NOTE TO EDITORS: This is the final release of “Life and Money.” If you have any questions, please contact salesdirector@amuniversal.com. Thank you for supporting this feature.

Hi, Helaine: We don’t know what to do. I lost my job last week (COVID-19 layoff). At the same time, my husband’s salary has been reduced by 10% through next year, for the same reason. I’m applying for unemployment, but when the $600 federal boost to it goes away this summer, I’ll receive only a few hundred dollars a week. We’re not going to be able to get by without severe damage to our finances. We need to pay our mortgage, real estate taxes, utilities, car payments, grocery bills and other recurring expenses. We don’t want to turn to credit cards to get by. Should we take money from our retirement accounts instead? -- Out of Good Options

Dear Out of Good Options: I’m really sorry about all this. It’s a hard time for everyone, but knowing that probably doesn’t offer much in the way of comfort -- or actionable advice. But, then again, one of the lies of personal finance is that there is always a good answer to a problem. This is untrue. Many decisions -- like the one you are facing -- leave you deciding between a handful of bad alternatives, and doing it, moreover, with no knowledge of what the future will bring. Your husband could be back at work within a month. Or your family could be looking at years of financial struggle. I can’t answer that question. No one who is honest can.

So here are a few facts to help you with your decision: Thanks to legislation Congress passed, you can take up to $100,000 from your Individual Retirement Account or 401(k) if you can prove a coronavirus-related loss. At the same time, you can pay the taxes you owe on the early distribution over a three-year period. If you replace the money, you can receive a credit for the taxes paid.

Should you take out the money? Well, no, not if you have other good options. You are, after all, losing valuable savings, possibly permanently. But then again, payday loans and credit card debt are not a good option. And you wrote me. I’m guessing you don’t think you have other good options, and you might well be right. So a few questions to consider: First, make sure you are withdrawing it to pay for expenses you have no other way of paying. Second, prioritize putting the money back if you can, over things like home renovations or considering it found “fun” money, if your financial situation improves -- which hopefully it will. Conversely, if you have any reason to believe you are a candidate for bankruptcy, don’t touch it -- retirement funds are mostly shielded from creditors if you file for relief.

A final note: This my final Life and Money With Helaine column. I want to say thank you to all my readers and people who wrote seeking advice. I will miss you.

(To ask Helaine a question, email her at askhelaine@gmail.com.)

(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Sue Roush at sroush@amuniversal.com)

Hi, Helaine: The government deposited the $1,200 check we are getting to help us get through the coronavirus lockdowns and shutdowns in my checking account. No problem. My question is about what I should do with the sum.

I am working from my condo, and my position seems secure, but I know anything can happen, especially if this lasts into the fall. I have some emergency savings set aside, but not the recommended three months of it. I think I should put this check there and not think about it again.

But one friend says I'm fine while millions aren't, and I should give the money to a local food bank. That's what she is planning to do. Another gal pal says she's going to use the money to stimulate the economy, so she will order in dinner from restaurants that are still open, buy a dress on Poshmark and things like that. What would you do? -- Spend or Save

Dear Spend or Save: This is a really good question. As you are discovering firsthand, there are many ways to answer it. None of them is wrong.

It is good to buttress your emergency savings, especially when, like you, you don't have enough of it -- and I would say that even if we weren't living through a pandemic-fueled mega recession. Giving to charity is also a good thing to do. Your friend is right. Food pantries are seeing overwhelming demand from people less fortunate than you, even as the pantries' financial resources are lacking. They do need help.

Finally, it's also good to spend the money in a way to help businesses that are really suffering right now, which is what it sounds like another of your friends is doing. Here's the great thing: This isn't an either/or choice. You can do all three. You can divide the money up in such a way that some of it goes to emergency savings, some of it goes to charity, and some of it goes to supporting local entrepreneurs. That's what I would recommend.

(To ask Helaine a question, email her at askhelaine@gmail.com.)

(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Sue Roush at sroush@amuniversal.com)

Hi, Helaine: I've got four middle-aged children, and I am well-off. My youngest daughter, age 45, is married to a man who is spiteful and possibly mentally ill. For more than a decade, he's done his best to alienate my daughter from me.

She and I are now on good terms after several difficult years, but I don't like the idea of her husband inheriting anything from me, so in my will I say if my daughter predeceases me, he is to get nothing. (They have no children.) A friend thinks this is a terrible idea, and will create bad feelings among my children because, of course, if my daughter is alive when I die, she will very likely see this clause excluding her husband. Is there a way I can keep everyone happy while also making sure my money goes to my children and not this interloper? -- Not a Penny for Son-in-Law

Dear Not a Penny: This is actually an easy one. If a beneficiary dies prior to the person who wrote the will, their share reverts to the estate and is divided among the other inheritors. Nothing need be said at all. If your other children have children, and you want them to inherit if their parent passes before you, you will need to put language in the will saying that. If you haven't done so already, I suggest doing that.

The only issue here is if you are worried about another child's spouse and want them to inherit in the sad event of a child predeceasing you. I see two solutions here. Either suggest they look into term life insurance to cover the amount they could expect to inherit. Or -- and this goes back to your original problem -- simply put language in your will that takes care of the daughter- or son-in-law you want to make sure is financially OK.

That won't necessarily make for peace in the family, but then again, what does your daughter expect? If she spent a decade with a man who attempted -- to use your word -- to alienate her from you, she shouldn't be surprised that you don't favor her husband. It's your money, and yours to parcel out as you wish

(To ask Helaine a question, email her at askhelaine@gmail.com.)

(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Sue Roush at sroush@amuniversal.com)