Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Q&A

Q&A: Could reducing your credit limit hurt your credit score?

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Dear Liz: I asked one of my credit card issuers to increase my credit line from $2,000 to $5,000 but was turned down. The reason given was that I have too high credit limits from my other cards. Combined, I have about $100,000 in available credit, although I’ve never used more than $15,000 at any time and always paid promptly. If I ask these credit card companies to reduce my available credit, will I damage my FICO credit scores, which are around 785?

Answer: Your credit scores may well take a hit if you reduce your available credit, and there’s no guarantee that doing so will induce the issuer you’re courting to raise your limit. If this card is relatively recent, you may find that simply waiting a few months and asking again will get you the credit line increase.

If not, you have plenty of other options. Credit card companies are falling all over themselves to attract creditworthy customers like yourself. Check out some of the offers you’ll find at credit card comparison sites such as NerdWallet, CreditCards.com, CardRatings, LowCards.com and others.

Q&A: When is the right time to buy?

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Dear Liz: My wife and I are young (25 and 22). We owe no one money and have built up an emergency fund with six months of expenses. We both contribute enough to our 401(k)s to get the maximum match, and I contribute the maximum to my company’s stock purchase plan. Currently we are saving $2,500 to $3,000 a month for a future home purchase. My question is will we be able to buy a decent house without getting a mortgage in three to four years at this rate? Is this something we should do? Or should we have a large down payment and pay the mortgage off quickly? We both have below average credit and mostly use cash for everything.

Answer: Since you two are so good at saving, you presumably can do the math required to determine how much you’ll have in three or four years. So what you’re asking is whether home prices will accelerate so fast in your area that what may seem like enough to buy a decent house now won’t actually buy one in the future.
The answer is: Nobody knows for sure.
The best approach is to keep your options open — and that means you’ll need to work on improving those credit scores. A year or two of using credit cards lightly but regularly, and paying off your balances in full each month, should help pull up your numbers. You could speed up the rehabilitation process by getting an installment loan such as a car loan or personal loan. Managing different types of credit responsibly is typically good for your scores.
If you wind up getting a mortgage, you may decide to pay it off quickly, or you may have better things to do with that money such as boosting your retirement accounts or saving for college educations.

Q&A: Taking a mortgage for the tax deduction

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Dear Liz: My wife and I are both 66 and in good health. Currently we have about $1.2 million in IRAs. We’re receiving about $80,000 a year from a pension and $110,000 in salary. We have been aggressive about reducing any lingering debt. So we think we are in good shape for me to retire within the next year or so. If we decide to stay in our home rather than move, we will need to make some significant repairs and improvements. We were thinking of taking out a $200,000 mortgage to pay off our last remaining debt ($50,000 on a home equity line of credit) and fund the renovations. This would give us a better tax deduction and not incur the high taxes we would pay by making an IRA withdrawal. Our grown children have expressed no interest in the home after we die, so it probably would be put up for sale at that time. Does this seem like a reasonable approach if we choose to go that route? Anything we haven’t considered?

Answer: Considering the tax implications of financial moves is smart, but you shouldn’t make decisions solely on that basis. You especially shouldn’t take on mortgage debt just for the tax deduction. The tax benefit is limited to your bracket, so for every dollar in mortgage interest you pay you would get at best a federal tax benefit worth 39.6 cents. State income tax deductions might boost that amount, but you’d still be paying out more than you get back in tax benefits. You also would be locking yourself into debt payments at a time in life when most people prefer the flexibility of being debt-free.

If you’re comfortable having a mortgage in retirement, though, you might want to consider a reverse mortgage. Although once considered expensive loans of last resort for people who were running out of money in retirement, changes in the federal reverse mortgage program caused financial planners to reassess the no-payment loans as a potential wealth management tool. The idea is that homeowners could tap the reverse mortgage for funds, especially in bad markets, instead of depleting their retirement accounts.
Reverse mortgages are complex, though. The upfront and ongoing costs can be significant. Because you don’t make payments on the money you borrow, your debt grows over time and reduces the amount your heirs might get once the home is sold. You’d be smart to find a savvy, fee-only financial advisor to assess your situation and walk you through your options.

Q&A: Battling over mother’s estate

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Dear Liz: Our mom did a wonderful job of preparing her estate, but she made a mistake in that she started giving away her real estate holdings to her two children a few months before her untimely death. She died before she had the chance to equalize these transactions. As her son and executor, I equalized the real estate after her death. My sister is now protesting this because she said “legally” what was given away before death is not part of the estate, but I say that our mom would have wanted this equalized because she was very firm in her belief that her assets be divided equally. What’s your experience?

Answer: You just provided an excellent example of why it can be problematic to have an executor who has a personal stake in how an estate is settled.

You wouldn’t be the first executor to decide that what Mom really wanted was for you to reap a larger benefit than your sibling, despite the explicit terms of a will or trust. Even if the estate documents gave you some discretion, you should have consulted an estate-planning attorney before deciding to help yourself to a bigger portion of your mother’s assets.

This is more than an ethical issue. Executors have a legal responsibility known as a fiduciary duty to the estate and all its beneficiaries. Basically, that means acting with the utmost integrity and putting the interests of the estate and beneficiaries ahead of your own.

Your sister may be able to file a lawsuit against you or ask a court to remove you as executor. You shouldn’t let it come to that. Talk to an attorney now about the best way to resolve this situation amicably.

Q&A: Social Security disability insurance and survivor benefits

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Dear Liz: My first wife died six years ago at age 60. I was 52 and we had been married 27 years. My wife was on Social Security disability for 15 years before her death. My only dealing with Social Security after her death was to cancel her payments. I received no benefits of any kind. I am now remarried. Were there any Social Security benefits that I failed to request? Is there any effect on my future retirement?

Answer: You may have been eligible for a one-time payment of $255, but that’s likely all.

We’ll assume your wife was receiving Social Security Disability Insurance payments, which are disability checks paid to workers who have enough work credits in the Social Security system. SSDI is different from Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, a need-based federal program for low-income individuals who are disabled, blind or over the age of 65. Survivor benefits aren’t available under SSI, but they are under SSDI.

The rules for SSDI survivor benefits are similar to those under regular Social Security. Survivor benefits typically are available starting at age 60. Survivors who are disabled can begin receiving the benefits starting at 50, and survivors at any age can qualify if they’re caring for the deceased person’s child who is under 16. When you remarry before age 60, you can’t claim survivor benefits based on your first wife’s Social Security record unless the subsequent marriage ends in death or divorce.

Q&A: Renovations with high returns

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Dear Liz: What renovation projects reap the most return when selling? Replacing windows and carpeting is what I had in mind.

Answer: Remodeling magazine’s latest Cost vs. Value report puts window replacement near the top of renovation projects that pay off, but none of the projects the survey tracked recouped more than they cost.

In 2014, a homeowner could expect to recoup about 79% of the cost of window replacements, assuming the home was sold soon after the improvement. Major kitchen remodels offered a 74% return on a mid-range project that cost about $55,000, or 64% of a high-end project that cost about $110,000. The amount you can expect to recoup usually declines over time as the improvements start to get dated or suffer wear and tear.

The survey doesn’t track projects that are typically considered more maintenance than improvement, such as replacing carpeting or painting. Those projects may, however, get a home sold faster if done just before the house is put up for sale.