Saturday, January 26, 2008

The Suze Orman Show

I enjoy watching Suze Orman on Saturday evenings. Yes, I know, what an incredible social life I have! It's on at 9:00 p.m. and basically it's all I can do to keep my eyes open to watch it! Tonight is going to be especially interesting for us because she will discuss the Roth IRA and how those of us who are not eligible can get around it. It's been hard talking my husband into leaving the 401K (pretax account) and starting to contribute after tax dollars to the Roth. His company will have the Roth 401K available in April, and I want to start contributing to that instead of the traditional 401K. All money earned in the Roth can be taken out TAX FREE when you retire. So if you have 100,000 in that account, you really have 100,000. If you have 100,000 in your 401K, you will be taxed on the money that is taken out. And that depends on what the tax rates will be when you retire. With federal deficits at an all time high, it's a gamble I'm not willing to take at this point.

6 comments:

Canadian Saver said...

I have only watched her show once, as I don't get that channel. I've seen her on Larry King Live this week though, she is a great speaker. I'll post something funny about one of her books, on my blog, soon ;-)

I would really take advantage of that plan where you can take your money out tax free in the future!!! I don't think we have an equivalent here but I sure am going to ask my advisor! Sounds like a win-win situation :-)

And I would be watching too, tonight, if I could, so my social life isn't more exciting ;-)

CT Mom said...

Hi - I'm watching Suze right now - usually I Tivo it and watch it on Sunday mornings. I'm a faithful Suze watcher ... another similarity!

Sharon said...

Ruby,
So sorry you can't get this. It's really good. Tonight was good, basically people call in with their money issues and she advises them on what to do. Tonight there was several questions on retirement, bankruptcy... Actually the person who called in about filing bankruptcy lived in Virginia, and I can guess it is in our area. She purchased a home two years ago for $840,000 and it's worth 725,000 now. She also had $85000 in credit card debt and didn't know how that happened. Can you imagine a mortgage payment of $800000??? Wow.

CT Mom -
What did you think of tonight's show? I wish I had TIVO. So many times I've fallen asleep before the "Can I afford it" segment!

CT Mom said...

Sharon - tonight's show was an eye-opener re: the Roth IRA. I did some online research and in 2010 things are going to be much better for high income earners. In 2010 a couple could put $10K in a non-deductible IRA and then roll it into a Roth the next day with no tax consequences since it is post-tax dollars. Something to think about .... My daughters love "Can I Afford It" - my 7 year old is usually in line with Suze - "it's easy, Mom - it's all based on the numbers ..." Smart kid!

Sharon said...

I Know! My ten year old son just shakes his head at some of the things people want to buy. I think it is so important that kids understand what money is and how it works.

Actually, my husband's work is offering a 401K Roth that works exactly the same as a Roth IRA. We will be allowed to contribute the maximum of 15500 after tax dollars. We may not need to open a non-deductible IRA.

SavingDiva said...

I love to watch the Suze Orman show...my favorite section is the Can I afford it...