And good evening.

You've got more than money.

You've got Gene Dickerson, you have Megan Smale.

You've got an entire team bringing you more than money this evening and hopefully giving you the kind of answers to your financial questions that you go.

We don't get that anywhere else.

There are so many financial shows these days, understandably so.

It's an important topic for folks who are looking for quality information that really does assist them in making good decisions appropriate specifically to them.

So understandably so.

Sadly not for us, but sadly, so many of our competitors are focused on the kinds of things that really don't move the needle for the average person.

They may be giving stock reports.

They may be talking about the the insider trading of some major corporation or a trade imbalances.

All that's very interesting.

But where the rubber meets the road for most folks is the basic fundamental questions about their specific financial concerns.

That's what we're here for.

That's what has made us the most relevant financial show on television.

No matter where you see us, you might see us, PBS direct, you might see us PBS on passport, you might see us on our More Than Money online.com website where we have all of our shows, listed.

They're archived there.

So you can access those wherever you're seeing those shows.

Coast to coast, border to border.

We are the most relevant.

Not because I'm the most interesting, although some have said it's because you are the most interesting.

For me to drone on and on in a professed surreal way about any topic would put us all asleep.

Probably me first.

But answering your questions is so much fun and so beneficial, not just to you.

And that's one of the great, advantages that we have.

You're asking a question that's very specific to you, and we're reaching hundreds of thousands of people, and even if it's only a small percentage, that means there are hundreds or thousands who are going, hey, that's what I was wondering about.

So by asking your question, sending those to me, Jean, at ask mtm.com, you are opening up the opportunity for lots of folks to pick up new ideas, lots of folks to benefit from the answer to your specific question.

You're doing quite disservice.

Not just to yourself, but to our audience at large.

And we thank you for that.

And, gosh, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that just as we started the show, it occurred to me that as much snow, wherever you're seeing as it may be very different for you, but as much snow as we still have, as much cold weather as we still have ahead of us, spring is coming and and it always does.

And it's really cool.

So if you're, a little blue, a little, Geez, I wish it wasn't so gray.

I wish it wasn't so, so dreary, It's not going to be long.

Spring is going to come, and spring am not very long and springing into action.

One of the worst Segways ever.

Meg, where do we start?

I'm always curious to see where those go.

Our first question.

We have a bit of a sticky situation to start off tonight.

This emailer says I have an odd dilemma.

Our parents did their estate planning years ago with an even split between their four children.

Our mother's goal has always been to leave something for each of her kids.

Our father has never really shared that goal, but agreed to it because he knew doing anything else would likely result in a divorce.

Nobody worried about it because we honestly didn't expect him to outlive our mom.

Apparently he's going to outlive her.

Mom was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and opted to be treated for quality of life.

The four of us have been in solid support of her choice.

She is at peace with her life and everything.

With one exception.

Our dad has decided that after she passes, he is going to change the will to skip a generation and or leave it to the church.

This is not a money grab on our part.

It is about respecting our mother's wishes for us and for our father.

It is about him making one last stand up, being authoritative and in control.

In doing so, he will be disrespecting the wishes of his wife yet again.

She has been the glue that has held us all together.

One of us is the executor and has a durable power of attorney.

That sibling and another also have medical power of attorney.

Short of filing for guardianship.

Is there anything that we can do to stop him?

Thanks, Jean.

Goodness.

I am so sorry.

There are there are bits of of this question that, are certainly to assert disturbing.

There are bits that are in in my estimation, you may find my opinion interesting on this.

Are inspiring.

And I'll certainly mention that here in a moment.

Short of filing for guardianship, which can be a very difficult thing to, to accomplish, to be successful in accomplishing, determining that your father is in some way, shape or form, incompetent, unable to make his own, well judged decisions.

The fact that you disagree with the decision does not make him incompetent, that it may make him in court and it may make him difficult to be around.

It may make him not a very nice person, but it doesn't make him incompetent.

Now, to be blunt, estate planning attorneys, especially ones that are experienced, ones that are trustworthy, will explain to a married couple, that we are not here to create wills that are identical necessarily.

Now, many married couples, perhaps the majority, would say we were in complete agreement.

When we're both gone, we want our four children to inherit this equally.

Obviously, this is not the case here.

So if their documents are prepared appropriately, mom's document says, if if I pass and my husband has already passed, split equally, your father's documents obviously say something very different.

Something very different.

So a trusted, experienced attorney would say to a couple like that, so now we realize that the will that will determine what happens is the will of the person who dies last.

It's the way this works.

Now, are there things that can be done currently?

And the answer is perhaps, perhaps.

But before we get there, I want I want to say something about your mom.

Your your phrase says she was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and opted to be treated for quality of life.

She chose not to extend her life, but to live her life as at the highest level of quality that she can.

In the time that she has been given.

And that's a decision that everyone that faces any type of diagnosis this dire needs to make.

That decision.

And it's a very personal decision, without a doubt.

The factors involved are too many to count, and every individual has so many different, components of that decision making process that it's it's kind of hard to get your head around.

And yet your mom is made.

What in my opinion, it's my own personal opinion, is a very courageous decision to sacrifice what may be an extended life without quality to a shortened life, perhaps, but with quality.

I have such admiration for her.

The courage that that takes what she has accepted is, is inspiring.

It's impressive, counterbalance to what your father has decided.

Possibly.

He's kind of shared some ideas.

Maybe it's true.

Maybe it isn't true.

It doesn't sound like he's the kind of person that we can take him at face value, no matter what.

So, let's assume for a second he.

He is not he's not incompetent.

She does pass before he does.

It is his will going to govern everything that happens.

Perhaps you mentioned, skipping a generation and then maybe the church.

Well, if that's the case, that's certainly not the worst that I've ever heard.

The word girlfriend has been in there in a number of really dreadful situations.

Or conversely, it's 21st century boyfriend.

Yeah, it can be really, really dreadful.

This is not really, really dreadful.

However, someone here has power of attorney, as you mentioned, if your mother has her own assets, is it possible for her to gift those assets before her passing?

The answer is heck yes.

If your mother is not, dependent on a power of attorney.

Not.

She is in full.

Capacity as she, she has complete control over her her, her functions and her mentality.

She can do that.

She can make those gifts now, and if she has control over her own assets.

And by the way, if it's a joint account, let's say there's 500,000 in a joint account.

Can she give away 250?

It's half of that is hers.

So can she make gifts now that will blunt the impact.

The answer is probably yes.

If for some reason, with the development of of of her diagnosis, that, she's not in a, in a position to do that, perhaps her power of attorney can do that.

Certainly can, consult with an estate planning attorney.

Certainly enlist your mother's assistance and all this, and and see if we can if not change this scenario, maybe affect this scenario in such a way that the result is more a keep in keeping with with her wishes and a bit less with your dad.

It's a very challenging situation.

Please don't go it alone.

Make sure you have good legal counsel.

And, it just occurred to me, in your pursuit of all this and it's clear that you, you feel the the unrighteousness of the scenario in your pursuit.

Do not sacrifice your mother's well-being.

Do not sacrifice her peace of mind.

Do not sacrifice her her love and her, commitment to her family.

In, on the altar of.

This isn't right.

If she's willing to cooperate and she wants to make this, an important part of of her perhaps last days.

Outstanding.

And if she says no, then just turn and walk away.

Respect your wishes and and just love her.

Just love her goodness.

Not all questions are easy answers.

Certainly lots of challenges.

And and gosh, for those of you out there, there listening is going, wow, that's a shame that that family doesn't really gel the way ours does.

Thank your lucky stars.

Be grateful to God that you've been blessed with a family that does not have this kind of conflict, and understand that you are in the minority, because what's the phrase in every family?

Yeah, and every family.

There's at least one and usually more than one in our family, not so much.

So let's return to our family and say Meg's, where do we go next?

Sounds good.

Well, we do have another family question, but this one's a little more positive, I think.

It asks, will it really help my parents more if I give them stock instead of cash?

Mom and dad have their Social Security checks and a little bit of interest off CDs.

They can pay their bills, but extra expenses are tough to handle.

I've been helping them with about $20,000 a year, but just writing them a check wondering is it better for them if I give them stock?

Thanks.

Better for them.

Maybe not better for the family.

The family picture likely now, but let's kind of give the build some framework around this question.

Can anyone write a check to Mom and Dad for 20 grand?

Sure.

Is there any problem with doing that?

No.

No.

Gift tax?

No.

Do you even have to file a gift tax return to sign a piece of paper?

No.

So writing a check, 20,000 bucks.

You're being very gentle.

God bless you.

Fantastic.

Is that a problem?

Not.

Not in the least.

The question is, is is there potentially a better way?

A more advantageous way?

Certainly from a tax standpoint, the answer is maybe, maybe.

And and let me give you kind of an extreme example, you own stock that you paid $10 a share for, and it's not worth a $100 a share.

And if you're going to sell some of that stock in order to write the $20,000 check, you're going to have a capital gains of 90 bucks per share.

If we're doing $20,000, we're going to do what, 200 shares?

We've got basically $18,000 of capital gains.

And depending on your tax bracket, that might not be a big problem.

Or it could be could be as much as a $4,000 tax bill to you for selling the stock.

That could be an issue that, if it doesn't create some angst, it should, but it might be avoidable if we gift that very same stock, $10 a share that you paid now worth 100.

We also gift to mom and dad our cost basis, the $10 a share that does not change the gain does not change $90 a share.

In this case, $18,000 gain does not change.

What changes is that?

It is not reported on your tax return to report on your mom and dad's.

They get the same money, but they report the gain on their tax return.

And based on what you've told us in your email, it is very likely, very likely they will pay no income tax at all.

So right now, writing the check for 20,000 is certainly works.

It's simple.

It's easy.

It may be that by converting or adding one more step I'm going to give you a stock.

Then you sell it, then you have the cash.

And you can certainly set it up to have that done very easily.

Oh my goodness.

And then these days, there's no commissions for selling stocks for the vast majority of, of organizations that, that, that you would deal with, that we would deal with.

So there's there's no inherent cost.

But there is a tax savings, perhaps as much as 4000 bucks a year that either you save doesn't come out of your pocket or that you can use to help mom even more.

Help Mom and dad even more so.

Should you be giving them stock?

The answer is maybe we don't know that you have the stock.

We don't know what the gains are.

We don't know what your parents tax bracket is.

But how would you find out?

It would take about ten minutes if you spoke to a, an experienced financial advisor.

Many financial advisors will not answer this question.

Cannot answer this question because they have no access either, by choice to to tax information, or by, regulation or by authority.

They work for a company that says you're not allowed, that you're a financial advisor, but you can't talk about taxes.

That, that that's an oxymoron right there.

Emphasis on the moron.

But bottom line is, if you are talking to an, a financial advisor that has, access to that, there's 3 or 4 bits of information.

Yeah, ten minutes, ten minutes and figure it out if it works for you and you can say, forget a 4000, how about saving 2000?

I'm not saving a thousand bucks.

This is a real money.

Real money.

That that will will help your family.

So I mentioned family income tax impact.

It may not make any difference to your mom and dad at all, but for the family, big picture.

There's opportunity to save a lot of money.

Good.

This.

Now, a lot of money is a phrase that when folks hear about financial shows, they they think that's all we talk about.

How do how do you make a lot of money?

But most of our questions are they're not really around how to make the most money.

But gosh, let's find out what our next question is and see if I'm being psychic.

I think you might be, our next question says hello.

My husband is 71 and I am 69.

We came across your show and thoroughly enjoy it.

We now tape it so that we don't miss it.

You give some great advice.

I have a TSP account through the federal government.

In 2026, they will allow a rollover to a Roth IRA.

Wondering would it be wise to rollover in 2026 since the temporary senior tax credit will be available?

I have approximately $103,000.

My husband has a 401 K with approximately 230,000.

We see the stock market have wild gains and losses, and we are concerned for a recession.

Wondering should we diversify some of our money in these two accounts, maybe gold, real estate or bonds?

We are looking to have our small nest egg last as long as possible.

We own our own home and two automobiles.

We have minimal debt.

We receive Social Security and two small pensions.

We did downsize to a smaller home and hope to age in place.

God willing, we have good, affordable health care.

We appreciate any guidance that you can offer.

Thank you in advance.

Oh, you're quite welcome in advance.

And you're very, very kind.

Your words are very, very kind.

We, as a rule, received quite a number of emails, from our PBS listeners.

And they generally start with how much they enjoy the show, some of them taping, some of them referring, their friends, they're making sure they're watching as well.

We appreciate all of that.

You are you are of a generous spirit and appreciative.

And that's that makes it so easy to be excited about serving you in any way that we are able.

We appreciate that very much.

This situation, is, is very common.

Lots of folks who come to us with a similar kind of set of concerns are almost, embarrassed.

Oh, goodness.

I, I guess I'm maybe I'm being silly.

You're not being silly.

Maybe I'm being a scaredy cat.

You're not.

Well, maybe you are, but but but for good reason.

For good reason.

This young lady mentions the stock market's wild gains and losses.

Volatility.

This this sine curve that seems to be dramatically high.

And then something said dramatically low thousands of points.

Either way it seems insane.

Like it's never been insane before.

And that simply isn't the case.

It's always been insane.

The stock market is not a straight line and never has been and never has been.

And there have been moments, rare, where it seemed to be gently moving upward.

But for the most part, the stock market gains, are generally, in the short term, wildly volatile wild gains and losses.

You're absolutely right.

And then if you look a little further out, six months a year, those wild ups and downs are a little more gentle because you've stretched it out over time.

And then if you look over a three year period, a five year period, goodness.

I recently met with a financial, expert, a partner of ours on the investment side who, they've done some deep research on investment returns in the stock market using the S&P 500 as their as their benchmark, in over a six year period, six years, the S&P 500 has been positive.

If I'm remembering the number correctly, 93, 94, 95% of the time.

So in the short run, investing in the stock market can be a roller coaster ride that causes significant odds of the hoof or worse, worse, over a slightly longer period of time.

That's a little more comfortable.

Anything much beyond a three year period, and all of a sudden you're starting to see point to point over that period of time, a much more reasonable, kind of up and down of the market does not change the fact that if in that three year period, a five year period, a six year period, you need the money, it could it be on a one of those decidedly downward, part of the, of the stock market experience?

Yeah, sadly.

So are there ways to, either avoid or, soften, that that, negative impact.

And the answer's sure we'll get back to that, momentarily.

Small Nasdaq.

This young lady has 103,000.

Her resume has 230,000.

Where I come from, 330 grand is a lot of money.

This is not a small nest egg.

This is a serious.

Next.

The Nasdaq.

He is 71.

She is 69.

If they are part of our triple H healthy happy 100 club, they've got 30 more good years.

That this money needs to be productive for them.

They're concerned about recession.

I think in the short run we can we can put that more on the back burner.

The numbers that we're seeing recently, and of course, you're seeing our show a couple weeks down the road, which, so when I say that I think things are are kind of settling into some good numbers, you'll know better.

You've got two weeks on me.

Send me an email, let me know how things turned out to be.

Great.

Then I know what's happening.

Bottom line is unemployment is low, employment is high.

Wages are rising.

Inflation is growing lower.

Interest rates are going lower.

Real estate's doing better.

Companies from around the world are investing in the United States.

All these things say a recession is very unlikely.

Stock market likely over the next year or 2 or 3.

Should do very, very well.

Does not guarantee anything.

Doesn't guarantee that, five months from now, things could look very different and very bleak.

So does adding gold, real estate or bonds to your portfolio give you the kind of protection that you're really looking for?

Well, there was a time when those were the only alternatives.

If you weren't in stocks or just holding the money in your hand, it was in bonds.

But over recent years, stocks and bonds tended to move in the same direction.

Bonds and stocks up.

That's good.

But both down at the same time.

And what you really want is for them to work in opposite directions.

Gold recently has done fabulously well, but for the ten years prior to that, it did nothing.

How about Bitcoin?

Bitcoin was fantastic.

Topped out at one point about 126,000 a coin, and the last number I saw was about 66,000 a coin.

It dropped $60,000 a coin.

Is there no answer?

The answer is, of course there is.

Of course there is.

There are lots of opportunities where you can invest and yet still be protected.

There are, investment platforms called buffered ETFs, buffered exchange traded funds that can provide you with the opportunity to make a good rate of return.

But protection in case the market should drop.

A pretty typical buffered ETF, protects down to a -15% level.

So if you lose five, ten, 15% in the market, you lose zero.

On the upside, you're limited 1,112%.

But that gives you a lot more protection, a lot more confidence.

Annuities can do things very, very similar to that.

Structured notes can be created where you can have the same type of protection built in and yet still get reasonable rates of return.

By the way, protection I mentioned, 15% is pretty typical, depending on your angst or depending on the fact that you don't necessarily need, 10 or 1112% return, you can get 100% protection, be in the stock market and be protected down.

-100 means you lose zero.

That's pretty incredible.

You're limited on the upside to maybe six 7%, but if 6 or 7 floats your boat, that could work out very, very nicely.

You've done a lot of really wonderful things.

You're in a position where you can roll the TSR or TSB, Thrift Savings Plan over into a Roth IRA or other IRA and now take advantage of these very interesting.

Very diverse investment platforms that provide you with good opportunity for return and excellent protection even as much as 100%.

Excellent question.

Thank you so much.

It allowed me to kind of expand for our entire audience into, types of things that lots of folks are going to be interested in and trying to figure out for themselves in retirement, speaking and figuring things out.

We're hoping that we're figuring it out, that the types of questions that you're hearing on our show and being answered on our show are interesting to you.

We apologize if at any point during our show you found yourself being even mildly entertained.

I assure you that was my mistake.

But bottom line is, there's no mistakes here.

We're here to serve you.

And if you have questions that you would like us to answer, send those to me, Gene, and ask mtm.com.

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