A Chat With Mike’s Mom!

FAQs

• What financial advice does Susan Morse give recent college graduates?

  Susan Morse said young people need a career, and if an employer offers a 401(k) match, they should go all in and contribute the maximum; they’re not paying taxes on that money, and if they leave the job they can roll it into an IRA. She said anyone self-employed must put money away for taxes, a lesson she said her daughter learned in her first year of making money.

• What is a 529 plan and how does it work, according to Susan Morse?

  Susan Morse said a 529 plan was set up to help children finance their college education. Money in it grows tax-free and comes out tax-free if used for education, including books and room and board. If a child gets a scholarship or doesn’t need the money, a sibling can use the same account by changing beneficiaries, and it can be used for any kind of school, such as culinary, engineering or mechanics school.

• What was the worst job Susan Morse ever had?

  Selling industrial chemicals. Getting out of a marriage, she needed to make money, sent her resume to every company within the realm of possibility, and in the 1980s was hired to sell industrial chemicals, going into warehouses and industrial places with samples to demonstrate. She said she knew nothing about the products but the money was good. She did it for one year and said she learned so much about sales and people.

• What charity is Susan Morse involved with?

  About a year ago she joined the Jewish Women’s Foundation, where every member is an equal trustee who pledges a certain amount of money. She said it’s all about helping women, children and transgender families; the group gives grants after people come in and present their case, and she was about to join its finance committee.

• What did Mike Morse say about buying prescription glasses online?

  Mike Morse said glasses with the lenses he needed were $1,000 to $1,200 at a local shop, but after a lawyer at his firm recommended a website, he bought glasses there for $40 that work perfectly. His friend David Newman had paid about $1,200 for a local pair and bought one from the same site for about $52, and Mike said Newman can see better with it. You have to measure the distance between your pupils yourself.