Which should I choose, Schwab or Fidelity?
Both me and my wife are disabled and can't work. I got paralyzed in 1989 at work and have a good income from an annuity set up since then and until death. My wife got paralyzed 4 years ago from medical malpractice and we won the case. She will get 900K soon. It will roll into a high yield savings account for now. I'm 52, she's 48 and we are not willing to go risky in the stock market. We would like to draw only about $2000 monthly for in case we need it and re-invest it if we don't. Ideally we would be satisfied with 4-5% gains per year. I know the stock market averages better over time but we would rather see a low steady return and not risk it. Need advise on what options there are out there. We are also not interested in doing an annuity for her because she would loose the principle and we want to leave it to our children. What is out there to lock in a long term but risk free investment? Any help would be appreciated!
Problem with that approach is that if Interest rates go down there is a chance of a near future downside risk.
If they opt for a 10 year CD ladder, followed by 7 and 5 year and perhaps 3 and 2 year, there is a little downside protection, for a while at least.
Are you getting SSDI? What are your extra expenses? With 2 seriously disabled people living in your home it seems you would need a lot of extra income for personal help and household chores. I don't think you are thinking far enough into the future as to your expenses. Since your income is fixed until your die I don't think plain saving accounts or CD's are going to do the job. What would your younger spouse live on if you die and she loses your annuity income. Leaving money to your kids should probably not be first on the list of things you worry about.
Or perhaps you have more savings stashed away and haven't mentioned it but you have a lot of things to think about.
Schwab has them and Fidelity should have them also. Rates got better as the day went on and after 4pm today, there were multiple 5.65% monthly payers available. Added them to my ladder. All were 5yr terms and eligible for auto-rollover into new CDs when they mature. CUSIPs: 063330AG9
, 85511RBQ4
Are you getting SSDI? What are your extra expenses? With 2 seriously disabled people living in your home it seems you would need a lot of extra income for personal help and household chores. I don't think you are thinking far enough into the future as to your expenses. Since your income is fixed until your die I don't think plain saving accounts or CD's are going to do the job. What would your younger spouse live on if you die and she loses your annuity income. Leaving money to your kids should probably not be first on the list of things you worry about.
Or perhaps you have more savings stashed away and haven't mentioned it but you have a lot of things to think about.
Are state taxes something you are writing a check for every year? If so that makes state tax free Bills or bonds a better return when at the same interest rate as CDs.
You are absolutely right. I can still cut grass on my mower. My wife still can do a lot as she can still walk with a leg brace. So we take care of our home 100%. She get SS benefits she worked for, Not SSDI. We both are on Medicare. We both carry a whole life insurance policy, enough to pay of mortgage and then some. Yes, our care will come before our kids inheritance. We can actually live off of our income now and will try to save most of all the returns from this money as long as we can. But yes that is the biggest worry about if I die in a week from now, she will lose my income. That's why we cannot get into a long term investment or something that is not a locked in rate. I'm thinking something locked in a decent rate and doing a ladder. Just not sure if it should be CD's, Bills or Bonds.
Problem with that approach is that if Interest rates go down there is a chance of a near future downside risk.
If they opt for a 10 year CD ladder, followed by 7 and 5 year and perhaps 3 and 2 year, there is a little downside protection, for a while at least.
Same hereFlip a coin, they are both fine. I have both.