You've got more than money.

You've got Gene Dickinson, your host, you've got Megan, our financial correspondent, your entire production team bringing you our show here from PBS.

Happy to be doing exactly that.

You make me very happy.

You honor me by sharing your questions with us, sharing your concerns, sharing your your family's scenarios.

Because, gosh, the show's title is more than money.

The money part often pretty straightforward.

In some cases, when you have 780 years of experience, it's pretty easy.

It's the people part, and that's the most important part.

I have had and the opportunity over the years to serve thousands of folks.

I'm very, very blessed.

On occasion, we'll get a question of, well, gosh, can't I do this on my own?

It seems like investing and all this other kind of stuff is, is pretty straightforward.

The answer is no, it's not.

And to be very blunt, none of you will ever know as much about all of this as I do, because I've spent my career 780 years.

He said, quite tongue in cheek, studying this.

So you absolutely need me.

However, I will never know.

No financial advisor will ever know as much about you and as much about your needs, your your dreams, your desires, your family, your challenges, your concerns as you do so from both sides.

We're missing about half the formula from both sides.

But if we come together as partners, we've covered almost everything you can possibly think of, particularly if you have a financial advisor with 780 years of experience, or it just happens to be exceptionally well trained.

That's fantastic.

But also, if you are the type of person that wants to be in a partnership, that shares their concerns, that shares what they really mean, as opposed to some folks just don't want to do that.

That's just not who they are.

So I understand that we're not for everybody.

No financial advisor show no financial advisor, or is right for everyone, but for the folks that we are right for, it's pretty fantastic stuff.

The partnerships are unbelievable and very, very meaningful to certainly to me.

Now, before we go to our first question, we are in the election season.

And as you watch our show this evening, in all likelihood you're already I'm preaching to the choir.

You're already the kind of person who is responsible and takes that voting responsibility seriously.

But please, if if you haven't yet or if you have folks in your family, your friend group, people you care about that haven't yet made that same commitment.

It doesn't matter what where you find yourself on the political spectrum.

Vote, vote.

Let you, your voice be heard, I understand.

Seems sometimes like one vote doesn't matter, but it absolutely does.

So I encourage you, I encourage you, I implore you, as the election approaches, make the commitment, carve out the time and get you.

Get your family and get out and vote and and make your voice be heard.

Now the voice I would like to hear next would be Megan, and we'll find out where Megan takes us to start the show tonight.

Hi, Jean.

Hi, everybody.

Our first question tonight is from a parent who's a little worrisome, but hopefully we can help her not be worrisome.

This one says an older relative of mine gives annual gifts to minimize future estate taxes.

She would like to give $19,000 to my daughter, who turns 18 this year.

While we are incredibly grateful, we don't think it's healthy for very young adults to have access to large sums of money without working for it.

There are obvious concerns about being spoiled or squandering funds, and we're also worried about the potential for addiction or exploitation.

I've seen several young people get into trouble after inheriting large sums.

Besides being broke and or sorry.

Besides, being broke and having to pinch pennies in college is a rite of passage, right?

It builds character.

We've worked hard for 18 years to instill a strong work ethic and teach budgeting skills, and I don't want to see that undone.

That brings me to my question.

Wondering how could this relative gift money to our daughter without giving her immediate and unsupervised access to all of it?

Colleges already covered through scholarships and a 529 plan, which we are very grateful for.

We plan to give her some money to spend and will also help fund a Roth IRA, but it's the rest around $13,000 annually that we need to figure out what to do with.

I would prefer to not hire a lawyer and set up a trust, but I will consider that option if it is absolutely necessary.

Thank you.

Fascinating.

Fascinating, fascinating.

Most folks would never have put this much thought into this.

Most folks would have said, wow, this is great.

She's getting some money.

Isn't this grand?

You've obviously thought 3 or 4 steps ahead and that's that's that's absolutely to your credit.

You're concerned about your your daughter's future and her well-being, as you should be.

Having said that, there's a couple pieces of of of your thought process that I would challenge.

Number one, having access to sums of money you did not work for is is almost denigrating the ability of a person to value a gift.

You don't work for any gifts.

Did your daughter kind of shrug her shoulders and roll her eyes for her Christmas gifts?

Her birthday gifts?

My assumption is no.

My assumption is no.

She's 18.

She's not five.

You did say that you have worked hard to give her a work ethic, to teach a budgeting skills, and you don't want to see that undone.

What would cause you to believe it would be undone?

It's it's a head scratcher.

And the sum of money 18,000.

Very substantial.

No question about it.

And I really like the idea that if she qualifies and she has to qualify to have a Roth IRA, she has diverted income if she qualifies, and we put that money into the Roth IRA.

And then there are other dollars, $13,000 that she has control over that you're hoping we can insulate her from, I would say, have a serious conversation with your daughter and encourage her without the use of a trust, without mom and dad being, hey, unless you talk to me, it's not your money.

No, it is.

It is her money.

The gift is not to you as to her.

So her willingness to.

To put guide rails on, on her spending, on her use of this money should tell you a great deal.

And if, gosh, if if you've had some reasonable success in your discussions, your training, your your guidance over 18 years, she should go.

Make sense to me?

I would love to spend some of the money.

My car dies about every 20 minutes.

I'd like to have a reliable automobile.

Makes perfect sense.

Or fill in the blanks.

Hey, I need a deposit for an apartment at college.

Whatever.

All these things are pretty reasonable.

The things that are not.

The things you're concerned about.

Addiction.

That don't even get me started.

It's a terrifying idea, a terrifying idea.

But let's assume that the outliers aside, the kind of mistakes that an 18 year old might make spending too much money.

Hey, we went out, we parted.

We went to a club, I treated my friends, I went on a vacation that was a little extravagant, etc., etc.. 18 year olds make mistakes and and even though I absolutely understand 18 grants, a lot of money.

Got it?

It is not a make it or break it amount of money.

It is not a life damaging amount of money.

If she is indeed the recipient of the of the council and guidance, you've been giving her, the type of mistakes she's going to make if she makes any, but at the types that she's likely to make, they're not damaging their life lessons.

Their life lessons.

Hey, my friend said she was short and I lent her a thousand bucks and she never paid me back.

That's a life lesson.

That's a life lesson.

Hey, I brought a car that I thought was kind of cool, but it's unreliable, and I'm spending a lot of money on insurance and gas, and.

And I made a mistake.

That's a life lesson.

So balance as a father.

Balance.

I have three daughters and a granddaughter.

Balance.

Balance yourself between.

I need to protect her, and I need to create enough breathing room for her.

She can make some mistakes.

I appreciate very much your concern.

I love my daughters desperately.

I never want them to even bump their toe.

But most importantly, I want them to be happy.

And I want them to be.

I want them to experience life, and I want them to be able to build good judgment.

And sometimes you get good judgment from bad judgment.

Makes it would be our good judgment if we could help somebody else as well.

We surely will.

This question comes from a new fan.

This one says I am a new viewer of More Than Money on PBS, and I really enjoy your show.

I turned 73 in January and selling my condo earlier this year.

I made a profit of $175,000, which I then used to buy a new condo in a 55 and older community.

My question is, would the IRS consider this capital gain as income?

But more importantly, would the 175,000 affect my Erma Medicare income bracket for 2026?

Thank you.

Well, welcome to the more than money community.

That's fantastic.

And while I'm thinking about it, since you knew, you may not yet know that we have a more than money newsletter as well, so all you have to do to receive it it's absolutely free comes to your email inbox.

Just send me an email jean and ask intercom and we'll get that to you as well.

I was going to be tongue in cheek and tell you this is bad and it isn't.

This is all this is as simple as it can be.

Bless you, the IRS.

Many years ago rules have changed for some of us who have been around a long time.

We know different rules were from way back, but not now.

You may sell your residence for up to a profit of $250,000.

And there's no tax.

There's no negative impact.

That's a lovely thing.

If I am reading your number correctly, and of course I am 175, which, if I do the math carefully, is less than 250,000, which means no worries, no worries.

Now the fact that you reinvested has really little or no bearing.

In years past it did.

There was a former rule that said if you wanted to continue to be tax sheltered, you had to reinvest in a new home within two years.

That rule is gone.

And just as an aside, not for this individual, not answering this individual, but for folks who have interest in in maybe something a little creative, you are allowed to sell your primary residence and have for an individual up to $250,000 of profit, tax free.

If you're married, couple up to $500,000 of profit, tax free, and you can do that every two years.

So if you're the kind of person who is maybe has a little masochistic streak in them and wouldn't mind moving moving every two years, you could buy a home, pick a number, bought it for 250, spend two years there landscaping, paint, paper, fresh the whole thing, making all the improvements so it it just sparkles and sell it for 450 and pay no income tax or Social security tax or any other tax.

And in essence, over two years you've earned $100,000 a year tax free.

And then you could do it again.

Now for most folks, absolutely bad idea.

The idea of moving often dreadful.

For some folks, it's wonderful.

It's a great adventure.

We've had retired individuals who have done that in various parts.

They've gone pick a state, Arizona, bought a house, spent a couple of years, loved it, enjoyed everything about it.

And they decided, you know, we'd like to learn about Tennessee and they moved to Knoxville.

Has a great zoo, by the way, and they do that.

And they have traveled the world, traveled the country, I should say, traveled the country and basically allowed their skills, their their real estate skills, paint, paper, landscaping to fund their retirement without touching any of their IRA monies, etc.. And for young folks, if you are perhaps a young married couple with young children at home and you're saying, gosh, I wish one of us could stay home and be with the children, you could, based on this kind of a pattern where you buy a home, you spend the time and effort on that home and a couple of years later, sell it and pay no tax.

So even if the profit is relatively modest, $60,000 profit, someone staying home just got paid $30,000 tax free to be home and be with the children.

Interesting strategies.

Is there another question that I might apply my 780 years of experience to?

Well, this next question definitely does want you to maybe compare yourself.

See who's better now.

I'm just kidding.

Well, this one says I have been with thrive and for many years.

Our current representative is a very nice guy and I have no issues with him.

I have always admired your operation from afar and was wondering if, in your experience, you could say that you're just playing better than thrive and I'm a buy and hold type person, so was not chomping to change for change sake.

But I hope you don't mind me asking this.

Thanks.

Well, goodness, I don't mind at all.

As a matter of fact, I was very, very pleased to include this in our packet of questions to be answered tonight for a number of reasons.

But let me let me start basic.

Typically when we have questions that include the name of a competitor, we don't name the competitor, we do that there are legal issues.

There are concerns or ethical concerns, of course, and it tends to muddy the waters because if I'm negative about a particular company or if I'm positive about a particular company, that's kind of in a sense, it's kind of etched in stone almost forever.

Because now, with our shows placed on PBS passport, our shows placed on our website, more than money online, all of those places, it's kind of forever.

And somebody may review a show from three years ago.

And I say that Jimmy's wealth stinks.

And in the three years Jimmy's wells turned themselves around and they do a great job.

I don't normally name names, so in this case, we did thrive in why?

Why would we make that change?

For a couple of reasons.

Number one, thriving is is a well-respected, very well respected.

I have nothing negative to say about thriving.

There are very well respected firm.

They have a long history, very long history, multiple names over the years but thrive into the current name, long history of of having financial advisors who absolutely are committed to to providing the very best in the best interest of their clients.

Outstanding.

An outstanding set of value system.

Do I have disagreements about what they may recommend?

What they may not recommend?

Are some advisors thriving better than us all?

That is true, but it doesn't change the fact that there's nothing about the term thriving that should cause this gentleman to go, oh, I should probably leave.

Absolutely not the case.

Secondly, I've he says he has no issues with his advisor.

Okay.

Maybe it's because he doesn't know what issues he should have.

And the the concept here is very straightforward.

It's called a second opinion, very common.

Obviously in the medical field your doctor says we've got to cut off something.

Who don't want to do that.

I think I'll get a second opinion before I start losing body parts or anything else serious.

Anything else medically serious.

And there's lots of medically serious things.

So you get a second opinion.

Is this gentleman's financial life important enough to him of concern, enough to him that a second opinion would be worthwhile?

And if the answer is yes, the fact that he has no issues with him, or the fact that he's kind of admired us from a field from afar for for a while, not not terribly relevant, not terribly relevant, because the second opinion is not intended to say who they're bad.

Again, that's why I left thriving in because they're not.

But here's what they do.

Here's what we see.

Here's what could be improved or not.

It could very well be that upon that examination, the answer is there's really nothing here to improve.

You're doing quite well.

You're working with somebody that's with a respected company go and and going confidence and peace of mind because another person, a competitor has said you're doing fine.

Of course, the result might be different.

It may be, hey, they're doing fine, what they're doing.

But here are 3 or 4 things that you might consider.

Not many thriving advisors have access to tax planning and preparation, not many.

So that may be important to you.

That may be a reason why, even though your current advisor is fine, that maybe that's important.

Not many thriving advisors, other advisors have access to Social Security planning, Medicare planning.

That may be a reason that you may want to make an adjustment.

There are lots of reasons why you may want to.

Why you may not want to.

So worthy competitor, of course long track record of honorable service to their clients.

Does that mean that there's no value in the second opinion?

Don't be so silly.

Of course there is.

Even if particularly if the end result is you're solid, everything is fine.

What a great result.

That would be so well done you.

And no, I don't mind you asking at all, Max.

I hope you don't mind me asking who do we serve next?

Well, our next question is definitely more difficult, but I'm hoping we can give her some advice.

This one says I want to know more about estate planning and trusts for us, as my husband has dementia.

Thank you for your guidance.

Oh my goodness.

First of all, our prayers.

Our prayers to you and to him.

I wish I could tell you that this is an unusual question, but it isn't.

And the issues around dementia all times cognitive impairment.

The terms terms that 30 years ago most of us had never heard now sadly, are better understood.

Perhaps.

And maybe that's why we're hearing it more.

Because perhaps 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 50 years ago, someone who had this, they were forgetful.

They were always like that.

They don't pay attention or their hearings.

Not good.

Fill in the blanks.

But but we didn't identify it as as what it what it truly is, which is cognitive impairment.

The first thing that that you must do, and if it hasn't already been done, is to work with a trusted experience.

The state planning attorney, a lot of folks here, estate planning attorney and they go, wait, wait, wait, how about elder law?

Most, most elder law is integrated in the estate planning world.

So when you are talking to a trusted, experienced, a state planning attorney, the word, the words elder law are assumed, assumed.

One of the most powerful things that you must do is to identify whether you can establish a power of attorney now, or whether that time has passed, and a power of attorney has to be established through some legal mechanism, some court intervention, whatever it takes, you must secure the ability to act in the best interest of your husband, both from a power of attorney standpoint, which is largely legal and financial, and from a medical standpoint, medical directives, which is in essence, a medical power of attorney.

Those two things are urgently needed if you don't already have them in hand, because that will allow you then to make various decisions, important decisions that will affect your family around the challenge of your husband's dementia.

Now, having said that, there may very well be elder law issues in terms of protecting you, your joint assets, your marital assets are at risk if the care for your husband becomes overwhelming.

There was a time many years ago where if somebody went into a nursing facility, the the monthly charge might be 2000, 2500, $3,000.

Now, I don't know of a facility anywhere in the country that would do that.

As a matter of fact, 6 or 7000 a month, depending on your location, might be bare minimum.

If you're getting reasonable care eight 10,000 a month.

And ironically, care for dementia patients is all often referred to as memory care 15, 16, $18,000 and some locales much, much more.

So protecting you from the possibility of a financial ruin is part of the discussion that you will have with that attorney that you secure.

So it is a, a, a, a dual edged sword that we are dealing with here.

Our concern about protecting your husband, of course, and caring for him and his needs, along with the dual objective of protecting you, protecting you.

Now, I'll make one more observation that is not financial.

I have seen so very many.

Couples, married couples who one of the spouses needs care for whatever reason, dementia, physical, etc.

and the other becomes the caregiver and it is very common.

Sadly, that's the caregiver that loses their health.

First, the stress 20 473 65 is can be can be immense.

Please seek help, accept help, encourage people that are caring and well-meaning to help accept the help both gratefully and graciously.

Don't feel like you need to be the person 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

From this point forward, I can assure you that is not what your husband would in his right mind, wish for you and it is not healthy for you.

And let's be clear, maintaining your health is the very best thing you can do to help care for him.

So please be gentle with yourself.

Be kind with yourself.

Accept help when it is offered.

Bless you.

God bless you and God bless all of you that are faced with a similar circumstance.

Prayers every day.

Prayers every day.

Goodness.

Our prayer every day is of thanks.

We are so grateful for you.

We're so grateful to our audience.

We're so grateful for those of you who have reached out to us with questions, who have become part of our more than money family.

You mean the world to us.

If you are just joining us, send us your questions.

Jean, at Ask.

Send us your questions.

We're glad to answer.

We answer every question back to you and if you like our newsletter, you can use the same email address as well.

And goodness, if that works for you, then you're going to want to join us every single week because we come back with more of what's important to you with every single episode.

Hopefully that means something to you and that you will return.

And we're back here next week with another edition of More than Month.

Good night.