Episode Transcript
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Suze (00:08):
November 27th, 2025. Welcome everybody to the Women and Money podcast,
and everybody, do you hear me? Everybody. That means everybody
smart enough to listen, even Colo.
KT (00:22):
Somebody wanted to wish Suze and I a very happy Thanksgiving.
Colo (00:28):
Happy Thanksgiving KT and Suze.
Suze (00:29):
And everybody that loves you. Do you know how many
people love you on this podcast,
KT (00:35):
But they're still making their famous stuffing together, and then
Colo's gonna go to his brother Faber's house and visit with, yeah.
Maria and Annie, his wife is coming and her..
Colo (00:47):
My wife is coming to town
KT (00:48):
And wait there's there's one more super addition to the family.
Who is it?
Colo (00:54):
Leah, my niece.
KT (00:55):
How old is she?
Colo (00:57):
She's only like 15 days old.
Suze (00:59):
Wow. So anyway.
We love you, Colo. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well,
to Annie, to your entire family. Anything else you want
to say before you go?
Colo (01:10):
Yes, I wish everybody a happy, a super
spectacular Thanksgiving
to
everybody.
Suze (01:15):
Ah, thank you, sweetheart. There you go. All right, now.
It's always so nice to have him in the studio
with us, isn't it? OK, there you go. But it's
kind of funny. You want to know what happened before
he came in? Everybody, go on, KT. Tell him you
smelled him.
KT (01:34):
Wait, I didn't let him in the studio or near
Suze in case he smelled like anything sweat, um, chemicals
from cleaning things, whatever it is.
Suze (01:46):
Because our studio is really really small.
KT (01:47):
So I said really, let me smell you, and he
looked at me and then he leaned down and he
smelled me. I said, no, no, no, you don't smell bad.
I just wanna make sure you're not around any chemicals.
Suze (01:59):
So anyway, so that's when you know you truly
love somebody. All right, KT, what do you have for us today?
KT (02:05):
My first question is from Annie. She said, Love, love,
love your podcast. I started on my investment journey thanks
to your Suze Orman show years ago. So grateful for
all your sage and easy to understand advice. And here's
the question
(02:27):
sense at a certain tax bracket?
Suze (02:31):
Really?
Listen, everybody, I don't care what tax bracket you're in.
I don't care actually what your CPA says to you.
I don't care what anybody says to you.
I find it very difficult to find any situation where
a Roth doesn't make sense, even if you are two
(02:53):
years away from retirement. Just saying, now, obviously, sometimes when
you're older and everything, you have to look at your
income because of Medicare Part B and all of that stuff. However,
in this situation, you're still working.
Do a Roth 401k next KT.
KT (03:12):
So Suze, I'm just gonna be pretty gentle because it's
Thanksgiving with a few very lightweight questions and short ones
because I've got something coming up that you all might
wanna stay tuned to listen to. All right, so my
next question is, Suze KT, I'm finishing up my documents
but just wanted to confirm for the revocable trust.
(03:36):
I'm supposed to be the settlor and the trustee? Or
do I name someone else as the trustee?
Suze (03:44):
Now they're talking about in this question.
The must-have documents, right? And the must-have documents are a
living revocable trust, a will, an advance directive, and durable
power of attorney for health care, as well as a
financial power of attorney. When it comes to the living
(04:04):
revocable trust.
The person that creates the trust is known as the
trustor or the settlor. It's your trust. You created it.
The trustee is the person who makes all the decisions
about what you want to do in that trust. Normally
(04:26):
the trustor or settlor and the trustee are the same person.
So absolutely you need to be those two. All right.
KT (04:38):
All right.
Suze (04:39):
By the way, if you're interested in the must-have documents,
go to must-havedocs.com and that's where you can currently get them.
I think they're $99. Listen to me, everybody, they are
going to change sometime next year in terms of their price,
and you are getting $2,500 worth of state
(04:59):
of the art documents you can share it with all
of your family members, meaning you can have $2,500 worth
of state of the art documents. Your sisters, your brothers,
your nieces, whoever it is, they also can, they all
get their own password. They all create their own site,
so you should take advantage of it while you can.
(05:20):
And KT, I just have to say this as well,
if you're looking for a one year certificate right now.
I would have all of you go to myalliant.com, because
I think rates are gonna drop shortly, and you can
still all get a one year certificate for 4.10% APR
(05:41):
and for those of you who have $75,000 or more,
you will get 4.15 APR. You might want to check
it out cause I have a feeling it's gonna change.
All right, go on.
KT (05:53):
This is gonna be a real gobbly kind of podcast, gobble, gobble, gobble. So,
from Donna.
Suze, I wanted to ask...
Suze (06:02):
what kind of podcast do you think this is gonna be today?
KT (06:05):
A gobble, gobble, gobble podcast, Suze. I got a gobbling going on.
Suze (06:09):
I thought you were gonna say this is gonna be
a podcast stuffed with incredible financial advice. Get it? Yes,
that too. Do you know people are still writing in
wanting to know the recipe...
KT (06:20):
The recipe.
Suze (06:21):
It's somewhere.
KT (06:21):
We posted it a million times, I think it's on the wall.
Suze (06:24):
Yeah, look on the Women and Money Community app, scroll
all the way down and it's there somewhere. All right, KT.
KT (06:32):
So this is from Donna. I wanted to ask you
a quick question regarding something Fidelity sent to me. Fidelity
asked if I wanted to make extra income by lending
out securities I already own.
Is this safe and should I consider it? I never
heard this before. That's why i picked it.
Suze (06:52):
Shame on Fidelity.
KT (06:54):
Oh, she's turning red. Everybody, like that turkey in the oven.
Suze (06:58):
Do turkeys turn red?
Yeah, they get golden red... bronze.
All right, so listen, in almost every single case, the
answer is absolutely not. And why is that?
Because you are lending out your stocks, your ETFs, whatever
it may be, and therefore they are no longer number
(07:20):
one protected by SIPC. That's where you are protected in
case something happens to brokerage firms. You're giving up your
rights to vote. You may not get the same tax
treatment and the extra income that they're offering you so
that they can lend out your certificates so other people
can short them, do all these things with them.
(07:41):
Right, the extra income is so small it's not worth it,
and the added risk for very little reward, I don't
think so. Therefore, just stick with owning your certificates outright.
The mere fact you don't even know what that means
says no. And again, shame on you, Fidelity, without explaining
(08:01):
everything to everybody. Go on.
KT (08:02):
All right. The next question is from Sharon.
Suze, I picked this one because this question, it's just
one line, but it's a question almost everyone should be
asking that it pertains to ready? from Sharon
can you protect going from two incomes to one income?
Suze (08:23):
Do you all remember back in 2008, if you were
watching the Suze Orman Show back then.
I was saying to all of you, you need to
practice living on one income even though both of you
may be working. Take one of your incomes and put
it away and just see, can you make it on
(08:44):
one income, because back then it was very probable one
of you was going to lose your job because we
were actually in a depression, in my opinion, back then.
The same holds true right now, Sharon. You can't necessarily
protect yourself from going from two incomes to one.
(09:05):
What you can do is, number one, control what your
income is spent on.
And if I were you, why don't you play one income?
See what it's like. See what would happen if one
of you did die. One of you lost your job,
(09:26):
because death is actually different, I'm sorry to say, than
losing a job. When you lose a job, you still
might get your Social Security. When you lose a job,
you still may have something coming in. You have the
ability to get another one, even if it's, you know,
a few dollars an hour, whatever it is. When death occurs,
it's gone.
So possibly you've lost a Social Security check, you've lost
(09:49):
a pension, possibly all kinds of things can be lost. Therefore,
practice now what happens if it were death and practice
now what it would be if it was just simply
retirement or one of you lost a job.
If it's disability, by the way, you can always get
(10:11):
a disability policy because 1 out of 4 people can
become disabled and all of a sudden you've lost that income,
but you can protect against that by purchasing a disability policy.
So there are things you can do, but the best
thing you can do.
Is get a grip on what will one income pay
(10:34):
for and if your expenses are too much, how do
you cut your expenses if you can't afford your home
all right, now maybe you downsize whatever it is, but
if you plan for all of that, then you've protected
yourself from the what ifs of life. Next question, KT.
KT (10:51):
OK, as I said, short and sweet, this is from Gwen.
What are your thoughts on real estate at the moment?
Suze (10:58):
Not great, to tell you the truth, KT.
There used to come a time where owning a home
was the American dream, and that was when interest rates
were lower, insurance was lower, property taxes were lower, and
truthfully across the board expenses were lower, and it just
(11:22):
made sense. I have to tell you, it doesn't make
sense now for a whole lot of people. Why?
Mortgage rates are still high. Prices of real estate.
Still high.
Inflation is still high, and when I mean by inflation,
(11:44):
I'm not talking about what everybody says the inflation rate is,
I'm talking about your own personal inflation, what it costs
for you to live.
To shop, to eat, to do anything, I get that
gasoline prices have gone down, but there is more to
living than just gasoline prices. But the real thing that
(12:08):
concerns me truthfully.
Is the insurance it takes to insure your home and
what that is going to cost you. And sometimes it
just doesn't make sense because in many places in the
United States, your property insurance might even be more than
(12:29):
your mortgage payment.
Is your job secure? Many of you in the federal
government thought your jobs were secure, and then all of
a sudden you also didn't get back pay. And now
is your mortgage in jeopardy?
So, you have to know, is you purchasing a home,
real estate, wise for you in your particular situation? Can
(12:55):
your situation change? Do you have at least a 12
month emergency fund, besides 20% to put down? Can you
afford increases in insurance, property tax, and everything? Do you
have the money to maintain the home? So, it depends. Also,
I know that I'm going on on this, KT, but.
You're the one who asked the question, right, is that
(13:19):
Mother Nature is seriously concerning me. There isn't a time
that I turn on the television and I don't see rains, floods,
all these things happening in Texas, Southern California being deluged
by once again water, fire here, dust storms here, all
(13:39):
kinds of things, right? Tornadoes.
And so
Mother Nature is a serious concern to me and therefore
it should be to you as well, just something to
think about, all right.
KT (13:57):
Yeah, real estate's really tricky.
Suze (13:59):
Fires. Think about fires in the Los Angeles area
KT (14:03):
And hurricanes.
Suze (14:04):
And how many emails we have gotten saying the insurance
company KT isn't paying them. Their insurance company canceled them
right before the fire. They had $900,000 and the insurance
company only gave them $500,000. They don't know what to do, so...
I don't love real estate as much as I once did.
(14:26):
All right, go on.
KT (14:26):
Suze, I agree, real estate's really tricky these days. So
if you don't buy a home, or you can't buy
a home, what do you do?
Suze (14:34):
Um, I have to tell you, you rent, and I
know that a lot of you are like, oh, but
I can't find an apartment. Apartments are so expensive. I'm
paying somebody else to own something outright. The most important
thing you can do is be realistic.
What can you afford and what can you not? And
(14:55):
don't feel like you're a failure if you do rent.
Some of the wealthiest people I know have only rented.
Just think about it, OK.
KT (15:05):
My next question is again back to federal employees because
I think they deserve a little more TLC these days. Um,
this is from Kelly. She said, Suze, what should federal
workers be doing about this new Roth in-plan conversion option?
Do it now? Wait till we are retired to convert
(15:26):
money in our traditional to the Roth? She said, I've
heard answers from too many people. I only trust you.
Suze (15:33):
Good, because you know, KT, remember a few podcasts ago
you asked me why do they have to check to
see if they can transfer right from a traditional 401k
to a Roth, and I said not all companies allowed it. Well,
guess what? Federal government didn't really allow it. You could
have a Roth TSP, but you couldn't transfer from a
(15:54):
traditional TSP to a Roth TSP. Starting 2026. You're gonna
be able to. So here's the thing.
I want all of you to listen to me right
now about the stocks. Many things are down considerably. So
if there's ever a time to convert to a Roth,
(16:18):
now is the time. Forget the TSP for just one second.
You're in a traditional IRA.
And you own Palantir, IONQ, Ibit all of those stocks.
Now is the time to convert to a Roth if
you can, because those prices are down considerably, because they're
(16:41):
down considerably. Your taxes will be less.
And therefore that's how you make your money, make more money.
You convert half this year maybe, half next year, but
if your portfolio is down, now is the time to
convert if you were thinking about converting. Again back to
(17:02):
Kelly and this question.
Convert, convert. The key is how much do you convert,
given I don't know a lot about your circumstance.
Convert amounts so you don't go into a higher tax
bracket number one.
If you can and you don't have a lot in
(17:22):
the TSP convert as much as you can while it's
probably down if you invested in certain government funds that
may be down and do that. Absolutely convert. Do not
wait until you are retired. If you are retired and
you are converting, you will then be making one of
(17:43):
the biggest mistakes out there, and the reason is.
What will that do to your income in regards to
the Medicare B premium? You have to think about that,
and maybe I'll talk about that more on Sunday's podcast.
All right, KT next.
KT (18:01):
OK, Suze, this is what I've been holding back on
this particular question. It's a little complicated, but it's a
fascinating story and I think many of the listeners may
relate to it.
This is from a stepmom who said, Hi, Suze and KT.
My husband and I recently discovered that his 42 year
(18:21):
old daughter is financially clueless.
Suze (18:25):
That should be the name of this podcast.
KT (18:27):
Financially Clueless. All right, she has shown a strong desire
to learn and improve her financial situation.
And we're both deeply concerned about her well-being and are
seeking your expert advice. So she said last week we
discovered she does not know how to budget, understand bank statements,
(18:49):
or balance her checking.
Suze (18:51):
Wait, before you go on, how do you think they
discovered that? What do you think happened to them?
That made them discover that she didn't know how to any of that?
KT (18:59):
They somehow got involved with her money and
you'll see you're right, that's the biggest.
Suze (19:06):
How do you discover that people?
KT (19:08):
How do you know that? So anyway, the stepdaughter moved
from her mom's home in Alabama to their California home
in 2022.
They allowed her to stay with them, Suze, for a
year while she searched for a job and her own apartment.
Suze (19:25):
Mistake.
KT (19:26):
So the stepmom was able to find her a great job.
And since she had no credit history, no credit card,
and no rental history...
Suze (19:34):
Doin't tell me, don't tell me, don't tell me.
KT (19:37):
Bingo, bingo.
Husband had to co-sign the lease.
Suze (19:41):
Well, there we talk about who's financially clueless. All right.
KT (19:45):
Recently he's been receiving notices that his daughter's payment was late.
Suze (19:51):
Wait, wait, stop. That's how they knew that she didn't
know how to do anything because it finally affected them. Ugh. Go on.
KT (19:59):
Wait a minute. And, on, and on the last time
her check bounced. My husband and I went to her
apartment to discuss this in person. We could not understand
why this was happening, so ready Suze turned out she
wasn't checking her bank account balance. She kept swiping her
ATM card for purchases and paying bills without verifying if
(20:22):
there was enough money in her account to cover them.
Ready? This is the part that's really sad. She blew
through a $100,000 inheritance.
Given her current financial situation, she could greatly benefit from
a structured financial education.
Suze (20:41):
Oh, you think that's it? You think a structured financial
education is going to solve this problem? Go on KT.
KT (20:47):
So then she said, Could you...
Suze (20:48):
I thought today was supposed to be Thanksgiving and nice
and easy.
KT (20:51):
But this, this is an interesting story. Suze. Could you
recommend a spreadsheet and product suitable for someone new to
manage finances?
All right, and it's signed "Bonus mom."
Suze (21:05):
Here's the "bonus" mom that you're about to get, OK.
Is that... you're not going to fix this by giving
somebody a structured spreadsheet. You're going to fix this by
understanding that you are still contributing to the problem, and
the problem began when you had to co-sign for her. Listen,
(21:26):
she is 42 years old.
42 years old. Somehow she had a $100,000 inheritance. Why
did you have to co-sign for her? Did you not
know that she had already blown that $100,000 inheritance? Cause
(21:46):
if she had a $100,000 inheritance and she had shown
that to some landlord and maybe paid the entire rent
up front for a year.
Your husband wouldn't have had to co-sign for her. The
biggest mistake you will ever make in life when it
comes to your children is when you co-sign for them.
(22:08):
You think you're helping them. If a bank won't give
them a loan, you are not going to be the bank,
do you hear me? Unless you can afford to be
the bank.
Don't ever do it. So you, my dear Bonus Mom,
you have to look at your own actions and what
(22:29):
did you and your husband do to enable her to
live in the life of financial la la land, cause
that's where she is living. No spreadsheet, nothing will ever
get to her.
Except her having her checks bounce, her losing her car,
(22:50):
your husband's credit has already been ruined because she's missed
payments and now is bouncing checks. You're going to have
to have her live in reality, even if that means
she has to move in with a friend, with somebody.
I don't care what it means, but you cannot save her.
KT, what is my favorite saying about helping?
KT (23:13):
When is helping hurting and when is hurting
Suze (23:17):
helping?
You have to be a warrior here and not turn
your back on this battlefield, and this battlefield is all
about getting a 42 year old to live in financial reality,
and you want to know why she doesn't live in
financial reality, cause Daddy is always going to save her.
(23:39):
She may think you may always save her. Maybe her
mom may always save her. Her inheritance saved her.
Everything has saved her. Now she has to become strong
enough and save herself. You never go up in a
situation like this until you have hit rock bottom.
KT (24:01):
Wow, Suze, that's a little harsh.
Suze (24:04):
Why?
KT (24:04):
It's Thanksgiving.
Suze (24:05):
No, yeah, Bonus Mom should be thankful that this is
harsh because if she really wants to help her stepdaughter,
let her stepdaughter hear what I just said and let
me be the one who is harsh.
And stepdaughter, if you are ever going to listen to this,
(24:26):
nobody knows more about money in my opinion than me.
To help you...
sometimes you need to get a little dose of reality.
And that was your dose. All right, KT, next.
KT (24:41):
It is Thanksgiving, and I've got to give a little bit of love here.
Suze (24:43):
But listen, it's only Thanksgiving today. Most of the people
listen to this podcast a few days from now. They'll
already forget it and they'll already...
KT (24:51):
On that last one, let the daughter listen. That is
gonna be the best thankful. Yeah, it's like that's gonna
be the best thanks you can give.
Suze (25:00):
You have to stop trying to help her through typical means,
a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet. What's that gonna do to her? Nothing. She's
gonna forget to enter all the numbers. All right, go on.
KT (25:10):
All right, so this one, I think, is a very,
very sweet and very heartwarming question. Ready? What... this is
from Kim. She said, What is the financial benefits of
being married? Love the question. Wait, I'm soon to be
68 and my 72-year-old sweetheart and I want to get married.
(25:32):
I love this, Suze, she said, I have a house
worth half a million dollars where we currently live, a
Roth and an IRA with a total of about $1.3 million.
He also has a house and investments worth closer to
$2 million.
We don't have any joint accounts regarding our finances, and Suze,
(25:54):
do we need a prenup? She said, I can't imagine
us splitting up just like you and KT, but who
knows what can happen.
So there you go. So how are we going to
answer Kim?
Suze (26:06):
I first want to take on marriage, KT, because especially
for the gay and lesbian couples that are out there
that currently still have the right to be married, it
is so, so important. And it's not just a right
for gay and lesbian couples, it's a right for every
single person out there. And let me just go through
(26:28):
a list of all the advantages of getting married.
Number one, marriage at any age, seriously, especially at your age, Kim,
can bring some major financial benefits like
spousal Social Security, estate tax advantages, simplified inheritance, all of
(26:51):
those things matter. So for instance, maybe your spousal benefits,
you would be eligible up to 50% of your spouse's
Social Security benefit if it's higher than yours.
That's a big deal. Also, besides spousal benefits, how about
survivor benefits? So if one of you passes away, the
(27:15):
surviving spouse, do you get this? They can receive the
higher of the two Social Security checks, and that can
be significant. Now, KT, for you and me, our Social
Securities are the same, so it wouldn't matter.
But in many cases, maybe your Social Security is $1,800
(27:36):
a month. Mine's $4,000. If I die, wouldn't you rather
get my $4,000 than your $1,800? Well, that would only
happen if we were married, and thank God we are. Inheritance.
She has so much in her name, so much in his,
who knows, it's just so much easier when you have
(27:57):
it together, and it's not just inheritance of property. All right,
there's a $15 million estate tax, but inheritance of a
retirement account.
As a spouse you can take over my retirement account,
KT as if it was yours. I can take over
(28:17):
your retirement account as if it were mine. If we
were not married, I'd have to wipe that account clean
in 10 years. Can you imagine what that would do
to your tax bracket, KT?
So those are just some of them. There's health care
and legal rights. KT, do you remember when I got
(28:38):
seriously sick? They wouldn't let her into the operating room.
She had to say she was my sister.
And this was before we were legally married, and now
she carries her legal marriage...
KT (28:52):
Marriage certificate...
Suze (28:53):
...with her everywhere she goes. Those are just a few
of the benefits of being married. Plus forget the financial benefits.
The emotional benefits of knowing that you are married. Legally,
you are now one.
(29:15):
It is very, very different than when you live with
each other and you have everything separate. It's, there's, uh,
how would you describe it, KT?
KT (29:24):
It's an incredible sense for us or for me of
not only security but trust and you, you just feel.
You feel great. You feel really...
Suze (29:36):
It's very
different when you say to somebody, this is my wife
or my spouse or my husband, then this is my
boyfriend or girlfriend. This is my partner. It's people always say, well,
why didn't they get married? Why aren't you married?
So the question is, why aren't you really married, but
that's besides the point. All right, prenup, and I'm just
(29:58):
going to say...
KT (29:58):
I love being married. Do you?
Suze (30:00):
To you? Yes.
KT (30:02):
Yea, I love being married to you.
Suze (30:03):
Would I have loved being married to any other girlfriend
that I had? Bottom line, it would have been the
absolute biggest mistake if I had married any of them,
which is why I never did. But that's besides the point.
So if you know he's right for you, marry.
KT (30:22):
She said, sweetheart.
Suze (30:23):
But she can't imagine then why she would need a prenup.
And the reason you will need a prenup is number one,
once you get married, M just doesn't stand for marriage,
it stands for money. And depending on what state you
happen to live in and what you decide to do
years from now with your money.
(30:46):
From that point on, half could be his or yours,
so you have to settle that right now. Do it
when you're in a state of love and when you
say you can't imagine anything going wrong.
Trust me, in life, whether it's 14 years, 30 years,
(31:06):
35 years, or even longer.
I've seen it all. What happens after 30 years of marriage,
25 years of marriage. Seriously, you may not quite feel
the same, believe it or not. It just happens. 14 years,
you're still in your honeymoon. Just wait. 25. Oh, KT
(31:29):
just reached over to hold my hand.
Right, but I've gotten too many emails
of marriage, Susie, he now is living in the big
house and I'm living in a studio apartment. I never
imagined that could happen." You know, if you ask me,
and since you have asked me, I just want to
say one other thing. There's a reason why your friends
(31:52):
who are older are still getting a prenup today. There's
a reason.
And you might want to ask them about it.
And when you have everything like that in order, you're married,
you have a prenup, you've prepared for the what ifs,
(32:12):
trust me, you will live a far, far happier life
and a life that you will give hopefully thanks for
like today. What are we doing, KT?
KT (32:27):
Happy Thanksgiving.
Suze (32:28):
We're all giving thanks for everything today.
And, and just know how lucky you are that you're
able to do so. For those of you who don't
think that you have something to be thankful for, your
job is to just see you're alive.
You're walking, you're able to eat. Find something, one little
(32:53):
thing in your life that you're thankful for, and give
it all the thanks you possibly can, and KT.
The thing that I am absolutely most thankful for in
my life, more than anything, more than my health, anything.
Is you.
KT (33:13):
Oh, Suze. Don't make me cry.
Suze (33:15):
Oh, KT... now she's crying. Oh, here she goes. Oh.
KT (33:23):
We're so lucky,
Suze (33:24):
So lucky, aren't we?
KT (33:25):
We really are so blessed.
People always tell us how blessed we are, and we
tell each other all the time. So happy Thanksgiving and
be blessed, be grateful.
And always remember this, people first...
Suze (33:41):
Then money...
KT (33:41):
then money, then things.
Suze (33:43):
All right, stay safe, everybody. Bye bye.