Welcome back. It's Finance Friday, another special edition of Money Girl where I answer your burning money questions.

Today's topic comes from Helene G, who says, I love your podcast and always learn so much from you.

I'm 60 and got laid off multiple times, leaving me with severe work-related

anxiety. I mostly live on a severance, but also have a dream job working at a garden center.

It pays a third of my previous salary, but has about 1% of the stress. I sold my home and built a little apartment in my best

friend's basement, reducing my basic monthly expenses to less than $1,000. My only debt is a car loan

balance of $3,700 at 2.79% interest. My income covers my costs and allows me to save for retirement. I have a traditional IRA

that I hope not to need for many years. Should I withdraw 3,700 from my IRA to pay off my car and be

debt free? My quarterly statement shows an average return of about 3.5%. I also have

high interest savings of several months' expenses that I can use to pay off the car. If you were

me with an anxious personality, would you take an IRA withdrawal to pay off the car for more peace

of mind? Thank you so much for your question and kind words, Helene. I'm really glad you've

successfully reduced your expenses for a lower stress lifestyle. That's got to feel great.

This podcast will answer Helene's question and review the rules

and updated penalty exceptions for taking IRA withdrawals. Welcome back, everyone. Thanks for joining me

on episode 877. I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, finance spokesperson, money speaker,

founder of the money stack, which is a substack

newsletter, and host of Money Girl with over 43 million downloads. If you're getting value from

the show, do us a quick favor and submit a five-star rating or review. That really helps us out.

If you have a question about money for the show, you can leave

it on our voicemail at 302-364-0308. You can also send me an email and sign up for the free

MoneyStack newsletter when you visit laura d adams.com. All right, so let's talk about the traditional IRA withdrawal rules. Before you or

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