4
Getting Personal
Getting Personal
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
About the author
Christopher Farrell is economics editor of Marketplace Money, a nationally syndicated one-hour weekly personal finance show produced by American Public Media.
I just received $38,000 in settlement money. I'm 45, disabled, and looking for employment, but unsure that I can get employment because of my disability and the economy. I have a small amount in an IRA and I receive a small amount from SSDI.
I have significant equity in my home and more space than I need, but there are reasons to stay, and disability related reasons to remodel. I am trying to decide whether it would be wise to move, remodel or to invest.
My family has helped me financially, and are to some degree able to continue, but they are in another state. I am not sure that they will or should continue given the settlement result. They have planned a trust with my disabilities in mind.
What kind of advisor should I go to? Can I find one that can work with me and my family? Where can I find a good one? When I went to the bank, they wanted to sell me their products. When I go to Waddell and Reed, they want to sell, I go to a real estate agent, she has an agenda. I need impartial advice and someone who can communicate with members of my family so that they can plan with me.
Thank you,
Sarah
I am 71 and have been retired for 10 years. I have a retirement account with ING through the State University of NY. During the recent economic downturn the account has lost roughly 25% of its value. I draw about $30,000 a year from this account as my only source of income besides Social Security. The "current investment mix" in the account is 44% balanced, 32% stability of principal and 24% large cap growth. Should I redistribute these investments to minimize future losses which seem sure to come in the next year? I don't know if this is enough info for you to give an answer. I will be happy to supply more info as needed.
Sincerely, George Koenig
I am thinking about putting my savings into ING Bank, on on-line bank that is based in the Netherlands. It is FDIC insured and offers better interest rates than many other banks. Is there any particular risk because it is outside the borders of the USA, even if it is FDIC insured? Also, ING had a major bailout by the Dutch government in October 2008. I have looked for articles on the Internet to see how it is doing today, but didn't find anything noteworthy. How do I find out how the bailout is going? Do you know? Thank you, Sara
I am 53 years old and contribute the maximum to my company's 401K and
Traditional IRA and "catchup" feature. Same for my spouse.
We pay the monthly mortgage
(tens years into a 30 year fix @ 5.5%) plus an additional $700 towards
the principal.
We also pay $411/mo for whole ($250,000 each) life insurance for both
of us.
Our retirements accounts have lost about 30-40% and we have only about
remaining 10-15 years to continue to fund these accounts.
I want to cancel whole life insurance and in favor of term life
insurance. For the same amount of coverage, we should have about $200
left. I want to put that plus more money into S&P500 index and municipal bond funds. I will still continue to
contribute to existing retirement accounts but want catch the "lift"
in the economy whenever it arrives.
Does this make sense?
