Financial Planning

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

March 21, 2022 By Liz Weston

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: A sudden death brings a financial quandary

June 7, 2021 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: My son suddenly passed away and his $1-million life insurance policy was awarded to me, his mother. I want the money to be divided equally between his two children for future use. They are 18 and 15 now. What financial vehicle should I use? The funds are in my money market account just waiting to be placed into something.

Answer: Please use some of the money to pay for individualized counsel from advisors who are fiduciaries. Fiduciary means the advisor is required to put your best interests first. Most advisors are not fiduciaries but you can find financial planners who are through the National Assn. of Personal Financial Advisors, the XY Planning Network, the Garrett Planning Network and the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners.

The vehicle or vehicles you use for the money will depend on your goals and how you want to distribute the funds over time. You’ll need good advice about how to invest, minimize taxes and incorporate the money into your own estate plan. Distributing money to your grandchildren can trigger the need to file gift tax returns, although you wouldn’t actually owe gift taxes until you’d given away millions of dollars.

Your son may have chosen you as his beneficiary because he trusted you to do right by his children. Or he may not have updated his beneficiaries since applying for the policy. (More than a few ex-spouses have wound up with life insurance proceeds because the policy owner didn’t update the beneficiaries after the divorce.) It’s a good idea to check the beneficiaries on any life insurance once a year or after any major life change to make sure the money is still going where you want.

The high price of money shame

April 7, 2021 By Liz Weston

The U.S. suicide rate has risen dramatically in recent years, and certified money coach Tammy Lally of Washington, D.C., is convinced money shame is a contributing factor.

Lally’s brother died by suicide in 2007 after receiving a foreclosure notice. Shortly afterward, Lally’s mortgage business collapsed in the Great Recession. She says she went from driving a Mercedes and living in an oceanfront house to filing for bankruptcy.

“It blew me away, the level of pain and sadness that I was experiencing,” Lally says. “I didn’t tell anybody. I was pretending like nothing was going on.”

In my latest for the Associated Press, the origins of money shame and what can be done about it.

How to create a retirement paycheck that lasts

March 25, 2020 By Liz Weston

Saving and investing for retirement may actually be easier than deciding how to safely spend what you’ve accumulated.

Withdraw too much and you could run out of money. Withdraw too little and you might stint on some retirement pleasures you could actually afford. Taxes and Medicare premiums should be considered, too, since both could be inflated by the wrong withdrawal strategies.

Financial planners use powerful software to model various ways to tap retirement funds so they can recommend the best options for their clients. Recently, some companies introduced similar software that consumers can use to find the most tax-efficient, sustainable strategies.

In my latest for the Associated Press, a look at the pros and cons of these new programs.

Monday’s need-to-know money news

October 29, 2018 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: Overcoming your fear of your college debt. Also in the news: 3 simple ways to boost your savings, tools and tactics to do your own financial planning, and overcoming your financial fears.

Are You Afraid of Your College Debt?
Start by knowing where you stand.

3 Simple Ways to Boost Your Savings
Easy peasy.

Tools and Tactics to Do Your Own Financial Planning
Tackling it on your own.

Things people seem to fear financially are not always worth worrying about
You can relax.

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

July 31, 2018 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: 5 wrong ideas you might have about financial planning. Also in the news: Bringing retirement savings goals closer, tips for back-to-school shopping, and how to kick your adult child out of the house.