Suze Orman's All Star Advice - Episode 4
PAGE 3
Our question is for Suze. With having six babies unexpectedly, how do we save for college?-Mia and Rozonno
SUZE ORMAN: So here's the thing though that's very interesting to me about that, which is this: I looked at your finances and you're asking me, how do you save for their college education when... you hardly have any money of your own. You have like $9,000 in savings, you have nothing in retirement. You're not - you're barely makin' it, you're livin' - you're rentin'. And so it's very important to understand as parents that you can care about their college education, but if you really wanna take care of kids, you have to take care of yourself first. You know, we saw that woman flyin' earlier, she's up there, and you know how they say, put the oxygen mask on your face first before your children? 'Cause in case something happens you can take care of your kids? I'd ask you to put the financial oxygen mask on your face first before the kids. What are you doing really wrong in my opinion, if you really wanna save these kids? You don't have enough life insurance. If something happened to the two of you, who's gonna take care of these babies? Where - is there gonna be enough money? You ask me, where do you get the money? If they're gone, does momma have the money? Do the brothers have money? Who has money to take care of six kids? And currently you only have $50,000 of life insurance on each of you, and you have the wrong type of insurance, it's whole life. So, just briefly, I'd like to teach you and everybody the correct type of insurance you should have, and what all of you should know when it comes to insurance.
So, we're gonna do life insurance 101 everybody, and here's what you need to know:
-What kind of life insurance should you have? The only type of life insurance that you should have is "term" insurance. Insurance that's good for a specific term, or period of time. You do not want to have, in most cases ever, "whole" life insurance, "universal" life insurance, or "variable" life insurance. They are, in my opinion, the biggest rip-offs out there, just don't have them.
-How long should you have term insurance for? The length of time that you want to have life insurance for is until you're youngest child is at least 23-years of age. So, if you have a child that's five, so you can get 15 or 20 year level term. Again, level term insurance means your premium is level for the entire period, or the term of your insurance.
-How much life insurance should you have? The problem here is, they only have $50,000 a piece; that isn't enough. If something happens, that could be gone right away. So, if you need - just let's say you need $40,000 a year to live, and you should only buy life insurance if somebody is dependent upon you for their income, or you're dependent on somebody else. You would never buy life insurance on a little baby. So, if you have life insurance and you're bringing $40,000 to the table every year, you would take 40,000 times 20, or 25, and you would wanna get $1 million of level term insurance. Now you may be goin', "Why do I need a million dollars?" Somebody dies, you get a million dollars, you invest it at about 4 percent. That's $40,000 a year.
-Why do you need so much? 'Cause maybe you're injured, maybe you can't work again. You don't know when you're gonna be able to make money, so do it that way.
-How much will that cost you? Here's the good news. At your age a million dollars of 20-year level term might cost you - 'cause they're in their 30s - $20 a month - that's it. So be very careful, don't make the mistake and get the wrong type of insurance.
Next: I am barely making ends meet and sometimes I write a check knowing that I don't have the funds to cover the check. Am I screwing up my credit score?
SUZE ORMAN: So here's the thing though that's very interesting to me about that, which is this: I looked at your finances and you're asking me, how do you save for their college education when... you hardly have any money of your own. You have like $9,000 in savings, you have nothing in retirement. You're not - you're barely makin' it, you're livin' - you're rentin'. And so it's very important to understand as parents that you can care about their college education, but if you really wanna take care of kids, you have to take care of yourself first. You know, we saw that woman flyin' earlier, she's up there, and you know how they say, put the oxygen mask on your face first before your children? 'Cause in case something happens you can take care of your kids? I'd ask you to put the financial oxygen mask on your face first before the kids. What are you doing really wrong in my opinion, if you really wanna save these kids? You don't have enough life insurance. If something happened to the two of you, who's gonna take care of these babies? Where - is there gonna be enough money? You ask me, where do you get the money? If they're gone, does momma have the money? Do the brothers have money? Who has money to take care of six kids? And currently you only have $50,000 of life insurance on each of you, and you have the wrong type of insurance, it's whole life. So, just briefly, I'd like to teach you and everybody the correct type of insurance you should have, and what all of you should know when it comes to insurance.
So, we're gonna do life insurance 101 everybody, and here's what you need to know:
-What kind of life insurance should you have? The only type of life insurance that you should have is "term" insurance. Insurance that's good for a specific term, or period of time. You do not want to have, in most cases ever, "whole" life insurance, "universal" life insurance, or "variable" life insurance. They are, in my opinion, the biggest rip-offs out there, just don't have them.
-How long should you have term insurance for? The length of time that you want to have life insurance for is until you're youngest child is at least 23-years of age. So, if you have a child that's five, so you can get 15 or 20 year level term. Again, level term insurance means your premium is level for the entire period, or the term of your insurance.
-How much life insurance should you have? The problem here is, they only have $50,000 a piece; that isn't enough. If something happens, that could be gone right away. So, if you need - just let's say you need $40,000 a year to live, and you should only buy life insurance if somebody is dependent upon you for their income, or you're dependent on somebody else. You would never buy life insurance on a little baby. So, if you have life insurance and you're bringing $40,000 to the table every year, you would take 40,000 times 20, or 25, and you would wanna get $1 million of level term insurance. Now you may be goin', "Why do I need a million dollars?" Somebody dies, you get a million dollars, you invest it at about 4 percent. That's $40,000 a year.
-Why do you need so much? 'Cause maybe you're injured, maybe you can't work again. You don't know when you're gonna be able to make money, so do it that way.
-How much will that cost you? Here's the good news. At your age a million dollars of 20-year level term might cost you - 'cause they're in their 30s - $20 a month - that's it. So be very careful, don't make the mistake and get the wrong type of insurance.
Next: I am barely making ends meet and sometimes I write a check knowing that I don't have the funds to cover the check. Am I screwing up my credit score?
