Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Liz Weston

Monday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: How a home improvement fund can upgrade your new house to a home. Also in the news: Single-income couples, and when to use your FSA and HSA, and how rising inflation could mean your home is underinsured.

How a Home Improvement Fund Can Upgrade Your New House to a Home
A home improvement fund can help you be ready for repairs and updates after you buy.

Smart Money Podcast: Single-Income Couples, and When to Use Your FSA and HSA
Moving from two incomes to one is a financial challenge but can offer couples a chance to build their relationship.

Rising Inflation Could Mean Your Home Is Underinsured
Rising construction costs could leave many homeowners without enough insurance. Here’s how to know you have sufficient coverage to rebuild should the worst happen.

Q&A: Your earthquake kit should include cash. But how much?

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Dear Liz: In these uncertain times, I decided I need to have cash on hand. I withdrew $500 in small bills from the bank and put it in a fireproof pouch. Is there a recommended amount of cash one should have available for emergencies?

Answer: The appropriate amount depends on how much you spend and how paranoid you are.

Many financial planners recommend storing a few hundred dollars somewhere safe in your home in case a widespread electrical outage — after an earthquake, for instance — affects ATMs and point-of-sale devices. The idea is that you’ll want enough cash to cover spending for a few days until the power comes back on. Smaller denominations are better than larger ones because you may have trouble finding anyone to give change for $50 or $100 bills.

Emergency preparedness sites tend to recommend storing even larger amounts — $1,000 to $3,000, or whatever you would need — in case access to ATMs and credit cards was affected for a few weeks.

Obviously, storing cash has its perils. The money could be lost, stolen or destroyed in a disaster. You’ll have to weigh those risks against the possibility of needing the cash, and make your own call.

Q&A: Guard your Social Security number

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Dear Liz: You recently stated Social Security numbers were never intended to be used as a universal identifier. I’ve found that every place asking for my number has other means of identification and will ask for my mother’s maiden name or my place of birth when I tell them I don’t use my Social Security number for identification purposes. This also works for financial institutions that have a legitimate claim for having it.

Answer: To clarify, you probably had to disclose your Social Security number when you applied for accounts at your financial institutions. You also typically need to disclose it when you apply for credit, employment or government benefits.

But you don’t necessarily have to cough it up on demand to verify your identity or to do business with the many, many other companies and organizations that ask you for it without good reason to do so.

Q&A: Bypass the bypass trust

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Dear Liz: You mentioned in a recent column that people should check estate plans created before 2010 because they might contain bypass trusts that are no longer needed. The classic AB Trust, although not necessary now for the estate tax exemption for most people, still can be useful if one spouse wants to ensure her half of the estate goes as she desires if she is the first to die.

Answer: Possibly, but people should make the decision proactively by having their estate plan reviewed and discussing their options with an experienced attorney, since these trusts have some significant disadvantages.

Bypass, or AB, trusts were a routine part of estate planning even for middle-income couples when the estate tax exemption limit was just $675,000. When the first spouse died, a portion of the couple’s assets went into an irrevocable trust that would avoid estate taxes when the surviving spouse died. Because the trust was irrevocable, the surviving spouse couldn’t change its terms and had limited access to the assets.

Also, assets in the irrevocable trust don’t get a step up in tax basis when the survivor dies. That means the ultimate beneficiaries could wind up paying higher capital gains rates when they sell the assets. When the estate tax exemption limit was low, couples were gambling that the estate tax savings would outweigh the future capital gains cost.

Today, far fewer families have to worry about estate taxes. The exemption limit for 2022 is over $12 million per person and over $24 million per couple. Even after the current limit sunsets in 2025, individuals would be able to exempt over $6 million and couples over $12 million from estate taxes. Estate tax exemptions are also now “portable,” which accomplishes much of what the AB trust was designed to do in ensuring the exemption of the first to die wasn’t “wasted.” Now the amount of the exemption limit that isn’t used by the first spouse to die can be transferred to the survivor’s estate.

Bypass trusts are still routinely used for wealthier people and those who live in states with low estate tax exemption limits, but for many people this estate planning tool has outlived its usefulness.

Friday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: 3 steps to breaking unhealthy financial habits. Also in the news: Another $400 in free college aid, 4 retirement savings strategies for family caregivers, and what to know about the trend in buying “vacation homes” before a regular “starter home.”

3 Steps to Breaking Unhealthy Financial Habits
How do you know if you have unhealthy financial habits, and what can you do to build better ones?

Another $400 in Free College Aid Could Be Coming Your Way
The 2022 federal budget increases the annual Pell Grant limit, and students could receive more aid as a result.

4 Retirement Savings Strategies for Family Caregivers
Providing care for a family member can put a dent in retirement savings, but there are ways to get your finances on track.

Should You Buy a Vacation Home Before a Starter Home?
Why millennials are buying a “second” before their first.

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

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Today’s top story: How buy now, pay later loans could alter credit. Also in the news: An interview with Tori Dunlap, founder of the blog Her First $100K and the “Financial Feminist” podcast, when to refinance student loans, and how to get ready to pay $5 a gallon for gas.

How Buy Now, Pay Later Loans Could Alter Credit
No one should expect that their buy now, pay later purchases will instantly open the door to better credit.

Smart Money Podcast: How I Got Here: Tori Dunlap of Her First $100K
Sean interviews Tori Dunlap about how she got to where she is today and the lessons she learned along the way.

Should You Rush to Refinance Your Student Loans?
Private student loan borrowers, whose payments aren’t suspended and who won’t benefit from any federal cancellation, may be wondering if now is their last chance to refinance at interest rates near historic lows.

Are You Ready to Pay $5 a Gallon for Gas?
Honing your driving skills and paying with a rewards card can help you control gas costs in a time of uncertainty.