DEAR P.K.: First, you indicated in your lengthy letter that they are paying only 5-1/3 percent. That in itself would dissuade me from prepaying. You also mentioned CDs and then you said assuming 4 percent return. Where and what CDs? Either way, the lady seems in pretty good shape financially. She could invest the entire amount of money in long-term government bonds, but even taking taxes into account, there would be a small net loss. All that having been said, the other part of the equation, which has to be addressed, is this is a young person, and nobody anticipates that the interest rates are going to stay low forever. This is why I would recommend that she continue the very low-rate mortgage and invest her monies over a decent spectrum, not in just interest-bearing investments, but equities, as well. Her best move would be to get a good fee-based planner to give her an outline of her options. She is a great deal better off than most young widows.
DEAR BRUCE: I was recently contacted by an annuities company about an annuity I have from a job that I held 20 years ago that I didn't know about. It appears to be matching funds that the employer made to my contributions. The amount is somewhere around $3,800. The company wants me to cash it out or roll it over so they can clean up this account. If I cash it out, there are no penalties to pay. I'm not sure if this amount is something I should save when I could use the cash flow right now. I pay into a teacher retirement fund for my state, have a small annuity that I contribute to with each paycheck and my husband contributes what seems like a large amount to a retirement fund plus Social Security. -- W.J., via e-mail
DEAR W.J.: Since the annuity is 20 years old, the penalty phase is long behind us. The former employer is saying that this is cluttering up their books for a relatively minor amount of money. You can roll it into another annuity and there will be no immediate tax impact. If you cash it out, there very likely will be income tax due. Since you and your husband are employed, it's likely that you are in a fairly high income-tax bracket. Before you cash this or roll it over, you really ought to talk to an accountant who can run the numbers so you can see the consequences of your action. Whether it's important for you to maintain this account for your "golden years" is something that I do not know with the information at my disposal. Before you act, you truly owe it to yourself to run this past an accountant. The costs should be modest.