Latest / Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen) / If I Work After Age 70, Should I Still Contribute To My Roth IRA?

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If I Work After Age 70, Should I Still Contribute To My Roth IRA? · Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)

• 0:08
  Suze: July 5th, 2026. Welcome everybody to the summer edition of
• 0:15
  Suze: the Women in Money podcast, and everybody's smart enough to listen.
• 0:20
  Suze: For those of you, by the way, who don't know,
• 0:22
  Suze: for the summer, who knows, maybe we'll do it forever.
• 0:25
  Suze: We'll have to see. KT and I are only doing
• 0:29
  Suze: and dropping new podcasts every Sunday. On Thursday, Robert will
• 0:35
  Suze: choose
• 0:35
  Suze: best of of either ask KT and Susie anything or
• 0:39
  Suze: Suze Schools or whatever, but that is our summer thing
• 0:44
  Suze: now KT, wait, wait, wait, you kind of got to
• 0:47
  Suze: tell them why. What are we doing for your birthday?
• 0:50
  Suze: Tell everybody.
• 0:51
  KT: Oh my goodness, I told you all that ever since
• 0:54
  KT: she moved off the island she's become a social butterfly
• 0:58
  KT: and in the first 6 months of this year we've
• 1:02
  KT: been halfway around
• 1:03
  KT: the world a couple times in and out of New
• 1:05
  KT: York we've been everywhere and now.
• 1:08
  Suze: And by the way, everybody, we were just there last
• 1:10
  Suze: week seeing two plays.
• 1:12
  KT: Oh my God, we saw Rag... Tell them about Ragtime.
• 1:16
  KT: You must, you must...
• 1:17
  Suze: No, it's closing. It's, it's closing and sold out.
• 1:21
  KT: But if it travels, go see it, people.
• 1:23
  Suze: So great. But anyway, tell them what's happening for your birthday.
• 1:26
  KT: She surprised me. I walked in the other day. She said, KT,
• 1:28
  KT: sit down. We need to talk.
• 1:31
  KT: And what was my reaction? Like, oh no, what did
• 1:33
  KT: I do? I sit down, she said, she said, KT
• 1:38
  KT: I have an idea for your birthday, and I looked
• 1:41
  KT: at her with her, with that face she had. I said,
• 1:43
  KT: where are we going? And she said, we're gonna listen
• 1:47
  KT: to Andrea sing under the stars in Tuscany, and
• 1:52
  KT: that's where we're going. But first, we're gonna stop in London.
• 1:57
  KT: And see my very, very best wonderful friend Joyce and
• 2:02
  KT: have dimsum Chinese lunch on my birthday.
• 2:06
  Suze: How old is Joyce now?
• 2:08
  KT: I'm 74. I'll be 74, so she's 86.
• 2:11
  Suze: 86. We love this woman. Oh my God.
• 2:15
  KT: Very instrumental mentor in my life, really from Asia. And
• 2:21
  KT: we're gonna just be gone a week, then we come
• 2:23
  KT: back and see the big redwoods. Then we come back,
• 2:26
  KT: go back to New York.
• 2:26
  Suze: We'll tell them how you're gonna see the big redwoods,
• 2:29
  Suze: what we're doing there.
• 2:30
  KT: A road trip.
• 2:31
  KT: Wait, we can't share all this yet. We'll wait till it happens.
• 2:34
  Suze: Then, we're going back to New York to do what?
• 2:36
  Suze: See a basketball game.
• 2:37
  KT: No, she's gonna go see her really great girlfriend Caitlin Clark.
• 2:42
  KT: Susie loves that three point downtown girl.
• 2:46
  Suze: That's the reason, everybody, we're going to a summer schedule
• 2:50
  Suze: because we are just all over the place. All right...
• 2:55
  KT: So Suze, don't we want to wish everyone a happy
• 2:58
  KT: America birthday weekend.
• 3:01
  Suze: Yeah, but I would rather wish everybody an incredible financial
• 3:07
  Suze: independence celebration.
• 3:11
  KT: Oh, there you go.
• 3:11
  Suze: Where it's just not Independence Day, but it's where you
• 3:14
  Suze: have now achieved financial independence. Now that would be a
• 3:19
  Suze: day to celebrate truthfully, all right, KT, what do you have for us today?
• 3:24
  KT: Well, my first, my first story, it's not even a question.
• 3:29
  KT: This is a warning for everyone.
• 3:32
  KT: And Suze, I chose this because this is absolutely top
• 3:35
  KT: of mind and you're gonna have to explain why. It's
• 3:39
  KT: called a romance scam.
• 3:42
  KT: Hi Suze...
• 3:42
  Suze: Does that mean you don't really love me?
• 3:44
  KT: No, I love you, but listen to what happened to Michael.
• 3:48
  KT: Michael wrote and said, Hi Suze. I realized the other
• 3:52
  KT: day that I had been talking to a romance scammer.
• 3:57
  KT: Here's what happened. The person I met was on a
• 4:00
  KT: dating site and quickly wanted to switch platforms to Telegram.
• 4:07
  KT: They used the story that their ex had lied to
• 4:10
  KT: them so much that he wanted to verify my identity.
• 4:14
  KT: He shared the front of his license as proof of
• 4:17
  KT: who he was.
• 4:19
  Suze: He wanted...
• 4:20
  Suze: Wait, his driver's license?
• 4:21
  KT: Yeah, his license. He wanted the same from me. Ready.
• 4:26
  KT: He also took a photo of the back and wanted
• 4:29
  KT: that too.
• 4:31
  KT: That was the first red flag that was uncomfortable for me,
• 4:35
  KT: but I did, even though I study fraud prevention, it
• 4:39
  KT: is so important that we talk about these things, Suze.
• 4:42
  KT: There's no embarrassment. So I'm gonna tell the story to
• 4:46
  KT: all of you. So Michael said he had mentioned that
• 4:50
  KT: he had worked so hard on his credit and gave
• 4:52
  KT: a credit score. He asked about mine. I nonchalantly told him.
• 4:58
  KT: We started discussing credit cards and he asked which ones
• 5:01
  KT: I had. I started digging further and further and I
• 5:06
  KT: realized that this was a very well developed scam. So Suze,
• 5:12
  KT: I just wanna say if you haven't seen them in person,
• 5:15
  KT: we should not share anything online.
• 5:18
  KT: That's all I wanted to say to you today. Thank
• 5:21
  KT: you so much for helping people.
• 5:23
  Suze: So, here's the thing I wanna say, KT, I'm actually
• 5:26
  Suze: happy you started with that one.
• 5:28
  Suze: Listen, first, there is a scammer on the Women and
• 5:33
  Suze: Money Community app. There's a scammer on Instagram, on Facebook
• 5:38
  Suze: that has a picture of me showing me when I
• 5:42
  Suze: happened to have been, by the way, in Italy. I
• 5:44
  Suze: don't know where he got that or she got that picture,
• 5:47
  Suze: saying I've switched my photo. Let's talk on Telegram.
• 5:53
  Suze: That is not me. You are to be careful. Do
• 5:57
  Suze: not ever think that I am going to want to
• 6:00
  Suze: talk to you because I don't want to talk to you.
• 6:03
  Suze: I don't want to communicate with you more than I
• 6:06
  Suze: communicate with you right here, just that simple. And if
• 6:11
  Suze: by chance you happen to write in.
• 6:14
  Suze: And I answer you, you'll know it's me when I
• 6:17
  Suze: answer you, but I will never answer you on Instagram.
• 6:20
  Suze: I will never answer you on Facebook. I will never
• 6:23
  Suze: answer you on the Women and Money Community app, except
• 6:26
  Suze: to say, no, this isn't me, or maybe a yes,
• 6:29
  Suze: but I will never ever ask you to speak to
• 6:33
  Suze: me on Telegram.
• 6:34
  Suze: Or any app or thing like that. That's number one.
• 6:38
  Suze: All right. Number two, this person said, unless you meet
• 6:43
  Suze: them in person, do not show them anything. All right. Now,
• 6:48
  Suze: the person that scammed this person that KT just wrote
• 6:53
  Suze: about has this person's
• 6:55
  Suze: driver's license, front and back, credit cards, all their back history.
• 7:01
  Suze: So if they happen to be asked information to see
• 7:05
  Suze: if it's really them, they're gonna know about this person.
• 7:08
  Suze: So as soon as that happens, forget about it. However,
• 7:12
  Suze: a little bit ago I got an email from a
• 7:15
  Suze: good friend of mine who lives here in Florida.
• 7:18
  Suze: And he said, Suze, can you please send a picture
• 7:23
  Suze: of yourself and sign it for this woman? She's such
• 7:26
  Suze: a fan, and I'm gonna go see her.
• 7:30
  Suze: And so I start writing him back and I said,
• 7:33
  Suze: where did you meet her? And he tells me on
• 7:36
  Suze: this dating site and everything, and it's love at first sight,
• 7:39
  Suze: and Suze, I just love her so much and on
• 7:41
  Suze: and on. I said, Well, what do you know about her?
• 7:44
  Suze: Now he's telling me she's in finance, she has her
• 7:47
  Suze: own company, she's this and that, and I'm just, you know,
• 7:51
  Suze: I'm going to go visit her and be with her.
• 7:55
  Suze: And I said, have you checked her out?
• 7:57
  Suze: If she's in finance, give me her name and let
• 8:00
  Suze: me check her out. So he gives me her name.
• 8:04
  Suze: There's no such person, right? She doesn't have any financial credentials.
• 8:08
  Suze: She has no business, so he was about to go
• 8:12
  Suze: visit her in person, and the scam would have continued, everybody.
• 8:19
  Suze: Again, I am asking you to be seriously careful with
• 8:24
  Suze: if you see my picture online or whatever, you know
• 8:28
  Suze: if it's me or not, you know it. It's either
• 8:31
  Suze: on Suze Orman.com on my real Suze
• 8:35
  Suze: Oman Instagram account or Facebook account or YouTube. It is
• 8:40
  Suze: not on anywhere else. Yes, I'm on X and Threads,
• 8:43
  Suze: but you know, if it's me, if it doesn't have
• 8:46
  Suze: that little check, it's not me. And when in doubt,
• 8:50
  Suze: forget about it. However, I want to say something. Stop
• 8:55
  Suze: doubting that the Ultimate Scam Protection program
• 9:00
  Suze: isn't real. Stop it. Nord Securities, who created NordVPN, you
• 9:07
  Suze: know them, they're all over the place. They decided to
• 9:12
  Suze: change from NordP Protect, which is different than NordVPN, same
• 9:16
  Suze: company but different types of programs to CoverOn.
• 9:21
  Suze: And now the Ultimate Scam Protection is from CoverOn, which
• 9:27
  Suze: really has a parent company known as Nord Securities. You
• 9:31
  Suze: just need to know that, but you're doubting everything. You're
• 9:35
  Suze: not doubting what you should be doubting.
• 9:37
  Suze: You're doubting what you should not be doubting. So when
• 9:40
  Suze: I send you to suze orman.com to do something, you
• 9:45
  Suze: should know it's real, OK, and do it. You know, KT,
• 9:52
  Suze: I'm more passionate about it than I was when we
• 9:54
  Suze: first brought it out, because of how I see people
• 9:58
  Suze: are trying to use my picture to scam others. Because
• 10:03
  Suze: it's me, you're going to be giving them money if
• 10:05
  Suze: you think it's me, and it's not. Why else would
• 10:08
  Suze: they be scamming you?
• 10:11
  Suze: So, please, I am begging you to protect yourself. All right, next, KT.
• 10:16
  KT: All right, my next question is from Alma, and Alma said, Suze,
• 10:21
  KT: my Roth IRA was in CDs and they matured on 6/22.
• 10:27
  KT: I am 72 years old and single.
• 10:30
  KT: I do draw Social Security and still work for a
• 10:33
  KT: little extra money. I have other CDs, so I don't
• 10:37
  KT: expect to need my IRA unless there's a medical crisis.
• 10:42
  KT: I can renew the CDs at 4%, but my broker
• 10:47
  KT: suggested a fixed annuity.
• 10:50
  Suze: Within her IRA?
• 10:51
  KT: I don't know. Ready?
• 10:53
  KT: I am not a money expert like you, so I'm
• 10:55
  KT: hoping for some guidance. Are you familiar with Gainbridge? What's Gainbridge?
• 11:01
  Suze: It's an, it's a company that obviously sells annuities.
• 11:04
  KT: I am terrified. Ready, Suze? Listen, everyone, for this word.
• 11:09
  KT: I am terrified I could lose my Roth IRA status
• 11:13
  KT: and or my money.
• 11:15
  KT: I only have a few days, Suze. I'm reaching out
• 11:18
  KT: to the smartest person I know.
• 11:20
  Suze: Obviously, KT, the IRA that she originally mentioned is a
• 11:25
  Suze: Roth IRA, and because it is a Roth IRA, Alma,
• 11:30
  Suze: you do not have to take required minimum distributions when
• 11:34
  Suze: you're 73. That's number one. Number two:
• 11:37
  Suze: Why in the world would you ever do an annuity,
• 11:42
  Suze: which is tax deferred in a tax-free retirement account? Don't
• 11:48
  Suze: do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Renew your 4%
• 11:52
  Suze: CDs if you want, do whatever you want, but the
• 11:56
  Suze: fact that somebody came to you and advised you to
• 12:00
  Suze: do something and you didn't go to them and ask,
• 12:04
  Suze: that is a warning sign, everybody.
• 12:07
  Suze: When somebody makes a suggestion, the first question you are
• 12:11
  Suze: to ask is, and can you tell me what is
• 12:14
  Suze: your commission if I do this? Can you tell me
• 12:17
  Suze: if I renew a CD, what is your commission? And
• 12:20
  Suze: they will say, hopefully zero, or they're lying to you.
• 12:23
  Suze: So why does a financial advisor suggest something to you?
• 12:27
  Suze: Because they'd rather make 4 or 5% or more versus zero.
• 12:32
  Suze: Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, Alma.
• 12:34
  Suze: But what's great is you trusted your gut. One of
• 12:37
  Suze: the laws of money, trust your gut more than you
• 12:41
  Suze: trust others.
• 12:43
  Suze: Except me. All right, go on. No, actually you should
• 12:46
  Suze: trust your gut even when it comes to me. All right,
• 12:48
  Suze: go on, KT.
• 12:50
  KT: This next quest... I love this next email we received.
• 12:53
  KT: It said hello to the dynamic duo of KT and Suze.
• 12:58
  KT: I have a quick question for you awesome ladies. I
• 13:01
  KT: just finished completing all the sections of my revocable trust
• 13:05
  KT: and my must-have documents. So now I'm at the part
• 13:09
  KT: of funding my trust.
• 13:11
  KT: And this is the question. I already have a trust.
• 13:15
  KT: This trust, I imagine, replaces my previous trust. Do I
• 13:20
  KT: have to send the documents to the bank that has
• 13:23
  KT: my mortgage? And then Marcella goes on to say, my
• 13:27
  KT: home and bank documents are in my trust name. Your
• 13:30
  KT: help with this question is appreciated, but wait, she signs off.
• 13:34
  KT: This is a little hint. Keep shining bright and making
• 13:38
  KT: waves of change.
• 13:43
  KT: Oh Marcella, you know us. Suze gave a talk to
• 13:48
  KT: this great organization in North Florida called Waves of Change.
• 13:54
  KT: I loved that day we were there. So Marcella is
• 13:57
  KT: from the Waves of Change.
• 13:58
  Suze: So Marcella, here's the thing, it depends if it's a
• 14:02
  Suze: brand new trust.
• 14:04
  Suze: And all you should give them a copy of the
• 14:08
  Suze: new trust, and the main reason is the must-have documents
• 14:12
  Suze: trust has an incapacity clause in it. I doubt highly
• 14:17
  Suze: that the original trust you did that wasn't the must-have
• 14:21
  Suze: documents possibly doesn't have the same incapacity clause that the
• 14:26
  Suze: must-have documents has in it. So if I were you,
• 14:30
  Suze: just give them copies, your brokerage firm, your
• 14:33
  Suze: bank, we do that we make sure that our financial
• 14:38
  Suze: institutions always have the latest copy of our trust. All right, KT, yes.
• 14:43
  KT: This next email, Suze, is not a question, but it's
• 14:46
  KT: something down memory lane. I think you'll really enjoy it.
• 14:50
  KT: All right, everyone, listen up.
• 14:52
  KT: Dear Miss Orman, my name is David, and my parents,
• 14:56
  KT: Wayne and Rosie followed your investment advice in 1986 when
• 15:03
  KT: you then worked for Prudential-Bache in California.
• 15:07
  Suze: In Orinda California.
• 15:09
  KT: Suze, you were 35 years old.
• 15:11
  Suze: Yes, I was.
• 15:11
  KT: So wait, listen to how smart that young 35-year-old was
• 15:14
  KT: at the time.
• 15:16
  KT: My parents wanted me to reach out to you and
• 15:18
  KT: thank you for helping and advising them 40 years ago.
• 15:24
  KT: The investments performed exactly how you said they would and
• 15:28
  KT: gave my parents security and peace of mind during their retirement.
• 15:33
  KT: They remember you coming to their home in Walnut Creek,
• 15:37
  KT: and they were so impressed. At 96 and 93 years
• 15:42
  KT: old today, they asked me to help them with their
• 15:45
  KT: financial affairs. That is how I discovered this history.
• 15:50
  KT: I've included my dad's original statement, Suze, where he invested
• 15:55
  KT: $50,000 with you and now its current value is $302,000.
• 16:03
  Suze: And all tax free too.
• 16:06
  KT: On behalf of our family, thank you for being such
• 16:09
  KT: a positive part in their planning and financial journey. Isn't
• 16:14
  KT: that sweet? 35 years old, Suze?
• 16:19
  KT: 35 years old. I love that. I love this letter.
• 16:24
  KT: So Wayne...
• 16:26
  Suze: Wait, can I tell you a story?
• 16:27
  KT: About Wayne and Rosie?
• 16:28
  Suze: No, about Prudential.
• 16:30
  KT: Oh boy, here we go.
• 16:31
  Suze: So here it was Orinda, California, only woman really stockbroker again.
• 16:36
  Suze: In these beautiful offices and now I'm a vice president
• 16:39
  Suze: of investments for them.
• 16:40
  KT: 35 year old vice president, that's a big deal.
• 16:43
  Suze: And all they had were these heavy duty wood desks
• 16:48
  Suze: and all these male because they were all for men
• 16:51
  Suze: and I'm like I cannot relate to this.
• 16:55
  Suze: So, I went out and I bought my own furniture,
• 16:59
  Suze: lacquered furniture, black, pink. It was stunning, new curtains on
• 17:04
  Suze: the thing, the whole, I redid it, came in with
• 17:07
  Suze: the movers on a Saturday, moved all my furniture in
• 17:11
  Suze: this office out, put it in front of the manager's
• 17:15
  Suze: office outside, and redid the whole thing. Monday, everybody comes
• 17:21
  Suze: in and goes, what the hell? And I decided this
• 17:25
  Suze: is what a woman's office should look like. KT, those...
• 17:30
  KT: Did they let you keep it like that?
• 17:31
  Suze: They did, right? But you wanna know something? Those were
• 17:33
  Suze: the days I was a little bit more rebellious, I think.
• 17:37
  Suze: But I would wear blue jeans with my cowboy boots
• 17:41
  Suze: with a leather jacket, and that's how I dressed.
• 17:45
  Suze: Right, and I would light incense in my office to
• 17:47
  Suze: keep everything calm. OK. And I was their top producing broker.
• 17:53
  KT: 35 years old, vice president of Prudential-Bache. That's something.
• 17:57
  Suze: Remember that Preston Cranford?
• 18:00
  KT: I met Preston.
• 18:01
  Suze: He was the manager at the time.
• 18:03
  KT: I love Preston.
• 18:03
  Suze: We're still friends to this day.
• 18:05
  KT: How is he?
• 18:06
  KT: He's good. Oh, great.
• 18:08
  Suze: He's good.
• 18:09
  KT: Oh man, I remember him. He loved you. Loved you so much.
• 18:12
  Suze: Oh my God, the things I did in that office.
• 18:14
  KT: Yeah, he told some stories.
• 18:16
  Suze: All right go on.
• 18:17
  KT: All right, that's why I wanted to do a special
• 18:19
  KT: about her life. Everybody. There are stories. She keeps saying, no, no, no, no, no,
• 18:24
  KT: but it would be such a fun special.
• 18:27
  KT: Well, let's ask everybody.
• 18:28
  KT: Yeah, how many of you would like to see and
• 18:31
  KT: watch maybe on Netflix or somewhere a special about Suze Orman?
• 18:36
  KT: The Life of Suze Orman. How a waitress became the
• 18:40
  KT: world's personal finance expert. You vote, let me know, and
• 18:45
  KT: KT will make it happen.
• 18:46
  Suze: Write into podcast at ask Suze.com. That is the new
• 18:51
  Suze: email address that all of you should use because that
• 18:55
  Suze: is an email address that can't be hacked, just so
• 18:59
  Suze: you know. All right, go on.
• 19:00
  KT: Great. OK, my next question is from Terry.
• 19:04
  KT: Hi KT and Suze, I've been listening to your podcast
• 19:07
  KT: for two years and learning a lot from you. I
• 19:10
  KT: am a 69-year-old widow and still working. I'm relatively healthy.
• 19:15
  KT: I have an adult son, and he is living independently.
• 19:19
  KT: My house has been paid off. I have about 1.1
• 19:22
  KT: million combined traditional and Roth IRA. I also have a
• 19:27
  KT: pension of about 400,000. I have a whole life insurance
• 19:31
  KT: of about 100,000,
• 19:33
  KT: that my husband purchased for me 40 years ago. So Suze,
• 19:38
  KT: I have three questions. The first question: Should I surrender
• 19:42
  KT: the whole life insurance policy?
• 19:44
  Suze: Answer to that is yes. You have more than enough money.
• 19:48
  Suze: Your adult child is independent. It is a waste of money.
• 19:52
  Suze: You are 69 years of age. You have a lot
• 19:55
  Suze: of years left. It is a waste. You might want
• 19:58
  Suze: to surrender it. Probably you paid in more than what
• 20:02
  Suze: you're going to get back, so I doubt highly you're
• 20:04
  Suze: gonna have to pay any taxes on it.
• 20:06
  Suze: You might want to look into a long-term care insurance
• 20:08
  Suze: policy or putting it in a brokerage account and do
• 20:12
  Suze: what with it? Invest it, or if you're still working,
• 20:16
  Suze: Roth IRAs or whatever it may be, but get rid
• 20:19
  Suze: of the whole life policy as long as you know
• 20:23
  Suze: that you are a healthy, healthy, healthy.
• 20:26
  Suze: All right, next.
• 20:28
  KT: Question number two. What should I do with my pension
• 20:31
  KT: plan when I retire next year? Should I take a
• 20:34
  KT: lump sum or monthly payment?
• 20:36
  Suze: Lump sum. The reason is this if you annuitize it,
• 20:41
  Suze: your pension, once you die, then your son isn't going
• 20:45
  Suze: to be getting any more money.
• 20:47
  Suze: It's over. Therefore, since we're canceling the life insurance policy,
• 20:52
  Suze: do an IRA rollover with your pension, put it into
• 20:57
  Suze: a rollover account, depending on your income, you can start
• 21:01
  Suze: converting it little by little if you want to a Roth,
• 21:04
  Suze: but within the rollover account, that's where you can invest
• 21:10
  Suze: it in any way you want. Again, I think if
• 21:13
  Suze: you listen to the Women and Money podcast enough,
• 21:16
  Suze: I think there are things that you can learn to
• 21:18
  Suze: do it and you really don't need much help with it.
• 21:21
  Suze: There you go. And if you do, all right, look
• 21:23
  Suze: for a financial advisor that is a good one but
• 21:27
  Suze: doesn't operate on commissions. They're just like a fiduciary. That's it.
• 21:31
  Suze: Next one, KT.
• 21:32
  KT: So question number three, her final question, Terry said:
• 21:36
  KT: If I decide to work after age 70 with fewer
• 21:41
  KT: hours per week, could I still contribute to my Roth IRA? Absolutely, yes,
• 21:47
  KT: it's earned income.
• 21:48
  Suze: There you go.
• 21:49
  KT: Thank you so much for your help, Suze.
• 21:51
  Suze: Oh, you're so welcome. Next question, KT.
• 21:54
  KT: This next question is from Sheila.
• 21:57
  KT: Sheila said, Dear Suze and KT, longtime listener, part-time pupil.
• 22:04
  Suze: What does that mean?
• 22:04
  KT: Well, here's what it means. I am a 55 year
• 22:07
  KT: old teacher. There you go, part-time pupil. I have a
• 22:12
  KT: loan from my 401k that I'm paying back to myself
• 22:17
  KT: at $1,050 a month.
• 22:20
  Suze: That was a hefty loan.
• 22:21
  KT: Come September, I will have two years left to finish.
• 22:25
  KT: I can cover paying back the remaining $26,000 but that
• 22:30
  KT: would leave me with only about a $10,000 savings cushion.
• 22:35
  KT: If I did pay it back, I could increase my
• 22:39
  KT: Roth contribution and slowly add back to my savings because
• 22:44
  KT: I have an extra 1,050 a month. So is it
• 22:49
  KT: a good move to repay it now, or is it
• 22:51
  KT: better to plug along for two more years?
• 22:54
  Suze: So what I would do if I were you, I
• 22:56
  Suze: would absolutely repay it now. And the reason is this
• 23:01
  Suze: when your money is not in your retirement account.
• 23:05
  Suze: You're missing out on the movement of these markets, and
• 23:09
  Suze: I get everybody, these markets are up, these markets are down,
• 23:12
  Suze: but overall, if you're invested correctly, you are doing incredible, incredible.
• 23:19
  Suze: So it's not just that for those of you who
• 23:22
  Suze: take out 401k loans. Oh, but I'm paying myself back
• 23:25
  Suze: the interest, so I'm not really losing out on anything.
• 23:28
  Suze: Oh yes, you are.
• 23:31
  Suze: So since you have the money, I want you to
• 23:34
  Suze: pay it back. That's it. Just pay it back. Listen,
• 23:38
  Suze: you get in trouble again, you can take another loan
• 23:40
  Suze: if you have to. However, that is what you should
• 23:44
  Suze: do next, KT, we have time for one more.
• 23:48
  KT: OK, Suze, I have one more question. My favorite topic,
• 23:51
  KT: Roth Roth Roth. Hi, Suze and KT..
• 23:53
  Suze: Did you purposely save that one for last?
• 23:55
  KT: Yes. Roth Roth Roth. My wife and I are late
• 23:58
  KT: bloomers to the investment and saving retirement world. I am
• 24:02
  KT: 60 years old. She is 55. I started listening to
• 24:06
  KT: your show three years ago when my income increased rapidly.
• 24:11
  KT: Now our incomes have both increased rapidly, and we're trying
• 24:14
  KT: to contribute max contributions into our solo 401ks. We are
• 24:20
  KT: both now making $190,000 each in our individual businesses.
• 24:28
  KT: She is opening a solo 401k similar to mine where
• 24:32
  KT: we can choose Roth or traditional for the employer portion.
• 24:37
  KT: We are in the 24 to 32% tax bracket. We
• 24:41
  KT: have minimal business deductions. I hear you say invest in
• 24:46
  KT: Roth Roth Roth Roth Roth, which I did for three years.
• 24:50
  KT: Would our situation be an exception to this because we
• 24:53
  KT: are in such a high tax bracket now.
• 24:57
  KT: Wouldn't we then be in a lower tax bracket when
• 24:59
  KT: we use our investment income in the future? I appreciate
• 25:03
  KT: you both so much and you make me laugh. I just,
• 25:08
  KT: he says I laughed just thinking about the show.
• 25:11
  Suze: So here's the thing, it figures your last question would
• 25:13
  Suze: be kind of a difficult one, but that's besides the point, so.
• 25:18
  Suze: For those of you who have an individual business, it's
• 25:22
  Suze: just your business, no employees, and you want to contribute
• 25:26
  Suze: the absolute max to a retirement account, then you wanna
• 25:31
  Suze: open up what's called a solo Roth 401k.
• 25:36
  Suze: Now, in most cases if you are the employer, let's
• 25:41
  Suze: just say that is true, no employees, then you get
• 25:46
  Suze: to contribute both as an employee and as an employer. However,
• 25:52
  Suze: normally I would say to you I would do Roth
• 25:55
  Suze: all the way, no exception. However, a lot of times
• 26:00
  Suze: an employer contribution has to go into the traditional part
• 26:05
  Suze: of the solo Roth 401k. The employee version can go
• 26:11
  Suze: into the Roth, so you have to divide them. However,
• 26:16
  Suze: according to the Secure 2.0 Act.
• 26:19
  Suze: Now, you are allowed to put the employer part into
• 26:24
  Suze: a Roth. However, you have to know that your solo
• 26:28
  Suze: Roth 401k allows that. So, worst case scenario, put the
• 26:34
  Suze: employee portion into the Roth.
• 26:37
  Suze: Put the employer portion into the traditional so you have both. However,
• 26:43
  Suze: if you have the ability to put all of it
• 26:46
  Suze: into the Roth version, both sides, I would still go
• 26:51
  Suze: for that 100%.
• 26:54
  Suze: I know you want to save money on taxes. I know,
• 26:57
  Suze: but if you're that high of an earner, don't you get,
• 27:00
  Suze: as you get older, whatever you have in a traditional
• 27:05
  Suze: retirement account, you're gonna have to take required minimum distributions.
• 27:09
  Suze: If you die and it goes to your kids or whatever,
• 27:13
  Suze: they're gonna have to pay ordinary income tax on it.
• 27:16
  Suze: But bottom line is this you are compounding that money
• 27:20
  Suze: in there for the government.
• 27:23
  Suze: So the larger it grows, the more you're going to
• 27:26
  Suze: have to take out in RMDs, and who knows what
• 27:30
  Suze: tax brackets are gonna be years from now. You don't
• 27:34
  Suze: know that. So, bottom line, you heard my answer. You know, KT,
• 27:41
  Suze: I think what I'm gonna have to do is next Sunday,
• 27:45
  Suze: rather than an Ask KT and Suze anything, I will do
• 27:50
  Suze: a Suze school.
• 27:52
  Suze: And I'll do a Suze School on what's happening in
• 27:54
  Suze: the market and all the things that I know you
• 27:57
  Suze: want to know how the FITZ ETF is doing because
• 28:01
  Suze: you all write me all these things and I'll do
• 28:04
  Suze: a recap on solo Roth 401ks so you know exactly
• 28:10
  Suze: how they work. All right, Miss Travis, what do you think?
• 28:14
  KT: I think that's a good idea. So next Sunday will
• 28:16
  KT: be summer update Suze School.
• 28:19
  Suze: And I think we should, alternate.
• 28:21
  KT: I think that's a good idea. It's like the middle
• 28:23
  KT: of the year. Why not?
• 28:24
  Suze: Right, so it won't always just be Ask KT and Suze Anything.
• 28:28
  Suze: When I feel the need to update you on something,
• 28:32
  Suze: we will.
• 28:33
  KT: So until next Sunday, everyone, you stay safe and remember
• 28:37
  KT: all you have to do is live by this credo:
• 28:40
  KT: people first, then money, then things, and maybe a little
• 28:45
  KT: 'smore on the side.
• 28:48
  Suze: Are you kidding me? 'Smore what? 'Smore money, 'smoe whatever.
• 28:52
  Suze: All right, everybody stay safe and see you Sunday. Bye bye.