Ask Terry Archives

am 50 whats best place to open roth ira and how do I manage it without being directly involved. Terry Says:  There are many places to open a Roth IRA -- but I'd start with a place like Fidelity or Vanguard or T. Rowe Price (www.Fidelity.com; www.Vanguard.com; www.troweprice.com) -- There you can pick a mutual…

Received approx. 450,000.00 life insur.benefit and need advice on best way to allocate in financial investments. I am employed and plan to work until I am 65. My husband had 401k. Of 92000.00 which fidelity moved to a beneficiary acct. It is active and I am leaving it for know until I get a better…

My question is soon I will be divorce from my spouse of 17 years we have been separated for 3 years neither of us have property to discuss so I was thinking could I get my new place before before our legal divorce it's rent with option to purchase. Terry Says: For this question, I…

What electronic bill paying and organization system would you recommend? You once recommended manilla.com. I have used this system for a few years and strongly depend on it for organizing all my bills, subscriptions and insurance policies. I have received notification the site is shutting down in June and I have found nothing to replace…

Terry: My elderly in-laws (88 and 89 years old) are in the process of moving out of their home and into an independent living facility. They sent in an application along with a check deposit. The application had a lot of information on it: social security numbers, birth dates, their signatures, and address. A few…

Hi Terry, I own two houses in Franklin Park IL. One is a typical ranch style type which is very common in Franklin Park. The other is a much smaller cottage type house which was formerly occupied by my parents that passed away some years ago. It is only 750 square feet or so,no garage…

What are your thoughts on mint.com? Do you recommend it? Terry Says:   Absolutely, and I mention it in most of my personal finance speeches.  Quicken is great because it lets you pay bills directly from the program (or from your bank's website and then download the information into Quicken.)  But Quicken "resides" on your home…

Dear Ms. Savage: Thank you for the financial organizer. My wife & I do have an intervivos trust, nevertheless, this may be handy. The real reason I'm responding is because I have a question. By reading between the lines on several publications, their are unsubstantiated(aren't they all) rumors about our elected buffoons confiscating our IRA's…

Are there any IRA Roth or regular options for a stay at home mom with a working husband? My daughter would like to continue saving for retirement even though she is now a stay at home mom. Can she do an IRA without an income? Thanks Terry Says:  Yes, absolutely the non-working spouse can, and…

Some people are telling me to pull the money out of college Illinois and put it into college savings plan such as a Vanguard fund. If something is to be done about college Illinois would I t be better to stay and not transfer the money to another fund? Terry Says:  Ever since the state…

I have $4.8 million that Fidelity handles for me. I am 67 years old and so is my wife and i just retired. With a approx. budget of $10,000 per month of all family expenses etc. do i have enough money not to outlive it and to leave funds for my two adult children please…

i have several EE bonds purchased ib feb'92 and wish to change beneficiary; current beneficiary has passed away..How do i go about my desired action? thank you - bill staggs Terry Says:  This is a bit complicated, but since the bonds are still paying interest, you can find all the instructions here at the TreasuryDirect.gov…

How to buy 2 condos for investment in my IRA account, How to use IRA funds to purchase /pAY FOR condo using IRA funds and not be taxed on money used and leave the condos as assets in my IRA? Terry Says:  Check the archives at Huffington Post on my website. I wrote about buying…

Back in 1986, based on your advice, we purchased Series EE US Savings Bonds. They are still earning 4%, but mature in 2016. I don't believe they earn interest beyond 2016. The value of the bonds is $61.4K with $15K cost basis. Is there any alternative to paying taxes on the $46.4 interest? We have…

I am underwater in financial debt and am thinking about filing bankruptcy. However, I own another property that is the family home which family members live in and I don't. Would this be taken away in the bankruptcy? Terry Says:  You won't know until you consult a bankruptcy attorney.  But first, call the National Foundation…

I need advice about preparing my will? I have very few heirs...no husband and no children... but I wish to leave my two great nephews money for their education. They are 15 and 12 years old. I am 72 years old and don't know where to begin. Should I rely on my attorney for advice?…

In December 2012, my application for a 30-year, 3.125% home loan at Lisle Savings Bank was accepted. My credit score from Transunion was 816. After completing all the paperwork, I was given a "10-Year Call Notice" to sign. Although I was told they had never used this before, I wonder if I made a big…

I have 1 million in the market as Mutual Funds, I use Edward Jones. I plan to retire soon, should I switch some or most into an annuity plan for regular income per month? Many thank, Alan Terry Says:  This is part of a much larger question about your total asset allocation.  Let me say…

my mom has an ee bond with her as the owner and i am the beneficiary. i want my name deleted as the beneficiary. does an ee bond have to have a beneficiary listed? Terry Says:  What's the point?  You would only be the "beneficiary" if your Mom dies!  And at that point, you will…

What would you do with Ira funds? I have a reg. invst. adviser now. I'm a senior with no time to play with the market. Terry Says:  I wouldn't be "playing" in the stock market!  If you have limited funds, you'll want to keep them safe.  You don't need an investment advisor to do that…