And good evening.

You've got more than money.

You've got Gene Dickerson, your host, your personal financial advisor.

And I'm very, very happy to be back with you after our summer hiatus.

We're starting season seven on PBS.

They said it wouldn't last.

Apparently, they were wrong.

It is an exciting time to be back.

It's that kind of time of the year where lots of new things are starting and kids are back in school, lots of kids are going off to college, lots of kids who came out of college are starting new jobs.

The air gets a little crisp in the morning.

It's invigorating and yet nice warm days and lots of color.

It's a fantastic time of the year.

I hope.

It's also a fantastic time for you.

I hope that you are looking forward to a new season of More Than Money.

We covered so much ground last year.

All right, there were a few snarky moments.

I confess I agree, but in general, so much service, so much opportunity for us to help you get yourselves, get your financial picture a little brighter with a little more color, perhaps a little more detail, and certainly with a little more confidence, because people often say, tragically, they often say knowledge is power.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If that were true, all you would have to do is pick up your cell phone, connect to the internet, which has theoretically all knowledge available, and you'd be fabulously wealthy.

That's not exactly how it works.

It's being able to use knowledge in a way that solves problems, that provide solutions, that advances you down the the path of your financial life.

That's kind of what we do very well.

And if you're joining us for the very first time, you're saying, gosh, this this actually doesn't sound much like a PBS sponsored financial show where they dive right in on the stock market averages.

It's because it's not.

It's because the title More Than Money was picked very intentionally.

Your lives are far more than money.

Money influences the things, the options, the choices that you might be able to make.

But the reality is, for the vast majority of our audience, for folks who are seeing as coast to coast and border to border, money is a component that allows them to do and reach the goals that are personal to them.

So many of our questions, many, many of our questions have a great deal more than just financial, tones to them.

They have questions that are very personal and that are trying to take them in a direction that will, create a satisfying life, a successful life, a pleasurable and enjoyable life, indeed.

So if you are so inclined, if you would like to help make us continue to make us the most relevant financial show on television today, no matter what.

Network 24 over seven coast to coast and border to border, you make us the most relevant financial show because you ask the questions and you can do that rather easily.

You send those to me, Jean Jenny and ask him TMZ.com, Jean, and ask him to you and I. Can you send us emails?

You fill out the details as best you can.

Some of our emails that we get are quite lengthy.

Some are very brief.

It doesn't matter the length, it matters that it's important to you.

And there may come a time where you'll tune in to a future more than money show and you'll say, whoa, whoa, that was my question.

And then all of a sudden you are coast to coast and border to border.

That's pretty cool stuff indeed.

And most importantly, you get your answers.

You get the answers that help you.

And we answer every single question back to you whether they're aired or not.

We get far more questions, fortunately, than we could possibly air.

We help as many people as we possibly can.

We have reached now folks in more than 30 states.

That's pretty cool.

And, gosh, it gives us great pleasure to be able to serve you.

So let's, let's dive in.

Let's give you a sense of how we do this.

Indeed.

Our first question starts with is a reverse only good on the football field?

Obviously.

Spring.

I'm sorry.

Fall obviously brings football to mind.

Sense that you'll get the idea.

On one of your recent shows, you recommended the use of a reverse mortgage.

I'm 71 year old widow.

I have custody of my two grandchildren.

Their ages seven and eight.

I retired at age 69.

Bless you to care for my grandchildren.

I have about $100,000 in savings.

I have some money left in an annuity.

I also receive Social Security and a small retirement pension.

The children each receive about $950 a month in death benefits from their mother.

Bless you.

I own my own home.

It's worth just at $300,000.

I owe about $25,000 on a home equity.

Who doesn't?

I have a loan to pay for a car that's large enough for two children.

Car seats and all that goes with it.

We get it.

We absolutely understand.

There are things in our house that would benefit from updating, painting and repair.

The Hvac was repaired about three years ago, so that's in pretty good shape.

The kitchen's pretty new.

I would especially like to replace, the bath so that the kids have an easier access.

Is a reverse mortgage a good fit for me?

If so, would you recommend a reputable source?

I tried searching on my own, and I got inundated with offers and emails.

Your home.

Your help is truly appreciated.

You will not remember.

But you helped my husband.

You helped me at my husband's death 20 years ago.

Wow.

Thank you for your assistance.

Love your show.

Well, goodness.

Thank you.

And it took a little searching in my records to locate when we assisted this young lady more than 20 years ago.

I have said on air more than once, that I've got 780 years of experience.

That that might be a slight exaggeration, but I certainly have way more than 2030.

And in this case, now more than 40 years of experience.

And we were able to help this young lady when her husband passed.

A reverse mortgage is a very interesting financial tool.

And that's all that it is a reverse mortgage.

Any financial tool, whether it's an annuity, a reverse mortgage, stocks, bonds, cash these are tools.

They are neither good nor bad.

Some folks are go off.

Reverse mortgages are bad.

That's silliness.

That's like saying a hammer is bad or a paintbrush is bad.

It's a tool.

The question is, is it the appropriate tool?

Is it the correct tool?

And for this young lady, young, 71, caring for grandchildren, needing to make sure that her home is safe, secure, functions well, gives her and her grandchildren the best quality of life that it possibly can.

There's a very real chance that a reverse mortgage would serve her well.

So let's understand before we get too far down the path that a reverse mortgage is, in essence, a mortgage.

So for those of you who have been saying I'm not really sure I understand reverse mortgages, start with something that you do understand a mortgage, you are borrowing money using the equity in your home.

So in this particular case, she has a $300,000 home small equity line of credit.

A reverse mortgage would allow her to borrow about half, somewhere between 50 and 60% of the value of her home.

In her case, I would recommend that she do it on what's known as a reverse mortgage line of credit.

That way, she doesn't soak up the entire one 5180 ish that she could secure.

She uses it as she needs it.

So if she only needs 10 or $15,000 right now, that's all that she should take.

That's the interest that will accrue on a relatively small amount of money.

Now, the biggest difference between a mortgage and a reverse mortgage is with a mortgage.

They will calculate your terms and tell you what monthly payment you must send.

Must being underlined 3 or 4 times.

If you don't send your monthly mortgage payment, they will come and take your house and reverse mortgage.

Reverse being the operative word works exactly the opposite.

You do not have to make any mortgage payments.

So this young lady, 71 young, if she's part of our triple H club, happy, healthy hundred, she's got 20 mine.

29 more years to go to help her grandchildren grow into adulthood, prosper, be well trained and loved all along the way.

She will not have to make a mortgage payment for all of those 29 years.

She can if she wishes.

Probably not going to be in the in the in the cards.

But if she stays at her home, stays happy healthy 100 no mortgage payments at her passing the mortgage is so is, liquidated is paid off by the sale of the home.

So it's a very interesting.

Not for everyone, but a very interesting tool that might very well serve her, and her needs and particularly the needs of the grandchildren.

She has, stepped, stepped up, loss of her daughter, stepped up and is caring for these children.

God bless her.

Our prayers are with her.

And, if she needs more information, any guidance at all, someone that's that high quality, all she has to do is ask.

All she has to do is ask.

Shall we go?

Number two?

Where can you get a reliable, reliable being?

A key word.

7% return with mortgage.

I'm sorry.

With, CD rates right around for these days.

A little higher if you go a little lower, a little shorter term.

This is odd.

A little higher if you go longer.

I'm sorry, a little lower if you go longer term.

Bottom line is.

Here's the email.

Dear Jean, I have a question on information that you aired in a show on PBS called Peace of Mind.

But at what cost?

Concerning, interest rates.

You suggested that a conservative investment option might average or rate of return right around 7%, as a potential alternative to paying off a mortgage when the mortgage rate was 1.99% and the amount owed on the mortgage was about $120,000.

Can you give examples of the 7% conservative investment options that are currently available?

Any insights you share will be appreciated.

Love the show and miss Megan!

I miss Megan too.

And for those of you who have been with us for all these seasons, she was special and she's off still on location, still, on assignment so to speak.

Maybe we'll see her in the future.

Let's talk about 7% returns and where they might be achieved, particularly relative to, hey, do I pay off a mortgage where the interest rate is only.

What a remarkable low rate, 1.99.

We'll call it two.

And keep my money invested and target getting 7% return.

That differential on $120,000 is very substantial, a 5% differential, meaning I earned seven, but I have to pay out two.

I net 5% on $120,000 6000 bucks a year.

That's like getting a $500 a month pension out of thin air, out of thin air.

So the question becomes, getting a return keyword reliable because, if indeed the the return, well, could be seven, but it might be -20.

That's not going to work because on a on the year that it's -20 and you have to still pay your mortgage at 2%, you're actually -22% doesn't work.

So we already talked briefly, just hinted about CD rates.

CD rates are down and they're continuing to get lower.

Some folks are predicting some folks are forecasting that with, Mr.

Powell and the Federal Reserve lowering rates, theoretically, that's expected throughout the fall that interest rates on CDs will continue to drop.

So is it still, unthinkable to use CDs as the alternative?

The answer is no, but the difference is going to be quite small.

So if CD rates end up at pick a simple number 3% and you're paying 2% on 120,000, you will likely save 1200 bucks a year.

It's not nothing, but it's not substantial.

Substantial would be how do we get 7%?

There's a number of ways you can get a mix of stocks and bonds and likely get 7%.

You can get a mix of what are called buffered ETFs, protected ETFs and ETFs that use options that protect if the market should drop.

And many of those are paying between 5 and 6, sometimes as much as 7% per year, very reliably.

Conservatively speaking, you would do, very, very well.

There's a relatively new option as well.

You'll notice I'm not mentioning annuities.

I don't think annuities fit this, this process at all.

There's too much taxation involved.

And the rates of return currently are not high enough.

But there is a relatively new product.

It's a structured note that is, callable.

They give you a rate of return, in this case 7%, and then they give you a protection FDIC insures 100%.

You can't lose.

It's that simple.

With a structured note, they don't protect 100%.

They invest in the S&P 500 and ETFs.

It should drop.

There's a certain amount of protection.

What amount of protection.

In order to get 7% we can be protected down to -40%.

The stock market would have to drop more than 40% in any given year for you to have any risk exposure at all.

The last time the stock market even got closed was in 2008 or what, 17, 18 years ago, -37 and one year still would have been protected.

You still would have earned 7% a year.

So the protection is very, very real.

Is it a guarantee?

The answer is no.

Is it reliable?

The answer is yes.

Yes.

So, what's interesting about this is that was $120,000.

You could actually rather easily break it into pieces and have some of your money in CDs, perhaps some of your money in buffered ETFs, perhaps, and some of your money in this new structured note, format.

So depending on your requirement for, what, peace of mind or anxiety reduction, you might lean more into the guaranteed or you might lean more into the very conservative.

But bottom line is that you could mix and match.

And whether it's exactly seven, whether it's five, five and a half, six, you will still reliably see cash flow that would allow you to pay your mortgage and generate a profit.

Not a bad thing, especially if in retirement you're trying to stretch those dollars.

And let's be honest, who isn't?

Who isn't?

Shall we go to the next question?

Serve, interest them.

The question is, is is this particular scenario a fiduciary?

We've talked about that in the past.

We'll talk about that in a moment.

An advisor or whatever that means, or a salesman, young lady writes in the first lines in capital letters.

I'm so confused.

Our fixed indexed annuity is good or bad.

We've already talked about that earlier in the show.

Fixed, indexed annuities are tools.

They are neither good nor bad.

I am 74.

My husband is 78.

We are both retired now for ten years.

All of our investments are right around $1 million and we have no debt.

We were recently advised to buy a fixed indexed annuity, put half of our money in this case about $500,000 into the fixed indexed annuity and have to grow untouched.

There would be tax advantages to doing this instead of the fixed income and bonds that, plus some stocks that we have now.

Thank you for your advice and for your show where you're very welcome.

And thank you for the kind words.

Fixed indexed annuity.

Let's put it aside for a moment what exactly that tool is and what exactly that tool might do.

For this particular, client or particular audience member.

Let let's explain very clearly what that particular investment would do for the fiduciary advisor or salesman.

A fiduciary would say, is this truly in the best interest of our clients?

That doesn't seem to fit an advisor, which is kind of a generalized term that says, hey, here's my advice, take it or leave it.

And I think is, closer.

But certainly salesman becomes an interesting, adjective or label.

If you consider that on a $500,000 investment, this individual who's making this recommendation might be earning commission wise as much as $40,000.

There are fixed index annuities that are paying salesmen as much as 8%.

To be fair, there are lots of quality fixed indexed annuities that pay far less.

And to be ultimately fair, there are fixed, indexed annuities that are commission free, and the advisor in this case the fiduciary advisor would be paid roughly 1%, which is the fiduciary advisor.

Pretty standard, pretty typical fee on an annual basis.

So no big upfront commission, to earn $40,000.

They would have to manage that money for eight years, for goodness sakes, and manage it well and have it grow and provide great service, as opposed to the salesmen who will walk away with $40,000 in about.

Well, I'm I'm being overly generous when I say in about four hours because the recommendation took no time whatsoever.

But we'll give them an hour.

The answering the questions part.

Hey, come back in.

We'll review everything that might take about an hour.

We do the application, and finally, I give them two hours for delivering the fixed indexed annuity and explaining it to, this husband and wife.

And so they've put in four hours and they expect to be paid $40,000.

Does that sound like a fiduciary to you?

Well, the answer is no.

Of course not.

Fixed index annuities are inherently, inherently solid products, but they come in lots of flavors issued by many, many different companies.

And they can go from fantastic to dreadful.

And depending on whether you're dealing with a fiduciary, someone who acts in your best interest and advisor who may or may not be legally required to act in your best interest, but they they kind of, fall in that middle range.

And a salesman who has no legal obligation other than they can't lie to you that that's illegal.

But beyond that, they can do pretty much anything that they wish to earn their commission.

And as you think through it, what salesman have you bumped into recently that is worth $10,000 an hour?

I'm going to guess not a single one.

That's just my guess.

So is it the right thing for these folks to do?

It's not likely.

We don't have enough information here.

The tax advantaged piece of the annuity is largely irrelevant.

That can be easily handled through, exchange traded funds and lots of other different mechanisms that are far less onerous and far more appropriate for folks in their 70s and, with a substantial amount of money to invest.

So they should certainly seek a second opinion meeting, likely from a financial advisor that they get as a referral, maybe a referral from their accountant, maybe from their attorney, or maybe from a trusted friend who has a good relationship with their financial advisor.

This is not something they should walk into.

Without that second opinion, we.

Yeah, I think we can get one more.

And should we go for another one?

Absolutely.

Conor or Todd.

Which is better?

And first of all, you're going to hear the question.

But then we have to talk about today who is Todd.

It's not a who I get it I listen to your program, watch you on TV whenever I can.

I'm grateful not only for your wisdom, but also for your principles.

You're very, very kind.

And mentioned specifically more than money.

And that's.

That is exactly right.

My wife and I are in our later 70s.

We have added our married daughter to our joint bank account, the idea being to simplify probate for her.

If we both pass within a short period of time.

Is this a bad idea?

Would, transfer on death, Todd transfer on death be a better idea to avoid probate?

Our cash assets are above 200,000.

Plus, we have some modest investments, and our home.

Avoiding probate.

Probate has largely over the last 15 or 20 years, been portrayed, particularly in the popular press and particularly with folks who are trying to sell products to avoid probate.

As the boogeyman.

If you have to go through probate, it's dreadful.

It's horrible.

It's difficult.

It takes a lot of time.

It's very expensive.

All those things could be true.

But in I'm guessing I have no, no, surveys to to back me up.

But I've got 780 years of experience, so there's some value in my opinion.

In my opinion, 85, 90% of the estates that goes for probate.

It's not a problem.

It's it's not difficult.

It's not horrendous.

It's not costly.

It's it doesn't have to be costly, and doesn't have to be, take it, take a great deal of time.

Probate can be difficult, but for 85, 90%, your likelihood of going through probate and having no problem with all at all your daughter, the likelihood of when you're the two of you have passed, going through probate with your estates and having no problem at all is 80 or 90%.

That's pretty good.

Now, helping out a little bit, adding your daughter to, your account as a co-owner, which you have done, means a couple of different things that you may or may not be aware of.

The first, that means yes, if you're not able to sign a check or if you're out of the country traveling, or if you've had a health scare of some kind and things need to be signed on the check, she can do it.

Absolutely.

And let's just say, for the sake of argument, it's a $100,000 account.

By adding her to your joint account, you have made her a one third owner of that account, one third owner of that account.

It's not 5050.

You and your wife any longer.

Technically.

Legally, one third of that money is hers.

She can write the check, walk away with it, and she has done nothing wrong.

Maybe it's unethical, but it's not wrong.

So you've made her a one third owner?

That's probably not your intent.

Your intent was what happens if and if indeed probate is your goal, then a transfer on death designation does it much, much better with no risk whatsoever.

With your daughter's name on the account.

As a co-owner, there's a risk.

What if she goes through a lawsuit?

What if she goes through a divorce?

What if she goes through a bankruptcy?

That money can be taken from you because it's hers.

A transfer on death has no ownership during your lifetime.

It simply says that when the two of you are gone, it goes automatically to her.

That's a very simple and elegant way to avoid probate, if that is indeed your objective.

If your objective is to make sure that somebody can help you if if you need that kind of help, then a, a signatory, perhaps co-ownership or some other form of that is something you should talk to the bank about.

Interesting question folks.

We've covered a lot of ground for our first show of season seven.

We cover a lot of ground on every single show, so it certainly doesn't surprise me.

I hope you picked up a couple ideas that maybe apply to you.

Or maybe they apply to somebody that you care about.

Maybe they apply to one of your children, maybe your grandchildren.

So make sure that you share that information far and wide and understand that of course, you can relay all those folks to see this very show by going to the PBS, website.

And we we have our shows posted there.

If you're kind of intrigued, but you didn't hear on this show and the answer to the questions that you have, that's perfect, you send that email to me.

Jean, at ask mtm.com.

I won't answer every single question back to you directly.

And on future shows we select some of those to be aired.

Thank you very, very much for spending part of your evening with us.

You could be anywhere, but you're with us.

That means a great deal.

Hopefully you learned enough that you'll want to be back next week as we return to this podium for another edition of More Than Money.