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Should I Buy or Rent After My Divorce? · Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)

• 0:08
  Suze: March 19, 2026. Welcome everybody to the Women and Money
• 0:12
  Suze: podcast
• 0:13
  KT: And Everyone Smart Enough to Listen.
• 0:14
  Suze: This is the Ask Suze and KT edition.
• 0:17
  KT: Anything...
• 0:19
  Suze: Oh, right.
• 0:19
  KT: Ask KT and Suze anything edition.
• 0:22
  Suze: And if you want to ask us anything, please write
• 0:25
  Suze: into Ask Suze S U Z E podcast at gmail.com
• 0:31
  Suze: Keep it short. I promise you he won't even have
• 0:36
  Suze: an inkling of a chance.
• 0:38
  KT: Speaking about keeping it short, I got a pleading email.
• 0:42
  KT: Most of these, by the way, Suze, I've got this
• 0:45
  KT: barrage of Roth questions yet again, so people are probably still...
• 0:51
  Suze: You know why they write in about Roths?
• 0:52
  KT: Because it's tax time coming up?
• 0:54
  Suze: No.
• 0:55
  KT: Why?
• 0:55
  Suze: Because they know it is a topic.
• 0:57
  KT: Oh, it's a topic that's not, that doesn't endear me.
• 1:01
  KT: So that's why I'm not gonna talk about Roth for
• 1:03
  KT: my first question because this one was pleading, pick me,
• 1:06
  KT: pick me, pick me.
• 1:07
  Suze: Wait, so we're already starting. There, there's nothing we wanna
• 1:10
  Suze: talk about?
• 1:11
  KT: Not yet.
• 1:12
  Suze: You don't wanna talk about A Place Called Home?
• 1:15
  KT: Oh my God, what a great series. We've been binge-watching again, everyone. Woohoo.
• 1:21
  Suze: Yeah, we're binge-watching till like 1:30 or 2 o'clock every morning.
• 1:27
  Suze: Right, we're now on season 4.
• 1:30
  KT: Wait, let's tell everyone it's called. This is a series
• 1:33
  KT: from Australia that's not new. It's been around like that
• 1:37
  KT: for a decade. It's called A Place Called Home, but
• 1:41
  KT: it's a fabulous saga about the Blythe family in Australia,
• 1:46
  KT: and we're hooked on it. Suze and I are hooked
• 1:48
  KT: on this somewhat of a kind of a soap opera.
• 1:53
  KT: It's really intriguing.
• 1:55
  KT: And romantic and sad. I mean, we were both crying
• 1:59
  KT: the other night when they showed a funeral. We were
• 2:02
  KT: both crying. I, I said, Are you crying? She said, Yes.
• 2:06
  KT: I said, Me too. Anyway, you, if you haven't seen it,
• 2:10
  KT: and if you've got a whole lot of time,
• 2:13
  Suze: Which we don't...
• 2:14
  KT: We don't, we're getting frustrated because we, we wanna find
• 2:17
  KT: out what happens in the end.
• 2:19
  Suze: And I keep saying let's skip to the end.
• 2:20
  KT: And there's what, 30 episodes left?
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  Suze: Yes, like 27.
• 2:26
  KT: All right, we'll get through it, but it's really fun
• 2:29
  KT: if you wanna watch a good series, if you have
• 2:31
  KT: a whole lot of time...
• 2:32
  Suze: Here's what's so great, everybody, I normally stay up every
• 2:35
  Suze: night till about 1 or 2 in the morning.
• 2:36
  KT: She reads, she writes to all of you. She's got,
• 2:39
  KT: she doesn't ever require the sleep, I do.
• 2:41
  Suze: Yeah, and we still wake up very, very early in
• 2:45
  Suze: the morning, and KT always goes to bed at about 10,
• 2:50
  Suze: and so now she, it's killing her. And me, it's
• 2:52
  Suze: like normal for me, but anyway, all right, Missy, what
• 2:55
  Suze: do you got for me today?
• 2:57
  KT: OK, so this, as I was saying, I'm, I'm this
• 3:00
  KT: first email I'm reading is a pleading, Suze, pick me,
• 3:03
  KT: pick me, pick me.
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  KT: It's a short question.
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  Suze: Is that all it takes?
• 3:08
  KT: No, but wait, I liked it because I, I learned
• 3:11
  KT: that it's about someone called Diamond, and anytime I see a,
• 3:14
  KT: a fun name like that, so here's what it says. Suze,
• 3:17
  KT: pick me, pick me, pick me. My friend told me
• 3:19
  KT: to check out Diamond Nest Egg on YouTube to learn
• 3:24
  KT: about high yield savings. Suze, do you recommend her?
• 3:28
  Suze: Funny, KT. So you picked it...
• 3:31
  KT: I like the name Diamond, but the, the whole pleading
• 3:34
  KT: email was, Suze...
• 3:35
  Suze: I got it. You read it. You read it. I
• 3:37
  Suze: got it. I heard it. Everybody listen. You know, a
• 3:40
  Suze: few years ago...
• 3:42
  KT: This is from Laurie, by the way.
• 3:43
  Suze: All right, Laurie, a few years ago, if you remember
• 3:46
  Suze: when all I was doing is talking about Series I
• 3:49
  Suze: bonds and everything.
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  Suze: That's when I also referred all of you, believe it
• 3:54
  Suze: or not, to Diamond Nest Egg. She is on YouTube
• 3:59
  Suze: because I was like, oh my God, this woman is fabulous.
• 4:03
  Suze: If you are looking for a high yield savings account,
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  Suze: truthfully and you wanna know the comparison between money market
• 4:10
  Suze: accounts and the offers that are really out there all
• 4:13
  Suze: across the board, especially if you want to know the
• 4:16
  Suze: difference between the money markets at Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard. I
• 4:22
  Suze: go to her site and I have to tell you,
• 4:24
  Suze: I think she's fabulous. So check her, check her out. Seriously,
• 4:29
  Suze: I think she's worth her weight in diamonds. All right,
• 4:32
  Suze: go on. She's really great, KT. She really is
• 4:36
  KT: OK, so Laurie, I hope that answers your question. Pick me,
• 4:39
  KT: pick me, pick me. And the next one is from Sherry.
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  KT: She said, Hi, Suze and KT.
• 4:45
  Suze: Hi Sherry.
• 4:45
  KT: Hi Sherry. I have an inherited IRA which I know
• 4:50
  KT: has to be at zero in 10 years. What I'm
• 4:53
  KT: wondering is, should I
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  KT: re-buy some of the stocks after I sell them since
• 4:58
  KT: I can't transfer them. Seeing them in the IRA, I
• 5:02
  KT: can see how much they've grown over time. That makes
• 5:06
  KT: me have hope that they will continue to grow. So
• 5:09
  KT: that's her question.
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  Suze: So KT, Sherry's one of the women that I happen
• 5:13
  Suze: to answer directly.
• 5:15
  Suze: Right? So I sometimes answer you directly when I don't
• 5:19
  Suze: want you to make a mistake, OK?
• 5:22
  Suze: And so here's what I told Sherry, everybody. She needed
• 5:25
  Suze: to learn about what's called in-kind distributions, just that simple.
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  Suze: She doesn't have to sell and then re-buy in her
• 5:35
  Suze: new account. All she has to do is literally transfer in-kind,
• 5:40
  Suze: meaning if she has shares of XYZ stock, just to
• 5:44
  Suze: transfer the shares into her IRA, her inherited IRA, just
• 5:49
  Suze: that simple. She does not have to sell and re-buy. Next question, KT.
• 5:53
  KT: OK, from Liz. I changed jobs last month. I'm trying
• 5:57
  KT: to decide if I should roll over my 401k to
• 6:01
  KT: IRAs or transfer it to my new employer 401k plan.
• 6:07
  KT: I've been doing backdoor Roths for a few years now,
• 6:11
  KT: and I'm concerned that the pre-tax money in the 401k
• 6:15
  KT: going to a rollover IRA would be counted in the
• 6:19
  KT: pro rata rule.
• 6:21
  KT: So that's her question.
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  Suze: Pop quizzy.
• 6:24
  KT: Oh well, ask me what the pop quizzy is.
• 6:27
  Suze: What is the question you just asked me?
• 6:29
  KT: So I've been doing...
• 6:30
  Suze: No, let me ask you the question, KT.
• 6:33
  Suze: If this person Sherry puts money into an IRA rollover,
• 6:39
  Suze: what's gonna happen if she then does a backdoor Roth?
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  Suze: Will it count as the pro rata rule?
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  Suze: When she does a back door?
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  KT: I think, yes,
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  Suze: Why?
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  KT: I'm not quite, I'm not quite sure, but when you do....
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  KT: A rollover then the pro rata rule comes into effect
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  Suze: And how could she avoid that if she did what instead?
• 7:08
  KT: Oh, she could avoid it if she didn't do that.
• 7:10
  KT: Just leave it in the 401k.
• 7:13
  Suze: Ding dingy dingy dingy. But you guessed that's why it's
• 7:18
  Suze: not a really enthusiastic ding.
• 7:21
  KT: I did...
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  Suze: Do not do an IRA rollover if you're doing a backdoor Roth,
• 7:28
  Suze: cause then when you do a backdoor Roth, whatever amount
• 7:31
  Suze: of money you put into the backdoor Roth is going
• 7:34
  Suze: to be subjected to the pro rata rule. Money that
• 7:37
  Suze: is in a 401k, everybody is not subjected to it,
• 7:43
  Suze: just so you know, so you can do as many
• 7:45
  Suze: backdoor Roths as you want.
• 7:47
  Suze: As long as you don't have an IRA, a SEP IRA,
• 7:50
  Suze: a simple IRA, any type of IRA other than a Roth.
• 7:55
  Suze: All right, KT.
• 7:56
  KT: All right, this is from Kim. Hi, Suze, as always, thanks
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  KT: to you and KT for everything you do. She thanking
• 8:04
  KT: me too. I can't seem to get a consistent answer
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  KT: to this from anyone.
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  Suze: KT will give you a consistent answer.
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  KT: I inherited two non-spouse traditional IRAs. I know it has
• 8:18
  KT: to be withdrawn over the next 10 years.
• 8:22
  KT: However, do I have to take an RMD every year,
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  KT: or can I do it when it would be best
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  KT: for me? The deceased was 62, had not taken a
• 8:32
  KT: withdrawal on either IRA. I am 68, retired and not
• 8:37
  KT: drawing Social Security yet since I am the higher income spouse.
• 8:43
  Suze: So KT, does Kim say when this person died?
• 8:47
  KT: No, she doesn't.
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  Suze: All right, so let's just assume because we're still pretty
• 8:51
  Suze: much at the beginning of this year and it takes
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  Suze: a while when somebody dies that they died in 2025.
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  Suze: Now what makes this special, and which is why Kim
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  Suze: probably can't find an answer from anybody, is that Kim
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  Suze: is actually older. She is 68 than the person who
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  Suze: left her this IRA, which makes her an eligible designated beneficiary.
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  Suze: So the first thing you need to know, Kim, is
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  Suze: that you do not ever have to take RMDs based
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  Suze: on the life expectancy of the person who left it
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  Suze: to you, number one, because first of all, they weren't
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  Suze: 73 when they died, they were 62.
• 9:34
  Suze: And you do not have to take RMDs based on
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  Suze: your age from this account when you turn 73. It
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  Suze: doesn't work that way. Your normal IRAs, you have to
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  Suze: take it at 73 or the year after up to you.
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  Suze: However, in an inherited IRA, it is not based on
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  Suze: your age when you turn 73. Now listen closely, girlfriend,
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  Suze: because you are an eligible designated beneficiary. You have two choices.
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  Suze: You can take the distributions based on your life expectancy.
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  Suze: You do not have to wipe it clean in 10
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  Suze: years unless you choose to. So you're going to have
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  Suze: to talk to the custodian of this account wherever it's at.
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  Suze: And you're going to have to tell them now how
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  Suze: you expect to take this money again. You can do
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  Suze: it over your entire life starting this year if the
• 10:38
  Suze: person died last year, or you can choose the 10
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  Suze: year method where it has to be wiped clean in
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  Suze: 10 years. Now, if you choose that method.
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  Suze: Just be careful if you choose not to take any
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  Suze: distributions whatsoever until 10 years from now when you will
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  Suze: be 78. You have to be very careful because 100%
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  Suze: of that account, I don't know how much is in it,
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  Suze: will be taxed to you as ordinary income at that time.
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  Suze: So if I were you, I would probably start taking
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  Suze: distributions right now based on your life expectancy and stretch
• 11:21
  Suze: it for as long as you can. But again, I
• 11:25
  Suze: would say a CPA and which one works best for
• 11:29
  Suze: your income tax bracket. You know, it's funny, KT, I
• 11:32
  Suze: don't know why that question was so hard to answer.
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  Suze: Like she kept...
• 11:38
  KT: She said she wasn't able to get a consistent answer
• 11:41
  KT: from anyone.
• 11:42
  Suze: Well, what does that tell you? Because this is actually...
• 11:44
  KT: That's why she wrote to Suze.
• 11:45
  Suze: That's a very simplistic question if you know the rules
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  Suze: of retirement accounts. Next question, KT.
• 11:53
  KT: All right, Suze. Next question is from Ellen.
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  Suze: Oh wait, tell me. Let me tell you, no, wait,
• 11:59
  Suze: just tell me it's about an IRA or a Roth.
• 12:01
  KT: It's about a Roth...
• 12:02
  Suze: Are you doing it because it's close to tax time?
• 12:05
  KT: No, I just got barraged with so many Roth emails again.
• 12:10
  Suze: All right, go on.
• 12:10
  KT: So good morning, KT and Suze. I have a Roth
• 12:13
  KT: IRA over 5 years now, but I don't qualify to
• 12:18
  KT: fund it because my income is over the limit. I
• 12:22
  KT: am funding my Roth 403b through my paycheck. After retirement,
• 12:27
  KT: when I roll over my Roth 403b to my Roth IRA,
• 12:31
  KT: does that money follow the five year rule?
• 12:35
  Suze: So here's the good news, girlfriend. You already met the
• 12:39
  Suze: five year rule because you've had a Roth IRA open
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  Suze: for five years. Does not matter at all if you
• 12:48
  Suze: fund it anymore or not. You're fine no matter when
• 12:52
  Suze: you roll over your Roth 403B into that Roth IRA.
• 12:56
  Suze: It has met the five year rule. However, for those
• 12:59
  Suze: of you listening.
• 13:01
  Suze: If you didn't have a Roth IRA yet, and all
• 13:04
  Suze: you have is a Roth 401k or a Roth 403B
• 13:08
  Suze: or a Roth TSP and now you want to roll
• 13:11
  Suze: it over into a Roth IRA and you open a
• 13:15
  Suze: Roth IRA for the first time, thinking
• 13:18
  Suze: that the amount of time that you've had your retirement
• 13:21
  Suze: account open at your employer's meets the five year rule,
• 13:25
  Suze: it does not work that way. It does not follow
• 13:29
  Suze: you to an individual Roth IRA. So all of you
• 13:33
  Suze: out there, make sure that you have opened a Roth
• 13:37
  Suze: IRA right now if you have an employer sponsored plan,
• 13:42
  Suze: so that you can start the five year clock running
• 13:45
  Suze: right now. You could only fund it with $1 if
• 13:48
  Suze: you want, but fund it now. Next question, KT.
• 13:52
  KT: So next question is from Susan.
• 13:54
  Suze: Oh, let me... is it on a Roth, on an IRA?
• 13:57
  KT: No, no. Finally we have... this is divorce. I got
• 14:01
  KT: a lot of those too.
• 14:03
  KT: So I'm tormented, Suze, with making a real estate decision
• 14:07
  KT: in North Central Florida.
• 14:10
  Suze: Wait, can I say something since you just said that about divorce, right?
• 14:14
  Suze: And I wanna go back to A Place Called Home, that,
• 14:17
  Suze: that series that we're watching. What strikes me, KT, seriously,
• 14:22
  Suze: and this is really to you...
• 14:24
  Suze: Is how lucky we are, how very lucky the two
• 14:28
  Suze: of us are, because we don't have any of those problems.
• 14:33
  Suze: We have never lied to one another. We trust one another.
• 14:38
  Suze: We don't have jealousy problems. We don't. We're just so lucky, KT.
• 14:44
  Suze: So I just wanted to thank you for being in
• 14:46
  Suze: my life. Seriously.
• 14:48
  KT: That's so sweet.
• 14:49
  Suze: No, but I'm very serious, because...
• 14:51
  KT: I'm looking at her face and she's really serious.
• 14:54
  Suze: No, I am serious because not everybody is as lucky
• 14:59
  Suze: as we are. And so one of the reasons that
• 15:01
  Suze: I want to say that is, please don't ever settle
• 15:04
  Suze: in a relationship, please don't do that. Don't stay just
• 15:09
  Suze: because you're afraid to leave. I stayed in a relationship, seriously,
• 15:13
  Suze: for 8 years because I was afraid to leave. Biggest
• 15:16
  Suze: mistake I ever made, really. So always stand in your truth.
• 15:21
  Suze: Always do what's right for yourself, but don't stay.
• 15:25
  Suze: It does not pay when it isn't based in love, trust, integrity,
• 15:31
  Suze: and loyalty.
• 15:33
  Suze: Alright, KT.
• 15:33
  KT: Well, wait to hear the rest of this. So she said,
• 15:37
  KT: I'm 73 and a half, divorced five years. She stayed
• 15:44
  KT: for a long time.
• 15:45
  Suze: Is she still there?
• 15:46
  KT: Well, wait, I'm 73 and a half, divorced five years,
• 15:50
  KT: and we are still living at the home we built
• 15:54
  KT: 26 years ago due to a failed
• 15:58
  KT: sale and prolonged remodel. They've been probably miserable for a
• 16:04
  KT: long time... both of them.
• 16:05
  Suze: Or maybe they're ok. Them doing that.
• 16:07
  Suze: I mean there are things as amicable divorces.
• 16:11
  KT: So Susan said my decision is to buy or rent
• 16:15
  KT: after the sale. Buying would be in the neighborhood of
• 16:18
  KT: $315,000 which I can buy outright once we sell.
• 16:25
  KT: Renting would be $1,600 to $2,000 monthly. I have liquid
• 16:30
  KT: money for expenses from my Social Security and pension.
• 16:34
  KT: Suze, would I be better off buying in a planned
• 16:37
  KT: neighborhood or renting and keeping a large amount of money
• 16:42
  KT: in a secure interest bearing account? I'm tormented in knowing
• 16:47
  KT: what the best route is at this time in my life. She's 73.
• 16:51
  Suze: Where... in Florida, right?
• 16:55
  KT: I need.. in North Central Florida...
• 16:57
  KT: I need a financial expert to help pave my way.
• 17:00
  KT: My most sincere thanks, Suze. She's our age. What do
• 17:04
  KT: you recommend?
• 17:05
  Suze: What would you tell her?
• 17:06
  KT: Definitely rent.
• 17:08
  Suze: You betcha.
• 17:08
  KT: Rent, rent, and keep the, keep, keep a big nest
• 17:13
  KT: egg you can live on, feel secure. Don't worry about
• 17:17
  KT: money if you own a home again.
• 17:20
  KT: Someone's got it. You have, you have all these things
• 17:22
  KT: to go with it.
• 17:23
  Suze: So Susan, here's the lesson that I want you to
• 17:25
  Suze: have learned, all right? You have had to stay living
• 17:30
  Suze: with your ex-spouse now that you're divorced five years, five years! Why?
• 17:38
  Suze: Because the house did not sell.
• 17:41
  Suze: A piece of real estate is not like a stock
• 17:44
  Suze: that if you want to sell it, you pick up
• 17:46
  Suze: the phone or you push a little button and two
• 17:49
  Suze: seconds later it is sold. KT and I know this
• 17:52
  Suze: very well cause it took us one year to sell
• 17:56
  Suze: the island home, OK? One full year.
• 18:01
  Suze: So I would not buy again if I were you.
• 18:05
  Suze: KT and I have made a decision. We are never
• 18:07
  Suze: buying another home, and we went from five homes to
• 18:12
  Suze: now a little, , one little condo, and we are
• 18:15
  Suze: so happy. I can't tell you.
• 18:17
  KT: We might buy a boat.
• 18:17
  Suze: No, we're not buying a boat.
• 18:19
  KT: We might by a plane.
• 18:19
  Suze: We're not buying a plane. We're not buying anything again,
• 18:23
  Suze: so listen to me.
• 18:25
  Suze: Florida, I don't care where you are in Florida. Florida
• 18:29
  Suze: insurance is off the roof right now for property insurance,
• 18:33
  Suze: so you have to have insurance even though you're buying
• 18:36
  Suze: it outright because of hurricanes, floods, all kinds of things,
• 18:40
  Suze: you cannot chance it. That's one. Number two, there are
• 18:45
  Suze: all kinds of expenses when you buy a home.
• 18:48
  Suze: Not only do you have, as KT mentioned, property taxes, insurance, maintenance,
• 18:54
  Suze: all kinds of things, decorating, repair everything. Once you've bought
• 19:00
  Suze: a home, once you've done it, it is done. If
• 19:04
  Suze: I were you, can you just rent, rent a place
• 19:08
  Suze: that you really enjoy
• 19:10
  Suze: your money that you would have used to buy the
• 19:13
  Suze: house will generate more than enough interest to pay for
• 19:17
  Suze: a really great apartment. Just do that. And as you
• 19:22
  Suze: get older, I don't know if you have children or whatever,
• 19:25
  Suze: but do you have long term care insurance? Who's going
• 19:28
  Suze: to take care of you as you do get older,
• 19:30
  Suze: you may find that you want to move into an
• 19:34
  Suze: independent living facility where you're around other people.
• 19:38
  Suze: And there are different types of care there. So no,
• 19:41
  Suze: do not buy an individual home at this point in time.
• 19:45
  Suze: That's just my opinion. I can tell KT agrees with that.
• 19:49
  KT: Totally agree.
• 19:50
  Suze: You can always do it, but don't do it yet,
• 19:53
  Suze: and I just have to say one more thing.
• 19:56
  Suze: Even though you have been divorced five years, you've been
• 19:58
  Suze: living together one way or the other. You've been there,
• 20:02
  Suze: so therefore,
• 20:04
  Suze: you are to do absolutely nothing for at least six
• 20:07
  Suze: months to one year after suffering a loss. And even
• 20:11
  Suze: though this may not seem like a loss after five years,
• 20:15
  Suze: it's going to be a change because he's been there.
• 20:18
  Suze: Maybe he's on the property, who knows where he is
• 20:20
  Suze: when we're there. Maybe you have him a little cabin
• 20:22
  Suze: down the road. I don't know. Please go slow and
• 20:26
  Suze: don't do it. All right, go on, KT.
• 20:28
  KT: All right, from Clare.
• 20:30
  KT: Suze, I have several savings, 401ks and mutual funds totaling
• 20:36
  KT: 1.3 million. I want to set up a trust and
• 20:40
  KT: life estate for my son and grandson.
• 20:43
  KT: I have heard that each of us should have an
• 20:46
  KT: insurance policy that would go into the trust to assist
• 20:50
  KT: with funding the trust. What insurance agent sold her that story?
• 20:54
  Suze: Well, that's my girl KT. I'm like, where did you
• 20:57
  Suze: hear that? You wanna leave a legacy seriously for your kids?
• 21:01
  Suze: Don't bother with a life insurance policy. You're already gonna
• 21:05
  Suze: be leaving them $1.3 million. I don't know how old
• 21:10
  Suze: you are. I don't know when you're gonna die. You
• 21:13
  Suze: don't know when you're gonna die. Do not waste your
• 21:16
  Suze: money on life insurance.
• 21:19
  KT: So sad, so sad that people get advice like that.
• 21:23
  KT: Just not right.
• 21:24
  Suze: All right, you got any more?
• 21:25
  KT: Yes, I do. I have one last one, and it's
• 21:28
  KT: always important for very special people, and this is about
• 21:31
  KT: a special needs trust. Hi Suze and KT. My husband
• 21:36
  KT: and I are in our mid-seventies and retired.
• 21:39
  KT: We set up a living revocable trust in 2010 using
• 21:44
  KT: an elder law attorney. Since our younger adult daughter is disabled,
• 21:50
  KT: we want to set up and fund an SNT for
• 21:53
  KT: her at the same time. Instead, a provision in the
• 21:57
  KT: will and trust states that at the time of our death,
• 22:00
  KT: the SNT
• 22:01
  KT: will be set up to receive her portion in any inheritance.
• 22:06
  Suze: That's a mistake.
• 22:06
  KT: I've always had a nagging feeling that we should set
• 22:09
  KT: up and at least fund the SNT prior to our death.
• 22:13
  Suze: Good for her.
• 22:14
  KT: Our older daughter is single. She lives in Texas while
• 22:17
  KT: our younger daughter lives in a nonprofit group home in
• 22:21
  KT: New York.
• 22:23
  Suze: So, the reason I already knew it was a mistake
• 22:25
  Suze: is this is another situation, KT where I answered this
• 22:29
  Suze: person directly because again, everybody listen.
• 22:32
  Suze: When you write in, I peruse late at night at
• 22:36
  Suze: 1 or 2 in the morning, your questions, not knowing
• 22:39
  Suze: which one KT will pick and not being able to
• 22:42
  Suze: read all of them, trust me, but every once in
• 22:45
  Suze: a while when I catch a headline like the headline
• 22:48
  Suze: on this one was Special Needs Trust, I read it
• 22:52
  Suze: and if I think the person really needs to know
• 22:55
  Suze: the answer, I write them back directly, so I did.
• 23:00
  Suze: And I wrote her back in great detail, so I
• 23:04
  Suze: won't go into that much detail right now, but here's
• 23:07
  Suze: the news, everybody. If you have a special needs child,
• 23:12
  Suze: chances are they are on SSI.
• 23:15
  Suze: Social Security income, which means they get 600 a month
• 23:20
  Suze: or whatever it may be because they're special needs. If
• 23:23
  Suze: you leave them money directly, it will disqualify them for
• 23:28
  Suze: SSI and good luck for them to get back on it.
• 23:32
  Suze: So if you have a child that has special needs,
• 23:36
  Suze: you want to set up a special needs trust where
• 23:39
  Suze: all the money goes into that trust.
• 23:42
  Suze: And somebody, and in this case the older daughter will
• 23:46
  Suze: decide what is needed, how much money should go out,
• 23:50
  Suze: and the daughter that is a special needs person will
• 23:54
  Suze: still get SSI. You do not want to set it
• 23:58
  Suze: up though, the way that her lawyer had her set
• 24:01
  Suze: it up, because that will take time. It will be difficult.
• 24:05
  Suze: You just don't want to do it. So many families
• 24:09
  Suze: do choose to create a standalone special needs trust during
• 24:14
  Suze: their lifetime. So what that means is that the trust
• 24:18
  Suze: already exists, that the trustee has been named, meaning their
• 24:22
  Suze: older daughter. The structure is tested and the older daughter
• 24:26
  Suze: KT will know exactly what to do, and they can
• 24:31
  Suze: fund it with as little as $10, $100, or a
• 24:35
  Suze: small investment.
• 24:37
  Suze: So for the sister, I just want to say who
• 24:40
  Suze: will be managing everything, this is gonna be a huge
• 24:43
  Suze: gift of simplicity for their daughter. The sister, are you
• 24:50
  Suze: kidding me? But here's what's really important, all right? Two things:
• 24:55
  Suze: they should create a letter of intent.
• 24:58
  Suze: So the sister knows exactly what to do, describing the
• 25:03
  Suze: daughter's needs, establishing the relationships and all of that, how
• 25:07
  Suze: much money should be used so they also can have
• 25:10
  Suze: control from their grave. One last thing, since their older
• 25:14
  Suze: daughter who's gonna be responsible for everything, is single and
• 25:18
  Suze: lives in Texas, but their younger daughter lives in a
• 25:22
  Suze: nonprofit group home in New York.
• 25:25
  Suze: Just make sure that the special needs trust complies with
• 25:31
  Suze: New York Medicaid rules so that everything works really smoothly
• 25:36
  Suze: across states. So if I were you, here's the bottom
• 25:39
  Suze: line of advice. Since you set this all up in
• 25:42
  Suze: 2010 using an elder law attorney, that's what, 15 years ago,
• 25:48
  Suze: 16 years ago now, really.
• 25:51
  Suze: Let's do it all over again with a different elder
• 25:55
  Suze: law attorney. Is that really it, KT?
• 25:58
  KT: That's a wrap, Suze. Now tell everyone what we're doing tonight.
• 26:03
  KT: Tonight we have a girls' night out.
• 26:06
  KT: We have a girls' night out. It's gonna be a
• 26:07
  KT: lot of fun.
• 26:08
  Suze: We are going to see a comedian, Cristela Alonzo. She
• 26:13
  Suze: has three Netflix specials out. I told you about her before.
• 26:16
  Suze: She's very, very funny, and we're going tonight with KT's
• 26:22
  Suze: twin sister and Meryl, her very good friend, hopefully will
• 26:26
  Suze: be our friend because we just love her so much.
• 26:29
  Suze: And anyway, and that's where we're going. So KT, wanna
• 26:33
  Suze: say anything else?
• 26:35
  Suze: No, you don't. You're done. You've had it.
• 26:38
  KT: I'm done.
• 26:39
  Suze: You're done. All right, until Sunday. And again, I never
• 26:42
  Suze: know what I'm gonna do on Sunday, right? But until
• 26:45
  Suze: Sunday there's only one thing that we want you to remember.
• 26:48
  Suze: And what is it, Miss Travis?
• 26:50
  KT: People first, then money, then things.
• 26:52
  Suze: Now you stay safe, and I hope that this podcast
• 26:57
  Suze: is a place that you call home.
• 27:01
  KT: Oh, that's good.
• 27:02
  Suze: That was good. Bye-bye.