Good evening.

You've got more than money.

You've got Jean Dickerson, you have Megan Smale, you have an entire team here bringing you the next half an hour of of laughs and giggles.

We have some, tap dancing.

We have some.

We don't do any of that stuff.

That's not us.

This is more than money.

Just, kind of a peek behind the curtain.

We do that on occasion.

Kind of give you a kind of a sense of what goes on behind the scenes.

Here is we pretty, craft, shows for your, for your information and maybe mild entertainment.

The term more than money has been part of our, not just our vernacular, but trademarked and branded, gosh, for, well, more than 30 years for a very important reason.

If you've watched any of our shows, if you've been part of our audience for any length of time at all, you pick up rather quickly, that while the financial part of all this is dreadfully important, there's no question about that.

The humanity, the the the the impact that that we can have on people, not not just they're their finances and their future, but their peace of mind, their confidence, their ability to make decisions that in some cases are pretty tough.

But they they can make them in a way that they understand best serves them.

And so many, financial, questions, so many financial concerns.

Gosh, yes, they're financial, but the financial piece is almost, a mask, covering up the real concerns.

And the real concerns are almost always human.

Almost always.

And, we tease on occasion that in our practice, our advisors are, certainly a, a strong, proportioned family wealth advisors.

And, and then there's a strong proportion that's also counselors.

Not not exactly shrinks.

That's not us, of course.

But but, relationship builders, problem solvers, and having that opportunity to serve on that level is what separates, a quality, financial advisor, family wealth advisor, from I don't want to say lesser quality, but let's start there and certainly and this is, this may surprise to me and certainly will separate us from I there are folks out there that are saying artificial intelligence will replace financial advisors because I can calculate numbers in the blank.

They can evaluate, investment options in a, in a snap of a finger.

They can do all of that.

They can't build relationships.

They can't read body language.

They can't feel, they can't share pain.

They can't demonstrate compassion.

Certainly not yet.

Who knows?

Predicting the future is very, very difficult.

If you think you're psychic, you're probably more psychotic.

But bottom line for us is I hope that you've you've already picked up on it, that we care way more about you as people than we do about your bank balance.

So Meg's goodness.

That got a little philosophical there for a moment.

Where do we start this evening?

That was a great opener to the show.

Where we'll answer questions in a second.

But first, we have a report that I wanted to get your thoughts on.

This one says a 19 year old college sophomore told Dave Ramsey on his show last year that thanks to 529 savings plans, his first two years of college were covered.

But for the final two years, he would need about $48,000.

Rather than take on student loans, he started looking into the Army National Guard.

After talking with a recruiter, the student discovered that through a six year contract, he could leave college not only debt free, but with around $177,000 in combined signing bonuses and tuition assistance.

Quote.

The National Guard has a phenomenal program for students in your situation, said Dave Ramsey.

What you stumbled into there was a gold mine.

Ramsey praised the students approach, saying it offered a real value through both financial support and personal growth.

He said, you're going to be 25 years old and have served in the National Guard and come out of college completely debt free.

I think it's brilliant.

I'm totally signing on for this.

What are your thoughts on this?

Jean?

I, I'm so proud of this young man.

I'm so proud.

On on about ten different levels.

But let's start with the obvious one.

He was faced with, what many college students are faced with.

If I'm going to finish, I'm going to end up owing a lot of money.

I'll be coming out of college 50 grand in debt.

Carrying that as a burden.

Every bit as burdensome as if I had gone out and spent $50,000 on on trinkets and toys during my college, and I had credit card debt that had piled up every bit as, as, as big a drag on his financial future, as if he had been foolish and all he was trying to do was get a good education.

And yet a different story.

A different story completely, in this case, Army National Guard.

Of course, all the major military branches have their guard units.

You can be Air Force Marine.

You can.

The National Guard is is available on or within almost any arena that you find interesting, that you find exciting, that you would like to be part of.

We'll focus on Army for the moment.

They have tremendous opportunities, not just for, gosh, $177,000.

Did you hear that?

It is insane the opportunity to go from -48 to plus 177 and serve his country and get tons of skills, get lots of experience, experiences that he would have no other way of achieving.

And as Dave Ramsey said, and Dave Ramsey and I don't agree on everything, there's a fair amount we don't agree on, but we do agree on a lot.

And this is one of them.

The opportunity for this young man to be 25 years old and have a resumé that not only includes a college education, be debt free, have tons of additional money in terms of sign on bonuses and earnings, and have that experience that he puts on his resume.

I would love to be the employer that meets him in at age 25, sees that, sees that, experience, sees that, strategy, sees that intelligence of not being deeply in debt, but finding a way to be creative, serve his country and benefit himself all at the same time.

This is sheer brilliance.

This is the kind of thinking, that makes anyone.

I'm the father of three daughters and and a granddaughter, I am I would be proud that if I had a son that made this choice.

This is powerful, powerful stuff.

Lost in all that, by the way, is his first two years was paid by saving and 529 plans.

Undoubtedly, his parents, did a fantastic job of giving him a leg up.

The other thing that I will note, and it is a palpable, change.

A seismic change, in, young people, young Americans approach to their educations.

Four year college degrees that for folks coming out of World War two, as my my parents did.

And many of your parents did, who had been challenged to, serve their country, maybe missed out on college, and wanted nothing more than their children to have that chance, that education, to have a better life, that four year degree.

Maybe it's time is passing, maybe not.

And certainly for many professions, it's required if you're going into law, if you're going to medicine, etc.

required.

I get that.

But for a young person who has maybe a wider vision of their future, maybe not so specific, goodness, these kind of skills army National Guard skills.

He may find out more valuable than his college degree.

And for those of you young people out there, or parents or grandparents or young folks who find themselves at, Career and Technical Institute programs and fill in the blanks electrical, plumbing, Hvac, carpentry, masonry, all of those trades that even three decades ago were, given kind of short shrift, by the general public, now admired, well compensated, bright futures, God bless them.

It's an interesting change and one that I think bodes well for our future.

Well done, sir.

And, I'm glad that we had the report to share.

So next, can I help somebody now?

I think you can.

Our first question tonight is actually also from a young person.

This one says I don't earn a huge salary, and my parents are not wealthy, so there's no bank of mom and dad to fall back on.

I've read about 95% and even 100% mortgages being available.

Is this something I should consider?

What are the pros and cons involved, and what, if any, other options do I have?

I don't like the idea of borrowing so much, but my rent is always going up and I just want to be in a place of my own.

Thanks for your help.

It's my pleasure.

And and I appreciate very much your concerns and your interest in establishing your own place.

Everyone needs to carve out their own place in the story.

Sadly, folks who are now in their 40s or 50s may be still burdened with student debt or maybe just living in areas like we'll pick California, for example, where the price is an average price might be 1,000,000 million, five, $2 million.

If you want a reasonable down payment, you've got to save up half $1 million for so many people completely out of reach.

So, this program, these programs of little or no down payment, are a double edged sword.

They can cut beautifully through the challenge of getting you into your own home.

They can also cut you deeply if it doesn't work out well, if you're not well counseled, if you're not well prepared, if somebody hasn't taken you aside and gone through the numbers very carefully, it can end up being a tragedy.

So let's look at what are the advantages.

Well, if if you're looking to buy your first home and you don't have a big down payment, that's the advantage you're able to get into your home for very little money out of pocket.

Now, getting into your home is only the first step.

Hanging on to your home becomes then the real challenge.

Somewhere.

We're talking about pros and cons.

The good news is you're in.

The bad news is now you've got to figure out cash flow wise, how are you going to hang on to that?

Because if I'm looking at a 200,000 hour mortgage, versus if I had the down payment, a mortgage of only 150, the payments are going to be substantially higher, without a doubt.

Are you in a position, job wise, job security wise, cash flow wise, to handle those additional payments?

If you are, even if it means you eat a lot of ramen, pork and beans, chunky soups, whatever.

For as long as it takes.

It might be a year.

It might be two.

It might be three.

In order to get that breathing room, in order for your income to grow so that carrying that mortgage payment becomes less and less a percentage of your income.

If you're in a position to do that, if you're willing to do that, it's a great opportunity.

It's a great opportunity.

But be very, very clear.

Cash flow is the key.

If you can handle the cash flow, even if it means ramen, or if it means that that side hustle, that second job, this is an opportunity and one that you gotta look at very carefully.

And if as you're looking at the numbers, you're not quite sure.

Circle back.

We're here to help.

Outstanding.

That was a great question.

Meg's where to next?

Our next email says I am taking my first RMD this month.

It's a little over $21,000.

I'm having about $4,000 withheld for taxes, and we'll get about $17,000.

A while ago, I heard you talk on your PBS show about using RMDs to convert to Roth IRAs.

I didn't pay much attention then, but now it's my turn.

Wondering how do I convert to a Roth with my RMD?

Thanks.

Well, I, I'm interested in this question for a couple reasons.

Number one, the phrase now it's my turn.

We cover, a fair number of reasonably common topics multiple times over.

So six shows ago, you may have heard me talk about Roth conversions.

Five shows ago, you might have heard me talk about, choosing an executor in a will.

Three shows ago, you might have heard me talk about long term care insurance, and you're saying, wow, I've heard him talk about these things in previous shows.

It's kind of repetitious.

Well, number one, it isn't, because we're answering very specific questions from very, unique situations and unique individuals.

And number two, if that's not your interest at the moment, I am sure you are politely listening, finding it mildly entertaining or interesting, but it doesn't really fit you.

And then it does.

And all of a sudden you really want to know and you want to hear all the details, and you want to be sure that you've understood exactly what this possibility, this opportunity might be for you.

That's one of the reasons.

The second reason is this is a very common situation that a lot of folks face, and they don't know what we're about to discuss.

So first, some guidelines.

When you take your RMD required minimum distribution, you are not allowed to convert that to a Roth IRA.

So in this particular case, it was $21,000 that this individual received paid the tax about 4000 meaning pretty high tax bracket and now has a net of $17,000 left at 17, cannot go into a Roth.

Absolutely not.

But what it can do is it can provide the cash flow to pay the taxes on a Roth conversion.

So a two step process, we take our R&D, we pay the tax, in many states there's no state tax.

That's up to you.

You'll check your geography and and see whether or not that's 4000 is enough.

But bottom line is now we have $17,000.

If we're using $4,000, that means this person's in roughly the 20% tax bracket.

So what might that $17,000 allow that person to do?

That person could then convert second step to convert, big chunk.

How big a chunk if we're if we're using a 20% tax bracket, we have 17,000.

The chunk is going to be somewhere in the $85,000 range.

Roughly 20% of that's going to be roughly $17,000.

So we we have 17,000.

We don't need we commit that to paying the tax on an $85,000 conversion to a Roth IRA.

And now two very interesting things will happen next year.

First of all, if we're taking 21,000 out, that means that there's probably half $1 million or so in the IRA.

Now, there's not now there's probably 400 or so.

We took 21 out to R&D.

We took 85 out to do a conversion.

So now instead of needing to take out 21,000 when we need to take out 16.

So our, our, our, our RMDs have dropped, which means our taxes will drop.

We won't have to pay 4000.

We might end up paying 3000.

It also means that we already have $85,000 in a Roth that's tax free and will remain tax free for your lifetime, and maybe for your beneficiaries as well.

Pretty powerful stuff.

And by the way, if you repeat this process and if you say, hey, it was 16, now I pay three, I have 13, I can convert, roughly 65,000.

Now at the end of that year, we don't have 400.

We're down to about 320.

The numbers are lower, lower, more and more into the tax free side of the Roth.

Less and less on the RMD side over pick a number eight, ten, 12 years.

It is very likely that your standard IRA is gone or nearly gone, and that the bulk of your money now is in a Roth IRA tax free for a very long time.

That's pretty cool.

Speaking of cool, it would be very cool if Max would ask another question.

That would be very cool.

I'll I'll give you one better.

I have another report for your thoughts.

All right.

This one says, the $2,100 monthly rent a couple pays in Mesa is a few hundred dollars more than their mortgage was when they owned their home.

But the relief that they don't have to do yard work, fix the air conditioning, or worry about rising property costs, property taxes, and home insurance premiums.

They also have the flexibility to move if their son leaves the area or if they want a change.

What are your thoughts on that stream?

My thoughts are it's painful.

Painful when people who make poor choices, based on misguided assumptions, are held up by the popular press as examples of some form of enlightenment, some form of, oh, what a lovely thing they're doing.

Oh, what a see, they're they've thought through things and it's so much better what they've done so much right.

It's different.

It's not like everybody else who's trying to, maintain a home, live, age in place and have a wonderful retirement.

These people are much more enlightened now.

Mesa, Arizona, a lovely area, beautiful area.

I've been there numerous times.

Absolutely gorgeous.

It doesn't matter what the area is.

It could be Mesa, it could be Bethlehem, it could be San Francisco.

It doesn't matter.

The concept is exactly the same.

Mean they are paying rent.

At the end of the year, they will pay 25,000 bucks.

And what will they have in return?

Stack of receipts and literally nothing more.

They they did that to be closer to their son, their family.

Fantastic.

That's a beautiful thing.

For the same 25,000.

Could they have made multiple trips.

Could they have done a whole slew of other things?

Answer.

Sure.

They've chosen to rent.

And part of their rationale, they're very relieved.

They don't have to do yard work, fix the air conditioning, or worry about rising property taxes and homeowner home insurance premiums.

Why would you think that, do you think next year's rents are going to be 25,000?

Do you think that, homeowner's insurance or property insurance, real estate taxes, paying for shoveling or, I guess a mesa blowing sand off?

I whatever, is, it doesn't go up in price and use think that your landlord is going to eat that.

Charge you 25,000 a year for as long as you stay there and their prices, their cost will go up, up, up.

But that's okay, because they like you.

It is.

It is one of the worst.

Mis, information or maybe disinformation, reports, articles that I have seen in recent years.

Yes, they have the flexibility of moving around.

And if that is your, ultimate, objective, your ultimate priority, being able to pick up and leave and just trail behind your child wherever they may go.

Bless you.

But don't try to paint it as some sort of elegant, financial discovery of how to avoid all those things.

You end up with nothing.

Your rents will go up year by year.

You have, little or.

No, well, no equity build up whatsoever.

And you have painted yourself into a bit of a pickle where even ten years from now, do you think 2100 a month is going to do it?

How about 3100 a month?

How about 4100 a month?

And you are retired on what for lots of folks is a fixed income.

Fascinating, fascinatingly misled.

Max, do we have one more?

We do?

Yes.

Our last question tonight, is get your doctor.

Fill that out for this one.

It says I'm 58, divorced and dating again.

But women just seem to care about the size of my bank account.

Wondering how should I approach dating differently now?

Thanks, Jean.

How would I know?

I mean, well, except for date nights.

No.

I'm kidding.

I'm not.

Sorry, sweetheart, I'm not kidding.

No dating?

None.

This is, I'm all right.

I'll take Doctor Phil that.

That's okay.

This is in in my opinion, an example of, a symptom.

I. And I hear him loud, loud and clear.

A certain type of woman, a certain type of woman.

How much money they have, and where are we going?

And what are you going to pay?

What are you going to buy me, and what trips are we taking?

And how much are you going to pay?

I get it, I understand absolutely.

Is is there any part of me that thinks that that's all women?

The answer is no.

What?

Are you out of your mind?

I, I am blessed, I get to to serve the financial interests of hundreds, thousands of people.

And I get to see folks who are married.

Folks are singles.

Folks are widowed, folks are divorced.

I get to see tons and tons of different, relationship situations.

But what impresses me most is the quality of those people, the quality of those women and the quantity of those gentlemen.

They're not gold diggers, for lack of a better term.

They're not obsessed with money.

Or what can you give me?

They are wonderful and caring and kind and compassionate and fantastic.

And you would be blessed to be with any one of them.

So where's the disconnect?

It's pretty simple.

It's.

Where are you looking?

I'm guessing it's not in your email, but I'm guessing you're looking in all the wrong places.

I'm guessing you're going to the bars.

I'm guessing you're going to the clubs.

I'm guessing you're going to singles groups.

That's.

It's just a guess.

I would strongly encourage you to start looking in other places.

Start looking in places where the kind of women that you would be blessed to spend time with would likely be.

You might start with church.

You might start with volunteering with organizations that represent your your your value system.

It could be anything.

You could be raking leaves for a daycare.

You could be involved helping out, first responders.

You.

There's a limitless number of opportunities, helping in a school, teaching a class, being involved in maybe yoga or, exercise program in the gym.

If you put yourself in the right circumstance, put yourself, in the position of being surrounded by the quality people that you're looking for.

You will find, you will be blessed to find so many, so many wonderful, wonderful people.

Stop looking in the wrong places.

Stop being surprised that you're finding the wrong things in the wrong places, and start looking in the right places.

Speaking of right places, I think, I hope that you felt that being with this tonight was the right place to be.

You could be anywhere, and yet you chose to be with us.

That means the world to us.

If you have questions that we can help you with, send those to me.

If you would like to receive our newsletter absolutely free in your email inbox.

Happy to do that.

Send me that email Jean, and ask mtm.com.

We're happy to do that.

We'll be even happier if when we return next week.

You're right there.

We're right here and we serve you even more on our next edition of more Than One.