joining me this hour, gary is a financial planner and gail cunningham is with the national foundation for credit counselingyour question comes from marissa in california. marissa writes, i have a try plex that i am thinking about refinancing. does it make sense to refinance at a fixed loan of 4.5%? this is all sort of a guessing game where interest rates are going to go. >> i can definitively say, it depends. she's doing what a lot of people are looking at doing. that's looking at these low interest rates and say, can i lock it? but rates are not looking like they are going to jump up in the next month or two. saving 1.6% every year over the next couple of years could be very beneficial. of course, if you're going to keep it forever, you might as well lock it in and let it go. >> and refinancing is always part of it. >> without question. >> my wife and lee retire this year. we have approximately $700,000 in 401(k) accounts. we will need about $60,000 a year in retirement. should we wait to draw from social security? this is a question so many people have right now. >> exactly. and as you know, there are st

gail cunningham with the national foundation for credit counseling. thank you both for being here.his comes from julie in ohio. my son has over $100,000 in private loans from school. my husband and i are cosigners on a good portion of the loans. should we dig into our 401(k) to whittle them down. this is tough. >> it is tough. people don't understand often when they co-sign on a loan, they are equally responsible for the payments and fulfillment of that debt. all the activity is reported on both the cosigner and the primary signer's credit report. if the payments are not being made, their credit is tanking which will, of course, negatively impact their future access to credit. if they raid their retirement -- i'm not for that either. i might suggest that, if they're still contributing to their retirement plans, maybe suspend that temporarily, temporarily is the key word until the son can get back on his feet and assume the responsibility himself. >> that's a great point. gary, your question is from bill in missouri. he writes my wrif and i each have a 401(k), is it better to combin

and game cunningham with the national foundation for credit counseling. thank you both for being here. first question to you today, this come from richard in virginia. he writes i occasionally receive unsolicited invitations telling me impreapproved for a credit card. would accepting such an invitation affect my credit score. >>? well, receiving the application. it coming in your mailbox has no impact on your credit score. if you act upon, that of course the creditor will review your credit history. that will put what's known as an inquiry on your credit report. that is a small ding. it could potentially lower your score. not for long. don't worry about it. and fyi, that is rarely the reason anyone is declined simply because they have too many inquiries. it will be for something much more serious if they're denied credit. >> that's a very good point. your question comes from tom in ohio. he wro in, i'll retired. my only income is from my pension, social securities and earnings from investments. can i still make the maximum contribution to my roth ira? >> u

the national foundation for credit counseling surveyed shoppers and found 56% had no idea where they of the month. >> we work very hard for our money. and then we spend it very casually. you'll never know where the leaks are until you write down every cent you spend for 30 days. seeing your spending staring back at new black and white is a real wakeup call. >> reporter: prioritize your debt. credit card debt is unforgiving, even with new protections. aim to pay it off. the best boost to your credit score is paying off big amounts of debt and then paying on time every time with the card after that. did you know a missed credit card payment stays on your credit history for seven years? finally, making a resolution to get out of debt and stay out of debt in 2012. >> go to annual credit report.com and print out your credit report to see how much debt you owe. organize your debts from smallest on bottom to largest on the top. start calling the creditors to maximize and reduce the interest rate. going into 2012, this is one of best things we did k. do to organize our few tours to get that

answers to your financial questions, gary shats ski and gail cunningham with the national foundation for credit counselingly receive uns solicited invitations telling me i'm preapproved for a credit card. would accepting an invitation adversely create my credit score. >> it coming in your mailbox has no impact, but if you act upon that, of course the creditor will review your credit history. that will put what's known as an inquiry on your credit report. it's a small ding. it could lower your credit score but not for long. don't worry about it. just fyi, that is rarely the reason that anyone is declined simply because they have too many inquires. it will be for something more serious if they are denied credit. >> gary, tom wrote in i'm retired, my only income is from my pension and ssz and earnings from my investments, can i still make my maximum contribution to my roth ira? >> unfortunately you can't, you have to have some type much earned income, you can look at our investments, but one of these tax deferred ones you cannot do without earned income. >> good advice, thank you both very much. we appreciat

the national foundation for credit counseling found this year, 64% of americans say if they had to comeusand dollars cash in an emergency, they could not. >> what? >> a thousand dollars. 64% of americans can't do this. so please don't be that person. the most dangerous thing is the pop-up expenses like the car breaks down. not that you lose your job but these little things that eat at our cash and budget. i want to make sure you have that today. go sign up online, free, savings interest savings account 20 bucks a month even and can you do this and you can build up to $500 a year and that could be enough to take care of those pop-up expenses. now get even bigger than that. your emergency fund. put even more money away into a separate account and the two key things here. automated so that when your check goes in, the money goes out, you don't see it like a tax for yourself. make sure you keep it separate from your checking. it's a little too easy if you link them altogether. >> you don't touch it. stay safe. >> two hours, better financial future. >> exactly. >> carmen wong ulrich, thank y

gail cunningham with the national foundation for credit counseling. thank you both for being here.n -- i have $5,000 saved up but i do not want to invest in the stock market. what would be a good investment for me? >> first of all, he's not alone. a lot of people are hesitant about the market. the key is to create some sort of balance. but assuming he definitely doesn't want to get into the market, i got to say one of the greatest investments many families can look at is paying down debt. that's one of the -- doesn't sound exciting or sexy but it is one of the guaranteed ways to reduce costs or effectively earn a lot of money and you're guaranteed to not owe anyone that money. >> absolutely living out of debt is a beautiful, beautiful thing. gail, your question comes from david in st. paul -- i'm 54 years old and self-employed. i put the maximum amount into my i.r.a. each year. what elseky do to prepare for retirement? >> well, i totally agree with what gary said. pay down debt. entering retirement debt-free is the way to be but to get there, people need to track their spending. a

gail cunningham with the national foundation for credit counseling. thank you both for being here.rom chris in florida -- my wife has approximately $45,000 in student debt spread out over ten loans. she is a teacher and a low-income school and could possibly receive repayment help. what's the best way to simplify an reduce that debt? >> wow. $45,000 spread over ten loans. that's a bit complicated for them to keep up with. i do think there may be help available for them through income based repayment plans. we are speaking here of federal loans. so if their loans are private, that may be a different animal to deal with. but income based repayment, apply for that. they're going to ask for documentation of course for such things as previous tax returns, et cetera. but that's okay. it is going to be well worth it. she may also require some forgiveness along the way and she would probably qualify for that having been in the type of job she is in the teaching -- >> a thing to look into. >> consolidate those loans, get the payments started. >> gary, your question from jonathan in san dieg

gale cunningham with the national foundation for credit counseling. thank you for being here. you, gary, from michael in florida. michael writes, my mortgage company requires me to have property insurance and flood insurance which costs $3, 600. i have 90 k, $90,000 left on the mortgage and $200,000 in investments. should i cash out my investments and pay off the mortgage to reduce or eliminate the insurance? >> if you borrow money, people want to make sure the property will be there. i understand that concern. at the end of the day you need insurance. unless you somehow found you're not in a flood zone, then there would be a value to that. the real analysis would be, what's the interest rate on the underlying loan? do you have money that's sitting around? if you paid it off, very few people would be well advised to get rid of their homeowners insurance or flood insurance because they're protecting the value of your home. even if they're

the national foundation for credit counseling surveyed shoppers and found 56% had no idea where they very casually. you will never know where the leaks are until you write down every cent you spend for 30 days. seeing your spending staring back at you in black and white is a real wake-up call. >> reporter: prioritize your debt. credit card debt is particularly unforgiving even with new protections. aim to pay it off. the best boost to your credit score is paying off big amounts of debt, then paying on time every time with the card after that. did you know a missed credit card payment stays on your credit history for seven years? finally, make your resolution to get out of debt and stay out of debt in 2012. >> go to annualcreditreport.com. organize your debt from smallest on the bottom to largest. call your creditors. going into 2012 this is one of the best things to start to organize our own financial futures and get that right peace of mind. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. >>> the dangers of dumpster diving. that's right. a north carolina man gets a wild ride after ending up in

the national foundation for credit counseling surveyed shoppers and found 56% had no idea where they money by the end of the month. >> we work very hard for our money and then spend it very casually. you will never know where the leaks are until you write down every cent you spend for 30 days. seeing your spending staring back at you in black and white is a real wake-up call. >> credit card debt is particularly unfor giving, even with new protection. the best boost to your credit score is paying off big amounts of debt and then paying them off on time. did you know a missed payment stays on your credit history seven years? finally make it your resolution to get out of debt and stay out of debt. >> go to annualcreditreport.com to see how much you owe. organize them from smallest on the bottom to largest on the top. call your creditors. this is one of the best things to do to organize our futures and get that right peace of mind. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. >>> you have an interesting tip or question you should ask yourself. >> when you buy something, it should outlast how long

the national foundation for credit counseling can help, and this service is completely free. they really helped us. call them. i will. the sooner you call, the better your options. call today.

the national foundation for credit counseling can help, and this service is completely free. call the n-f-c-c today. behind the wheel, there is no such thing as a small distraction. a public service reminder from the american academy of orthopaedic surgeons, who would rather help keep your bones strong than put them back together. speak out against distracted driving at decidetodrive.org.