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Robert: March 27, 2025. Welcome to the Women and Money podcast

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Robert: as well as everyone smart enough to listen. Hi everybody. Robert,

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Robert: the producer here. So it turns out there was a

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Robert: major electrical failure on the island where Suze and KT live,

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Robert: and of course you know that one needs electricity in

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Robert: order to record a podcast.

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Robert: And you should know by now that we don't like

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Robert: to leave you without a show. So what we're going

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Robert: to do today is revisit part of an Ask KT

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Robert: and Suze Anything episode from a while back, and we're

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Robert: going to jump right into it with KT asking the

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Robert: first question.

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KT: This question's from Ed. He writes, I'll keep it short.

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KT: I'm 51. I have 10,000 in a bank account.

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KT: Would Suze suggest investing it in a low cost brokerage

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KT: account or using it to pay the taxes on converting

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KT: some of my somewhat hefty balance, $600,000 in a traditional

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KT: 403B to a Roth 403B. Now Suze, remember Ed is 51.

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Suze: If it were me, Ed, I would absolutely take that

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Suze: $10,000 since you want to take it and invest it

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Suze: anyway in a brokerage account. I think that your money

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Suze: would be far better converting money to a Roth 403B

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Suze: where you will be also investing it.

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Suze: But you're going to be investing it tax free, so yes,

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Suze: I would be doing that if I were you, but

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Suze: I would be checking it with my CPA. Yes, KT.

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KT: So next question, another man, Mike.

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KT: I love we get all these mixed up questions because

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KT: it's the Women of Money podcast, but I love when

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KT: men come on.

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Suze: I thought she was going to say I love answering

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Suze: questions from all these mixed up men.

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KT: No, they're not. No, they're not mixed up. They're, they're listening.

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KT: So Mike says, I'm 61 years old and my wife

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KT: is 59. We are fortunate to have about $6 million

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KT: in retirement savings currently. Good for them.

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KT: Good for them, right, Suze?

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Suze: Can I just butt in for one second?

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KT: Yeah.

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Suze: So here's what's interesting.

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Suze: A while ago I was being interviewed by someone and

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Suze: they wanted to know how the questions that are coming

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Suze: into this podcast differed from the questions that came in

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Suze: for the Suze Orman show in 2001 all the way

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Suze: up that I did, I think, to 2015.

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Suze: Almost all the questions were I'm in debt. I don't

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Suze: know what to do. I don't have any retirement. I

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Suze: need to claim bankruptcy and on and on and on.

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Suze: Very few, seriously, very few were about. I have a

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Suze: million dollars here, $6 million there and on and on. Today,

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Suze: the majority of the questions because most of those people

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Suze: now that are writing in

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Suze: listened to me from all of my books, watched me

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Suze: on TV all those years.

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Suze: And now they're all multimillionaires, the majority of them. They

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Suze: all own one or two homes outright. They are all

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Suze: doing so great. I cannot even stand it. I'm so

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Suze: happy for them.

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KT: Well, that's a tribute to your work.

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Suze: So, but that's a tribute everybody to you can go

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Suze: from less to more. You can have money in your life.

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Suze: There is nobody out there that is excluded from being

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Suze: able to do that. The only person that excludes you

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Suze: from doing that is yourself, KT, go on.

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KT: So Mike is saying that he and his wife are very,

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KT: very fortunate, and they plan on working until they're

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KT: 62, so he's 61, she's 59, perhaps late and, and

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KT: continue to work. My question is regarding RMDs. Have you

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KT: done an episode or do you plan on doing an

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KT: episode on what type of planning you should do 3

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KT: years prior to retirement? I find it all a bit confusing.

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KT: I'm not sure how to prepare.

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KT: If not, can you direct me to some resources on RMDs? I,

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KT: I love you, Suze. I love your podcast and the

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KT: community that's from Mike. We love you too, Mike,

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Suze: And the community that Mike is talking about is the

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Suze: women and money community. And if you simply go on

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Suze: Apple Apps or Google Play, you get to download the

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Suze: app for free.

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Suze: And it's on that app that I say a lot

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Suze: of things that I do not say or do on

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Suze: the podcast, you know, KT, I think I answered him,

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Suze: but let me just tell you, Mike, the most important

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Suze: thing I think you should do, most important thing.

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Suze: You asked 3 years before RMD start, what should you do?

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Suze: Why in the world would you wait for 3 years

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Suze: before you take RMDs because you have to remember.

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Suze: That they changed the RMD laws. I think it was

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Suze: the Secure Act 2.0, and I think KT it was

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Suze: December of 2022. They changed the rules. Why are you laughing?

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KT: Because I can't remember what they did in December 2022.

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KT: How do you remember all these dates? Oh my God,

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KT: she's a genius.

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Suze: No, don't say that. I don't like when you say

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Suze: that anyway, anyway.

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Suze: So they changed the rules, and these rules really apply

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Suze: to you, Mike, even more than me. Obviously they changed

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Suze: the rule from RMD starting at the age of 72

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Suze: to 73, but the big change is that starting in 2033.

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Suze: If you were born 1960 or later, RMDs don't start

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Suze: until you are 75. Now think about that. Here you

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Suze: are only 61, so that's 14 years from now. I

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Suze: don't care about 3 years before your RMDs, and now

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Suze: we have a really big problem.

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Suze: Why don't you now if you can start to convert

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Suze: money from a traditional IRA or a traditional 401k or

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Suze: wherever it is to a Roth IRA, a Roth 401k?

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Suze: Why don't you make sure that you're doing back door

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Suze: Roths or whatever.

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Suze: Because if you were to do that, then you wouldn't

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Suze: be building on the money that you have in these

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Suze: retirement accounts right now. You would actually be building your

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Suze: Roth retirement accounts, so when the time comes, guess what?

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Suze: Your RMDs won't be that big anyway, just so you know.

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Suze: So that's really what I would be doing.

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Suze: There's all kinds of things that I could tell you

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Suze: to do that I'm sure I wrote you about, but

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Suze: that is the most important thing I want you to consider,

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Suze: all right, because if you start planning now, you'll be

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Suze: very happy that you did 15 or 14 years from now.

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Suze: All right, KT.

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KT: You don't like RMDs.

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Suze: I just think I'm mad at myself that we have

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Suze: to take them. I told you before...

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KT: You told us a couple podcasts that you made a mistake.

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Suze: I made a serious mistake, and I was yelling at

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Suze: the person I do all my money with. I was like,

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Suze: while we were discussing what my RMDs are going to be,

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Suze: when should we take them? Should we take them in

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Suze: like kind? What should we do with them and things

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Suze: like that.

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Suze: And I said, and why the heck didn't we convert

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Suze: in 2010 when we were able to convert all of it?

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Suze: Who cares if I would have paid taxes? I was

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Suze: allowed to pay taxes over 2011 and 2012, not 2010.

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Suze: And for all these years I would have had all

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Suze: this growth because I did magnificently truthfully, KT for us

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Suze: during all those years and I'm like, what was wrong

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Suze: with me?

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KT: What were you thinking?

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Suze: I was not thinking. All right.

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KT: All right, my, I, I love this question, Suze. This

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KT: is a need or a want question right from Eric.

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KT: Curious on your thoughts...

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Suze: Another man.

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KT: Yeah, I have. I picked a lot of guys. Suze,

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KT: curious on your thoughts on investing in art and wine,

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KT: both solo and I love this question and actively managed

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KT: with a company or through an app. So Eric's

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KT: asking your thoughts on investing in art and wine. I

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KT: love this question.

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Suze: Well, why don't you answer it.

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KT: Yes, yes, yes. However, I'm gonna answer if you can

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KT: afford it because it's if this is a need or

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KT: a want, it's really a want. And if you can

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KT: afford to invest in

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KT: art and wine boyfriend, as Suze would say do it. However...

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Suze: You don't know I would say that.

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KT: All right, so KT would say boyfriend, do it. Now wait,

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KT: KT has another bit of advice. I'd be very careful

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KT: in who I invested with in terms of a company

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KT: or an app.

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KT: I think it's really important that maybe you start some

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KT: direct investing either with a small gallery that you know,

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KT: or with the wineries themselves. Every great winery here, just

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KT: here in our own country in California

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KT: has fabulous programs and investigate what you want to do

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KT: before your investment.

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Suze: Oh she's so proud of her answer, everybody. Here's what

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Suze: I would tell you, Eric. There are more things than

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Suze: you realize when it comes to investing in art or wine.

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Suze: It's storing the wine. We have a very big wine collection.

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Suze: We do.

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KT: Yes, we do. Suze doesn't drink, by the way, everybody,

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KT: but has a sip maybe.

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Suze: When KT met me, I had already started to invest

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Suze: in wine.

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Suze: And I took her to a cellar that I had

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Suze: in New York and she was very impressed with it.

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Suze: And of course that investment went into her stomach, but

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Suze: that is besides the point.

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KT: No, went into a fabulous fine glass. That's right, with

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KT: a great dinner.

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Suze: Yes, but it cost me a lot of money.

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Suze: To store those wines just so you know it costs

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Suze: us money today to store all the wines...

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KT: And insure them.

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Suze: And insure them. All right, now let's move on to art.

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Suze: We invested in some art.

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Suze: And we thought we were gonna do great with it,

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Suze: and one of the pieces that we had evaluated the

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Suze: other day actually has gone down in value rather than up.

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Suze: And so when it also comes to art, you have

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Suze: to insure your art so there is a cost to

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Suze: protecting these investments and therefore you better take that into

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Suze: consideration so Eric, you better know what you're doing because

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Suze: chances are

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Suze: it might not be as great as an investment as

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Suze: you think after all the costs, especially if you don't

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Suze: have a reputable person to guide you.

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KT: Start with the wine.

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Suze: Also, I have to say one other thing. Most people

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Suze: who invest in serious pieces of art.

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Suze: They invest because they love the art.

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Suze: They love it. They love looking at it. They want

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Suze: it around them. They don't necessarily care about selling it ever.

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Suze: They just kind of want it, but KT, I know

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Suze: we can go on here. Why don't you tell them

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Suze: about the art that you missed investing in? Come on,

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Suze: a quick story. Come on, KT.

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KT: I was very, very good friends with Andy Warhol, everybody.

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Suze: And tell him what you passed up.

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KT: And I remember, and I was young, I was a

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KT: young art director in New York at the time, and

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KT: I remember, and Andy loved me. He would, he would

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KT: take take me to Studio 54 and all those great

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KT: night spots in New York. So anyway, I remember one

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KT: day we were in his factory in New York City, and,

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KT: and he was doing all these silk screens of Chairman

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KT: Mao and different portraits, his famous portraits.

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KT: And he asked me if I wanted one, and I said,

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KT: how much is it? He said, for you $350 350 dollars, everybody.

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Suze: And what did you say?

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KT: I said, Well, let me think about it. Maybe, maybe

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KT: I'll get one next month or so. I didn't think

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KT: at all about it.

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Suze: And you thought that you could never really afford it

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Suze: at that time.

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KT: No, no, no, no, I, I could afford it.

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Suze: But you didn't do it.

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KT: I didn't do it. Why? Because I thought I could

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KT: just do this anytime we're friends.

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Suze: Now just tell everybody what that sells for today.

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KT: I don't really know the exact price of his prints today, millions, millions, many,

235
00:14:27,479 --> 00:14:30,909
KT: many millions. He had the Marilyn Monroe. He had quite

236
00:14:30,909 --> 00:14:36,760
KT: a few famous great, great portraits. Grace Kelly, Grace Kelly

237
00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,039
KT: was a beautiful one. Yeah, all right,

238
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,359
Suze: So anyway, you, you probably.

239
00:14:41,770 --> 00:14:44,820
Suze: Shouldn't listen to KT. All right, go on.

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00:14:45,289 --> 00:14:49,070
KT: OK, so next question. Stick with the wine.

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00:14:49,169 --> 00:14:51,010
Suze: There was another thing she passed up that would have

242
00:14:51,010 --> 00:14:53,729
Suze: made her so wealthy. It's not even funny, but we

243
00:14:53,729 --> 00:14:55,270
Suze: can talk about that another time.

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KT: Coffee, right? The coffee story? OK.

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00:15:02,549 --> 00:15:05,700
KT: All right, next question. Let's get into my questions. I

246
00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:08,900
KT: have a mountain of questions. Hi, Suze. Let me start

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00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:12,650
KT: by acknowledging you as a trailblazer and beacon of light

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KT: for all of us women who want to take charge

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KT: of our lives and finances. Thank you. And I am,

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00:15:19,700 --> 00:15:21,700
KT: this is from Darchase.

251
00:15:22,229 --> 00:15:26,619
KT: She said, I am a recently widowed retired veteran's spouse.

252
00:15:26,989 --> 00:15:32,419
KT: Equity in the home that we purchased in 2005 has doubled.

253
00:15:32,710 --> 00:15:38,799
KT: The present mortgage rate is 3.5% with a balance of 116,000.

254
00:15:38,909 --> 00:15:45,270
KT: The home was built in 1986. It's presently worth about 270,000.

255
00:15:45,950 --> 00:15:48,510
KT: Suze, I would like to do some renovations, and I've

256
00:15:48,510 --> 00:15:52,619
KT: been thinking about using the equity to acquire upfront cash.

257
00:15:52,869 --> 00:15:58,760
KT: A 30-year refinance loan, especially with rates in excess of 7%,

258
00:15:58,869 --> 00:16:00,229
KT: is out of the question.

259
00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,219
KT: What would you suggest as an alternative to acquire cash

260
00:16:05,489 --> 00:16:09,440
KT: without losing my current rate of 3.5%?

261
00:16:09,590 --> 00:16:13,520
Suze: Here's the scoop, girlfriend. You didn't list in this email,

262
00:16:13,570 --> 00:16:15,799
Suze: and first of all, both Katy and I are very,

263
00:16:15,890 --> 00:16:18,239
Suze: very sorry for your loss.

264
00:16:18,424 --> 00:16:21,854
Suze: And the truth of the matter is that if you

265
00:16:21,854 --> 00:16:25,135
Suze: want to do some renovations, you didn't tell us any

266
00:16:25,135 --> 00:16:30,015
Suze: other alternatives that you have for cash, meaning a retirement account,

267
00:16:30,094 --> 00:16:33,695
Suze: an investment account, anything else. I'm going to assume this

268
00:16:33,695 --> 00:16:36,854
Suze: is the only way that you can do it. So

269
00:16:36,854 --> 00:16:40,335
Suze: if I were you, I would simply do, even though

270
00:16:40,335 --> 00:16:43,015
Suze: I don't suggest it right now because interest rates are

271
00:16:43,015 --> 00:16:43,775
Suze: so high.

272
00:16:44,140 --> 00:16:49,080
Suze: But I would seriously simply not refinance my home. I

273
00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:53,229
Suze: would try to do a home equity line of credit

274
00:16:53,559 --> 00:16:56,080
Suze: in the hope that they see that you have enough

275
00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:01,000
Suze: income and everything to qualify for that. When interest rates

276
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,709
Suze: go back down again, if you want, you could then

277
00:17:04,709 --> 00:17:08,680
Suze: possibly refinance all of it back to maybe 3.5% or

278
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,699
Suze: who knows what, but

279
00:17:11,219 --> 00:17:13,770
Suze: here's something that I just want to say for all

280
00:17:13,770 --> 00:17:19,449
Suze: of you if you ever do refinance in any situation,

281
00:17:19,979 --> 00:17:25,060
Suze: if you have, let's say, a 30 year mortgage, you

282
00:17:25,060 --> 00:17:28,619
Suze: have been paying on it now for 7 years.

283
00:17:29,130 --> 00:17:34,010
Suze: You have 23 years left now. Interest rates have come

284
00:17:34,010 --> 00:17:37,719
Suze: down and you've decided, all right, I want to refinance,

285
00:17:38,130 --> 00:17:43,449
Suze: and if you refinance for another 30 years now you

286
00:17:43,449 --> 00:17:49,520
Suze: have totally obliterated the reason that you should really be refinancing.

287
00:17:49,770 --> 00:17:52,770
Suze: So if interest rates come down.

288
00:17:53,609 --> 00:17:58,839
Suze: And you do refinance and let's say you owe 23

289
00:17:58,839 --> 00:18:03,760
Suze: years still on your mortgage, then you would refinance for

290
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:10,479
Suze: 20 years, never refinance for longer than the period of

291
00:18:10,479 --> 00:18:15,810
Suze: time you currently have left on your mortgage. Alright KT

292
00:18:15,810 --> 00:18:17,560
Suze: got any more for me or is that it?

293
00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:18,750
KT: That was it.

294
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:19,719
Suze: Are you sure?

295
00:18:19,969 --> 00:18:20,189
KT: Yes.

296
00:18:20,439 --> 00:18:22,910
Suze: All right, cause guess what I have for you.

297
00:18:23,180 --> 00:18:27,930
Suze: A quizzy and everybody, this is a great quizzy. I

298
00:18:27,930 --> 00:18:30,890
Suze: love this quizzy, but it's not just for KT, as

299
00:18:30,890 --> 00:18:34,160
Suze: I say every week, it's for you as well. How

300
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,609
Suze: would you answer this question, because there will be many

301
00:18:37,609 --> 00:18:40,530
Suze: of you out there who happen to be in this

302
00:18:40,530 --> 00:18:43,649
Suze: exact situation. Are you ready, KT?

303
00:18:43,770 --> 00:18:44,280
KT: I'm ready.

304
00:18:45,290 --> 00:18:50,209
Suze: This is from Ashley, and I picked it because I

305
00:18:50,209 --> 00:18:54,569
Suze: bet there's a lot of our younger listeners that are

306
00:18:54,569 --> 00:18:56,969
Suze: in this exact situation.

307
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,030
Suze: Hi Suze and KT, you two are the best all

308
00:19:02,030 --> 00:19:06,180
Suze: in capitals. You helped me fund my first Roth, buy

309
00:19:06,180 --> 00:19:10,540
Suze: our first place in New York City and start investing

310
00:19:10,540 --> 00:19:15,329
Suze: on my own. I fired my financial adviser, whom I

311
00:19:15,329 --> 00:19:20,859
Suze: never heard from. Dollar cost averaging, yeah, baby. So here

312
00:19:20,859 --> 00:19:24,699
Suze: I am at another big life step.

313
00:19:25,420 --> 00:19:31,849
Suze: Having a baby, it's so easy to calculate the cost

314
00:19:31,849 --> 00:19:36,739
Suze: of affording a home, but it's so hard, all in capitals,

315
00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:41,540
Suze: to find info on whether you're financially secure enough to

316
00:19:41,540 --> 00:19:45,438
Suze: take care of another tiny human.

317
00:19:45,739 --> 00:19:46,989
KT: So sweet, Ashley.

318
00:19:47,619 --> 00:19:51,859
Suze: And she says, I'm this is all not only some

319
00:19:51,859 --> 00:19:54,099
Suze: of it in capitals, but bolded.

320
00:19:54,699 --> 00:20:01,089
Suze: I'm very worried about the financial stress of this step,

321
00:20:01,780 --> 00:20:03,859
Suze: even if it's an amazing one.

322
00:20:05,300 --> 00:20:09,579
Suze: Just the cost of daycare in our area, write it down,

323
00:20:09,660 --> 00:20:13,569
Suze: KT is $3500 a month.

324
00:20:14,229 --> 00:20:18,530
Suze: And my husband and I are willing to postpone kids

325
00:20:18,530 --> 00:20:23,920
Suze: till it makes sense financially. Adoption is always an option.

326
00:20:24,140 --> 00:20:26,739
KT: Good good for her. Good for you, Ashley.

327
00:20:26,959 --> 00:20:30,219
Suze: I have to tell you that. But here is Ashley's

328
00:20:30,219 --> 00:20:33,900
Suze: situation now, everybody, that you have to write down. The

329
00:20:33,900 --> 00:20:40,270
Suze: monthly income is about $10,000 after taxes plus bonuses.

330
00:20:40,849 --> 00:20:44,719
Suze: And so therefore it's about in my estimation, and I'm

331
00:20:44,719 --> 00:20:49,910
Suze: the one doing this about $15,000 a month after taxes.

332
00:20:51,219 --> 00:20:56,930
Suze: They have $86,000 in an emergency fund.

333
00:20:57,790 --> 00:21:04,880
Suze: Their retirement investments are about $138,000.

334
00:21:06,390 --> 00:21:15,569
Suze: Their monthly expenses are $6000 including mortgage insurance, food, and transport.

335
00:21:16,099 --> 00:21:19,729
Suze: Now what I'm not exactly clear about with all this,

336
00:21:19,819 --> 00:21:24,938
Suze: everybody is, does that include the savings into retirement accounts

337
00:21:24,939 --> 00:21:27,859
Suze: and things like that? I'm not sure, but we will

338
00:21:27,859 --> 00:21:32,900
Suze: just take her word for it that it's $6000.

339
00:21:33,439 --> 00:21:38,239
Suze: So the question is, KT, with all of that.

340
00:21:39,229 --> 00:21:40,520
Suze: Do you think

341
00:21:41,609 --> 00:21:46,800
Suze: that she has enough money at this point in time

342
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:52,389
Suze: to have a baby. Everybody think about it. Please add

343
00:21:52,390 --> 00:21:56,469
Suze: in at least the cost of day care.

344
00:21:59,069 --> 00:22:01,889
Suze: And she does not say how old she is just

345
00:22:01,890 --> 00:22:02,770
Suze: so you know.

346
00:22:03,430 --> 00:22:03,439
KT: OK.

347
00:22:04,790 --> 00:22:06,209
KT: I, I have my answer.

348
00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:09,689
Suze: That was quick. I can't wait to hear this.

349
00:22:09,780 --> 00:22:14,260
KT: All right, so her expenses right now, including daycare with

350
00:22:14,260 --> 00:22:14,939
KT: the baby.

351
00:22:15,770 --> 00:22:20,170
KT: It is about $9500 a month. Let's say those bonuses

352
00:22:20,170 --> 00:22:22,719
KT: don't really come to fruition as much as we want

353
00:22:22,719 --> 00:22:27,699
KT: them to. So you're, you're estimating $15,000 a month of income.

354
00:22:27,810 --> 00:22:30,130
Suze: Yeah, and I'm the reason I'm doing that, KT, is

355
00:22:30,130 --> 00:22:33,439
Suze: she also says their annual income before taxes

356
00:22:33,869 --> 00:22:38,839
Suze: is $237,000. So in the state of New York you

357
00:22:38,839 --> 00:22:39,319
Suze: have cities...

358
00:22:39,319 --> 00:22:41,829
KT: Right, right, right, right. So, so let me just get

359
00:22:41,829 --> 00:22:42,349
KT: to my point.

360
00:22:42,439 --> 00:22:44,750
Suze: I feel comfortable with that $15,000.

361
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,389
KT: OK, so let me just get to the point here.

362
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,300
KT: I would wait a little bit before I had the baby,

363
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,439
KT: and I'll tell you why. I think if you have

364
00:22:53,439 --> 00:22:56,930
KT: a little bit of a, I would put another bucket

365
00:22:56,930 --> 00:23:00,319
KT: in your list here called Baby Fund. I would build

366
00:23:00,319 --> 00:23:02,119
KT: a little more of a cushion.

367
00:23:02,630 --> 00:23:05,729
KT: Just for the what ifs of having a baby, and

368
00:23:05,729 --> 00:23:08,369
KT: I would eliminate the most important thing you put in

369
00:23:08,369 --> 00:23:12,379
KT: this email, which is the word stress. You cannot get

370
00:23:12,380 --> 00:23:17,250
KT: pregnant and enjoy 9 months before your little tiny human

371
00:23:17,250 --> 00:23:22,369
KT: arrives and have any stress. So just wait maybe 2

372
00:23:22,369 --> 00:23:25,170
KT: years if you can. We don't again, we don't know

373
00:23:25,170 --> 00:23:26,290
KT: how old you are.

374
00:23:26,670 --> 00:23:30,439
KT: But if you could wait 2 years, you could probably

375
00:23:30,439 --> 00:23:34,420
KT: acquire a great deal of money in just a baby fund.

376
00:23:34,569 --> 00:23:35,739
Suze: So that's your answer.

377
00:23:35,770 --> 00:23:36,430
KT: That's my answer.

378
00:23:36,609 --> 00:23:38,489
Suze: There is no right or wrong answer here.

379
00:23:38,650 --> 00:23:41,869
KT: No, because we love babies and we think it's great.

380
00:23:42,050 --> 00:23:45,130
Suze: So let me tell you how I think about this

381
00:23:45,130 --> 00:23:48,250
Suze: and what I would tell you to do, Ashley, right?

382
00:23:48,329 --> 00:23:51,410
Suze: And again, I'm not going to approve or deny because

383
00:23:51,410 --> 00:23:53,050
Suze: you're the one once again.

384
00:23:53,530 --> 00:23:55,899
Suze: That has to make this decision, but I just want

385
00:23:55,900 --> 00:23:59,810
Suze: to give you a little bit more information about how

386
00:24:00,060 --> 00:24:01,890
Suze: to make this decision.

387
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:08,079
Suze: Your income and bonuses again after tax 15,000 we all

388
00:24:08,079 --> 00:24:12,900
Suze: know that 86,000 and emergency savings expenses and things like that.

389
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,879
Suze: All right, we all know your money. What is not

390
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,949
Suze: in this equation is the cost of a child today.

391
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:25,800
Suze: Forget daycare. Forget that there are costs to having a

392
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:30,119
Suze: child and it comes out to be approximately

393
00:24:30,729 --> 00:24:37,359
Suze: $25,000 a year till about the age of 17 or

394
00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:43,160
Suze: 18 and that does not include, by the way saving

395
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,930
Suze: for college so what we have to do is we

396
00:24:46,930 --> 00:24:48,119
Suze: have to add

397
00:24:48,599 --> 00:24:54,389
Suze: $2000 to your actual cost, not just $3500 a month,

398
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:59,839
Suze: but another $2000 a month. So that's $5500 added to

399
00:24:59,839 --> 00:25:03,359
Suze: what you say of $6000. So let's just say your

400
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:09,229
Suze: monthly expenses now are $12,000 a month.

401
00:25:09,979 --> 00:25:12,930
Suze: So here's what I would like you to do to

402
00:25:12,930 --> 00:25:15,250
Suze: see if you're figuring things correctly.

403
00:25:16,739 --> 00:25:18,290
Suze: If it is true.

404
00:25:19,170 --> 00:25:25,389
Suze: That your expenses are $12,000 a month and now you

405
00:25:25,390 --> 00:25:32,060
Suze: have approximately $15,000 a month of income.

406
00:25:32,930 --> 00:25:39,880
Suze: The difference there is $3000 a month, correct, Ashley, for

407
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,760
Suze: you to just get by with this child. Therefore, for

408
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,910
Suze: the next 6 months, I want you to play having

409
00:25:48,910 --> 00:25:49,760
Suze: a child.

410
00:25:50,410 --> 00:25:54,349
Suze: In fact, what you should do is put away anywhere

411
00:25:54,349 --> 00:26:01,550
Suze: from 3 to $6000 a month into a high yield

412
00:26:01,550 --> 00:26:07,079
Suze: money market account and see how it feels that you

413
00:26:07,079 --> 00:26:10,639
Suze: have this child and you have an additional, let's just

414
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:16,469
Suze: say $6000 of expenses from what you have right now.

415
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,429
Suze: Because I'm just going to assume that the difference between

416
00:26:20,699 --> 00:26:24,380
Suze: what your expenses are now and your income you're putting

417
00:26:24,380 --> 00:26:29,698
Suze: away in savings. So let's just say you do increase

418
00:26:29,699 --> 00:26:32,449
Suze: by $6000 a month.

419
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,989
Suze: You put $6000 a month away for one year and

420
00:26:38,989 --> 00:26:43,099
Suze: see how it feels. Now you have to ask yourself

421
00:26:43,099 --> 00:26:47,469
Suze: the question. Was that easy for you to do? You

422
00:26:47,469 --> 00:26:51,020
Suze: should set a date at the first of every month

423
00:26:51,020 --> 00:26:54,188
Suze: that you put that money away. Can you put it

424
00:26:54,189 --> 00:26:57,270
Suze: away on the 1st of every month, or is it

425
00:26:57,270 --> 00:27:00,630
Suze: too hard for you to do that? Can you not

426
00:27:00,630 --> 00:27:01,188
Suze: afford it?

427
00:27:01,670 --> 00:27:04,609
Suze: Was there a month that you could not do it?

428
00:27:04,869 --> 00:27:10,339
Suze: Was your lifestyle changed dramatically because you had to do that?

429
00:27:10,589 --> 00:27:13,660
Suze: And if it was changed, how did it change? Now,

430
00:27:13,750 --> 00:27:18,180
Suze: obviously your life's going to change when you have a baby,

431
00:27:18,709 --> 00:27:22,469
Suze: and you're going to be just like everybody else. You're

432
00:27:22,469 --> 00:27:25,780
Suze: gonna experience love, at least this is what everybody else says,

433
00:27:26,150 --> 00:27:29,030
Suze: more than you've ever experienced love in your life, so

434
00:27:29,030 --> 00:27:30,709
Suze: it's going to be fabulous.

435
00:27:31,540 --> 00:27:39,619
Suze: However, can you easily afford it before the baby comes?

436
00:27:39,660 --> 00:27:43,198
Suze: Now here's the good news. If you're able to do that,

437
00:27:43,300 --> 00:27:47,180
Suze: let's say put $6000 a month away for a year.

438
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:54,040
Suze: Now you have an additional $72,000 my love, to add

439
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,839
Suze: to your emergency fund which will then bring you to

440
00:27:57,839 --> 00:28:04,750
Suze: a total of $158,000 and that's one year

441
00:28:05,239 --> 00:28:09,880
Suze: of living expenses if something goes wrong so that you

442
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,030
Suze: can maintain everything even if you can't work or whatever

443
00:28:13,030 --> 00:28:17,550
Suze: it may be. That is how I would decide if

444
00:28:17,550 --> 00:28:22,839
Suze: I were you, if you could easily afford a child

445
00:28:22,839 --> 00:28:24,800
Suze: without stress.

446
00:28:25,709 --> 00:28:27,170
Suze: KT, how was my answer?

447
00:28:27,270 --> 00:28:28,349
KT: Ding ding ding ding ding.

448
00:28:28,439 --> 00:28:31,900
Suze: Thank you, girlfriend. All right, everybody, there's only one thing

449
00:28:31,900 --> 00:28:34,149
Suze: that we want you to remember, and it's this:

450
00:28:34,150 --> 00:28:34,938
KT: People first.

451
00:28:35,270 --> 00:28:35,979
Suze: Then money.

452
00:28:36,150 --> 00:28:36,790
KT: Then things.

453
00:28:36,859 --> 00:28:40,319
Suze: Now you stay safe. See you soon. Bye bye.