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Is Now a Good Time to Refinance My Mortgage? · Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)

• 0:07
  Suze: September 25th, 2025.
• 0:10
  KT: Wait, tell everyone why you're laughing.
• 0:13
  Suze: Well, why don't you tell everybody why we're laughing?
• 0:16
  KT: So Suze had a keratin treatment yesterday.
• 0:19
  Suze: We're in Florida.
• 0:20
  KT: We're in Florida. She had a keratin
• 0:22
  KT: treatment...
• 0:22
  Suze: and my hair can be a little bit unmanageable.
• 0:24
  KT: And when I picked her up from the salon, she,
• 0:27
  KT: she had a little cap on, a little baseball cap,
• 0:30
  KT: and when we got home,
• 0:31
  KT: she took it off and I said, Oh my God,
• 0:33
  KT: where's your hair? So this treatment makes your hair like
• 0:37
  KT: real flat.
• 0:38
  Suze: Yes.
• 0:39
  KT: And I, I said, Why'd you let him cut it?
• 0:41
  KT: She said, I never cut not one strand. I said,
• 0:44
  KT: Oh my God, what did you do, Suze? And I
• 0:46
  KT: keep looking at her and she's, her hair's real flat.
• 0:52
  KT: We should post a photo.
• 0:55
  Suze: Maybe, maybe we'll see what happens anyway...
• 0:58
  KT: Today's a lucky day. Suze has flat hair and it's
• 1:03
  KT: our nephew, our great nephew, Nicky's first birthday. So how
• 1:08
  KT: does he think it feels, Nicky, to be one?
• 1:12
  Suze: You know what I think is so funny, everybody. First
• 1:14
  Suze: of all, welcome to the Women and Money podcast...
• 1:17
  KT: And everyone's smart enough to listen.
• 1:19
  Suze: All right, so we've got that down. KT has already
• 1:22
  Suze: just been going, going, going this morning, um, but what
• 1:26
  Suze: I think is so funny is that everybody's making all
• 1:29
  Suze: these presents, remember, in our family we don't really buy things,
• 1:32
  Suze: so I've watched KT paint a coconut, paint all these
• 1:37
  Suze: little things, you know, figures on it and everything, and
• 1:39
  Suze: I'm like,
• 1:40
  Suze: all these people are going there to be with him
• 1:43
  Suze: on what's so fascinating. He's not really even gonna know
• 1:46
  Suze: it's his birthday.
• 1:47
  KT: Yes, he does.
• 1:48
  Suze: Yes, he does anyway, KT.
• 1:51
  Suze: You have questions for me today because ask KT and
• 1:55
  Suze: Suze anything, but most people tuning in, maybe for the
• 1:59
  Suze: first time would think, oh, this is the KT show.
• 2:03
  KT: It should be. I bet the ratings will skyrocket if
• 2:07
  KT: there's ratings on a podcast.
• 2:09
  Suze: There's a number of downloads, right? I think what, what
• 2:12
  Suze: are we approaching 50 million. So we're approaching a nice
• 2:15
  Suze: number anyway.
• 2:16
  KT: All right. Hi, Suze and KT what does fund your
• 2:20
  KT: trust mean?
• 2:23
  KT: What do I need to do? Is this something I
• 2:25
  KT: need to do before getting my must-have documents notarized? Please
• 2:31
  KT: advise from Linda.
• 2:33
  Suze: Here's the thing, Linda, that you need to understand.
• 2:37
  Suze: A trust is like a suitcase where you have to
• 2:42
  Suze: pack things in it. You have to put things in
• 2:45
  Suze: it so it goes from one place to another very easily.
• 2:50
  Suze: If you have a suitcase and there's nothing in it,
• 2:55
  Suze: then you get to the place that you're going and
• 2:57
  Suze: you open it up and there's nothing there.
• 3:00
  KT: I love
• 3:01
  KT: that analogy.
• 3:02
  Suze: Oh,
• 3:02
  KT: I'm, no, I love that.
• 3:04
  Suze: I'm so glad. So when you have a trust, I
• 3:08
  Suze: want you to think about it as a suitcase that
• 3:12
  Suze: you have to put things into that suitcase so it
• 3:17
  Suze: can easily go from you
• 3:19
  Suze: to your beneficiaries that all kinds of things can happen
• 3:23
  Suze: to it when it's in the suitcase. So funding your
• 3:26
  Suze: trust means you have to first do the trust, get
• 3:31
  Suze: it notarized, get it witnessed. Then what you have to
• 3:36
  Suze: do is you have to change the name of, let's
• 3:38
  Suze: say your individual bank account from, let's just say, Suze Orman.
• 3:43
  Suze: To Suze Orman Trustee for the Suze Orman Trust. You
• 3:47
  Suze: have to change the assets that you have your bank accounts,
• 3:52
  Suze: your brokerage firm accounts, your real estate. All of those
• 3:58
  Suze: things get changed from your individual name,
• 4:02
  Suze: into the suitcase and the suitcase has the name of
• 4:07
  Suze: Linda trustee for the Linda revocable trust and whatever date
• 4:12
  Suze: you did it just that simple. So that's how you
• 4:16
  Suze: fund a trust.
• 4:18
  Suze: Now, when you get the must-have docs, and I have a
• 4:21
  Suze: feeling that you're talking about them and the must-have docs
• 4:25
  Suze: are a living revocable trust, an advanced directive and durable
• 4:30
  Suze: power of attorney for health care, a financial power of attorney,
• 4:33
  Suze: and a will.
• 4:35
  Suze: And when you get those and you do them all
• 4:40
  Suze: of them, you will absolutely have instructions when you're doing
• 4:44
  Suze: the revocable trust of how you fund it. They'll take
• 4:48
  Suze: you through the entire process and for those of you
• 4:52
  Suze: who don't know what
• 4:52
  Suze: the must-have documents are go to musthadocs.com for $99. You
• 4:59
  Suze: will get $2,500 worth of state of the art documents,
• 5:05
  Suze: good in all 50 states. All right, KT.
• 5:08
  KT: All right, Suze, next question. This is from Liza.
• 5:13
  Suze: Are you sure?
• 5:14
  KT: Yes.
• 5:14
  Suze: Do you remember when we saw Liza Minnelli?
• 5:17
  KT: I loved it. I love Liza Minnelli, everybody.
• 5:20
  Suze: We got to go backstage.
• 5:22
  KT: Yeah, we saw her on on Broadway for her show.
• 5:25
  Suze: It was so good. Was it on Broadway or was it somewhere else?
• 5:27
  KT: It was on Broadway because we were in New York. We had
• 5:29
  KT: to walk all the way down the steps.
• 5:32
  KT: To get to her dressing room, the old New Yorker...
• 5:35
  Suze: Never mind. Next question, KT. We're already done with this podcast.
• 5:40
  KT: Liza, Liza with a Z. Hi Suze. I'm 30 years
• 5:43
  KT: old and I lost my job earlier this year with
• 5:46
  KT: the Doge funding cuts. I want to roll my former
• 5:50
  KT: employer Roth 401k into my Roth IRA. I have
• 5:55
  KT: $34,000 in my Roth 401k. Question is, when I roll
• 6:01
  KT: the funds over, do I dollar cost average this money
• 6:05
  KT: into my Roth IRA as I normally would do with
• 6:09
  KT: my investments? If I dollar cost average, am I missing
• 6:13
  KT: out on money that would have been growing before rolling
• 6:17
  KT: it over and now sitting in cash?
• 6:20
  KT: So Liza, invest in ETFs.
• 6:23
  Suze: Yeah, so Liza with a Z.
• 6:27
  Suze: When you transfer that 34,000 into your Roth, if that
• 6:32
  Suze: money had been fully invested, listen to me closely already,
• 6:37
  Suze: let's say it was in your Roth 401k in a
• 6:41
  Suze: Standard and Poor's 500 index fund if it was already
• 6:44
  Suze: totally invested.
• 6:46
  Suze: When you actually transfer it, maybe you'll transfer it in cash.
• 6:51
  Suze: Who knows? I would not dollar cost average. I would
• 6:54
  Suze: actually just totally invest if the money that you are
• 6:59
  Suze: transferring was 100% invested at that time. If it wasn't
• 7:04
  Suze: and it was sitting in cash, then I would dollar
• 7:07
  Suze: cost average. All right, KT.
• 7:10
  KT: Hi, Suze and KT, if I am maxing out my 401k...
• 7:14
  Suze: Who is this from?
• 7:15
  KT: AC.
• 7:15
  Suze: AC. Ok AC, Ask KT AC.
• 7:20
  KT: Should I add additional dollars?
• 7:22
  Suze: I'm SO.
• 7:22
  KT: Should I add additional dollars to a traditional rollover IRA
• 7:26
  KT: or brokerage account? I have both additional accounts, but I'm
• 7:30
  KT: not sure which is a better investment for retirement, which
• 7:34
  KT: I would like to do in about 10 years. My
• 7:37
  KT: income doesn't allow me to contribute to a Roth IRA
• 7:40
  KT: just in case you were wondering.
• 7:43
  Suze: Yes and I was.
• 7:44
  Suze: AC because as you were, as KT was reading that
• 7:47
  Suze: to me, I was going, why doesn't you just do
• 7:48
  Suze: a backdoor Roth, and you can't do a backdoor Roth,
• 7:53
  Suze: everybody remember this if you have a traditional IRA, uh,
• 7:59
  Suze: a SEP plan, a simple plan that is pre-tax, you'll be,
• 8:03
  Suze: you just don't want to do it if you have one.
• 8:06
  Suze: Now my answer's gonna probably surprise you, AC.
• 8:12
  Suze: If you are asking me which is better, a traditional
• 8:15
  Suze: IRA or a brokerage account, I would tell you I
• 8:21
  Suze: would do a brokerage account. And the reason that I
• 8:24
  Suze: would do a brokerage account is because once you make
• 8:28
  Suze: an investment normally, you may keep it for 10 years
• 8:32
  Suze: or longer, and while it's in there, you don't pay
• 8:35
  Suze: taxes on it anyway, but when you do go to
• 8:39
  Suze: take it out,
• 8:40
  Suze: what can happen then you will only pay capital gains
• 8:44
  Suze: tax if you have a gain. What happens if you
• 8:47
  Suze: have a loss? Then you can take the loss off
• 8:51
  Suze: your taxes. You also may have some things in there
• 8:54
  Suze: that have a gain. Some have a loss, so you
• 8:57
  Suze: can offset them all so you don't pay any taxes. Oh,
• 9:01
  Suze: you die. And now the money goes down to your beneficiaries.
• 9:05
  Suze: They get a step up in basis. So let's just
• 9:08
  Suze: say you took that money and you turned $50,000 into $300,000.
• 9:15
  Suze: You die, guess what? Your beneficiaries get a step up
• 9:18
  Suze: in basis. They get all of that for $300,000.
• 9:22
  Suze: They could sell it all, no taxes. You put it
• 9:26
  Suze: in a traditional IRA and it grows and it grows
• 9:29
  Suze: and it grows. Oh great. Now you go to take
• 9:33
  Suze: it out - ordinary income. Oh, you've lost money on it,
• 9:37
  Suze: can't take it off your taxes. You die and it
• 9:40
  Suze: goes to your beneficiaries. Totally taxable.
• 9:43
  Suze: An investment account over an IRA any day if you
• 9:48
  Suze: ask me when it's pre-tax. All right.
• 9:51
  KT: OK, next question from Karen.
• 9:53
  KT: Hi Suze and KT, I'm reading your retirement book and loving it.
• 9:58
  Suze: The Ultimate Retirement Guide.
• 10:00
  KT: For 50+. I remember you've mentioned on your podcast, and
• 10:06
  KT: I just read it in your book as well, that
• 10:08
  KT: a Roth SEP IRA is now allowed.
• 10:12
  Suze: Yea, if you can find one.
• 10:12
  KT: Do you know...
• 10:14
  KT: There you go. The question is, do you know of
• 10:17
  KT: any institutions currently offering one? Do you?
• 10:21
  Suze: No.
• 10:22
  KT: All right, well.
• 10:23
  Suze: Listen, everybody, I don't understand, now that the laws have
• 10:28
  Suze: changed and you can have a SEP IRA as a Roth,
• 10:33
  Suze: no financial institution really is offering it. Maybe I found one,
• 10:38
  Suze: but I wouldn't put my money there.
• 10:40
  Suze: But so here's what I would do if I were you.
• 10:42
  Suze: It's just such a shame. Fund your SEP IRA and
• 10:46
  Suze: convert it just that simple and pay taxes on it
• 10:50
  Suze: when you convert it. It's the same as if you
• 10:54
  Suze: put money into a Roth SEP IRA with after tax money.
• 10:59
  Suze: It would come out the same. All right, go on.
• 11:01
  KT: All right. Next question is from Miguel. Hi, Suze. I
• 11:05
  KT: recently switched jobs and I had a 401k with my
• 11:08
  KT: previous employer.
• 11:10
  KT: It is a traditional 401k and I was thinking of
• 11:13
  KT: rolling it over to my personal Roth IRA or should
• 11:18
  KT: I open a traditional IRA?
• 11:22
  KT: And then Miguel goes on to say, it's about $650
• 11:27
  KT: not much. Hey, every dollar counts, Miguel, but I'd love
• 11:31
  KT: to move it in the best way possible, avoiding a
• 11:34
  KT: tax hit. Where should I move this money? Thank you.
• 11:38
  Suze: You know, KT, this is such a sweet question and
• 11:44
  Suze: one that is...
• 11:45
  KT: They're all sweet.
• 11:46
  KT: Yes, this one is very...
• 11:47
  Suze: Very sweet because people would go, really, $650?
• 11:51
  Suze: So, and what you said is every penny counts. Miguel,
• 11:55
  Suze: listen to me.
• 11:57
  Suze: You are to convert it to a Roth IRA absolutely.
• 12:05
  Suze: Because now what will happen is as you invested and
• 12:08
  Suze: if I were you I would put all $650 into
• 12:13
  Suze: an ETF by the symbol VOO,
• 12:16
  Suze: and let it grow because now the money will grow
• 12:21
  Suze: tax free. So take your tax hit now, put it
• 12:25
  Suze: into a Roth IRA and see what happens. It's not
• 12:29
  Suze: going to be that big of a tax hit, but
• 12:32
  Suze: I'd rather you take a tax hit on $650 than
• 12:36
  Suze: years and years and years from now, maybe taking a tax
• 12:40
  Suze: hit on 5000, 10,000, 15,000 or more when you go
• 12:44
  Suze: to take it out. All right, KT.
• 12:47
  KT: Suze, the next question is from Jenny. My husband and
• 12:49
  KT: I have a business, so we have the SEP IRA accounts.
• 12:53
  KT: We maximize the amount every year. My question is, we
• 12:58
  KT: currently have it with Merrill Lynch. My hubby's 61, I
• 13:02
  KT: am
• 13:02
  KT: 56 they charge us 1% on what we have in
• 13:06
  KT: the account. Should I move it to a no brokerage
• 13:09
  KT: firm like Fidelity so we stop paying the 1% when
• 13:14
  KT: we stop contributing? It adds up every month.
• 13:18
  Suze: So first of all, my dear Jenny, here's how I
• 13:21
  Suze: would look at this if I were you and everybody
• 13:24
  Suze: else wondering this question.
• 13:26
  Suze: Because as I peruse the emails that you send in
• 13:29
  Suze: to ask Suze - Suze- podcast at gmail.com, all of
• 13:35
  Suze: you seem to be asking this question lately. If you
• 13:39
  Suze: have money with a financial advisor and let's say 100%
• 13:44
  Suze: of it is invested for growth.
• 13:47
  Suze: Is it worth it for you to pay 1% or
• 13:50
  Suze: more in fees because that will mount up, to this
• 13:54
  Suze: financial adviser. Here's how I would make the decision if
• 13:57
  Suze: I were you. A financial adviser should at least in
• 14:01
  Suze: my opinion, beat the Standard and and Poor's 500 index.
• 14:07
  Suze: Now you all know that I really like the exchange
• 14:10
  Suze: traded fund by the symbol VOO. Take a look
• 14:15
  Suze: at the return for VOO.
• 14:17
  Suze: And if your adviser has beat that, all right, stay
• 14:21
  Suze: with the adviser. If the adviser has not beat it,
• 14:26
  Suze: then what are you paying for?
• 14:28
  Suze: Just that simple. All right, KT, next.
• 14:32
  KT: This is from Steph Suze, and the reason I love this,
• 14:35
  KT: it says pick me KT. It's a quick and Rothy.
• 14:40
  Suze: Oh, you know, we should create a...
• 14:42
  KT: A drink. Let's make a, let's make a smoothie called,
• 14:47
  KT: A Frothy Rothy. I'll put it on the, I'll put
• 14:50
  KT: it on the wall, everybody.
• 14:52
  Suze: And what would be in it?
• 14:53
  KT: I'm not gonna tell you now they have to go
• 14:55
  KT: to the wall to get the recipe.
• 14:57
  Suze: Guess what I would have in it?
• 14:58
  KT: Banana.
• 15:00
  Suze: No, I would have root beer and vanilla ice cream.
• 15:06
  KT: And a banana maybe? OK that's called a root beer float.
• 15:14
  KT: I need one that's called a Frothy Rothy Root Beer maybe.
• 15:20
  KT: I keep... (laughing)
• 15:23
  KT: Hi KT and Suze. I can't begin to thank you
• 15:26
  KT: for all the Roth knowledge you passed, passed on to me.
• 15:30
  KT: I currently (laughing)
• 15:33
  KT: I just drank a frothy.
• 15:37
  KT: I just drank my Frothy Rothy this morning and currently
• 15:40
  KT: have a standard investment account and a Roth IRA. They
• 15:45
  KT: are both all invested in great companies you've suggested, Suze, yippee.
• 15:51
  KT: That yippee is for real, by the way.
• 15:54
  KT: My question is this now that I know so much
• 15:57
  KT: about Roth IRA accounts and how to invest well within them,
• 16:01
  KT: is it possible to transfer shares of these fabulous stocks
• 16:06
  KT: from my standard investment account into my Roth IRA,
• 16:11
  KT: As my annual $8,000 contribution next year? So Suze, Steph
• 16:16
  KT: is over $50. I really don't want to sell those
• 16:20
  KT: that I have in the standard, and I sure wish
• 16:22
  KT: they were in my Roth.
• 16:24
  Suze: So when she says standard, she means in her regular
• 16:27
  Suze: investment account. Should I give you that as a pop quizzy?
• 16:31
  KT: Oh, no.
• 16:33
  Suze: Why?
• 16:36
  KT: No, no, don't, because I'm on a roll here.
• 16:40
  Suze: Oh really? Do all of us think she's on a
• 16:43
  Suze: roll here?
• 16:44
  KT: I am.
• 16:45
  Suze: Trust me...
• 16:46
  KT: Come on, answer the question before everyone forgets the question.
• 16:49
  Suze: All right.
• 16:50
  Suze: So, Steph, the easy answer to that is no, you cannot, right?
• 16:54
  Suze: You cannot transfer stocks that are in an investment account
• 17:00
  Suze: into a Roth IRA and have that be considered your.
• 17:05
  Suze: Contribution only cash can be considered a contribution when investing
• 17:11
  Suze: in a contributory Roth. Could you sell those stocks, pay
• 17:17
  Suze: taxes on them now, and then take that money and
• 17:21
  Suze: put it in as a contribution? Yes, but I'm not
• 17:24
  Suze: sure cause I have a feeling you probably have some
• 17:27
  Suze: serious gains in those stocks.
• 17:30
  Suze: Especially if they are... anyway, go on, go on,
• 17:34
  KT: Just enjoy another Frothy Rothy. All right.
• 17:39
  KT: This is from Cindy.
• 17:41
  Suze: Oh wait, let me put my flat. Let me fluff...
• 17:43
  KT: Cindy said, Suze, I got the must-have documents. I live
• 17:47
  KT: in Texas. When I... listen to this question, everybody, whoa,
• 17:51
  KT: make this one my pop quizzy. When I met with
• 17:56
  KT: an attorney to change the name of my home deed
• 17:59
  KT: to the trust name, they
• 18:01
  KT: said my trust document was not valid since it was
• 18:05
  KT: from California.
• 18:06
  Suze: Let me finish this question, and they wanted to do
• 18:09
  Suze: a new trust for them. Go on,
• 18:10
  KT: It says of course they offered to create a new
• 18:14
  KT: will and trust. Is this so? Cindy, you absolutely need
• 18:20
  KT: to listen to Suze and everyone out there smart enough.
• 18:24
  Suze: In the same way that you have the ability, Cindy,
• 18:28
  Suze: when you're like creating a corporation for a company.
• 18:31
  Suze: You can create and incorporate in really any place you
• 18:35
  Suze: want in Delaware or anywhere. The same is true with
• 18:40
  Suze: a living trust. If you create a living trust governed
• 18:45
  Suze: by the laws of California, it's good anywhere that you
• 18:50
  Suze: happen to be.
• 18:51
  Suze: And the reason that the must-have documents chose the state
• 18:55
  Suze: of California is that they have the most liberal trust
• 18:58
  Suze: laws anywhere, so your lawyer is 100% wrong. I just
• 19:02
  Suze: want to make this statement, everybody.
• 19:04
  Suze: Over the years, millions and millions and millions and millions
• 19:10
  Suze: of people have purchased the must-have docs from all over
• 19:16
  Suze: the United States. Don't you think by this point in time,
• 19:22
  Suze: that would have been noticed if it wasn't possible. Many
• 19:25
  Suze: of those people are no longer alive. They passed everything
• 19:29
  Suze: down to their beneficiaries absolutely with ease. There's never been
• 19:33
  Suze: a lawsuit or anything like that against them, so I
• 19:37
  Suze: doubt highly,
• 19:39
  Suze: that the manufactures of the must-have documents would have allowed
• 19:44
  Suze: that if it wasn't legal. So therefore they are wrong,
• 19:49
  Suze: and by the way, I just have to say.
• 19:51
  Suze: We had the must-have documents, and we live in Florida.
• 19:55
  Suze: Just saying, go on, KT.
• 19:57
  KT: All right, next question is from Carlene. I turned 60
• 20:02
  KT: in January 2025. Do I qualify for the additional catchup
• 20:07
  KT: amount of $11,250 on my 401k for the 2025 tax year?
• 20:17
  Suze: Pop quizzy.
• 20:17
  KT: Yes.
• 20:18
  Suze: What if she had turned 64?
• 20:22
  Suze: Would she have qualified?
• 20:22
  KT: I think yes.
• 20:24
  Suze: No, it's only between the ages of 60 and 63.
• 20:28
  Suze: Don't ask me...
• 20:28
  KT: I didn't know that.
• 20:29
  Suze: Of course you didn't.
• 20:30
  KT: Why?
• 20:31
  Suze: Don't ask me why.
• 20:31
  KT: ask,
• 20:32
  Suze: Don't ask me why. That's the law. I don't know
• 20:35
  Suze: why they did that, but yes, you absolutely
• 20:37
  Suze: qualify for that catch up contribution. With that, let's say
• 20:42
  Suze: you were 59 let's say you were 64, it's only
• 20:47
  Suze: like $7,500. All right, go on, KT.
• 20:50
  KT: OK, my final question is from Kara, and I, I
• 20:54
  KT: picked this one because it said in the subject, is
• 20:56
  KT: now a good time to refinance my mortgage?
• 21:00
  KT: Hi, Suze and KT. I bought a house two years ago.
• 21:04
  KT: I have a 30-year mortgage with an interest rate of 6.125%.
• 21:10
  KT: I've been watching mortgage interest rates waiting for them to
• 21:14
  KT: go down so I can refinance to a lower rate.
• 21:18
  KT: Two local credit unions have 20 year mortgage refinance rates
• 21:22
  KT: of 5.5 and 5.375. Should I lock in one of
• 21:27
  KT: these lower rates now or wait to see if the
• 21:32
  KT: interest rates go down further?
• 21:34
  Suze: Interest rates probably will go down further, but again, then
• 21:37
  Suze: you never know.
• 21:38
  KT: You never know how, when, right?
• 21:40
  Suze: You never know. They should go down sooner than later.
• 21:43
  Suze: We'll see, but truthfully, the current rate on a 20
• 21:47
  Suze: year mortgage,
• 21:48
  Suze: if you were to get it it's still at about 6.10%,
• 21:52
  Suze: so those are really great rates. So I don't know.
• 21:56
  Suze: I think if you did it would probably be OK,
• 21:58
  Suze: but you might just want to wait a little. Is
• 22:02
  Suze: it a special offer that these credit unions are offering
• 22:06
  Suze: right now?
• 22:07
  Suze: Or is it gonna go away? So can you just
• 22:09
  Suze: ask your credit unions, is this a special or what
• 22:13
  Suze: do they think? Because it might be a special to
• 22:16
  Suze: get you to do it now and it's gonna stay
• 22:19
  Suze: that way even if they lower rates. So there you go.
• 22:24
  KT: OK, Suze, that's a wrap.
• 22:25
  Suze: I don't think so.
• 22:26
  KT: Oh no.
• 22:28
  Suze: Yeah, you're right.
• 22:28
  KT: Oh no, she's doing it. She's bringing back the quizzes.
• 22:33
  Suze: So this is where I asked KT a question.
• 22:37
  Suze: And all of you are being asked the same question,
• 22:41
  Suze: and I want you to be able to answer this question.
• 22:46
  Suze: This is from Doctor SD. All right. Hi ladies, I
• 22:52
  Suze: love listening to the way the two of you interact.
• 22:55
  Suze: Oh yeah, like today? Anyway, it is so much fun
• 22:58
  Suze: in addition to being a learning experience. I just listened
• 23:01
  Suze: to both Roth podcasts together. Did I do this right?
• 23:06
  Suze: I am over 65. OK, I opened a Roth in 1994.
• 23:14
  Suze: It had about $60,000 in it.
• 23:17
  Suze: So I opened a Roth on January 10, 2025 and
• 23:24
  Suze: transferred everything from my Schwab account that I had opened
• 23:29
  Suze: in 1994 to a new account at Fidelity feeling it
• 23:34
  Suze: was time to consolidate. So KT, just to be clear,
• 23:38
  Suze: this person is 65. They opened a Roth in 1994
• 23:43
  Suze: at Schwab. The beginning of this year, they opened up
• 23:47
  Suze: another Roth at Fidelity, and now they want to transfer
• 23:53
  Suze: the money from the Schwab account to the Roth account
• 23:57
  Suze: at Fidelity. Here's the question:
• 24:01
  Suze: Right after that, I converted my traditional IRA about $30,000
• 24:08
  Suze: into the Roth, and I know I will owe taxes.
• 24:12
  Suze: The conversion has its own 5 year clock which I
• 24:16
  Suze: read starting January 1st of the year I did the conversion.
• 24:21
  Suze: So in my case, can I withdraw the money I converted.
• 24:25
  Suze: But I have to wait 5 years to withdraw any
• 24:29
  Suze: earnings on the converted amount. Is that right?
• 24:33
  KT: I believe, yes.
• 24:35
  Suze: You're thinking about this?
• 24:36
  KT: Yeah, I think.
• 24:38
  Suze: Again, she's...
• 24:38
  KT: Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on, 65.
• 24:44
  KT: Hm.
• 24:45
  Suze: And she had a Roth all the way back to 1994.
• 24:51
  KT: I think that um, I think the doctor's exempt
• 24:56
  KT: from having to owe anything at this point.
• 25:00
  Suze: Ding ding ding ding. Because when you converted, Doc,
• 25:05
  Suze: into a Roth IRA that had already met the 5
• 25:10
  Suze: year time clock and you are over 59 and a half,
• 25:14
  Suze: you can take anything you want out without taxes or
• 25:19
  Suze: penalties whatsoever.
• 25:21
  KT: I learned um from all of Suzy's Roth lessons that
• 25:24
  KT: 59.5 is a really magic number everyone just needs to remember.
• 25:31
  Suze: And...
• 25:32
  Suze: a Roth that has been open for at least 5 years.
• 25:36
  Suze: All right, KT, now that's a... that's a Rothy, Frothy wrap.
• 25:43
  Suze: All right, everybody, so until Sunday.
• 25:46
  Suze: Though it looks like we have a hurricane possibly coming
• 25:49
  Suze: our
• 25:49
  Suze: way.
• 25:50
  KT: Yeah, we're in the season, Suze.
• 25:52
  Suze: So there's one this Invest 94, I think it is.
• 25:55
  Suze: Isn't looking so good for us. So hopefully if everything
• 26:00
  Suze: goes the way it should because we're on our way
• 26:02
  Suze: back now to the island now that I have flat hair.
• 26:09
  Suze: So anyway, and so we'll see what happens, but hopefully
• 26:12
  Suze: Sunday we'll be here with a Suze School. I'll be here.
• 26:16
  KT: And happy birthday, Nicky.
• 26:19
  Suze: Happy birthday, Nicky. Happy Rosh Hashana everybody.
• 26:22
  KT: Happy New Year.
• 26:23
  Suze: Right, Happy New Year and
• 26:26
  Suze: Until then, there's only one thing that we want you
• 26:28
  Suze: to remember, and it is this:
• 26:30
  KT: People first, then money, then things.
• 26:33
  Suze: Now you stay safe, healthy, and secure. Bye bye now.