Suze: June 19, 2025. Welcome everybody to the Women and Money
Suze: podcast and everybody smart enough to listen.
Suze: This is Ask KT and Suze...
KT: Anything!
Suze: Oh, there she is.
KT: Here I am. Today's a really great day, one of
KT: one of my favorite of all time. Why? It's called Juneteenth.
Suze: Oh we love Juneteenth.
KT: I love Juneteenth
Suze: Every year. She loves this holiday.
KT: Juneteenth is a federal holiday for those of you that
KT: may not know, and it's really, really, it's, it's very important,
KT: but it's also known as
KT: America's Second Independence Day. Why? This is acknowledging the freedom
KT: of all enslaved people in the United States.
Suze: When did that happen? KT?
KT: Oh my goodness, like 1865 something like that. But you know,
KT: it was interesting. I was reading a little bit about
KT: the history. It was one of the um generals went
KT: into Texas and announced that on this day,
KT: there were 250,000 enslaved black people in the state of Texas,
KT: and he went in and he said, you are all free.
KT: So Texas, I mean, they could probably the biggest barbecue
KT: on earth that day. Anyway...
Suze: Where is that general today?
KT: The end of slavery. We're very happy, so everyone's celebrating.
KT: Enjoy this wonderful, important day.
Suze: All right.
KT: So Suze, my first question is from Paul.
Suze: Go on.
KT: All right, you ready?
Suze: You have this little smirk on your face again.
KT: Why?
Suze: I don't know why. Why do you?
KT: No, this is just a really simple question. Hi Suze
KT: and KT. I've been a listener of your podcast for
KT: the past few years. I was gifted young, fabulous, and
KT: broke years ago.
Suze: I think I wrote that book...
KT: I love that book
Suze: ...in 2005.
KT: Great book.
Suze: 20 years ago.
KT: It really helped shape how I thought about money in
KT: my 20s and 30s.
Suze: Is he now old, fabulous, and broke?
KT: Well, wait,
KT: here's what he wrote. Thankfully, though I'm not so young,
KT: I'm also not so broke anymore.
Suze: Oh good, Paul.
KT: He's in Paul's in his early 40s. He said, I've
KT: reached a milestone in my retirement savings where the annual
KT: returns from my 401k are roughly equal to or even
KT: greater than my annual contribution.
KT: So I've been maxing out my 401(k)
Suze: Wait wait wait, that is called compounding everybody where your money,
Suze: is making more money for you than what you are
Suze: depositing into that account. That is because Paul started 20
Suze: years ago, and he had that many years for it
Suze: to compound and bingo, he now has hit a fabulous
Suze: point in his retirement.
KT: And that's what this question is about. He said, I'd
KT: love your perspective.
KT: Would it be wiser to now redirect some or all
KT: of my contributions elsewhere for greater impact, whether that's investing
KT: in a different account, purchasing an income generating property or
KT: something else entirely, I'm wide open.
KT: And then he's thinking, this is so sweet. He said,
KT: thank you for all the guidance and energy you bring, Suze,
KT: and for your loving truth so openly. Two years ago,
KT: I proudly married my husband, and that's another celebration in June.
KT: Pride Month and while he rolls his eyes when I
KT: get on to the Suze soapbox, I'd love him to
KT: hear you answer my question.
Suze: That's why you picked it, didn't you?
KT: Yes of course.
KT: There's always a reason she picks them.
KT: Listen up, husband.
Suze: Hubby hubby hubby. First of all, you say it's a 401k, Paul.
Suze: You did not say it is a Roth 401k.
Suze: Now maybe where you work they don't offer a Roth 401k,
Suze: but I need you to start getting money into a
Suze: Roth and given that you're in your forties, I need
Suze: you to start converting that money to a Roth 401k.
Suze: Or a Roth IRA if they allow you to do
Suze: a partial distribution if you're still working for them, because
Suze: that's how you really will get the most for your
Suze: money now. What else should you be doing? I have
Suze: to tell you there isn't a better investment out there
Suze: than a Roth retirement account. I would not be doing
Suze: real estate right now.
Suze: Real estate right now really is not my favorite thing.
Suze: And why is that? Because of weather situations happening out there,
Suze: because of the increase in insurance costs, because of maintenance,
Suze: all kinds of things. I really believe that you can
Suze: make more money with less hassle in the stock market.
Suze: So given that you're doing so well, you understand it.
Suze: What I would be doing if I were you is
Suze: I would somehow be getting all of that money little
Suze: by little into a Roth, and remember you can have
Suze: a Roth IRA and a Roth 401k if you make
Suze: too much money for a Roth, then do a back
Suze: door Roth, but you need to do that. All right, next.
Suze: Surprise little hubby. Surprise. You don't get on him when
Suze: he gets on his soapbox. Do you hear me, Paul's hubby? Anyway,
Suze: go on.
KT: OK, this next question is really typical that I think
KT: many listeners will relate to, and this is from Keila.
KT: She said, My 22 year old daughter is working full
KT: time and making about $30,000 a year.
KT: She attends a community college part time and will transfer
KT: to a university in about one year for her bachelor's degree.
KT: She lives with her boyfriend in an apartment.
KT: Her boyfriend works construction, which is seasonal. He's not in school.
KT: He maybe makes about $20,000 a year. They're having financial difficulties,
KT: and they want to move into my home with me
KT: for a period of time to save up to buy
KT: a house eventually.
KT: OK, ready. How do I know what to charge them?
KT: And then she goes right into giving us a little
KT: bit of her background, but this gets better. I'm divorced.
KT: I work full time. I earn about $92,000 a year.
KT: My 20 year old son lives with me who is
KT: working part time, and he's in school part time at
KT: a community college.
KT: And I'm helping to support him so that he can
KT: become an electrician. Yes, I still owe about $60,000 towards
KT: my mortgage. That's right. My insurance taxes and mortgage in
KT: one payment is about $670 a month.
Suze: How's that
Suze: possible? But anyway, I believe that if she said it, OK.
KT: She said, I also have a HELOC on which I
KT: owe $25,000 because I have been making much needed repairs
KT: to my house.
Suze: Ding ding ding ding...
KT: Yea, she has no emergency fund...
Suze: Ding ding ding.
KT: OK, she said my ex-husband and I still help my
KT: daughter with her car insurance payment.
KT: The car she drives is under my name and it's
KT: paid off. She also pays her father monthly for her
KT: cell phone bill.
KT: I don't know. She makes $30,000 a year.
Suze: I'm not liking this just so you know.
KT: All right, you ready? I want to help them out
KT: so that that way they could open up an account
KT: and put money in it every month towards the future. However,
KT: I don't want to enable them and have them think
KT: that they don't need to be accountable for money so
KT: that they end up spending it all and going out
KT: all the time.
KT: How do I set those boundaries and establish the appropriate
KT: rent payment to help me out as well? Thanks for
KT: your help, Suze.
Suze: What does my face
Suze: look like?
KT: I'm not going to describe it on the podcast. It's
KT: what we call a radio face.
Suze: Is that a radio face? So first of all, Keila...
Suze: Where do I even start with you? Listen to me.
Suze: You make $92,000 a year. You say,
Suze: that all you owe is $670 a month for your
Suze: mortgage insurance, taxes, da da da da. However, you don't
Suze: have any money. How do I know you don't have
Suze: any money? Because you had to take out a HELOC
Suze: on the equity in your home. Why? To pay for repairs,
Suze: and if you had cash, you never would take out
Suze: a HELOC.
Suze: So even though it looks like you are doing well.
Suze: I don't think you are because you have to think
Suze: about yourself before you continue to think about your kids.
Suze: When I say people first, I mean you, Mamma. I
Suze: mean you 'cause if something happens to you.
Suze: And you can't work anymore and you can't make that
Suze: $92,000 a year.
Suze: Where is all the money going to come from where
Suze: all these kids are living, to pay for your true
Suze: monthly expenses? Why do I have a feeling that you
Suze: gave your paid up car to your daughter and you
Suze: bought another one that you had to finance, cause no
Suze: way did you have the money to do what? Buy
Suze: it outright when you didn't have the money to do repairs, so.
Suze: That's number one. Number two.
Suze: Your daughter is 22 years of age and she is
Suze: living with a boyfriend that works part-time seasonal, only makes
Suze: $20,000 a year, and he's not going to school. Is
Suze: that a boyfriend that has ambition?
Suze: Don't you want somebody for your daughter that all right,
Suze: they make $20,000 a year doing construction, but it's seasonal,
Suze: and then goes out and does all this other stuff.
Suze: Your daughter,
Suze: makes $10,000 more a year than this boyfriend of hers.
Suze: If she wants to move into your home.
Suze: Is this the boyfriend that she's really gonna marry? Really?
Suze: I would say if your daughter said, Mom, I need
Suze: to move back home because I want to save money.
Suze: Not this unrealistic expectation that we want to move in
Suze: so we can save for a down payment on a home.
Suze: They can no more afford a home than the man
Suze: in the moon.
Suze: She's living in this fantasy world, and you're partly responsible
Suze: for it. You gave her a car. You and your
Suze: ex pay for her insurance, cell phone. What are her expenses?
Suze: I just think it's a mistake for her and her
Suze: boyfriend to be moving into your home, and I just
Suze: have to ask you, how does your son feel about it,
Suze: 'cause it's his home as well.
Suze: And now all of a sudden his sister and her
Suze: boyfriend are moving back in. Number one, you need to
Suze: have a discussion with your son and see if he
Suze: feels OK about it. Number 2, here's how I would
Suze: do it. I would be charging them $700 a month
Suze: and any increase in your utility bill or food bill
Suze: they have got to pay.
Suze: I'm just saying that's what I would be doing to
Suze: teach them responsibility. Now that may be more than what
Suze: they're paying now, but I would not make it easy
Suze: on them. $700 a month is not that big of
Suze: a deal for two people to pay rent. All right,
Suze: that's number 1. Number 2,
Suze: I would make it mandatory that they have to open
Suze: a savings account, and you have to agree on the
Suze: minimum amount that they're going to deposit into that savings
Suze: account because you're doing this so they can save money
Suze: and once a month you listen to me now, once
Suze: a month they have to show you that savings account
Suze: and you have to make sure that it is growing
Suze: and growing and growing.
Suze: Next, you need to have what I call a family agreement,
Suze: a written agreement, where you say how long this is
Suze: going to go on for. They can go on for
Suze: 6 months and then you will review it to see,
Suze: is it working, is it not working, and if it's
Suze: not working for whatever reason, they need to go and
Suze: the agreement needs to say the due date for rent.
Suze: It needs to say the guidelines for cleaning the house,
Suze: the quiet hours, all of those things, cause they can't
Suze: just move in there and expect, Mamma, you're going to
Suze: be their maid. So they have to agree on cleaning, participating,
Suze: and being a part of that household. Those are the
Suze: things that I want you to think about.
Suze: But I just don't have a great feeling about this.
Suze: I know you say that it's going to help you,
Suze: and I'm sure that it will help you, but why
Suze: do I think it's going to cost you more than
Suze: what they're bringing in? A 22 or 23 year old
Suze: boy eats a whole lot of food, Mamma. So again
Suze: they need to be responsible for their food.
Suze: They need to be responsible for an increase in utilities,
Suze: and you need to do a written agreement. Now, I
Suze: will post on the Women and Money community app,
Suze: an outline for the agreement. Use it as a template.
Suze: Just copy it, print it out, put the names and
Suze: everything in it, and that's what I want you to use.
Suze: If they don't want to do it, they say, Mom, really,
Suze: we're trying to buy a house. It's like, give them
Suze: a reality slap, so to speak, because if you don't,
Suze: you are not doing them any favor whatsoever.
Suze: When I was her age, I just have to say I,
Suze: I worked 3 jobs, 3 jobs to make it, and
Suze: I worked every morning, afternoon, and in the evening till
Suze: 2 o'clock in the morning at the Red Lion Deli, KT,
Suze: that's where REO Speedwagon used to play. But yeah, but
Suze: I did everything I could to save money.
Suze: And then when I was 23.
Suze: My brother KT gave me $1500 to buy an old
Suze: Ford Econoline van which my girlfriend and I at the time,
Suze: Laurie Seligman, with $300 to our pocket, went out and
Suze: we lived in that van on the streets of Berkeley,
Suze: California for quite a few months right until I landed
Suze: my dream job, as she did too, waitresses at the
Suze: Buttercup Bakery.
Suze: Right, that is what we did. So, Mamma, I am
Suze: who I am today because I had to make it
Suze: on my own. Please don't try to make it too
Suze: easy on them. I know I went long, KT, but
Suze: I don't have a good feeling.
KT: There's one more thing.
KT: He works construction and it's seasonal. It's part time. Why
KT: can't he do a whole lot of maintenance and repair
KT: work on the house if that's one of his skills.
Suze: And save mamma money. So, we should put that, you
Suze: should make that part of the agreement.
KT: Special skills,
Suze: He's got to help that way around the house and
Suze: then maybe it's worth it, but I don't know. I
Suze: wish it was just your daughter moving in and not
Suze: with her boyfriend.
KT: It' OK.
KT: But I love the idea that you're going to post
KT: that contract or agreement on the site on the wall,
KT: so you just need to download your Women and Money
KT: app wherever you get your apps and look and go
KT: to the wall, and you will see where Suze will
KT: post this agreement. Fabulous. All right, next question. Next question
KT: is from Allie.
Suze: Aren't
Suze: you wondering why I even have that agreement?
KT: No, I think it's important because a lot of people
KT: ask about that. How do they, you know,
Suze: I
Suze: created it years ago when I was seeing clients and
Suze: they always came to me with this question
Suze: and so I created a template to say here.
Suze: Here you go. Deal with it this way.
KT: Good for you and you have it, of course. So
KT: this is from Allie, Suze and crew, she wrote. Suze
KT: and crew, my husband and I are late starters to everything,
KT: especially finances. We didn't purchase our first home until our
KT: late 40s. We have no debt. We have a large
KT: emergency fund.
KT: And we have about 245,000 remaining on our mortgage and
KT: 136,000 in an IRA. He is 65. I am 61.
KT: Between our pensions and Social Security, we will be able
KT: to replace most of our current monthly income with the
KT: exception of one paycheck.
KT: We are considering taking 130,000 out of the IRA. Wait
KT: a minute to put towards the mortgage. We will then
KT: be able to pay off the mortgage in 3 years
KT: and move into retirement completely debt free.
KT: This will free up $1400 a month and almost match
KT: all of our current income. Our thought is IRA will
KT: last approximately 8 to 10 years with a monthly withdrawal
KT: of $1400. Not having a mortgage payment gives us $1400
KT: a month for the rest of our lives, principal and interest.
KT: Not taxes and insurance. Is this a wise course of
KT: action for
KT: us?
Suze: All right, my dear Allie, I have to tell you
Suze: that's the worst idea I've ever heard in my entire life,
Suze: and the reason is this.
Suze: You want to take out $130,000 from an IRA. You
Suze: did not say you want to take out $130,000 from
Suze: a Roth IRA, because if you had, you could take
Suze: out $130,000 totally tax free and put it towards your mortgage.
Suze: But because it's a traditional IRA, you are not calculating
Suze: the taxes, and if you take out $130,000 you're going
Suze: to owe approximately, let's say just you and your husband
Suze: make $60,000 a year. Maybe you make more than that,
Suze: but just let's say that's true. You would owe approximately
Suze: $26,000 in taxes if you file married filling and jointly. OK,
Suze: that's number one.
Suze: At the bottom of your email you say Allie, in
Suze: Virginia Beach, OK.
Suze: Virginia Beach, as you know, has a bracket when it
Suze: comes to income taxes, with the highest one being, I
Suze: think it's 5.5% for state taxes, but.
Suze: On average, you would probably owe Virginia $8500 of income
Suze: tax on that withdrawal. Now, the question is, where are
Suze: you going to get that from?
Suze: Do you have $34,000 sitting on the sideline to pay
Suze: in taxes because you cannot take it from the IRA
Suze: because you want that $130,000 to go towards your mortgage,
Suze: so $34,000 has to be somewhere else. But if you
Suze: don't have that, then you have to.
Suze: Take out even more. It's just nuts. You are far
Suze: better off letting that money sit there. Let it compound,
Suze: invest it wisely. Let it grow and grow and grow.
Suze: It could be worth $200,000 in 7, 8, 9 years
Suze: if you left it there and invested it properly.
Suze: So I wouldn't be doing it on any level you're
Suze: thinking in theory is correct, but in reality it isn't
Suze: how it works. Next question, KT.
KT: OK, next...
Suze: Stop giving me ones that upset me. All right.
KT: So Suze, I have two questions that both pertain to
KT: must have documents.
Suze: Did you all take
Suze: advantage of it, everybody. The birthday gift for $74 for
Suze: those documents. It's over now, but I hope you did. Anyway, go on.
KT: OK, so let's explain to everyone how this works. This
KT: is from Susan. She said, I've had the must have
KT: documents for several years. I would like clarification on your
KT: statement that you can share them with your family.
KT: Does this mean that they can use mine to set
KT: up their own must-have documents, or does this mean they
KT: can see my trust?
Suze: Now, the great thing about the must have documents is
Suze: that all I ever wanted was for one of you
Suze: to take this step forward and buy them to protect
Suze: your family, but we also made it possible for you
Suze: to share with your family.
Suze: Are those that you really love the activation code that
Suze: comes with the must have documents. If you give that
Suze: activation code to somebody when they sign on, they have
Suze: to create their own account, their own password. Everything is
Suze: absolutely private. It just gives them access to the
Suze: program, it does not give them access at all to
Suze: your information what you put in on any level, but
Suze: it was that way that if you bought one, you
Suze: then could help your mother or your father or your
Suze: sister children or whoever you are, you know, so maybe
Suze: your entire nursing home, who knows, but you could have.
Suze: Seriously, I had one person do that, KT, right, but
Suze: the goal is every one of you needs the must
Suze: have documents. That's why I call them must have. Every
Suze: one of you needs a will, a living revocable trust,
Suze: an advanced directive and durable power of attorney for health care,
Suze: and a financial power.
Suze: All of those if you go to must have docs.com
Suze: now that they're off sale, really they're still though a bargain.
Suze: I'm telling you they're $99 and those documents if you
Suze: went to a lawyer to do it would cost you
Suze: $2500 so you can share.
Suze: Share it with people. You can come back and change
Suze: it as often as you want. If we have an upgrade,
Suze: you are upgraded all free because this wasn't about making
Suze: a lot of money. This was about making sure that
Suze: you are protected. All right, KT next.
KT: And in keeping with the same theme.
KT: This is from Elba, she said. Suze, people first, especially daughters.
KT: What can parents do to protect their most precious asset?
KT: What are the must-have documents for 18 year olds? A
KT: health care proxy. Can you talk about this on your podcast?
Suze: You bet I can. And here's what all of you
Suze: need to know that I don't think you know.
Suze: Which is once somebody turns 18 years of age, you
Suze: no longer can legally make decisions for them if your
Suze: daughter ends up in the hospital.
Suze: And let's just say on life support and you want
Suze: to take her off life support, you cannot, you cannot
Suze: make legal decisions for them at all. So to that end,
Suze: obviously one of the most important documents to have for
Suze: yourself is an advanced directive and durable power of attorney
Suze: for health care, but you also need to have it
Suze: for your 18 year olds or older.
Suze: Until they're married and everything and somebody else takes that
Suze: decision away of what to do. So a while ago
Suze: we created what's known as the ultimate protection pack for 18+,
Suze: and it's simply an advance directive and durable power of
Suze: attorney for health care, and this is where your daughter
Suze: has to give you.
Suze: That power to make decisions for her or your son.
Suze: So if you're interested in that, everybody, it's on the
Suze: Women and Money community app, I think it's under Suze Shop.
Suze: You can see it there or if you go to Suzeorman.com/offer.
Suze: You'll see the things that we offer right there, especially
Suze: if you don't have the app. And by the way,
Suze: while I'm talking about this, some of you wrote me
Suze: and said that you want to buy the Ultimate Retirement
Suze: Guide for 50+ the updated version in soft back, but
Suze: when we brought it out in hardback, you offered it
Suze: for $10 free shipping, and now when they go to Amazon,
Suze: it's like $16 plus shipping.
Suze: So if you go to Suzeorman.com/offer, you will see the
Suze: soft back there for $10 free shipping as well as
Suze: on the Women and Money community app where it says shop.
Suze: So do that. So my dear Elba.
Suze: You should go and get that immediately and have your
Suze: daughter sign it over for you to make decisions. All right,
Suze: by the way, everybody, I think it's only $38. It's
Suze: not going to break the bank. All right, it's something like that.
KT: It's great if you have kids in school.
Suze: And you know by the way, that's Suze
Suze: Shareware as well. If you have 3 kids, you have
Suze: 10 kids, you can use it for all of them. Oh,
Suze: your sister has kids. You can then take it, give
Suze: her the activation code, and she could do all her kids.
Suze: So again, everything I do is Suze Shareware. All right,
KT: All right. This question is from Sean. And Sean said, Hello, Suze,
KT: short and to the point.
KT: How does retirement affect your FICO? I retired five years ago,
KT: and I've maintained my FICO to be between 821 and 850. However,
KT: I also have not applied for new credit. Now that
KT: I have no income, if I need a new car,
KT: is it best to put it solely in my husband's
KT: name since I have zero income?
KT: I just wanted to assure I don't lose that score.
KT: I'm proud of it. Long time follower.
Suze: So what's sweet is that, I love that you have
Suze: a great FICO score, Sean, but nobody's going to lend
Suze: you money simply because you have a great FICO score.
Suze: What they want to see is that do you have
Suze: the income to pay them back? So yes, you should
Suze: put it into your husband's name.
Suze: Um, because he has income, just that simple.
KT: All right, my final question, Suze, is from Marie. She said,
KT: Dear Suze, my house is on the market, and once
KT: it is sold, I need to send the money overseas
KT: to Belgium. I would like to leave America and return home.
KT: She wrote 30 years, so I think she's ready to
KT: go back, yeah.
KT: I am with a credit union here in Florida. I
KT: hear terrible stories of losing so much money to the
KT: exchange rate, US dollars to euros. Question, what is the
KT: most economical way to do this transaction?
KT: I am 69 years old. This is all the money
KT: I will have. I have a dual citizenship US and Belgium.
KT: Thank you.
Suze: It's sad because right now the euro to the dollar
Suze: is up 15%
Suze: from just a little bit ago, so you're going to
Suze: lose at least 15 or 16% now. So that's a
Suze: big deal. I wish you had done this just maybe
Suze: quite a few months ago. When were we in Spain, KT?
KT: Um, about 6-7 months ago...
Suze: Right there, so it went from 110 down to $102.
Suze: So if you had done it then, you would have
Suze: been at almost parity, which for every $1 you converted,
Suze: you got almost $1. But now for every dollar you convert,
Suze: you're going to get only about 85 cents on the dollar.
Suze: So I'll tell you what I do.
Suze: All right, I happen to use a company called Revolut,
Suze: R E V O L U T, and I have
Suze: to tell you they offer, in my opinion, a competitive
Suze: rate when it comes to exchanges and pretty much low fees,
Suze: so I do that.
Suze: Also, however, for large amounts of money, I want you
Suze: to look into a company called Wise W I S E, before,
Suze: I think they were called TransferWise, but Wise is widely
Suze: recommended just so you know for large international transfers because
Suze: it uses what's called the real mid-market exchange rate, which is.
Suze: Totally transparent and they have a low fee, so that
Suze: means you get more money for your euros to your
Suze: dollars than most banks, credit unions, or wire services. So
Suze: look into those two things and maybe you should wait
Suze: just a little bit to see if our dollar gets stronger,
Suze: which it should be right now, but it's not, which
Suze: is not a good thing. All right, everybody, KT, that's it.
Suze: That's a wrap.
KT: That's a wrap.
Suze: So everybody, there's one more thing I do want to
Suze: tell you that I want you to do, and that's
Suze: I want you to start going to my YouTube, the
Suze: official Suze Orman YouTube channel. I'm starting to post videos
Suze: again there.
Suze: So, and I want you to look at them. You
Suze: would go to youtube.com/@ Suze Orman. Just go there and
Suze: give it a try. All right, everybody, and by the way,
Suze: while you're there, make sure you subscribe and don't forget
Suze: to click on that little bell so every time I
Suze: post something,
Suze: you get notified. So until Sunday I have no idea
Suze: what I'm going to do for Suze School. Let's see
Suze: what happens to this world, right? So anyway, there's only
Suze: one thing we want them to know and what is it, KT?
KT: People first.
Suze: Then money.
KT: Then things.
Suze: Now you stay safe. Bye bye.