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Nobody Cares About Your Money More Than You Do · Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)

• 0:08
  KT: So today's October 30th, right,
• 0:10
  Suze: Alright, so we
• 0:11
  Suze: will just be on the plane at this point coming back.
• 0:15
  KT: In time for trick or
• 0:16
  KT: treat.
• 0:17
  Suze: Oh, I knew it. I knew it. I knew she
• 0:21
  Suze: was gonna get...
• 0:21
  KT: In time for Halloween.
• 0:24
  Suze: KT, why do you love Halloween so much?
• 0:26
  KT: Always love that holiday.
• 0:28
  Suze: I know, but wait, we live in a place now
• 0:31
  Suze: where nobody goes trick or treating. No, really, I wanna know.
• 0:36
  KT: I think of the holiday of Halloween as my childhood.
• 0:40
  KT: And it's always fun to remember. I'll never forget being
• 0:45
  KT: a kid, one of six kids.
• 0:46
  Suze: All right, but, but do you have to remind me
• 0:48
  Suze: of it? Like, like for the whole month going up
• 0:51
  Suze: to Halloween, do you have to always talk about Halloween? OK,
• 0:54
  Suze: what's our first question? On, the Women and Money podcast
• 0:58
  Suze: and everybody's smart enough to listen.
• 1:01
  KT: This is
• 1:01
  KT: from Pamela Lynn in Chicago.
• 1:05
  Suze: Ask KT and Suze Anything edition.
• 1:07
  Suze: Go on,
• 1:10
  KT: Pamela Lynn said, I'm 55
• 1:12
  Suze: Do you all
• 1:13
  Suze: know my middle name is Suze Lynn.
• 1:16
  Suze: Do you know that?
• 1:17
  KT: Oh yeah, that's right. They don't know. Suze Lynn.
• 1:20
  Suze: I'm just gonna interrupt you this whole podcast.
• 1:22
  KT: OK, this is from Pamela Lynn.
• 1:25
  KT: I'm 55 and became disabled in 2019, but with the
• 1:31
  KT: rumors about upcoming Social Security benefit changes and the current
• 1:36
  KT: administration for 2026, I'm worried. I'm a single mom. I
• 1:42
  KT: used up all my savings and retirement money when I
• 1:46
  KT: got sick unexpectedly. I can't find any information
• 1:51
  KT: to prepare while I'm getting my other affairs in order
• 1:55
  KT: for my son, who is still finishing college 800 miles
• 1:59
  KT: away living with my disabled retired parents. Help please with
• 2:05
  KT: any advice. I'm rebuilding while living in an affordable woman
• 2:11
  KT: housing program.
• 2:13
  Suze: Oh boy. So girlfriend, listen to me.
• 2:19
  Suze: There comes a day in every mother's life.
• 2:23
  Suze: Maybe every father's life, every parent's life, where they have
• 2:27
  Suze: to care about themselves more than they care about their children,
• 2:33
  Suze: you know, I'm the one that created the saying put
• 2:38
  Suze: the financial oxygen mask on your face first, then your
• 2:42
  Suze: children's when you're in the air, because if something happens
• 2:46
  Suze: to you, who is going to take care of the children.
• 2:51
  Suze: And it seems like your main concern,
• 2:55
  Suze: is to make sure that your son is OK. I
• 3:00
  Suze: think what's very important here is you can build yourself
• 3:03
  Suze: back up. Maybe you want to put $100 away by
• 3:08
  Suze: going to Myalliant.com and starting the Ultimate Opportunity Savings account
• 3:13
  Suze: $100 every month for 12 months they give you $100.
• 3:18
  Suze: It's a start. It's a good return on your money.
• 3:23
  Suze: But I think what you really need to do is
• 3:25
  Suze: have a talk with your son.
• 3:29
  Suze: And say sweetheart, I love you more than life itself,
• 3:32
  Suze: but as you know, I've had a really rough time.
• 3:36
  Suze: I used up all my savings and everything when I
• 3:38
  Suze: was sick and on and on. And therefore we have
• 3:43
  Suze: to be a team. You have to learn now how
• 3:46
  Suze: to take care of yourself, and one day you may
• 3:49
  Suze: even have to take care of me.
• 3:52
  Suze: So I just want you to know that and be
• 3:55
  Suze: prepared for that, but our honesty and standing in our
• 3:59
  Suze: truth will be our strength to carry us in the
• 4:03
  Suze: future and be able to do whatever we need to
• 4:06
  Suze: do to make it happen. In regards to your comment,
• 4:12
  Suze: about the current administration, about what's going on and everything, listen,
• 4:18
  Suze: I've said it many, many times. The government can't save
• 4:23
  Suze: you because they can't even save themselves. It's not about
• 4:26
  Suze: this current administration, although I really understand how many of
• 4:29
  Suze: you want me to make it about that.
• 4:33
  Suze: It's about all the administrations having not taken care of
• 4:38
  Suze: the problem of Social Security that has been a problem
• 4:41
  Suze: for years and years and years, so we just have
• 4:45
  Suze: to plan for the fact that maybe it will be there,
• 4:50
  Suze: maybe it won't be there, but you're just gonna have
• 4:53
  Suze: to plan what would your life look like if it
• 4:56
  Suze: wasn't there and then if it's there, great, and if
• 5:00
  Suze: it's not there, great.
• 5:02
  Suze: So you have to be strong now and take all
• 5:06
  Suze: these matters into your own hand and don't look for
• 5:10
  Suze: any scapegoat or any reason as to why you can't
• 5:15
  Suze: make this happen. You know, KT, I have that saying.
• 5:17
  Suze: Do you know my saying?
• 5:19
  Suze: There isn't an excuse strong enough to keep you from
• 5:23
  Suze: being who you are meant to be.
• 5:27
  Suze: And that goes for every single person listening to the
• 5:31
  Suze: Women and Money podcast. Next question, KT.
• 5:34
  KT: All right, I like that saying too. This is from
• 5:37
  KT: Jody and Jody said, just a dude smart enough to
• 5:41
  KT: listen with a question. I like that.
• 5:45
  KT: So here's his question, Suze. I like how you think
• 5:48
  KT: of finance situations as a chess game. I've often felt
• 5:52
  KT: the same way. I try to remove myself emotionally from
• 5:56
  KT: my situation and just look at the facts, he said.
• 6:00
  KT: Here's my move. I'm just shy of age 64. I
• 6:04
  KT: have roughly 400,000 total in a Roth IRA plus an
• 6:09
  KT: emergency fund.
• 6:11
  KT: And my home is worth just under a million dollars,
• 6:15
  KT: but I'd like to think of it as my forever home.
• 6:19
  KT: Is it worth it to pay off my home to
• 6:21
  KT: the tune of $135,000? It would be so nice to
• 6:26
  KT: not have a mortgage payment, even though my mortgage is
• 6:30
  KT: under $1,000 a month, including tax and insurance.
• 6:35
  KT: Thank you both for the fun and money information, but
• 6:39
  KT: mostly for just giving a damn about all of us
• 6:42
  KT: less educated in the money world. All right, so what's
• 6:46
  KT: your chess move for Jody?
• 6:48
  Suze: So here's the thing, Jody, because KT just handed me
• 6:52
  Suze: your email.
• 6:54
  Suze: Even though you say that your mortgage is $1,000 a month,
• 6:59
  Suze: including tax and insurance, that if you paid off the
• 7:04
  Suze: mortgage of $135,000 your tax and your insurance would not
• 7:09
  Suze: go away. It would still be there. So how much
• 7:14
  Suze: of this $1,000 a month is probably just your mortgage payment?
• 7:20
  Suze: And given that you have a mortgage of about $135,000
• 7:25
  Suze: I would estimate that about $562 of that $1,000 is
• 7:32
  Suze: just your mortgage. So then the question becomes, are you
• 7:37
  Suze: ready for me to checkmate you boyfriend? Right? Is this
• 7:43
  Suze: that $135,000 is probably in your Roth.
• 7:48
  Suze: Therefore you would take it out of your Roth to
• 7:52
  Suze: pay off this mortgage if you left it in the
• 7:56
  Suze: Roth $135,000 and all it generated for you was 8%,
• 8:02
  Suze: which is so easy today. It's not even funny, especially
• 8:06
  Suze: if you're investing in some of the stocks we have mentioned.
• 8:10
  Suze: That would give you $900 a month approximately in growth.
• 8:17
  Suze: Which is almost double what you're getting if you use
• 8:20
  Suze: it to just get rid of your $562 mortgage.
• 8:27
  Suze: So maybe I'm wrong. Maybe your mortgage is $600 $700, $800.
• 8:33
  Suze: I doubt highly it's $900 and your taxes and insurance
• 8:37
  Suze: are only $1,000. So bottom line answer, don't do it.
• 8:42
  Suze: Leave everything exactly how it is. All right, KT.
• 8:46
  KT: OK, next question is.
• 8:49
  Suze: The other mistake he made.
• 8:51
  KT: What's that?
• 8:51
  Suze: He's got an escrow account and an escrow account, everybody
• 8:56
  Suze: is you pay your mortgage plus your insurance plus your taxes,
• 9:02
  Suze: but you could pay your insurance and your taxes on
• 9:05
  Suze: your own.
• 9:07
  Suze: So while that money is sitting there, it's making interest
• 9:11
  Suze: for the bank, not for you or your mortgage company.
• 9:15
  Suze: So don't have escrow accounts, just pay your mortgage, pay
• 9:20
  Suze: your property taxes, pay your insurance all separately so you
• 9:25
  Suze: get to keep that money until your premium is due.
• 9:28
  Suze: All right, KT.
• 9:30
  KT: Um, next question is from Joanne. She said, Here's another
• 9:33
  KT: real estate. I own my home and I'm curious how
• 9:37
  KT: you feel about going without HO insurance, homeowners insurance. I
• 9:42
  KT: am capable of self-insuring for a full replacement value. I
• 9:46
  KT: have owned homes for 50 years, so Joanne's 68.
• 9:51
  KT: She said, I spent,
• 9:52
  Suze: Wait, she's 68 and she's owned homes...
• 9:53
  KT: She's owned homes for 50 years. So from the age
• 9:56
  KT: of 18 she started investing in properties and oh wait,
• 10:02
  KT: but listen, this is the catch. No, this is her catch,
• 10:05
  KT: she said, I've spent a lot on insurance and I've
• 10:09
  KT: never had a claim, but ready...
• 10:12
  KT: Joanne lives where? In North Myrtle Beach. Suze, Myrtle Beach,
• 10:17
  KT: just to give you big, big hurricane risk neighborhood just
• 10:23
  KT: like us in South Florida.
• 10:25
  Suze: Here's what I would tell you, Joanne, which is, the
• 10:28
  Suze: hurricanes of the past.
• 10:31
  Suze: The flooding of the past, even some fires of the past.
• 10:38
  Suze: Were not as violent and horrific and in places as
• 10:43
  Suze: they are today. So even though you have owned homes
• 10:46
  Suze: for 50 years and you have never had a claim
• 10:52
  Suze: doesn't mean that you're not going to. You have to really,
• 10:57
  Suze: really know that if next year.
• 11:01
  Suze: Another hurricane was to come through Myrtle Beach. Your entire
• 11:05
  Suze: home is gone. Everything in it is gone.
• 11:10
  Suze: Are you OK with that? If you're OK with that,
• 11:13
  Suze: then self insure. If you have any doubt whatsoever, you
• 11:19
  Suze: best keep the insurance. Because if you can afford to self-insure,
• 11:25
  Suze: you can also afford to have insurance on your property.
• 11:30
  Suze: So do you want to save a little bit every
• 11:32
  Suze: year or do you want to save a lot in
• 11:36
  Suze: case that year
• 11:38
  Suze: a natural disaster comes on board. Now I can tell you, KT,
• 11:44
  Suze: we self-insure. We just do, and the reason is that
• 11:49
  Suze: our insurance was so stupid. A 2,000 square foot condo,
• 11:58
  Suze: in Florida, $28,000 a year and if you make one
• 12:04
  Suze: claim they will get rid of us, period. No way.
• 12:10
  Suze: I'd rather just pay for it out of my own pocket.
• 12:13
  Suze: So we currently are self-insured on our boat except for liability, right,
• 12:19
  Suze: our home on the island and our condo in Florida,
• 12:25
  Suze: but again,
• 12:26
  Suze: it would not bother us on one level if any
• 12:31
  Suze: or all of them were taken. Just saying. All right, KT.
• 12:35
  KT: OK, next question is from Amy. Hello, Suze and KT.
• 12:40
  KT: I have a quick question regarding crypto. I have about
• 12:44
  KT: $10,000 invested in Bitcoin through PayPal, in which I buy
• 12:50
  KT: a little each week.
• 12:52
  KT: My question is, PayPal doesn't offer naming a beneficiary.
• 12:57
  KT: So would I just list the instructions for that account
• 13:00
  KT: in my will, or is there a better place or
• 13:04
  KT: way to buy crypto?
• 13:05
  Suze: Amy, Amy, Amy. So here's the truth. That is the
• 13:09
  Suze: real downfall of buying Bitcoin and crypto at PayPal. Why
• 13:15
  Suze: they don't have a designated beneficiary, and you can't do
• 13:19
  Suze: a trust with them or anything like that is beyond me. Therefore,
• 13:25
  Suze: there are other alternatives out there, so what I would do,
• 13:29
  Suze: and again I don't know fully about this firm yet,
• 13:32
  Suze: but I'm starting to like them a lot. It's called Public.com.
• 13:39
  Suze: Check them out. I like all of their offerings. I
• 13:43
  Suze: like how simple it is. I like that you could
• 13:46
  Suze: buy your bitcoin right there in your account that's in
• 13:51
  Suze: your individual name.
• 13:53
  Suze: And have a transfer on death account, a TOD account
• 13:57
  Suze: and name, let's say your son as the beneficiary or
• 14:00
  Suze: whoever you want to be the beneficiary.
• 14:04
  Suze: And then they would get all of that bitcoin upon
• 14:08
  Suze: your death. I don't know if they currently allow you
• 14:13
  Suze: to have a trust as a beneficiary, but if they
• 14:16
  Suze: don't right now, I'm sure this is something that they're
• 14:19
  Suze: probably working on as well as owning an account as
• 14:23
  Suze: a trust.
• 14:25
  Suze: But you can solve your problem now by taking your
• 14:30
  Suze: Bitcoin from PayPal. You may have to sell it, girlfriend,
• 14:33
  Suze: and pay whatever gains you have there and taking it
• 14:37
  Suze: and putting that money unless you could do a transfer
• 14:40
  Suze: of your Bitcoin from PayPal to Public.com if you like
• 14:46
  Suze: them and then go from there, but I think it
• 14:49
  Suze: solves your problem.
• 14:51
  Suze: By simply doing a TOD account, name them as your beneficiary. Therefore,
• 14:59
  Suze: it won't go through probate. If it went through your
• 15:02
  Suze: will because it didn't have a beneficiary, they would have
• 15:06
  Suze: to go through probate just so you know.
• 15:10
  KT: Next question is from Jill. Now, everybody, I'm gonna be
• 15:14
  KT: Suze for a moment. Take out your little Suze notebooks,
• 15:17
  KT: and I want you to remember these dates, especially if
• 15:21
  KT: you're like KT and Roth. Ready?
• 15:24
  KT: Hi, Suze and KT. Thank you for always keeping me educated.
• 15:29
  KT: I listened to your Roth five-year masterclass, as well as
• 15:34
  KT: the September 18th, '25 masterclass follow-up questions.
• 15:40
  KT: And I went back and listened to the February 18th,
• 15:44
  KT: '24 podcast on backdoor Roths and the pro rata rule. OK,
• 15:51
  KT: everyone got that date 9.18.25 and 2.18.24. And this is
• 15:58
  KT: why I want you to write it down. Jill says,
• 16:01
  KT: I still have questions, and I wrote, me too, Jill.
• 16:06
  KT: I've been contributing to a backdoor Roth for over 14 years.
• 16:11
  KT: My 2025 backdoor Roth contribution was made this year in April. Sadly,
• 16:19
  KT: my amazing dad passed away unexpectedly a few months ago.
• 16:25
  KT: I just found out I will be inheriting his
• 16:28
  KT: traditional IRA.
• 16:30
  Suze: I know where she's going.
• 16:31
  KT: Does the pro rata rule on backdoor Roth IRAs apply
• 16:35
  KT: to inherited IRAs?
• 16:38
  Suze: Pop quizzy?
• 16:39
  KT: I think the answer is no.
• 16:41
  Suze: Come on, KT, seriously think about it. You know that
• 16:46
  Suze: when you have a traditional IRA,
• 16:49
  Suze: traditional IRA in your name and you then do a
• 16:55
  Suze: back door Roth.
• 16:59
  KT: But wait, here's the deal. It's inherited.
• 17:04
  Suze: Ding Ding Ding! I'm so proud of you.
• 17:06
  KT: No she from what you've told me in the past,
• 17:08
  KT: I remember it inherited means no, it's not applicable. But
• 17:13
  KT: then this next question, I don't know the answer.
• 17:15
  KT: Jill said, also as I pay taxes on the inherited
• 17:19
  KT: IRA over the next 10 years, can I put that
• 17:23
  KT: money in my Roth and continue making future backdoor Roth contributions?
• 17:29
  Suze: So I don't know how much you inherited from daddy.
• 17:33
  Suze: But I have a feeling that you'll probably be withdrawing
• 17:36
  Suze: more than $7,000 or $8,000 a year from there. So
• 17:40
  Suze: the question becomes if you have earned income to the
• 17:45
  Suze: amount that you are going to want to contribute to
• 17:48
  Suze: your back door Roth, yeah, you could use that money
• 17:52
  Suze: for that, but you have to have earned income. If
• 17:54
  Suze: you don't have earned income, you cannot.
• 17:58
  Suze: So you just can't use that money and count it
• 18:01
  Suze: as earned income. Chances are
• 18:05
  Suze: you might not have any earned income and so therefore, no,
• 18:08
  Suze: you can't do it and you can't convert money just
• 18:11
  Suze: so you know KT from an inherited traditional IRA to
• 18:16
  Suze: a Roth. You cannot do that.
• 18:18
  KT: Because you didn't earn it yourself.
• 18:20
  Suze: No, because it's not your IRA to convert. It's an
• 18:26
  Suze: inherited one, so you can't convert it.
• 18:29
  Suze: There you go.
• 18:29
  KT: All right. Next question is from Belle. Hi, Suze and KT.
• 18:34
  KT: Thank you for your wonderful podcast. I am a 24-year-old
• 18:38
  KT: earning $100,000 a year. Last year, a family friend convinced
• 18:44
  KT: me to start working with a financial advisor.
• 18:48
  Suze: Why?
• 18:48
  KT: Well, hold on. However, a year later, I don't think
• 18:52
  KT: I
• 18:52
  KT: make enough to have an advisor. Do you think I
• 18:55
  KT: should stick with my advisor, or should I invest on
• 18:59
  KT: my own? If the latter, how can I transfer the
• 19:03
  KT: money to a new investment account without fees? First of all,
• 19:07
  KT: you're 24 years old, Suze, tell Belle what to do.
• 19:11
  Suze: Belle, let's see if I can get the ding dongs
• 19:15
  Suze: out there.
• 19:16
  Suze: That are telling you what to do out of your
• 19:20
  Suze: mind and let's ring your "bell" so that you are
• 19:24
  Suze: a winner.
• 19:26
  Suze: A true winner. So you're telling me that you're 24
• 19:31
  Suze: years old, earning $100,000 a year. You did not tell me, Belle,
• 19:37
  Suze: how much money you are investing.
• 19:41
  Suze: What do you have left to invest? At $100,000 a
• 19:45
  Suze: year that you're earning, you absolutely qualify for a Roth IRA,
• 19:50
  Suze: and hopefully you're working for a company that is offering
• 19:55
  Suze: you a Roth 401k or a Roth 403B.
• 19:59
  Suze: So all your retirement contributions should be into a Roth,
• 20:03
  Suze: number one, for the rest of your life, by the way.
• 20:07
  Suze: And you should have both a Roth retirement account at
• 20:11
  Suze: work and a Roth IRA on your own. Now with
• 20:15
  Suze: that said, there isn't that much money that you're going
• 20:18
  Suze: to be putting into those two accounts. The Roth retirement
• 20:22
  Suze: account at work you don't need a financial advisor for.
• 20:25
  Suze: You're just going to be putting all that money probably
• 20:28
  Suze: into a Standard and Poor's 500 index fund within there.
• 20:32
  Suze: That's it.
• 20:33
  Suze: Then the little money that you're doing as a Roth IRA,
• 20:37
  Suze: the $7,000 a year, well, that you should be doing
• 20:40
  Suze: into ETFs. Again, VTI, great ETF for you to do
• 20:46
  Suze: or buy slices of little stocks that we have been mentioning.
• 20:52
  Suze: Just that simple. So no, you do not need a
• 20:57
  Suze: financial adviser, and you shouldn't even want a financial advisor
• 21:01
  Suze: other than the absolute best financial advisor you will ever
• 21:05
  Suze: find in your entire life, and that is the one
• 21:08
  Suze: that you see when you look in the mirror, cause again, Belle,
• 21:12
  Suze: another
• 21:13
  Suze: favorite saying of mine is you are never powerful in
• 21:16
  Suze: life until you are powerful over your own money, how
• 21:18
  Suze: you think about it, how you feel about it, and
• 21:20
  Suze: how you invest it, and nobody cares about your money
• 21:23
  Suze: more than you do. And what happens to your money
• 21:26
  Suze: directly affects the quality of your life, not this so-called
• 21:30
  Suze: financial advisor's life. So you
• 21:33
  Suze: might just want to give some advice to your friend
• 21:36
  Suze: who told you that, what they should be doing cause
• 21:40
  Suze: I have no doubt they are making a mistake as
• 21:43
  Suze: well and what you have to do now is you
• 21:46
  Suze: have to decide where do you want to open up
• 21:48
  Suze: your Roth IRA or if you have an investment account,
• 21:52
  Suze: where do you want to open that up? Maybe Charles Schwab,
• 21:56
  Suze: maybe Public.com, maybe some place.
• 21:59
  Suze: And you simply open up the account that you want.
• 22:02
  Suze: They will contact your adviser or wherever your money happens
• 22:07
  Suze: to be, and they will initiate a transfer, and it
• 22:11
  Suze: will go from them directly into your account at where
• 22:15
  Suze: you opened it up. You never even have to talk
• 22:17
  Suze: or see that adviser again. If you don't want to, yes, KT, next.
• 22:24
  KT: All right, this is from KP.
• 22:27
  KT: Hi Suze, I'm 55, still working, and have been contributing
• 22:30
  KT: to my retirement plan through a Roth 401k for several years.
• 22:36
  KT: If I now open a Roth IRA as well, did
• 22:40
  KT: the five year clock begin when I opened my Roth 401k? Also,
• 22:45
  KT: do I need both?
• 22:47
  Suze: Listen to me closely, KP. The amount of time that
• 22:52
  Suze: your Roth 401k is open,
• 22:57
  Suze: means absolutely nothing in regards to the five year clock
• 23:02
  Suze: with a Roth IRA. The only thing that starts a
• 23:07
  Suze: Roth IRA time clock is a Roth IRA. So did
• 23:14
  Suze: the five year clock begin when I opened my Roth 401k? No,
• 23:18
  Suze: it did not.
• 23:20
  Suze: Not for a Roth IRA. So do you need both? Oh,
• 23:25
  Suze: you betcha you do. So you should open a Roth
• 23:28
  Suze: IRA today to start that clock because there will come
• 23:32
  Suze: a day when you want to take the money that's
• 23:35
  Suze: in your Roth 401k.
• 23:39
  Suze: And put it where? Into your Roth IRA.
• 23:43
  Suze: And if you do so when you're over the age
• 23:45
  Suze: of 59 and a half and that Roth IRA has been open for
• 23:49
  Suze: at least 5 years, your penalty for the five year
• 23:53
  Suze: time clock has been met, so you don't care at
• 23:57
  Suze: that point. All the money is yours.
• 23:59
  KT: So Suze, why does a Roth 401k even have a
• 24:03
  KT: time clock?
• 24:04
  Suze: Oh, you are so smart. That is such a great question.
• 24:08
  Suze: I can't even stand it seriously.
• 24:11
  Suze: Because sometimes people have a Roth 401k and now they've
• 24:17
  Suze: had it for like eight years at an old employer's place,
• 24:22
  Suze: and now they're moving to a new employer that has
• 24:26
  Suze: a Roth 401k and they want to transfer that money
• 24:30
  Suze: from their old 401k to their new 401k. Now their
• 24:34
  Suze: new 401k Roth takes on the time clock of the
• 24:39
  Suze: old one.
• 24:40
  Suze: So let's say they want to take money out of
• 24:43
  Suze: their Roth 401k. That's when the five year time clock hits.
• 24:49
  Suze: If it's still in a Roth 401k and maybe they
• 24:52
  Suze: leave it there forever, that's when the time clock matters.
• 24:57
  Suze: Because not everybody takes their money from their 401k.
• 25:01
  Suze: And as a Roth IRA with it. Next question.
• 25:04
  KT: Next question, Suze is from Vivian. Hello, Suze. I'm a single
• 25:08
  KT: woman turning 60 in November, and I've been thinking about
• 25:12
  KT: taking a trip for the first time alone and thinking
• 25:17
  KT: perhaps Hawaii to celebrate this milestone.
• 25:21
  KT: Over the years my circle of friends has shrunk. Most
• 25:25
  KT: are married with husbands, kids, grandkids, and over the years
• 25:29
  KT: people just grow apart, I guess. Anyhow, I have the
• 25:33
  KT: means to travel and stay in a luxury resort if
• 25:36
  KT: I choose to. My question is this.
• 25:39
  KT: A nice luxury stay in Hawaii could run me approximately
• 25:43
  KT: $5,500 for five days. I have savings, but as a
• 25:49
  KT: single woman, I'm hesitant to dip into my savings. I
• 25:54
  KT: could use that money for home improvement or continue to
• 25:58
  KT: keep saving toward my future emergency retirement some day. I
• 26:03
  KT: live in California,
• 26:05
  KT: so there's plenty to do here as they live on
• 26:08
  KT: the coast, but the thought of going somewhere different sounds
• 26:12
  KT: refreshing too. From a financial standpoint, what's the wisest decision?
• 26:19
  KT: I'm my only source of income, so it's completely on
• 26:24
  KT: me to fund this trip.
• 26:26
  Suze: All right, KT pop quizzy. Should she or should she
• 26:30
  Suze: not do this?
• 26:31
  KT: No, don't do it because you're not ready. She's not ready.
• 26:34
  Suze: She's ready emotionally. She absolutely is.
• 26:37
  KT: Financially, she said a financial...
• 26:41
  KT: You know, decision.
• 26:42
  Suze: Give me the reasons why you're denying her.
• 26:44
  KT: She said she might want to do some home improvement
• 26:46
  KT: on the house, use that money.
• 26:47
  Suze: But she said she has the means.
• 26:51
  KT: Don't do it. I don't think she should go. I
• 26:53
  KT: think she's going to feel guilty. She could get to Hawaii.
• 26:56
  KT: She should have lousy weather for a week, and then
• 26:59
  KT: she's going to say, I wasted $5,500.
• 27:03
  Suze: That's your reason?
• 27:04
  KT: You know what...
• 27:05
  Suze: Stop, stop, stop.
• 27:07
  KT: What do you think?
• 27:08
  Suze: You've got it right, but not for the right reasons.
• 27:13
  Suze: She's afraid. She's hesitant. OK, all of those words. However,
• 27:18
  Suze: she's her only source of income, but she said one
• 27:22
  Suze: thing that did it for me, right? I could use
• 27:26
  Suze: that money for a home improvement, OK, or
• 27:30
  Suze: continue to keep saving towards my future emergency retirement some day.
• 27:37
  Suze: She used the word emergency.
• 27:39
  KT: She doesn't have an emergency fund.
• 27:41
  Suze: She doesn't have, I don't think, a one year emergency fund.
• 27:46
  KT: So don't do it.
• 27:47
  Suze: The words emotionally everybody that should have given you pause were,
• 27:51
  Suze: I'm hesitant to dip into my savings. But what's interesting again, KT.
• 27:58
  Suze: This is where my theory that most people never ask
• 28:03
  Suze: when you're asking permission to do something with money, not
• 28:08
  Suze: you're asking, does the five year rule work da da
• 28:10
  Suze: no when you're asking permission to spend money, you already
• 28:16
  Suze: know the answer to that question, or you would not
• 28:20
  Suze: ask me. You would know, and I want all of
• 28:25
  Suze: you to know.
• 28:27
  Suze: I want you to know your own thoughts. I want
• 28:30
  Suze: you to ask yourself the question. How does it make
• 28:34
  Suze: me feel? Does it make me feel a little bit afraid?
• 28:37
  Suze: Does it not? How does it make you feel? And
• 28:40
  Suze: if you have any hesitation whatsoever, don't do it, because remember,
• 28:44
  Suze: once you do something, it is all already done. Last question, KT.
• 28:51
  KT: OK, this is a short one.
• 28:54
  KT: This is from Irene, she said. Please advise Suze. Our
• 28:58
  KT: mortgage is 3.125% with a balance of $50,000 with seven
• 29:05
  KT: years left. My husband is 68 and still works.
• 29:09
  KT: I'm 65 and I still work. We have the money
• 29:13
  KT: to pay off our home in full. Just wondering if
• 29:17
  KT: paying it off is wise since the rate is so low.
• 29:21
  KT: Your input is valued. Ask me a pop quizzy.
• 29:26
  Suze: Pop quizzy.
• 29:27
  KT: Pay it off.
• 29:28
  Suze: Why?
• 29:29
  KT: Because I think Irene would never feel as good as
• 29:32
  KT: owning her home outright. They're still young enough, they're working,
• 29:37
  KT: and it's $50,000. I think they should do it instead
• 29:41
  KT: of paying off seven years.
• 29:44
  Suze: Irene, here's what I want you to do so you
• 29:47
  Suze: can answer this question on your own. I don't know
• 29:50
  Suze: what your mortgage payment is, but you do. Let's just
• 29:53
  Suze: say for fun. It's $1,000 a month. Let's just say
• 29:57
  Suze: that's true. That's $12,000 a year.
• 30:02
  Suze: The $50,000 that's in your account,
• 30:07
  Suze: would have to earn what to make $12,000 a year
• 30:14
  Suze: or $1,000 a month? It would have to earn 25%
• 30:19
  Suze: a year,
• 30:21
  Suze: to make that much money, so should you take $50,000
• 30:28
  Suze: out to pay off your mortgage and save yourself $12,000
• 30:35
  Suze: a year because in four years you would be able
• 30:37
  Suze: to replace that money in your account, then you should
• 30:41
  Suze: absolutely do it.
• 30:43
  Suze: So once again, this is not a case of the
• 30:47
  Suze: interest rate you even owning your home outright. It's also
• 30:51
  Suze: a case of true financial intelligence. If your mortgage payment
• 30:59
  Suze: was $100 a month and it's only going to save
• 31:02
  Suze: you $1,200 a year, then you're better off keeping your
• 31:07
  Suze: money invested, the $50,000, because it could easily make you
• 31:11
  Suze: $4,000 a year.
• 31:14
  Suze: So that's how you are going to figure out what
• 31:17
  Suze: you should do in your particular situation, KT.
• 31:21
  KT: That's a wrap.
• 31:22
  Suze: I'm sure that somewhere we're getting closer to the United
• 31:27
  Suze: States at this point in time as we are returning
• 31:31
  Suze: to Florida. So our next podcast will be us back
• 31:38
  Suze: in Florida.
• 31:40
  Suze: Are you excited about that, KT?
• 31:41
  KT: Yeah, I am excited.
• 31:43
  Suze: Do you think we had a good time? We'll have to see.
• 31:47
  KT: We'll be on diets, no Halloween candy for you, Suze.
• 31:50
  Suze: Oh, here we go. All right, everybody. So until November 2nd.
• 31:57
  Suze: When it will be a Suze School, just so you know,
• 32:01
  Suze: there's only one thing that we want you to remember
• 32:04
  Suze: in life, and that's this. Happy Halloween. All right, everybody,
• 32:09
  Suze: bye bye. See you soon.