Radio Guest: Laura Adams Talks Personal Finance

Your hosts answer common questions on estate planning, investments and dividends, as well as retirement plans and Social Security benefits. They welcome Laura Adams to the show, author of Money Girl’s Smart Moves to Grow Rich. Laura gives listeners personal finance tips and explains the importance of saving as early as possible. Joe and Bobby close the hour by discussing how Prince didn’t have an estate plan — and how not having a plan can hurt your heirs.

0:59 “The buzzword ‘fiduciary’ is out there and there’s a lot of talk about the new DOL (Department of Labor) rule…what you want to do in my opinion is work with a fee-only firm”

2:15 “Here’s the caveat when it comes to Social Security benefits if you take it early and you are still employed”

6:07 “If you’re fully funding your 401(k) plan, you can still contribute to an IRA – but deductibility limits are based on income, so if you’re covered by a plan, you have to make under $98,000 or $61,000 if you’re single”

11:15 “Title the stock certificates in the name of the trust if you have one, or establish a trust to avoid the probate process”

14:05 “How do I deal with stocks that pay dividends on a monthly basis?”

18:34 Start of Interview with Laura Adams

20:26 “One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is waiting to start investing”

21:33 “I encourage people to put a little money toward debt and a little money toward investing at the same time so you don’t lose momentum and you begin to build an emergency fund and retirement account as early in your career and life as possible”

22:18 “It is challenging to do multiple things with our money at the same time, but that’s what I challenge people to do…that’s when I see people succeed the most is when they’re able to multi-task with their finances”

25:04 Joe asks Laura, “What advice would you give to individuals who are now in their sixties who haven’t done any saving?”

25:32 “It’s never too late to begin saving; certainly when you’re older and if you’re just getting started, you’ve got to be more aggressive. There are some ways that you can get more aggressive certainly using anything that’s a tax-advantaged opportunity. For most people, you’re going to radically cut your spending”

25:51 “Think about your biggest expenses – for most people that’s housing, so what can you do to downsize your housing? Maybe moving into a smaller home or a smaller apartment and cutting that expense radically is one way to free up money so that you’ve got more to spend down the road. You can also think about retiring abroad. There are a lot of countries where it’s much less expensive to live”

26:48 “Focus on small wins – what you can do every day to move yourself forward financially”

27:06 “There are a lot of way to learn about finances that are free, that are easy and that will inspire you and motivate you to take some small steps forward every day or every week and really that’s how you gain momentum and build a financially successful life”

28:01 End of Interview with Laura Adams

31:54 “A lot of times people think a trust will avoid taxes but it doesn’t. It avoids the probate process”