April 24, 2025 • 24 mins
On this edition of Ask KT and Suze Anything, Suze answers questions about term insurance policies and IRA rollovers, plus, a quizzie about selling a home with no mortgage to buy a fancy new apartment and more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Robert (00:28):
April 24th, 2025. Welcome to the Women and Money podcast,
as well as everyone smart enough to listen. Hi everybody. Robert,
the producer here. I know, I know, I can hear
you saying, but you and Suze said she'd do a
new podcast today. Well, given that these markets are crazy, Suze,
(00:48):
as is her prerogative, has decided to wait until this Sunday,
to do a brand new Suzie school that will be
more beneficial to what's happening right now than try and
do it inside of an Ask KT and Suze Anying episode.
And for those of you who've been listening for a
while to this podcast, you know that we still like
(01:08):
to give you something wonderful to hear on podcast day.
And of course today is no exception. So we'll hear
bits of an Ask KT and Suze Anyting show from
last fall.
And let's jump in with KT setting up the first question.
KT (01:24):
OK, my first question, Suze, is from Scott. he said,
Suze and KT, when my dad passed away, my mom
put their home into a TOD to my two sisters
and I. So that's...
Suze (01:39):
What's a TOD KT?
KT (01:40):
I'll tell everyone it's transfer on death account.
Suze (01:42):
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.
KT (01:45):
Listen to this, everyone. So Scott's oldest sister said to
him privately, I don't want anything to do with this house.
Pay me my third. The home in question is a
lake home with an assessed value exceeding $750,000 and, and
this is a little bit interesting. He said, Suze, I
(02:06):
feel immoral asking, but can I open a term life
policy for my mom.
So I can cover the cost to buy out my sisters.
I don't think that's immoral. So anyway, that's his question.
Suze (02:20):
Scott, here's what I would tell you. Now it's not
an immoral question, but I'm not sure it solves your problem.
And let me tell you why. A term life insurance
policy is only good for a specific term.
So let's say I don't know how old you are
right now, but let's say your mother is older, let's
(02:42):
say she's in her 70s, and maybe she's gonna live
to her 90s, possibly even 100.
There's no way that a term policy at this point
in time, if that's how old she is, is going
to be cost effective. You may find that you pay
more in premiums over a long period of time
(03:03):
than you do if you were just to save that
money possibly to have the money to buy out your
sister at the time. So I don't think a term
policy is the way to go. Remember, term life insurance
is meant to only be there during your
younger years before you've had time to accumulate assets and
(03:24):
it allows you to do so at a very cost
effective rate. It's not meant to be your whole life.
So if I were you, that isn't how I would
solve this problem. I mean, I could go on and
on about ways that you could solve it, but that
wasn't your question to me. So no, I don't think
your term and life insurance policy will do it. I
(03:46):
just don't. All right.
KT (03:48):
So Suze, the next question is from um a listener
that said I just got my must have documents and
started filling them out. It's a little surreal thinking about passing.
I read that I may want to make my trust
the beneficiary for all of my bank.
and retirement accounts, is this accurate, or would it be
(04:09):
better to make some or all of them POD provided
I have no debt or expenses after death?
Suze (04:17):
So here's my question, KT, does he say or she say?
How old they are, do they say if they're married anything?
KT (04:25):
No, but they're just filling them out for the first time.
Suze (04:28):
Right, so here's what I want everybody to know about
the must-have documents and what are the must have documents.
They are a living revocable trust. It.
Advanced directive and durable power of attorney for health care,
a will, and a financial power of attorney. Those are
4 documents that you must have. And if you want those,
(04:50):
by the way, go to musthavedocs.com and take a look
because that's where you can get them. What you have
to understand is if you are married.
You never ever ever want the trust to be the
beneficiary of any retirement account or any HSA account. Let's
(05:11):
be clear on that. So when this person says that
it should be my beneficiary for all my bank and
retirement accounts, not if you are married.
Again, I am underlining this you do not want your
trust account to be the primary beneficiary if you are
married of any retirement accounts and or an HSA insurance account.
(05:34):
So here's what you all need to know as well. Sure,
you can make your accounts and everything pay on death,
but as I've said many times, what if you don't die?
What if you become incapacitated?
Then the pay on death account isn't going to help you.
Who's going to be able to access that money if
(05:55):
you need it? A living trust with an incapacity clause
in it which the must-have documents have, is the way
to go bar none. Just telling you you want to
avoid problems, get the must have documents. All right, KT.
KT (06:10):
OK, this, this is my favorite kind of question, everyone
from Teresa.
You ladies rock, I heard I can do a one-time
rollover from a traditional IRA to my HSA account tax free.
If so, how?
Suze (06:27):
You are absolutely right, my dear Teresa. One time.
And one time only. If you want to use the
money in an IRA, a traditional IRA, so you've never
paid taxes on it, or even a pre-tax IRA rollover
that you may have, you can take that money and
use it to fund
(06:48):
up to the max if you want of the HSA
that you have and it is absolutely tax free. So
if you want to know how to do it in
your particular company, I would ask your HR person how
to do it all right.
KT (07:04):
OK.
So on the theme of 401ks, this is from Jenny.
My employer is being bought by another company. I have
a 401k with Fidelity. They're switching to a 403B with Empower.
I think that was formerly Prudential. Should I roll over
or start a new retirement account? I don't know much
(07:25):
about 403Bs. Thank you.
Suze (07:28):
A 403B works essentially the same way as a 401k really.
That's what you need to know. However, if it were me,
And I had a 401k with Fidelity, and now they're
switching it to a 403B with Empower. What I want
you to think about, however, is if you did an
(07:50):
IRA rollover with the 401k that you have at Fidelity
and start a new retirement account there. You also have
the ability if you want to start converting to a
Roth IRA, and your investment options will be far grander
than any 403B with Empower that they'll offer you. But
(08:10):
if you make a lot of money.
And you want to do a backdoor Roth IRA one
day if you have a traditional IRA that you rolled
over and you're not going to be able to do
a backdoor Roth. So therefore you might just want to
leave it with the 403B withinower just depends how much
(08:32):
money you make a year, how much money you think
you're gonna make in the future, and if you like
the investment options and the fees that Empower is going
to charge you.
Other than and actually the amount of money that you
have in there because if there isn't a lot of
money in there then oh you bet I would do
an IRA rollover and then convert it to a Roth IRA.
(08:55):
All right.
KT (08:56):
All right, next is from Melissa.
Hi Suze, I understand you're a big fan of dollar
cost averaging.
Suze (09:03):
I am.
KT (09:04):
I will be receiving about $10,000 for a car accident
settlement within the next few weeks and $30,000 next September.
I'd like to invest all of this money in dividend
ETFs because I have no debt. I'm contributing 12% to
my 401k, and I have a 6 month emergency fund.
(09:26):
Do I put everything in a high yield savings account
and then invest maybe $1000 at a time every week
into a dividend ETF or what's the best way to
go about dollar cost averaging with large sums of money.
Suze (09:42):
Given that you only have
A 6 month emergency fund when I have been telling
you now for years that everybody should have an 8
to 12 month emergency fund looks to me like girlfriend,
you're gonna be taking this money and putting it in
a high yield savings account or money market account.
And you're gonna add the $30,000 to it again when
(10:03):
it comes in a year from now and then you're
gonna see is that an 8 or 12 month emergency fund?
And if it is and there's anything extra, then we'll
talk about dollar cost averaging into things at that time.
All right, KT.
KT (10:16):
OK, next question is from Pat, and Pat is asking
Suze and KT,
I have a question about IRMA, so I have to
tell you all I didn't know what IRMA was, so
I looked it up. It's an income related monthly adjusted
amount from Medicare. Suze will tell you what that means,
(10:38):
but this is a question about IRMA.
Suze (10:41):
You pay IRMA.
KT (10:42):
My husband, my husband...
Suze (10:44):
You know that you pay Irma.
KT (10:46):
I do?
Suze (10:46):
Every single year.
So do I.
All right, go on, go on.
KT (10:53):
IRMA must be rich, man. All right, my husband and
I are selling our rental property as we no longer
want to be landlords, nor do we want to invest
in other options. That said, we are prepared to pay
the taxes. Know we will have to pay Irma for
a year and just want to be totally done.
So then the question is, do I have to wait
(11:16):
for the 2 year look back with Medicare to charge
the IRMA fees? I don't know what that means.
Suze (11:23):
All right, let's see if I can explain this to you.
As you know, everybody, when you turn 65, which is
so fabulous, you qualify for Medicare.
And I can't tell you how incredible Medicare is when
it comes to health needs. Do you know that that
entire operation that I went through and everything, I did
(11:45):
not pay one penny for it.
KT (11:48):
What do you think that would have cost?
Suze (11:51):
Well over a million bucks.
Well over a million dollars over a million dollars for
what they had to do and how long they had
to do it. I mean, I'm sure it was over
a million dollars anyway. So what is IRMA?
KT (12:03):
Wait, so she paid 0 $0.
Suze (12:06):
You know that.
KT (12:07):
I know. I'm telling everyone listening that's what Medicare's incredibly
so incredibly important. I hope it never goes away.
Suze (12:15):
So you turn 65.
And Medicare has a Part A and a Part B.
And when it comes to Part B, you pay a
monthly premium for it based on your income.
And your income, depending on what it is, you could
pay like up to $500 a month. I think we
(12:38):
pay $526 a month, KT out of our Social Security
check for Medicare Part B.
But IRMA is really it's a monthly adjusted amount for Medicare,
but IRMA is based on your modified adjusted gross income
from 2 years prior, so they're always looking back 2 years.
(13:06):
And so therefore, uh, you know, if you had an
income sale from a piece of property in 2024, the
income from that sale in this case would generally affect
her 2026 Medicare premium.
KT (13:21):
I get it now I understand I got it, the question.
Suze (13:24):
Now here's the thing, however.
With Social Security, if you have what's called a life
changing event, and I think it's form, oh God, are
you gonna quote me on this? Social Security at SSA-44. OK,
I think that's it, right?
KT (13:43):
You're probably right because you memorize numbers.
Suze (13:46):
Anyway, you can request that Social Security adjust your IRA
based on your current income.
Usually if there's a significant reduction to a qualifying event,
so and I have to tell you the sale of
a property qualifies for that. So Patricia, if I were you,
(14:10):
if you want the IRMA increase to start in 2025
and be done after that one year, just...
You need to contact them and see if in fact
it qualifies or what happens with 2024, 2022, whatever it
is you need to contact them and see if it
(14:30):
will help you all right,
KT (14:32):
OK, this is my final question from...
Suze (14:35):
Wanna know something here where I wouldn't necessarily want to
get it done. Oh, I, you just handed me her email.
Did you see on the bottom it says she wants
to do it now because she thinks tax brackets are
gonna go up over the next few years? That's why
she wants to do it now. I got it. All right,
see what you can do life changing event form
(14:59):
SSA 4444 I hope. OK.
KT (15:04):
So from Danette, hello, Suze and KT. Happy travels. Suze,
I purchased the must-have documents online in 2009.
Suze (15:14):
Smart.
KT (15:15):
Yes, yes, she is smart.
Opened my revocable trust, changed my house title. You mentioned
the incapacity clause. Is it available with my docs automatically,
or do I need to fill it in, you know,
all over again and have them co-signed and notarized again?
Then she says, do I have to buy the newest docs?
(15:37):
This is from Danette.
Suze (15:39):
So Danette, here's the great thing about the must-have docs.
It's a one and done.
That's it meaning what? Once you have purchased them, no
matter what updates are made, you qualify for the updates
and without any extra cost at all.
(16:00):
You know, I would never talk to you about something
that I want you to buy that you have to
continue to buy and buy as it changes. So unlike
many of the other companies, when something changes, you have
to buy it again. That's not true with the must
have docs. Your 2009 ones that you did buy has
(16:20):
the incapacity clause in it. However,
given that that was so long ago, I think it's
a really great idea if you redid them so that
you see where is everything, how did you do it?
Is there any changes that you want to make? And
therefore on your documents when you go back and you
(16:41):
go to the program, there's a little help tab or
whatever just contact the company.
And you'll automatically be updated to the program as it
is today, and it's just been totally updated, by the way.
So if I were you, I would do that. Another
thing I love about the must have docs, KT, besides that.
KT (17:03):
What's that?
Suze (17:03):
You can share it with as many people in your
family as you want.
KT (17:07):
Or friends.
Suze (17:08):
Or friends or whatever, so it's like it just takes
one of you to do it. Quizzy time, KT.
KT (17:15):
OK, what do you got for me?
Suze (17:17):
This is from MS. All right.
And she says the following, and I know it's a she,
by the way. Anyway, I'm 40, which means that I've
gone by people first, then money, then things for half
of my life. Thank you. I currently own my home outright.
(17:40):
But only have about 35% of total net worth invested
in the markets. The rest are in cash. I have
relatively low expenses for myself. Now, are all of you
listening to these facts, because this quizzy isn't just for
KT to be able to answer. I give quizzes for
(18:02):
all of you to be able to answer, to know
if these things ever happened in your situation.
What you should do all right now again, this person
is single, no kids, she says, however, my job is
quite unstable. Hence I must be prepared to be retired
(18:26):
at any time.
I am a citizen of a low cost of living country. Hence,
plan on retiring there should the need arise. She's 40.
She plans to retire there if the need arises. All right.
I am able to live at my parents' home indefinitely.
(18:49):
From my estimates. If I were to liquidate my assets
and put the money in the bank with 3% interest,
I should have 2 times the monthly expenses that my
parents currently use.
Has anybody ever heard of inflation? But anyway, all right,
(19:10):
my question...
KT (19:10):
Sounds like a great place to go.
Suze (19:13):
My question is I have been thinking of upgrading my
apartment
to a swankier one in the city center downtown vibes,
better air. I plan to use all or most of
the cash I have on hand for the upgrade or
(19:34):
take a minimal loan. Now I am assuming here
that she has a home that she owns outright, she
may be thinking about selling her home, moving to a
bigger swankier apartment in the city.
But she'd have to use all the cash from her home.
(19:57):
And to make an upgrade or make or have a
minimal loan, do I approve? Think about it.
Oh, you're looking at me like there's nothing to think about.
KT (20:09):
This is a no brainer here, Suze.
Suze (20:11):
What is that?
KT (20:12):
No. Why would you do that? I would never do
that if I had an unstable job and I'm 40
years old, I'd want to accumulate as much cash as possible,
so then I'd feel free.
Suze (20:26):
So you've denied her.
KT (20:27):
Yes, totally.
Suze (20:29):
Say it KT.
KT (20:30):
You are denied. That's the way you say it.
Suze (20:35):
So what's funny about this quizzy is I wrote her back. Oh,
what'd you say? I sent her a little picture of
myself with a stamp that said Denied there
KT (20:44):
Ding ding ding ding ding.
Suze (20:47):
So you're right, but here's why MS that you're thinking,
in my opinion is not logical. You currently own your
home outright. You don't have any bills whatever.
And what you're saying is that you want to move
to a swankier place, which means more expenses, more taxes,
(21:10):
more everything, and you don't have a stable job.
So you have to be prepared to retire at any time. No,
at the age of 40, if you lose your job,
you get another job. You stay where you want. Obviously
you're liking wherever you live and you just want a
little more life around you. So go to that place,
(21:33):
the swankier place, and be entertained and then go home
to a place that you own outright.
So at 40 years of age this is still your
compounding years. These are not the years for you to
be spending money and you need to be saving it
and investing it and being wise with money. And then
when you're old like us, you can live on a
(21:55):
private island. You could do whatever you want at that
point in time.
KT (21:59):
Why isn't she just rent something in the city and
see if she likes?
Suze (22:02):
No, that's... (Suze makes the wrong answer noise).
She doesn't need to be paying more money. I don't
know why she wants to do that. That's not our problem.
Here's the other thing you say that if you liquidate
your assets and you put the money in the bank
with a 3% interest, how do you know what interest
rates are going to be? How do you know what
(22:23):
your assets are going to be if you had done
this plan years ago?
And you were thinking, oh, it's 2007. You've now lost
your job. You're going to sell your home, you're gonna
sell your assets. You wouldn't get anywhere close to what
anything is currently worth today. And you say that you
would have two times the monthly expenses that your parents
(22:45):
currently use. Do you really want to live the lifestyle
that maybe your parents are living?
So your thinking is wrong on this. You are to
think that you are going to make the most out
of your life here, where you're obviously enjoying yourself, or
you would be back home already. You're going to save it.
You're going to invest it. If you want to swank
(23:08):
your lifestyle, go there for the weekend and come back.
Do whatever. But no, you are denied. All right, KT.
KT (23:17):
That's it. That's a wrap.
Suze (23:18):
That's a wrap. So until Sunday, there's only one thing
that we really want you to remember when it comes
to your money. And what is that, KT?
KT (23:27):
People first.
Suze (23:28):
Then money.
KT (23:29):
Then things.
Suze (23:30):
And if you do that, stay safe, don't want to
live in a swankier place and stay healthy. You will
be unstoppable.
April 24th, 2025. Welcome to the Women and Money podcast,
as well as everyone smart enough to listen. Hi everybody. Robert,
the producer here. I know, I know, I can hear
you saying, but you and Suze said she'd do a
new podcast today. Well, given that these markets are crazy, Suze,
(00:48):
as is her prerogative, has decided to wait until this Sunday,
to do a brand new Suzie school that will be
more beneficial to what's happening right now than try and
do it inside of an Ask KT and Suze Anying episode.
And for those of you who've been listening for a
while to this podcast, you know that we still like
(01:08):
to give you something wonderful to hear on podcast day.
And of course today is no exception. So we'll hear
bits of an Ask KT and Suze Anyting show from
last fall.
And let's jump in with KT setting up the first question.
KT (01:24):
OK, my first question, Suze, is from Scott. he said,
Suze and KT, when my dad passed away, my mom
put their home into a TOD to my two sisters
and I. So that's...
Suze (01:39):
What's a TOD KT?
KT (01:40):
I'll tell everyone it's transfer on death account.
Suze (01:42):
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.
KT (01:45):
Listen to this, everyone. So Scott's oldest sister said to
him privately, I don't want anything to do with this house.
Pay me my third. The home in question is a
lake home with an assessed value exceeding $750,000 and, and
this is a little bit interesting. He said, Suze, I
(02:06):
feel immoral asking, but can I open a term life
policy for my mom.
So I can cover the cost to buy out my sisters.
I don't think that's immoral. So anyway, that's his question.
Suze (02:20):
Scott, here's what I would tell you. Now it's not
an immoral question, but I'm not sure it solves your problem.
And let me tell you why. A term life insurance
policy is only good for a specific term.
So let's say I don't know how old you are
right now, but let's say your mother is older, let's
(02:42):
say she's in her 70s, and maybe she's gonna live
to her 90s, possibly even 100.
There's no way that a term policy at this point
in time, if that's how old she is, is going
to be cost effective. You may find that you pay
more in premiums over a long period of time
(03:03):
than you do if you were just to save that
money possibly to have the money to buy out your
sister at the time. So I don't think a term
policy is the way to go. Remember, term life insurance
is meant to only be there during your
younger years before you've had time to accumulate assets and
(03:24):
it allows you to do so at a very cost
effective rate. It's not meant to be your whole life.
So if I were you, that isn't how I would
solve this problem. I mean, I could go on and
on about ways that you could solve it, but that
wasn't your question to me. So no, I don't think
your term and life insurance policy will do it. I
(03:46):
just don't. All right.
KT (03:48):
So Suze, the next question is from um a listener
that said I just got my must have documents and
started filling them out. It's a little surreal thinking about passing.
I read that I may want to make my trust
the beneficiary for all of my bank.
and retirement accounts, is this accurate, or would it be
(04:09):
better to make some or all of them POD provided
I have no debt or expenses after death?
Suze (04:17):
So here's my question, KT, does he say or she say?
How old they are, do they say if they're married anything?
KT (04:25):
No, but they're just filling them out for the first time.
Suze (04:28):
Right, so here's what I want everybody to know about
the must-have documents and what are the must have documents.
They are a living revocable trust. It.
Advanced directive and durable power of attorney for health care,
a will, and a financial power of attorney. Those are
4 documents that you must have. And if you want those,
(04:50):
by the way, go to musthavedocs.com and take a look
because that's where you can get them. What you have
to understand is if you are married.
You never ever ever want the trust to be the
beneficiary of any retirement account or any HSA account. Let's
(05:11):
be clear on that. So when this person says that
it should be my beneficiary for all my bank and
retirement accounts, not if you are married.
Again, I am underlining this you do not want your
trust account to be the primary beneficiary if you are
married of any retirement accounts and or an HSA insurance account.
(05:34):
So here's what you all need to know as well. Sure,
you can make your accounts and everything pay on death,
but as I've said many times, what if you don't die?
What if you become incapacitated?
Then the pay on death account isn't going to help you.
Who's going to be able to access that money if
(05:55):
you need it? A living trust with an incapacity clause
in it which the must-have documents have, is the way
to go bar none. Just telling you you want to
avoid problems, get the must have documents. All right, KT.
KT (06:10):
OK, this, this is my favorite kind of question, everyone
from Teresa.
You ladies rock, I heard I can do a one-time
rollover from a traditional IRA to my HSA account tax free.
If so, how?
Suze (06:27):
You are absolutely right, my dear Teresa. One time.
And one time only. If you want to use the
money in an IRA, a traditional IRA, so you've never
paid taxes on it, or even a pre-tax IRA rollover
that you may have, you can take that money and
use it to fund
(06:48):
up to the max if you want of the HSA
that you have and it is absolutely tax free. So
if you want to know how to do it in
your particular company, I would ask your HR person how
to do it all right.
KT (07:04):
OK.
So on the theme of 401ks, this is from Jenny.
My employer is being bought by another company. I have
a 401k with Fidelity. They're switching to a 403B with Empower.
I think that was formerly Prudential. Should I roll over
or start a new retirement account? I don't know much
(07:25):
about 403Bs. Thank you.
Suze (07:28):
A 403B works essentially the same way as a 401k really.
That's what you need to know. However, if it were me,
And I had a 401k with Fidelity, and now they're
switching it to a 403B with Empower. What I want
you to think about, however, is if you did an
(07:50):
IRA rollover with the 401k that you have at Fidelity
and start a new retirement account there. You also have
the ability if you want to start converting to a
Roth IRA, and your investment options will be far grander
than any 403B with Empower that they'll offer you. But
(08:10):
if you make a lot of money.
And you want to do a backdoor Roth IRA one
day if you have a traditional IRA that you rolled
over and you're not going to be able to do
a backdoor Roth. So therefore you might just want to
leave it with the 403B withinower just depends how much
(08:32):
money you make a year, how much money you think
you're gonna make in the future, and if you like
the investment options and the fees that Empower is going
to charge you.
Other than and actually the amount of money that you
have in there because if there isn't a lot of
money in there then oh you bet I would do
an IRA rollover and then convert it to a Roth IRA.
(08:55):
All right.
KT (08:56):
All right, next is from Melissa.
Hi Suze, I understand you're a big fan of dollar
cost averaging.
Suze (09:03):
I am.
KT (09:04):
I will be receiving about $10,000 for a car accident
settlement within the next few weeks and $30,000 next September.
I'd like to invest all of this money in dividend
ETFs because I have no debt. I'm contributing 12% to
my 401k, and I have a 6 month emergency fund.
(09:26):
Do I put everything in a high yield savings account
and then invest maybe $1000 at a time every week
into a dividend ETF or what's the best way to
go about dollar cost averaging with large sums of money.
Suze (09:42):
Given that you only have
A 6 month emergency fund when I have been telling
you now for years that everybody should have an 8
to 12 month emergency fund looks to me like girlfriend,
you're gonna be taking this money and putting it in
a high yield savings account or money market account.
And you're gonna add the $30,000 to it again when
(10:03):
it comes in a year from now and then you're
gonna see is that an 8 or 12 month emergency fund?
And if it is and there's anything extra, then we'll
talk about dollar cost averaging into things at that time.
All right, KT.
KT (10:16):
OK, next question is from Pat, and Pat is asking
Suze and KT,
I have a question about IRMA, so I have to
tell you all I didn't know what IRMA was, so
I looked it up. It's an income related monthly adjusted
amount from Medicare. Suze will tell you what that means,
(10:38):
but this is a question about IRMA.
Suze (10:41):
You pay IRMA.
KT (10:42):
My husband, my husband...
Suze (10:44):
You know that you pay Irma.
KT (10:46):
I do?
Suze (10:46):
Every single year.
So do I.
All right, go on, go on.
KT (10:53):
IRMA must be rich, man. All right, my husband and
I are selling our rental property as we no longer
want to be landlords, nor do we want to invest
in other options. That said, we are prepared to pay
the taxes. Know we will have to pay Irma for
a year and just want to be totally done.
So then the question is, do I have to wait
(11:16):
for the 2 year look back with Medicare to charge
the IRMA fees? I don't know what that means.
Suze (11:23):
All right, let's see if I can explain this to you.
As you know, everybody, when you turn 65, which is
so fabulous, you qualify for Medicare.
And I can't tell you how incredible Medicare is when
it comes to health needs. Do you know that that
entire operation that I went through and everything, I did
(11:45):
not pay one penny for it.
KT (11:48):
What do you think that would have cost?
Suze (11:51):
Well over a million bucks.
Well over a million dollars over a million dollars for
what they had to do and how long they had
to do it. I mean, I'm sure it was over
a million dollars anyway. So what is IRMA?
KT (12:03):
Wait, so she paid 0 $0.
Suze (12:06):
You know that.
KT (12:07):
I know. I'm telling everyone listening that's what Medicare's incredibly
so incredibly important. I hope it never goes away.
Suze (12:15):
So you turn 65.
And Medicare has a Part A and a Part B.
And when it comes to Part B, you pay a
monthly premium for it based on your income.
And your income, depending on what it is, you could
pay like up to $500 a month. I think we
(12:38):
pay $526 a month, KT out of our Social Security
check for Medicare Part B.
But IRMA is really it's a monthly adjusted amount for Medicare,
but IRMA is based on your modified adjusted gross income
from 2 years prior, so they're always looking back 2 years.
(13:06):
And so therefore, uh, you know, if you had an
income sale from a piece of property in 2024, the
income from that sale in this case would generally affect
her 2026 Medicare premium.
KT (13:21):
I get it now I understand I got it, the question.
Suze (13:24):
Now here's the thing, however.
With Social Security, if you have what's called a life
changing event, and I think it's form, oh God, are
you gonna quote me on this? Social Security at SSA-44. OK,
I think that's it, right?
KT (13:43):
You're probably right because you memorize numbers.
Suze (13:46):
Anyway, you can request that Social Security adjust your IRA
based on your current income.
Usually if there's a significant reduction to a qualifying event,
so and I have to tell you the sale of
a property qualifies for that. So Patricia, if I were you,
(14:10):
if you want the IRMA increase to start in 2025
and be done after that one year, just...
You need to contact them and see if in fact
it qualifies or what happens with 2024, 2022, whatever it
is you need to contact them and see if it
(14:30):
will help you all right,
KT (14:32):
OK, this is my final question from...
Suze (14:35):
Wanna know something here where I wouldn't necessarily want to
get it done. Oh, I, you just handed me her email.
Did you see on the bottom it says she wants
to do it now because she thinks tax brackets are
gonna go up over the next few years? That's why
she wants to do it now. I got it. All right,
see what you can do life changing event form
(14:59):
SSA 4444 I hope. OK.
KT (15:04):
So from Danette, hello, Suze and KT. Happy travels. Suze,
I purchased the must-have documents online in 2009.
Suze (15:14):
Smart.
KT (15:15):
Yes, yes, she is smart.
Opened my revocable trust, changed my house title. You mentioned
the incapacity clause. Is it available with my docs automatically,
or do I need to fill it in, you know,
all over again and have them co-signed and notarized again?
Then she says, do I have to buy the newest docs?
(15:37):
This is from Danette.
Suze (15:39):
So Danette, here's the great thing about the must-have docs.
It's a one and done.
That's it meaning what? Once you have purchased them, no
matter what updates are made, you qualify for the updates
and without any extra cost at all.
(16:00):
You know, I would never talk to you about something
that I want you to buy that you have to
continue to buy and buy as it changes. So unlike
many of the other companies, when something changes, you have
to buy it again. That's not true with the must
have docs. Your 2009 ones that you did buy has
(16:20):
the incapacity clause in it. However,
given that that was so long ago, I think it's
a really great idea if you redid them so that
you see where is everything, how did you do it?
Is there any changes that you want to make? And
therefore on your documents when you go back and you
(16:41):
go to the program, there's a little help tab or
whatever just contact the company.
And you'll automatically be updated to the program as it
is today, and it's just been totally updated, by the way.
So if I were you, I would do that. Another
thing I love about the must have docs, KT, besides that.
KT (17:03):
What's that?
Suze (17:03):
You can share it with as many people in your
family as you want.
KT (17:07):
Or friends.
Suze (17:08):
Or friends or whatever, so it's like it just takes
one of you to do it. Quizzy time, KT.
KT (17:15):
OK, what do you got for me?
Suze (17:17):
This is from MS. All right.
And she says the following, and I know it's a she,
by the way. Anyway, I'm 40, which means that I've
gone by people first, then money, then things for half
of my life. Thank you. I currently own my home outright.
(17:40):
But only have about 35% of total net worth invested
in the markets. The rest are in cash. I have
relatively low expenses for myself. Now, are all of you
listening to these facts, because this quizzy isn't just for
KT to be able to answer. I give quizzes for
(18:02):
all of you to be able to answer, to know
if these things ever happened in your situation.
What you should do all right now again, this person
is single, no kids, she says, however, my job is
quite unstable. Hence I must be prepared to be retired
(18:26):
at any time.
I am a citizen of a low cost of living country. Hence,
plan on retiring there should the need arise. She's 40.
She plans to retire there if the need arises. All right.
I am able to live at my parents' home indefinitely.
(18:49):
From my estimates. If I were to liquidate my assets
and put the money in the bank with 3% interest,
I should have 2 times the monthly expenses that my
parents currently use.
Has anybody ever heard of inflation? But anyway, all right,
(19:10):
my question...
KT (19:10):
Sounds like a great place to go.
Suze (19:13):
My question is I have been thinking of upgrading my
apartment
to a swankier one in the city center downtown vibes,
better air. I plan to use all or most of
the cash I have on hand for the upgrade or
(19:34):
take a minimal loan. Now I am assuming here
that she has a home that she owns outright, she
may be thinking about selling her home, moving to a
bigger swankier apartment in the city.
But she'd have to use all the cash from her home.
(19:57):
And to make an upgrade or make or have a
minimal loan, do I approve? Think about it.
Oh, you're looking at me like there's nothing to think about.
KT (20:09):
This is a no brainer here, Suze.
Suze (20:11):
What is that?
KT (20:12):
No. Why would you do that? I would never do
that if I had an unstable job and I'm 40
years old, I'd want to accumulate as much cash as possible,
so then I'd feel free.
Suze (20:26):
So you've denied her.
KT (20:27):
Yes, totally.
Suze (20:29):
Say it KT.
KT (20:30):
You are denied. That's the way you say it.
Suze (20:35):
So what's funny about this quizzy is I wrote her back. Oh,
what'd you say? I sent her a little picture of
myself with a stamp that said Denied there
KT (20:44):
Ding ding ding ding ding.
Suze (20:47):
So you're right, but here's why MS that you're thinking,
in my opinion is not logical. You currently own your
home outright. You don't have any bills whatever.
And what you're saying is that you want to move
to a swankier place, which means more expenses, more taxes,
(21:10):
more everything, and you don't have a stable job.
So you have to be prepared to retire at any time. No,
at the age of 40, if you lose your job,
you get another job. You stay where you want. Obviously
you're liking wherever you live and you just want a
little more life around you. So go to that place,
(21:33):
the swankier place, and be entertained and then go home
to a place that you own outright.
So at 40 years of age this is still your
compounding years. These are not the years for you to
be spending money and you need to be saving it
and investing it and being wise with money. And then
when you're old like us, you can live on a
(21:55):
private island. You could do whatever you want at that
point in time.
KT (21:59):
Why isn't she just rent something in the city and
see if she likes?
Suze (22:02):
No, that's... (Suze makes the wrong answer noise).
She doesn't need to be paying more money. I don't
know why she wants to do that. That's not our problem.
Here's the other thing you say that if you liquidate
your assets and you put the money in the bank
with a 3% interest, how do you know what interest
rates are going to be? How do you know what
(22:23):
your assets are going to be if you had done
this plan years ago?
And you were thinking, oh, it's 2007. You've now lost
your job. You're going to sell your home, you're gonna
sell your assets. You wouldn't get anywhere close to what
anything is currently worth today. And you say that you
would have two times the monthly expenses that your parents
(22:45):
currently use. Do you really want to live the lifestyle
that maybe your parents are living?
So your thinking is wrong on this. You are to
think that you are going to make the most out
of your life here, where you're obviously enjoying yourself, or
you would be back home already. You're going to save it.
You're going to invest it. If you want to swank
(23:08):
your lifestyle, go there for the weekend and come back.
Do whatever. But no, you are denied. All right, KT.
KT (23:17):
That's it. That's a wrap.
Suze (23:18):
That's a wrap. So until Sunday, there's only one thing
that we really want you to remember when it comes
to your money. And what is that, KT?
KT (23:27):
People first.
Suze (23:28):
Then money.
KT (23:29):
Then things.
Suze (23:30):
And if you do that, stay safe, don't want to
live in a swankier place and stay healthy. You will
be unstoppable.
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