Ask Terry Archives

My ex-husband , who is an accountant, recently divorced me after 30 years of marriage. I trusted him with our finances all those years, which was a mistake. This is the first time that I am on my own and could use some help with basic budgeting. I hired a forensic accountant during the divorce…

My husband and I are 74 and 77....he has Alzheimer's. We have both worked all of our lives but due to severe reversals back about 8 years ago, we are now in a precarious position. Altho our credit score is very good and we have kept up all of our payments on time over the…

I am 58 years old recently retired from employment and requested my retirement pension in a lump sum totaling $450,000. I haven't pulled the funds yet and trying to decide if I should rollover the funds to an Roth IRA or Traditional IRA? I would like to know what you think the best options are…

Hi Terry, as of right now I am heavily invested in stocks and mutual funds. Where would you say is a safe place to put cash if you have concerns about the market? Terry Says:  A place where you have no risk -- but earn literally nothing!  You can use an insured money market deposit…

I am an 80 yr. old woman that worked and saved all my life. I don't trust anyone with my money because of the endless scams, etc. by financial advisers. I've made all my own investment decisions with limited knowledge I've gleaned over the years from reading financial books and magazines. I have $900,000. in…

Are you familiar with this company, and if so, your opinion please. Thanks in advance Terry Says:  I reviewed the website of this company.  It is impossible, truly impossible for any company to offer returns as high as 16 percent without 100 percent downside risk!  I would categorize this with buying a lottery ticket --…

I just received and accepted an offer on my single family home. I have 4 days to find an attorney to represent me at the Closing. I have called 4 different lawyers for quotes on their legal fees. They are over the place. Some warn about attorneys getting paid fees from the Title Co. that…

Can you assist my effort to have health care providers limited in their charges to uninsured or underinsured persons not exceed Medicare or health INSURANCE adjusted approved amounts ? Only industry that cash payor is billed 5 to 10 times the amount Medicare or Humana would approve. My lab test charge was $1100 and blue…

Greetings! One of our retirement pieces that we had no intention of touching until age 65, is a deferred vested pension at a former employer. That employer has expressed their interest in forcing out the benefit early. Question- At age 65 value is about $250,000, forced out early now with age reductions would be about…

Is it a good time to invest in gold and silver? Terry Says:  You'll never know the answer to that question -- except in hindsight!  There doesn't seem to be a lot of inflation, but there certainly is plenty of uncertainty.  And as we've seen, people turn to precious metals in times of fear. That…

  After I left my employer, I used money from a 401(k) and purchased IRA Annuities. I have not begun to withdraw any monies from any of the the annuity contracts. Are these annuity balances summed up with my other IRA's to calculate the RMD, or do I only sum up my non-annuity IRA balances?…

Upon my death (owner of bond), who will get the value of my US Bonds since my husband (beneficiary) is deceased? Will it go back into my estate or go to his heirs? Terry Says:  You should contact the Treasury and change the name on your savings bonds if your co-owner is deceased.  Even if…

My mom is 76, and she is running out of money. She feels like she needs to sell her house. The house is completely paid for, but, there are home owner fees and of course taxes. Would it be wise for her to do a reverse mortgage, or should she sell the house? Just a…

Sorry I did not give enough info before I am 71 years old -- 3 years retired Approximately $190K has to be drawn By Aug where do I put &175K of that so as not to pay all the taxes at one time?? Please help. My regular income is around $3,500 a year and just…

My question is whether I should obtain another credit card. I presently have a credit card that I have had for 15 -16 years and I always pay it off however it doesn't give any return for charging. I also have two retail credit cards. I was thinking about getting another credit card that would…

Hi Terry! I am new to the working world after many years in graduate school and need to start paying my student loans and credit card debt. Student loans I can manage, but the credit card monthly payments along with the interest are taking a serious toll on my finances and it seems like I'll…

Hi Terry, We owe 100,000 on our home. We just took a variable rate {4.24%}Home equity line of credit for 40,000 to do some major remodeling on our home that we built 20 years ago, with the thought that 2800 sq feet is just too big at our age. When we sell, we could probably…

You are among the most-respected money oracles in the business, and here, you are just pointing to shortcomings in government prescriptions for consumer protections. But missing are your alternative ideas on how to achieve the same goals but at lower cost to all concerned. 1. Obamacare aimed to reign in healthcare costs that were rising…

What does this mean to your investments? Terry's thoughts before the market open. And midday update! Terry Says:    As I write at 8am on Friday morning, before U.S. markets open, world markets are roiling at the news that Britain has voted to leave the European Union.  The British pound has fallen to 30 year lows, as…

Hi, Terry-- I recently learned that I should not be putting money into two Roth IRAs monthly as I've been doing ($200 in one, $100 in another) because our combined income exceeds the limit to do so. I plan to contact each institution to cancel automatic withdrawals, but what other option(s) would I have to…