Suze: December 5th, 2024. Welcome everyone.
KT: Happy birthday to you. Happy happy birthday to you. Happy
KT: to Suze. Happy half, half, half birthday to you. December
KT: 5th is her half birthday
KT: which she celebrates more than her birthday on June 5th.
KT: So happy birthday, Suze.
Suze: Thank you, my dear KT 73 and a halh. How's that feel? Pretty good?
Suze: The next one? 74.
KT: Ok. All right. All right. Let's, let's get on with it. Also,
KT: my sister's coming today.
KT: Barbara's coming today.
Suze: Her little sister and today is Leslie Lynn's full birthday
Suze: and Leslie is one of my oldest friends from grammar school.
Suze: I love her so much. I can't tell you happy birthday, Leslie. However,
Suze: where was I welcome everybody to the Women and Money
Suze: podcast as well as everybody smart enough to listen today
Suze: happens to be KT and Suze. Anything.
Suze: So, all you need to do is send in a
Suze: question to ask Suze Suze podcast at gmail.com. And if
Suze: KT picks it, we will answer it on this podcast
Suze: and you just never know when I will answer it
Suze: personally directly to you myself.
KT: I picked a great um selection today because I picked
KT: all the ones that I didn't know the answers to.
KT: So everyone I get to. No, I get to learn
KT: a lot today.
Suze: Wait, KT. How many of the questions that come in
Suze: that you look at, you, be honest with me now.
KT: 50%.
Suze: Do you know the answer to?
KT: 50%? About 50% after all these years of listening to you?
KT: I think I know about 50% soon. I'll be able
KT: to take over this podcast.
Suze: I'm sure you will. All right, sweetheart. What do you got?
KT: First one is sad, but one that I know so
KT: many people write about. It's from Katina. It's not really sad,
KT: but it's just true. She said hi, Suze. My mother's
KT: almost 71 years old and has no burial or life insurance.
KT: She keeps applying for whole life or modified whole life
KT: insurance policies. I keep trying to explain to her that
KT: she's just throwing away her money.
KT: She won't live long enough for it to pay due
KT: to her health. So, Susie, what should we be doing
KT: with her money that would pay the most towards her
KT: funeral expenses. That will ease her worries.
Suze: So, Katina, here's what I don't understand you say in
Suze: this email, she won't live long enough for
Suze: it to pay due to her health. That makes absolutely
Suze: no sense because the reasons that she's getting this is
Suze: that if she dies sooner than later, she has some
Suze: money to pay for her burial. What you need to
Suze: do is sit down with her and find out how
Suze: much money she has.
Suze: Does she have enough money right now to pay for
Suze: her funeral expenses? And just simply do a prepaid funeral,
Suze: just do that so she knows that is covered
Suze: and therefore she doesn't have to buy insurance anymore to
Suze: do it. Obviously, she's buying the insurance that she sees
Suze: on TV, for only $9.99 a month, regardless of your
Suze: health conditions, you can get this policy and that's what
Suze: she pays into. So if you don't want her to
Suze: continue to do that, you have to solve her fear
Suze: of why she's doing that and look at her money
Suze: and get a prepaid funeral plan. It's as simple as that. Now,
Suze: if she doesn't have enough money for a prepaid funeral plan,
Suze: can you prepay her funeral for her? Do you have
Suze: enough money. If you don't have enough money for that either?
Suze: Then I have to tell you maybe these little policies
Suze: of $30 a month that might pay for her funeral expenses,
Suze: especially if she is not healthy, might be the way
Suze: to go, believe it or not. Next KT
KT: Ok. Next question is from Stephanie dear Suze. I'm so
KT: excited to finally speak to you.
Suze: Are we speaking, Steph?
Suze: How are you girlfriend?
KT: I hope you have the time to answer my sincere question.
KT: A few months ago. I finally got brave enough to
KT: take control of an old 403 B I had from
KT: a job 20 years ago, I set up a roll
KT: over 401k account with Vanguard in preparation because that is
KT: where I have my Roth IRA. Thanks to you.
KT: Then I called Voya and asked them to do a
KT: custodian to custodian transfer. They tried to send me the
KT: money and I said, absolutely not. I don't want it
KT: sent anywhere other than Vanguard and gave them the address.
KT: The woman said she understood and a check would be
KT: sent out. But when she said the amount, it was
KT: less than what it should be.
KT: When I questioned her, she said they had to withhold 20%.
KT: I said, no, I'm not taking the money. I don't
KT: need taxes withheld.
KT: So at the end of the day, she said almost
KT: 8000 was left behind. I asked her what would happen
KT: to this money and she did not reply, Susie, who
KT: got it wrong? And how do I get my money
KT: back under control? Thank you for everything you've taught me.
Suze: Stephanie. I cannot tell you that the representative at Voya
Suze: not necessarily Voya itself, but the person working there could
Suze: not be more wrong if they tried
Suze: when you do a custodian to custodian transfer, 20% is
Suze: not withheld if they were to send you directly the
Suze: check made out to Vanguard, 20% does not have to
Suze: be withheld. The fact that they held 20%. I'll tell
Suze: you what happens to that $8000. If you don't take
Suze: $8000 out of your own money right now
Suze: and put it into your Vanguard account out of your
Suze: own money,
Suze: then what's gonna happen is that $8000 is going to
Suze: be taxed to you as ordinary income. The only way
Suze: around that, believe it or not is to take $8000
Suze: out of your own money right now
Suze: and make up for it and put it in to
Suze: the account to make up for that. But that makes
Suze: absolutely no sense. I would be so aggravated at Voya's representative.
Suze: I can't tell you,
Suze: you need to go above this person's head. You need
Suze: to go to the manager of Voya, you need to
Suze: go to anybody at Voya and you need to say
Suze: I want that $8000 that you withheld transferred right now
Suze: into my Vanguard account right now.
Suze: You never should have withheld it. You made a mistake
Suze: and you are 100% wrong. They'll know that they are wrong.
Suze: It's just this one person does not understand the rules
Suze: and it's just that simple, but it's very sad. People
Suze: never ever make that mistake.
Suze: All right, KT.
KT: Yeah, that, that's a big mistake.
Suze: Yeah, but she could take $8000 and put it in
Suze: and make up the difference there. And then when she
Suze: got the $8000 refund,
Suze: it's just a refund to her. But if she doesn't
Suze: do that, that $8000 will be taxable if she can't
Suze: fix it through Voya.
KT: How much time do you have to do that?
Suze: 60 days from the day that they did the transfers.
KT: So next question from Shannon dear Susie, my financial advisor
KT: has recommended a fixed income annuity. I am retired at
KT: 67 and already getting social security plus a small pension.
KT: She says income guaranteed for life example, 360,000 into and
KT: receive 24,000 a year for life. What should I ask
KT: at our meeting?
Suze: So Shannon, here's what I want you to do. Your
Suze: question to me is what should I ask at our meetings?
Suze: Even before you go into your meeting, you have to decide,
Suze: do you have any beneficiaries that you want to leave
Suze: this money to? Do you have children, nieces, nephews? Do
Suze: you even have like a hospital or any charity that
Suze: you wanna leave it to? Because guaranteed for life? Great.
Suze: However, you don't know how long your life is going
Suze: to go on for. You are only 67 years of age.
Suze: Hopefully you will live for a long period of time,
Suze: but you could also die - accident, whatever it is
Suze: very shortly. So therefore that money will be gone the
Suze: day that you die. So that's a question. If you
Suze: don't care
Suze: if you don't have beneficiaries, all you want is a
Suze: guaranteed income. Ok? That is a 6.6% return on your money,
Suze: but that does not take into consideration inflation or anything
Suze: like that. Is it possible that you could invest that
Suze: $360,000 and take out $24,000 a year for a long
Suze: time
Suze: and probably achieve the exact same thing. Yeah, if you
Suze: know how to invest in bonds in dividend, paying stocks
Suze: and things like that and you want to manage your money,
Suze: you could probably do better than that, believe it or not,
Suze: and have money to leave to your beneficiaries. But if
Suze: you just want 24,000 a year coming in for the
Suze: rest of your life and you don't have to think
Suze: about it. Ok,
Suze: I don't have a problem with that. So what should
Suze: you ask at your meeting? Number one: I just think
Suze: it's important for you to know
Suze: how much commission this woman is going to get, if
Suze: you put $360,000 into this. Next, you also say in this, right?
Suze: That even though KT didn't mention it that you have
Suze: another $370,000 invested in equity.
Suze: What do you have That's just safe and sound. Do
Suze: you have a 12 month emergency fund? Do you have
Suze: even more than that? Because if this is all you
Suze: have and you have 360,000 that you're never gonna be
Suze: able to touch again. 370,000 already invested in equities
Suze: that hopefully are generating income for you. And something goes
Suze: wrong at the time when the market has plummeted. Where
Suze: is your money? Where's it gonna come from also? So
Suze: I would just want her to look at your entire situation.
Suze: Not just
Suze: Shannon, just let's put this in and you have 24,000
Suze: a year. Let's look at every aspect of your financial
Suze: life and you should ask her those things. How does
Suze: this fit in? What happens if I need more money
Suze: and you'll find out that. Really? Maybe you wanna do this,
Suze: maybe you don't wanna do it with $360,000. Maybe you're like,
Suze: you know what?
Suze: I'm 67. I'm getting social security. I have a small pension.
Suze: I'm doing all right. Maybe, maybe I own a mortgage
Suze: on my house and it's better off paying the mortgage
Suze: off on my house. There are other things for you
Suze: to consider.
Suze: But what should I ask at our meeting? I just
Suze: gave you an example of a few things that I
Suze: want you to think about and what that spurs in
Suze: you that you should ask. All right.
KT: Ok. Next question, I love this. Next question ready?
KT: This is from Susan. She said hi, Suze and KT. Thank
KT: you for all your knowledge within the last two years. Listen,
KT: everybody within the last two years I was able to
KT: go from $0 in retirement and investments to close to
KT: 350,000 today.
KT: She said, Suze, I wouldn't be here without you. I can't.
KT: Thank you enough. I have a question about individual brokerage
KT: account and gains. This is my first year investing into
KT: individual brokerage accounts. If I sell my stock in Palantir, ready.
KT: Thanks to your suggestions, Suze, I bought it at $16.
KT: What is it today?
Suze: It's around 70 KT.
KT: Yeah. Ok. So if I sold, do I have to
KT: pay capital gains? Can I avoid being taxed in any way? So,
KT: and then she says, thank you so much. That's from Susan.
Suze: So first, let me set the record straight, Everybody. It
Suze: was Keith Fitzgerald
Suze: that recommended Palantir across the board at $7 a share seven.
Suze: And that's when I started to talk about it and
Suze: everything even I went on CNBC and I said, everybody,
Suze: you should buy it and now it's up like three
Suze: or 400% since then. So hopefully you listened when we
Suze: first started to talk about it or when Keith first
Suze: mentioned it. So is there any way if you sell
Suze: it to avoid capital gains? No, the real question is
Suze: you really think you should sell it?
Suze: This is like a once in a lifetime kind of
Suze: stock that very probably according to Keith will go from
Suze: 70 to 85 up to in the 100 area, will
Suze: it or will it not? I don't know. But Keith
Suze: also has a thing of once you have doubled your
Suze: money in your situation, if it went from 16 to
Suze: 32 you should take those shares off the table.
Suze: And that is because now everything else that's in there,
Suze: it's a free trade. You took the money, you originally
Suze: invested off the table and maybe you just hold it
Suze: on the sidelines for a while. And if Palantir goes
Suze: back down, you reinvest it or you take that money
Suze: and you invest it in something else. You could also
Suze: sell half, if it's making you nervous, you don't have
Suze: to be an all or nothing investor.
Suze: I own Palantir. I own a lot of Palantir, KT
Suze: owns a lot of Palantir. We listened to Keith and
Suze: there were many times when it went from 7 to
Suze: 14 to 28 to 30 we were tempted, right? We're
Suze: still holding, I'm going to listen to him about this
Suze: because he chose it for a reason
Suze: and I think it's up to you. But the answer
Suze: to your question is if you sell it, you absolutely
Suze: have to pay capital gains tax on it. All right.
KT: Hi, Suze. And, and this name I said I'm, I'm
KT: gonna use her name because I love the name Ma Angelina.
KT: I think her name, she's the mom and her email
KT: is Ma Angelina.
Suze: Hi, Mama.
KT: I'm 64 years old and I have a special needs
KT: son who's 26. I underwent a divorce a year ago.
KT: I have updated my estate trust and advanced directives with
KT: power of attorney. I have a 401k Roth IRA and
KT: an annuity with Equitable. My banker is asking me to
KT: invest in a nationwide variable annuity for my retirement which
KT: will help me with my son's future.
KT: I'm not retired yet and would like to in a
KT: year or two. Should I invest 100,000 in a variable
KT: annuity ready for this Suze? My net worth is about
KT: a million dollars.
KT: Ok. She's 64.
Suze: Look at my face,
KT: I know I'm not gonna describe,
Suze: Describe my face. Come on,
Suze: Just describe it.
KT: Her face is getting red. It has that expression of like,
KT: are you kidding me?
Suze: Are you kidding me?
KT: All right. So let's tell her what to do.
Suze: Mama bear. The very first thing that's important is that
Suze: you have a special needs son, which most likely means
Suze: that he's on SSI social security income. All right. And
Suze: if he inherits money from you
Suze: after you have died, he will be disqualified from SSI
Suze: and good luck ever getting back on it. So your
Suze: main thing that you need to be doing is getting
Suze: a special needs trust. You need to see a lawyer
Suze: set up a special needs trust. So any money you
Suze: have goes into the special needs trust that can be
Suze: accessed by him or by somebody who's his trustee
Suze: and it won't disqualify him. In terms of a variable
Suze: annuity for your retirement.
Suze: Listen, I have a top 10 hate list of investments
Suze: that I hate and I don't use that word lightly.
Suze: I understand when I say that word that it absolutely
Suze: sends Shriver, send shrivers...
KT: Shivers, shivers.
Suze: All right. So it absolutely sends splinters. It sends something
Suze: and like it sends shivers down KT's spine. She hates
Suze: that word hate. Ok. So
Suze: one of the things that I hate the most are
Suze: variable annuities. There is not one circumstance on any level
Suze: where it makes sense to do. Not one, not one.
Suze: So therefore, the answer to that question is not only
Suze: should you not invest $100,000 you should never ever invest
Suze: in a variable annuity. If you wanna buy mutual funds,
Suze: if you wanna do things like that, exchange traded funds,
Suze: individual stocks, I don't have a problem with that.
Suze: I don't like variable annuities and it seems like you
Suze: already have an annuity with equitable. Hopefully it's a single
Suze: premium deferred annuity and not a variable annuity. All right KT, next.
KT: Ok. This is my last question.
KT: This is from Mary. Hi, KT and Suze. Stock market
KT: keeps going higher and higher. When do I take profits?
KT: I'm 57 and working full time for a modest salary.
KT: I don't need the money now, but I'm counting on
KT: it for retirement. If the market takes a major hit,
KT: how long will it take to recover?
KT: Ready, Suze? She said, I hope you have a crystal ball.
KT: I wanna say Mary, you need a crystal ball for
KT: these questions.
Suze: Well, here's what I can tell you.
Suze: It is very possible if the market were to go
Suze: down significantly, it could take 3, 5 or 10 years,
Suze: believe it or not, for it to recover.
Suze: So you have to ask yourself the question. How long
Suze: have you been invested in the stocks that you are
Suze: invested in? If you were to sell some of them,
Suze: would it be capital gains or ordinary income tax, number one.
Suze: Because you don't want to sell it before you have
Suze: held them for at least one year or longer? Ok. Next,
Suze: you really have to look at your emotion quotient,
Suze: which means how nervous are you? Because the goal of
Suze: money is for you to be secure. And if you
Suze: currently have enough money right now
Suze: that if you were to sell after taxes and you
Suze: put away safe and sound that if you were counting
Suze: on that money for retirement, that it would absolutely be
Suze: there because it would be invested in either bonds or
Suze: whatever that is absolutely safe and sound.
Suze: You are still young. You are 57 years of age.
Suze: So I don't know how long you plan to work,
Suze: but you may plan to work till you're 70 because
Suze: that really should be the new retirement age today, everybody.
Suze: Because that's when full Social Security will kick in -
Suze: perfect age to retire.
Suze: The market seem like they're going to continue up into 2025.
Suze: So I probably would not be selling right now if
Suze: I were you. But anything could happen at any time.
Suze: Sometimes when you don't know what to do, sell half.
Suze: Do something that makes you feel secure. But I like
Suze: that you're invested and if you're invested in stocks or
Suze: even an index fund that went up 30% this year,
Suze: ok. Maybe you just continue to hold on for now.
Suze: But it all comes down to what stocks are you
Suze: invested in? What investments do you have? And how do
Suze: they make you feel at this point in time. If
Suze: you are afraid, well,
Suze: there's only one way to squelch that far and that's
Suze: to sell. But then you cannot look back and go.
Suze: Why did I do that? So you might wanna look at,
Suze: do you have anything that's doubled in value?
Suze: And if it's doubled in value, do what Keith calls
Suze: a free trade, sell those shares that doubled and let
Suze: the rest ride. All right, KT. You know what time
Suze: it is right now.
KT: Quizzy time.
Suze: Are you excited?
KT: Yes, Suze. Quizzy's are not my favorite, but I'll never
KT: stop trying. I'm gonna go for the gold ring.
Suze: Who's giving you a gold ring?
KT: The gold ring is, is a metaphor. It's a saying
KT: when you're on a merry go round, you try to
KT: grab the gold ring.
Suze: It was never gold when I went on a merry
Suze: go round.
Suze: So this is from Linda, which is, this is, this
Suze: is my half birthday. You have to be nice to me.
KT: Ok.
Suze: Did you get me a present?
KT: I did.
KT: You'll get it, you'll get it at dinner time.
Suze: Are they my favorite things?
KT: Maybe, maybe let's not talk about it, let's not talk about.
Suze: All right. My question is, again, this is from Linda.
Suze: What would be better to open a traditional Roth,
Suze: a Roth IRA or mutual funds for five years? Which
Suze: one would be better KT?
KT: Probably it says for five years. Oh, that's a mutual fund.
KT: Probably the Roth IRA.
Suze: Are you sure? What about traditional Roth?
KT: I think the Roth a traditional Roth.
KT: Well, one is, um, I think the Roth Ira will
KT: give her more benefits. Does say say how old she is?
Suze: No.
KT: Oh.
KT: Maybe the Roth IRA.
Suze: Maybe?
KT: Definitely. I mean, that's my final answer.
Suze: Ding Ding Ding Ding.
KT: See Roth Ira.
Suze: I gave you a ding ding ding ding. Linda, you
Suze: need to listen to me. First of all, there's no
Suze: such thing as a traditional Roth. It's a traditional IRA,
Suze: which simply means it is pre taxed.
Suze: A Roth IRA is after tax and mutual funds are
Suze: just simply an investment. What you need to understand is
Suze: that within the Roth IRA, you can buy mutual funds
Suze: so they're not mutually exclusive. It's not like, oh, you
Suze: can just do mutual funds or you can just do
Suze: a Roth. A Roth IRA is a tax free house
Suze: for money
Suze: and within that house you have to hold an investment
Suze: and the investments you can hold are mutual funds, exchange
Suze: traded funds, individual stocks, whatever it is that you want.
Suze: So a Roth IRA and within the Roth IRA you
Suze: decide what you want to buy. All right, everybody. Party time, party, time,
Suze: party time.
Suze: Ok. Are you getting ready for your sister? She's gonna
Suze: land in just a few hours.
KT: So, Suze, let's do a sister's podcast on Sunday, Sunday sisters.
Suze: With Barbara?
KT: Let's do it with Barbara. Let's tell... Barbara, by the way,
KT: everyone is the mom of Travis and Sophia, she's our
KT: little sister.
Suze: Sophia is my favorite. Travis is KT's favorite.
Suze: Oh God, these kids are so great.
KT: So let's um let's do a sister's podcast. That will
KT: be fun if you want that. Everyone right into the
KT: women and Money app and tell Suze. Yes. Yes. Yes.
KT: Do it, do it, do it.
Suze: And by the way, the Women and Money app is
Suze: something that I love. You can download it for free
Suze: at Apple Apps or Google Play. Just search for women
Suze: and Money and you are in all right, everybody.
Suze: So it is my half birthday and I do have
Suze: a wish.
KT: What is it?
Suze: My wish is that for all of you, for all
Suze: of you to be safe and sound, to know that
Suze: you all have the ability to be the masters of
Suze: your own financial destiny
Suze: and may financial freedom bless really every one of your
Suze: doorsteps and may God bless every single one of you
Suze: and may you always be unstoppable.