Ask Terry Archives

I heard a popular Financial Expert mention that a safe bet to make good returns is to invest in a Commercial Real Estate Fund. You can expect 6-8% returns with no fees on a $25k minimum investment. Seems too good to be true. What am I missing here?

Terry, My wife and I are in our mid 50's and I plan on retiring from 597 fitters union in 2 years or less if possible. I would like to meet with someone who could look over what we have and move it to protect us before the market drops. Who can help us get…

We have no mortgage payment. Should we pay off our car loan of $30,000 with our equity line so we will have a mortgage exemption. Equity line interest is 5.25% fixed

There is some confusion about your 5-7 column(san diego union tribune) regarding the decision one makes as to when to start taking social security benefits.You wrote"It's a decision that,once made,cannot be changed".Yet on the same day and in the same newspaper another financial expert,Liz Weston wrote " those who started Social Security early have the…

Have 60% in Vanguard, 20% real estate (0 debt) & 20% parked bank @ .04%. (80K ) was thinking to put in CD 3 YR.. BUT NOT sure. Do not forsee needing for at least 5 yrs.. searched bankrate for CD rates. Thank you for your opinion!

Can you offer resources for how to create a Medicaid Trust that shelters assets and qualifies people to be eligible for Medicaid benefits? Attorneys in our area sell their services but cost for creating such a trust is about $10,000.00 for each of us, husband and wife. We are having difficulty finding out how to…

i GOT YOUR EMAIL, i CLICKED THE LINK YOU SUGGESTED, AND I GET THE HOME PAGE AGAIN. WHERE ARE THE FORMS? HOW DO I GET THEM? THANKS

Hello Terry. Part of my retirement planning, I invest in a 457b through my employer. I have about $225,000 in my plan, I contribute $1100.00 per month into this particular plan. I plan on retiring in late 2020. Here is my question. Should I keep my current funds allocated in various funds ( i have…

Can a trust be created between a unmarried couple , living together on jointly owned real estate. One man and one woman , in the state of California? Thank you

I'm trying to learn about how to start saving but I'm unsure how this plan works. How is it different from a regular 401K and will it help me save on taxes?

In our working days my husband and I put almost all of our savings into IRA accounts. Now that we're retired whenever we need cash for monthly bills or large purchases such as a car, we have to take money out or our IRA and end up paying quite a bit in taxes. Husband age…

I have two accounts with IRA money and am at age where I needed to take RMD withdrawals so to make things simple I just increased the amount that was required from both accounts and just took that amount of just one of them. I was told that I should not have done it that…

are 6 mo, 1yr CD's safe from online internet banks? They seem to have better rates.

I read your article this morning, 4/24, in the Dayton Daily News regarding underfunded pensions. My question is, what are people to do if they live in an affected area?

I,m 74 with a self funded retired program ---- I am receiving Social Security ( $32,600) anyway to increase ?

my MIL is widowed, currently suffering from dementia, has assets she told my husband are in a trust. We have no documentation other than Health Care surrogate. We are very concerned that the assests she has will be consumed by the state she lives (Ohio). She has verbalize her wishes ,but we are not sure…

Would it be wise to invest in a total stock market index fund, S&P 500 Index Fund, and a NASDAQ index fund, or is there too much overlap, and therefore it would be wiser to invest in just one of them, and if so, which one?

How do I find it?

I am sorry I just turned on my radio at the end -- were you offering a list of things to do re a will? I would like that - - I am in the process of doing my will etc - I am a senior and have been procrastinating too long. Where can I…

Hi Terry... My husband and I are a financial mess. We are both horrible money managers and have somewhat of a toxic relationship with money. Right now I need to file for bankruptcy, I have student loans that are in jeopardy of defaulting and my husband has a 20k IRS problem that followed him from…