Ask Terry Archives

I have 4 children, ages 10, 7, 7, 7. Both my husband and I are in our late 40's and we need to set up college funds for our children. We currently have a savings account for each, which only has approx $1000 or so for each, the oldest with a bit more. My parents…

Terry - I am a local canine massage therapist and do marketing work with a local veterinarian (Oak Park Animal Hospital). I loved your 2-13 article on pet insurance and am wondering whether we can link the vet's Facebook page and / or our websites to this article (obviously with full attribution to you). Please…

We have saved for retirement and are now in our sixties. While we have chosen investments ourselves over the years, somewhat haphazardly but with reasonable success, we are now thinking we would like to have assistance diversifying and investing our money. What are your thoughts on active versus passive management at the present time? We…

When I retire where should I put my 401k ? I will need to withdraw some money annualy

I had a 401k and rolled it over to IRA when I left that employer. If I want to convert some traditional IRA's to Roth will this older Rollover IRA count count in the conversion calculations?

Any idea where to find free career counseling? My college doesn't offer any to alumni, unless you graduated in the last 6 months, and I was told by the Will County Workforce office that they don't do that. I don't know where else to look and I don't have any money, literally $0, to pay…

Is there a website that you can recommend (other than yours, of course) for artists and other creative people who 1) make their living selling original stories and/or artwork through their independent, small businesses and 2) likely do their own taxes and need some guidance and advice? Thanks

Hi Terry, I currently own an investment property that I rent out. It's a house in a nice western suburb that I've had for about 10 years. It's FMV is $415,000 and I owe $167,000. I make about $500/ month cash flow on it. Now, I am looking to purchase a 2 flat house in…

Hi Terry, My father in law passed away a few weeks ago and my husband is named on all of his accounts. FIL went thru a lawyer and so everything is listed in a trust, which is great. My question is, he has stock via e-trade. We were told we could either leave the stocks…

Is there a name or an agency that you can recommend to handle setting up payment arrangements and help me pay my bills? Or is this something I need to dig in and do on my own? My husband and I make enough money but we are not staying on top of bills nor saving…

I found your article on student loans to be of interest as I am paying on these for my son. I contacted Nelnet, who the loans are through, and they do not refinance at all. I then went onto the website of LendEdu, that you wrote about, and was immediately contacted. Should I be speaking…

What questions should you ask a potential mortgage lender?

Where or how is the best way to buy actual Gold.

Hi Ms. Savage. My wife and I want to set up 529 plans for our seven grandchildren, all of whom live in Chicago as we do. I understand the federal tax rules, both income and gift tax. My question is: Are contributions to 529 plans tax deductible in Illinois? Thank you very much.

I want to pay off our credit card debt of $23,000 and wonder if it is better to get a debt consolidation loan at a lower interest rate or roll the debt into a refinance of our mortgage. Im 58, and married with a child in college.

Hi Terry, My husband and I are looking for a safe investment for some extra cash we have accumulated. Also, do you feel municipal bond rates may be coming back to a decent return soon?

I am retired and not active at work. My company's 401 is paying a great fixed rate so I don't want to move it from them. I am single and have 3 children. If I pass can my children do a stretch IRA with my 401monies??

I am reading about this and it seems tons of money can be made. What are these 26f programs and who sells them and how do you pay to get in etc.????

I have a question about minimizing taxes on SS benefits in retirement. I'm 60, plan to retire at 65, have > $1M in savings, adding about $26K annually. Savings are a mix of 401Ks, IRAs, mutual funds and bank accounts. Mortgage was paid off years ago, kids are grown and doing well and I'm annoyingly…

I have a $450,000 term life insurance policy. I will turn 75 this year and my premium payments will increase from $2045/yr to $7652/yr in 2017 and over $13,000 in 2018. I am in good health. Do I continue to try and pay the premiums or is this a policy that might be able to…