Good evening and welcome to More Than Money.

You've got Jane DICKERSON, your personal financial advisor, your host for this evening and goodness for so many evenings prior and hopefully so many evenings in the future as well.

More than money has grown into the most relevant financial show on television today.

We say that boldly.

We say that with great confidence and sounds like, he must have an ego there.

It's got nothing to do with me.

Well, maybe a little has a lot to do with Megan because she brings the most important part to the table.

Has a little bit to do with me, but it has the most to do with you.

You set the agenda, you send us your emails, you tell us what is most important to you, what topics have arisen, what things are challenging in your life, what you are losing, sleep over, what you're excited about.

And by setting those priorities, you are allowing us to be most relevant to you.

And if we're most relevant to you, I can assure you, with the thousands and thousands of folks who get to see our shows coast to coast and border to border, now that they share those questions, many folks out there be going, wow, that's my question too.

Or it's really similar or it'll raise a question in their lives that they had not thought about until you raised yours.

So in many ways, you're doing a great service, of course, to yourself.

You're getting good information from someone with goodness, 780 years of experience.

So life's great mystery.

How is that possible?

But that's what I bring to the table.

And so you're serving yourself and you're assisting so many other folks who are listening in either by having a similar question or maybe inspiring them to say, hey, that that was really interesting.

I want to have my question answered as well.

And lastly, we'll take last place.

You are certainly assisting us in staying in the most relevant financial show on television today because you make us so and I will I will claim that to my last day, which is hopefully not Thursday.

I'm just kidding.

Just a triple H club, happy, healthy 100.

I'll be doing this show when when we're doing it by telepathy, perhaps.

Who knows?

Technology.

It's amazing stuff.

Speaking of amazing stuff, Megan, where do we start with an amazing question this week?

Hi, Gene.

Our first question tonight says, Hi, Gene.

I enjoy your show.

Thanks for your thoughtful advice to your viewers.

I am 73, married, retired, and we get most of our income from Social Security and RMDs from my IRA.

I also have a side hustle that had a profit of just over $5,000 last year.

When filing taxes, I was able to deduct our health insurance premiums, which were more than than what I netted from the business.

My question is, can I contribute the $5,000 profit into a Roth IRA?

Thanks for your kind reply.

Well, thank you for your kind words, and I'm very happy to give your kind reply.

And you're going to like it.

Yes, you can contribute the entire $5,000 of profit from your side hustle into a Roth IRA.

It is a very, very good idea.

You're doing extremely well and at 73 you are very young and our Triple H Club, it means you've got 27 more really good years ahead and who knows how many after that.

So having money tucked away more and more, particularly at a time when you don't need it, so to speak, you've already gotten tremendous benefits on the health care side and now you have this ability to put money into an account where tax theoretically will never be taken out again.

You are doing wonderful really well.

Do it for sure.

And if you wish to continue in the Triple H Club, it's probably in your best interest to continue with your side hustle as long as you possibly can.

The idea of being fully retired is a lovely idea for many.

Not such a great idea for for some and for a lot of folks, it really does impede or impinge upon their quality of life.

Keep your quality of life, keep your energy up, keep active.

You're doing a fantastic job and enjoy your Roth IRA.

Make an excellent start where do we go next?

Well, our next question is actually a question for the viewers.

It's kind of a fun little poll that we can play.

It says clients might assume their retirement accounts will simply pass to their heirs named in their will.

Big mistake in Procter and Gamble versus the estate of Jeffrey Rollyson.

The decedent began participating in the PG for one K in 1987 when he named his then girlfriend as beneficiary.

The couple ended their relationship in 1989, but the decedent never changed his beneficiary designation As a result.

When he died in 2015, his ex-girlfriend received the account balance of seven or $754,000 as designated beneficiary.

Would you keep the money?

Wow.

When I saw this, it's it's one of those kind of things that that that goes from urban legend to reality.

It has been urban legend for years.

It's always been the case that whomever is named as the beneficiary on the 41k gets the money.

And there have been many reports over the years of a husband divorce, remarry, forgets, doesn't change his beneficiary and his ex-wife gets the money, causing his current wife to want to kill him all over again.

So that's pretty rampant.

This is one of the most startling results that we have ever had reported.

And it came through the tax courts, $754,000.

It's it went to a young lady that he met in 1987 and they as I understand, the relationship only lasted two years.

And he named her it as if then beneficiary as his beneficiary.

I and who knows and never changed it.

So when she gets notified that she has a check on the way for 754,000, what should she do?

Keep it, return it to the estate.

What would you do?

Well, the term it depends.

One that I am seriously considering copywriting since I use it so very often and maybe even getting endorsement from diapers depends say on the logo was you'll get the idea.

Bottom line is me personally, absolutely.

I would take the money.

Might I share some of that with other folks?

Depending on the circumstances, of course.

But for all we know, this was this gentleman's intention from day one.

Maybe she was the love of his life.

Maybe no one ever replaced her.

And if indeed the beneficiaries of his estate are nieces and nephews and other kind of hangers on their ne'er do wells ex girlfriend, that for two years made him really happy.

Good for you.

Hang on to the money.

So, by the way, it's an inherited IRA, so you got to follow the rules.

There's a lot of rules about inherited IRAs, but me, I would hang on to it.

I'd be fascinated to hear from some of you, all of you, if you wish, send me an email.

Would you keep the money and what's your thought process?

And maybe we'll put together a little survey results for a future show.

Fascinating.

Absolutely fascinating.

You think it doesn't happen and then it does raise what's next?

Well, we have another fun question.

It says hello.

I have watched more than money television for years now.

I'm confused about something that Gene says.

He states he has 780 years of experience as an advisor.

It has been the same number of years experience ever since I started watching years ago.

It never increases.

Is this some kind of time warp?

I like the show, even if I don't always agree.

Thank you.

There's two reasons why I was happy to see this email is in the stack.

Number one 780.

I'll explain that here in a moment.

But the last line really, really caught my attention.

I like the show even if I don't always agree.

You know what?

Bless you and thank you.

That puts such a smile on my face.

And it suggested to me that there's real hope for America.

There's real hope for America.

There are lots of organizations, sadly, a lot of media organizations that would love you to believe that we are a country at each other's throats.

That that if you don't agree with me on everything, I hate you and I don't want anything to do with you.

And vice versa.

I can't even be in the same room with you because you you said you believe in this.

And and I don't believe in that.

And I disagree.

So you're a bad person.

That's what they want us to believe.

I don't believe that at all.

I think 98% of Americans are just like this.

This I don't know, gentlemen young lady, this person they are I don't agree with you on everything.

Doesn't mean I don't like you, doesn't mean I can't hang out with you.

Doesn't mean we can't have some spirited debates, perhaps, or or agree on a whole lot of things and make progress.

I think 98% of America is exactly that.

I think it's already that.

I think the idea that we're on the verge of some form of of of division, civil war, what I think it's just a bunch of steaming hoo ha.

And I think the vast majority, vast majority, 98% plus of folks watching this evening, folks around the country are exactly like that.

Wonderful.

Terrific.

They love America.

They love their families.

They want all the right things.

They watch PBS.

Who doesn't like Sesame Street?

What are you, crazy?

You got to have politics now.

It's crazy talk.

Thank you.

That's one of the reasons why that made me smile.

Now, 780 years of experience.

And you're right.

It never changed.

I have been making that utterance for at least two decades.

And no, it hasn't gone up a year.

Well, why not?

It's a mystery.

It's a it's one of life's great mysteries.

It is a great mystery of how someone so useful, so obviously in the prime of life can have 780 years of experience.

I must confess that often when the regulators show up at our doorstep at the MTM world headquarters, whether it's FINRA or the FCC or the state, there they were.

I have been listening to some of your shows and you say you have 780 years of experience.

How did you calculate that?

Well, calculate is the incorrect word.

How did I pluck it from thin air?

That's more accurate.

And why doesn't it go up?

Life's great mysteries.

Isn't it great that there are still things in this world that you can just scratch your head and ponder, But we can never really know?

Thanks for asking.

And thanks for thanks for being you.

Fantastic.

Megan That was great.

I really enjoyed that question.

What can I help?

How can I help the next person?

Let's find out.

This one says, My husband and I are both retired and we are trying to make plans to move to a continuing care retirement community.

We would plan to use the sale of our home to fund the entrance fee and to use our monthly income and some of our savings to pay the monthly fee.

Retirement communities that we have visited all mentioned the advantage of an in essence, prepaying your future health care and to take advantage of your tax deduction for prepaid medical expenses.

Our CPA did not have a very good opinion of these retirement communities and our financial advisor was not very helpful either.

Our son has been helping us review our finances and we could use some insight to see if this is feasible at all.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you so much.

my pleasure.

This is a fascinating question and it's one that faces a fair number of folks now.

But I think in in the future will face lots of folks.

Let's start with an understanding continuing care retirement communities as your screen shows sometimes referred to in shorthand, CCRC.

CCRC, The key here is continuing care a quality CCRC will accept you after going through a screening and after going through the financials.

And and you have you have been accepted into whatever level of care you currently need.

Almost always entering a CCRC starts with independent could be a home.

Some of them have independent freestanding single family homes, could be a townhouse, could be an apartment.

Many of them have apartments, some very luxurious, some very modest, and they vary in price.

The buy ins can vary rather dramatically, but the idea and the one suggested by the CCRC is that you have met, have currently met with is quite true.

You come in independent and you stay for the rest of your life.

You continue to stay in the same facility, the same property for the rest of your life.

Prayerful.

Prayerfully, We hope that you stay independent for the rest of your life.

You enjoy all the amenities of the CCRC, many of which are like high end resorts.

They have onsite restaurants, they have activities.

They're always running trips, many Broadway and shows in the state theater and and it goes on and on and on.

So if you're a happy, healthy and independent, it's fantastic.

But what if what if, jeez, I had surgery and I need rehab.

I need to be cared for in a hospital setting, say, for three weeks.

They do it right there and then you return to your home.

what if it's a little more intensive than that?

And I need nursing care.

24 seven.

They do it on site.

That's the continuing care piece.

And what if ultimately, very sadly, it is a dementia issue and it's an Alzheimer's issue.

We need treatment in a in what's called a memory care unit that's much more intensive, that's included as well.

So the buy in is very often and a very interesting alternative to long term care insurance.

If you're not interested in joining a CCRC, many folks are not.

If you are interested in maintaining your own home, staying in your own home as long as humanly possible, then long term care insurance for many people has been a real lifesaver.

Tremendous opportunity to do exactly what you wish.

But if perhaps you don't qualify for that or you find it too expensive, a CCRC allows you to come in and be confident that you will be cared for and is often the case.

If it's a married couple and one needs care and the other can stay independent.

This is fantastic that that that relationship is is easily maintained.

He or she can go visit her spouse as a walk down the corridor or a walk across the property.

It is a very, very accommodating concept.

It is not without its expense.

And 300,000 is is a star turning point.

If you want higher quality or I'm sorry, more more expansive accommodations, that entrance number can be much, much higher.

And of course, it's very dependent on where you are in the country.

The West Coast, incredibly expensive Upper East Coast, mid-Atlantic can be very expensive as well.

Midwest tends not to be.

So yes, it has to be a financial decision.

Your CPA not having a very good opinion puzzles me.

I would certainly understand if you said the CPA is not sure about the tax treatment.

Understandable.

Not a very good opinion of CCRC.

I have no reason.

I have I've no understanding of what that reasoning might be.

Your financial advisor not being much more helpful.

That's puzzling as well.

If your financial advisor has any experience working with folks who are either retired or sent to retire, he or she should have significant personal knowledge about CCRC, how they work as their pros and cons, etc.

So I'm I'm more than a bit disappointed in your current advisors, and you may want to consider you may want to strongly consider looking for some fresh advisors, maybe fresh sets of eyes and ears that might give you advice that's a little more accommodating to what you're trying to decide rather than just, I don't have a good opinion of them that that's not helpful.

That's not helpful.

And as you can see from your question, I was long winded in my answer because there's a lot of moving parts.

There's a lot of pros and cons, but with good work.

Good advice, you'll get there.

Outstanding.

Very interesting indeed.

Applies to lots and lots of folks.

Let's see if our next question applies to an equal number.

Megs.

Well, speaking of looking elsewhere for advisors, this email says I'm interested in speaking with someone to see if we are a fit for each other to work together to reach my financial goals through retirement.

Thank you.

Such a simple question and it would sound like, hey, here's here's some I might want to be a client of of more than money more than money advisors maybe.

So the reason I thought this question was really, really useful was the question or the phrase we want to speak with some to see if we are a good fit.

I have said that so very many times.

One on one with prospective clients, radio show TV shows for decades.

The concept of a good fit is so critical.

It is so key to a successful financial advisor and client relationship that it cannot be overstated.

And the fact that this individual has already comfortable with the concept that meeting with a prospective financial advisor, that's how you should think of this, a prospective financial advisor.

Now let's be clear.

If you had the opportunity to sit with a with a in a prospective financial advisory meeting with Mr. Jean DICKERSON of more than money, fame, fame, fortune, it's an amazing thing.

What an amazing human being he truly must be.

How lucky would you be if he would say, I will be your financial advisor?

That is a terrible idea as a terrible approach is a terrible thought basis.

What you need to have is I know what I need as a client.

You need to have some very clear goals set up in your mind of what I'm trying to do.

In this case, he mentions retirement.

That's a huge goal.

It's a huge process and it's a it's a generational goal.

It doesn't happen tomorrow.

It happens over decades, hopefully peripherally.

Bottom line is the good faith piece is based on you.

You must be very clear about the kinds of services that you wish, the kind of attention to detail or not, the kind of technology or not that you wish the kinds of services to.

I want tax consulting.

Do I want tax preparation?

Do I want estate planning?

Do I want investment planning or not?

Do you do you want to keep all those things kind of separate?

Once you are very clear about what you need, what's important to you, that's that.

Then everything else falls into place.

You could meet with a prospective advisor and within 5 minutes realize they're not for us.

Do you do tax planning?

No.

No, we don't.

How about estate planning?

Do you help us with the stapling?

Now, how about Social Security does it now we don't do that.

These are things that are important to us.

Thank you for your time.

And you leave or you meet with somebody who does everything that you want, but they're not very nice or on a much more typical situation.

Most financial advisors are pretty nice.

May not me, but most financial advisors are pretty nice.

So that's probably not an issue.

But very often the communication piece is an issue.

There are tons of financial advisors who are super smart, but they can't somehow get those really smart ideas out in a way that's easily understood.

So that could be a real challenge.

Some financial advisors are really smart and they can get the ideas out, but I'll give you a good example of something to avoid.

If you meet with an advisor, they claim to provide you all the services that you want.

They they talk to your language.

You really like them.

The next question would be tell us a little bit about your business.

well, I am my business.

I've been doing this for 35 years.

I have a small office, I have a secretary, a receptionist, and.

And that's my business.

So if if we engage with you today, fantastic.

But what happens is, if somebody has plans that.

That you exit stage right tomorrow, what happens to us if this individual is a solo practitioner?

Very common.

What happens to you is that you're kind of twisting in the wind and it can be a very, very uncomfortable place to be.

So really appreciate the tone, really appreciate what this person tried to do.

And sure, we'll meet we'll see if it's a good fit.

Makes is one more do we have one more back there?

We do have one more question tonight says We are thinking of moving closer to our children and grandchildren.

We wondered how to go about it.

If we find a place we like before we put our current house up for sale, we don't have a mortgage on our current property and don't plan on having a mortgage on the place we buy.

So I guess the question is do we take money out of a 401 K or IRA to buy the new house or get a mortgage on the new house just for a few months, wondering what the advantages and disadvantages are for each.

Thank you.

Well, you are very wise to ask in advance.

You're doing it in the correct time frame.

Time order.

You're going to go out.

You're going to explore the geography of the place that you can be near your children and your grandchildren.

Being near your grandchildren.

I can tell you firsthand, it's lovely.

It's fantastic.

Being near your children is rather lovely as well.

So bottom line is, this transition from your current home with tons of equity into a new home that hopefully you will also have tons of equity in, meaning that that you will have.

No, no mortgage is something that real estate agents, builders, etc.

have been doing for ever.

These transitions, sometimes called bridges.

Sometimes they will arrange a bridge loan, sometimes it's a construction loan.

It will depend on your circumstances and what you pick in terms of your home and your living arrangements.

But the fact that you have a tremendous amount of equity, a line of credit against your equity is a very good place to a very, very good tool to explore.

It would give you short term some tax deductions on the interest potentially, but most importantly it would be very low cost and would not increase your income taxes.

Money from your 41k or your IRA will almost inevitably increase your income taxes dramatically.

And you really don't want that particularly early in your retirement.

You want to hang onto your principal as long as you possibly can.

Another issue you need to explore is a reverse mortgage.

A reverse mortgage is available to be used to purchase a home.

Lots of folks are aware that if they own their home and they don't have a current mortgage and they want to pull equity out, they can use a reverse mortgage to do that without any required monthly payments.

Many folks are unaware that they can use a reverse mortgage to purchase a home.

It's a relative tively low purchase percentage.

So if you're buying a 400,000 our house, your reverse mortgage might only provide 200, 250000 hours.

But it's a wonderful start.

And between that and your line of credit, you might be able to do this quite simply.

But start with experienced real estate people, good lenders, a reverse mortgage expert.

You're going to do just fine.

Speaking of just fine, this show was just fine because of you.

You send us your emails, Gene at ask MTM dot com You ask very interesting questions.

You make very interesting comments and occasionally you say very nice things.

Much appreciated.

And you allow us to be the most relevant show, financial show on television today.

We hope we've answered some of your questions tonight.

And if we didn't make sure that you put them in an email, send them along.

We answer every question back to you, even the ones that are not aired on a subsequent show.

Thank you again for spending part of your evening.

Hopefully you'll want to come back for our next edition next week, right behind this podium.

All more than one.