KT: Hi everybody. Welcome to the Women and Money podcast and
KT: Ask KT anything because I know all about Boxing Day.
KT: Matter of fact, I know more about Boxing Day than
KT: Miss Suze, who's sitting in the studio with me right now.
Suze: And giving her a look like, what...
KT: ...is Boxing Day?
Suze: I know what Boxing Day is.
KT: Boxing Day is one of my it's my favorite day
KT: after Christmas.
Suze: Now why is that?
KT: Because it's when you have all leftovers and you box
KT: them up.
Suze: You know that is first of all wait...
KT: That is the truth.
Suze: We hope you had a great
KT: Christmas and Hanukkah.
KT: Oh wait, wait, wait, Kwanzaa.
Suze: So happy Kwanzaa, everybody.
KT: Oh, all three at once.
Suze: Yeah, pretty much so, but everybody, before we go on.
Suze: Welcome to the Women and Money podcast as well as
Suze: everybody smart enough to listen, and this is December 26, 2024.
Suze: And as Ms. Travis just told you, it is Boxing Day.
Suze: Now let me just tell you briefly how I learned
Suze: about Boxing Day.
Suze: Do you remember how I
Suze: learned?
KT: Yes I do. We were in Hong Kong and everybody
KT: that was in, um, a helper for all the Asian
KT: families were all gathered in the square downtown.
KT: And they all had boxed lunches and that was Boxing Day.
KT: It's when you have all of the leftovers from Christmas
KT: for the
KT: next day,
Suze: And I was like, what are they all doing, KT?
Suze: And that's when she told me.
KT: Boxing Day.
Suze: So today I have to eat everything out of a box,
Suze: but that is besides the point. All right, KT.
Suze: Did you have a good Christmas?
KT: I did
KT: a very, very, um, a simple Christmas. It was lovely
KT: just being here on the island with very few people.
KT: Colo and you and I enjoyed it, and his wife
KT: arrives today, and we're very excited to welcome Annie for
KT: the very first time.
Suze: And he's so nervous. I can't even begin to tell you...
Suze: he is KT. She's looking at me like, oh, don't
Suze: say that because he listens to these,
KT: We have a we have a
KT: big welcome sign in his apartment, and he's very, very
KT: happy that she's coming finally.
Suze: But we hope all of you enjoyed the holidays so far,
Suze: no matter what tradition you happen to be celebrating.
Suze: But one thing that always goes on no matter what
Suze: is needing to celebrate your money, your financial affairs, and
Suze: that's what this podcast is all about a celebration of
Suze: you and your money. KT, what is the first
Suze: question?
KT: OK, the first question I have is.
KT: Greetings Suze and KT. Thank you for always putting a
KT: smile on my face. I love your banter. I love
KT: KT's sweet voice, and Suze, your laugh is adorable. I
KT: have a $25,000 bank CD maturing in.
KT: February 2025. Here's my question. Should I pay off my
KT: car loan to reduce my monthly expenses so I can
KT: save a little more, or what should I do with
KT: the $25,000 if you do not recommend I pay off
KT: my car loan? I'm 72 years old. My monthly auto
KT: payment is $351. The maturity date on that loan is
KT: uh November, November 2026.
KT: And the loan payoff amount is about 8000
KT: dollars.
Suze: Does she happen to tell you what her...
KT: Her income? She has Social Security...
Suze: But what is her income now her total amount of
Suze: income she has.
KT: OK, so the total amount of income she has is
KT: $ 4,965 monthly.
Suze: Now tell me, what does it give you the total
Suze: expenses she has per month?
KT: Yes, her expenses per month are about $4700. 0, that's
KT: kind of tight, Suze.
Suze: All right, so let me answer this then, and this
Suze: is from Sharon. All right, Sharon.
KT: That's tight, isn't it?
Suze: All right, so what would you tell her? Is this your quizzy?
KT: Well, I, I don't know if I wouldn't pay off
KT: the car loan. I'd be real careful with that $25,000
KT: because I think she needs some of it.
Suze: I don't think so.
KT: All right, you're the, you're the one that tells everyone
KT: what to do, what should Sharon do.
Suze: So what I would do if I were you, because
Suze: if you look further down on this email, KT, she
Suze: does have $26,000 in a money market fund, $40,000 in
Suze: a Roth, $70,000 in IRA, $19,000 in mutual funds, and
Suze: $30,000 in bonds. So this $25,000 is from a CD
Suze: that she hasn't
Suze: even listed here, really. So what would you have her
Suze: do knowing she has that money?
KT: Probably get rid of that car loan.
Suze: You would have her take the
KT: 7, it's about $7000 right?
Suze: Yeah, yeah,
Suze: All right, so...
KT: Pay that off.
KT: So that will reduce the expenses by $350 a month, right?
Suze: That's my girl.
KT: There you go,
Suze: So that's what you would do, ding ding ding ding.
KT: Good
KT: job, KT.
Suze: All right, so Sharon, here's what I would tell you
Suze: if you did the numbers, just strictly the numbers, you
Suze: would be financially better off if you did not pay
Suze: off the car loan with that money and you actually
Suze: invested it, but KT's looking at me because she knows
Suze: I just said she was right and you invested it.
Suze: You would be ahead over the next 23 months by
Suze: quite a few hundred dollars. However, what is the goal
Suze: of money, KT?
KT: Feel secure.
Suze: Oh, you've got it...
KT: I'm right on point, as we say on point... on Boxing Day.
Suze: I knew you were gonna say that. All right, anyway,
Suze: and
Suze: As I look at your expenses, you are only bringing
Suze: in $265 more a month than you have going out.
Suze: That is cutting it really close. If you took that
Suze: $7,917 and paid it off, you'd have an additional $351
Suze: a month that you wouldn't have to pay. So that's
Suze: like you'd have $616 more per month.
Suze: Than what you have in expenses now you have more cushion,
Suze: and that will make you feel more secure. And I
Suze: just have a feeling when you feel more secure your
Suze: expenses will also go down because you won't be spending
Suze: as much. So if I were you, I would so
Suze: pay it off. I cannot tell you.
KT: My next question is from Janet. Dear KT
KT: and Suze, I took out an annuity and then I
KT: found you. Actually, since listening to your podcast and reading
KT: and rereading the Ultimate Retirement Guide for the past 3 years,
KT: I now have emergency savings and all of my must-have
KT: documents taken care of. My certified pre-owned
KT: car will be paid off in February, and I have
KT: a plan in place to pay off my home. Thank
KT: you for all your advice and expertise. I'm 68 and
KT: retired with a pension from teaching. We love teachers, don't we?
Suze: Oh, so much.
KT: OK, so Janet's saying now on to getting rid of
KT: my annuity.
Suze: Did you have a
Suze: favorite teacher?
KT: Um, I did.
Suze: Who?
KT: I did, um, and Bob Waldron.
KT: Bob Walter,
Suze: Why was Bob your favorite teacher?
KT: he taught history. I just loved him,
Suze: yeah,
KT: and he also loved performing arts. He, he was a
KT: fabulous man. This was in high school, but young high school. He,
KT: he was the one that put on all the school plays,
KT: and I painted all the scenery for every play, and
KT: my twin sister was usually the lead. We were very popular,
KT: Lynn and I, but I loved him. OK, ready.
KT: Did you?
Suze: Actually, I did.
KT: Who was your favorite?
Suze: Well, there were many from Mrs. Brennan and Mrs. Hazel
Suze: and Mrs. O'Donnell and Mister Edwards. However, my favorite teacher
Suze: was Moura Kraszewski, and she was my Hebrew school teacher
Suze: and as a little girl, I never wanted to go
Suze: to Brownies or be in Girl Scouts. I wanted to
Suze: go to Hebrew school at a very young age, so.
Suze: Every day I would go to regular school and then
Suze: I'd have to get on a bus and go all
Suze: the way down to where the synagogue was and they
Suze: had Hebrew school and I would be in there for
Suze: a few hours every day until my mom and dad
Suze: were off work and they could pick me up because
Suze: we only had one car and Moura Kraszewski and Mora
Suze: is Hebrew for teacher there was something that I just
Suze: loved about this woman.
Suze: And every Friday when we would go to synagogue because
Suze: I would say please let's go. Can you imagine a
Suze: little kid saying, Can we go to services?
KT: I can't.
Suze: And so we would go and I would ask if
Suze: I could sit with her and I would sit with
Suze: her and she loved her. I loved her and she
Suze: would hold my hand and she would say, you know, Suzie,
Suze: I taught you the alphabet.
Suze: And she did. And now that you know the alphabet,
Suze: just know that God will put together all the letters
Suze: for you into words and you'll understand everything because the
Suze: service was all in Hebrew and there was just something
Suze: about this woman.
Suze: That I loved and gave me a faith, not necessarily
Suze: in Judaism, but a faith that in in God, the
Suze: God for all.
KT: She inspired you.
KT: She inspired me in a
Suze: big way that in my face?
KT: Suze's getting all excited reminiscing.
Suze: And I wrote her a letter when I turned 20.
Suze: You did, and I told her what she meant to
Suze: me and I said, and she was.
Suze: Older and I said one day I bet I'm gonna
Suze: grow up and you're gonna be proud of who you
Suze: helped make me but what's funny is I have no
Suze: idea she ever saw what happened to me and I anyway,
Suze: don't get me teary eyed... come on, what's the next question?
KT: All right, this is from Janet. Look at you. You
KT: are getting
Suze: emotional so much.
Suze: You did love your doesn't it feel good to love somebody.
Suze: I mean really love somebody, not because you're in a
Suze: relationship with them or whatever, just love them for what
Suze: they gave you.
KT: So Janet, be so proud that you are a retired teacher,
KT: and I hope you had you had students like Suze,
KT: like little Suze.
KT: So now on, she says, now Suze on to getting
KT: rid of my annuity through equitable. I have a variable
KT: and index linked deferred annuity contract Series B that I
KT: took out with money my dad left me when he died.
KT: In the six years it went from $50,000 to $68,300.
KT: If I figured it correctly, that is a 36.
KT: 6% rate of growth. The question is, do I have
KT: to cash out the annuity or can a brokerage firm
KT: have the money transferred for me? Or she's now asking,
KT: Can you do a Suze School. The teacher wants you
KT: to do a Suze School. So how does she, can
KT: she do that?
Suze: Wanna know what's funny, KT.
Suze: I'll tell you what's funny here is that I actually
Suze: saw this and I wrote Janet and I told her
Suze: exactly what I thought she should do.
KT: Well, tell us what you told Janet.
Suze: But before I tell you what I told Janet to do,
Suze: can I just do a very quick Suze School on
Suze: why annuities are so bad?
KT: Go for it.
Suze: So Janet put in $50,000.06 years ago.
Suze: It's now worth $68,300 so in six years it grew $18,300.
Suze: That happens to be only a 5.4% approximately.
Suze: Compounded annual rate of growth, which is horrific in today's
Suze: market in the last 6 years. That is horrific. You,
Suze: Janet were in an annuity that was in an indexed
Suze: annuity that was indexed according to the Standard and Poor's
Suze: 500 index this year alone. It's up almost 30%. Are
Suze: you kidding me?
Suze: So number one, an indexed annuity is not a good
Suze: investment because you only get a percentage of what the
Suze: index goes up. You do not get the entire thing.
Suze: That's number one. Number 2, Janet, if you decide to
Suze: surrender this annuity now, then all $18,300 of growth is
Suze: gonna be taxable to you as ordinary income.
Suze: If you had simply put that $50,000 in
Suze: a mutual fund. Same thing, mutual fund, ETF, whatever it
Suze: may be, and you wanted to cash out now and
Suze: it's been 6 years.
Suze: That would be taxed to you as capital gains, big,
Suze: big difference. Number 2, let's just say you decided to
Suze: keep that annuity. You died, and now it goes down
Suze: to your beneficiaries. They are going to owe ordinary income
Suze: tax on anything above that $50,000. In this case, $18,300.
Suze: If you had that in a mutual fund and you
Suze: died and they inherited it, guess what, that $18,300 would
Suze: be non-taxable to them because they would get a step
Suze: up in cost basis on it. So do all start
Suze: to now understand why I don't like annuities? One thing
Suze: I also just have to say, KT.
Suze: If Janet was not 68, let's say she was 57,
Suze: she's under 59.5, and she cashed this out, there would
Suze: be a 10% federal tax penalty
Suze: on it number one.
Suze: Number 2 is that all annuities in most cases come
Suze: with a surrender charge, and she could very well still
Suze: be under a surrender charge of 4, 5, 3%, whatever
Suze: it is, if she cashes it out before the surrender
Suze: period is over. Yeah, what should she so assuming, my
Suze: dear Janet, as I wrote you that you did put
Suze: in $50,000 with money you've already paid taxes on.
Suze: And assuming that you are no longer in a surrender
Suze: period for this annuity, if it were me, I would
Suze: surrender $9150 right now before the end of the year,
Suze: which is half of your gain. That's what I would do,
Suze: and I would pay taxes on it.
Suze: Now what's interesting is that all interest or gains are
Suze: taxed before you get your original money back. January 1st,
Suze: I would then just surrender the rest of the $59,150
Suze: which is totally what's left. You'd owe taxes on $9150
Suze: for next year, taxes on that, and that's what I
Suze: would do just that easy. All right KT, next question. What?
KT: I think I'm still spinning on what to do.
Suze: No, but let me tell you why I took so
Suze: much time with that. All people think about when they
Suze: buy an annuity is what the financial salesperson told them,
Suze: which is you can make money tax deferred. You don't
Suze: have to pay taxes on this until you withdraw the money.
Suze: Blah blah blah. If you invest in this and you
Suze: die and you have less in here, if it's worth
Suze: less than your original amount, your beneficiaries will get as
Suze: much as you originally put in. That's how it is sold.
Suze: What most people don't understand is if you invest in
Suze: an ETF or a mutual fund or even an individual stock,
Suze: you don't pay taxes on it until you sell it,
Suze: so it's tax deferred anyway but at a capital gains
Suze: rate versus ordinary income tax and on and on. So
Suze: that's why I went into it so much. Just do
Suze: me all a favor. Can you stay away from them?
Suze: All right,
KT: All right. Next question is from Teresa.
KT: This is a little this question really confuses me. It says,
KT: what is the best credit score to have when buying
KT: a home? 720 or more and which FICO score is used?
KT: I don't understand this. She writes 5,6,4,7,8 10. What does
KT: that mean, Suze?
Suze: If that confused all of you as well.
Suze: There are many different FICO scores, believe it or not,
Suze: many re iterations as to how FICO figures what your
Suze: FICO score is. Again, FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation.
Suze: The company that originally created the score and most creditors
Suze: only use a FICO score. They do not use a
Suze: Vantage score, so any of those scores that maybe you
Suze: get for free, that isn't what 80% of your creditors
Suze: actually use.
Suze: If you're buying a home, and I'll just break this
Suze: down for all of you. KT, you're gonna die because
Suze: here's another long one for you.
KT: You're gonna do a FICO Suze School?
Suze: I am, so FICO score 8.
Suze: 8 is the one that's most widely used by creditors
Suze: for general credit decisions and that kind of includes whether
Suze: they're gonna give you a credit card or not or
Suze: a personal loan and sometimes even auto loans. However, it
Suze: depends on what the specific score is that the lender
Suze: happens to use, so you should be asking them.
Suze: But again, FICO score 8 is the score that is
Suze: most commonly used for just general credit decisions, and I
Suze: hope I get this right.
KT: It's most
KT: popular used by banks and creditors, things like that.
Suze: However, FICO score number 2, 4, and 5.
Suze: Right, are the ones that are mostly used by mortgage lenders.
Suze: And these are the classic FICO scores KT that you
Suze: and I used to talk about years and years ago
Suze: and are part of the models that are mandated by
Suze: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now let's say you want
Suze: to get an auto loan. Let's just say you do.
Suze: The auto score 8 or 9 are the ones that
Suze: are usually used by auto lenders, just so you know.
Suze: And if you're really doing a credit application, as I
Suze: said before, you're sticking with number 8.
Suze: And that's kind of what you need to know.
KT: I, I think we have to clarify if, if, if
KT: I understand it correctly, Suze, these numbers are the numbers
KT: of the score system used by creditors, banks, so on
KT: and so forth...
Suze: And by FICO. Yes, now there's two different numbers. There's
Suze: your actual FICO score KT and FICO scores
Suze: run anywhere from like 300 up to 850 to answer
Suze: Teresa's question, you want a FICO score of about 760
Suze: or above doesn't matter 760 all the way to 850
Suze: it'll be the same to get the lowest interest rate,
Suze: but you need to know that is your FICO score
Suze: when on the model number 2
Suze: 4 or 5, which is what is used for mortgages.
KT: And I think I just want to say something. The
KT: model numbers that are stated here from her, her asking
KT: the question are numbers that are used B2B. They're not, yeah,
KT: so we have to explain to everybody.
Suze: But you have to know which model to use. She
Suze: obviously knew about them.
Suze: So it's, you have to look at your score for
Suze: that model to know where you really fall.
KT: OK,
Suze: That's all.
Suze: It's really not that complicated.
KT: But I, I don't want people to be confused after
KT: teaching them for two decades about their personal FICO score
KT: versus a model number used by a creditor or bank.
Suze: But do you understand why it matters?
KT: Yes, I do. All right,
Suze: Then they shouldn't be confused if you understand. All right, sorry, KT.
KT: OK, are we ready to move on?
Suze: I am.
KT: All right. So this is next question. Is a Merry Christmas. Hello,
KT: Suze and KT. I would like to know how you
KT: feel about Robin Hood. Is it good for buying and
KT: selling stocks? This is from Marilyn I tell Marilyn, what,
KT: what do you think about Robin Hood? I used to
KT: call Suze Robin Hood.
Suze: What made you stop?
KT: Because there's a company called Robin Hood. I don't want
KT: them to think you're endorsing Robin Hood, the company.
Suze: Well, I kind of am, in that I like them.
Suze: A few years ago, I want to have let you
Suze: touch them with a 10 foot pole, seriously, but they
Suze: have adapted their ways of being, and now I think
Suze: they are a fine brokerage firm that you absolutely can
Suze: invest in.
Suze: They've also been a pretty interesting stock investment if you
Suze: want to speculate as well. Anyway, go on, KT.
KT: Next question from Susan. Hi, Suze and KT. I've been
KT: married to my high school sweetheart for a little over
KT: a year now. We are both
KT: 67 and so grateful to have found each other again.
KT: We are very happy. We both have children from previous marriages,
KT: and I have a will and a trust, leaving my
KT: assets to my children as does he.
KT: Now she said, I'm selling my house in California and
KT: will have a profit of about $700,000. This is my
KT: only asset aside from a small Alliant account and a
KT: Schwab account. My husband has about $80,000 in an IRA.
KT: The house I'm selling is one I inherited from my mother.
KT: I would like to keep this money fairly liquid and
KT: extremely safe with little risk. I may invest 200 to
KT: $300,000 of it in our eventual second home. If we
KT: sell his home as well. My plan is that we
KT: will both contribute equal amounts to the new home. The
KT: rest I would like to put in a combination of
KT: Alliant CDs and maybe a Vanguard VOO.
KT: I would very much appreciate your advice, she said. It's
KT: a little scary, but I know I can trust you,
KT: and I think I can do this.
Suze: So I love that you...
KT: Found her high school sweetheart,
Suze: But you've only been married for a little over a
Suze: year now, which really, Susan is a very, very short
Suze: period of time. It just is regardless of how long
Suze: ago you knew him when you sell the house that
Suze: you have that you inherited.
Suze: And you take 2 or 300,000 of that and put
Suze: it in a house with your husband equal amounts if
Suze: you happen to put it in title joint tenancy with
Suze: right of survivorship, if you were to die, your half
Suze: automatically goes to him.
Suze: And if his half or his trust or will says
Suze: that it's to go to his kids you have disinherited yours.
Suze: How you hold title to property overrides the wishes of
Suze: your trust, your will, his trust, and his will. Understand
Suze: what I'm saying to you here.
Suze: Therefore, you are never to put this $700,000 into his
Suze: name on any level as joint tenants. You are always
Suze: to keep it in your name under your separate account period,
Suze: do you hear me?
Suze: He could be the greatest guy in the world, but
Suze: it is your inheritance for your children. His money is
Suze: his inheritance for his children. So what would I do?
Suze: If you are going to buy a house with him
Suze: and you put 200 or 300,000 in it, you each
Suze: should own it as tenants in common, and you could
Suze: do that within a trust.
Suze: And what that means is that on your death your
Suze: half goes to your children upon his death it goes
Suze: to his children, and you could give each other a
Suze: life estate in that house, which means you get to
Suze: live in there, but upon that person's death, it gets
Suze: divided according to where you want your assets to go.
Suze: So number one, that's what I would be doing if
Suze: I were you. In terms of what should you do
Suze: with the rest of the money.
Suze: I don't really know enough about you to really tell you.
Suze: Obviously Alliant Credit Union CDs are a great place, as
Suze: well as Treasury notes at this period of time, giving
Suze: a nice interest rate. If you want growth, you might
Suze: want to wait till Keith Fitzgerald comes out with his
Suze: thing in a month or so or whenever it does.
Suze: We're just all patiently waiting.
Suze: But just go easy with that money and for now
Suze: just leave it in like an account at either Schwab
Suze: in their government money market account or something like that.
Suze: All right, I hope that was clear.
KT: OK, next question is from Sandra. I like this question, Suze.
Suze: What you didn't like the others?
KT: No, but I like this one because listen to this. We,
KT: we experienced it ourselves. I'm 57 and I live in
KT: a 52 year old condo in Miami. We have had
KT: several assessments and another one coming up next month for
KT: a total.
KT: $42,000 in the last few years. I owe $69,000 on
KT: my condo. We have many delinquent owners that live in
KT: my building to the sum of half a million dollars.
KT: I'm considering putting my condo up for sale.
KT: But the realtor is advising me that I will have
KT: to pay the assessment in full before the closing. Is
KT: that true? I have 8 years before I retire. I'm
KT: not sure what the right thing to do is sell
KT: and go rent or just hold tight. I'm afraid the
KT: assessments are not going to end.
KT: And many unit owners will not be able to pay
KT: their part. The rest of us will get stuck picking
KT: that up too. I hope you can give me some guidance.
Suze: You know, this is another funny one. I answered her
Suze: directly because this is a really serious situation. It is, especially,
Suze: and I laid it out. Do 1,2,3,4,5 things you need
Suze: to know. And with that said, everybody, if you want
Suze: and you have a question.
Suze: Just write into ask Suze S U Z E podcast at gmail.com.
Suze: If KT chooses it, it will be on the podcast,
Suze: but I go through these questions every once in a while,
Suze: and if I see one that catches my attention, that
Suze: needs truly an answer right away, I answer it most
Suze: of the time, not all the time, but most of
Suze: the time. It just depends how many has come in.
Suze: So this one was Sandra and the truth of the
Suze: matter is just to summarize it. That these things that
Suze: are happening, especially in condos in Miami, in Florida that
Suze: are older than 20 years of age.
Suze: They are getting assessments. They're deteriorating, and because of that
Suze: collapse of that condo where many people were killed, now
Suze: the Miami laws are making it so that you have
Suze: to bring the condo up to date. And given that
Suze: they've all let it go for so long, these assessments
Suze: are not little. Some are $100,000 some are $200,000 or more.
Suze: And a lot of people are just moving out. They
Suze: don't care. They think they're just gonna absolutely walk away
Suze: from it, which is why so many people are in
Suze: arrears in the building. So first of all, Sandra's realtor
Suze: is absolutely correct.
Suze: If you were able to sell it, Sandra, you would
Suze: have to pay the special assessment before closing. But the
Suze: fact that this is happening, many buyers are very reluctant
Suze: to buy something that has existing special assessments on it. Also,
Suze: this is going to be a very difficult sell for
Suze: you because you almost have to disclose to the new
Suze: buyer
Suze: that there are a high number of delinquent owners in
Suze: your building, and when they realize that it can make
Suze: your unit more difficult to sell and especially it could
Suze: impact the sale price and I could go on and
Suze: on and on given the age of your building, which
Suze: is 52 years of age.
Suze: It's more likely that you're gonna need a lot of
Suze: assessments in the future and so it's very difficult what
Suze: should you do. If you really want out then you're
Suze: going to have to put in my opinion, a price
Suze: on this condo,
Suze: that somebody will go, I'll chance this. Oh, it's worth,
Suze: let's just say it's worth 300,000, and she only wants...
Suze: Sandra wants 150,000 for it, and she's paid for the assessment.
Suze: I'll take it, but you're gonna have to make an
Suze: offer that is so enticing to somebody. I can't even
Suze: tell you otherwise chances are...
Suze: you're gonna be stuck right there, right? And remember, continued
Suze: assessments and a high delinquency rate is going to continue
Suze: to negatively impact your property's value over time.
Suze: So these are all the things you have to think about,
Suze: but you should consult a financial adviser, you know, absolutely
Suze: make sure you attend the HOA meetings to find out
Suze: what do they have planned, how are they gonna help you,
Suze: and consider also legal advice
Suze: because maybe a condo lawyer can help you understand your
Suze: rights and the association's options for dealing with delinquent owners
Suze: and I can go on and on but that's approximately
Suze: what you have to do. The reason that I liked
Suze: that you picked this one KT.
Suze: Is this isn't just affecting Sandra. It might affect us
Suze: in the condo that we live in. Like we've been
Suze: in there a number of years. It's going on 25
Suze: years of age, and I've been told that work needs
Suze: to be done on it. Now in our situation, thankfully
Suze: nobody's in arrears and it's a wealthy
Suze: enough building really that people have the money to pay
Suze: the assessments, but don't just think that buying a condo
Suze: in Florida is the key to making money in real estate.
Suze: It may become your greatest nightmare yet.
KT: All right, Suze, this next question for you is from Susannah.
Suze: This is our last one, right?
KT: Yea.
Suze: And because I went so long and you already did
Suze: your quizzy up front, we don't have a quizzy for you today.
KT: OK, well this is a good one. Hello Suze and KT.
KT: I'm 51, single, no kids. Is having my trust as
KT: a beneficiary to my bank brokerage accounts instead of opening
KT: new accounts under my trust name OK?
KT: If having my trust as the primary beneficiary, do I
KT: need a secondary
KT: beneficiary?
Suze: And the answer to that question, Susanna, is no, no, no.
Suze: Go to the trouble of changing your accounts to the
Suze: title of the trust. Why is that? Because, all right,
Suze: if you die and your beneficiary happens to be the trust.
Suze: No big deal. You avoided probate, so to speak. Maybe,
Suze: maybe not, depends how you did everything. However, the problem is,
Suze: what if you don't die and you're incapacitated.
Suze: And now it's just in your name with the beneficiary
Suze: being your trust. Remember, one of the goals of having
Suze: a living trust is that in case of an incapacity,
Suze: your successor trustee can step in and pay your bills,
Suze: do all kinds of things for you. So no, it
Suze: is not OK to have the beneficiary just be the trust.
Suze: You are to open it up in your trust name,
Suze: change the title.
Suze: Right, KT, what do you think?
KT: Boxing Day.
Suze: Boxing Day.
Suze: What what's in my box today?
KT: Let's go, let's have some goodies in the box.
Suze: No, what's in the box?
KT: What's our leftovers?
Suze: What's my leftovers?
KT: Well, we have, we have a lot of leftovers.
Suze: Well surprise me.. but here's the thing, everybody,
KT: No sweets for you.
Suze: But before we go on, today is December 26th, and yesterday,
Suze: December 25th
Suze: was Jimmy Buffett's seventy-eighth birthday.
KT: Yeah, Jimmy, we miss you. We miss you so much.
Suze: So, so much. I can't even tell you. And we've
Suze: been playing Mele Kalikimaka, all your songs. We played it all
Suze: day yesterday for your birthday.
Suze: But wherever you are, my dear Jimmy, please know that
Suze: these two little mermaids of yours miss you so very,
Suze: very much.
KT: So, so Suze, we still have one more podcast in 2024.
KT: That's Sunday. Maybe I'm going to come on with you.
Suze: Maybe I'm going to take the day off.
KT: No, maybe I'll do it with you.
Suze: Maybe I'm gonna take the day off.
KT: Don't take the day off
Suze: Maybe we need to give Robert a day off.
KT: No, we need a year end.
Suze: Oh, we do?
KT: We need a year end. We need a summary. We, Robert,
KT: why don't you do our year-end funny?
Suze: Yea Robert, what's wrong with you?
KT: Let Robert do a year-end Sunday Suze School that isn't
KT: a school at all. It's Sunday fun with Suze a
KT: year end.
Suze: Well, let's see what he can do, all right, but
Suze: until either then or next year or whatever, we always
Suze: wish you a very happy new year. We'll do it
Suze: again in just a few more days, but just in case,
Suze: happy new year. We love you all very much and KT...
Suze: Do you want to announce anything?
KT: Well, it's not an announcement. We owe a big thank
KT: you at this year end to our friend SIA.
KT: Who's made us all so happy and made us what Suze?
Suze and KT: Unstoppable!