don't say no. Please don't say no. I said I'm not going to agree to that until you ask first. Can I have a cup of coffee and my raisin toast for dinner? And I always say, yes, of course you can.
Suze Orman
I was so happy. But anyway, everybody, do not forget that July 2nd is when we will be doing the next Ask KT and anything.
KT
All right, Wednesday.
Suze Orman
Wednesday rather than Thursday. And we have a very big surprise. Well, a special announcement that I really think is a great deal at this time and you should really, really take advantage of it. So until then, there's only one thing that we want everybody to remember. And what is the kt?
KT
It's people first, then money than things.
Suze Orman
Now you stay safe.
KT
Happy Sunday.
Suze Orman
Bye. Bye. We are strong we are wise we will not apologize we are here we will thrive Together we will rise we're gonna face and everything it takes we are strong, we are wise Together we will rise. Hi, everybody. Suzy O Here now. If you are looking for a way to start saving to get the most out of your money, I want you to go to myalliant.com, that's M Y A L L I A N T dot com, and look into opening an ultimate opportunity savings account. Put in at least $100 a month, every single month for 12 consecutive months. Earn 3.10% interest on your money right now and get $100 at the end. Are you kidding me? It's the best deal out there. Start saving right now.
C
Neither Susie Orman Media nor Susie Orman is acting as a certified Financial Planner Advisor, a certified financial analyst, an economist, cpa, accountant or lawyer. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Susie Orman make any recommendations as to any specific securities or investments. All content contained in this podcast is for informational and general purposes only and does not constitute financial accounting or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and financial advisors regarding your particular situation. Neither Suze Orman Media nor Suze Orman accepts any responsibility for any losses which may arise from accessing or reliance on information in this podcast and to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for loss damages, direct or indirect, arising from the use of this information. The must have documents discussed in this podcast are legal documents created by a lawyer and distributed by Hay House.
Podcast Summary: Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)
Episode: Ask KT & Suze Anything: Throwing Money At a Problem Does Not Always Solve It
Release Date: June 29, 2025
Host: Suze Orman Media
Duration: Approximately 32 minutes
In this engaging episode of Women & Money, Suze Orman teams up with KT to address a series of listener-submitted questions, offering expert financial advice and insights. The episode delves into various aspects of personal finance, including savings strategies, retirement planning, legal preparations, and family financial dynamics. Below is a detailed summary of the key discussions and advice provided.
Listener: Gloria
Timestamp: [02:48 - 04:20]
Question: Gloria has an $88,000 savings account yielding an alleged 3.75% monthly interest and a home equity line of credit (HELOC) with a $43,000 balance, incurring $500 monthly charges. She seeks advice on whether to withdraw from her savings to pay off the HELOC.
Suze's Response: Suze immediately identifies a discrepancy in Gloria's claim of a 3.75% monthly interest rate, clarifying that such a rate would equate to a staggering 45% annual interest, which is highly improbable. Suze advises:
"Gloria, it is impossible that you are making 3.75% monthly on your $88,000. That would mean that you are being paid 45% a year in interest." [03:23]
She recommends utilizing the savings to eliminate the HELOC debt, emphasizing the benefits of reducing high-interest liabilities to strengthen financial security.
Listeners: Jeff and his spouse
Timestamp: [04:20 - 09:22]
Question: Jeff retired early at 57 and holds both traditional and Roth 401(k)s. His financial advisor suggests rolling over these accounts to his firm, Morgan Stanley, citing concerns from the 2008 financial downturn. Jeff is hesitant about consolidating his retirement funds due to potential loss of accessibility and increased fees.
Suze's Response: Suze outlines the implications of rolling over the 401(k):
"There is a rule called 72T that if you leave service in the year that you turn 55 or later, you access any money you want in your 401k without any penalties whatsoever." [05:52]
She cautions that rolling over the accounts could restrict access until 59½, complicate tax strategies, and potentially negate existing benefits like the Roth IRA's five-year rule. Suze advises evaluating whether the financial advisor's management could outperform the current 401(k) growth to justify additional fees. She suggests maintaining flexibility by possibly keeping a portion of the funds in the 401(k) to avoid penalties and maintain financial agility.
Listener: Sherry
Timestamp: [09:22 - 13:05]
Question: Sherry is in the process of creating essential legal documents (will, trust, etc.) and seeks recommendations on safely storing them to prevent loss from natural disasters like hurricanes, fires, or floods. She also inquires about the validity of sharing duplicates with family members.
Suze's Response: Suze emphasizes the importance of safeguarding original documents while ensuring authorized individuals can access them when needed:
"I would keep them at home in a fireproof and waterproof box." [10:15]
She acknowledges the limitations of safety deposit boxes, such as potential inaccessibility during disasters, and recommends alternative secure storage solutions like personal waterproof, fireproof safes or distributing copies to trusted family members. Suze underscores that only original documents are legally valid, but having duplicates can facilitate timely access during emergencies.
Additionally, she promotes Must Have Documents, a service offering comprehensive legal document packages:
"If you want to get the must have docs, go to musthavedocs.com and that's where you get them. Currently, they are $99 for $2,500 worth of state of the art documents." [12:33]
Listeners: Janelle and Patrick
Timestamp: [13:05 - 16:30]
Question: As a 65-year-old couple, they are exploring the use of QLACs as a tax strategy to defer Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) until age 85. They are concerned about their future income potentially exceeding Medicare's Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) brackets.
Suze's Response: Suze expresses skepticism about the effectiveness of QLACs for their situation:
"I just don't think it's worth it, to tell you the truth." [16:09]
She highlights that transferring funds to a QLAC would lock away up to $200,000 per person without indexing for inflation, thereby limiting flexibility. Suze questions whether the potential tax benefits outweigh the loss of access to principal:
"What concerns me is you say currently you don't need your RMDs..." [14:21]
Instead, she suggests considering a Roth IRA conversion, allowing them to manage taxable income more effectively without the restrictions imposed by QLACs.
Listener: Lori
Timestamp: [16:30 - 20:20]
Question: Lori, a divorced mother of two, seeks advice on establishing a trust to protect her retirement accounts and pensions, ensuring they benefit her children without complications.
Suze's Response: Suze clarifies the limitations of incorporating certain retirement accounts into trusts:
"It's an individual that owns that retirement account. So given an individual cannot be a trust, it cannot be in a trust." [18:35]
She explains that IRAs, Roth IRAs, pensions, and tax-deferred annuities must remain in the account holder's name and cannot be owned by a trust. However, she offers strategies for naming beneficiaries directly:
"You can...name your children as long as they're like over 18 or 19 or they're responsible with money as the beneficiaries of that TDA and then it will go to them directly." [19:01]
Suze advises leveraging beneficiary designations to ensure assets pass directly to children, simplifying the transfer process and avoiding probate.
Listener: Laura
Timestamp: [20:20 - 28:46]
Question: Laura describes a complex family situation where her sister-in-law, at 72, is financially strained after a divorce, depleting her retirement savings to support her son’s failed day trading venture. The family's support funds ($1,000 monthly) are causing strain, as Laura feels it enables her brother’s affluent lifestyle, leading to tensions in relationships.
Suze's Response: Suze breaks down Laura's concerns into two main issues: her husband's approach to the situation and the family's financial dynamics.
Understanding Different Relationships:
Addressing the Brother's Financial Choices:
Supporting the Sister-in-Law:
"You should sit down and talk with your brother...and also with the son to understand their roles and contributions." [22:37]
She emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries and ensuring that support does not become enabling, which can lead to further family strain.
Towards the end of the episode, Suze and KT discuss potential changes to the podcast format, including the introduction of "Sunday Chats with KT," aimed at fostering more intimate and focused financial conversations. They also highlight the upcoming special on July 2nd, encouraging listeners to tune in for valuable financial insights and surprises.
Suze reiterates the importance of financial preparedness and invites listeners to explore secure savings options through partnerships like Alliant Credit Union, emphasizing:
"People first, then money then things." [31:11]
This episode provides a comprehensive look into managing personal finances through practical advice, highlighting the nuanced balance between saving, investing, and supporting family members without compromising financial stability.
Notable Quotes:
Suze Orman: "Gloria, it is impossible that you are making 3.75% monthly on your $88,000. That would mean that you are being paid 45% a year in interest." [03:23]
Suze Orman: "There is a rule called 72T that if you leave service in the year that you turn 55 or later, you access any money you want in your 401k without any penalties whatsoever." [05:52]
Suze Orman: "I would keep them at home in a fireproof and waterproof box." [10:15]
Suze Orman: "I just don't think it's worth it, to tell you the truth." [16:09]
Suze Orman: "It's an individual that owns that retirement account. So given an individual cannot be a trust, it cannot be in a trust." [18:35]
Suze Orman: "You should sit down and talk with your brother...and also with the son to understand their roles and contributions." [22:37]
Suze Orman: "People first, then money then things." [31:11]
This episode underscores Suze Orman's commitment to empowering listeners with practical financial knowledge, addressing real-life scenarios with clarity and empathy.