Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Q&A

Q&A: Term life insurance

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Dear Liz: My husband doesn’t qualify for term life insurance because he is overweight and pre-diabetic. Although he’s working on getting in shape, I’m afraid something might happen. I should add we have a 3-year-old daughter, and he is the main breadwinner.

What would you suggest we do to ensure we are covered if something were to happen?

Answer: Just because your husband was turned down by one insurer doesn’t mean others won’t accept him. Even people who are obese or who have diabetes can find coverage, so your husband shouldn’t accept that he’s uninsurable.

Look for an independent agent or broker who works with several companies rather than a captive agent who works for just one or two. A fee-only financial planner may be able to help you find a good agent. The planner also could recommend an appropriate amount of coverage.

Your husband also should investigate any coverage he might have through his job. Many employers provide a base amount of coverage as a benefit (frequently $50,000 or one year’s pay) and often allow workers to buy additional coverage without requiring medical exams.

The downside of employer-sponsored group life insurance is that he may not be able to buy as much coverage as he needs. He may need 10 times his annual salary, for instance, but his group policy may max out at five times his salary. Also, the policy may not be portable — it may end if he’s laid off or quits, for example.

The best strategy will depend on the costs he faces. But one approach may be to buy as much employer-provided coverage as possible and supplement it with an individual term policy purchased on his own.

If his health improves, he could boost his individual coverage while buying less of the employer-provided kind.

Q&A: File and suspend strategy for Social Security

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Dear Liz: You recently wrote an interesting piece regarding the “file and suspend” strategy for Social Security benefits. I liked the possibility of getting a lump sum if I should need the money downstream.

But when I checked with Social Security, I was told that the lump sum maximum was six months of suspended payments. Am I missing something? My understanding was that I could collect all the suspended payments if need be. Is there a specific code I could reference to our Social Security office to clear this matter up?

Answer: You’re not missing something. The Social Security representative you talked to is confusing retroactive benefits with the reinstatement of benefits that were voluntarily suspended.

When you file for benefits after your full retirement age (currently 66), the maximum lump sum you can get is six months’ of missed benefits.

When you “file and suspend” your application at or after full retirement age, however, you can end the suspension at any time and get a lump sum for all the benefits you missed.

Unfortunately, the misinformation you received isn’t unusual.

Financial planners around the country have reported running into Social Security reps who insist that only six months’ of benefits are available to people who file and suspend, which isn’t true.

The procedure is outlined in the Social Security Administration’s “Program Operations Manual System” under GN 02409.130 Voluntary Suspension Reinstatement

It’s also described in plain English on Social Security’s site: “If you change your mind and want the payments to start before age 70, just tell us when you want your benefits reinstated (orally or in writing). Your request may include benefits for any months when your payments were suspended.”

The ability to file and suspend, then change your mind, is an important protection for those who understand the important role Social Security plays as longevity insurance.

The smartest course is often to let your benefit grow to its maximum amount, taking advantage of the “delayed retirement credits” that increase your benefit 8% annually between your full retirement age (currently 66) and age 70.

If you should later find yourself in need of the money, you can get a lump sum payout for the missed benefits back to the day you filed and suspended, if you want.

But opting for the lump payment means you lose your delayed retirement credits for that period. In other words, if you ask for a lump sum dating back to your initial filing, your monthly benefit is reset to the smaller amount you would have gotten then.

Q&A: Student loan forgiveness

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Dear Liz: I have $105,000 in medical school loans with an interest rate of 2.875%. I have another consolidated federal loan at 6%. I’m making $180,000 in the private sector and like my job.

Should I consolidate everything, try to get a public sector job, and apply for loan forgiveness after 10 years while paying as little as possible? Or should I accelerate my loan payments?
I would be able to pay almost the full amount after 10 years. I’m also trying to save for a house in a high-cost area. I have about $110,000 in savings and stocks.

Answer: Why would you upend your life to qualify for help you don’t need?

Loan forgiveness and federal income-based repayment programs are intended for those struggling to pay their education debt. These programs are available only for federal student loans, by the way.

The low interest rate on your medical school loans indicates that those are private student loans, which wouldn’t qualify for the relief programs or for a federal consolidation loan, for that matter.

So the question really is whether you should pay your loans off over time or try to retire them as quickly as possible.

A slower repayment schedule could allow you to buy a home sooner and save more for retirement, which are both worthy goals. Faster repayment could lower the overall cost of the debt and leave you less vulnerable to rate hikes, since the interest rates on private student loans are typically variable.

There’s no single right answer, but it’s a good question to discuss with a fee-only financial planner who can assess your entire financial situation and explain your options.

Q&A: Credit scores and new accounts

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Dear Liz: My spouse signed up for a store credit card to receive a discount on a large purchase. As she has no strong interest in maintaining a line of credit there, is there a simple way of discontinuing this account without affecting our credit scores, given that we may apply for a mortgage in the near future?

If not, is it critical we maintain some frequency of use on this account?

Answer: First, let’s correct a popular misconception that marriage somehow combines your credit records. Assuming she applied for the card in her name alone, this account won’t show up on your credit report or affect your scores.

Should you apply for a mortgage together, however, her scores could affect the interest rate and terms you get. Opening and closing accounts can ding scores, so it’s best to avoid both when you’re in the market for a major loan.

Issuers vary in their policies on closing inactive accounts, so it’s hard to predict how much activity would prevent the card from being shut down. Typically, though, a small charge every two to three months is enough to keep an account open.

Q&A: Social Security spousal benefits

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Dear Liz: I started my Social Security benefits at 66 and am now 70. I was married for 23 years and have not remarried.

When I ask about spousal benefits, I am told that my own monthly benefit is too high to get benefits based on my ex’s work record. My monthly benefit is only $1,509, my 401(k) has tanked, and I am surviving on less and less available part-time work.

I was told further that I can apply once my ex passes away and then it won’t matter how high my income is. Could that be correct? What is the exact cut-off amount to get spousal benefits?

Answer: Many people misunderstand the way spousal benefits work, and they think that they can get an additional check on top of their own retirement benefit. That’s not quite how it works.

Essentially, Social Security compares the amount of your retirement benefit with what you would get as a spouse or divorced spouse and gives you the larger of the two. Spousal benefits are up to half of what your spouse or ex receives.

If your ex’s benefit is $2,000 a month, for example, your spousal benefit could be $1,000, which is less than you’re getting now. If your ex dies, however, you can apply for a survivor benefit that equals what he or she received — in this example, $2,000 a month.

Q&A: Debt collection

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Dear Liz: I am trying to help my daughter deal with enormous student loans.

She is a doctor and very busy and simply cannot deal with the stress of almost $350,000 of education debt. I want to help her refinance, but to get the best rate I would like to help her improve her credit score (even if it is already 712).

She had three small debts turned over to a collection agency after a visit to an emergency room a couple of years ago. We plan to pay them off. Do I have to ask the collection agency to erase them or contact the original creditor?

Answer: You mention that your daughter has a 712 score, but she actually has many credit scores that change all the time. Small medical collections can have an outsize impact on those scores — or they can have no effect at all. It depends on what credit scoring formula the lender happens to use.

The latest version of the leading credit score, FICO 9, ignores paid collections and treats unpaid medical debt less harshly than other types of collection accounts. The most commonly used version, though, is FICO 8, which ignores only those collections under $100 and doesn’t differentiate medical from other collections.

Some lenders still use older versions of the formula that punish people for even small collections.

FICO also has a rival, the VantageScore. The latest and most-used version of that formula, VantageScore 3.0, also ignores paid collections.

You can contact the lenders you may use to refinance the debt to find out which scores they use, and which versions. That could help you decide how hard to push to get these collections erased.

If paid collections aren’t counted, you can just pay them off and be done with it. (You’ll of course want to keep the paperwork showing the debts have been paid and have your daughter check her credit reports to make sure the accounts reflect a zero balance.)

If the accounts could hurt her even if they’re paid, you have a couple of options.

One is to ask the hospital to take back the accounts, since medical bills are often placed with collection agencies on consignment rather than being sold to them outright. Then you can pay the hospital, and the collections should disappear. (Although, again, your daughter will need to follow up to make sure.)

Another option is to try to negotiate a “pay for deletion” — which means the collection agency promises to stop reporting the account in return for payment. You’ll want this agreement, if you can win it, to be in advance and in writing.