Ask Terry Archives

My son and I have a home in joint tenancy where the mortage is in his name and I pay ALL of the mortgage and other expenses since 2005 when he married and bought another house. Wouldn't he be able to deduct the mortgage interest on the first house I live in. Would the tax…

Hello, I am a city of Chicago employee and am contribute the maximum I can into my 457 deferred compensation plan. My question is do you recommend a Roth IRA before April 15 for tax purposes? Terry Says:  There's no tax implication to a Roth IRA contribution.  That is, you don't get a tax deduction,…

I am 70 years old and have investments in c d's. I have about $100,000.00 that I would like to invest in something more profitable. I know very little about annuities and would like to know if investing in some type of annuity would be the best option ? i would like to know what…

I need to refinance my house but I owe more than my loan and my credit is not great. However I have never miss a mortgage payment. Can you recommend a lender?? Terry Says:  You may be a candidate for the government's HAMP (Making Home Ownership Affordable) program.  Here's a link to see if you…

How can I get a free copy of my credit score from all three agencies Terry Says:  Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com, where there are links to each of the three bureaus.  This is the federally-mandated site, so you don't have to purchase any products or credit watch plans to get your free credit report from each…

I am 71 years old my husband is a retired physician 75 years old. All of our credit cards and the household bills are in my husband's name. I just learned that when I applied for my own credit card without using his income I could not get a card. I find that outrageous since…

Terry, I am confused regarding your answer to "Buy Or Rent In Retirement". You told the gentleman that he would not be able to get a mortgage once he retired because he won't have an income. He said he will be getting a pension and social security, plus take on side jobs for his income.…

Hello Terry, I am doing a self study on how to trade currency and I have been doing this for about 2 1/2 years now.. Not a lot of women do trade so I was really happy to hear that you were the first woman who do trade in Chicago. I would like to learn…

Hi Terry, I was unable to find you as a presenter on the website Money Week 2014. Will you be speaking this year? My husband and I are such fans of your presentations and books. They are the only ones I truly understand when trying to find financial info for investing and retirement. My brother…

I have two 529's, one for each child. We saved enough to pay most all costs of both kid's college. Here's the catch... Each child was able to choose their school of choice. As it turns out, one school is more expensive than the other. At the end of the four years (they are two…

Is my FICO score affected by retirement since there won't be any wage income - only a small pension and Social Security? Terry Says:  No, it's not the actual amount of income, or even the source of income that determines your FICO score.  It can be impacted by longevity on they job (or inyour residence)…

I would like to refinance my home to get a lower rate. Is it a good idea to include my car, so that I can save on monthly car payments as they have become a hardship? Or should I struggle along and finish the car payments as best I can? Terry Says:  A lot depends…

We are ages 89/90 and have cash sitting in money market not invested in our portfolio. Where should we safely keep until interest rates change? Terry Says:  Welcome to the "chicken money" club.  Keep it in insured money market deposit accounts in your bank.  You won't earn interest, but you won't lose the money!  And…

Terry, I am 75 years old and still working. I receive a good salary and very good benefits; however, I think its time for me to retire and have some fun. I have 401's, a work retirement packet, etc. I don't know how I am supposed to go about retirement and making sure that I…

I rolled over a matured traditional IRA CD this past Oct., 2013 to a liquid cash IRA acct. I plan to merge another small IRA next month to then have all IRA's combined into one. I will then plan to find a CD that pays a little more interest. The IRA in the liquid acct.…

My 15 year old son earned under $2000 this summer and his employer withheld federal tax. Is there any benefit to filing a tax return for him? I don't believe he is required to file but I wonder if he would be entitled to a return. Terry Says:  I think you need to see your…

COULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT ALLY BANK. IT HASBEEN OFFERING AHIGHER INTEREST RATE ON MONEY MARKET THAN MY LOCAL BANK.IS ITSAFE? Terry Says:  Ally Bank is a primarily online bank, and highly regarded.  Here's a link to finding out everything about them:  http://www.ally.com/about/company-structure/  As long as you're in an FDIC insured…

Terry Huge fan of yours, loved your book - a primer for my early retirement. Thank you! I consult/assist a non-profit of 70 employees. Happened to review their 403B (they have $2M invested) and learned the overall expenses averaged 1.54%. An independent benefits administrator came back with 3 new choices, but only dropped the expenses…

Dear Terry, I'm 51 yrs old and married with 2 sons in college. Right now I make 90k a year. My wife makes 15k with that going to help our sons college expenses. Our house will be paid off in 4mos. I recently upped my 401k to 12% and also have 10% automatically taken out…

I am a single, healthy 63 yr old with no family, so completely responsible for own financial well being. Fortunately I have a healthy dividend stock portfolio with about $51,000 in cash in money mkt. All Blue Chip, J&J, UTX, JPMorgan, CHV, EXOM, Qualcomm & more good ones. I have been unable to get a…