 |
|
|
|
|
Friday, June 27, 2008
In this edition of Getting Personal, Chris and Tess talk about Employee Stock Purchase Plans, emergency money for students overseas and financial planning towards the end of life.
Getting Personal (Marketplace)
More on Retirement - Saving
sponsor
"We tend to forget that debt is another form of slavery. So, they are selling our debt to others? Hmmm, what happens if we can't pay? Hmmm, our credibility starts to wane. Why the heck, if we are to be seen as leaders in this vast world, would another country listen to us? Get ready people -- the beastly game is in full effect. Remember how back in the day, the mob would extend debt to those who couldn't get it? Remember? What happens if that person couldn't pay up? Good luck, Fannie and Freddie! . . . "
sponsor
Leadership PACs are the main fund-raising tool for most lawmakers. Find out how they raise and spend all that money.
Environmental professionals scrutinize eco-friendly claims by businesses, governments and groups. Check out their reports.
Are the candidates addressing issues that matter to you? Help us report on the campaigns. Share your thoughts.
No region outside the U.S. affects our pocketbooks, politics and portfolios more. See our special coverage from Cairo and Dubai.
Marketplace goes one-on-one with CEOs, company founders, head honchos...
Marketplace is on Apple's online education platform, iTunesU. Get free downloads in subjects like History, Science, Business and more. Study up
We want your insights to help us in our reporting in these areas. Share what you know:
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From New Smyrna Beach, FL, 08/02/2008
My mom is living in a condo which we own together, however- it is her primary residence. In 1/07 we did an equity loan for $100,000 to pay for the mortgage and give her some extra money for expenses and maintenance, with the idea that it would be on the market and she would come to live with my family in Jan of 08'- unable to do that, she is now paying about 3 times the original payment, and is in bad health, so a reverzse mortgage is out of the question. My question is, should I try to refinance to fixed rate loan until we get it on the market, or continue to pay the current loan back at rate of 7.9? My credit score is 700-
Thank you- love your show!
From Gustavus, AK, 07/03/2008
Hi, My father recently died and we inherited enough money to purchace another house, perhaps as a rental. We were thinking of Silver City, New Mexico area. What do you think. I'm afraid of just leaving the money in a CD and watching it become worthless in this money environment. Suggestions? We are not stock market players.
From Fairbanks, AK, 07/02/2008
In down times, why aren't Exchange Traded Funds that specialize in short sales more popular, especially since all signs point to more down times?
From San Jose, CA, 07/01/2008
We are planning to buy a house. My wife's credit is not as great as mine (760). So I would like to buy only in my name so that I can lock a better mortgage rate. What can I do so that my wife owns the house after me and has equal rights on the property ? What are my options.
Thanks.
From Providence, RI, 07/01/2008
I have been listening Market Place Money for about one month and I like it very much. I am a recent graduate student and I have the following questions:
1: As you suggested, it is good to start saving and investing early. I want to start now although it is already a little late (I have only been holding on-line savings and CD accounts.). Would you please tell me where to look to open accounts for different investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, municipal funds and even options. What are the options I have for these accounts, such as discretionary or non-discretionary? How do I know whether a specific website which allows me to open accounts is reliable? And can I open all the accounts in one place instead of holding multiple accounts from different website? Besides doing on line, what are the other methods to invest?
2: So far, my strategy in paying my credit card bill is to pay twice a month so that I do not owe any money. But I have heard that this is not an optimal way to gain good credit. And because I am not a big spender, I may end up with no credit history in this way. What would you recommend me to change in the way I manage my credit?
From Providence, RI, 06/30/2008
I have been listening Market Place Money for about one month and I like it very much. I am a recent graduate student and I have three questions:
1: As you suggested, it is good to start saving and investing early. I want to start now although it is already a little late (I have only been holding on-line savings and CD accounts.). Would you please tell me where to look to open accounts for different investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, municipal funds and even options. What are the options I have for these accounts, such as discretionary or non-discretionary? How do I know whether a specific website which allows me to open accounts is reliable? And can I open all the accounts in one place instead of holding multiple accounts from different website? Besides doing on line, what are the other methods to invest?
2: So far, my strategy in paying my credit card bill is to pay twice a month so that I do not owe any money. But I have heard that this is not an optimal way to gain good credit. And because I am not a big spender, I may end up with no credit history in this way. What would you recommend me to change in the way I manage my credit?
3: I just found an internship and it is highly likely that I will become a full-time employee of this company. I did not negotiate with them about the salary and did not even mention benefit yet. The human resource manage did not mention benefit either? How do I know what kind of benefits this company offers to employees? Will the type and amount of benefit be different for different levels of employees? What can I negotiate about benefits? What kinds of retirement benefits are there besides 401K?
From Milford, MI, 06/30/2008
My two children ages 21 & 22, are my mother's heirs. My son works during the summer and earns about $3,500 a year. This year my daughter will earn about $20,000. Their college is already paid for. Can my mother start an regular IRA for both of them? Is she limited to their amount of earnings or any other limitations?
From Liverpool, NY, 06/29/2008
thanks chris and tess , love the show
my question concerns investment firms and which one to go with. currently, im enrolled in tiaa-cref, but i read an article that i could do better investing with fidelity or t rowe. my portfolio is pretty diverse ( 67% equities, real estate 5%, guaranteed 10%, and fixed income 16%. And if thats the case, whats the best way to determine which investment firm to go with. also, im turning 60 in october, will be working until 70, but a couple of friends have suggested getting out of the market altogether and going into money markets instead. I know the market now is pretty poor, but it will turn one day ((I hope), and i figure another 10 years I should be okay.
thanks again, keep up the good work!
From Bozeman, MT, 06/29/2008
My girlfriend and I are planning to marry. She and I both own homes (in different states). We're looking at building a new home. We know there is a limitation on how long we have to re-invest the profits from selling our current homes. The question is, how to handle the timing in order to get maximum $ in our pocket? Do we get married first and put the money in jointly? Or should we put the money in separately and then get married?
Love the show, I have a limited tolerance for things financial (I balanced my checkbook once in 1973 I think) but I enjoy listening to your show because you give useful, common sense based advice. Great work, thanks.
From Westminster, CO, 06/28/2008
Several years ago I was homeless due to depression and undiagnosed ADD. During that time I was living in a homeless shelter for working men. We had to start saving either through the shelter or an account with someone. I started putting money into CDs with the goal of having a CD come due every month. Unfortunately, my cataracts became so bad I needed surgery. I lost $25 on each of the 2 CDs I had opened to pay the copay for the surgery.
I am now successfully working as a PTA and am beginning to save for retirement and emergencies. I am fearful of putting money into anything which will penalize me if I need it. I was thinking of opening a tax-free bond fund to build to 6 months of take-home-pay before opening a 401K or an IRA account. My thinking is that this would be tax free interest yet preserve my ability to get to the money in an emergency.
I am 52 years old, so I can add up to half my income into an IRA later when I have this back up fund in place. Also I have one month of take-home pay in an online savings account which has about the same interest as a CD.
I would like to get your opinion, Is this going to do what I want it to do? I can't see paying taxes on savings in the 6 month reserve account. It feels like I am being penalized for being responsible.
Thanks for your help on this.
Jim Roth
303-946-6369
From Annapolis, MD, 06/28/2008
Over the last 15 years, my father has gradually ceded the maximum interst allowable in the family summer home to me and my four siblings. The property is now wholly owned by us, as tenants-in-common. We will probably sell the property as no one can afford to buy the others out and it looks like we will have to take the capital gains hit of some $40,000 each. My question is whether there is any capital gains relief if all the proceeds go into improving our primary residence (it sure could use it!) The family property has never been rented, and we would need the one time capital gains exemption for our own home.
06/28/2008
I am a first time home buyer and understand I can borrow from my 401K for this transaction. I recently heard on Marketplace that for the purchase of a home I can borrow those fund using a 15 year repayment. Previously, I'd understood that 10 years was the maximum. Does the IRS honor a 15 year loan from my 401K or do I risk having this defined as a withdrawal?
06/28/2008
You frequently recommend rolling 401(k)s to a IRA. I was wondering if IRAs are federally insured? With the collapse of Bear Stearns I have concerns about giving $300K to an investment firm (Fidelity or T. Rowe Price). Thank you.
From Minneapolis, MN, 06/28/2008
I have inherited several hundred thousand dollars and am being encouraged by my personal banker to purchase a Market-linked CD. Its an 18 month commitment which guarantees me the principle and has up to a 20% gain if the DOW is plus or minus up to 20% from the date of purchase to the exact date of maturity 18 months later. Up or down, I get the positive return up to 20%. Beyond that-I just get the principle back. Is this a good investment for a portion of my money? Thank you
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.