July 31, 2025 • 28 mins
On this Ask Suze & KT Anything episode, KT asks Suze your questions about giving property to children, using an inheritance to pay off debt, is now the right time to buy a used car and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Suze (00:28):
July 31st, can you believe it? July 31st. That means
tomorrow is what lobster season opens
KT (00:38):
Lobster season. August
1st,
Suze (00:40):
Right in the Bahamas here. But there is one more
thing that is for everywhere in the United States, and
that's as of today, that's Suze Special rate.
For the 12 month certificate at Alliant Credit Union has
gone away. Didn't I tell you that rates were going
(01:02):
to go down? So the new rate for the 12
month certificate is 4.0% APY 4.05% APY for amounts of
$75,000 or more. But go to myalliant.com and
check it out. But anyway, July 31st, 2025. Welcome everybody
(01:26):
to the what KT?
KT (01:27):
Ask KT and Suze Anything podcast.
Suze (01:30):
Since when? I want to know, did KT in this
announcement start
coming...
KT (01:36):
Because I'm the one that actually runs this podcast on Thursdays.
Suze School is all yours.
Suze (01:44):
Run it right into the ground.
What are you talking about?
KT (01:47):
I produced this Thursday podcast. I pick the questions. I
read them. I decide which ones are better than others.
It's my podcast on Thursday. Ask KT and Suze Anything,
and KT will ask Suze what she said.
Suze (02:04):
All right, sorry, I even brought this up. KT, what do you have for us?
KT (02:08):
OK, my first question's really great. It's from Stacy.
And it's a dilemma that she's in, and I, I'm,
I'm curious to see what your answer will be. She said, Hi, Suze,
I need your help with what to do. I am
one out of four girls in our family. My sisters
are all married and have their own homes. In 2022,
(02:30):
I moved back home with Mom in the house I
grew up in. She is 88 and my sisters felt it
best for Mom that I lived there since I'm not
married and I have more flexibility to help Mom. We cook,
we clean, we garden together. I appreciate every day the
Lord gives me with my mom. She's relatively healthy, but
(02:51):
at times her memory gets the best of her.
And then this is the part that she needs your help.
Mom shared with my siblings of her wish to leave
her home to me. I'm 60 years old, divorced, and
I do not own any properties.
I shared with Mom that I'd like to accept her
generous offer and would like to fix up the cabin
(03:12):
now and bring all the family together, but I feel
reluctant to invest money in fixing it up for fear
one of my sisters feels it's unfair that Mom wants
to give it to me and may cause a problem later.
Later she means after Mom's gone.
Is it unfair for me to accept from Mom should
(03:34):
I offer them some money so there isn't an uncomfortable
wedge between us?
Suze (03:39):
So Stacy, listen.
Right now you're spinning. KT knows what that means. Every
once in a while, what do I do with you?
KT (03:47):
Stop spinning, KT stop spinning. Stop spinning.
Suze (03:49):
Because I bring up a topic about something that may
happen and KT goes, on and on.
KT (03:55):
I
elaborate. What if, what if, what if, what if.
Suze (03:59):
Not what if we don't care about what if we
care about what is, what is the truth. So rather
than investing money, so you can bring all the family together,
you need to bring the family together now.
You need to ask everybody how they feel now, but
(04:19):
not just in words. If everybody agrees with yes, they
want you to have the home. Yes, you can have
the home under whatever conditions it is that it's established.
You should do a contract.
Where they all put it in writing because it's one
(04:40):
thing to say, it's OK, not a big deal. And
then five years later something happens to Mom and one
of the sisters have fallen on hard times and now
she doesn't feel that same way.
And probably the trust says all of you are to
get it, so I think what's really important is that
(05:01):
you really commit everything to writing you find out how
the sisters feel about it now, and don't be upset
if one of them doesn't want that to happen because
you know you may think they're all doing OK, but
you never know what's really going on behind closed doors,
all right, just so you know.
So bring them all together while Mom is still here.
(05:24):
Discuss it. Ask them if you could buy them out,
whatever it may be. Maybe you know, you just have
to think about that. So maybe mom does a quick
claim deed to you that you wait till Mom actually
dies to then file.
It's just important that you get this all right, and
(05:45):
you might even want to work with an attorney on this,
believe it or not, just to make sure that it's 100% legal, clear,
and nobody can dispute it later on. Next question, KT.
KT (05:58):
OK, next question is from Andrea.
Suze (06:02):
Was that hard KT? You had a little pause there.
KT (06:06):
She said, Dear Suze, and of course KT KT, we
know it's your podcast
Suze (06:13):
Because
this podcast on Thursdays would not exist without KT.
KT (06:18):
I have a 403B with Lincoln Financial, and I took
my first RMD this year. Lincoln will only send a
check through the mail. I feel the mail's unreliable, so
I called Lincoln.
Find out if they could electronically send me the money
to my bank account, and they said no, they can't.
So I called the person I deal with at the university.
(06:38):
He spoke to the account manager at Lincoln who then
directed him to send me a form that is titled
Requesting a Distribution. On the form, it clearly says, do
not use this form for automatic RMD withdrawals. I called
Lincoln to question them about the form.
And I'm told not to use the form for RMDs,
(07:00):
and the account manager says to use it. Suze, is
there a difference between requesting a distribution versus an RMD?
Suze (07:09):
There is because remember your RMDs are going to change
all the time every year. And so normally when you
just request a distribution, it's like send me X amount
of money every single month. That's easy.
But with an RMD it's based on number one, your
(07:29):
age and the account value at December 31st of the
year prior to you taking your RMDs. It becomes very complicated,
so they are figuring it as time goes on. So
that's just how they need to do it. Now, you
might want to call Lincoln and say you are more
(07:50):
than happy to pay.
For them to FedEx it to you or when they
mail it to you, make it certified mail, but I
think you're fine the way it is, you know, it's
just if you live in a neighborhood where you're afraid
that people are going to steal your mail or anything,
get a post office box or something that somebody can't
break into, but yeah, there is a difference just so
(08:14):
you know.
KT (08:15):
Suze, next question is "to help or not to"
Suze (08:19):
Don't do it, don't do it, don't help, don't help, don't help.
If you even have to ask the question, don't do it.
KT (08:24):
To help or not.
Hello ladies, is it appropriate to speak with a long
time friend about my concerns that she is spending too
much money and racking up debt? And then just to clarify,
she said, no, it's not me, because a lot of
people ask a question about their friend, and it's really them,
(08:46):
but this isn't, this is really her friend.
She said she's in a tremendous amount of debt and
is spending money like crazy. She seems to be thinking
of ways to spend more. She told me her only
child doesn't want her house, things, or money, so she
is going for it. I don't think she has emergency savings,
(09:07):
and I believe her home equity is maxed out by mortgages.
She does have two lifetime income streams, but I
think she's living paycheck to paycheck on those. I'm worried
she'll exhaust her resources and have nothing for her care
if she needs it. According to my friend, her daughter
(09:29):
is indifferent to her spending, likely because the daughter knows
she won't inherit Mom's debt.
Obviously there's a larger story to all of this, but
the simple short question is, is it taboo to broach
the subject, or should I just keep quiet and let
it go? So that's the question Rosa is asking an
(09:52):
important question. Do, do you want to know what I
would do?
Suze (09:55):
You know, I do.
KT (09:57):
OK, I absolutely would sit down with my friend, have
a cup of coffee, and say, listen.
Are you OK? You're spending an awful lot of money
and I'm worried about you. You're my friend and I
love you and I want you to be secure forever.
What's up with all this spending?
Suze (10:15):
And all right, let's role play. All right. Thank you.
Thanks so much. I'm so appreciative that you care about me,
but I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me.
Now where do you go? Cause that's exactly what this
woman's gonna say to her.
KT (10:32):
If your income streams stop, are you OK? Do you
have an emergency fund.
Suze (10:35):
They are not going to stop because they're like pensions
and Social Security, and they're not gonna stop. Where do
you go from there?
KT (10:44):
If something devastating were to happen to you and you
need like really serious care, do you have enough money
for that?
Suze (10:55):
Nothing's gonna happen to me. I'm gonna be fine forever.
I'm asking you not to worry about me.
KT (10:59):
Don't say that. We're friends and remember what Susie Orman
always says, the what ifs of like.
Do you really have enough money?
Suze (11:07):
Yes, so I think, Rosa, what you really need to
take into consideration and maybe role play it with yourself
because you know your friend, you know her, what she
is going to say. So somewhere you have to have
something that you say back that isn't just a comeback,
(11:28):
but it's to get her to go back to her
senses because she's obviously not in her senses right now.
So maybe you start by you telling her that you're
worried about yourself, that maybe you're worried, you know, I
don't know what's going to happen if I end up
in a nursing home. I'm not sure I'm going to
have enough money to pay for it. Like I'm starting
(11:50):
to look at all the expenses, and I'm even worried
about myself, so to speak. Now I don't know if
you are or not, but you might be.
But you have to relate it to yourself and not
just sit down and put it all on her.
Now what...
KT (12:09):
Don't be judgmental.
Suze (12:11):
Yeah, but what gets me is, which is why I'm
having trouble answering this question.
you say obviously there is a larger story to all
of this, and unless I know what the larger story is,
there is absolutely no way that I could give you 100%
(12:32):
the correct answer as to how I feel about it,
because there is a missing piece, but the mere fact
that this is just a simple short question according to you,
but there's a larger story.
You better take that larger story into consideration.
KT (12:48):
I can guess.
Suze (12:48):
What do you guess.
KT (12:49):
I can guess it. There's a, there's a little signal
in there what you can guess. She says, I'm going
for it. That sounds like revenge spending, doesn't it? Come on,
you have to admit I'm going for it.
Suze (13:02):
So if in fact she's going for it because of
either a divorce or
whatever it's like then what you have to do, Rosa,
is say, who do you think you're hurting by spending
all your money? You think you're hurting this person, you're
being an idiot and you know, just be straight with them,
but take it very carefully. All right, go on.
KT (13:23):
OK, next is from Kristen. Hello, Suze. I'm a special
education teacher. I'm in the process of getting a divorce.
I have two teenage children, 11th and 9th grade.
I have credit card debt of $18,000 which I thought
my soon to be ex was paying while we were married.
(13:44):
The credit card, I know the credit card is in
my name, but it was used for family expenses and trips.
My mom passed away last year, and I just found
out I will receive $4000 from her estate.
I want to use the money wisely, begin to get
my life financially back on track. Please advise on what
(14:06):
I should do.
Suze (14:09):
See, this is a hard one, because
she wants to probably close the credit card, but you
can't close a credit card when you still owe money
on it.
KT (14:22):
Can she stop him from...
Suze (14:24):
I would if I were you, if the credit card
is just in your name you probably made him an
authorized user on that card. You need to talk to
that credit card company and if I were you, I
would ask them to either stop his being able to
use it. Number one, I'm not sure he's still using it, right,
(14:47):
but to just make sure that his name is off
of it.
And or just transfer it to another credit card meaning
either do a credit card balance transfer to just your
name without him even knowing you've done that just to
protect his use of it. However, this is your responsibility.
(15:09):
He is your soon to be ex. Now I don't
know how you are going to get divorced or not.
But when you go to divorce court, maybe he can
be responsible for a lot of that credit card debt
just so you know. So don't just give up on
it whatsoever. You're in the process of getting a divorce.
(15:31):
That credit card debt needs to be part of the
divorce settlement.
Just that simple. For now, believe it or not, I
would just keep that $4000 in an individual account in
your name, making interest and just wait until your divorce
is final to make decisions what you do with that money.
(15:55):
That's what I would be doing.
KT (15:57):
OK, that's good advice.
Suze (15:59):
This is a hard one, but I would keep that
credit card debt there.
And make it part of the divorce.
KT (16:06):
I mean, it'd
be great if they were both 50/50 responsible that would
cut it right in half, and then the 4000 against
her half would even make it manageable, very manageable, right?
Suze (16:17):
But even though it's just in her name, so they
may say, hey, wait a minute, but if it was
used for family expenses and trips and she can prove it,
they may make it half his as well.
KT (16:28):
She thought he was paying it off
Suze (16:30):
What are you crazy?
KT (16:33):
She should have known that it wasn't paid off.
Open the mail, everybody, like I do. All right, next
question from Joan. Hi, Suze, you're the best.
I tell her that all the time, Joan. I have
your ultimate. I tell her all the time. I have
your retirement guide in audio.
Suze (16:54):
What makes me the best?
KT (16:54):
Oh, there's too many things that make you the best.
One day I'll list it. I'll list all the best.
Suze (17:01):
Tell me one.
KT (17:03):
Your happiness and joy number is my number one. You're,
you're a happy and joyful person. You're not a depressed person.
You're very happy and you're very positive, and you always, always,
she has a great amount of faith, everybody always believe
that whatever happens, God does but for, for a reason.
(17:23):
So you're very happy. That's my one of my number ones.
Suze (17:27):
I'm just curious.
KT (17:29):
And she always says to me every morning, Hi KT,
like it's the first time she met me.
25 years later, every morning, Hi KT when I wake up.
Suze (17:41):
I am staying in bed longer than KT. Have you
noticed?
KT (17:43):
She sleeps in a little bit, that's a sign of,
you know what...
Suze (17:50):
That means I sleep in, 'till like 6:30 versus 5 o'clock.
KT (17:54):
This is from Joan. Hi, Suze. You are the best.
I have your ultimate retirement guide on audio and the
revised and updated and soft cover. Love the podcast. My
sister asked me why she would need a trust because
she doesn't have any children. She and her husband have
all the other must-have documents. I've reread the section on trust,
(18:18):
but I still don't have an answer for her.
Are you kidding, Joan?
Suze (18:23):
No, no. So I don't know what you mean when
you say she has all the other must-have documents. So
let's just say, Joan's sister, you own a home and
you own it in joint tenancy with right of survivorship
with your husband, thinking, oh, you've covered it. Everything is great.
(18:45):
You die. It automatically goes to him. He dies. It
automatically goes to you. But here is the question you
all have to always ask yourself. What if you don't die?
What if you become incapacitated? You're walking down the street.
You slip on ice, you hit your head. You don't
know who anybody is. You're in a car accident. Anything
(19:07):
can happen at any time. Therefore, all right, your husband
becomes incapacitated, and you live in a house that has
two stories, and you need to make a move so
it's easier on you and you have a one story house.
The question is, can you sell it?
Can you?
(19:28):
You say you have everything in order, and the answer
is no, you cannot because it takes two signatures of
both of you to sell that home because it's owned
in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
If your husband cannot sign because he's incapacitated, you then
(19:50):
have to go down to what the court go through
probate court, get a conservatorship assigned to him, and from
that point on, now you have the ability to sign
for him. Now you may think everything's great. You have
power of attorney, however.
(20:11):
Most power of attorneys become null and void the day
that there's an incapacity. Number two, banks don't like dealing
with power of attorneys because many of them are old.
They don't know if they're still valid. They don't know
if they've been updated or changed. They don't like that.
(20:31):
But when you own something in trust.
You have the right immediately if the trust has an
incapacity clause in it which the must have documents do.
All right, you can sign for him. He could sign
for you, and if something happens to both of you
at the same time, you're in a car accident and
(20:55):
now neither of you are capable of doing anything, you
can name friends or people that you trust or even
a professional trustee
to come in and make sure that you are OK.
So that is the answer to the question. Next, KT.
KT (21:13):
OK, from Laura. Hi, Suze and KT, I love your show.
Quick question. I love this Laura. Quick question. I will
need a used car with low mileage in the next
year or two. Should I wait or buy now to
avoid potential increases in cost due to tariffs and other variables?
(21:33):
Thank you for all you do. Laura is a retired
teacher and now she said a student of Suze.
Suze (21:40):
So you have a look like you want to answer
this question, KT. So since this is your show, you answer her.
KT (21:45):
No, Laura, I think what you're asking is if you
recall not too long ago there was a surge in
used
car prices. Suze and I were even considering selling our
10 year plus car, yeah, because we knew we could
get a huge amount of money for it 13 years,
13 years and, and Suze loves that little car, but
(22:07):
I said maybe we should sell it because we'd get
so much for it.
And now I don't know what the tariffs are gonna do.
I don't know. It looks like prices will continue to
go up in manufacturing because of all the parts and
everything they're bringing in.
Suze (22:23):
So maybe
the answer is yes, do it now, and I agree
with that. All right, go on.
KT (22:28):
OK, my final question, Suze. This is from Cynthia. I
will be 39 next month. My wife and I have
two small children, two and eight,
who we would like to create separate accounts for to
help them secure their financial futures. I'm not sure... I know.
(22:49):
I said the same thing when I read this. I went,
Why not you? I am not sure if we should
open a separate high yield savings account for them, a
brokerage account, or some type of other account. A brokerage
account may yield them the greatest amount over their lifetimes,
but they would need to
pay hefty taxes on the gift when they sell their positions. Wait,
(23:12):
we're talking about a two year old and an eight
year old, everybody. I want them to grow their money.
I don't want the unintended consequence of saddling them with
a tax nightmare. I'm eager to know what you recommend,
and I appreciate your guidance.
Suze (23:28):
Alright, well, if you don't want to saddle them with
a tax nightmare, although I don't think you would.
Right, you might as well saddle yourself with one. And
what I mean by that is, listen, over all the
years that I've been doing this, which is almost 40
years now. In fact, it is 40 years, right.
(23:49):
I have seen this situation way too many times. I'm
so sorry to say, where little Johnny Angel was so sweet.
I love you. I love you mommy, da da da da.
Turns out to be Johnny Devil.
In that they get older, you never know what will
(24:10):
happen to them. They get involved with the wrong people.
They now have money and they use that money for drugs,
and you feel horrific because you were the ones who
supplied them with that money. Remember, when you put it
in their name, you have to create a uniform gift
to minors act or trust account for them, which means
at the age of 18 or 21, it is their money.
(24:33):
And there is nothing you can do about it. So
if all of a sudden they want that money to
go buy a car, to do this, to do that,
they don't want to go to school, they don't want
anything because they have enough money right now. You're going
to be so sad that you did that. Just put
away an account in your name.
(24:54):
Where you know it is for them, you pay the
taxes on it since you don't want to saddle them
with it. You make sure everything is OK that way.
And as they get older, remember, like this year you
could give them $19,000 totally tax free to them. So
what might happen years from now if you get this
(25:16):
money to grow and keep two separate accounts, one for
one and one for the other, so you don't mix them.
When it comes time and you want to give them
the money for something that makes sense.
Then, hey, you can cash out what you have. You
can pay the taxes on it, and you could be
gifting it to them over time, or you just gift
(25:38):
it to them and take it off your unified credit.
So that's how I would do it. Also remember when
you put money in a child's name.
It hurts them for financial aid because it counts for
more in their name than it does when it's in
your name when you want aid, so I wouldn't be
putting it in their names right now unless you want
(26:01):
to put it in a 529 plan for their college education,
but somehow I feel like you want them to have
money outside of college as well.
All right, KT, that's it, huh?
KT (26:15):
That is a wrap,
Suze (26:16):
A wrap. All right, so...
KT (26:19):
End of July, you believe it's over already? The month.
Suze (26:23):
August is coming.
KT (26:26):
August is tomorrow.
Suze (26:28):
And then September.
KT (26:32):
We have an exciting date in September. Don't share it yet. Wait,
we'll keep it a surprise. We have a great date
we have planned for.
Labor Day weekend and she'll share it with you at
the end of August before it becomes September, and we
can't wait to, to do that. We can't wait for
that date.
Suze (26:51):
It's actually not that exciting.
KT (26:53):
It is exciting. Don't tell them.
It is exciting.
Suze (26:57):
It's not that big...
KT (26:58):
It's a bucket list. It's one of my bucket lists for
my whole life with you.
Suze (27:02):
Oh, so that's why it's exciting. Oh, all right, I'll
wait till then to tell you right now this coming Sunday,
you really have to make sure that you listen to
the podcast because I'm going to continue on with things
you need to know about the BBB, the Big Beautiful Bill.
(27:23):
And this one's really gonna focus on student loans and
what you need to know about them. So really don't
miss it. KT, take us out, baby dolls...
KT (27:38):
There is one thing we want you to remember, and
that is this year is the year that you will
make your money, make more money.
Suze (27:47):
And the way that you do that, by the way.
I always remember people first, then money, then things now
you stay safe.
KT (27:57):
Love ya!
Suze (27:57):
Bye bye.
July 31st, can you believe it? July 31st. That means
tomorrow is what lobster season opens
KT (00:38):
Lobster season. August
1st,
Suze (00:40):
Right in the Bahamas here. But there is one more
thing that is for everywhere in the United States, and
that's as of today, that's Suze Special rate.
For the 12 month certificate at Alliant Credit Union has
gone away. Didn't I tell you that rates were going
(01:02):
to go down? So the new rate for the 12
month certificate is 4.0% APY 4.05% APY for amounts of
$75,000 or more. But go to myalliant.com and
check it out. But anyway, July 31st, 2025. Welcome everybody
(01:26):
to the what KT?
KT (01:27):
Ask KT and Suze Anything podcast.
Suze (01:30):
Since when? I want to know, did KT in this
announcement start
coming...
KT (01:36):
Because I'm the one that actually runs this podcast on Thursdays.
Suze School is all yours.
Suze (01:44):
Run it right into the ground.
What are you talking about?
KT (01:47):
I produced this Thursday podcast. I pick the questions. I
read them. I decide which ones are better than others.
It's my podcast on Thursday. Ask KT and Suze Anything,
and KT will ask Suze what she said.
Suze (02:04):
All right, sorry, I even brought this up. KT, what do you have for us?
KT (02:08):
OK, my first question's really great. It's from Stacy.
And it's a dilemma that she's in, and I, I'm,
I'm curious to see what your answer will be. She said, Hi, Suze,
I need your help with what to do. I am
one out of four girls in our family. My sisters
are all married and have their own homes. In 2022,
(02:30):
I moved back home with Mom in the house I
grew up in. She is 88 and my sisters felt it
best for Mom that I lived there since I'm not
married and I have more flexibility to help Mom. We cook,
we clean, we garden together. I appreciate every day the
Lord gives me with my mom. She's relatively healthy, but
(02:51):
at times her memory gets the best of her.
And then this is the part that she needs your help.
Mom shared with my siblings of her wish to leave
her home to me. I'm 60 years old, divorced, and
I do not own any properties.
I shared with Mom that I'd like to accept her
generous offer and would like to fix up the cabin
(03:12):
now and bring all the family together, but I feel
reluctant to invest money in fixing it up for fear
one of my sisters feels it's unfair that Mom wants
to give it to me and may cause a problem later.
Later she means after Mom's gone.
Is it unfair for me to accept from Mom should
(03:34):
I offer them some money so there isn't an uncomfortable
wedge between us?
Suze (03:39):
So Stacy, listen.
Right now you're spinning. KT knows what that means. Every
once in a while, what do I do with you?
KT (03:47):
Stop spinning, KT stop spinning. Stop spinning.
Suze (03:49):
Because I bring up a topic about something that may
happen and KT goes, on and on.
KT (03:55):
I
elaborate. What if, what if, what if, what if.
Suze (03:59):
Not what if we don't care about what if we
care about what is, what is the truth. So rather
than investing money, so you can bring all the family together,
you need to bring the family together now.
You need to ask everybody how they feel now, but
(04:19):
not just in words. If everybody agrees with yes, they
want you to have the home. Yes, you can have
the home under whatever conditions it is that it's established.
You should do a contract.
Where they all put it in writing because it's one
(04:40):
thing to say, it's OK, not a big deal. And
then five years later something happens to Mom and one
of the sisters have fallen on hard times and now
she doesn't feel that same way.
And probably the trust says all of you are to
get it, so I think what's really important is that
(05:01):
you really commit everything to writing you find out how
the sisters feel about it now, and don't be upset
if one of them doesn't want that to happen because
you know you may think they're all doing OK, but
you never know what's really going on behind closed doors,
all right, just so you know.
So bring them all together while Mom is still here.
(05:24):
Discuss it. Ask them if you could buy them out,
whatever it may be. Maybe you know, you just have
to think about that. So maybe mom does a quick
claim deed to you that you wait till Mom actually
dies to then file.
It's just important that you get this all right, and
(05:45):
you might even want to work with an attorney on this,
believe it or not, just to make sure that it's 100% legal, clear,
and nobody can dispute it later on. Next question, KT.
KT (05:58):
OK, next question is from Andrea.
Suze (06:02):
Was that hard KT? You had a little pause there.
KT (06:06):
She said, Dear Suze, and of course KT KT, we
know it's your podcast
Suze (06:13):
Because
this podcast on Thursdays would not exist without KT.
KT (06:18):
I have a 403B with Lincoln Financial, and I took
my first RMD this year. Lincoln will only send a
check through the mail. I feel the mail's unreliable, so
I called Lincoln.
Find out if they could electronically send me the money
to my bank account, and they said no, they can't.
So I called the person I deal with at the university.
(06:38):
He spoke to the account manager at Lincoln who then
directed him to send me a form that is titled
Requesting a Distribution. On the form, it clearly says, do
not use this form for automatic RMD withdrawals. I called
Lincoln to question them about the form.
And I'm told not to use the form for RMDs,
(07:00):
and the account manager says to use it. Suze, is
there a difference between requesting a distribution versus an RMD?
Suze (07:09):
There is because remember your RMDs are going to change
all the time every year. And so normally when you
just request a distribution, it's like send me X amount
of money every single month. That's easy.
But with an RMD it's based on number one, your
(07:29):
age and the account value at December 31st of the
year prior to you taking your RMDs. It becomes very complicated,
so they are figuring it as time goes on. So
that's just how they need to do it. Now, you
might want to call Lincoln and say you are more
(07:50):
than happy to pay.
For them to FedEx it to you or when they
mail it to you, make it certified mail, but I
think you're fine the way it is, you know, it's
just if you live in a neighborhood where you're afraid
that people are going to steal your mail or anything,
get a post office box or something that somebody can't
break into, but yeah, there is a difference just so
(08:14):
you know.
KT (08:15):
Suze, next question is "to help or not to"
Suze (08:19):
Don't do it, don't do it, don't help, don't help, don't help.
If you even have to ask the question, don't do it.
KT (08:24):
To help or not.
Hello ladies, is it appropriate to speak with a long
time friend about my concerns that she is spending too
much money and racking up debt? And then just to clarify,
she said, no, it's not me, because a lot of
people ask a question about their friend, and it's really them,
(08:46):
but this isn't, this is really her friend.
She said she's in a tremendous amount of debt and
is spending money like crazy. She seems to be thinking
of ways to spend more. She told me her only
child doesn't want her house, things, or money, so she
is going for it. I don't think she has emergency savings,
(09:07):
and I believe her home equity is maxed out by mortgages.
She does have two lifetime income streams, but I
think she's living paycheck to paycheck on those. I'm worried
she'll exhaust her resources and have nothing for her care
if she needs it. According to my friend, her daughter
(09:29):
is indifferent to her spending, likely because the daughter knows
she won't inherit Mom's debt.
Obviously there's a larger story to all of this, but
the simple short question is, is it taboo to broach
the subject, or should I just keep quiet and let
it go? So that's the question Rosa is asking an
(09:52):
important question. Do, do you want to know what I
would do?
Suze (09:55):
You know, I do.
KT (09:57):
OK, I absolutely would sit down with my friend, have
a cup of coffee, and say, listen.
Are you OK? You're spending an awful lot of money
and I'm worried about you. You're my friend and I
love you and I want you to be secure forever.
What's up with all this spending?
Suze (10:15):
And all right, let's role play. All right. Thank you.
Thanks so much. I'm so appreciative that you care about me,
but I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me.
Now where do you go? Cause that's exactly what this
woman's gonna say to her.
KT (10:32):
If your income streams stop, are you OK? Do you
have an emergency fund.
Suze (10:35):
They are not going to stop because they're like pensions
and Social Security, and they're not gonna stop. Where do
you go from there?
KT (10:44):
If something devastating were to happen to you and you
need like really serious care, do you have enough money
for that?
Suze (10:55):
Nothing's gonna happen to me. I'm gonna be fine forever.
I'm asking you not to worry about me.
KT (10:59):
Don't say that. We're friends and remember what Susie Orman
always says, the what ifs of like.
Do you really have enough money?
Suze (11:07):
Yes, so I think, Rosa, what you really need to
take into consideration and maybe role play it with yourself
because you know your friend, you know her, what she
is going to say. So somewhere you have to have
something that you say back that isn't just a comeback,
(11:28):
but it's to get her to go back to her
senses because she's obviously not in her senses right now.
So maybe you start by you telling her that you're
worried about yourself, that maybe you're worried, you know, I
don't know what's going to happen if I end up
in a nursing home. I'm not sure I'm going to
have enough money to pay for it. Like I'm starting
(11:50):
to look at all the expenses, and I'm even worried
about myself, so to speak. Now I don't know if
you are or not, but you might be.
But you have to relate it to yourself and not
just sit down and put it all on her.
Now what...
KT (12:09):
Don't be judgmental.
Suze (12:11):
Yeah, but what gets me is, which is why I'm
having trouble answering this question.
you say obviously there is a larger story to all
of this, and unless I know what the larger story is,
there is absolutely no way that I could give you 100%
(12:32):
the correct answer as to how I feel about it,
because there is a missing piece, but the mere fact
that this is just a simple short question according to you,
but there's a larger story.
You better take that larger story into consideration.
KT (12:48):
I can guess.
Suze (12:48):
What do you guess.
KT (12:49):
I can guess it. There's a, there's a little signal
in there what you can guess. She says, I'm going
for it. That sounds like revenge spending, doesn't it? Come on,
you have to admit I'm going for it.
Suze (13:02):
So if in fact she's going for it because of
either a divorce or
whatever it's like then what you have to do, Rosa,
is say, who do you think you're hurting by spending
all your money? You think you're hurting this person, you're
being an idiot and you know, just be straight with them,
but take it very carefully. All right, go on.
KT (13:23):
OK, next is from Kristen. Hello, Suze. I'm a special
education teacher. I'm in the process of getting a divorce.
I have two teenage children, 11th and 9th grade.
I have credit card debt of $18,000 which I thought
my soon to be ex was paying while we were married.
(13:44):
The credit card, I know the credit card is in
my name, but it was used for family expenses and trips.
My mom passed away last year, and I just found
out I will receive $4000 from her estate.
I want to use the money wisely, begin to get
my life financially back on track. Please advise on what
(14:06):
I should do.
Suze (14:09):
See, this is a hard one, because
she wants to probably close the credit card, but you
can't close a credit card when you still owe money
on it.
KT (14:22):
Can she stop him from...
Suze (14:24):
I would if I were you, if the credit card
is just in your name you probably made him an
authorized user on that card. You need to talk to
that credit card company and if I were you, I
would ask them to either stop his being able to
use it. Number one, I'm not sure he's still using it, right,
(14:47):
but to just make sure that his name is off
of it.
And or just transfer it to another credit card meaning
either do a credit card balance transfer to just your
name without him even knowing you've done that just to
protect his use of it. However, this is your responsibility.
(15:09):
He is your soon to be ex. Now I don't
know how you are going to get divorced or not.
But when you go to divorce court, maybe he can
be responsible for a lot of that credit card debt
just so you know. So don't just give up on
it whatsoever. You're in the process of getting a divorce.
(15:31):
That credit card debt needs to be part of the
divorce settlement.
Just that simple. For now, believe it or not, I
would just keep that $4000 in an individual account in
your name, making interest and just wait until your divorce
is final to make decisions what you do with that money.
(15:55):
That's what I would be doing.
KT (15:57):
OK, that's good advice.
Suze (15:59):
This is a hard one, but I would keep that
credit card debt there.
And make it part of the divorce.
KT (16:06):
I mean, it'd
be great if they were both 50/50 responsible that would
cut it right in half, and then the 4000 against
her half would even make it manageable, very manageable, right?
Suze (16:17):
But even though it's just in her name, so they
may say, hey, wait a minute, but if it was
used for family expenses and trips and she can prove it,
they may make it half his as well.
KT (16:28):
She thought he was paying it off
Suze (16:30):
What are you crazy?
KT (16:33):
She should have known that it wasn't paid off.
Open the mail, everybody, like I do. All right, next
question from Joan. Hi, Suze, you're the best.
I tell her that all the time, Joan. I have
your ultimate. I tell her all the time. I have
your retirement guide in audio.
Suze (16:54):
What makes me the best?
KT (16:54):
Oh, there's too many things that make you the best.
One day I'll list it. I'll list all the best.
Suze (17:01):
Tell me one.
KT (17:03):
Your happiness and joy number is my number one. You're,
you're a happy and joyful person. You're not a depressed person.
You're very happy and you're very positive, and you always, always,
she has a great amount of faith, everybody always believe
that whatever happens, God does but for, for a reason.
(17:23):
So you're very happy. That's my one of my number ones.
Suze (17:27):
I'm just curious.
KT (17:29):
And she always says to me every morning, Hi KT,
like it's the first time she met me.
25 years later, every morning, Hi KT when I wake up.
Suze (17:41):
I am staying in bed longer than KT. Have you
noticed?
KT (17:43):
She sleeps in a little bit, that's a sign of,
you know what...
Suze (17:50):
That means I sleep in, 'till like 6:30 versus 5 o'clock.
KT (17:54):
This is from Joan. Hi, Suze. You are the best.
I have your ultimate retirement guide on audio and the
revised and updated and soft cover. Love the podcast. My
sister asked me why she would need a trust because
she doesn't have any children. She and her husband have
all the other must-have documents. I've reread the section on trust,
(18:18):
but I still don't have an answer for her.
Are you kidding, Joan?
Suze (18:23):
No, no. So I don't know what you mean when
you say she has all the other must-have documents. So
let's just say, Joan's sister, you own a home and
you own it in joint tenancy with right of survivorship
with your husband, thinking, oh, you've covered it. Everything is great.
(18:45):
You die. It automatically goes to him. He dies. It
automatically goes to you. But here is the question you
all have to always ask yourself. What if you don't die?
What if you become incapacitated? You're walking down the street.
You slip on ice, you hit your head. You don't
know who anybody is. You're in a car accident. Anything
(19:07):
can happen at any time. Therefore, all right, your husband
becomes incapacitated, and you live in a house that has
two stories, and you need to make a move so
it's easier on you and you have a one story house.
The question is, can you sell it?
Can you?
(19:28):
You say you have everything in order, and the answer
is no, you cannot because it takes two signatures of
both of you to sell that home because it's owned
in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
If your husband cannot sign because he's incapacitated, you then
(19:50):
have to go down to what the court go through
probate court, get a conservatorship assigned to him, and from
that point on, now you have the ability to sign
for him. Now you may think everything's great. You have
power of attorney, however.
(20:11):
Most power of attorneys become null and void the day
that there's an incapacity. Number two, banks don't like dealing
with power of attorneys because many of them are old.
They don't know if they're still valid. They don't know
if they've been updated or changed. They don't like that.
(20:31):
But when you own something in trust.
You have the right immediately if the trust has an
incapacity clause in it which the must have documents do.
All right, you can sign for him. He could sign
for you, and if something happens to both of you
at the same time, you're in a car accident and
(20:55):
now neither of you are capable of doing anything, you
can name friends or people that you trust or even
a professional trustee
to come in and make sure that you are OK.
So that is the answer to the question. Next, KT.
KT (21:13):
OK, from Laura. Hi, Suze and KT, I love your show.
Quick question. I love this Laura. Quick question. I will
need a used car with low mileage in the next
year or two. Should I wait or buy now to
avoid potential increases in cost due to tariffs and other variables?
(21:33):
Thank you for all you do. Laura is a retired
teacher and now she said a student of Suze.
Suze (21:40):
So you have a look like you want to answer
this question, KT. So since this is your show, you answer her.
KT (21:45):
No, Laura, I think what you're asking is if you
recall not too long ago there was a surge in
used
car prices. Suze and I were even considering selling our
10 year plus car, yeah, because we knew we could
get a huge amount of money for it 13 years,
13 years and, and Suze loves that little car, but
(22:07):
I said maybe we should sell it because we'd get
so much for it.
And now I don't know what the tariffs are gonna do.
I don't know. It looks like prices will continue to
go up in manufacturing because of all the parts and
everything they're bringing in.
Suze (22:23):
So maybe
the answer is yes, do it now, and I agree
with that. All right, go on.
KT (22:28):
OK, my final question, Suze. This is from Cynthia. I
will be 39 next month. My wife and I have
two small children, two and eight,
who we would like to create separate accounts for to
help them secure their financial futures. I'm not sure... I know.
(22:49):
I said the same thing when I read this. I went,
Why not you? I am not sure if we should
open a separate high yield savings account for them, a
brokerage account, or some type of other account. A brokerage
account may yield them the greatest amount over their lifetimes,
but they would need to
pay hefty taxes on the gift when they sell their positions. Wait,
(23:12):
we're talking about a two year old and an eight
year old, everybody. I want them to grow their money.
I don't want the unintended consequence of saddling them with
a tax nightmare. I'm eager to know what you recommend,
and I appreciate your guidance.
Suze (23:28):
Alright, well, if you don't want to saddle them with
a tax nightmare, although I don't think you would.
Right, you might as well saddle yourself with one. And
what I mean by that is, listen, over all the
years that I've been doing this, which is almost 40
years now. In fact, it is 40 years, right.
(23:49):
I have seen this situation way too many times. I'm
so sorry to say, where little Johnny Angel was so sweet.
I love you. I love you mommy, da da da da.
Turns out to be Johnny Devil.
In that they get older, you never know what will
(24:10):
happen to them. They get involved with the wrong people.
They now have money and they use that money for drugs,
and you feel horrific because you were the ones who
supplied them with that money. Remember, when you put it
in their name, you have to create a uniform gift
to minors act or trust account for them, which means
at the age of 18 or 21, it is their money.
(24:33):
And there is nothing you can do about it. So
if all of a sudden they want that money to
go buy a car, to do this, to do that,
they don't want to go to school, they don't want
anything because they have enough money right now. You're going
to be so sad that you did that. Just put
away an account in your name.
(24:54):
Where you know it is for them, you pay the
taxes on it since you don't want to saddle them
with it. You make sure everything is OK that way.
And as they get older, remember, like this year you
could give them $19,000 totally tax free to them. So
what might happen years from now if you get this
(25:16):
money to grow and keep two separate accounts, one for
one and one for the other, so you don't mix them.
When it comes time and you want to give them
the money for something that makes sense.
Then, hey, you can cash out what you have. You
can pay the taxes on it, and you could be
gifting it to them over time, or you just gift
(25:38):
it to them and take it off your unified credit.
So that's how I would do it. Also remember when
you put money in a child's name.
It hurts them for financial aid because it counts for
more in their name than it does when it's in
your name when you want aid, so I wouldn't be
putting it in their names right now unless you want
(26:01):
to put it in a 529 plan for their college education,
but somehow I feel like you want them to have
money outside of college as well.
All right, KT, that's it, huh?
KT (26:15):
That is a wrap,
Suze (26:16):
A wrap. All right, so...
KT (26:19):
End of July, you believe it's over already? The month.
Suze (26:23):
August is coming.
KT (26:26):
August is tomorrow.
Suze (26:28):
And then September.
KT (26:32):
We have an exciting date in September. Don't share it yet. Wait,
we'll keep it a surprise. We have a great date
we have planned for.
Labor Day weekend and she'll share it with you at
the end of August before it becomes September, and we
can't wait to, to do that. We can't wait for
that date.
Suze (26:51):
It's actually not that exciting.
KT (26:53):
It is exciting. Don't tell them.
It is exciting.
Suze (26:57):
It's not that big...
KT (26:58):
It's a bucket list. It's one of my bucket lists for
my whole life with you.
Suze (27:02):
Oh, so that's why it's exciting. Oh, all right, I'll
wait till then to tell you right now this coming Sunday,
you really have to make sure that you listen to
the podcast because I'm going to continue on with things
you need to know about the BBB, the Big Beautiful Bill.
(27:23):
And this one's really gonna focus on student loans and
what you need to know about them. So really don't
miss it. KT, take us out, baby dolls...
KT (27:38):
There is one thing we want you to remember, and
that is this year is the year that you will
make your money, make more money.
Suze (27:47):
And the way that you do that, by the way.
I always remember people first, then money, then things now
you stay safe.
KT (27:57):
Love ya!
Suze (27:57):
Bye bye.
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