Listeners have amassed sizable cash reserves-now what to do with all of that moo-lah? Is it time to pay down the mortgage, invest or do maintain the position?

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Walt, Lynn Steve and Ang are all sitting on a pile of cash. In each case, the advice is slightly different, proving once again that every situation is unique.

Mark has had a variable annuity for five years and has been offered the opportunity to purchase a rider that would protect his downside risk-is it worth it? Meanwhile, Nell's advisor is suggesting a change in how he will charge her for his services. She wonders if the new fee is worth it?

Katie asked about combining retirement accounts and Elmar and his wife want to know what steps they should take to  go from two incomes to one.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

Congress finally got its act together and agreed on a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. Sure, we may have to go through this all over again in January and February, but in the mean time, it's back to our regularly scheduled programming!

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Our young listeners are so great, because in answering their questions, I can review some of the basic premises we should all be applying throughout our lives. Leah got us started with questions about rolling over an old retirement plan and whether or not to combine assets with her soon-to-be husband. Aaron's wife wants to buy a house, but is that the best idea at this point in their lives? Steve needed advice about where to invest $5K and Tim and his wife have whole life insurance and want to know whether to exchange it for term -- YES! 29 year old Jaydan wrote such a nice e-mail, that I wanted to give him a shout-out on the show and in the show notes as well.

On the retirement front, Cheryl asked about the nasty provision of Social Security that reduces benefits for federal employees (Windfall EliminationProvision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). While there is legislation pending to undo these punitive rules, given the state of affairs in DC, I wouldn't hold my breath for action.

Ena has a wonderful problem: she has saved $1.35 million and needs a strategy to create income from the portfolio in retirement. Now is a good time to interview fee-only advisors. Howard asked about index vs. managed funds (INDEX RULES!), Andy is weighing a lump sum versus an annuity for his wife's retirement account, and Robert asked about the file and suspend strategy for Social Security.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

With all of the drama out of Washington DC, you probably didn't realize that it was just Financial Planning Week. To celebrate, our guest, fee-only financial planner Gary Schatsky of ObjectiveAdvice.com provides everything you need to know about how to choose a financial advisor.

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For those who are in the process of interviewing financial professionals, here are the 10 Questions you should ask!

We started the show with a great call from Louiseann from MD brought up a vexing question: where can a small investor go? Then we helped Chris from OR, who is managing her own $1 million portfolio and needs to understand how to evaluate her performance. Linda from TX wants to know what type of retirement plan would be best for her husband, who is a doctor earning big bucks!

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

With the government shutdown in full swing and the debt ceiling looming, should you be making any changes to your portfolio? The easy answer is: NO! Stick to your diversified, balanced approach and you will be more likely to survive this latest crisis with less anxiety.

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David and Matt had government shutdown-related questions, but Jane was focused on what to do with a lump sum to help fund retirement. 

Shelley's debt consolidation questions allowed me to talk about financial scams, while Milton and Matt sought advice on selecting financial advisors.

TIB and Andy wrote about investing retirement assets, which Daphna and Tim are just starting their retirement funding journey.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

With new reverse mortgage rules set to go into effect on September 30^th, it was a perfect time to have Billy Wright Senior Loan Officer and Branch Manager of Americana Mortgage join us as a guest to explain what’s going on and to answer some of your questions.

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As a reminder: a reverse mortgage is a home loan that allows homeowners 62 and older to convert a portion of the equity in their homes into cash, as long as the home remains their primary residence. Most reverse mortgages are offered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and are guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) through a program called Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM).

Up until the new rules, pretty much anyone who had equity in a home could qualify for a reverse mortgage, but starting January 13, 2014 there will be new underwriting standards for new applications to ensure that borrowers have the ability to continue paying taxes and insurance on an ongoing basis. Additionally, as of October 1, homeowners will only be able to draw 60 percent of the available principal limit, unless there are mandatory obligations such as mortgage payoffs or liens. (A credit card debt is NOT considered a mandatory obligation.)

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

The Federal Reserve shocked economists and investors by maintaining its $85 billion bond-buying program. Listeners were more interested in kick-starting their retirement savings and putting their cash to work.

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Elizabeth from RI and Nick from NY are in their 20’s, living home and saving lots of money. They both needed help with figuring out how to start investing for retirement.

Judy from CO, Alma from AZ and Mel from MN all have a great problem: where to invest cash? Both Susan and Bonnie had allocation questions, which JM from New York City, asked about the Windfall Elimination Penalty provision.

As Mayor Rahm Emanuel once said, “You never want a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” While Emanuel was talking about politics, we can apply his statement to investor behavior leading up to and during the financial crisis. With five years of distance from the eye of the storm, here is my list of the top 5 lessons every investor can take away:

1. Keep cool: There are two emotions that influence our financial lives: fear and greed. At market tops, greed kicks in and we tend to assume too much risk. Conversely, when the bottom falls out, fear takes over and makes us want to sell everything and hide under the bed. If you had sold all of your stocks during the first week of the crisis in September 2008, you would have been shielded from further losses (stocks bottomed out in March 2009). But how would you have known when to get back in? It is highly doubtful that most investors would have had the guts to buy when it seemed like stock indexes were hurtling towards zero.

2. Maintain a diversified portfolio…and don’t forget to rebalance. One of the best ways to prevent emotional swings is to create and adhere to a diversified portfolio that spreads out your risk across different asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, cash and commodities. In September 2008, a client shrieked to me that “everything is going down!” But that was not exactly the case: the 10 percent allocation in cash was just fine, as was the 30 percent holding in government bonds. That did not mean that the stock and commodities positions were doing well, but overall, the client was in far better shape because she owned more than risk assets.

3. Maintain a healthy emergency reserve fund. Bad luck can occur at any time. One great lesson of the crisis is that those who had ample emergency reserve funds (6 to 12 months of expenses for those who were employed and 12 to 24 months for those who were retired) had many more choices than those who did not. While a large cash cushion seems like a waste to some (“it’s not earning anything!”), it allowed many people to refrain from selling assets at the wrong time and/or from invading retirement accounts. Side note: the home equity lines of credit on which many relied for emergency reserves vanished during the crisis.

4. Put down 20 percent for a mortgage (and try to stick to plain vanilla home loans (15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgages), unless you really understand what you are doing!) Flashback to 2004 – 2007 and you will likely recall that you or someone you knew was buying a home or refinancing with some cockamamie loan that had “features” that allowed borrowers to put down about 3 cents worth of equity. There’s a good reason that old rules of thumb work. Yes Virginia, house prices can go down. And despite the recovery, please shun the advice from so-called experts like Suze Orman, who are once again saying that 10 percent down is just fine.

5. Understand what is in your target date fund: Pre-crisis, many investors had started to use target date funds, in which the fund manager “targets” your future date of retirement and adjusts the allocation as you near the time that you will need to access the money. Unfortunately, many of these funds were far riskier than investors understood. Whether it’s a target date fund or an age-based investment for your kid’s college fund, be sure to check out the risk level before you put a dollar to work.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

Over the course of one week five years ago, the U.S. financial system was brought to its knees. Throughout the show, I tell you where we stand five years after this momentous week, when it comes to jobs, income, housing, stocks and much more!

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To recap the action over that horrible 7-day period in September 2008:

• 4 investment banks vanished (Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, Bank of America swallowed the ailing and near-failing Merrill Lynch, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were forced to become bank holding companies in order to access the government’s discount window)
• The government bailed out global insurance giant AIG
• There was panic in the money market fund industry after the Reserve Primary Money Fund “broke the buck,” dropping below the standard $1 per share valuation
• The Treasury Department introduced the first version of TARP, which was intended to grant the government the authority to purchase $700 billion of mortgage-related assets for two years.

Meanwhile, listeners were equally as interested in NOT repeating past financial mistakes. Margaret from MA started us off with a question about where to invest the proceeds of a CD that is coming due. Kevin followed up with a retirement planning question: how to create a stream of income from a $500K nest egg?

Joe from IN needs to access funds for his daughter’s education: which should he tap first?

Reeves from MO and John from KY are both in their 20’s and starting their first retirement accounts. We discuss their options and the advantages/disadvantages of 401 (k)s and Roth IRAs.

William from WI wrote in about a good problem: a large estate. If you are fortunate to have an estate larger than $5.25 million (for individuals) there are a number of options for addressing your potential estate tax.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

A tepid August jobs report had little impact on "Jill on Money" fans, who were more interested in financial issues that hit closer to home.

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Joe from NY started the show, with a question about early retirement. Have he and his wife accumulated the assets ($2 million at retirement) necessary to call it quits at age 50?

Ron from NJ wants to know my opinion of the Social Security strategy called “File and Suspend” (sometimes referred to as “Claim Now, Claim More Later”)

File and suspend is a feature of the system can be useful for married couples, especially where one spouse has earned significantly more than the other spouse during their careers. In these cases, the lower earning spouse is usually better off claiming half of the spouse’s benefit because it is higher than the individual benefit.

File and suspend allows the primary wage earner to apply for benefits, then suspend collecting, while allowing the other spouse to start collecting spousal benefits immediately and then continuing to collect. Here’s the best part: the primary wage-earning spouse can wait to claim benefits until age 70, which increases the future individual Social Security benefit by eight percent each year between ages 66 and 70.

On the subject of Social Security and retirement income, Ang wants to make sure to factor in taxes when determining the proper amount to withdraw.

Robert from Buffalo is weighing whether or not to refinance an adjustable rate mortgage, while Scott from MO is trying to determine whether or not to pay off his outstanding mortgage.

Daud asked about the ratings of long-term care insurance providers. Finding any company willing to write LTC is difficult enough, but finding a highly rated one is even tougher. Check out the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance for more information.

A few investment questions this week. One of particular note was from JG, who needs a plan to rotate a portion of his retirement funds into stocks. Meanwhile, John is worried about the future value of dollar-denominated assets.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

Over the Labor Day holiday weekend, "Jill on Money" fans were working to prepare for what could be a volatile September. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, September has been the worst month for stock performance over the past 50 years!

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Alex kicked off the show with a question about how to invest in bonds, while Jane followed up with concerns that perhaps her choice in a financial advisor might have been...well, ill-advised.

Rebecca and Jackie are looking for the best ways to pya down debt, while Linda is contemplating withdrawing money from her retirement account without generating tax liability.

Richard and Kane are receiving disability income, while Bill is trying to come back from a foreclosure

Stan and RJ are each weighing the purchase of an annuity to create a stream of retirement income, but in each of their cases, there are more affordable options.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world...One question: what do Mark do to the intern to make her disappear on us? If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

Just back from a quick trip to Brazil and happy to get right back into the groove with questions from the smartest fans around!

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Kathy from MD started asked a question about re-titling an old stock certificate. We dealt with that quickly, before moving into the thornier topic of how to convince an aging parent to draft a will.

Cheryl from NC, Anne from PA and Barb from OR each asked a question about their respective advisors. If Cheryl’s case, she needs to go back to the advisor/broker to better understand the terms of the new asset management fund. Anne needs to tell her advisor that they want to maintain a separate account with stocks that he will not manage and that the risk of her managed account may need to be adjusted to compensate for that fact. For Barb, it’s time to dump her bank-based advisor and find a fee-only (use NAPFA.org) or a fee-based advisor.

Ron from IL checked in with a question about IRS Rule 72T, which allows access to 401(k) funds before age 59 ½, without the early withdrawal penalty.

Jack from CA and is busy trying to pay down $180K in student loans, while Carl is preparing to assume new debt for college and wants to know appropriate parameters that he should use before starting the process.

Kathryn wrote in to warn against a refinancing scam that is aimed at veterans (ugh!) If any listeners encounter these types of horrible hoaxes, please let me know so we can help spread the word!

We fielded a bunch of Social Security questions from Mark, Janis, Max, Ben, Christopher, Ray, Larry and Lowell. As a reminder, the procedure to calculate benefits involves three steps.

1. A worker’s previous earnings are restated in terms of today’s wages to reflect wage growth.

2. Earnings for the highest 35 years are averaged and divided by 12 to arrive at Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME).

3. The Social Security benefit formula is applied to AIME to produce the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), the benefit payable at the Full Retirement Age (FRA).

If you have less than 35 years of earnings, you may want to work enough additional years so you have a full 35 years of earnings. Otherwise, the Social Security Administration will average in zeros for any years less than 35.

The maximum SS benefit depends on the age you retire. If you retire at your full retirement age in 2013, your maximum benefit would be $2,533.  If you retire at age 62 in 2013, your maximum benefit would be $1,923. If you retire at age 70 in 2013, your maximum benefit would be $3,350.

Tony asked how many months out of the year are required for state residence and Alan from Buffalo needed help with debt pay down options.

Dave in St Paul, MN asked about a bond fund versus a stable value fund and whether to use retirement assets to build a house.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world and Christina the intern. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

When you hear "pundits" shrieking that the markets are going to crash or that the sky's the limit, best to run the other way! These folks prey on our emotions and are usually most interested in selling their books/newsletters/trading schemes.

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Frank from IL is collecting SS benefits and wants to understand the limitations on earning money while he is collecting. There are specific rules and limits, so make sure to double check here. The question allowed me to reveal an interesting SS strategy that you may want to consider.

David from TX is a father of 3 and wants to know which education savings vehicle makes the most sense for him and which is better: a Roth IRA or a 401 (k). Steve also wrote in about a traditional vs. Roth.

Dave from AK just had a baby 9 months ago and has concerns about identity theft, which was a good way to jump into a general run down of how we all need to be more vigilant about protecting our identities.

Craig has gotten into some tough financial times and wants to know how to kick-start a plan of action.

Billy in Louisville is in his mid 40’s and he and his wife work for small businesses, neither of which offer benefits. He and his wife will be inheriting 200K and he wants to know what to do with this lump sum. After paying down debt and setting aside an emergency reserve fund, we discussed about how to start investing, slowly…

Candace in NY is wondering whether or not to use $40K to pay down a mortgage or use it to build another bathroom. I vote for the bathroom, HANDS DOWN!

Wanda from KY is looking into an insurance policy that includes a long-term care benefit. She is not sold on the product and is wondering whether she is a candidate for LTCi. Later in the program, I talked about purchasing LTCi through an employer.

Raymond asked about market prognosticators and whether he should listen to their advice. Here’s something to remember when you hear about those who predict the tops and bottoms of various markets. These folks prey on our emotions and should be avoided at all costs!

Michael is retired with Social Security and a pension. His wife will be retiring later this year and has a number of pension options from which to choose.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world and Christina the intern, who finally returned from vacation. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

The dog days of August? Not for “Jill on Money” listeners!

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Mark from KY asked about rolling over his wife’s old 401 (k), which has skyrocketed to $560K over the past 10 years. They don’t want to blow this nest egg and probably need the guidance of a fee-only advisor from NAPFA.org. We also got into a great conversation about what lump sum is necessary to generate sufficient retirement income.

Paul from NY has $60K in student loans outstanding, at a low interest rate of 2 percent. With a 3-week old son, should they aggressively pay down debt or start to save for other priorities?

Sheila from KY called to ask about the potential changes to retirement rules, especially in light of debt and deficit talk heating up again (get ready for a new debt ceiling battle in September!) David from MO is still working and weighing whether to take Social Security now, versus waiting until his age 70 ½, when he could maximize his benefit. This lead to a lengthier conversation about how the Social Security system could change in the future.

Jeff in MO is 27 and e-mailed about what he should do, now that he has finally gotten out of debt, while an anonymous e-mailer asked about a hybrid, indexed annuity. As many long-time listeners know, I am not a huge plan about these complicated products. Richard from KY is also getting back on his feet, and is now juggling retirement and college savings – which should come first?

We got a bunch of great retirement questions: Jim has $250K in his 401 (k) and his wife has $150K in her retirement plan. They are concerned about the impact of the changing bond market. Bob has $1 million portfolio and wants to know what changes he should be making to his portfolio, 4 years prior to retirement.

Kevin from TX has 10 properties, all of which are cash flow positive and some of which are paid off. He is trying to determine how the properties can be used to fund his retirement needs.

Scott from Boston asked about whether his employer could shift his bonus into a retirement plan contributions.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world and Christina the intern, who finally returned from vacation. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

Sometimes fans come from out of the blue…we are grateful that a radio legend discovered Jill on Money!

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Meanwhile, back on the show, our regulars kept us busy. Mike from NY needs advice on how to break up with his current advisor; Kristen from TX asked about hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts; and Wanda from KY and Kathryn from MN are each weighing under what conditions to consider long term care insurance.

We love hearing from our young listeners too! Justin from MA is strategizing about student loan pay downs; Joe from VA has an 18-year-old son, who needs guidance about which kind of accounts to open; and Rainey’s 29-year-old granddaughter is considering a low-minimum investment vehicle for her Roth IRA.

We fielded a variety of investment questions from John, Ed, Mim and Raymond covered a lot of ground in terms of general research and protecting against emotions.

Mark asked about rolling over an old retirement plan and Pat inquired about dollar cost averaging.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world, who was alone while Christina the intern was on vacation. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney

Congress finally acted to fix the student loan fiasco, by linking the interest rate to the 10-year Treasury yield. Just because you can borrow money for college, doesn't necessarily mean that you should...

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We fielded a bunch of questions about college loans and the best ways to save for education, starting with Aaron from MN, who is getting an early start with a three-month old! Also weighing in was Dwight from KY, who found a kindred spirit in being anti-debt and David from TX and Brittany from Boston, both of whom are juggling college and retirement savings.

Early retirement seems like such a 1990’s concept, but it seems to have emerged during this show. Victor was helping his dad figure out whether he can call it quits at 60, while Vicki, Diane and Helen are trying to manage their money more effectively, either with the help of an advisor or on their own.

Joe from Hawaii asked about whether he had too much in emergency reserves. My answer is even if you make a lot of money, maintaining 6 to 12 months of expenses in a safe place can protect you against a variety of unforeseen circumstances.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world, who was alone while Christina the intern was on vacation. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet me: @jillonmoney