Ask Terry Archives

The bond portion of my 401k is in Vanguard Total Bond Market fund. I do not plan on withdrawing this bond money for at least 5 years. I am 56 currently. Do you recommend continuing to keep my bond money in this fund or move to short term bonds or a money market fund? Terry…

Terry, I am 36 years old with a wife and two kids who are under ten years of age. I have 400k+ total on my 403(b)table , Roth IRA, and personal investment account. I was told by a professional financial planner that I would need about $4 million dollars to live comfortable during my retirement…

Hi Terry We have about 50k to 60k in credit card debt. Chase, our mortgage holder, offered to increase our mortgage from currently at about 247k to about 272k. Value of the house is bwteen $350 and $400. the $25k in cash would then be used to pay down three credit cards. While our monthly…

I keep hearing an advertisement on conservative talk radio that gives a Web site called socialsecurityfree.com that says the government is planning to reduce Social Security payments and plans to do it soon. They say that they have a free trick to add up to $1,000 to your Social Security payments. This seems like a…

Hey Terry. I have a daughter who will turn one years-old in January, and I want to open a Bright Start account for her at that time. My questions for you are: 1) Is the program legit and safe? In other words, can politicians, greedy financial experts, or other shady characters raid the accounts or…

Hi Terry, I am 63 yr old widow with grown children. My home is paid for and I am taking a buyout from my work in Jan. I am selling a condo I own ( not my own residence) and will have approx. $100,000 that I need to invest in something that I can draw…

I am 62 years old working 25 hours per week as caregiver yo my 93 year old boss for last 14 years....my husband passed away two years ago and I want to know if I am entitled to widows pension...would it be more than SS.... Terry Says:  You are definitely entitled to a portion of…

Part of our debt is two car payments equaling a total of about $8000. For both payments, we have 0% financing for about another year. Would we be better off paying off the cars because they are debt or saving/investing that money? Terry Says:  That depends on the rest of your budget.  It's hard to…

Do you recommend buying [some] gold and/or silver,,,now? Terry Says: Actually, yes I do -- assuming that a) you don't have any, and b) you understand that this is a small, speculative part of your portfolio.  While I believe that the price of gold bullion could go even lower than the current $1244, I think…

Hi Terry,my wife and i are in our early fifties with one son.We have a house in Illinois,which is almost paid for,and also bought a home on Kauai,Hawaii,two years ago.It is worth 100K more now then when we bought it.We both have retirement accounts,etc.My real question is should we have a will,or some type of…

Terry, I watched your segment on WGN Monday morning. Lucky for me, I had worked early in the morning and was able to see the show. I was interested to hear the things you had to say about women being safe with their money and how to take care of themselves and their family financially…

I want to invest $10,000.00 for my two children, and my three grandsons; totaling $50,000.00. I want separate safe accounts, high yield that they can take out if there is an emergency; what do you advise. Thank You SAVAGE SAYS: First, let me say your intentions are admirable.  BUT,  I want you to be very…

My wife and I will have assets of 800000 -  1million when we retire.  Is it necessary to purchase long term care insurance? SAVAGE SAYS:  Not unless you are sure that neither of you will contract some kind of disability such as Alzheimers, or live long enough to need basic care with activities of daily…

I disagree with my wife and say we should hold off taking her social security until she is 70.  I have a pension which pays well.  I say we can draw from tax sheltered investments and take advantage of the tax savings by withdrawing money of offset her wages when she retires and then draw…

My husband "retired" in 2003 from the Cook County State's Attorney's office and receives a pension from the County.  He has worked in private practice since then.  How do I determine  how much his social security benefit will be reduced when he retires at age 66-1/2?  A second question:  Since he will receive a reduced…

Terry, I am recently divorced and am earning about 28,000 a year in my job. i received all my ex-husband's 401k as a divorce settlement -- it amounts to about 32,000, which I have not yet paid taxes on (but will in 2014). Currently I rent, and my rent is as cheap as it can…

For someone wanting safety and better yield than current insured CD's, are I-Bonds and Tips a better investment?  It is IRA money from recent matured CD's and our ages are 54 and 58.  When I looked in to them, the small inflation adjustments of the past years didn't seem to reflect the cost of living…

Terry, both my wife and myself look forward to your advice and consider you as our goddess of financial planning. We are full aware of your encouraging waiting to take social security at its maximum. I am 61 years old (62 in august, 2014); retired with $13K annual pension from AT&T; taking 4% from my…

Will I be penalized if I hold Savings EE bonds past their maturity date of 30 yrs. ? Thank you. SAVAGE SAYS: All Series E bonds, and Series EE bonds that are older than 30 years, have stopped paying interest.  There is no penalty for not cashing them in, but you might find a better…

Terry: I need your help! When you spoke at our event in Valpo a few years back, a client thought you were against variable annuities. His wife has a large 401k plan and I am convinced that this account should be in a VA with an income guarantee. They are both 62 and the majority…