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Liz Weston

Wednesday’s need-to-know money news

February 3, 2021 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: 6 rules for first-time car buyers. Also in the news: Buzzy banking apps for kids and teens, getting your bank accounts in order for 2021, and knowing your COVID mortgage forbearance rights.

6 Rules for First-Time Car Buyers
Break it down into an orderly process: budgeting, financing, choosing a car and then negotiating a clean deal.

Buzzy Banking Apps for Kids and Teens
Developing good money habits early.

Get Your Bank Accounts in Order With These 2021 Resolutions
Streamlining for the new year.

Know Your COVID Mortgage Forbearance Rights
How to report an unscrupulous lender.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: banking, banking apps for kids, car buyers, COVID mortgage forbearance rights, first-time car buyers

How to prioritize debt payments in the pandemic

February 3, 2021 By Liz Weston

A singular crisis has led to extraordinary relief options for borrowers. Interest and payments have been paused on federal student loans. Homeowners can request nearly a year of mortgage forbearance. Credit card issuers and other lenders dramatically expanded hardship programs.

Still, many Americans say they took on more debt last year because of the pandemic, according to NerdWallet’s household debt survey.

If you are one of them, or if you have other household debt that’s been put on hold, you may not want to rush to pay that money back even if you can. In my latest for the Associated Press, how to be strategic when dealing with pandemic-related and other debt.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: consumer debt, debt, pandemic

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

February 2, 2021 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: 3 things to know if you’re new to gig work. Also in the news: How to craft smarter money goals in 2021, the do’s and don’ts of getting and using a paycheck protection program loan, and 5 steps you can take to pay off consumer debt.

3 Things to Know if You’re New to Gig Work
To the IRS, you’re a small business.

How to Craft Smarter Money Goals in 2021
The pandemic has changed everything.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Getting, Using a Paycheck Protection Program Loan
Best practices that can help small businesses owners get their PPP loan funded and forgiven.

5 steps you can take to pay off consumer debt
Creating the right plan.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: consumer debt, debt, gig work, money goals, pandemic, paycheck protection program loan, tips

Monday’s need-to-know money news

February 1, 2021 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: How insurance fraud costs you money. Also in the news: A new episode of the Smart Money podcast on lottery winners and what to do with extra COVID cash, how to decide if your first house should be a condo, and how to choose your ACA plan.

How Insurance Fraud Costs You Money
Insurance fraud adds an extra $400 to $700 to your premiums every year and costs about $80 billion overall.

Smart Money Podcast: Jackpot Windfall and Extra COVID Cash

Should Your First House Be a Condo?
A condo can make a great starter home, but weigh the pros and cons of buying a condo vs. a house to decide whether it’s right for you.

How to Choose Your Obamacare Plan
Finding the right amount of coverage.

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: ACA, condo vs house, extra cash, health insurance, insurance fraud, lottery winners, obamacare, Smart Money podcast

Q&A: More about spousal benefits

February 1, 2021 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: You recently wrote that a wife could apply for Social Security at 62 and then switch later to her spousal benefit. I do not believe this is accurate. Once the wife starts drawing, she is committed.

Answer: Typically, that’s true. When someone applies for Social Security, their retirement benefit is compared with their potential spousal benefit and they would get the larger of the two amounts. If the spousal benefit is larger, they would technically get their own benefit plus a supplemental amount.

Because they had already started getting their own benefit either way, they couldn’t switch later — there’s nothing else to switch to. (In the past, someone could start a spousal benefit and leave their own benefit to grow, but that’s no longer an option.)

For a spousal benefit to be available, however, the husband must have already started his retirement benefit. In this case, he would not have done so. That means the only benefit the wife could qualify for when she applies is her own. Once he applies at age 70, a spousal benefit would be triggered. If that amount is larger than what she was getting, she would get a supplement on top of her retirement benefit, as described above.

Filed Under: Q&A, Social Security Tagged With: Q&A: Social Security Spousal Benefits

Q&A: Couples and their accounts

February 1, 2021 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: You’ve been writing about things people should do after a spouse dies. May I recommend that before your spouse dies, be sure every account is in both your names.

It took six months to cancel my landline phone after my husband died and I moved out of our home. Apparently when we moved in 30 years ago, the service was in just my husband’s name. (I finally reached someone who said, “I don’t know why you’re having so much trouble with this!” and fixed it.)

Also, it took 1½ years, plus hundreds in lawyer fees, to get access to the safe deposit box that he’d had with his parents. This is despite a trust and will leaving everything to me. I was told that “banks don’t care about wills.”

Answer: That’s an excellent suggestion. It’s a lot easier to add a spouse to an account while you’re both alive. It’s a good idea to review all your accounts periodically to make sure the right people are on them, either as joint account holders or as beneficiaries.

Not every account can or should be in both spouses’ names, of course.

Modern credit card accounts, for example, typically aren’t jointly held but instead have a primary cardholder and an authorized user. Also, retirement accounts are in one person’s name alone, although the spouse typically is the beneficiary.

Banks aren’t the only entities that can ignore wills. Typically a payable-on-death account will go to the beneficiary, regardless of what a will or trust says. And speaking of estates, sometimes accounts will be held separately for estate planning purposes.

If you have an estate planning attorney, check with that person before changing how accounts are held.

Filed Under: Couples & Money, Q&A Tagged With: couples and money, q&a

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