Drawing Up Your Estate Plan

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Episode one drops on January 1st. Would you invite strangers into your house to pour over your personal financial details right down to the penny? I am Rob West. You may not realize it, but that's what will happen if you die without a last will and testament. Think of the burden that would place on your loved ones. I'll talk about that today, and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We know from God's Word that leaving an inheritance is good. Proverbs 13-22 tells us, A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. But how you leave an inheritance can be just as important. According to the elder care site Caring.com, more than half of Americans think that estate planning is important, but only a third of them have a will or living trust.

That's a pretty big gap and it shows that estate planning in general is among the things that folks put off indefinitely, and drawing up a will probably tops the list. But it's essential if you want to spare your family the hardship of the probate court deciding how your assets will be distributed. The good news is, drafting a will is relatively inexpensive. In fact, the fewer assets you have, the cheaper it is to draw up a will.

It doesn't have to be a complex document, as many people believe. All it needs to do is clearly lay out how you want your possessions divided among your family members or friends and charities. It should also specify who you want to have guardianship of your children in the event both you and your spouse should die. It also names an individual or executor to oversee the process of distributing your assets and possessions. A will also gives you the opportunity to explain why you're leaving your assets as you've chosen.

It can answer a lot of questions and help eliminate family squabbles. The average price range for a will is $300 to $1000. It's probably the least expensive service a lawyer provides and well worth the cost. Online will kits are cheaper, but carry the risk that you'll miss something a good attorney will include. A will is such an important document, it's a wonder that so many people delay getting one and the younger you are, the more likely you are to put it off. But a will isn't the only important piece of estate planning if you want to ease the burden on your loved ones. You should also consider designating someone with a financial power of attorney, which can be very helpful while you're still alive. It allows you to name a trusted individual to make financial decisions for you if you become incapacitated. In most cases, you would give your spouse power of attorney to make decisions about assets that you don't jointly own.

It could also be a trusted friend or the family attorney. Granting a power of attorney ensures that your finances will run smoothly when you're not able to do it. You can also set up a medical power of attorney. It gives someone the authority to make decisions about your health care if again, you aren't able to make them yourself.

It's sometimes called a medical or health care proxy. And depending on your state, a financial and medical power of attorney may be combined into one document. Basically, it gives the person you specify the authority to direct your doctor to administer or withhold medications and procedures. Obviously, this is something you'll want to discuss with that individual in advance so he or she knows your wishes. You may also want to include an advanced directive that specifies your wishes about being put on life support equipment in the event of a terminal illness.

A medical power of attorney can be critical for eliminating family arguments about your care. Now, there's one more thing you can do to set your affairs in order ahead of time. Make sure you name beneficiaries for your retirement accounts and insurance policies. The beauty of doing this is that it takes those assets right out of the probate process by superseding anything you've laid out in your will.

Assets in those accounts go directly to the named beneficiaries without going through probate. Okay, I mentioned a batch of documents you need to put your estate in order, but don't be put off by them. If you hire an estate attorney, someone who deals with this sort of thing all the time, it'll make the process much easier and ensure that it's done right. And you may get a break on the cost if you have these documents prepared together. If you don't have an estate attorney, you can find one by going to MoneyWise.org and clicking Find a CKA.

An attorney with the Certified Kingdom Advisor designation will share your Christian values in developing an estate plan. Don't put this off. It's the last stewardship decision you'll make, and it's an important one. All right, your calls are next. We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West, your host. We're taking your calls and questions now on anything financial. We'd love to hear from you. We've got some lines open today. The number to call is 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. In addition to your phone calls today, we'll take a couple of emails. We receive emails all the time at questions at MoneyWise.org, and we'll see if we can get at least one or two on the air today. All right, let's head to the phones again. Lines are open, perhaps one just for you, whatever you've been thinking about in your financial life.

We'd love to hear from you and wrestle through it with you and apply the wisdom from God's Word. The number to call again, 800-525-7000. Let's begin in Chicago. Louise, you'll be our first caller. Go right ahead. Hello?

Hi there. You're on MoneyWise Live. How can I help you? Yes, I wanted to know what the difference is between a will and a trust.

Ah, yeah, it's a question we get often, and I can understand why you'd be confused about that, Louise. We started today by talking about estate planning and the importance of being prepared for your last stewardship decision, which is what you will encounter when you make these wealth transfer and estate planning decisions. With regard to a will and a trust, they are different and used for different purposes. A will is essentially a legal document that directs who will receive your assets and property at the time of your death. A trust is essentially a legal arrangement where a trustee, someone you select, manages and holds title to your assets and property and distributes those or income to the beneficiaries that you select. The will goes into effect after you die. The trust goes into effect as soon as it's signed, and that allows you to transfer property and assets into the trust while you're still alive. Now, one of the benefits of a trust is that you can transfer income and assets prior to your death, at death, or after, based on a triggering event. If you wanted to have more control over your assets because you had a lifelong dependent, you had somebody where you didn't necessarily want the assets or the income to go to them necessarily at death, and so you wanted that distributed over time, that's where a trust can be effective. The trust does not go through probate, and so it bypasses the probate process, which a will would be administered by the probate court, and any debts that would have to be satisfied prior to being transferred to the beneficiaries. The other distinction is that a will becomes a matter of the public record, whereas a trust, there's no requirement to file a trust, so they remain private and only known to those involved. So, it's really going to come down, Louise, to your situation, what you're trying to accomplish, and if you're essentially just looking to make sure that your assets and property transfer at your death to the person of your choosing, then a will is going to be the simplest and least expensive way to accomplish that. But if you have a more complex situation or you would like assets and property transferred at some point either prior to your death when you're incapacitated or beyond your death based on certain events occurring, then that's where a trust can be particularly helpful. Does that make sense? It does.

Okay. You're welcome. You'll find that a will is about $500 or so on average. A trust can be $1,500 to $2,000. So, I would recommend that you connect with a godly estate planning attorney there in Chicago and talk through the issues that you have. At the same time, you could not only take care of the will and or the trust, but also do a durable power of attorney, a healthcare surrogate, a living will to make sure your end of life decisions are going to be honored.

All of those things can be done at once and you could determine at that point whether a trust is necessary as well. So, thanks for checking in with us today. May God bless you and if we can help you further along the way, let us know.

To Spokane Valley, Washington. Hi, Mary Ann, our next caller. Go right ahead. Oh, hi, Rob.

I listen to your program every day. I am going to be selling my car. I'm going to be moving to a retirement community and I have an 07 Prius Toyota and I'm going to be selling it and I'd like to know what would be the best way to go about that. Yes, ma'am. Well, a couple of thoughts there. So, you're not going to be replacing that car, is that right?

That's correct. Okay. Yeah, and do you have somebody who could help you navigate an online sale, like if you were to list this on Auto Trader or one of the similar websites? Yes.

Okay. That would be generally where you're going to get the most effective price is through a private sale. I mean, you could take it to a CarMax or one of those and just see what they'll give you and it's a pretty straightforward process and you don't have to interact with people contacting you, our prospective buyers and just all the safety and concerns that go along with that. But if you have somebody who could help you navigate that process, listing that as a private sale through Auto Trader or eBay or Craigslist is going to be where you'll generally get the most money.

But it does take time and you are going to have to deal with things like the safety of it. So, a lot of times, like for instance, in my community at the government center where you'd go to get your title and take care of your property insurance, they have a specific place that's lit 24 hours under video surveillance and folks will often meet there to transact business, sell and buy things from kind of online sites like that. That would be a piece of it. You'd want to make sure that you don't do that on your own, that you have somebody who's there with you to do that process, to negotiate as well as to handle the transfer of the title and the actual transaction. So, that would be one way to go. If you prefer not to kind of get involved with just online sales, so to speak, then I would say probably either going to a local dealer or something like a CarMax would probably be your next best option to get a reasonable amount for the car but without having to go through the hassle of selling and through a private sale to multiple prospective buyers. Does that make sense, Mary Ann? Okay, so is Auto Trader, is that online?

Yes ma'am, autotrader.com would be the place to go to list the vehicle and then you'll start getting a lot of inquiries. So, you'd want to be ready to respond to those and again, I'd want somebody to be there with you just to ensure your safety as well as kind of the negotiation process and making sure that you have a legitimate buyer on the other end not somebody who's trying to scam you. Oh, okay. All right. Thank you very much.

All right, Mary Ann. Thanks for your call today. We appreciate it very much and thanks for being a regular listener to the program. Folks, we're going to be taking a lot more questions. Ed, Jesse, Sandy or Sunny, we're coming your way in just a minute. But before we do, we're going to take a quick break and let me also mention that we're excited to announce that MoneyWise Radio will have a name change beginning January the 2nd, 2023.

That's right. This program will be called Faith and Finance Live alongside our Faith Phi app and our new website at Faith Phi. That's faithfi.com. You know, as an organization, we sense the need to strengthen the way we express the Christian worldview of faith and finance. We believe our legacy should be far more than simply being wise with money.

We need to be seen and used by God as faithful stewards to advance his kingdom and our faith is really at the core and that informs our financial decision. So, we're excited to go through a name change and better reflect what it is that's our heart as we communicate these principles to you every day. So, starting January 2nd, same program, same format, same trusted advice, just a new name, Faith and Finance Live. We'll be right back. Stay with us. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live.

I'm Rob West, your host. What are you thinking about today financially speaking? We'd love to help you run that decision through the lens of biblical truth as we look to God's Word as our source for the best financial decisions and choices, applying principles and themes that we see from God's Word, recognizing that God owns it all and we're stewards so money is a tool to accomplish his purposes. So, we should live with contentment. We should hold it loosely. We should accept God's provision, not getting caught in the comparison trap and we should give generously.

And when we do that, I think we put ourselves in a position to experience God's best. Well, we'd love to help you wrestle through the things that you're thinking about financially today. We've got two lines open, 800-525-7000. Back to the phones we go to Michigan. Hi, Ed. Thanks for calling, sir. Go ahead.

Hi, I got two things here. I got a settlement from a work accident. I was looking at a fixed annuity. It pays, after a year, it pays out some money to help me with my subsidy on my Medicare set-aside. And then I also have Medicare set-aside to pay my doctor bills. So what do you think I should do with the fixed annuity? Would that be something to look into? So are you getting a lump sum, Ed?

Yeah. Okay, how much are you receiving? I would say I want to put $100,000 in the fixed annuity. Okay. And what are you looking to generate in terms of income?

Like say $400 to $600, I'm drawing that out with a disability, a Social Security disability. Yeah, so you said between $400 and $600 a month? Yeah. Yeah.

But I don't pay nothing until after a year. Sure. And what is your age?

My age is 57. Okay. All right.

Yeah. I mean, I think that would be very reasonable. You would typically be looking at around $500 a month for a fixed annuity at age 57 for the rest of your life.

And so that would certainly get you close. The other option is to take the lump sum and invest it. I mean, the downside with the fixed annuity is, although you're transferring the risk to the insurance company, so you're not bearing that yourself, which is nice because if that allows you to solve for a gap in income that you would have had otherwise, then at least you'll know you can count on that for the rest of your life. Beyond that, you could take the full amount and turn it over to an advisor who could manage it with an eye toward the same type of annual distribution. I mean, typically, we'd use 4% as a withdrawal rate. And so, that'd be $4,000 a year, which is not quite what you're looking for. But the idea would be that through the income and the appreciation, you'd try to offset that or make that up each year.

And then you'd always have access to that principle. Whereas with the fixed annuity, if it's just based on your life alone, once you pass away, it's gone. Whereas with the amount invested, although you're bearing the risk for that, you've got something that could still be there to pass on as an inheritance when you're done or secondly, if you needed to access more of it for any given reason, long-term care, you had an unplanned major expense, you've got access to the principle balance. That's what you're giving up with the fixed annuity because in order to get that money back, you would have surrender penalties and charges.

Does that make sense? Yeah, they said you could take up to $10,000 one time out of it. But then they said also I could have a beneficiary on it if something did happen to me. Yeah, and so it could last either through your life or beyond your life. Of course, all of that's going to affect how much it pays out though every month and they're not all created equal. So, I do your homework on it before you make a decision. This kind of insurance product, although it's not my first choice, it can be effective in a situation like this where you don't want to take any risk. You just want that guaranteed payment for your life or your life plus someone else.

But I would again, shop it around to make sure you get a product that's going to meet your needs with as little expense as possible. If you need some second or third opinion, perhaps connect with a certified kingdom advisor there in Michigan to help navigate this with you. Ed, we appreciate your call today, sir. God bless you. To Chicago, Jesse, how can I help you today?

Yes, sir. Good afternoon, Rob. I'm sorry about you guys.

Happy to have you. We just lost our father recently on the 13th of November, but unfortunately we thought he actually had left a will. He's leaving property here in the US in Chicago, as well as some vehicles and also property in Puerto Rico.

At this point, what can we do to try to facilitate kind of a good way to dispense this out? Because unfortunately he never divorced his wife, even though they were separated in 75 or 77 in the state of Illinois. And then there's eight brothers and sisters, children that possibly might be inheriting some of the stuff that he left behind. I think he did leave one property in my brother's name and as well as my name, but everything else is out hanging in the open.

Yeah. And to your knowledge, there is not a will, is that right? We assumed that he had made a will in 2019, but unfortunately now nobody can find it and there's no copy of it with any of the attorney's offices. Okay. Have you contacted the probate court in the county where your father lived to see if there's a will on file there?

Not yet. We were trying to work with a lawyer that he had worked in the past to try to facilitate if there was any paperwork available, but I think the only thing he found was a land quick claim deed upon his death. The house that he owns here in Chicago, Illinois would transfer ownership over to me and my brother. Okay. Yeah, very good. Well, I'm glad you have a family attorney.

I mean, that's key. I'm not an attorney, so I would take his counsel. I would say, you know, contacting the probate court in the county where he lived to see if there happens to be a will on file. That may have already been done, but if not, that would certainly be a step I would take to try to see if there's something there that perhaps you all don't know of. Court clerks should be able to track wills by date of death and by name.

If you think there's a will, you know, and it just hasn't been found, I would certainly be looking through your father's papers and files, but working through your family attorney in the probate court is going to be the next best step, even if it is an intestate situation where somebody dies without a will, the probate court will get involved and help facilitate the transfer of assets and property based on the laws of your state. So I think that's your next step. Let us know how that turns out, Jesse, and I'm so sorry to hear about your dad's passing. We'll be right back on MoneyWise Live. Stay with us. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We've got some great calls coming up.

Let's head right back to the phones and welcome Sami to the broadcast. Hi there. How can I help you? Hi, how are you? Doing great. Thanks. Appreciate your call. Thank you.

I have a question. So I would like to move into a better neighborhood for me and my five year old daughter. I currently own my home, so I was wondering if I should sell my home right now that the market is good or should I rent it out and use the money from renting it out to pay the mortgage of the new home?

Yeah. So I love the idea of having a rental property that could provide some income and allow you to build equity in that property over time. We just don't want to do it if that's going to prevent you from putting a proper down payment and or taking on too much risk if, for instance, you were to be without a tenant and you had a mortgage on that property, it could put you in a real financial bind if for some reason you had to then cover the mortgage and you were planning on rental income but it goes away, let's say because we were in a recession and now all of a sudden you're putting the rest of your financial life in jeopardy to try to cover that mortgage.

So let's talk through that for a second. What do you owe on that current property that you're in right now? So I own it in full.

It was a fixer-upper, so I purchased it in cash and over the course of a year and a half I fixed it up with my dad. Wow. That's incredible.

Great job. Okay. What do you think it's worth? So I talked to a realtor and he said, he hasn't even looked at the property, but just based on a market analysis, he said $150,000.

Okay, great. And do you have an idea of what kind of rental income you could generate on that? So it's a two bedroom, one bath and a half. Rent has gone up in Indiana, so I would say maybe $950,000 or $1,000. Okay.

Yeah, very good. And tell me what you'd be looking to spend when you make a move and try to find a neighborhood that's a better fit for you. So I was looking for homes around $150,000, but since everything's gone up, most homes are around $200,000, so I would like to stay under $200,000. All right.

And what do you have to spend in terms of, or what do you have to put toward a down payment? So I have $25,000 saved up, but I don't want to use all of the $25,000 because I do want to have some saved up in case of an emergency. Yeah. Yeah. So what were you thinking of saving? I would like to keep maybe $15,000 in my savings. Okay.

Yeah. The challenge here is, I mean, you've got a great asset there and I love that you and your dad did that together and it was a fixer upper and you've made it into something that has some real value. I think the challenge is I would agree with you. I don't think you should use all of your emergency savings. I'd love for you to have three to six months expenses set aside in that liquid savings account. The problem is that's not going to give you a whole lot for that down payment because I'd really like for you to go in to this new purchase with 20% down. Now the great news is that if you sell that other property, you'd have quite a bit to put toward this house.

Let's say you put the full $150,000 toward it. Now all of a sudden you may have a $50,000 mortgage which that might be $350 a month. So I mean pretty reasonable even at these higher interest rates, you'd have a ton of equity going in and maybe you look to try to pay that off a little bit quicker than let's say certainly not over 30 years. Even if you did a 15-year mortgage, maybe that's $425 or so and you've got that paid off in 15 years and then maybe you're looking to buy a second property down the road. But I just think given the liquidity that you have, it's probably not the right time for you to try to hang on to this house and go into that next property with a big mortgage that you don't have today and without a whole lot of equity just because you'd barely be able to put, well you wouldn't be able to put even 10% down if you try to hang on to a realistic emergency fund.

In terms of the timing on this, I think the timing is fine. You're not going to get maybe as much as you would have gotten let's say six months ago when it was a real seller's market and there was bidding wars going on and multiple offers in 24 hours but you would have also paid more for the property you were buying. So although the market has softened with these higher interest rates, we still haven't seen a significant decline in housing prices, maybe 6% or so and you're going to be able to realize that modest decline when you buy. So as long as you're getting out of one property and into another, I don't think it matters whether we're in a raging seller's market or kind of a softer buyer's market, it'll make up for itself on one side or the other. So I think the key right now is trying to stay within your budget, not stretch too far. Fortunately, you're in a situation where you're probably not going to be as frustrated with houses that you find that are going to be a good fit that sell out from under you like you would have six months ago when everything was raging. So you'll be able to find something that fits your budget, that meets your needs for you and your daughter, it's in a good neighborhood, but I'd probably go ahead and sell that other property first. So you're not stretching too far to get into it and just putting yourself in a situation where if you were to have a disruption in your income or we get into a recession or you can't rent it, you know, you're putting yourself in a financial predicament. Does that make sense any?

Yeah, that makes sense. My other question is, should I wait for the market to calm down a little bit more or like, you know, maybe in the summer look to purchasing a home or what do you think? Yeah, if you were renting right now and just looking to be a first time buyer, I think you could make a case for that. But I don't think that's helpful at this point because let's say next summer we're in a full blown recession and the housing market is really softened because rates are even higher. You know, you're going to you're going to lose some money on the sale even though you may get a better deal on the buy. So I think it's all going to wash out in the end. So I think if you're ready to make this move, the key is finding the right house that fits your budget in the right part of town.

That's most important right now than waiting because you already have a property and you know, you want to maximize the sale on that at the same time. Awesome. Okay, thank you. All right, Sandy, thanks for your call today. God bless you. Elizabeth, Dorothy, Marquita, we're coming your way. A quick email first.

This one comes to us from Ed. He says I'm 66 and I work full time. I plan to continue for the next three years, God willing. Should I start taking my Social Security now and invest it in a Roth IRA while I'm working? Or should I actually wait until I retire?

And Ed, I would wait up until you retire or 70 whichever comes first. And the reason is you're going to get a guaranteed 8% increase per year on that Social Security benefit that's locked in. And although I love the the Roth IRA, there's certainly no guarantees of an 8% return.

In fact, most economists think we're heading into a period with probably more of a sideways, sideways modest growth type market, just given the economic factors going on right now, as opposed to a raging bull market like we had the last 10 or 12 years. So I think you'd be far better off kind of banking that guaranteed 8% on your Social Security, even outside of a Roth IRA, than trying to take that money, locking in a lower amount and investing that. That's just my best advice. If you have a question, you can send it to us at questions at moneywise.org. All right, a quick break and then back to your phone calls at 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live and we'll be right back. Great to have you with us today on MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West, your host, taking your calls and questions today. Let's head right back to the phones. Elizabeth is in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hi, Elizabeth, you're next on the program. Go ahead.

Hi, thank you so much for your ministry to your listeners. I have a question about an HSA, which I have, into which I can no longer make contributions because I'm on Medicare. The funds are being held by a company that's charging me $10 a month, just in administrative fees, and I would like to transfer that money to a company that will hold it for no fees or minimal fees, and I'm just wondering what you would advise on that. Yeah. Well, there are some great providers out there, Elizabeth, that offer accounts without an annual or monthly account management fee. You're going to want to do some research on this. I'll give you a couple of names to consider. One that is more recently has become increasingly popular because they are fee-free for individuals and families is one called Lively, L-I-V-E-L-Y. You'll find it at livelyme.com.

So, that's Lively. The other is HSA Bank, and then Fidelity also has a great HSA that gets very high marks. So, those three would be three that I would look at. I'm not necessarily saying that all three would be fee-free, but they would be at least be options for you to consider. The other thing that I would look at is I would Google the best HSA providers for 2022, and there's a lot of the most trusted sites that rate banking institutions and other financial institutions will provide lists and evaluations or rankings of the best providers, including not only the access to the investments but also the fees that they're charging. What you will see is that bankrate.com has a list like that, Morningstar does as well, and you'll see a few of the more popular names that will provide ratings each year on all of the HSAs.

So, I think between looking at those three that I mentioned plus checking out a few of those websites that do their own rankings, you'll probably have more options than you may have even been looking for to consider as you evaluate the one that's the best fit for you. Okay? Okay. Thank you so much. All right. Appreciate your call today. God bless you.

To Akron, Ohio, WCRF. Hi, Dorothy. Go right ahead. Hi, Rob.

Thanks for taking my call. My question is I'm curious as to why an institution like Edward Jones can offer 4.5% interest rate on a CD for six months and a bank doesn't offer that and they're both FDIC insured. How and why is that different? Yeah, a lot of times a broker can buy CDs in bulk from other banks and then resell them at more competitive rates. And so, I think depending upon who has the very best rates at any given time, certainly as long as you've got the FDIC insurance protection and it's not a fund of CDs which may not have that, you just need to understand what it is. But as long as you're actually buying into a CD and they just offer attractive rates right now, I'm completely fine with that. Bankrate.com would be a great place to check and see who has the very best CD rates right now. And it is going to change periodically just based on how much they have available to lend and they can get more competitive from time to time. But in particular, you'll find that the brokers can have these higher rates than you would usually see just because they are buying these in bulk. But again, if you have the FDIC insurance, no reason not to.

Okay. And I'm the type of person I like that brick and mortar that I can walk into. I think you've talked about online their banking that you've and I'm very nervous about doing that. You know, I like to go into somewhere, be able to get a receipt, make a deposit, those kinds of things. So what was that said? You said go to Bankrate.com?

Yeah. Bankrate.com will allow you to look for the most competitive CD rates that are available. The ones that are going to be the highest will typically be those that you have to use an online bank unless you're going to go through a broker like you described just a moment ago. But the brick and mortar banks typically are not going to have as competitive of rates.

However, you may find a local credit union could be an option where you have a local branch that you can walk into but they have a particular incentive going on that allows you to get a bit higher in your rate. So I think just do your homework and see what is going to be the best fit for you. The other thing to consider is what is the minimum deposit depending on how much you're looking to put in.

A lot of these institutions that have these higher yields will require a higher minimum as well. So you want to check that also. Dorothy, all the best to you as you explore that. I'm sure you'll find a great fit. We appreciate you calling today.

To Farmington, let's see, New Mexico. Hey, Marquita, how can I help you? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Yes, sir. I've done a couple of things for my estate planning. One, I wrote my own will, but I'm wondering if I need to file it in the courthouse if that makes it more effectual or just leave it in my papers or what do I do with it? So you said that you actually did this on your online.

Is that right? Yeah, I just took like a copy of my mother's will and just wrote my own will. I see.

Yeah. So is it effectual just like that or do I need to file it in the courthouse? Yeah, you don't have to file it with the court. If you want to, you can file it with the probate court in the county in which you live, but it's not required.

The only exception to that would be the laws for estate planning do change state by state. And so that would be the only reason why I would say, Marquita, even though I appreciate that you kind of had a working template, so to speak, to start from and you save some money in doing this, I want to make sure that it's valid based on the laws of your state. So I'm still going to recommend that you go and get a will done by an attorney. It's probably going to cost you a few hundred dollars, but I think it's going to be worth it just to make sure that it's done properly and that it will be honored. But at the end of the day, to your initial question, does it have to be filed? The answer is no, it does not have to be, although that's possible. So you could certainly contact the probate court in your county and tell them that you want to file it.

But I will strongly urge you to make sure an attorney looks it over and make sure that it's valid based on the laws of your state. Okay. Okay. The other question was, I have been saving, you know, for in the case I needed to go into a home where I need to hire people to take care of me.

So I am 79 and I've been saving in the bank and I just have a piece in case I pass away for my children. I'm wondering if you recommend that sort of thing or not. Okay.

You broke up there a little bit. So say that again in terms of, am I recommending what? A POD or a Pay On Death. Oh, a POD. Yes, ma'am.

Yeah. I like the Payable On Death a lot for your financial accounts, banking accounts and other investment accounts that will allow this to pass very expeditiously at your death outside of the probate process. So I think where possible, you want to name beneficiaries and you want to put a Pay On Death, Payable On Death on your accounts where you can. Your will should cover everything else, but that's just going to make sure that it passes very efficiently. And let me just say, I did do a quick search while we were talking here and it looks like that perhaps in New Mexico you do have to file with the county court. So again, that's where I'm saying the laws do change state by state, which is why I think you want to have an attorney draft up the will to make sure that it's valid.

And regardless of which will you go with, whether it's your own or one that an attorney creates, I would contact that probate court there in your county and ask about filing that with them to make sure that it's honored and that it's valid so that it's in place at your death. And yes, I think a POD is a good idea. Marquita, thank you for checking with us today. God bless you.

To Illinois. Hi, Renee. You're next on the program. Go ahead.

Hello. Yes. My brother passed away last April and had me as a named beneficiary for his Roth IRA account. And they contacted me and told me that I need to take out the whole account within 10 years. So one tenth of the value. And what I thought I wanted to do was give the money I'm taking out to his nephew and nieces because they're young and I know that he would want that for them.

Yes. So it's a sizable amount. I had heard you talk about the I bond. But when I looked into it, I found out it was only up to ten thousand dollars per social security number. And this is I would need to take out at least one hundred and twenty thousand each year. So, yes, for children, for children.

And I listened to your last call. You said something about the CD maybe having a higher threshold where I could possibly get forty thousand dollars for per child if I could find a good rate. I just want something safe. Yes. So you're not. So you're looking to go ahead and put this in their name to make the gift or do you want to keep this in an account that you control but just earmark it for the children as you take it out? I thought I would just keep it for them. But something that would be maybe when they're 18. I don't know how that would work either. Well, your choice is this.

So you're right. If you inherit a Roth IRA from a non-spouse who died in 2020 or later, you have to withdraw the funds generally within ten years. As you pull that out, you'd have to decide, do I want to go and give it to them? You could do that in a custodial account like a UTMA or a UGMA and it becomes their asset at the age of majority. And then you just have to decide what to invest it in and you could use CDs.

That would be the most safe if you don't want to take any risk. Let's have you stay on the line. We'll talk a little bit more off the air. I'm out of time today. Hold on, Renee.

MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. Let me say thank you to my amazing team today and appreciate you being here as well. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.