October 16, 2025 • 30 mins
On this Ask Suze & KT Anything episode, KT asks Suze your questions about what to do with money you don’t need for five years or longer, selling property, advice for getting young people educated about personal finance and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
KT (00:07):
October 16, 2025. Is everyone in the mood for delicious pasta?
Suze (00:15):
What the hell is that all about? What are you talking about?
KT (00:18):
Suze and I are going to Italy in two more days.
Suze (00:22):
I'm going like, what is she talking about?
KT (00:25):
All right, you take over...
Suze (00:26):
What does that have to do with the Women and
Money podcast,
KT (00:28):
and everyone smart enough to listen and also hungry
for gelato.
Suze (00:32):
Oh Jesus, here we go. And this is the Ask
KT and Suze...
KT (00:38):
Anything, anything, anything.
Suze (00:41):
So let's get right to it because we have to pack.
KT (00:44):
OK, so this is from Craig.
I like this one a lot, Suze. He says, Help
me help my son get on the right track. My
son is 18, has a Schwab account, has 10,000 invested
in ETFs, and a couple of stocks. He asked me
recently what are some good books or some people to
(01:05):
read up on for learning.
I rave about your podcast, but what else can I
advocate for my son to get him off on the
right foot? Thank you both from another man smart enough
to listen for over 20 years. You go, Craig.
Suze (01:24):
I have to say I know I'm being self-serving here,
but I really think one of the best books for
somebody like 18 years of age,
is the book that I wrote many years ago now
called The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke,
and even though the numbers in there now have changed,
like how much you can put in a wroth and everything,
(01:46):
it will give him the basics, seriously, of what he
needs to understand in a very simple and concise way.
I love, love that book. Number one New York Times bestseller.
Other than that.
I don't know. He's got $10,000 at 18. I think
he's doing pretty good. I would actually also have him
(02:11):
read Five with Fitz since it's free.
KT (02:15):
Oh, that's, it's free.
Suze (02:17):
Just get him used to what Keith Fitz-Gerald is talking
about and things like that. Other than that, there's so
many of them out there.
So you know, I have to tell you one of
the greatest books I think he could read is The
Richest Man in Babylon. Just have him read that as well.
All right, KT.
KT (02:37):
I forgot about that story. Suze, you did the forward
for that book.
Suze (02:43):
Fabulous...
KT (02:43):
Fabulous book.
Suze (02:44):
Because you know it's...
KT (02:45):
A classic.
Suze (02:46):
... not just about what to invest in.
It's about values and how he sees himself and what
he thinks and how he feels and his whole interaction
with money, so there's more to it than just what
to invest in. All right,
KT (03:03):
OK, good. From Paula. Hello, Suze and KT. I have
followed you since I was 32.
And now I will be 70 in a few months.
Suze (03:14):
I was just
going to say, oh, tell me, she's going to be
72 now, right?
KT (03:17):
I recently retired and filed for Social Security three months
prior to age 70 with my spouse already collecting SS
several years ago.
Between the two of us, our monthly expenses will be covered.
So my question is, should we open a CD with
the liquid capital, of course, less their emergency fund, or
(03:39):
what should we do with our excess cash? They have
about 300,000.
Just to give you a little backstory, Suze, they have
525,000 in stocks and bonds, another 275 to 300,000 in
metals and zero debt. Yay.
Suze (04:00):
So does metals, do you think it means gold?
KT (04:02):
I think so.
Suze (04:04):
So let me just answer this quickly, which is and
everybody listen to me carefully. I cannot,
I cannot tell you what to do with money cause
I don't necessarily know enough about you. What are your expenses?
What is your health? Do you need a new car?
(04:24):
Does your house need a new roof? Do you have
a trust? Do you have a will? Do you have
all of that in place? It's more than what should
you do with 300,000.
Now, KT chose this, and here's what I want to
say to you. Let's say you didn't come to me
with this question. Let's say you walked into a brokerage firm,
(04:47):
a financial adviser, and you say, Here, I have $300,000.
What should I do with it? You now have set
yourself up seriously, everybody, for the salesperson or possibly also
known as a financial adviser should say buy this, buy that,
do this, do that.
A great financial advisor can never tell you what to
(05:11):
do with $300,000 just because you already have $525,000 in stocks.
You have like $300,000 in gold, no debt, not enough information.
So don't go right me saying what should I do
with my money, what should I invest in? I cannot
(05:31):
answer that question for you.
Because I don't know enough about you. However, at the
age of 70, if you feel that you have everything
under control, do you have a long term care insurance policy?
What happens if one of you ends up where in
a nursing home and now it's 10 to $20,000 a month?
(05:55):
Have you really taken everything into consideration?
So before you do anything with that $300,000 I want
you to look at every possible thing that could go wrong.
Your health, your caring for each other, your home that
you live in, does it need a new roof, all of that.
(06:16):
What's ever left over and you're fine with everything. I
don't know then at your age, if I were you,
I would be dollar cost averaging whatever you can afford
to put in the market wisely and take advantage of
what's going to be happening with artificial intelligence. That's all
I'm going to say here. But Paula, really, you've been
(06:39):
listening to me for so many years.
You know what can happen when you get older. I
just want to know before you invest anything. You've taken
care of the what ifs of life. Next question, KT.
KT (06:54):
OK, this is from Kyle. Kyle asks, Good morning, Suze.
Thank you for all that you do for the men
smart enough to listen.
I was reading about structured CDs with market-linked returns. What
is your expert opinion about MLCDs, and is there a
particular index aligned to the CD that you would recommend
(07:18):
if you recommended MLCDs?
Now, just so you know, Suze, Kyle says he's a
year or two away from retirement. As an educator, I
do have a pension plan through PSERS. Do you see
these as viable options to limit risk in the market?
Suze (07:38):
So, I think I answered him to tell you the truth,
but that's besides the point because that I think was,
I don't know when I did that, but I think I did.
KT (07:44):
So tell people what MLCDs are.
Suze (07:47):
First of all MLCDs, the, the letters stand for market
linked certificate of deposit. Now I just have to tell you,
I'm not somebody who likes when investments are joined.
Like either you buy a CD and lock in an
interest rate, and there you go, or you invest in
(08:09):
the market by buying either ETFs or individual stocks and
dollar cost averaging into them. I personally do not like
when you combine those two. Why? Because when you have
a market linked certificate of deposit, you do get an
interest rate, probably a lower interest rate on your certificate
(08:30):
of deposit.
But then you also get upward movement when the market
moves up according to a specific index. You asked, Kyle,
which index would I link one to? Well, if I
bought one, which I wouldn't, but if I did.
Right, I would link it to the Standard and Poor's
500 index. I would not link it to any other
(08:52):
index other than that, but the problem is, in my opinion,
if that index really goes, you're only going to get
a percent of that increase. You're not, if it goes
up 10%, you're not going to get 10%. You're only
going to get maybe 8% or 7%.
And when it all comes down to it, I don't
(09:14):
think you'll make as much money. You're being conservative, but
put what you want in a CD.
And do that and then put what you want in
the market. Don't keep them together. Separate them. But listen,
if you don't want to lose any money and you
don't really care about your return that much, you can
(09:35):
do it if you want. Would I be doing it? No.
All right, you're happy, what makes you laugh? (KT is
laughing in the background)
KT (09:44):
She doesn't sugarcoat anything, does she?
Suze (09:47):
Well, you should
know you've lived with me for 25 years now.
KT (09:51):
Next question is from Monique. Hello ladies. What is a
cash value life insurance?
Suze (09:58):
It's one of the investments I hate the most. There
you go.
KT (10:01):
She doesn't sugarcoat. I recently came into some money. Is
that an instrument that would be appropriate for me? I'm
a 63 year old nurse still employed. We love nurses, Monique.
Tell her why you don't like it.
Suze (10:16):
Listen, you say I'm a 63 year old nurse still
still employed. You didn't say I'm a 63 year old nurse.
My husband or my spouse is X, Y, and Z.
You didn't say anything about your children. You would only
buy insurance if and only if you need a life
insurance policy because if something happened to you, those who
(10:39):
might be dependent upon you.
Would need that money. At 63 I doubt highly that
is true. So number one, you don't need life insurance
and you definitely don't want a cash value life insurance.
KT (10:53):
Why?
Suze (10:53):
Cash... Why? What do you think I've been talking about
all these years? Cash value life, KT ready? Is whole life,
universal life?
KT (11:04):
Ouch.
Suze (11:05):
Variable life.
KT (11:06):
Yikes.
Suze (11:07):
And what have I always told you about those three
kinds of life insurance?
What have I told you? I what them?
KT (11:15):
You hate them.
Suze (11:17):
That's right.
KT (11:17):
She doesn't
hate a lot of anything, but she does hate those.
Suze (11:21):
Now, a second ago I told Kyle, don't mix investments.
You want a CD, buy a CD. You want to
buy an ETF or whatever in the market. Monique,
you don't buy life insurance just because it has cash value.
You buy life insurance, again, because somebody is going to
(11:44):
need money in case you die. And in that case,
the only kind of insurance you should be buying is
term insurance, but at 63, it would be expensive, so no,
you should not.
And I repeat, you should not be doing this under
any circumstance whatsoever. You just came into some money. If
(12:06):
you have a mortgage, pay it off. If you're going
to stay in your house forever. Oh, you want some
money in the stock market or whatever, open up a
Roth IRA and do it in there in an ETF,
whatever you do, but do not, do not do cash
value life insurance, all right.
KT (12:27):
There you go, Monique. OK, next question is from...
Oh, you are getting...
I know Suze. I know what these questions do to her.
I feel like we've had a little spice in here
because we've been talking so much about Roth. These are
all different. Here's a good one.
This is from Sokeri. Thank you for what you do
for us. I'm a single mom, business owner, renting with
(12:50):
an emergency fund and a 20% down payment for a house.
I heard about seller financing, and I'm curious. Two questions.
Do you think I should buy? If so, what are
your thoughts about seller financing as an alternative option?
Suze (13:09):
Here is a situation once again.
That all you tell me is you're a single mom,
you're a business owner, currently you're renting, you have an
emergency fund and 20% down. Do you think I should buy,
you say.
How would I know? OK, she's really laughing now.
KT (13:33):
I picked these questions that have a whole lot of
blanks in them because it challenges her to figure out
what advice to give you.
Suze (13:42):
Here's the advice I'm going to give you.
KT (13:45):
Send me more information.
Suze (13:46):
No, don't, right? But here's the advice seriously. Is your
job secure?
Right, can you afford the monthly payments on a mortgage
plus the insurance plus the property tax plus maintenance? So
do you want to own a home, or is it
(14:08):
better for you to continue just renting because maybe renting
is far simpler for you. Where, what area are you
talking about?
Because in certain areas like Florida and maybe LA, you
can't even get insurance anymore in many of the areas
to even cover your home in terms of property insurance.
(14:30):
And if you're going to take out a mortgage, you
need insurance. So have you figured out all of those?
You're a business owner. What happens if you get sick?
And you can't run your business any more. Then what
are you going to do? And there's so many things
to consider, so I don't have a clue what you
(14:50):
should do. Do you all understand? It's not just as
simple as, should I buy a home, Suze?
It's not just as simple as I have $300,000. What
should I do with it? You have to think more
deeply about your entire situation.
And you have to make these decisions on your own,
(15:13):
'cause otherwise you're going to meet up with possibly a
real estate agent, and they're going to say, oh yeah,
buy this. You're going to go and see possibly a
financial advisor that will say, oh 300,000. I don't care
what else you have buy this. Now maybe you'll meet
up with an honest one and a good one, possibly.
(15:33):
So therefore you have to start thinking more deeply about
your own individual situations and what could go wrong. And
if you know you can cover everything if it goes wrong,
then it's right for you to do something with your
money that you want to do. KT.
KT (15:51):
I, I want to give them one more piece of
advice I'll never forget. Suze's brother looked at us once
when we were buying our condo in Florida, and he said, girls,
remember one thing:
Condo fees never go down.
Suze (16:06):
Yes, he forgot to tell us about assessments as well.
All
right, go on.
KT (16:10):
OK. Next question is Jessica. We have a significant amount
of money in CDs, approximately 300,000. We have slowly been
learning about
mutual funds and stocks. Over time we have accumulated $130,000
in mutual funds and individual stocks. They are doing quite well.
(16:32):
How much money should remain liquid and how much should
we invest? We have no debt. Our home is paid off.
We are 50 and 52, and retirement is on the
horizon but a few years away.
And Suze, I'll just give you real quick. They have
two kids, one gets a, they're in college. One has
(16:53):
a free ride. The other one needs to be paid for.
We have a small 529 plan. Our retirement 401 is
$2 million combined plus I will have a fixed pension
of $7,000 monthly. So there's a little more information for you.
I think they're doing pretty well.
Suze (17:12):
They're doing pretty well, but you're really doing really bad
on one thing, you are 50 and 52 years of age.
How is it possible that you haven't listened to me
for all these years and you now have $2 million
in a pre-tax retirement account and not in a Roth?
(17:35):
That means later on when you go to take money out,
you are going to pay ordinary income tax on it.
You know, your two kids,
all right, you die and leave it to them. They're
going to pay ordinary income tax on it. You add
that to your $7000 a month pension plus Social Security
and everything else. Oh, now you're in a seriously high
(17:59):
income tax bracket, and you have made Uncle Sam so
happy I can't even tell you.
I don't care about what you should be doing with
new money, how much you should keep safe, how much...
I don't care about that right now. I care about
you better figure out how to get that $2 million
little by little into your Roth 401k.
(18:22):
So that by the time you actually retire, it is
all there and a new contribution should be going to
a Roth 401k. And if you can figure it out,
a Roth IRA as well, period. That is the move, Jessica,
that you really need to start thinking about because you
(18:42):
are just so, so wrong with having so much money
in a 401k pretax. What are you looking at me?
KT (18:52):
Because you don't have to give her a slap down
so hard.
Suze (18:55):
I, but I'm telling you, KT, for how many years
now have I been telling people don't do pre-tax account
and yet you all still are doing them.
Even if you're doing them, are you doing what it
takes to convert little by little into a Roth, and
you're thinking, oh, but I'm going to owe taxes, and
(19:16):
this the biggest mistake I am telling you, in my
opinion you are making, is to have a whole lot
of money in a traditional 401k or IRA.
All right, go on, KT.
KT (19:32):
So next question, Suze is from Wendy. Dear Suze, my
husband and I have invested almost all of our money
in real estate. OK, ready?
Suze (19:43):
What you... just wait, should we just call this podcast?
KT (19:47):
It makes Suze aggrevated.
Suze (19:48):
It's Ask KT and make Suze aggravated podcast.
KT (19:52):
That's why we're going to Italy, everybody. She's going to
calm down, have a little, she doesn't drink. I'll have
a glass of wine. She'll have a little gelato or pasta,
everything she doesn't eat. Ready?
My husband and I have invested almost all of our
money in real estate amounting to approximately $2 million in
(20:14):
a beautiful Colorado resort mountain town. Knowing that real estate
is always a good investment, we bought premium lots and
a house in a down market, hoping to capitalize on
our investments one day.
Suze (20:30):
As long as
you can sell it.
KT (20:32):
Well, here's the, here's the clincher.
Ready. All of the properties have been listed for a
while now, but due to the current market situation, we
have been unable to sell.
Suze (20:45):
While they still have the cost of... just go on.
KT (20:48):
We have some stocks worth about 100,000 and are concerned
they will be lost in a possible recession. Half of
their value was lost in a previous recession.
Which took years to regain.
Suze (21:03):
Yeah, 2007, 2008. Go on.
KT (21:05):
Ok, ready? We are business owners. We're wanting to retire.
My husband is reducing the workload. As we have everything
for sale, hoping to fulfill our dreams of travel. Our
accounts are dwindling.
Should we sell some of our stocks to reinvest in
high yield savings account, pay off a $10,000 credit card debt, ready,
(21:32):
and create an emergency fund against recession.
Now upon selling our properties, which has taken much longer
than anticipated, we plan on reinvesting and achieving our retirement goals.
Any advice you would give would be greatly appreciated, as
we are not particularly investment savvy but are learning. By
(21:57):
the way.
Ready for this? This is the part that put a
smile on my face. Do you know of anyone who
might be interested in owning a beautifully renovated historic Victorian
home in a quaint mountain town?
Suze (22:11):
Oh, maybe we
are.
KT (22:13):
Alright, there you go. There you go. This is from
Wendy and let's be gentle because Wendy really wants to
sell these properties, but maybe they just need to do
a fire sale.
Suze (22:26):
Now Wendy, I need you to listen to me.
I talk about diversification all the time.
And when you have 100% of your money invested in
one sector.
You're always in my opinion, asking for trouble. Now you
may have lost half of your money in the market
(22:49):
back in 2007, 2008, 2009, but it took a long
time for it to come back. If you had owned
real estate back then.
You could have bought something, let's just say Tampa, Florida,
$700,000 that was worth $100,000. Real estate actually lost more
(23:12):
than 50% of its value back then, so things can happen.
Right now, you need to sell this real estate.
And I have a feeling that real estate is going
to actually get slower rather than pick up. People are
(23:33):
hoping that if interest rates go down, that people will
get more interested, but still, you may need to do
what KT said. You may need to keep lowering your
price until somebody is seriously interested in it.
Because you have $10,000 of debt, you have about $100,000
(23:58):
in stocks.
But you're concerned about a recession, so you're going to
sell something that you should probably, in my opinion, absolutely
be keeping. I don't know which stocks you have, but
if you're invested in the right stocks in the next
few years, are you kidding me?
(24:19):
Many of those stocks that I have been talking about,
ETFs that I have been talking about on the podcast,
I wouldn't be selling them right now for all the
money in the world. And in fact, if they happen
to go down for whatever reason, I would actually be
buying more.
The great thing about stocks is that they are liquid.
(24:42):
Either pick up the phone and talk to a financial person,
say sell.
And you get the money a few seconds later it's
liquidated or you go online and do it. You have
invested in things that are not liquid.
And that puts you in a dangerous situation. It just does.
(25:03):
So my advice to you truthfully.
It is to liquidate them as fast as you can,
meaning lower the price, get out of them, and then
it's done. But then Wendy, I don't know how you're
going to reinvest that money.
But you might really need some professional guidance in doing
(25:26):
it because I would not be reinvesting it back into
real estate 100%. I would be absolutely doing something that
gives you
income that you can count on dividend paying stocks, things
like that, but you're going to be needing help, but
I would not be worried about a recession if I
(25:48):
were you, and I would not be liquidating my stocks, assuming,
that they are good, good stocks. What do you want
to say KT?
KT (25:56):
She's coming into season. It's in Colorado, quaint mountain town.
You're coming into ski season and mountain season take advantage
of all the people that could be interested.
Go for it.
Suze (26:10):
All right, one more KT.
KT (26:11):
OK, this is from Regina. Regina said...
Suze (26:17):
Wait, am I going to get aggravated?
KT (26:17):
No, I think this is a very simple and straightforward...
Suze (26:20):
Should it be your quizzy?
KT (26:21):
No.
Suze (26:22):
No quizzy today?
KT (26:23):
No, it said Roth converting, is it too late?
I am 60 years young.
Suze (26:30):
No.
KT (26:30):
And then wait, Regina said, I've one more question. Is
there such a thing of being over diversified? I have
about 14 investments in ETFs and stocks.
Suze (26:41):
Yes.
All right, there you go.
But, but very serious, listen, I want all of you
to get this. I want all of you to get
this more than you ever gotten anything I have ever
said in the 40 years I've been doing this.
In most cases you are not too old to be
(27:01):
converting money to a Roth, especially if you're not going
to be needing that money. If you have money in
a traditional retirement account and you are retired and you
actually need to withdraw money for you to live on,
then it doesn't make any sense to convert. But if
you're not going to need that money or you're still young,
(27:22):
like 60.
You should absolutely be converting. Can you please, please get that?
I promise you, years from now you're going to love
me for it, but you should love me right now,
even without it. But that's besides the point in terms
(27:42):
of is there such a thing of being over diversified? Oh,
you bet there is. I was looking at somebody's portfolio
a little bit ago.
Their financial advisor, and I may have told you this,
have them in possibly like 30 different exchange traded funds
(28:02):
and mutual funds.
Maybe even more than that. And if they looked at
the holdings of each of those ETFs and mutual funds,
they're invested almost in the same thing.
So yes, you can be over diversified. Truthfully, if I
were going to be investing and I didn't really know
(28:23):
what to do.
And I had at least five, 10, 15 years till
I needed this money.
I would take whatever money I had, and I would
put half of it 50%, into VOO, and the other 50%
I would probably put into stocks like Palantir, IONQ, possibly Tesla, Microsoft,
(28:49):
any of the ones that I have been mentioning, and
that's what I would be doing if I were you anyway.
Is that that?
KT (28:59):
That's a wrap, Suze.
Suze (28:59):
All right.
You just loved today, didn't
you?
KT (29:05):
It was good. Didn't you all like that, everybody? They liked it.
Suze (29:09):
They liked it, KT. Mikey liked it.
KT (29:12):
They also like my Frothy Rothy drink.
It's an energy drink and it's really good. I think
they're all loving it.
Suze (29:20):
Yeah, well, it took you long enough to post it,
but that's besides the point. All right, everybody, in two
days we are off to Italy until the 30th of October. However,
we will pre-record for you,
Quite a few of the Ask KT and Suzy Anything
(29:41):
podcasts so you have new ones, so you don't have
to hear just the best of. Hopefully I will be
able to get to doing Suze Schools for you as well,
things I may want you to know during that time,
but we will be back after October 30th
KT (29:58):
And on a diet.
Suze (30:02):
Probably all right, but until then there's really only one
thing we want you to know,
KT (30:07):
and that is people first, then money.
People first.
Suze (30:12):
Did you, did you forget?
KT (30:13):
I was going to say pasta. I was gonna say
people first, then money, then things.
Now you stay safe.
Suze (30:20):
And healthy and secure. See you soon. We love you.
Bye bye.
October 16, 2025. Is everyone in the mood for delicious pasta?
Suze (00:15):
What the hell is that all about? What are you talking about?
KT (00:18):
Suze and I are going to Italy in two more days.
Suze (00:22):
I'm going like, what is she talking about?
KT (00:25):
All right, you take over...
Suze (00:26):
What does that have to do with the Women and
Money podcast,
KT (00:28):
and everyone smart enough to listen and also hungry
for gelato.
Suze (00:32):
Oh Jesus, here we go. And this is the Ask
KT and Suze...
KT (00:38):
Anything, anything, anything.
Suze (00:41):
So let's get right to it because we have to pack.
KT (00:44):
OK, so this is from Craig.
I like this one a lot, Suze. He says, Help
me help my son get on the right track. My
son is 18, has a Schwab account, has 10,000 invested
in ETFs, and a couple of stocks. He asked me
recently what are some good books or some people to
(01:05):
read up on for learning.
I rave about your podcast, but what else can I
advocate for my son to get him off on the
right foot? Thank you both from another man smart enough
to listen for over 20 years. You go, Craig.
Suze (01:24):
I have to say I know I'm being self-serving here,
but I really think one of the best books for
somebody like 18 years of age,
is the book that I wrote many years ago now
called The Money Book for the Young Fabulous and Broke,
and even though the numbers in there now have changed,
like how much you can put in a wroth and everything,
(01:46):
it will give him the basics, seriously, of what he
needs to understand in a very simple and concise way.
I love, love that book. Number one New York Times bestseller.
Other than that.
I don't know. He's got $10,000 at 18. I think
he's doing pretty good. I would actually also have him
(02:11):
read Five with Fitz since it's free.
KT (02:15):
Oh, that's, it's free.
Suze (02:17):
Just get him used to what Keith Fitz-Gerald is talking
about and things like that. Other than that, there's so
many of them out there.
So you know, I have to tell you one of
the greatest books I think he could read is The
Richest Man in Babylon. Just have him read that as well.
All right, KT.
KT (02:37):
I forgot about that story. Suze, you did the forward
for that book.
Suze (02:43):
Fabulous...
KT (02:43):
Fabulous book.
Suze (02:44):
Because you know it's...
KT (02:45):
A classic.
Suze (02:46):
... not just about what to invest in.
It's about values and how he sees himself and what
he thinks and how he feels and his whole interaction
with money, so there's more to it than just what
to invest in. All right,
KT (03:03):
OK, good. From Paula. Hello, Suze and KT. I have
followed you since I was 32.
And now I will be 70 in a few months.
Suze (03:14):
I was just
going to say, oh, tell me, she's going to be
72 now, right?
KT (03:17):
I recently retired and filed for Social Security three months
prior to age 70 with my spouse already collecting SS
several years ago.
Between the two of us, our monthly expenses will be covered.
So my question is, should we open a CD with
the liquid capital, of course, less their emergency fund, or
(03:39):
what should we do with our excess cash? They have
about 300,000.
Just to give you a little backstory, Suze, they have
525,000 in stocks and bonds, another 275 to 300,000 in
metals and zero debt. Yay.
Suze (04:00):
So does metals, do you think it means gold?
KT (04:02):
I think so.
Suze (04:04):
So let me just answer this quickly, which is and
everybody listen to me carefully. I cannot,
I cannot tell you what to do with money cause
I don't necessarily know enough about you. What are your expenses?
What is your health? Do you need a new car?
(04:24):
Does your house need a new roof? Do you have
a trust? Do you have a will? Do you have
all of that in place? It's more than what should
you do with 300,000.
Now, KT chose this, and here's what I want to
say to you. Let's say you didn't come to me
with this question. Let's say you walked into a brokerage firm,
(04:47):
a financial adviser, and you say, Here, I have $300,000.
What should I do with it? You now have set
yourself up seriously, everybody, for the salesperson or possibly also
known as a financial adviser should say buy this, buy that,
do this, do that.
A great financial advisor can never tell you what to
(05:11):
do with $300,000 just because you already have $525,000 in stocks.
You have like $300,000 in gold, no debt, not enough information.
So don't go right me saying what should I do
with my money, what should I invest in? I cannot
(05:31):
answer that question for you.
Because I don't know enough about you. However, at the
age of 70, if you feel that you have everything
under control, do you have a long term care insurance policy?
What happens if one of you ends up where in
a nursing home and now it's 10 to $20,000 a month?
(05:55):
Have you really taken everything into consideration?
So before you do anything with that $300,000 I want
you to look at every possible thing that could go wrong.
Your health, your caring for each other, your home that
you live in, does it need a new roof, all of that.
(06:16):
What's ever left over and you're fine with everything. I
don't know then at your age, if I were you,
I would be dollar cost averaging whatever you can afford
to put in the market wisely and take advantage of
what's going to be happening with artificial intelligence. That's all
I'm going to say here. But Paula, really, you've been
(06:39):
listening to me for so many years.
You know what can happen when you get older. I
just want to know before you invest anything. You've taken
care of the what ifs of life. Next question, KT.
KT (06:54):
OK, this is from Kyle. Kyle asks, Good morning, Suze.
Thank you for all that you do for the men
smart enough to listen.
I was reading about structured CDs with market-linked returns. What
is your expert opinion about MLCDs, and is there a
particular index aligned to the CD that you would recommend
(07:18):
if you recommended MLCDs?
Now, just so you know, Suze, Kyle says he's a
year or two away from retirement. As an educator, I
do have a pension plan through PSERS. Do you see
these as viable options to limit risk in the market?
Suze (07:38):
So, I think I answered him to tell you the truth,
but that's besides the point because that I think was,
I don't know when I did that, but I think I did.
KT (07:44):
So tell people what MLCDs are.
Suze (07:47):
First of all MLCDs, the, the letters stand for market
linked certificate of deposit. Now I just have to tell you,
I'm not somebody who likes when investments are joined.
Like either you buy a CD and lock in an
interest rate, and there you go, or you invest in
(08:09):
the market by buying either ETFs or individual stocks and
dollar cost averaging into them. I personally do not like
when you combine those two. Why? Because when you have
a market linked certificate of deposit, you do get an
interest rate, probably a lower interest rate on your certificate
(08:30):
of deposit.
But then you also get upward movement when the market
moves up according to a specific index. You asked, Kyle,
which index would I link one to? Well, if I
bought one, which I wouldn't, but if I did.
Right, I would link it to the Standard and Poor's
500 index. I would not link it to any other
(08:52):
index other than that, but the problem is, in my opinion,
if that index really goes, you're only going to get
a percent of that increase. You're not, if it goes
up 10%, you're not going to get 10%. You're only
going to get maybe 8% or 7%.
And when it all comes down to it, I don't
(09:14):
think you'll make as much money. You're being conservative, but
put what you want in a CD.
And do that and then put what you want in
the market. Don't keep them together. Separate them. But listen,
if you don't want to lose any money and you
don't really care about your return that much, you can
(09:35):
do it if you want. Would I be doing it? No.
All right, you're happy, what makes you laugh? (KT is
laughing in the background)
KT (09:44):
She doesn't sugarcoat anything, does she?
Suze (09:47):
Well, you should
know you've lived with me for 25 years now.
KT (09:51):
Next question is from Monique. Hello ladies. What is a
cash value life insurance?
Suze (09:58):
It's one of the investments I hate the most. There
you go.
KT (10:01):
She doesn't sugarcoat. I recently came into some money. Is
that an instrument that would be appropriate for me? I'm
a 63 year old nurse still employed. We love nurses, Monique.
Tell her why you don't like it.
Suze (10:16):
Listen, you say I'm a 63 year old nurse still
still employed. You didn't say I'm a 63 year old nurse.
My husband or my spouse is X, Y, and Z.
You didn't say anything about your children. You would only
buy insurance if and only if you need a life
insurance policy because if something happened to you, those who
(10:39):
might be dependent upon you.
Would need that money. At 63 I doubt highly that
is true. So number one, you don't need life insurance
and you definitely don't want a cash value life insurance.
KT (10:53):
Why?
Suze (10:53):
Cash... Why? What do you think I've been talking about
all these years? Cash value life, KT ready? Is whole life,
universal life?
KT (11:04):
Ouch.
Suze (11:05):
Variable life.
KT (11:06):
Yikes.
Suze (11:07):
And what have I always told you about those three
kinds of life insurance?
What have I told you? I what them?
KT (11:15):
You hate them.
Suze (11:17):
That's right.
KT (11:17):
She doesn't
hate a lot of anything, but she does hate those.
Suze (11:21):
Now, a second ago I told Kyle, don't mix investments.
You want a CD, buy a CD. You want to
buy an ETF or whatever in the market. Monique,
you don't buy life insurance just because it has cash value.
You buy life insurance, again, because somebody is going to
(11:44):
need money in case you die. And in that case,
the only kind of insurance you should be buying is
term insurance, but at 63, it would be expensive, so no,
you should not.
And I repeat, you should not be doing this under
any circumstance whatsoever. You just came into some money. If
(12:06):
you have a mortgage, pay it off. If you're going
to stay in your house forever. Oh, you want some
money in the stock market or whatever, open up a
Roth IRA and do it in there in an ETF,
whatever you do, but do not, do not do cash
value life insurance, all right.
KT (12:27):
There you go, Monique. OK, next question is from...
Oh, you are getting...
I know Suze. I know what these questions do to her.
I feel like we've had a little spice in here
because we've been talking so much about Roth. These are
all different. Here's a good one.
This is from Sokeri. Thank you for what you do
for us. I'm a single mom, business owner, renting with
(12:50):
an emergency fund and a 20% down payment for a house.
I heard about seller financing, and I'm curious. Two questions.
Do you think I should buy? If so, what are
your thoughts about seller financing as an alternative option?
Suze (13:09):
Here is a situation once again.
That all you tell me is you're a single mom,
you're a business owner, currently you're renting, you have an
emergency fund and 20% down. Do you think I should buy,
you say.
How would I know? OK, she's really laughing now.
KT (13:33):
I picked these questions that have a whole lot of
blanks in them because it challenges her to figure out
what advice to give you.
Suze (13:42):
Here's the advice I'm going to give you.
KT (13:45):
Send me more information.
Suze (13:46):
No, don't, right? But here's the advice seriously. Is your
job secure?
Right, can you afford the monthly payments on a mortgage
plus the insurance plus the property tax plus maintenance? So
do you want to own a home, or is it
(14:08):
better for you to continue just renting because maybe renting
is far simpler for you. Where, what area are you
talking about?
Because in certain areas like Florida and maybe LA, you
can't even get insurance anymore in many of the areas
to even cover your home in terms of property insurance.
(14:30):
And if you're going to take out a mortgage, you
need insurance. So have you figured out all of those?
You're a business owner. What happens if you get sick?
And you can't run your business any more. Then what
are you going to do? And there's so many things
to consider, so I don't have a clue what you
(14:50):
should do. Do you all understand? It's not just as
simple as, should I buy a home, Suze?
It's not just as simple as I have $300,000. What
should I do with it? You have to think more
deeply about your entire situation.
And you have to make these decisions on your own,
(15:13):
'cause otherwise you're going to meet up with possibly a
real estate agent, and they're going to say, oh yeah,
buy this. You're going to go and see possibly a
financial advisor that will say, oh 300,000. I don't care
what else you have buy this. Now maybe you'll meet
up with an honest one and a good one, possibly.
(15:33):
So therefore you have to start thinking more deeply about
your own individual situations and what could go wrong. And
if you know you can cover everything if it goes wrong,
then it's right for you to do something with your
money that you want to do. KT.
KT (15:51):
I, I want to give them one more piece of
advice I'll never forget. Suze's brother looked at us once
when we were buying our condo in Florida, and he said, girls,
remember one thing:
Condo fees never go down.
Suze (16:06):
Yes, he forgot to tell us about assessments as well.
All
right, go on.
KT (16:10):
OK. Next question is Jessica. We have a significant amount
of money in CDs, approximately 300,000. We have slowly been
learning about
mutual funds and stocks. Over time we have accumulated $130,000
in mutual funds and individual stocks. They are doing quite well.
(16:32):
How much money should remain liquid and how much should
we invest? We have no debt. Our home is paid off.
We are 50 and 52, and retirement is on the
horizon but a few years away.
And Suze, I'll just give you real quick. They have
two kids, one gets a, they're in college. One has
(16:53):
a free ride. The other one needs to be paid for.
We have a small 529 plan. Our retirement 401 is
$2 million combined plus I will have a fixed pension
of $7,000 monthly. So there's a little more information for you.
I think they're doing pretty well.
Suze (17:12):
They're doing pretty well, but you're really doing really bad
on one thing, you are 50 and 52 years of age.
How is it possible that you haven't listened to me
for all these years and you now have $2 million
in a pre-tax retirement account and not in a Roth?
(17:35):
That means later on when you go to take money out,
you are going to pay ordinary income tax on it.
You know, your two kids,
all right, you die and leave it to them. They're
going to pay ordinary income tax on it. You add
that to your $7000 a month pension plus Social Security
and everything else. Oh, now you're in a seriously high
(17:59):
income tax bracket, and you have made Uncle Sam so
happy I can't even tell you.
I don't care about what you should be doing with
new money, how much you should keep safe, how much...
I don't care about that right now. I care about
you better figure out how to get that $2 million
little by little into your Roth 401k.
(18:22):
So that by the time you actually retire, it is
all there and a new contribution should be going to
a Roth 401k. And if you can figure it out,
a Roth IRA as well, period. That is the move, Jessica,
that you really need to start thinking about because you
(18:42):
are just so, so wrong with having so much money
in a 401k pretax. What are you looking at me?
KT (18:52):
Because you don't have to give her a slap down
so hard.
Suze (18:55):
I, but I'm telling you, KT, for how many years
now have I been telling people don't do pre-tax account
and yet you all still are doing them.
Even if you're doing them, are you doing what it
takes to convert little by little into a Roth, and
you're thinking, oh, but I'm going to owe taxes, and
(19:16):
this the biggest mistake I am telling you, in my
opinion you are making, is to have a whole lot
of money in a traditional 401k or IRA.
All right, go on, KT.
KT (19:32):
So next question, Suze is from Wendy. Dear Suze, my
husband and I have invested almost all of our money
in real estate. OK, ready?
Suze (19:43):
What you... just wait, should we just call this podcast?
KT (19:47):
It makes Suze aggrevated.
Suze (19:48):
It's Ask KT and make Suze aggravated podcast.
KT (19:52):
That's why we're going to Italy, everybody. She's going to
calm down, have a little, she doesn't drink. I'll have
a glass of wine. She'll have a little gelato or pasta,
everything she doesn't eat. Ready?
My husband and I have invested almost all of our
money in real estate amounting to approximately $2 million in
(20:14):
a beautiful Colorado resort mountain town. Knowing that real estate
is always a good investment, we bought premium lots and
a house in a down market, hoping to capitalize on
our investments one day.
Suze (20:30):
As long as
you can sell it.
KT (20:32):
Well, here's the, here's the clincher.
Ready. All of the properties have been listed for a
while now, but due to the current market situation, we
have been unable to sell.
Suze (20:45):
While they still have the cost of... just go on.
KT (20:48):
We have some stocks worth about 100,000 and are concerned
they will be lost in a possible recession. Half of
their value was lost in a previous recession.
Which took years to regain.
Suze (21:03):
Yeah, 2007, 2008. Go on.
KT (21:05):
Ok, ready? We are business owners. We're wanting to retire.
My husband is reducing the workload. As we have everything
for sale, hoping to fulfill our dreams of travel. Our
accounts are dwindling.
Should we sell some of our stocks to reinvest in
high yield savings account, pay off a $10,000 credit card debt, ready,
(21:32):
and create an emergency fund against recession.
Now upon selling our properties, which has taken much longer
than anticipated, we plan on reinvesting and achieving our retirement goals.
Any advice you would give would be greatly appreciated, as
we are not particularly investment savvy but are learning. By
(21:57):
the way.
Ready for this? This is the part that put a
smile on my face. Do you know of anyone who
might be interested in owning a beautifully renovated historic Victorian
home in a quaint mountain town?
Suze (22:11):
Oh, maybe we
are.
KT (22:13):
Alright, there you go. There you go. This is from
Wendy and let's be gentle because Wendy really wants to
sell these properties, but maybe they just need to do
a fire sale.
Suze (22:26):
Now Wendy, I need you to listen to me.
I talk about diversification all the time.
And when you have 100% of your money invested in
one sector.
You're always in my opinion, asking for trouble. Now you
may have lost half of your money in the market
(22:49):
back in 2007, 2008, 2009, but it took a long
time for it to come back. If you had owned
real estate back then.
You could have bought something, let's just say Tampa, Florida,
$700,000 that was worth $100,000. Real estate actually lost more
(23:12):
than 50% of its value back then, so things can happen.
Right now, you need to sell this real estate.
And I have a feeling that real estate is going
to actually get slower rather than pick up. People are
(23:33):
hoping that if interest rates go down, that people will
get more interested, but still, you may need to do
what KT said. You may need to keep lowering your
price until somebody is seriously interested in it.
Because you have $10,000 of debt, you have about $100,000
(23:58):
in stocks.
But you're concerned about a recession, so you're going to
sell something that you should probably, in my opinion, absolutely
be keeping. I don't know which stocks you have, but
if you're invested in the right stocks in the next
few years, are you kidding me?
(24:19):
Many of those stocks that I have been talking about,
ETFs that I have been talking about on the podcast,
I wouldn't be selling them right now for all the
money in the world. And in fact, if they happen
to go down for whatever reason, I would actually be
buying more.
The great thing about stocks is that they are liquid.
(24:42):
Either pick up the phone and talk to a financial person,
say sell.
And you get the money a few seconds later it's
liquidated or you go online and do it. You have
invested in things that are not liquid.
And that puts you in a dangerous situation. It just does.
(25:03):
So my advice to you truthfully.
It is to liquidate them as fast as you can,
meaning lower the price, get out of them, and then
it's done. But then Wendy, I don't know how you're
going to reinvest that money.
But you might really need some professional guidance in doing
(25:26):
it because I would not be reinvesting it back into
real estate 100%. I would be absolutely doing something that
gives you
income that you can count on dividend paying stocks, things
like that, but you're going to be needing help, but
I would not be worried about a recession if I
(25:48):
were you, and I would not be liquidating my stocks, assuming,
that they are good, good stocks. What do you want
to say KT?
KT (25:56):
She's coming into season. It's in Colorado, quaint mountain town.
You're coming into ski season and mountain season take advantage
of all the people that could be interested.
Go for it.
Suze (26:10):
All right, one more KT.
KT (26:11):
OK, this is from Regina. Regina said...
Suze (26:17):
Wait, am I going to get aggravated?
KT (26:17):
No, I think this is a very simple and straightforward...
Suze (26:20):
Should it be your quizzy?
KT (26:21):
No.
Suze (26:22):
No quizzy today?
KT (26:23):
No, it said Roth converting, is it too late?
I am 60 years young.
Suze (26:30):
No.
KT (26:30):
And then wait, Regina said, I've one more question. Is
there such a thing of being over diversified? I have
about 14 investments in ETFs and stocks.
Suze (26:41):
Yes.
All right, there you go.
But, but very serious, listen, I want all of you
to get this. I want all of you to get
this more than you ever gotten anything I have ever
said in the 40 years I've been doing this.
In most cases you are not too old to be
(27:01):
converting money to a Roth, especially if you're not going
to be needing that money. If you have money in
a traditional retirement account and you are retired and you
actually need to withdraw money for you to live on,
then it doesn't make any sense to convert. But if
you're not going to need that money or you're still young,
(27:22):
like 60.
You should absolutely be converting. Can you please, please get that?
I promise you, years from now you're going to love
me for it, but you should love me right now,
even without it. But that's besides the point in terms
(27:42):
of is there such a thing of being over diversified? Oh,
you bet there is. I was looking at somebody's portfolio
a little bit ago.
Their financial advisor, and I may have told you this,
have them in possibly like 30 different exchange traded funds
(28:02):
and mutual funds.
Maybe even more than that. And if they looked at
the holdings of each of those ETFs and mutual funds,
they're invested almost in the same thing.
So yes, you can be over diversified. Truthfully, if I
were going to be investing and I didn't really know
(28:23):
what to do.
And I had at least five, 10, 15 years till
I needed this money.
I would take whatever money I had, and I would
put half of it 50%, into VOO, and the other 50%
I would probably put into stocks like Palantir, IONQ, possibly Tesla, Microsoft,
(28:49):
any of the ones that I have been mentioning, and
that's what I would be doing if I were you anyway.
Is that that?
KT (28:59):
That's a wrap, Suze.
Suze (28:59):
All right.
You just loved today, didn't
you?
KT (29:05):
It was good. Didn't you all like that, everybody? They liked it.
Suze (29:09):
They liked it, KT. Mikey liked it.
KT (29:12):
They also like my Frothy Rothy drink.
It's an energy drink and it's really good. I think
they're all loving it.
Suze (29:20):
Yeah, well, it took you long enough to post it,
but that's besides the point. All right, everybody, in two
days we are off to Italy until the 30th of October. However,
we will pre-record for you,
Quite a few of the Ask KT and Suzy Anything
(29:41):
podcasts so you have new ones, so you don't have
to hear just the best of. Hopefully I will be
able to get to doing Suze Schools for you as well,
things I may want you to know during that time,
but we will be back after October 30th
KT (29:58):
And on a diet.
Suze (30:02):
Probably all right, but until then there's really only one
thing we want you to know,
KT (30:07):
and that is people first, then money.
People first.
Suze (30:12):
Did you, did you forget?
KT (30:13):
I was going to say pasta. I was gonna say
people first, then money, then things.
Now you stay safe.
Suze (30:20):
And healthy and secure. See you soon. We love you.
Bye bye.
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