Catching Up With Your Questions

Got a basic financial question you need answering? Or did you think I was wrong to blast parents for overindulging their kids by buying them cell phones? In any case, please join me today online at noon ET. You can submit questions early here or if you miss the live chat, you can read the transcript any time.

Here are a couple of questions from my last chat that I didn't get a chance to answer:

Q: Who can I contact about getting renter's insurance?

Just about any insurance company. If you have a car, start with your auto insurer. You often can get a premium break if you buy various insurance from your current insurer. You might also check with your landlord for a recommendation. The landlord's insurance company might even have a special deal for tenants.

And in case you missed it, in a recent column ("Insuring Your Place in the Post-College World") I covered the need for renters to get renter's insurance. Often renters don't realize that the contents of their residences are not covered by their landlord.

As I reported in that column, landlords typically insure building structures, but not the contents or liability of individual tenants. Renter's insurance protects your personal possessions if your property gets damaged, destroyed or stolen. The policy also gives you liability coverage if someone gets injured at your house or apartment, even in the event you accidentally burn down your apartment and the landlord's insurance company sues you for damages, according to the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, based in Alexandria.

If you're renting and you don't have renters insurance get it. It's relatively inexpensive.

Q: This has been bugging me. On the Suze Orman show, someone called in who was single, no kids and approaching 50. She wanted to retire at 50 in a few years. She had $850,000 in savings and about $400,000 in IRAs/401Ks. Suzy said, no, that's not enough to retire on. My husband and I both thought she was wrong, that she COULD retire, especially if she took a part time job to fill in the cracks. She still had a few more years on a mortgage that was about $3,000 month. What do you think?

A: I think this couple is very smart. You CAN retire with less than millions in savings and investments.

I hate it when "experts" tell folks with that kind of money they aren't going to make it in retirement. If that's so, what about the millions of other retirees who don't have any where near that much money? What then? Just die? Come on, folks. My grandmother retired at 65 and lived well until she died at 82. She survived on a modest savings, Social Security and small pension check every month.

How? Big Mama retired without debt. I mean no debt at all. No house note. No care note. No credit card payments. If you pay off your mortgage, that's 30 to 40 percent of your monthly expenses right there. It can be done.

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