# Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. You Have To Be Smarter Than This!

An episode of [Suze Orman's Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1439621652), 23 Apr 2026, 32 min.

Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2df1102a-5761-4c99-b489-aabd0161f8fe/44e0936e-923c-43c7-9e2a-aade00edf4d3/f3094964-75e6-4a1c-bd2d-b43500242066/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=4e05fb00-5a5b-4ed9-b353-aade00edf4dd

On this Ask KT & Suze Anything episode, Suze answers your questions about community property states, Roths, and Social Security. Plus, listen to find out if someone can afford to watch the Olympics and so much more! Learn more about the Ultimate Scam Protection program: SuzeOrman.com Watch Suze’s YouTube Channel Jumpstart financial wellness for your employees: https://bit.ly/SecureSave Protect your financial future with the Must Have Docs: https://bit.ly/3Vq1V3G Get your savings going with Alliant Credit Union: https://bit.ly/3rg0Yio Get Suze’s special offers for podcast listeners at suzeorman.com/offer Join Suze’s Women & Money Community for FREE and ASK SUZE your questions which may just end up on the podcast. Download the app by following one of these links: CLICK HERE FOR APPLE: https://apple.co/2KcAHbH CLICK HERE FOR GOOGLE PLAY: https://bit.ly/3curfMI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:11] Suze: She's already making me laugh, everybody, anyway, April 23rd, 2026.
[0:17] Suze: Welcome everybody to the Women and Money podcast, and Everyone
[0:21] Suze: Smart Enough to listen.
[0:23] Suze: Oh, here we go. Today is the Ask KT and
[0:26] Suze: Suze Anything edition. If you have a question, send it
[0:30] Suze: in to ask Suze S U Z E podcast at gmail.com.
[0:35] Suze: If KT chooses it, oh, we will answer it on
[0:38] Suze: the podcast. And as so many of you know, I
[0:41] Suze: do answer many of you personally, but that is besides
[0:44] Suze: the point.
[0:46] Suze: Why are you smiling?
[0:47] KT: Today's our lucky day. You're not even getting there. Today's
[0:51] KT: our lucky day. It is finally here, Suze. April...
[0:54] Suze: KT, everyday is our lucky day...
[0:55] KT: No, no, no. April 23rd. Are you a little nervous?
[0:57] Suze: I'm not nervous.
[0:58] KT: I think she's nervous. Everyone.
[1:01] Suze: Why would I be nervous?
[1:01] KT: Because it's been three years since you gave a live webinar,
[1:05] KT: and tonight
[1:06] KT: is your debut. Webinar time.
[1:10] Suze: Let me tell you, everybody though, about this. Hopefully you
[1:13] Suze: have registered for the webinar that I will be giving. However,
[1:19] Suze: if you're not registered yet, just go to suzeorman.com. There's
[1:22] Suze: still time. Over 70,000 of you
[1:28] Suze: out there have registered, but KT, I just want to
[1:31] Suze: tell people a little bit about the webinar.
[1:33] KT: Please do.
[1:34] Suze: Because I've made a decision here. I've decided I wanna
[1:38] Suze: do a two-part webinar.
[1:41] KT: Great.
[1:41] Suze: So tonight I'm going to be focusing, everybody, just so
[1:45] Suze: you know, on the emotional side of money, certain things
[1:49] Suze: like that.
[1:51] Suze: In about two, three or four weeks from now, Keith Fitz-Gerald and I
[1:55] Suze: will be giving a second webinar where we will actually
[2:00] Suze: be giving you exchange traded funds, um, all kinds of
[2:05] Suze: things that you should really know, very different than the
[2:09] Suze: podcasts that I do with Keith, because you're gonna be
[2:12] Suze: able to see us and everything in a whole different
[2:15] Suze: way and a very, very special announcement. That's all I'm
[2:19] Suze: gonna say.
[2:21] Suze: That all of you have been waiting for for approximately two,
[2:26] Suze: two and a half years. That's it. So anyway, just
[2:29] Suze: know it's gonna be a two-part webinar, and that's what's
[2:33] Suze: gonna start tonight. And listen, everybody, if you've signed up
[2:37] Suze: for the first one, you are automatically enrolled already in
[2:40] Suze: the second one, so you don't have to do anything.
[2:44] Suze: All right, KT, what do you have for me?
[2:47] KT: OK, so...
[2:49] Suze: You're not allowed in the room.
[2:51] KT: Why?
[2:52] Suze: You distract me.
[2:55] Suze: Wait, let me tell you.
[2:56] KT: I distract her for one reason.
[2:58] KT: Her hair constantly falls over her left eye, so I
[3:03] KT: sit across from her.
[3:04] Suze: My right eye.
[3:06] KT: Yeah, you're right. I, I've been sitting across from her
[3:10] KT: for years in the TV studio, in the podcast studio,
[3:14] KT: you name it, and my action, which I wish you
[3:17] KT: could see on video, is I always use my hand
[3:20] KT: like sweeping away hair from my face with the hopes
[3:24] KT: that she'll do the same on her face.
[3:27] KT: I just don't have any hair.
[3:29] Suze: Yeah, but here's the problem. I'm in the middle of something,
[3:32] Suze: you know. I'm not a scripted talent. I don't know
[3:34] Suze: what I'm gonna say. I don't know where I'm gonna go.
[3:37] Suze: A lot of it...
[3:37] KT: So I distract you.
[3:38] Suze: She distracts me, and then I'm like, what was I saying? Oh,
[3:42] Suze: my hair, not speaking about hair...
[3:44] Suze: I'm speaking about what you need to do right here anyway.
[3:46] Suze: That's besides the point, KT. What's your question?
[3:49] KT: So this is the subject that made me select this, um, email.
[3:53] KT: It said, Is gifting assets the only solution for my
[3:57] KT: financially abused mother? This is from Josh. So Suze, Josh
[4:03] KT: and his wife have been listening to you for over
[4:06] KT: 20 years with, and now the podcast about five years.
[4:10] KT: And he said, I finally have a question I really
[4:13] KT: want to ask. It's actually from my mother, who has
[4:17] KT: stayed in a financially abusive relationship with my father for
[4:22] KT: over 50 years, and they're in a, um, community property state.
[4:28] KT: That's the problem. So Josh goes on to say...
[4:31] Suze: That's not the problem.
[4:33] Suze: That's what he thinks the problem is, but anyway.
[4:35] KT: He said, mom's 74. She is almost financially illiterate and
[4:39] KT: reluctant to get a divorce.
[4:42] KT: Mostly because she's afraid that community property law would require
[4:47] KT: her to give up half of what she owns, including
[4:50] KT: a little family restaurant that she's had for over 30 years.
[4:54] KT: So the problem is his dad's 76, he's not worked
[4:58] KT: for 30 years. He contributes practically nothing. He doesn't do
[5:04] KT: house or yard work, hoards his assets like a miser.
[5:07] KT: Obviously Josh is not
[5:10] KT: very um... happy about his dad and how he treats
[5:13] KT: his mom. So, to make a long story short, um,
[5:18] KT: the father does have assets. He's very secretive, he's deceitful,
[5:23] KT: he doesn't, um, have anything in the mom's name, and
[5:28] KT: Josh blames the father for the family's dysfunctional communication around money.
[5:34] KT: Long story short again,
[5:36] KT: Josh wants to move what assets his mother has, which
[5:39] KT: is very little, into his name as a gift so
[5:44] KT: that he's able to provide whatever she needs to take
[5:49] KT: care of her house or
[5:51] KT: you know, whatever. So Suze, what is the best solution
[5:54] KT: that you can give Josh at this time?
[5:57] Suze: KT, this is one of those emails that I answered directly,
[6:01] Suze: just so you know.
[6:02] KT: What advice did you give Josh?
[6:05] Suze: So first of all...
[6:05] KT: This is sad.
[6:06] Suze: So everybody, what you need to know, and this is
[6:09] Suze: what
[6:09] Suze: I'd love because KT doesn't know when I answer all
[6:12] Suze: of you and I play this little game. Is she
[6:16] Suze: going to pick a question that I already answered and
[6:20] Suze: she did in this particular case. You all need to
[6:23] Suze: know that Josh and his family live in Louisiana, which
[6:28] Suze: is a community property law state.
[6:31] Suze: So what I told Josh, and I'm telling all of you,
[6:34] Suze: is that just giving away her assets could very easily
[6:39] Suze: be challenged in court, the whole thing, and blah blah
[6:42] Suze: blah blah, but that's not the problem.
[6:46] Suze: The problem is his mother needs to sit down in
[6:51] Suze: my opinion, with a qualified Louisiana family law attorney, not
[6:56] Suze: a general law, not a friend, but someone who deals
[7:00] Suze: specifically with divorce, separation.
[7:02] Suze: And asset protection in community property states so she needs
[7:08] Suze: to understand that even though the husband has had money
[7:13] Suze: in his individual name, he's secretive about it and everything
[7:17] Suze: doesn't matter it's still hers unless she signed a prenup
[7:21] Suze: for it, unless there was something about it which I
[7:24] Suze: doubt that she did.
[7:25] Suze: So she needs to explore, if you ask me, a
[7:28] Suze: legal separation if she refuses to divorce. The real problem
[7:33] Suze: here is why has she stayed for so long, Josh? Why?
[7:41] Suze: And that's what needs to be dealt with. So what
[7:45] Suze: you need to understand is that you can support her.
[7:48] Suze: You can guide her. You can even pay for the attorneys,
[7:52] Suze: but you cannot be the solution by taking ownership of
[7:56] Suze: the assets. That is not protection. Now listen, if she
[8:01] Suze: refuses to act after getting proper legal advice, then you
[8:05] Suze: need to accept a very hard truth.
[8:08] Suze: You cannot save someone financially who will not participate in
[8:13] Suze: their own rescue, and that is KT probably the best advice,
[8:19] Suze: you know, as kids we wanna sometimes save our parents.
[8:25] Suze: As parents, we sometimes want to save our kids.
[8:29] Suze: But the truth is we can't save anybody if they
[8:34] Suze: are not willing to participate and save themselves. The main thing, Josh,
[8:40] Suze: you need to do is set up this meeting, confront
[8:43] Suze: your father, tell him how it has upset you, and again,
[8:49] Suze: if mom doesn't want to do anything, you can't do
[8:51] Suze: anything about it either, but get her to see
[8:55] Suze: a true divorce lawyer in Louisiana. All right, KT, it's sad,
[9:01] Suze: isn't it?
[9:02] KT: Yeah, I really felt for that email. It looked like
[9:05] KT: Josh was struggling of whether or not to send it
[9:08] KT: to you.
[9:09] Suze: But here's what...
[9:09] KT: He's at his wits' ends with this.
[9:11] Suze: But how did it come it took so long? I
[9:13] Suze: don't know how old Josh is, but what made her
[9:17] Suze: stay for about 50 years.
[9:22] Suze: Right, she's been in this relationship for 50 years.
[9:25] KT: I think people are just afraid, yeah, but afraid of change.
[9:29] Suze: So fear, I'm glad you said that because I'm gonna
[9:33] Suze: address fear tonight on the webinar, how it's fear that
[9:38] Suze: keeps us from the wealth we should have, the relationship
[9:42] Suze: we should have, the health we should have, everything. So
[9:47] Suze: maybe I'm gonna focus on fear tonight. Let's see what happens.
[9:50] Suze: All right, go on.
[9:52] KT: So, next is from Chrissy. Hi, Suze and KT. This,
[9:57] KT: this one is, this one kind of put a smile
[9:59] KT: on my face, although it's not funny at all. She said,
[10:02] KT: I'm writing this on behalf of my dear friend Liz,
[10:06] KT: who also happens to be my neighbor. She's OK with
[10:09] KT: me writing this letter and she is copied here.
[10:13] KT: Chrissy wrote, Suze, I think Liz needs a Suze Smackdown.
[10:18] KT: All right, so, in a nutshell, Suze, like so many Americans,
[10:22] KT: Liz and her husband have relatively high incomes and low savings.
[10:28] KT: They both take home about $14,000 a month and their
[10:33] KT: regular expenses are about $8,000.
[10:36] KT: Liz works for the federal government and he works in tech. Now,
[10:41] KT: they both feel very secure in their jobs.
[10:44] KT: Their savings has dwindled from 50,000 to 30,000 after a
[10:48] KT: big Disney trip they just had. Instead of rebuilding the savings,
[10:53] KT: she wants to open a zero interest credit card so
[10:57] KT: they can purchase tickets to the Olympics, which is gonna
[11:01] KT: be a very expensive trip.
[11:03] Suze: What a loser, alright, go on.
[11:03] KT: So it's not a loser.
[11:05] Suze: No, this is a loser situation.
[11:08] KT: Can you give her some advice, Suze? She's not taking
[11:11] KT: it from me.
[11:12] KT: And at the, do you wanna know what they have?
[11:15] KT: All right, so they have 350,000 in retirement. They're in
[11:20] KT: their late thirties, early forties. They have an eight year
[11:23] KT: old daughter, 8,000 in a 529 plan.
[11:28] KT: And they have a mortgage with 26 years left on it,
[11:32] KT: a car loan, and a small amount of student loans.
[11:36] KT: Both of them are not carrying any credit card debt,
[11:40] KT: good for them. So Chris is asking you, please give
[11:44] KT: her friend Liz a Suze Slap Down or at least
[11:48] KT: let her see the writing on the wall.
[11:50] Suze: Chrissy, and this is another situation, KT where I wrote
[11:54] Suze: her back directly, just so you know. So what I
[11:58] Suze: want everybody to know since you chose this email, when
[12:03] Suze: you find yourself in a situation,
[12:06] Suze: that you need a 0% interest rate card, so you
[12:10] Suze: can go do something cause you don't have the cash
[12:12] Suze: for it. When you find yourself in a situation that
[12:15] Suze: you are making more,
[12:18] Suze: than what you are spending every month and in this
[12:21] Suze: case it's like $8,000 a month they have for expenses
[12:25] Suze: that means she needs a $96,000 emergency fund and all
[12:31] Suze: she has is $30,000. It shows you that something emotionally
[12:38] Suze: is going wrong either within you, your relationship, your something
[12:44] Suze: is wrong when you don't have money.
[12:48] Suze: And you're making money, and you're spending more than you're making,
[12:52] Suze: you have to go within to see why you are
[12:54] Suze: doing without. You are not going to be in your
[12:56] Suze: 30s and 40s forever. You're gonna be in your 50s,
[12:59] Suze: in your 60s, in your 80s, and who knows what's
[13:02] Suze: going to change because of artificial intelligence. Maybe I'll talk
[13:05] Suze: about that again tonight. But whatever, you have got to
[13:09] Suze: get a reality check. So, use this as an example
[13:13] Suze: of what you make does not determine what you get
[13:18] Suze: to spend. It's how you're investing it, what you make
[13:23] Suze: after your 12 month emergency fund is covered, you're out
[13:27] Suze: of student loan debt, you're, you know, you're putting more
[13:30] Suze: towards your mortgage possibly. So, but to look at a 0%
[13:34] Suze: interest rate on a credit card just so you can
[13:36] Suze: go to the Olympics, stupid, stupid, stupid.
[13:40] Suze: Liz, you have to be smarter than this. All right, KT.
[13:45] KT: That's good. I think Chris will like that.
[13:47] Suze: I think I gave her a harder slap down. No,
[13:50] Suze: I gave her a harder slap down in my email,
[13:52] Suze: but that's besides the point. All right, go on.
[13:54] KT: All right, this is from...
[13:56] Suze: Isn't this funny? Once again, you're picking ones that I
[13:59] Suze: have answered. I love that.
[14:02] KT: OK, next one's from Yvonne. Hi, Suze. Hope you and
[14:05] KT: KT are doing great back in Florida.
[14:08] Suze: We are.
[14:08] KT: Can you please remind me when someone passes away, is
[14:12] KT: it correct that if you sell the home they left
[14:15] KT: you within one year, you don't have to pay additional taxes?
[14:20] Suze: That is not correct. Not correct at any level. It's
[14:24] Suze: not about when you sell the home. It has nothing
[14:27] Suze: to do with timing anymore. It has to do with this.
[14:32] Suze: You were left the home.
[14:34] Suze: You have to know that when you inherit a house
[14:38] Suze: from somebody, you get a step up in cost bases
[14:42] Suze: as to what it was valued at either the day
[14:45] Suze: they died or within six months. So let's just say
[14:47] Suze: the house you just got is worth $800,000. Just let's
[14:53] Suze: say that's true. That then is your cost basis. You
[14:57] Suze: turn around and you sell it for $800,000. Guess what?
[15:01] Suze: No tax, right? If you live in it as your
[15:06] Suze: primary residency for two out of the past five years,
[15:09] Suze: then you get to take another $250,000. So even if
[15:14] Suze: it goes up from $800,000 to a million dollars and
[15:18] Suze: it's been your primary residency for two out of the
[15:21] Suze: past five years and then you sell it, you're still
[15:24] Suze: not gonna owe anything in taxes because KT
[15:26] Suze: $800,000 plus $250 is like 150 $1,000,500. She sells it
[15:33] Suze: for $1 million. No capital gains tax, just that simple.
[15:37] Suze: All right/
[15:37] KT: OK, that's great. And, and Yvonne also lives here in Florida.
[15:41] Suze: Yeah, well, what's wrong with this weather? What's up with
[15:44] Suze: the weather? We haven't been able to take our boat out.
[15:47] Suze: It's been three or four solid months of wind
[15:52] Suze: and waves. What's up? All right, next question.
[15:55] KT: OK, from Amber. She said, Hi, Suze. I'm in the
[15:58] KT: process of moving my IRA into a Roth IRA through
[16:03] KT: my financial advisor. I was wondering if this is a
[16:07] KT: wise thing to do. I'm 59 and I make about
[16:10] KT: $100,000 a year. I was thinking, what if taxes go down?
[16:15] KT: I'm actually then gonna lose
[16:17] KT: money. I'm ending up paying about 4000 a year when
[16:21] KT: I file my taxes. Should I keep moving forward with this,
[16:24] KT: or should I just leave everything where it is?
[16:27] Suze: Are you crazy? Listen, this is another topic that I
[16:30] Suze: hope I'm asked on the webinar tonight because there is
[16:32] Suze: a host of the webinar, and they ask me questions.
[16:35] Suze: So if not, I'm gonna answer this anyway overall. But
[16:38] Suze: listen to me. Stop thinking so small.
[16:43] Suze: Start thinking large where what is the big picture, not
[16:47] Suze: this little stupid picture that you're paying $4,000 a year
[16:51] Suze: in taxes. You're 59 years of age. You have many,
[16:55] Suze: many years yet for this money to compound. You want it
[16:58] Suze: to compound tax free, you absolutely little by little should
[17:02] Suze: be converting to a Roth. Next question, KT.
[17:05] KT: OK. Next question is from Barb. She said, Hi, Suze
[17:09] KT: and KT.
[17:10] Suze: Hello Barb.
[17:11] KT: Hi Barb.
[17:12] Suze: Does that remind you of your sister Barb?
[17:15] KT: So I have a question regarding when to take Social Security.
[17:18] KT: My ex-spouse's social will be larger than mine.
[17:22] KT: I would like to take half of his when I
[17:25] KT: start taking Social Security.
[17:26] Suze: So that means KT, if she wants half of his,
[17:31] Suze: she has to wait till she's at least 67, full
[17:35] Suze: Social Security age to get 50% of his half of his,
[17:41] Suze: or she's gonna get less than half of his. So
[17:43] Suze: go on, keep going,
[17:45] KT: OK, so she just said she's 63 this year. He's 60.
[17:50] KT: All right, so you know she's gonna have to wait
[17:53] KT: quite some time.
[17:54] Suze: So let me tell you the laws of how it
[17:56] Suze: actually works, everybody, so you get this right. First of all,
[18:01] Suze: if you were married to somebody and now you are
[18:03] Suze: divorced and you want to claim their Social Security, half
[18:07] Suze: of it, you have to have been married for at
[18:09] Suze: least 10 years. Just know that, everybody.
[18:13] Suze: You have to wait for at least two years after
[18:16] Suze: you have been divorced and you can't be remarried. Just
[18:21] Suze: know that as well. Now if you are 63, he
[18:27] Suze: is 60.
[18:29] Suze: You have to wait till he's at least 62 before
[18:33] Suze: you can claim on his Social Security. In two years,
[18:38] Suze: you're gonna be 65. So what that means is if
[18:42] Suze: you claim his Social Security or a portion of his
[18:46] Suze: Social Security at 65, you're only going to be getting
[18:50] Suze: about 41 to 42%
[18:53] Suze: of what his full retirement age Social Security would be,
[18:59] Suze: not 50% because you are not 67. So here's the thing,
[19:05] Suze: wait till you're 67 and just make sure, I'm telling
[19:08] Suze: you to make sure that half of his
[19:13] Suze: is more than 100% of yours, so just do that
[19:17] Suze: calculation because you just never know. Next question, KT.
[19:22] KT: This is from Anne and Tony in California. Suze, can you
[19:25] KT: help us with investing in tax-free investments or any other
[19:29] KT: suggestions to reduce
[19:31] KT: our taxable income. Our tax preparers suggested muni bonds, municipal bonds,
[19:38] KT: but since we may need the money relatively quickly, is
[19:42] KT: there a way to buy municipal bonds without making long
[19:45] KT: term commitments?
[19:47] Suze: So here's the thing, everybody.
[19:50] Suze: When you get a municipal bond.
[19:54] Suze: A bond always has a beginning date and an ending date,
[19:59] Suze: and for you to get an interest rate that's even
[20:02] Suze: equal after taxes to like a CD or something or
[20:06] Suze: even a money market account, you would have to go
[20:09] Suze: out a lot longer and you say you need the
[20:12] Suze: money right away. You can do short term muni bond
[20:16] Suze: funds and things like that as long as they're from California,
[20:18] Suze: but it's not worth it.
[20:21] Suze: It's not worth it. Remember, Muni bonds, because they are tax-free,
[20:26] Suze: they don't give as high as an interest rate as
[20:30] Suze: CDs and things, so you always have to do the calculation.
[20:34] Suze: Don't be afraid to pay the taxes. Don't look at
[20:38] Suze: a way around it. And also, I'm just going to
[20:41] Suze: say this. I personally would not be taking investment advice
[20:45] Suze: from a CPA unless he was also a CFP or
[20:49] Suze: a financial adviser that told people what to do with
[20:53] Suze: money and did not participate
[20:55] Suze: in the commissions from it, I think you're looking for
[20:59] Suze: trouble here just to save a few pennies here or
[21:02] Suze: there or a few dollars here or there. You need liquidity, Fine,
[21:07] Suze: do a money market account at the highest interest rate
[21:10] Suze: that you can find, and they are out there. Yes, KT.
[21:14] KT: OK, from Jennifer.
[21:16] KT: I opened a 529 a couple of years ago and
[21:20] KT: have $7,000 in there. My son will be going to
[21:24] KT: college in January 2027.
[21:27] KT: So just a few months from now.
[21:29] KT: Yea, next year. I also have about $4,000 in a
[21:32] KT: personal savings account for him. Was wondering if it's wise
[21:36] KT: to add it to the 529 now, given the state
[21:40] KT: of the current market and the fact that we will
[21:42] KT: need access in about nine months,
[21:45] KT: what should we do? Do you think it's worth it?
[21:47] Suze: So here's the thing, you have to know, are you
[21:50] Suze: going to be applying for financial aid or not? Because
[21:53] Suze: if you have $7,000 in his name.
[21:56] Suze: In possibly a uniform gift to minors act or trust
[22:00] Suze: account that's his money that will count against him in
[22:04] Suze: financial aid. So if you're not doing financial aid, then
[22:08] Suze: it doesn't matter. But if you are, you might want
[22:11] Suze: to put it then in the 529 plan so he
[22:14] Suze: doesn't have anything in his name anymore.
[22:17] Suze: And then you apply for financial aid, but this is
[22:20] Suze: not money that belongs in the stock market, 'cause you
[22:24] Suze: are going to need it in nine months. Remember, you
[22:28] Suze: need 5 years or longer for money that's in the
[22:30] Suze: stock market, that includes money with the 529 plans as well,
[22:36] Suze: or you stage it...
[22:38] Suze: Right, because four years from now when you may have
[22:40] Suze: enough for the last year, their senior year, all right,
[22:43] Suze: maybe you leave that there. But if they need it
[22:46] Suze: within 9 months, that's money that's in a money market
[22:49] Suze: account within the 529 plan. KT, you have another one
[22:53] Suze: for me?
[22:54] KT: I do. This is from Rebecca.
[22:56] Suze: Let's make this our last one so I say my
[22:57] Suze: voice for tonight. You know, I can get very energetic.
[23:02] KT: She gets feisty on her webinars.
[23:03] Suze: I get feisty and, uh, and especially I, so I can,
[23:06] Suze: you can see.
[23:07] Suze: I can already feel...
[23:08] Suze: She's hyping up.
[23:09] Suze: I'm hyping up, so I better start saving my voice.
[23:11] Suze: All right, go on.
[23:12] KT: So Rebecca said, Suze, I'm the oldest of four siblings
[23:16] KT: ranging in the age from 54 to 62. We all
[23:19] KT: live in different states. I am in New Jersey. My
[23:23] KT: father passed in February at the age of 91, and
[23:27] KT: my 89-year-old mother survives him.
[23:30] KT: She has inherited his retirement accounts which are with TIAA
[23:34] KT: and we've been advised to invest them in a new
[23:37] KT: IRA in her name. Here's my question, who should be
[23:41] KT: named as the beneficiaries for the new IRA?
[23:45] KT: And now this is, this is a good question. She said,
[23:48] KT: if the four of us are named as beneficiaries, then
[23:51] KT: do each of us have to take minimum distributions over
[23:55] KT: the next 10 years and pay tax on the portion
[23:59] KT: we inherit. If just one of us is named as
[24:02] KT: the beneficiary with the intention that they share the funds equally,
[24:07] KT: how would that change anything?
[24:09] Suze: That is a good question, one that I did not
[24:11] Suze: answer back, just so you know. So it must have
[24:14] Suze: come in recently. Anyway, here's what you need to know, Rebecca. Yes.
[24:21] Suze: Daddy died. Leaves his retirement account to Mommy because she
[24:26] Suze: is an eligible designated beneficiary, which means as a spouse
[24:33] Suze: she gets to take his retirement account over as her own.
[24:38] Suze: It's not an inherited one. It becomes her own.
[24:43] Suze: However, now she has an IRA rollover in her own name,
[24:47] Suze: or it's in her own IRA account, whatever she had
[24:51] Suze: to begin with, and now she needs to name beneficiaries.
[24:57] Suze: When she names the beneficiaries, you all will be designated
[25:01] Suze: as non-eligible designated beneficiaries, and these are all terms, everybody,
[25:07] Suze: that you need to know.
[25:09] Suze: And what that says is that when you inherit this money,
[25:15] Suze: you will then have an inherited IRA, not your own IRA,
[25:20] Suze: an inherited IRA. You will have 10 years to wipe
[25:24] Suze: it clean. Now, listen closely to me. You have till
[25:29] Suze: September 30th.
[25:31] Suze: after the year mommy dies to open up inherited IRAs
[25:38] Suze: in your own name. There are four of you. I'm
[25:42] Suze: telling you, you each should do it in your individual names.
[25:47] Suze: You should not have one person do it. You should
[25:50] Suze: have all four of you do it because when you're
[25:54] Suze: taking out required minimum distributions, which you're
[25:57] Suze: gonna have to do if you don't wipe the whole
[25:59] Suze: thing clean at once. If you're gonna continue to take
[26:02] Suze: out required minimum distributions, which you all have to do
[26:06] Suze: based on your life expectancy, but over a 10 year
[26:10] Suze: period of time, so your age, the amounts are gonna
[26:14] Suze: be different. You're each in different tax brackets. So that
[26:18] Suze: is how you should do it. If you just have
[26:21] Suze: one person do it.
[26:23] Suze: That one person is gonna have to take out a
[26:26] Suze: large amount taxed at their tax bracket that may increase
[26:30] Suze: their taxes, blah blah blah. So, beneficiaries should be individual. Now,
[26:38] Suze: here's what you have to decide.
[26:41] Suze: If one of you dies before mommy, where does that
[26:48] Suze: portion go? Does it go to your children?
[26:52] Suze: If you have children, or does it go because I
[26:56] Suze: see that she has grandchildren on here, but I don't
[26:59] Suze: know if they all have children, right? Maybe only three
[27:04] Suze: out of four of them do. Does it go to
[27:06] Suze: your children or does your portion, your quarter, go to
[27:11] Suze: the remaining three, or possibly the remaining two? You have
[27:16] Suze: to make that decision.
[27:18] Suze: If in fact you want it and Mommy decides she
[27:22] Suze: wants it this way, you want it to go to
[27:24] Suze: your children.
[27:26] Suze: Then it has to be per stirpes, so you have
[27:29] Suze: to check with when she opens up an IRA in
[27:34] Suze: her individual name and she names beneficiaries. Can you do
[27:40] Suze: it in something called your name but per stirpes, which
[27:44] Suze: means that it goes to your children in case you
[27:49] Suze: die before her. So just something to think about now listen.
[27:54] Suze: If you get flaky on me here and you don't
[27:58] Suze: open up your inherited IRAs by September 30th after the
[28:03] Suze: year she has died, guess what, it's automatically going to
[28:07] Suze: be based on the oldest beneficiary's life.
[28:12] Suze: So, you don't want that to happen to you. That
[28:16] Suze: is not good. So, this is something you need to
[28:19] Suze: sit down with everybody, make decisions, and then name just
[28:24] Suze: the four of you as the beneficiaries. Just that simple.
[28:29] Suze: Why are you looking so confused?
[28:30] KT: I'm not confused. I'm just thinking that that is a
[28:33] KT: really important step the family needs to take with mom
[28:38] KT: while she's alive.
[28:39] Suze: While she's alive, and how she wants that. Listen, everybody,
[28:42] Suze: this is a hard topic because we automatically assume, because
[28:46] Suze: Mommy's older, that what's gonna happen, she's gonna die before us.
[28:53] Suze: That doesn't always happen that way. It just doesn't. I'm
[28:57] Suze: so sorry to say. So go into this little meeting
[29:01] Suze: with her, talk about it, but say, Mom, if I
[29:04] Suze: were to die before you, what do you want to
[29:07] Suze: happen with the portion that would come to me?
[29:11] Suze: So let's see what she says and then you go
[29:13] Suze: from there, all right, KT, I think that brings us
[29:17] Suze: to the end.
[29:18] KT: That is a wrap. You better rest today. Rest your voice.
[29:21] Suze: I'm not gonna rest today.
[29:23] KT: Are you excited? What are you gonna wear?
[29:27] Suze: Probably my little black jacket like I always wear. I
[29:30] Suze: don't know. Will I wear it? Yeah, maybe yes, maybe no.
[29:34] Suze: I don't know. I always feel better, everybody, when I'm
[29:37] Suze: on TV or anything, when I'm dressed in black. I'm
[29:41] Suze: not sure why that is, but that's just my most
[29:44] Suze: comfortable color. Is that a color, KT?
[29:47] KT: Yeah, well, yeah.
[29:50] Suze: Not on the color chart, is it?
[29:51] KT: Um, black is the combination of all colors, as is white.
[29:56] Suze: No wonder why I liked it. Everything's either black or
[30:00] Suze: white because it contains everything anyway, everybody, so until Sunday
[30:06] Suze: when we will be having another Suze School, I didn't
[30:10] Suze: mean to say we.
[30:11] Suze: I meant to say I will be having another Suze School.
[30:15] Suze: There's only one thing that I want you to remember,
[30:17] Suze: and it's this. Go to Suzeorman.com and register for the
[30:21] Suze: webinar for tonight. If you have not done so, it
[30:24] Suze: is free. Listen, if you can't make it tonight, don't worry.
[30:28] Suze: Just register anyway cause there will be replays of this
[30:32] Suze: webinar over the weekend. So register away. And remember, this
[30:37] Suze: is a two-part webinar. Part one is tonight. Part II
[30:41] Suze: will be with me and Fitzy in a few weeks,
[30:44] Suze: sometime probably the first week of June. So, therefore, just
[30:48] Suze: stay tuned for the second part, cause I'm telling you,
[30:52] Suze: the second part...
[30:54] KT: Sexy.
[30:55] Suze: It's not sexy, but you're gonna wanna hear what we
[30:58] Suze: have to tell you, all right. But until then there's
[31:01] Suze: only one thing that we want you to remember when
[31:03] Suze: it comes to your money, and what is it, KT?
[31:05] KT: People first, then money, then things. Now you..
[31:09] Suze: Stay safe.
[31:10] KT: See you tonight, everyone.
[31:12] Suze: All right, bye-bye.

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