September 21, 2015 By

Q&A: How to pay down debt

Dear Liz: I am wondering about what to do with some debts I have due to divorce. I make about $50,000 a year and owe $50,000 in credit card debt, attorney’s fees and back property taxes. The good thing is that I own a house free and clear that is worth about $2.5 million. The bad thing is that my credit score is terrible, about 450. Should I slowly try to pay down my debt? Is there anyone who would lend me the money with a home equity line of credit or something similar? I have two children in college who need money from me as well.

Answer: Paying down what you owe over time could be difficult given the size of your debt relative to your income. Often when consumer debts equal or exceed a person’s annual pay, it’s time to consult a bankruptcy attorney. That may not be a good option for you, though, because a bankruptcy court might require you to sell your house to satisfy creditors. Only a handful of states, including Florida and Texas, protect the entire value of a home in bankruptcy.

You could try to get a home equity line of credit, but you’ll probably have a tough time finding a lender. If you succeed, you would face high interest rates.

Selling the house and downsizing could help you settle your debts and free up money for your children’s educations. That’s a big move, though, and could have tax as well as financial aid implications.

Your debt shouldn’t be your only concern. You also need to think about how you’ll pay for retirement and other future costs, such as medical expenses and long-term care.

You need some help making these decisions. A fee-only planner could look at your entire financial situation and offer advice, as well as referrals to tax and bankruptcy experts who could offer their assessments of your options.

Filed Under: Credit & Debt, Q&A Tagged With: , ,
September 21, 2015 By

Q&A: Social Security eligibility

Dear Liz: I have a few Social Security credits but not enough for full Social Security benefits. My husband receives a check monthly. He is 79 and I am 75. Am I eligible for any benefits at this time?

Answer: You’ve been eligible for full spousal benefits since you turned 65. You could have gotten a reduced amount as early as age 62. You’ve missed out on thousands of dollars of benefits that were yours to claim.

People need 40 credits with Social Security to apply for their own retirement benefits. Typically that means working a minimum of 10 years. But you didn’t have to work at all to receive spousal benefits based on your husband’s employment record. At your own full retirement age (which is now 66, but was 65 until recently), you could have received a monthly check equal to 50% of your husband’s benefit.

Once you file, you only can get six months of retroactive benefits. There’s nothing that can be done about the rest of the benefits you’ve missed, but perhaps this letter will alert other spouses that they may qualify for Social Security even if they haven’t worked much outside the home.

Filed Under: Q&A, Retirement Tagged With: ,
September 14, 2015 By

Q&A: Parental identity theft

Dear Liz: I have been dating my boyfriend for about eight months and he recently told me that his dad took out a credit card in his name when he was a baby. He has about $150,000 in debt because of this! This is a very serious, life-changing crime but my boyfriend is reluctant to take his dad to court. I’m worried about our future together and don’t know where to go from here.

Answer: Parental identity theft is unfortunately not uncommon — and the parents typically get away with it. Victims are reluctant to file the police reports necessary to clear their names because doing so could trigger criminal prosecutions of their family members.

If your boyfriend is not willing to file a police report, the debt is considered his and he probably will need to pay it, settle it or declare bankruptcy to move on with his financial life.

If he’s ready to hold his father responsible, the Identity Theft Resource Center at www.idtheftcenter.org has more information about filing police reports and starting the long process of cleaning up his credit.

Filed Under: Identity Theft, Q&A Tagged With: , ,
September 14, 2015 By

Q&A: Credit card useage

Dear Liz: I recently refinanced my home and one of the perks was a 0% interest credit card. The problem is that I have two credit cards and I am happy with them, but I am afraid that having a third will adversely affect my credit score. I have no plans to borrow money in the near future but I can’t shake the feeling that it is a detriment to have the card. I haven’t activated the new card and I never carry a balance on either of the older cards I use. What do you advise?

Answer: The new card affects your credit reports and scores whether or not you activate it. Chances are good, though, that the overall effect will be positive.

Yes, your scores may have been dinged a few points when the new card was issued, but over time responsibly handling multiple credit cards will help, not hurt, your numbers.

Failing to use the card, on the other hand, could cause the issuer to close it, and that could negatively affect your scores.

Just do what you do with your other cards: Charge lightly (no more than about 30% of the card’s limit) and pay the bill on time and in full. There’s no credit score advantage to carrying debt.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Q&A Tagged With: ,
September 14, 2015 By

Q&A: State tax breaks for 529 plans

Dear Liz: You recently answered a question from grandparents who were contributing $20,000 to their grandson’s college education. You correctly told them they did not qualify fdownloador federal education tax credits or deductions because he was not a dependent. You might let grandparents know, however, that they may get a state tax break for contributing to a 529 college savings plan.

Answer: Most states that have state income taxes offer some sort of a tax break for 529 college savings plan contributions. (The exceptions are California, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and North Carolina, according to SavingForCollege.com. Tennessee has a tax on interest and dividends but no 529 tax break.) In some states, even short-term contributions qualify for a deduction, so grandparents could contribute money that’s quickly withdrawn to pay qualified higher education expenses and still get the break. SavingForCollege has details on each state’s tax benefits.

Filed Under: Q&A, Taxes Tagged With: , , ,
September 14, 2015 By

Q&A: Thrift Savings Plan

Dear Liz: I am a federal government retiree with a very small retirement account in the Thrift Savings Plan. Where can I invest my small savings so it can safely grow? The balance has not changed for over six months now. If I keep it in the Thrift Savings Plan, what fund is the safest?

Answer: “Safe growth” is an oxymoron. If your balance isn’t changing, then you’re probably in the safest option — which means you won’t see much if any growth in the future, either.

You probably chose TSP’s G Fund, which invests in Treasury securities. You won’t lose money, but you probably won’t earn enough to offset inflation. If you want your money to grow, you need to have at least some of your retirement account in stocks.

Fortunately, the plan offers several “L” or lifestyle funds geared to when you expect to begin withdrawals. L funds offer professional management and a mix of investments that grow more conservative as that date approaches. Retirees who are tapping their accounts typically invest in the L Income fund, which has about 20% of its balance in stocks. If you are five years or more away from using the funds, the next most conservative lifestyle option is L 2020, which has half of its total invested in stocks.

Filed Under: Q&A, Retirement Tagged With: , ,
September 7, 2015 By

Q&A: Paying for credit repair

Dear Liz: I’m seeking help in reviewing my credit report and how to fix any issues. I am not financially distressed, but have FICO scores in the 675 range. Could you recommend someone I can hire to assist as I need to refinance a house I bought for cash?

Answer: There’s so much fraud in the credit repair industry that you’re likely better off doing it yourself rather than exposing yourself to rip-offs.

Credit repair companies aren’t supposed to take money upfront or promise things they can’t deliver, but many do.

One of the scammers’ most common ploys is to flood the credit bureau with disputes and to take credit for any negative information that temporarily disappears. By the time the negative information pops back up on the file, the scam artists have disappeared with your money.

Another approach they recommend is starting over with a “clean” slate, sometimes using borrowed or stolen identification numbers. That’s fraud, and even if it works, you’ll often find yourself worse off with no credit history than with a flawed history.

The Federal Trade Commission has some helpful advice on do-it-yourself credit repair.

You’ll need to first get copies of your credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus, which you can do once a year for free at www.annualcreditreport.com. Dispute any inaccurate information, such as collection accounts that aren’t yours or late payments that you made on time.

Follow up with any creditors that persist in reporting bogus information.

One relatively fast way to improve your scores is to pay down any credit card debt to 10% or less of the accounts’ credit limits. Don’t close any accounts while trying to improve your scores, since that won’t help your score and could hurt.

Opening new accounts can ding your scores as well, but it can be worth it to add another credit card to the mix if you only have one or two.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Credit Scoring, Q&A Tagged With: ,
September 7, 2015 By

Q&A: Shopping for insurance

Dear Liz: I pay about $670 per month for insurance for four cars, our home and a $1-million umbrella policy. We’ve been with the same well-known national insurance company for over 30 years. About five years ago, I checked with another well-known national insurance company about the estimated total premium, which was not significantly different from what I paid.
We filed a claim for a very minor accident about two years ago. My 21-year-old son, 17-year-old daughter, my wife and I drive these cars.

Should I have my coverage reviewed by another company?

Answer: Of course you should. And you should check with more than one.

Premiums can differ dramatically, particularly for younger drivers. A recent Consumer Reports investigation found that although some companies doubled or even tripled auto insurance rates for a teen driver, others barely budged.

Premiums also can change over time as insurers try to build or protect their profits. Insurers will lower premiums to attract more business and raise them to cut losses.

Price isn’t the only thing you should consider. Customer service is important too, so review your state’s complaint survey to see which insurers tend to draw customer ire.

Shopping for insurance isn’t fun, but saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars is. You should make the effort at least every few years.

Filed Under: Insurance, Q&A Tagged With: ,
August 31, 2015 By

Q&A: Best way to pay for college

Dear Liz: We have two children in college, both entering their junior years. We have two more in high school. The two currently in college need additional financial assistance, as they’ve tapped out their federal student loans.

We are middle class, grossing about $125,000 a year, so we don’t qualify for much financial aid. We’re considering a cash-out refinancing of our home, but we feel as though we can do it only once, since each time we refinance it will cost us some fees, plus interest rates are likely to start edging up soon.

However, if we take out a big chunk of cash that could last us for the next two years for the first two children, and possibly some for the other two, we’re concerned that having that much cash sitting in the bank will reduce the amount of financial aid we receive, which would be counterproductive.

Is there a way to earmark the extra cash clearly for education expenses so that it doesn’t count negatively on our Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)? Or do we just need to take this year’s cash out now, and refinance again each year (which seems crazy)?

As an aside, now that we have a little experience with this college thing, we will guide the two younger ones to community college or living at home while attending a less expensive public college, or something along those lines.

The first two just sort of went — without a lot of financial forethought.

Answer: The chunk of cash from such a refinance would be counted as a parental asset, provided the savings account is in your names and not those of your child.

So a maximum of 5.64% of the total would be included in any financial aid calculations. That’s not a big bite, but if you’re not getting much financial aid it could offset or erase the small amount you’re getting.

The bigger danger is that you’re taking on debt for something that won’t increase your own wealth or earning power. If you should suffer a severe-enough financial setback, such as a layoff, you could wind up losing your home.

In general, parents shouldn’t borrow more for their children’s college educations than they can afford to pay back before retirement — or within 10 years, whichever is less.

This rule of thumb assumes that you’re already saving adequately for retirement and will continue to do so while paying back the debt. If that’s not the case, you shouldn’t borrow at all.

If you’re going to borrow and can pay the money back quickly, a home equity line of credit may be a better option than a refinance. Interest rates on lines of credit aren’t fixed, but the costs are significantly less and you can withdraw money as needed.

Yet another option: parent PLUS loans, which currently offer a fixed rate of 6.84%. Approach these loans cautiously. It’s easy to borrow too much, since the program doesn’t consider your ability to repay. And like federal student loans, this debt typically can’t be erased in Bankruptcy Court.

Filed Under: College Savings, Q&A, Student Loans Tagged With: , , ,
August 31, 2015 By

Q&A: Understanding Social Security survivor benefits

Dear Liz: I need a clarification because I’m getting conflicting answers from Social Security.

I know if you start Social Security benefits early, you get them at a reduced rate. When your spouse dies, is your survivor benefit reduced as well? My friend’s mother never worked, but started collecting spousal benefits at 62. Does she get reduced or full benefit when her husband dies?

Answer: Her survivor’s benefit is not reduced because she started spousal benefits early. It may be reduced, however, if her husband started retirement benefits early or if she starts survivor’s benefits before her own full retirement age.

Survivor’s checks are based on what the husband either was receiving or had earned. If the husband starts retirement benefits before his own full retirement age (currently 66), his checks are reduced, which also reduces what his widow could receive as a survivor.

If he delays retirement past 66, he earns 8% annual “delayed retirement credits” — an increase both would get.

If he dies before full retirement age without starting benefits, the survivor benefit would be based on what he would have received at full retirement age. If he dies after full retirement age without starting benefits, the survivor check is based on the larger amount he had earned (in other words, his benefit at full retirement age, plus any delayed retirement credits).

How much of the husband’s benefit his widow would get depends on when she starts claiming her survivor’s benefit.

If she starts at the earliest possible age of 60 (or 50 if she’s disabled, or any age if there are children under 16), her survivor’s benefit will be reduced to reflect the early start.

If she waits until her full retirement age, by contrast, the survivor’s benefit would be equal to what her husband was receiving or had earned. Waiting to start survivor benefits until after her full retirement age doesn’t increase her check, however.

Filed Under: Q&A, Retirement Tagged With: , ,