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danielv835

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Human: I'm an O.D. Machinist and am shit at understanding benefits and was just offered: 22/hr(+liberal opportunities@ overtime) 3 weeks PTO/yr 1 week paid sick/yr 12 days paid holiday/yr Medical through healthpartners: 1500 deductable+80/20 coverage+HSA(Employer contributes 1450 anually to HSA regardless of my contribution). Prescription drugs on the preventative care list are 12$ for generics, or 45$ for brand named, other medicines are deductable+20%. Company lists premium as approx 500$, approx 400 of which they pay for. (my bill ultimately 101.57 per month or so) Dental covers everything 90-100% except major reconstructive things like bridges or dentures which are 65%, up to 1500$ per year, is 0$ to me Life insurance options? Do i need this in my twenties? Seems to come to about 1$ per 10k insured up to like 200k or something. Vision seems to be mostly credits, like if i buy glasses they will credit me for 100$ or something if i bring the recept in, im not sure i'd have to check the booklet again but i dont have vision problems ATM, is 0$ though 401k: Employer matches 6% of my 40hr/week income regardless of what i contribute. Workboot credit 65$/yr, accumulates There seems to be stuff on short/long term disability that i haven't gone through yet, and maybe something else has slipped my mind. Assistant: Personally I think this is a damn fine package. I haven't seen a package this good in a long time- and I'm a white collar worker. Human: Thankyou for your advice. I did not mean to seem ungrateful by posting this, mostly the health insurance plan seems very confusing to me, i can't tell if i have good coverage or if im a two week hospital stay away from a lifetime of medical debt. This is only the third health plan i've purchased in my lifetime, so i'm not really aware of what types of plans are out there and what's considered "good"

Your health plan is fine. You basically have a 50 dollar deductible since the employer gives you 1450 right off the bat. The best part is you don't pay the 50 until you burn through the employers contribution. So if you have less than 1450 medical expenses, you pay nothing. Also the HSA money can be used on dental and vision. The prescription plan is about average. The generics are a little expensive, but once again you can use you HSA on that.

They will gave you an option to buy 3 different plans. Get the expinsive one if you want it to cover anything

Human: Hello I applied for a car loan on Saturday. It was approved, but I got alerted of 6 hard inquiries on Credit Karma and Nerdwallet. Is this normal when dealerships run your credit check? Edit: Thanks for all who responded. Appreciate your input! :)

Yes, it's totally normal! They will run on multiple lenders to get a variety of rates. Enjoy your new car.

Yeah I just bought a car in December and I had the same thing, around 3 or 4 hard inquiries while the dealership shopped for the lowest rate. Plus the one loan I already had pre-approved before I went in.

Human: My husband and I filed our taxes in early February and have already received our refund. Today in the mail he got a 1099-B for investment profits of $0.89. We are going to amend our return since it won't cost us anything but, is it even likely to make any difference? Edit: the title should say if, sorry.

The tax due on the 89c will be between 0c and about 25c, so effectively no difference (and really, no need to amend).

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I am 25. Married. No plan on kids. Each make 60k. Each contribute 16% with 5% of salary company match + $500 to our 401k Currently have $45k in one account and $40k in the other. $15k saved in company stock with purchases every paycheck Have $35,000 in savings. House with mortgage (190k left 4.5%) 25k in car debt. 3 cars.. Cuz I'm stupid. As the title says... I want to retire early. Lets say 45. Ive been Told it wont be possible but I like to prove people wrong. Do i continue contributing as much as i am to my 401k? Or do i slow down and start a Roth IRA so i can withdraw my contributions ? Ive tried reading on it and havnt really gotten the answers ive been looking for. Any help is appreciated.

/r/financialindependence /r/leanfire

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) (articles on 401(k) plans, IRAs, and more) - ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: My car has gone down in the worst possible time. I am starting a new job on two weeks and unfortunately I am fucked and will have to resort to lyft or uber for a while. I would appreciate help and tips because I am overwelmed and I need it.

Used car sales from the roadside .. They run around $3000 .. No credit needed.

Straight cash. Very strong co-signer. Large down payment. Take your pick.

Human: Hi r/PersonalFinance, I've never posted here, but have lurked for quite a while, and I've been really impressed by the insight that a lot of you possess. You've certainly helped out many people gain financial stability and control through some of their darkest and most stressful times, and so on their behalf, I again thank you. - In August of 2015, my mother passed away, leaving her home to my two sisters and I, in (3) equal shares. The city has placed a value on the house and land at about $300,000. The remaining mortgage is about $130,000. This means that if we were to sell at this bottom dollar valuation, we could expect a gain of $170,000. Divided three (3) ways, we three children would personally gain about $57,000 each. This house is our sole inheritance. - My questions revolve around the decision to sell or keep the house. The house is located near an ever expanding state university in a popular tourist town on in New England. Our tourist industry is booming and growing, with new businesses opening every year and property and rental costs only increasing. I live in the house currently with one (1) of the other beneficiaries. We split the mortgage evenly, which amounts to about $550 each, or about $1100 total. A very doable sum for the size of our current abode. The third sibling lives on her own and owns a condo. She does not contribute to any costs associated with the house unless they are related to major issues (broken water heater/rewiring/etc..) - Sibling A, me. I am a 26 year old graduate with about $35k in student debt working as a server. My income is somewhere around $38k/year. I am on the fence about keeping the house (and so why I am coming here for advice.) I realize the house may increase in value, and applying some repairs would give us a chance at a higher sale later. I am low on cash and in significant debt, but could manage on a frugal budget if I needed to. My plan is to move out of the state/country and do some budget traveling while continuing to work in hospitality for the next year or two. I also have graduate school plans, and have received admission to top programs. Yet my increased debt load would render me almost $90k in debt after receiving an MA, and that much student debt is hard to justify, especially with an MA. - Sibling B, is the oldest sister. She is a 35 year old server (though currently unemployed.) She is 100% set on keeping the house at all costs. She has propositioned to buy out our shares (based on a valuation by an appraiser.) Yet, I'm concerned with her ability to secure a loan. She claims her boyfriend would cosign, yet he has expressed to me privately that he would not. Her ability to get a loan for that large of an amount is questionable. Her credit is fair at best. - Sibling 3, the middle sister. She owns a condo and is very hands off with this property. She has plans to buy her own home and raise her own family elsewhere. She wants to sell, now. My questions, then, are: What do I do to maximize the gain from this inheritance? Do I unilaterally force the sale through the court, costing attorney's fees yet getting my cash out immediately? Do I approach sibling 2 for a loan fed buy-out? Do I go about my life with my meager income and return to this proposition in 5 years when the property value has grown (the remaining sibling occupant of the house [if I move out] would fill the remainder of the mortgage with a friend as a tenant)? I have been thinking about this for almost 2 years, and I cannot decide what to do. I have the power to force the sale, but I don't want to lose us all money. I could wait some time, but would I be wiser to get the cash and make an investment on something else? Worth mentioning that sibling 3 (who wants to sell) refuses to pay for any improvements to increase the value. I am willing, but it would be unfair to pay for improvements alone, only to split more profit later. Please help me sort out this mess. Thank you all, you fine, fine souls.

Sounds like you all would be best of with having the house sold and getting some cash on hand, especially the unemployed sister. Agree with her on a payout if she can secure the loan and also have decided at that point that if she doesnt secure the loan the house will be sold. That way you are not the bad guys, instead its the bank and possibly her BF who doesnt want to cosign and the house will be sold.

Can you get a mortgage on the house? If so, can you buy it from the estate and give them the money?

Human: Hey there personal finance! I'm a 19 year old male, I financed a 2014 Hyundai Elantra last year through Drivetime, the principal was 19,000 and I financed at an absurd 20% on a 72-month loan. I had just gotten my first job and was very gung-ho on getting my first vehicle, and was excited when I heard I could walk out with wheels. Between my car payment and insurance I am paying roughly 700$/mo, which is about 75% of my paycheck. I can walk to work and carpool to school, so my best case scenario is to rid myself completely of the car. I Kelly bluebooked it and received an estimate of around $7500; unfortunately, my principal a year later remains at roughly $17,000. What would you do if you were in this situation? My family is very inexperienced when it comes to these types of things and I unfortunately put my faith into something I know very little about. Thanks in advance!

If you paid $19,000 for something that's only worth $7500 a year later, then that money is gone. (That's almost unimaginably bad, but you probably know that.) You'd have to come up with the balance to pay off the loan. It's unlikely that you could refinance that as you are so far underwater.

You can sell your car for more than that. The kbb value you were looking at was probably the trade in value. Sell your car to a private party instead and you'll get 1-2k more for it. It's not going to be that difficult to find a buyer for a 3 year old Elantra. Also KBBs valuations tend to be low in my experience. Do a search for used Elantras near you (sold by individuals, not dealerships) and you'll probably see they go for a lot more than 7.5k. You're still going to be underwater (everyone is early in a car loan), but not by as much as you think.

Human: I have not charged anything on my credit card since January but my interest and payments have increased. The payment amount due in April is $17 higher than March. Interest also increased from February to March by $17 so I'm assuming that interest will be higher in April too. Is this normal? I have stopped spending and have a plan in place to pay down my credit card but have been paying the minimums right now because I have a few other finances to figure out before I can determine how much of a monthly payment I can afford.

Well, I take it from this that you are carrying a balance. Your interest is compounding and paying minimums does not stop interest from accruing on the remaining balance, they just prevent late charges/default. Your minimum payment goes up as your balance goes up if it is based on a percentage basis (i.e. 2% of new balance).

You may find these links helpful: - [Credit-related wiki pages](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit) - [Credit Cards](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards) - [FICO / Credit Scores](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico) - [Improving Credit Scores and Building Credit](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I am a 29-year-old US postdoc living in Germany for the foreseeable future (5<y<10). My father recently passed away and my mother plans to give my brother and I ~14k (to avoid gift tax complications on his estate) from his life insurance every year for (also) the foreseeable future to invest in our retirement/future plans. I've read the information on the windfall page and am also posting this on the ex-pats sub. My situation: * 1. Single, no debt (credit card, educational, or otherwise) * 2. Healthy income, use YNAB - live within my means, net savings every month * 3. Roth IRA with like 7k in it from when I was in grad school and still living in the states but not making enough to max it every year * 4. German retirement plan - VBL extra which should switch over to the regular VBL after 2 years * 5. Fairly risk averse I have some plans that I would like to put in place/may need to pay for over the next ten years that I have been saving for like adopting a child or potentially getting married at some point. I feel like I would know exactly what to do with this money if I was living in the states but I'm not sure how living in Germany complicates this plan. Other than putting the money for my short term (<5 year goals) into a high-interest savings account, I have no idea how to handle this income. **edit: sorry this formatting sucks.**

I'd strongly advise keeping the money in US accounts to simplify the US side of reporting (FBAR/1116). You can then withdraw at your leisure when and if you need it. If you have no immediate need, build a cash cushion and invest at least 30% into the stock market for the long term, just buy an S&P500 index fund and don't sell until at least 10 years have passed. Living in Germany is dirt cheap compared to the US, this is an opportunity to build up cash for when you need it.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hi, My name is Dylan. I am a 17 year old senior in highschool and i want to go to college for Music Performance/Music Education. Let me give you some background. I live with my 61 year old, divorcee dad is a small trailer in Rural Illinois where I am not elligible for any jobs except fast food, but the only one we have is Mcdonalds, which I quit from 6 months back because of verbal abuse from the manager. We are extremely poor, and the only way I make money is by doing hard labor for older friends who own property, and hauling iron, recycling soda cans and whatnot. I barely get by paying for internet and my car. I have been a singer/performer all my life, and have been approached by colleges this year wanting me to go. Western Illinois University and ICU. I have received multiple awards in the music field in my highschool and went to State for the choir program. I'm usually known around town for my music.o I have no clue what i'm doing. My GPA is a 3.0 and my ACT Score was a 28 so i'm an *okay* student, but i've still gotten scholarship offers but none of them come close to covering the tuition of either school that has approached me. I've considered taking 2 years at a closer community college, and then transferring but I don't know if I can even cover the costs of that. If anyone has some sort of advice, telling me how I should prepare or if college is even an option for me, please tell me what you think. EDIT: Thank you all for your opinions and advice. I'm looking into Computer Science at a community college right now. EDIT #2: I cannot express my gratitude for the dozens of messages and the many comments i've received trying to help out. I'm sorry to all the military guys here, but I cannot go into it. I have a girlfriend and a dad who is getting old and needs me here, I can't be away at basic for ~3 months leaving them behind. It really means so much that you guys are giving me this advice, I feel like I have a good grip on what i want to try to do now. Thank you so so much everyone. From the bottom of my heart <3

As a former Music Performance/Music Education Voice student, I can say that your route is going to be difficult. If it is truly your passion, however, going to a well-rated school is absolutely necessary in order to pursue your dreams. All of what was said about FAFSA is true (it's 20 minutes and it can change your life), but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the scholarship opportunities created by your Major. I have a friend who is a performance major, and he affords tuition + apartment with just talent based scholarships and a Church soloist job. In addition, consider the possibility of dual-majoring or making Music your Minor like I did. I'm currently a Finance Major, and I still get incredible opportunities from the school of music to perform. While being in the school of business, I've had a residency at Carnegie Hall, am a paid soloist at a church, and have sang in dozens of doctoral recitals for my ph.D friends. Music is something you can pursue as a passion without necessarily having to do it from 9 to 5. My major provides me with a financial safety net while still having time for my favorite hobby.

Dylan - I didn't go to college and now make 6 figures in the IT field. It sounds like you're interested in Tech? Do that however you can. Personally I did it in the military so that I was getting paid to learn and get experience. There are other avenues though.

Human: I always thought of myself as pretty financially responsible, but 2 years ago my car died and I bought a new one. New new. At the dealership. Somehow I convinced myself it was a good idea. Shiny new things got the better of me. Here's the last 2 years of my life: * $400+ a month for a sweet new car! * Spend the first 3 months babying the car because it's brand new, without a scratch. * Then my friend's girlfriend dinged the door. * Then my mom dinged a rear panel. * Now I don't care anymore. Stop babying the vehicle. * Still spending $400 a month. Every month. There are other things I want. I'd like to be saving for a house. But I really wanted this sweet car. The cool electronic features of this car kind of suck. The navigation I wanted blows, the voice control blows, the underlying software that runs the big fancy touchscreen display crashes about 10% of the time. And I'm sure if I took it into a dealership and spent all day dealing with it, they'd fix it. I don't care. I still owe about $10,000 on this stupid thing. I could get a newer, similarly equipped car of the same make and model, with about half my miles, for what I currently owe. Never buying a new car again, it's stupid. *edit* fucks sake - I'm spending nearly a mortgage payment for an asset that wouldn't depreciate faster if it were on fire. Don't be me.

This should read: Reminder: Only buy a new car if you know you can afford the depreciation hit and want something that you know has been yours from the start. Also research your vehicle and its flaws before you buy it. Also, don't let your friends or your mother near your car without your supervision (this one I know from experience ;))

That's why you lease instead. I leased a new car and the cool electronic features of this car kind of suck, the voice control blows (my 1998 BMW had better voice control), there's a terrible wind noise from the windows at highway speeds, frequent annoying vibrations from the dash, someone backed into my door and their insurance did a somewhat crappy job replacing it. I don't care, it's a lease and I only pay $300/month, in a year I return it and it's someone else's problem.

Human: My spouse and I have nearly $40,000 in total saved up, and another $8000 in stocks. We have narrowed our choice to a house in a cheaper but decent neighborhood for 275K. My FIL offered to loan us 60K to 70K interest-free towards the down payment, which we could return slowly per our convenience. Would taking another loan from family for a mortgage damage our mortgage application? Is it worth it? What do you think?

No, but you'll have to tell the bank where the money is coming from. My parents helped me out with my first down payment and we had no issues, but I know myself and my parents. FYI you should only need 20% down so since you have 40k, you should only need 60k, after closing costs and other related things. I'd only borrow what you need, not more. It seems you have a good financial sense, so you can just pay more than the minimum payment, and you'll do fine, in terms of interest paid.

Just make sure you can afford the payments and your bills completely with whom ever makes the lest per year. IE you lose your big pay check you won't lose the house. I was told you should be able to cover all your bills in the first 2 paychecks (assuming you get paid weekly). I bring this up because it won't matter a lick if you fall on hard times and lose the house. I watched a bank try to talk my brother into borrowing .5 mill for a house, he and his wife would have been fine but their first kid has extream case of hemophilia and she had to quite her job. They would have lost everything if they would have taken that loan

Human: In the last month I applied and got a credit card with better rewards than my current one (1% everywhere as apposed to just 1% at select locations). However I recently​ found out that I was wrong and I get 1% everywhere on my original card now to. How much would it affect my credit score to cancel a card so soon after getting it?

Oh wow the market is way different in Australia.. please disregard my shitty advice above!

I differ from some people here. I say if you don't want a credit card, just cancel it, as long as it's not one of your oldest cards, and as long as you have other cards with decent credit limits. If there's no fee, there's no harm in keeping it, but I have enough cards as it is, I don't need extra ones that don't do anything for me. The only way that cancelling it should affect your credit score is by decreasing your available credit (thereby increasing your credit utilization ratio). How big of a factor this will be depends on how much credit card debt you have, what your other credit limits are, and what the limit of this card is. You already opened the card, so its affect on credit inquiries and age of credit are done and already applicable. Cancelling it won't change either of those, since the age of the card will still be considered after it's closed (until 10 years after opening it).

Human: I owe a little over $11,000 and I have 30k in the bank. I'm thinking of taking some and paying off my car. The interest rate is 2.1% and I pay 305 per month. Should I pay it off, or keep to increase my credit history?

With such a low interest rate I would consider the opportunity costs of paying off the debt vs. investing the money elsewhere. Do you have any other debt with higher interest rates? Have you already maxed your IRA for 2016? My question is why do you have 30k in the bank? Are you saving for a big purchase such as a down payment soon?

Credit is pretty much irrelevant here. What you're really looking at is Math vs Emotion. Mathematically, you could pay the minimum, invest whatever extra you have, and probably make a few hundred a year above what you're losing in interest. Emotionally, it feels nice to be debt free and might be worth loosing out on the few hundred a year (particularly cause the few hundred isn't a guarantee, you could also break even or even lose money in a safer investment). Either way you're fine. The interest is low enough it won't hurt to keep. The gain is small enough it won't change your life. Of course, the gain on investment only works if you're actually using your extra money to invest. If you let it sit in a savings account or spend it on toys, then it's worthless.

Human: Where to even start. I'm about to move from about $35k to $85k which is pretty big lifestyle change. But I'm also moving from FL to NY which will be a change in tax burden and rent/living expense. My credit is completely garbage- I had some medical procedures and those bills went to collections. I had credit cards I stopped paying on that I could go and pay with this new job (which I fully intend to do and have already called to suspend them from being sent off to collections). Just a whole host of nonsense that I have to manage there. But the larger problem is spending what I make. I've just always been shit at managing my finances. I'm curious if anyone here has developed tools to help yourself to become more frugal without becoming stressed over each expense. I worry every day about money. I want to get rid of that stress, but manage my money that allows me to actually to not stress about money (if that makes sense?).

I used to be like you. I was deathly afraid of money because of the way I was raised and some negative experiences I had early in adulthood. First thing I did to improve my life was automating *EVERYTHING* that matters. Most banks will let you cut and mail a check to your landlord automatically, and most utilities can be auto-paid. Once I started doing this, I no longer worried if I was missing a bill or whatever. You can also auto-deduct money for a 401k, IRA, and other types of savings/investment accounts so you don't have to think about it. Second thing, use Mint (or some alternative like Personal Capital) to get visibility into your spending. Make it *SUPER TRANSPARENT* where your money is going. It's 2017, you can know exactly what your money is doing at any moment by glancing at your smart phone. You can see bills being paid and check balances. The more transparent you are with your money, the less room you leave for uncertainty and doubt to creep up on you. Also (and this was a big one for me) you have to *forgive yourself* for being bad at this. Managing your money is a skill and like any other skill you have to practice it. Nobody is perfect and you will make mistakes, but you have to commit to learning from those mistakes.

I will help you to make a monthly automatic transfer directed to my bank account. You will never have to worry about that raise any longer.

Human: To break it down even further: House - 38.1%, Car - 8.4% In addition to that, my wife and I have roughly $45,000 in consumer and medical debt and $9,000 in student loans we're trying to clean up. I feel like we're barely treading water and can never get ahead. I work FT, she stays home with the kids (one toddler, one on the way). What can I do to right the ship? Assistant: How did it come that you have consumer debt? That's usually an indicator that you are (or were in the past) spending more than you earned. If today you are earning more than you spend, then you can right the ship pretty easily. Build a small emergency fund of at least a month's expenses. Throw the remainder of your income at the highest-interest debt or smallest debt depending on if you prefer the avalanche or snowball method. Rinse and repeat. Human: The $45,000 is a mix of credit cards and medical bills. A big chunk of it is from my wife's hospital stay with our first child. She was on bed rest at the hospital for almost all of her third trimester. After the dust settled, it came out to roughly $20,000 worth of bills.

So roughly $25,000 credit card debt and $20,000 of medical debt? If you are confident that you are not living beyond your means, then my plan outlined above would be a good fit for you to right your ship.

Wife and I just got 13k forgiven by the hospital for our first kid. Get on that ASAP. Based on your income/family size/expenses you might get 75-100% taken off. Then give it a month or two to build credit and apply/transfer to a zero% APR card to save on interest on your personal debt. Put the debt payments divided by the months of 0%APR on autopay and treat them like a mandatory bill.

Human: Have finally found the strength to end things with my very abusive ex, am left with my two lovely children to pick up the pieces. During our time together he took over all the finance and bills, I have since found out he hasn't been paying anything apart from the rent. There are huge debts and because he insisted I gave up my job, I have no income to pay them. He has also amassed huge parking fines on my car and has been hiding the letters from me so they have become county court judgements. I also have no way of paying next months rent. I do receive a few benefits for my disabled daughter (we are in the UK) and child support from my children's father, but that is all. Has anyone been in this kind of situation? I really don't know where to start, I'm a bit shell shocked from the abuse, the end of the relationship and know this. EDIT: Firstly, thank you everyone for your kind and helpful comments! I am contacting all your suggestions and some have already been incredibly helpful. Last night I hit rock bottom as not only did my ex partner's parents turn up to take all his stuff but a bailiff arrived and took my car leaving me without means of getting the kids to school. I honestly felt like ending it at one point. But this morning is a new start and I have decided to take hold of the situation however gloomy it looks. I still have no way of paying the rent but I know that wherever we end up, my children are now safe. I really think it was you lovely redditors that pulled me through, thank you! Assistant: /r/UKpersonalfinance will likely have more info on government or charity resources/support for someone in your situation. Human: Thank you, I wasn't sure where to post this. Assistant: Don't be afraid to ask friends and family for help too. Human: I'm still feeling so embarrassed at having got myself into this situation. I'm 47, had a good career etc and now have put my children in a terrible position. But I will ask, although they may not be able to help financially.

It happens to the best of us. Even if friends or family can't help too much financially, having a good support network is going to be a positive for your mental & emotional health.

Nobody will judge you for this. Trust me, you feel way worse about it already than telling people will make you feel. You've done the best thing for you and your kids, i hope you can stay strong and get back on your feet. Please stay away from your ex, do not give them another chance as that's when things get even more difficult for you to recover. Good luck.

Human: I signed up for healthcare coverage through ACA last February (2016) while working for a temp agency. I input my projected income based on what I was then making. In mid-July I was hired on full-time by my employer, which included a 12k raise and benefits. After becoming eligible for employer health coverage in September, I terminated my ACA coverage. Due to my job change and raise, my yearly income ended up being more than projected when I signed up for ACA. In all I made around 32k. A significant portion of that income was earned after I terminated my ACA Coverage. However, the IRS does not take that into account and is now forcing me to pay back the ACA subsidies I received prior to changing jobs. This amounts to a little over $600. I made 19k in 2015 and even less in 2014. I've been struggling to get on my feet for the past several years. I finally got a new job and have been slowly paying down debt from school loans, past healthcare and credit cards. I have a savings for the first time in my life which contains approximately $650 that I've slowly accumulated over the past 6 months. And now I have to pay all of it to the IRS for subsidies *i was entitled to when I received them* largely due to money I made *while no longer covered.* I find this incredibly unfair because in a way I am being punished for pulling myself out of the poverty shithole I've been in for the past several years. I've talked to people at the IRS and they basically told me I was shit out of luck. So this is my last resort. Otherwise, I'm just going to say goodbye to my savings and start at square one. The only upside to this is that I have the money to pay it.

You aren't really being punished, you just aren't being given a benefit for being poor now that you aren't poor. (as poor, anyways) The IRS works in years, not months, so as far as they are concerned, you made too much to get that break. All that's happening is you aren't getting a benefit you expected. Welcome to the good life, now taxes will hurt rather than help you, but it'll be better in the end not to be (as) poor.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: So I'm a 28 year old who's leached free rent of my retired mom for my whole life and saved up around $80,000 to buy my first shitty hole in the wall around Vancouver! So onto my question, every time I go in to the bank they tell me that I need to up my credit card limit and that it will help me get a better mortgage by improving my credit. Personally, I think my one credit card with a $5,000 limit is more than enough for my needs, and anything more then that just seems like a liability in the case of fraud or theft. In fact with the cell phone app being able to preload money on the card or make a payment in seconds I had survived until 25 on a $500 limit card. Is upping my credit card limit actually going to help me here? I can't see any situation where I'd need (or want) the $15,000 limit offered. I have no line of credit, I've never had a loan other than my government student loan (which I paid off in full in one payment). While I'm worried that having limited credit history could hurt me I'm famous for losing my credit card semi annually so I just wanted to ask if this is worth the risk. Why would they even offer me a credit card with multiple times my monthly earning anyways other than in hopes I overspend and end up in debt.

I don't think this will matter either way you go. >anything more then that just seems like a liability in the case of fraud or theft. One benefit of Credit Cards is you are not responsible for fraud/theft, so don't concern yourself with that.

You may find these links helpful: - [Credit-related wiki pages](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit) - [Credit Cards](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards) - [FICO / Credit Scores](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico) - [Improving Credit Scores and Building Credit](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to help me with this. My uncle passed away last April and when he passed he left me with an inheritance IRA. The account used to have stock in it, but the company was bought out and all the shares have been turned into cash. I would like to take all the money out and close the account, but I'm unsure how to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Idk if it's relevant information, but the IRA is through Scottrade.

OP, If you do decide to take a disbursement, please, *please*, determine your taxes (federal and state) and penalties NOW and then either pay them immediately to the appropriate places or, if you're disciplined, set aside that money to pay your taxes next year. Do not wind up as one of those people who is "surprised" when they get a massive tax bill!

Convert it to a Trad ROTH and invest the value in investments that fit your strategies. you will have to take out a mandatory amount every year but it is not very much. I tend to use the distributions from the one I inherited from my mother to help fund my personal ROTH every year.

Human: After my own car was totaled in an accident last year, I've been driving a used 2002 minivan that my parents weren't using. It had sat for a couple years without being run or maintained and has so far been painted, had the ignition and starter replaced, and one of the doors re-keyed. Each time I feel like I've repaired everything that's going to need fixing for a while, something new comes up. Currently, with about 140k miles on it, it needs a new timing belt and to have an oil leak patched (~$1000) and a blower motor for the AC (~$700) as well as optionally re-keying the passenger and rear doors (~$500). Beyond that, I'd want to replace the stereo and make cosmetic fixes to the interior at some point. So, looking at some $1k-$2k in repairs, I started shopping around for used cars, and I've found some that almost exactly match what I had in my old car that run about $5k. I know that these used cars would still need maintenance at their mileages (~150k) but I feel like the brand is more reliable (Toyota/Scion vs. Kia). What should I be thinking about when I decide when (or if) to stop putting money in the minivan? Should I just make the essential (timing belt and oil) repairs and just try to get as much mileage out of it as possible, or bail now and go to a different used car? If I get rid of the minivan, should I look to trade it in, sell it, donate it or set it on fire by the roadside?

You've already sunk way too much in a 15 year old minivan. No matter what you do, it is still going to need regular maintenance. Unless you have a bunch of kids, or need a work vehicle, the minivan is not the way to go. I would definitely sell it, as opposed to the other options. Buy a nice little low mileage car or cross over, instead of a used child hauling machine

You can do a lot of what you're talking about yourself. You'd learn some new skills and save a bunch of money. The stuff you are describing is regular car maintenance. I can't imagine that buying anything with 150k on it will allow you to be better off unless the parts or maintenance on the new model is significantly cheaper than parts/maintenance on the van. If it were me, I'd keep the van and use it as a guinea pig to learn how to do my own oil change, fan change, stereo, etc. Then when you do end up getting another car you'll have learned a bunch on someone else's!

Human: In January of 2016, I took out a large loan (25k) to fund a coding bootcamp + living expenses. Because my credit rating was average around 700 I was forced to accept APR rate of 14% for such a large amount of money. Around May I landed a job as a developer and received a salary that allowed me to safely start making payments above the mininum on it and pay down other debts. As a result my credit rating increased and I took an opportunity in August to pay off this loan with a Wells Fargo loan that I got at 10% APR. Now, I see an advertisement on Amex that I am pre-approved and can get yet another for 10k at 6% APR.. All of these loans are without origination fees or other charges. My question is, do I keep refinancing this debt at lower and lower APRs, what are the pros and cons? I am paying the same amount every month and do not wish to borrow more money.. but if I keep switching lendors to lower and lower rates as my credit rating increases it seems like I saving a lot of money in the long run on interest. Is this right?

Paying less interest is good. Paying no interest is best, so pay these off as soon as you can.

I believe this is how most companies run themselves. They take out business loans and use that money to fund themselves as they pay it back. Of course, if that is how they are running their business it would make sense to find lenders with the lowest interest rates.

Human: My wife and I... 85k a year. 120k in student loans. 3k credit card debt. 1 child. 38k in savings. Boston area.

Please for the love of god do not think about a house when you have 120k in freaking student loan debt making only 85k/year.

$85k BETWEEN you? If that's the case, the next step is to pay down those student loans (credit card debt first).

Human: So someone in our company fell for a phishing email and sent out 2016 W-2 information for the entire company (they didn't send actual W-2s, the information that was leaked includes name, SSN, and 2016 earnings). So now everyone who received a W-2 for last year is a potential identity theft victim. Awesome right? I am not particularly worried about my tax refund getting stolen since I filed my taxes and received my refund about a month ago. However I still filled out IRS form 14039 as a precaution. Mainly what I am worried about is having fraudulent credit cards, loans, or bank accounts opened in my name. Luckily, the fraudster didn't get personal addresses or DOBs but that info could probably be found via the interwebs pretty easily. Also, our company is providing a credit monitoring service to all employees for the next 2 years for free, which is awesome. Basically I am just wondering what other precautions should I take. Should I put a freeze on my credit reports or is that overreacting for this situation? Am I at a big risk for having accounts opened in my name or am I just worrying too much? Edit: so I'm going to place a freeze on my credit reports. Should I be worried about my bank accounts at all? I have 1 credit card, and a checkings/savings account, as well as a retirement plan through my work, are any of these at risk? Only my SSN got leaked but I just want to cover all the bases, should I also contact my bank or something or should I just keep an even closer eye on my accounts?

Freeze credit with all bureaus immediately. Request an Identity Protection Pin from the IRS for tax filing immediately. You cannot change your SSN. Require written promise from the employer for lifetime credit monitoring and identity theft insurance or you will sue them. I suggest getting co-workers to agree to this collectively as well. If you get screwed 2 years and 1 day after the 'free 2 years of monitoring' ends, your employer will give you nothing, despite their negligence being the cause.

You may find these links helpful: - [Identity Theft Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/identity_theft) - [Credit-related wiki pages](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I'm unemployed. I haven't been able to find a reliable way to earn money. My brother told me that a co-worker of his would be able to give me some money. I gave my brother all of the information to give to him. A check was deposited, but it was not added to my account balance despite it being posted to my account. I went to my bank, and they said it was bad check. Because I gave someone access to my account, I was not able to file a police report or do a fraud claim, and they said that without those two things they can't do anything other than closing the account and sending it to ChexSystems. And they said that I can't open an account with any bank for the next 5-7 years. I did some research, and what they said was not entirely true. I can join banks that don't use ChexSystems. And I already knew about pre-paid debit cards. I can get them from regular banks, even. Also, I suspect that I could join a bank or credit union that does use ChexSystems if I can do it before my finalizes the closing of my account. All I'm asking: what do to manage my money? Assistant: Bank employee here, it takes time, generally, for Chex Systems to be updated. It is not the fastest reporting system there is. As advised by others, I would recommend opening an account as soon as possible somewhere else, whether it'd be a credit union or a bank, before the report is actually on your file. Also, in my experience, the main reason why banks decline to open an account for someone on Chex is having accounts that were closed unpaid (negative balance, overdrawn, etc). I feel there is something missing here. Did you perhaps deposit a bad check and withdrew money before the check bounced? Human: I do have a history of negative balances. And the bank recently closed two other checking because of negative balances. I intentionally overdrew my account simply because I needed money that I didn't have. I know that I shouldn't, but I don't have the luxury to avoid overdraft. Maybe this bad check was the last straw.

Avoiding overdrafts, in my opinion, is not a luxury; it is a responsibility. I can see now why the bank would have decided to close your account immediately with your current history. It does not hurt to try other places as soon as you can, but until you payoff those negative accounts, I think it will be very hard for banks to make any exceptions for you. Pre-paid debit cards would probably be your next best option.

This is a very important point of the story. The dude deposited a bad check and you overdrew your account. After they'd already closed two of your accounts. Yeah.... they're closing your account and reporting you.

Human: So I got a credit card out of highschool to raise my credit, and I went in trying to buy a 2013 used truck, (I ended up not getting the payments I could afford so it fell through, but it was a good learning experience) but even though I had credit in the 720s, since I had never financed anything near $20,000, I had no proof I could make the payments, thus only giving me an 8% interest rate at the lowest. What is something I can do to start to prove that I am reliable to lenders? Would I have to finance something that I can already afford cash, but what would be a suitable amount? I was thinking we need a new dresser, maybe we could finance one through the furniture store at 0% interest for 6-12 months, whatever it is they do. My credit limit is near $2,000 on the credit card. Should I max that with everyday stuff I will already buy, and just start paying it off at no interest? I am confused and every time I am told one thing about credit, I find out something even more detailed that completely changes the way I thought. I do currently pay rent, but I guess that is not good enough or not reported on credit? EDIT: First off, thank you all for trying to help, I really do appreciate it. But, most of you are completely missing the point of my original post, and that's partially my fault for not clarifying. My main question is what is the best way to show lenders that I can handle a payment? I was told I can only get a loan with a cosigner because I have never financed a big purchase before. That is my main problem. The debt to income ratio was not the issue according to the finance manager, **the income stated on my application was the new amount I would be making during the summer, the finance manager said that would be fine, whether he was right to do that was not my concern** I HAVE ALREADY DECIDED TO WAIT ON THE AUTO LOAN. Now, I was able to get a loan with a cosigner, but decided I AM WAITING because I was not able to get my payments low enough for the next couple of months. I was wanting a new truck BEFORE starting my long commutes for the new job, not after. My truck now can crap out at any point. Currently I am a student, I only make like $400 a month. But, I have money saved for the next two months to cover the truck payment of up to $300 I planned on, for 84 month loan (I know, that's long, I was going to refinance after those couple of months and had actual money to spend, still not the best plan but I was fine with it) The ONLY new payment I would be taking on would be the truck payment. I don't pay the insurance. I already pay for gas now. Everything else is COMPLETELY covered and accounted for. I will not have to pay for rent when I start my new job. My student loans are deferred until December.

Why not buy a $2-4,000 truck with cash instead of taking out a 7 year loan? I drove a truck all through high school/college that cost $2,000. It was a great piece of equipment. Best part was, because it was so inexpensive, I didn't mind using it as a truck. Off-roading, towing, stump pulling, seeing how many fit in the cab, tossing whatever in the bed, didn't matter because it was a cheap work truck. Six years later and I sold it for parts/scrap for a nice chunk of change.

You need proof of income. Bar none. Simple as that. Show them a paystub that shows that you're earning enough money to cover the loan and all other obligations.

Human: Right now, a lot of commentators are saying the economy is going through a bubble similar to what happened in 2008. When the market crashed, people pulled their money out of their stocks and stock prices dropped. Since most 401k are mutual funds of mostly stock, most people lost 30-40% of the value out of their 401ks. So I have questions to PF, assuming I knew a market crash was imminent. What things can I do to protect our employer 401k? Is it smart to move our vested balances out of mutual funds and into (safe) stocks using an IRA? Should I take that money out and invest it in tangibles that increase in value? Would it be smart to loan yourself out of your 401k to invest in tangibles that increase in value and pay back the 401k? I don't know enough on how 401ks work to answer these questions. Obviously any investment professional aren't of much help. They always say the same crap, "the market goes up and down but in the long run it is up. Just give us more money." Are there other professionals that I can talk to do hedge against a market collapse?

> assuming I knew a market crash was imminent. You can't. You are trying to time the market. You can't time the market. If you are really worried about a market crash, and are willing to miss out on higher returns in exchange for peace of mind, you can reallocate your funds inside your 401k to a higher percentage of bonds rather than stocks.

>Right now, a lot of commentators are saying the economy is going through a bubble similar to what happened in 2008 Interestingly enough, they've been saying this since 2009. In 2010, the recovery was not supported by fundamentals. In 2011 it was irrational and baseless. In 2012, it was a bubble. In 2013-2016, it wasn't sustainable. People acted irrationally and sold out their investments in 2009 and then sat on the sidelines as they watched markets blow by them. Only in the minds of the Fox News commentators were they doing the right thing. Even if the market has another 2009, they are still out of money at this point. >most people lost 30-40% of the value out of their 401ks. No, they didn't. People with index funds who just sat there and didn't do anything saw their 401(k)s dip in value and then explode up. It was the single greatest wealth building opportunity of a generation. >Is it smart to move our vested balances out of mutual funds and into (safe) stocks using an IRA No, because no single stock is safer than an index fund of diversified stocks. What "safe" stocks would you have moved to in 2007 if you thought the market was overpriced? Citibank? Lehman? Countrywide? >They always say the same crap, "the market goes up and down but in the long run it is up. Stop being silly, they say that because the statement has historic support. The market goes up over the long run and you can't find a single 30 year stretch of time where it posted negative returns. You can engage in a politically motivated counterfactual argument, but it won't enjoy the luxury of fact based support.

Human: I went to college and have been negotiating my debt for some time now with the school. They recently sent my tuition to a debt collector and we settled on a price a lot lower than what i originally owe. They say I can pay by credit card but just handing this much money over the phone seems really irresponsible because ive gotten messages from another debt collector as well. How do I know if theyre legit ? *EDIT: Just to clarify, I owed around $10,000 and talked them down to $2,000. Im able to pay them in full by next month and they said they agree to forgive the debt if its paid by april 31st. Is there anything I should know before I agree to this?

Ask for it in writing. Ask for the name of the representative. Ask for the location of their call center. Record the call. Get something in writing regarding the debt so you know it is a legitimate company. You are questioning if this is a scammer. This is way too precise to be a scam. A scammer will use generality to get you to pay. IE "You owe back taxes and must pay now", "You appear to have a large sum of credit card debt, we will consolidate all of it for $XXX.XX" You know this debt exists. The chances that some random person knows you have this debt, and can quote you realistic numbers is a longshot. Most companies will take a settlement on large amounts in these cases. They look in the context of, its better to get something rather than nothing. Collection company will "buy" the debt from the originator. They look at a lot of risk factors. Your credit being the main one. If they see you as a high risk account they might see it as a good idea to get you to pay at a reduced cost rather than not at all. These collections company will buy debt for pennies on the dollar.

You may find these links helpful: - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) - [Dealing with collections](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections) - [Credit Repair](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I [19f] am currently finishing up my second year of college. I have been working as an intern for almost a year at the state as a programmer. At my one year in about a week, I can start apply for an associate programmer position. It is pretty must guaranteed that I'll get getting hired and the pay increase is pretty huge. My parents make pretty good money and are pretty good with it. They have taught me how to save, but this is going to be a huge pay increase for me. As of right now I live with my parents so I don't pay any rent. I do however have a car payment of $106 and insurance is around $290 for full coverage. I owe about $5000 on the car and have around $3000 in my bank account. When I get hired I do want to move out. I'll be paying around $700-$1000 a month on rent when I do move out. What advice do you guys have with regards to saving up to move out? Also what should I do with the rest of my money? I don't plan on changing my lifestyle at all aside from moving out. edit: My only other expenses are food and my gas which combined are only around $230 a month. I also have a 15k college fund and currently no student loan debt. When I move out I will have to pay internet and utilities but those will be split and I will probably pay my parents around $70 a month for my phone bill. So my expenses as of right now are only around $690.

If you were looking for more advice than "put away money for retirement" and "build up an emergency fund", I can also offer another strategy. Find a way to start saving, very deliberately and specifically, for known future expenses. Your car will eventually need brake pads, and new tires. You will eventually need a new cell phone. You will eventually need a new personal computer. You will eventually need to buy a new car. You will eventually go to the doctor, and there will most likely be a co-pay and co-insurance you'll have to manage. These kinds of savings are sometimes called "sinking funds". Personally, I keep the money for all of mine in a single bank account (my checking account, as it happens) and keep track of my individual sinking funds in my budget spreadsheet. It really helps me to differentiate between "dedicated savings" and "undedicated savings".

Sounds almost like you upgraded your modem.

Human: I'm a 22 year old college student with no parents Making 250 a week. Budgeting I don't make much money monthly. Thinking maybe a loan or another way to get a vehicle. I skate 3 miles one way to work and it's becoming tedious. Any advice would help! Assistant: Around how much should I save up for a car? Or should I finance one? Would it be worth getting a newer car vs getting an older vehicle fixed?

Op, the gist is this: you are poor and make just $1000 a month. You don't seem to understand that car ownership involves 4 components - monthly payment, monthly insurance, monthly gas, and occasional maintenance. Only the 4th is avoidable if you buy a brand new car (which is not practical at your income levels). The first three components are not easy..... The cold truth is: you cannot afford a car yet. No matter what you save, you cannot afford a car at $1000 per month income. Sorry to be harsh but it's the reality. Listen to others and get a bicycle 🚲 and take Uber for occasional longer commutes/heavy groceries For a feel of real world car insurance premium: get a vin number from any of the dealer websites (of the make and model you are wishing to buy) and get quotes from a few auto insurance companies and you will see the truth.

> Around how much should I save up for a car? Or should I finance one? Would it be worth getting a newer car vs getting an older vehicle fixed? 1. Save up $5000. Once you have that amount of cash in your bank account, go buy yourself a $2000 car. 2. You're not going to be approved to finance a car on a $1000/month income. 3. You're not going to get a new car for $2000 so it's going to be quite an old car that you'll need to get fixed up.

Human: I received my paycheck and while looking at the deductions under the other section I'm being deducted tips off of my check and I'm wondering why this is? I'm in California If that helps

The reason why it is good that your tip amounts are included in your paycheck calculations (thought they aren't actually part of your paycheck) is because by recording your tips, the employer is able to calculate withholding for federal income tax correctly. Also, your employer pays half your Social Security and Medicare taxes on the total.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I am intending to move out of state for personal reasons, and am beginning the job search process. I don't have a set timeline for making the move so I don't want to put my current job at risk while looking for a new one. I don't have a reliable device to fill out applications and do Skype interviews on besides my work laptop . Is it a bad idea to use this device to do these thing? Do I even need to be trying to hide fact I am wanting to move and am job searching in the first place? My current job is my first out of college so any guidance on this particular issue or the process in general would be appreciated.

as an IT person, I assure you, we do log your browser history. But more often then not, no one bothers to read/investigate logs anyways. But that's on the server end, can't do much about it if your doing this is on the work computer (that you take home with you) Depends I guess on your employer. I've done it while at my previous place of work. My boss knew it too. She was also looking for new work - so it made it easy to leave work to go to mid day interviews.

You'll be better off in the long run with your own computer. You can buy a laptop at Walmart for about $300.00 and not have any worries.

Human: Recently I was referred by a friend for a entry level sales and marketing job. My friend started a few months back and makes 46k plus commission (he didn't negotiate his salary at all). When searching for other jobs I happened to find a job posting for the same job he referred me to, but it states the salary is 60k a year plus commission. I got the interview through my friend not through applying directly to that job posting. I am going through my second round of interviews tomorrow and so far I am the only candidate that has been interviewed for the position. I'm nervous to approach asking for the 60k because I feel they are expecting to pay me what my buddy is getting paid. How should I go about handling this situation??

If they're advertising X dollars, you should request at least X dollars if you have all (or close to all) the qualifications listed. Sounds like your buddy didn't research very well honestly, which hopefully he learns for next time

When you are given an offer, you do not need to accept the offer right away. Thank them for the offer and tell them you need to discuss it with the wife/life partner. Gather up facts as to how you meet and/or exceed the job requirements and start a dialog after you have the facts on your side.

Human: Hi Reddit, My job just told me that I am "not fit" for my current position as an IT administrator. Apparently there were some small, "improvable" complaints that were logged against me (that I was never told about, or receiving any form of notification of), including some from my team. They have offered me 2 choices. Take a tech 1 position (pays about 70% of what I make now) or quit and take unemployment Now I've been working here for about 2 months (USA, Pennsylvania). I have an infant daughter due in 2 weeks. My fiance and I are freaking out. We have about 3k in bills every month. She makes about 1300 a month. We have $300 in savings because we finally got to a spot where we could do that. I don't know what to do. My decision is due in an hour. If I take it, I'll have some money coming in (but I could make more working in a warehouse than taking that tech 1 position). I get insurance and PTO in about a month, same level as my administrator position. But this leaves me no time for interviews (as I work a second job as well, about 10 hours a week). Alternatively, they said that I could leave and take unemployment, which would give me time for interviews and put me in a better spot overall. What should I do?! EDIT: Thank you all for the advice! I have decided to take the position and begin looking for a new job. I have about 8 weeks before my daughter needs to start going to daycare, but I am confident that I can get a new job by then. In fact, I have a phone interview tomorrow!

I concur, take the 70% and look for something else at the same time.

Take the job. It will pay better than unemployment plus you can just look for another job in the meantime. Who knows could be a blessing in disguise. Just make sure you remember that you can lose a job at anytime and to work on your efund asap. Good luck and happy job hunting.

Human: I'm just so happy, and I kinda need to tell someone about this, so here's my story. I started working with my current company three years ago (to the day, march 15th 2014). The company is great, work from home, great colleagues, I'm good at what I do, conditions are nice, etc. Three years ago, when I had my job interview, during the final process, they asked me what my expected salary would be, and I told them based on what I was able to see from other similar jobs, and past work experience. I told them, and it was approved as soon as I said it. I thought it strange that they would agree so quickly, and kinda wondered if I had just lowballed myself to this salary. Then a full year and a half came by, and I got my yearly review. "You're doing great work, clients love you, how do you like it, etc. Listen, I'm gonna give you a 6% raise! Normally I would only give 3% or so to people, but you get double!" I was pretty happy with the raise, but still felt that this was them playing catch-up on my salary to match other people. Next year, pretty much the same story. Big raise, lots more than others (or so they way), good job. Still, I'm happy. Then, I see on glassdoor that someone posted that a project manager job at my job makes significantly more than I. Like 30% more. That kinda pissed me off. My title is not project manager, but I do manage projects, and clients, and I never really cared about my title. To me, I should make close to that. Then I found a former colleague who had that job, and asked him how much he is paid, and it was pretty much that amount. I was more angry I was making so little in comparison. By looking around, I was able to access some contracts for some employees that were not protected, and I realized that I was making less than anybody else in my position (despite being the oldest employee, and also having more responsibilities with clients and projects). I chalked it up to me not having negotiated a good enough salary when I came in, and I had to fix that. Talking to my former colleague, he told me that I had to get my ducks in a row, potentially find another job offer to gain leverage, and also realize that since I was not living near the big city (i relocated about three hours away to a smaller city), it could be difficult for me to leverage since I would have trouble finding a satisfactory job offer in a smaller market. I took that into consideration and decided to simply go see my boss about this. We have a great relationship, and I could see his reaction and take it from there. So I went, told him I found other people's salaries and how I did it so they could fix that breach, and I plead my case. He took that to HR and the owner of the company (it's a small firm). Took them a week, and then he came to me. He said they were a bit pissed I checked the salaries of other people, that I shouldn't have, and I told him yeah, sorry, but not that sorry actually. I kinda stumbled onto them, and I didn't tell anybody about it, but it certainly helped me to leverage. We argued over some details, and I had a feeling I was gonna be offered something small, but then they gave me a 20% increase effective april 1st, with an additional 7% effective august 1st! I think I went against most advice here when I went to negotiate my salary (no plan, comparing myself to others, etc.), and I can't say I was happy doing it, but it paid off :) Edit: guys, I get it. I'm going to lose my job, then not ever being able to find a new one, on top of going to prison. It's possible, but I say it's unlikely. My boss admitted he felt I was a bit underpaid, in the end it's an upward move to a more project-manager job with a salary increase, and knowing the company, its people, the industry and the value I bring to the company, I wouldn't say I feel at risk of losing my job here. But if I do, I 100% promise I'll tell you. To expand a bit on that, the files were on a google drive that I had access to. I'm not sure if everyone had access to it, I didn't check. I was not looking for any of that, but yes I did have a look when I noticed that folder. I was actually looking for my hiring documents, and it just so happened that some others were just about right next to mine, and I had a look.

People: do not do what this person did; you will be fired. Sorry not sorry.

Can I ask what your salary is now with the raise for the position you are working?

Human: So i spent an hour browsing craigslist motors, and came across this quite nice 2008 lexus is 250, here are said pictures http://www.ebayphotogallery.com/zdjecia/islexus250/9111487/1 It seems too good to be true, I asked for the ebay link so am waiting on that but I screenshotted the entire conversation to see what you guys would think of it all The conversation http://imgur.com/a/DWZvK The original post https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/6045030711.html Does this look like a scam?

obviously a scam.... come on man. read the craigslist scam link Edit: link for you. https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams this breaks about 4 of the rules they have right off the bat. Why on earth would someone in Montana be posting in a Miami craigslist? What of that makes any sense? 2nd Edit: Ebay also does not handle money like they are claiming. Ebay doesn't touch transaction money.

As soon as a person responds with a detailed reason for why they are selling it (and of course that reason means they will sell it for much, much less than it is worth), assume it is a scam. But as soon as it involves a third party shipping company all ready to go with a guarantee that you can always send it back, then you know it is a scam.

Human: When I was hired here my boss informed me that after some amount of time I would be converted from hourly to salary and get a small raise. Well, I did get a small raise (about $1) but as I said in the title I still have to clock my hours, and if, for example, I come in 15 minutes late and only clock 7.45 hours today, my boss manually deducts 15 minutes from my next paycheck. I'm just not sure how exactly I am on "salary" now if my pay still works exactly the same as hourly? Maybe I don't understand how being a salaried employee works, but I thought the premise was being paid X amount per pay period regardless of hours worked.

It has to work both ways. In one workweek, if you are paid less for working less, you must be paid more for working more, including working overtime. In contrast to "hourly", salary (non-exempt) generally means that your hours and pay are guaranteed on their end, i.e. they'll find you work for 40 hours a week. Whether or not you show up to work, is on your end. There is no legal distinction between "hourly" and salary (non-exempt). *Salary exempt* on the other hand is different, and you are not exempt for sure.

Well... show up on time and work eight hours homie.

Human: ANSWERED: Thanks for the responses all, I had my suspicions and they've been confirmed. Appreciate everyone's time! So I recently resigned from my job (I live in Florida, USA) without having anything else lined up. There weren't any terribly impactful reasons why besides I was unhappy with the environment and the management, workload for pay, fluctuating hours, and the fact that the work environment was a bit unsafe (fights between employees was very common, almost weekly) Now of course I am looking for a new job, but I'm curious; there is any reason for me to file unemployment in the meantime? Any other suggestions for the unemployed life would also be appreciated! I've had friends who have been "unemployed for months" and I have no idea how you pay rent or buy food for that long. Thanks! Edit: so I do have some emergency savings - not as much as I would like of course but I'm not gonna starve

> Any other suggestions for the unemployed life would also be appreciated! I've had friends who have been "unemployed for months" and I have no idea how you pay rent or buy food for that long. Emergency fund. Generally recommended to have 6 months worth of expenses saved as an emergency fund.

You can't collect unemployment benefits if you quit.

Human: http://imgur.com/a/yUK2h I'm down to under $5k on my student loans at 3.5% interest after staring above $57k (and with interest rates up to 8.5%) in 2013. The last few months I've been catching up on maxing my Roth IRA and HSA accounts for 2016/2017. Now I'll finally start saving for a home down-payment! I live in San Diego, CA, so that's why the numbers might seem astronomically high. My SO will hopefully have a 2nd marker color, and will start adding to the motivational chart as soon as he finishes up his emergency fund. I don't know why, but getting to color in my progress just makes me feel better :). EDIT: Just for reference, my salary since starting my full time job in 2014 has only been between $40-$56k/year before taxes, and much of that comes from 2nd jobs/freelance work. **EDIT 2:** RIP my inbox. Thought you guys might like to see these things as well, for all of those that have been asking questions: **I have an obsession with google docs. Feel free to save copies to your own google drive and mess with the numbers to fit your situation!** * [Current monthly budget](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vrlZOhEzp8bo0OEu1XQqYzlSCaDGH2EPfeGwSeGAjTg/edit?usp=sharing) * [Home Calcs](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18d7ai9QxX8CKPmy0IUvyz2oSb_qMb6fxXhoJTevsf24/edit?usp=sharing) * [End of year progress chart](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o5KDn_PtUL61K3dyb-kXNMu1MU4zJreH8ojdzKzhgWI/edit?usp=sharing) * [Misc. Income Tracker] (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PqunwYf_8kNYUpwCf4z5uoblMza3EchyLYbHmdfFPyo/edit?usp=sharing) * [Closeup of colored student loan chart](http://imgur.com/a/MFYpw) * [Link to my home motivational chart](https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ycqj1vwxpm6pmm2/AADYzgcfv1Xpwv8ujKhGLAaUa?dl=0) * [Link to student loan motivational chart](http://imgur.com/iJYFe8n) P.S. - I am a female. I realize my reddit name is misleading.

Very good job! That's definitely something to be proud of. ~~You may want to consider the possibility of not having the full 20% down because even though no one can predict the market, housing has been getting higher and higher. Definitely find something within your means (obviously) but getting a house sooner and paying the PMI may be worth the potential appreciation of the house. Once you're comfortable and interest rates are good you could then refinance once you have more money.~~ ~~Take with a grain of salt. The housing market had been kind to me. It's just a different perspective~~ Congrats again. Edit: I didn't see that you already had a 10% goal.

You should wait for interest rates to rise which will drive down prices and don't be afraid to buy a house with sweat equity.

Human: I have it in my head that buying rental property would be a good idea. I'm currently maxing out my retirement accounts and am intrigued by the idea of earning monthly rent checks. I'm 30, not very handy, and live in an area with cheap properties and cheap rents, however there is a college in town. If I went for something now, I would be paying PMI. How can I get to the point of definitively taking the plunge or not? Is there something I can try to give me a taste of what its like?

Be diligent in your math. How much rent will you get vs ALL the bills. Mortgage, taxes, PMI, repairs, homeowner insurance, maintenance, budget set aside for unexpected major repairs like roof work, pipe burst, etc. It's not always a slam dunk that you can even cover all your bills let alone make a profit each month. I have a rental property and my golden rule is that it is much easier to keep a bad tenant from ever getting in than it is to remove a bad tenant.

Perhaps take some courses on carpentry, plumbing at ur local college. Also figure out how taxes work on rental properties. Also the laws on evicting people. Some places if someone lives in ur place for one year, u can't evict them for 3 months, even if they stop paying rent

Human: My mother isn't the best for trusting with money. But I want to set up my Bluebird account. Since I'm only 16 I cannot sign up. What should I do?

I don't know what Bluebird is, but if you don't trust your mother, don't do it. Find someone you trust.

I would suggest something like a prepaid visa from Walmart (Walmart Money Card). If you cash checks at Walmart you can load the onto the card for free as well. You can also setup direct deposit to them, and all account management is done online.

Human: My boss who arguably doesn't do much during the day but gossip and delegate tasks just asked for a raise to 25k more than I make. My boss has repeatedly told me I should be happy I got the max raise this year (4%, which is far far far from 25k) since many others did not. How would you address the situation of me asking for a higher raise? Assistant: You getting a raise has nothing to do with your boss, and everything with what you provide to the company. If you feel you provide more value than you are compensated for, go to HR (or whoever handles finance within your company) and discuss with them why you deserve to be compensated more than you are currrently. Human: So mentioning their raise and their reasoning for a raise (they claim their management skill has kept us employees around longer than usual when really it's because of a lack of other options and laziness to not find another job) is a bad idea?

yes.

Horrible idea. Go find a position that allows you to he in a similar position as your boss. One piece of advice that has helped me along the way - in the most simplistic form, you job is to make your boss look good.

Human: I'm sure we are all familiar with the crop of on line high yield savings banks that are out there (Ally is the one I'm most familiar with). You'd think that competition among them would result in a higher yield as borrowing interest rates have gone up (another 0.25% today again). But they are all sitting at pretty much 1% now. I was looking forward to higher rates soon.

The only rate that went up is the discount rate - which impacts really short term stuff like the federal funds rate. That doesn't factor all that highly into Ally's business. I mean they're taking your money and buying mortgages and car loans. I'm not sure how the rates for those have gone up in recent months. But a 12 month treasury is apparently paying 1% as of today. Ally's 1 year CD is 1.05%. Because treasuries are tax exempt at the state level that's about par for most people. If that 12 mo moves any higher, Ally may have to bump their rate up or people will start opening treasurydirect accounts again.

yea i am too looking forward to higher savings accounts.

Human: A little relevant background: I've been with this company for about 5 years, having gone from temp to new hire, and then been promoted twice. I've been an AVP for just over a year. I know that I've been significantly underpaid (47,500 is my current salary - another employee who started as a temp as well a few years before me was given 62K when promoted to AVP. Mine was 45K. I was only bumped up to my current salary in November, because of the hourly overtime law.). A coworker recommended me to a Senior VP who was looking to establish a totally new role in another department. The workload would be significant and deserving of a VP title. I would be developing the position from scratch, training 50+ people on various products, joining client calls, etc. It's a shit ton of work, but I think I would be awesome at it. I have more product knowledge than nearly anyone in my department. I've had a hand in training 15-20 people over the last 3 years - and significant training, on dozens of products. I've had literally nothing but positive feedback from both clients and internal partners. I have about 2 dozen emails, just from this past year, regarding my outstanding performance that have been sent to my manager - or her manager, or her manager's manager. I hate tooting my own horn, but I'm fucking good at what I do. And I'm being so undervalued in my current position that it makes me nauseous if I think about it too long. I absolutely need to make a change. So I reached out to the SVP and expressed interest in the position. From what I was told, there were 3 candidates in the running. We each had two interviews, one with the SVP to whom the position would report and a second with an SVP with whom the candidate would be working closely (he managed those 50+ employees I would be training). Less than 24 hours after my second interview, I was told basically that the job was mine, I just had to meet with that second SVP's manager first. That meeting went well and I was informally offered the job, told to start the formal application process and asked to inform my current manager. I've spoken with a few confidants - my manager, another manager, and the person who recommended me for the job - and the pay range they estimated went from 85K-110K. My manager, who obviously knew my current salary, was the lowest estimate at 85K. She warned me that I might have a bit of trouble negotiating them up because of how low I'm starting. HR knows what my current salary is, so I'm at a disadvantage. I was expecting an offer of around 70-75K, to be honest. Nope. HR called me this afternoon with the offer. The told me, almost word for word, that in order to move me to a pay range typical for a VP in my area, they would have to raise my salary over 50%. So, in order to make it "more palatable to HR", they have decided to change the position to an AVP title and offer me a pay increase of 20%. Bringing me up to 57K. I'm livid. I want this position, but I have no interest in moving laterally for less than 10K more. I'll be locked into the AVP for a year, and even when I'm eligible to be promoted to a VP, I'll run into the same issue with the salary. They won't be able to put me in the VP bracket because anything over a 20% raise has to be approved by senior management (which is why I'm guessing that's exactly the % increase they offered me) and 20% on top of 57K won't get me there either. They don't want to jump through the hoops that will require, or they think they can lowball me because of my current salary, or a little of both. But I am so tired of doing excellent work and having it tainted by how used and taken advantage of I feel. I can't do it again, especially in a position where I know for certain that I deserve a higher title. There was no question as to my qualifications to be a VP prior to salary coming into the discussion. As it stands, if they refuse to budge I'd rather decline the offer and look for something outside the organization than accept what they've put on the table. I'll be speaking with person who would be my manager either tomorrow or the day after. I'd like to argue my case, point out my value, be honest in that I do not want to be in a situation where I feel like I'm getting shortchanged - I've been there already and it's not a fun situation to live with. I want something that feels fair and feels representative and appropriate for the work expected of me. The manager wants the position filled by April. He has an aggressive target to meet by the end of the year, so someone needs to get working in the position relatively soon. If I decline the offer, he'll need to go back to one of the other candidates and go through the HR process again. I'm guessing that person makes more than I do - everyone seems to - and they also applied for a VP position, so I'd wager that person would end up with a VP salary. So the only thing that would be saved is possibly a bit of time, not having to jump through the hoops of getting a higher salary approved by senior management. Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated. I went back to 2 of the confidants I spoke with and they were both repulsed by the situation. Neither expected the SVP (or HR, not sure who's driving this) to downgrade the position instead of bumping up my salary.

Just point out that you interviewed for and were selected for a VP position, with a commensurate pay increase, and that's what you were looking for. If "HR" and "senior management" want you, they'll make that happen. Otherwise, you've shown yourself to be capable and can easily land an equivalent job at another company (don't say this, though).

Have you searched your company on glassdoor, linkedin, etc? I am guessing the company has a pretty low rating if they make it a habit of treating employees the way you describe over the years. Try this post in /r/jobs - but it sounds like you're a year or two past due for updating your resume and finding a real job with a real company.

Human: Hi, first time poster, long time lurker. I am asking this for a friend. They have been offered a job ($25/hr 32/hrs week) as a nanny. No other source of income ATM. However they have given the option of being paid in cash reported as 1099-MISC as an independent contractor or as an employee through a nanny agency, taxes taken out, direct deposit, etc. What advantages or disadvantages would there be in terms of taxes or otherwise? I suspect that there might be more taxes as an independent contractor. Anyone have insight on this before I dive into tax code or spend money on a tax consultant? The job is in California. Life circumstances have them with a lot of credit card and student loans to pay off, if it matters. Thanks in advance.

First off, nannies are employees. No ifs, ands, or buts. Second, if the pay is the same, you will come out pretty far behind (at least 7.65%) if you go as an independent contractor. You will have to pay both halves of FICA, which is just 15.3%. Normally, the employee just pays 7.65%.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: My mother has always had some amount of credit debt, until one day my grandfather died, she inherited some funds, and it finally pulled her out of the mess. Right now she is living in a half renovated house, she has no money coming in to finish the job, and has no intention of looking for full-time work. The total value of the house on purchase was 500k, she invested 200k from her inheritances, and borrowed 300k from the bank. When she ran out of money to continue the renovations, she began taking out credit cards to pay off her mortgage and feed herself. From what information i can get out of her, she spends roughly $400 a week on mortgage, between $100-$300 on credit payments/bills, and around $200 on food. She is very dramatically hemorrhaging money but is absolutely convinced this is what she wants and she is happy, what advice can I give her? How can she get out of this mess with as little loss as possible?

She obviously understands that no income but non-zero expenses mean there is a problem. But if she is not worried then she probably has a plan. it may be a bad plan like thinking she can just dodge the creditors forever, or that she will "just" declare bankruptcy, or she is actually bringing money in but not in any legitimate form of enterprise. But still, she knows she has expenses and yet she will only tell you that she is happy. My guess is she doesn't want you meddling with whatever she has going on.

At least she's not asking you for money.

Human: Hey PF, I'm fixing to move out soon. I'm in my mid 20s making close to 60k. I have been able to save up a lot of money living with my parents but saving that money as well as combined household income I've had a bad spending habit. Nothing crazy like traveling 1st class or buying season tickets or even buy designer clothes but eating out and going to sporting events once or twice, etc. monthly expense is $600 so like $20 bucks a day. Granted I say $120 is on gas. I'm fixing to move out maybe buying a condo at a reasonable rate. I know moving out brings about a lot of expenses: rent, electricity, water, etc. so I wanted to use Mint to better curtail my spending and tracking expense in general. So is mint good? Is it safe as in well secured from hacking? Are there other better tools? Also any tips and advice is greatly appreciated both PF and in life

I'm much less worried about Intuit getting compromised than myself compromising my account passwords or email. The services it provides are worth the risk IMO.

Mint isn't perfectly safe, but they have been improving their security lately. I'd love to see a work around with partner sites to allow for 2-factor authentication on everything

Human: My goal in life is to become an owner of a couple of properties and be the handyman/property management. I very much enjoy handyman work and I am actually a licensed handyman here in Seattle. It's going very well. I love it. That sound the pay isn't exactly what I would like, so I thought a better idea would be to just manage the building I own and live of the income from the renters. Financially my GF and I are both in good standing. (She actually just made her final payment on her college loans yesterday!) We have no big debt. Other than a couple thousand on a few different credit cards. Shoot, I forgot I just started a car payment but if that was a deal breaker I could easily sell it for more than I paid. I'm in it $11k. She makes $40k and I would say I am making around there as well. So total annual income is around $80k. We have never owned a home. I personally think the best route would be to buy a home, and rent it out, just to get a taste of the renters market, then maybe purchase a triplex or duplex after either selling the first home or using it as collateral. Then, if everything is working out well, we can look at purchasing an apartment complex. So with that said, what should we be doing to get towards the goal of owning an apartment complex? If any of you have actually owned one, or still do. I wouldn't mind picking your brain as far as how that type of loan works and what the requirements are.

Perhaps slightly OT, but if your goal is to own a couple properties and live off the rent, it is going to take you a lot longer to get there in Seattle than in other places with lower-cost housing markets.

>We have no big debt. Other than a couple thousand on a few different credit cards. Shoot, I forgot I just started a car payment but if that was a deal breaker I could easily sell it for more than I paid. I'm in it $11k. ...so you're $13k in debt? First order of business is definitely the credit cards - why do you have credit card debt? Can you not meet your expenses? If you've built up a balance without owning property, that's not going to bode well for your financial stability with the difficulties of property ownership. If a pipe bursts, are you going to have to accumulate credit card debt to pay for the repairs (even just the material)? Once you're confident you have paid off your credit card debt and it will never come back, then I'd look into saving for a down payment. The car loan isn't necessarily a big deal, but it will factor into your total mortgage qualification amount. You'll have to weigh whether that's an issue for house prices and whether your really need that vehicle (if you have a truck and really need it to be a handyman and move stuff, maybe worth keeping, while if it's a corvette maybe you'd rather sell it to improve your immediate finances).

Human: A bit of background: My company does a 401k match, and a pension. The combined value of those two is currently $73k. I'm single, debt-free, and don't own a home (and don't want to where I currently live). I have no other investments outside of my company pension and 401k. What's the best use of that $5k if I want to retire in my early 50s, and still be able to travel/live freely??

Index funds in a taxable brokerage account.

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) (articles on 401(k) plans, IRAs, and more) - ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: So here goes.. I will tell you all aspects of my financial story. Someone please advise. I am 26, recently started my first job with a salary of 180,000 that goes up around 15k each year. Bonuses are expected to be around 20k per year. I have an account with ~30k from inheritance. Not married, no kids. No credit card debt. No car/car insurance payments or other high monthly payments. Also own a piece of property I plan to sell within the year, possibly worth 35k-55k. **Fuck up #1:** I have 170,000 in debt from school. All government loans. I am the kind of person who puts things off that stress me out, to my detriment (clearly). Thus, like the idiot I am, I didn't set up my repayment account until now. The account started billing in December and says I am now 8000 past due. My salary is good but not that good. I paid 3500 just now, but I have no clue how I am going to catch up. My biggest question here is, should I take money from my inheritance account and apply it towards the remainder of the past due? Other options? **Fuck up #2** Last year I withdrew around 8k from my inheritance account to pay for various expenses (I graduated without a job offer, and had to take a huge entrance exam to practice in my field, so I had to pay for rent during the summer and the prep course). Like I said above, I am an idiot and did not consider the tax implications of this, given that it technically was "income." My mother JUST TODAY informed me that the IRS has been sending me letters, which she is forwarding. Guys I am completely stressed out right now. I feel hopeless even though I worked hard to get a well-paying job. I have a million questions, but if anyone could help, offer advice, tell me it is going to be okay, I would greatly appreciate it. Money stress is the worst stress, as many of you know. I just want to feel like I am on top of my shit again. If anyone has any recommendations, or just comforting words, please share.

> My salary is good but not that good. Laughing.

If you withdrew money in 2016 you may owe capital gains taxes (depending on the situation) but taxes for 2016 aren't due until April 18, 2017 so you are not even late yet. I don't know why the IRS would be sending you letters already. As for the student loans: just start paying them on time. Set up autopay from your checking account so you don't forget. If you have an overdue balance of $4.5k I would just that right now to get caught up.

Human: Hows it going /r/personalfinance?! I have been out of college and working for almost 3 years now. I have just received a bonus and need some advice on which ones to destroy. I took out the two terrible loans I had through Sallie Mae this morning and I am now staring at my Navient loans. Sallie Mae was eating me alive in interest ($10,000 at 11.23% and 5,000 at 7.3%) and I had to put an end to that. Took me just over a year and now they are gone! I have a remaining $6,000 left that I want to use toward paying off a couple of these loans. My previous tactics in tackling my loans was the largest interest rates. My remaining loans are as follows. 1 - $1057 at 3.15% Subsidized 2 - $705 at 6.55% Unsubsidized 3 - $3188 at 3.61% Subsidized 4 - $1991 at 3.61% Unsubsidized 5 - $2051 at 5.75% Subsidized 6 - $2096 at 4.41% Subsidized 7 - $3761 at 4.41% Unsubsidized I get a little confused around the words "Subsidized" and "Unsubsidized" My current plan was to pay off # 2, 5, 7 Any input would be appreciated! Thank you!

Highest interest rate loans first now that you're out of school. Your plan of 2, 5, 7 sounds good to me.

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hi Guys! This is my first post on this subreddit so I'd appreciate any advice I can get. Basically, I have a 1999 Acura TL that is close to 100,000 miles. I'm thinking about selling it and leasing a new electric vehicle or hybrid since its a fairly old car. Should I keep it or should I look at other options? Thanks!

Going from owning a car to leasing an electric vehicle is crazy. A lease is nearly always a bad idea. Does your car have any mechanical problems? Why are you thinking of selling it? Just because it's old doesn't mean it's smart to dump it and get a lease.

Assuming it's still mechanically sound, I'd just keep the acrua for the time being. It's reliable, and in my opinion, nicer than most mid 2000s econocars despite the age. And leasing a new electric as a college student is pretty foolish unless you have a very high income.

Human: We just found a house that we really like but before even making an offer it was required that we get a pre-approval from someone at GuaranteedRate mortgages that the seller specified. We got the pre-approval and then we made our offer. The seller likes our offer but in order to proceed they have two conditions: 1. We close within 35 days. 2. They would strongly prefer we use their guy at GuaranteedRate. We're fine with condition 1 but condition 2 worries me. We have pre-approvals from Wells Fargo and Chase for better rates and we know the people there. Our realtor tells me that the reason for this weird stuff is that the seller is a builder and they are trying to close quickly perhaps to get cash to work on another house or something. Both WF and Chase are telling me this is a fairly strange arrangement and I'm inclined to agree. My realtor suggested I get something in writing from WF or Chase to assure the seller that we can close in the time frame they want. Did that, WF and Chase said they would both happily speak to the seller if further assurances are required. Should I be worried? Assistant: What's in it for you to use that lender? Human: Nothing except appeasing the seller.

Then it doesn't sound worth it at all. Use the lender with the lowest rate.

Doesn't sound like a benefit.

Human: [Bar graph of Child-Related Expenses Over Time] ( http://i.imgur.com/6n40mEB.png ) I was messing around in Mint and decided to export all my transactions from the last 6 years so I could manipulate the data in Tableau. I ended up filtering to only the categories that did (or seem like they should) vary depending on the number of children in the household. I applied a 5 month moving average and came up with the graphic linked above. It looks like each child costs roughly $300-500 per month from the ages of 0-5 years old. It will be interesting to see what happens as they age, but in the meantime I thought this might be useful data for any new (or soon to be new) parents. My wife stays at home so daycare is not included in these expenses. Obviously this could be a huge additional cost for others and should be considered. Assistant: I pay $400 a week for daycare, which is average in Boston. I laughed when I saw "each child costs roughly $300-500 per month from the ages of 0-5 years old." Human: Yeah, it's insane! We might end up losing money if my wife got a job.

This is the main reason my wife and I agreed she would stay home. Child care is crazy stupid.

We were in this exact same position. It was about the same for my wife to stay home rather than work and pay daycare for 2 kids. So she stayed home, finished school and now that our kids are older, she is looking to go back to work. Daycare for two kids in NYC would have been at least $700 per week.

Human: Hi Reddit, I have a checking account with Chase since I was in high school. But after some reading from this sub, I want to apply for a credit card with the Golden One Credit Union. Is it weird to have 2 bank accounts? Thank you

Nah two isn't weird. Last week my boss told me he has 16 different checking/savings accounts. I thought that was pretty weird.

No its not weird to have more than 1 bank account.

Human: Hello everybody! I have about 13k I have saved and plan on buying a used car in full with the money (likely something cheap, dependable like a honda civic). I also have 11k (The 9k in the title is wrong) in Federal Student Loans at 7% interest. Would I be better off buying the car in full and continuing to pay off my student loans every month? Or would it be better to pay off the student loans and take out a car loan instead with a few thousand dollars as a deposit? Any and all help is appreciated! My credit score, according to Credit Karma is about 690 if that matters.

Well, only one of these types of debts can be discharged if you ever go bankrupt. Ideally that doesn't happen but it's worth thinking about. If I were you I'd pay off the student loan. The interest on an auto loan is also probably less, especially since you have pretty good credit.

Pay off the loan and wait on the car.

Human: So I think I'm being scammed. Im from California and I started this full time new job and my boss is paying me salary. Before she hired me she said she was going to pay me 1600 for the first month, 800 biweekly as training without completing my W4 so I wouldn't get taxed. Then we agreed that she would pay me 1900 a month after the training period. So today was payday following that training month. She went over how I'm getting paid at the end of the day when she gave me my check. She said that because she liked how I was adapting she was actually going to get paid $2000 a month instead of $1900. She said she was paying me the minimum I could get paid through check, $800, so I wouldn't get taxed so much and the rest cash, $200. Out of the $800 after taxes was just about $670. Then she said she would pay me the rest,$200 cash. During this pay period I took one day off for my birthday so she deducted $80 from the cash she was supposed to pay me and gave me $120. So in total I got paid $790, less than what I originally got paid during my training month. I regularly stay thirty minutes to an hour passing my 8.5 hour work days to finish up all of my work. She doesn't make me but I fell obligated to not leave things half done. And I mentioned this to her when she said she deducted my pay for missing that one day. She then responded by saying that she was actually only going to pay me $1900 a month and she actually raised. Kind of making it seem like she was already doing me a favor. On top of this I regularly run errands around the area 10-15 minutes away from our location and don't get reimbursed. I never felt the need to ask for gas money because it is not that far. But getting paid this little and using my gas to run errands does not seem worth it now. I want to go over how I'm getting paid tomorrow and need some advice on what to say.

So the biggest red flag for me is the fact that she split up the pay between check and cash. That's not exactly legal to do. If she, or you, got audited on taxes, she, or you, would get charged with tax evasion. Not sure if that's a big concern of yours, but it would be for me.

This is confusing... U sure you're paid on a salary basis and not an hourly basis? Maybe it's because you brought up hours alot, but if you're paid on a salary basis you're obligated to finish whatever is required of your duty, regardless of hour; meaning you can stay longer or shorter. Secondly, regardless of pay method, whatever your agreement with your boss is for compensation is what you get. Either way you can write off those on your taxes, and if injured while on the job your boss is obligated to pay for relatable injuries. But to your point about the method your boss is paying you, seem kinda sketchy and under the table... If it's your first job, I'd say bite the bullet and get exp, leave when time is right.

Human: Background: I am currently a US full time student working close to 25 hours a week at a minimum wage job at the college. I am a financial independant. My rent is roughly $300, Utilities come to around $50 per month, plus around $150-$220 per month on groceries. My insurance recently went up from $175 to $275. I took a quiz on my state government's website to see if I was eligible for any benefits. It said I was possibly eligible for SNAP and utilities benefits. I spoke with my guardians and it seemed like they were mostly against me applying for benefits due to the stigma against government benefits. They said it was better "if I earned my way" and other phrases of the same nature. On the other hand they think it is great that I'm getting all these grants to cover my tuition. I understand my guardians viewpoint of the stigma and only hearing of the situations where people take advantage of the system, sell their EBT, and use it irresponsibly on things that don't help their family. The side I see is the government creating these programs to get people whose life may have started off in an incredibly shitty fashion headed in the right direction. If I use this program for the next two years and become a productive working member of society, I will pay more back to the system than it provided to me. What is Personal Finance's stand on this?

You're working 25 hours a week while going to school and covering all your living expenses -- I don't think $100/month of grocery money is suddenly going to make you irresponsible. Food stamps now will give you a few extra hours a week to do better in your classes, or have some time to de-stress, or it'll give you a little bit of free cash you can start putting into an emergency fund. Better grades + an emergency fund are things that will, long-term, help you be successful and financially stable and able to pay back into the system. Don't turn down assistance. Just don't waste it.

If you're working as much as possible, and paying taxes to fund those benefits, then you are paying your own way. Those benefits exist for people who need a little assistance to get by. You pay taxes, therefore you are entitled to the benefits made available to the taxpayer. When I lost my job a couple years ago, I had no problem filing for unemployment benefits. As a conservative, I had no problem whatsoever filing for those benefits because I paid my taxes and worked hard. I wasn't freeloading- I paid in to that system, so it's fair that I use it when I needed it. Your situation is the same thing. Screw them. Take advantage of the things made available to you by being a taxpayer. That's what government does.

Human: Hi Reddit, I wanted to tap into the collective wisdom of the group to get a reality check on the way that I'm approaching my finances, especially as I waver on the right balance of saving and spending. * Gross salary: $130k * Bonuses and stock: target of $40-50k annually * Maxing 401k ($18k), plus 6% employer match * Maxing HSA ($3.4k) * 5% post-tax into Employee Stock Purchase Plan (approx $550/month) * Emergency fund of $14k * Zero debt After all taxes and deductions, I'm netting $5,100 per month. However, space for further saving and discretionary spending is hemmed in by my egregious rent ($2,900 per month), thanks to the absurdity of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area. After budgeting out other costs fairly judiciously (food, transportation, medical, etc), I have about $800-1000 extra each month. My instinct is to plunge that into savings/investment: * Continue building emergency fund * Save for ??? (I don't really have any tangible goals--no wedding, house, kids on the horizon) * Backdoor Roth (I have an existing Roth, but am now above the income cut-off for direct contributions) * Taxable Vanguard account However, I'm trying to balance that against what I could potentially spend the money on, if I could let myself be more comfortable with going ahead and budgeting it toward other items, and being content with my existing saving streams. For example: * Fitness classes/memberships * Going to more local events and activities * Donating to charity * Taking Uber/Lyft more often to avoid slow public transit * Day trips If I took that route, then I would look to my annual cash bonus and stock grants to fund my backdoor Roth and larger saving goals. I've tracked every penny I've spent in the last five years (thanks, YNAB!), and so perhaps that's why I'm having a hard time letting go and being comfortable with spending more of my paycheck, rather than seeing savings categories build up. I realize this is the epitome of first world problems--I'm in a very fortunate and secure position, and am really trying to sort out how I approach my personal finances as part of my life to pursue happiness.

I would say your emergency fund needs some beefing up, even at the expense of contributing to your HSA, ESPP or 401k. If you have a $4000/month in expenses (which is pretty reasonable in SF given the rents), I would continue saving until I hit $25k. That would give you a solid 6 months' worth of expenses. You can also take a look here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

I would split half of your "extra" each month between savings/cash and LIVING/ENJOYING your youth.

Human: Total tax refund: $5,500. Pay on a $10,250 2.9% car loan (just rolled over 100k miles, worried about it not lasting 3 years until payoff) OR Pay on $12,500 10.4% credit card balance Minimum monthly payments are roughly the same on each account ($230)

Credit card at 12% vs car at 2%? Come on... credit card. Unless you bought an old Italian sports car or something that depreciates fast...

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Right now I'm trying to pay off tuition and move out on my own so I don't have the money to pay it if I file.Would it be better to file and let my gst rebates go towards it or wait until I can afford to pay it?

File. There's interest charges one way or the other, but if you owe money and don't file on time there's fines for filing late as well.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/5ohy01) - [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hey everyone! So I see alot of people talking about their credit cards, with pretty high credit limits of over 10k. I am just wondering when you start to see those kinds of cards offered to you. Ive go 3 cards currently, a card from my credit union with a limit of 2k, an Amazon store card with 1.5k, and a Bestbuy card with 2.5k. Ive never missed a payment, my utilization is about 40% and trending down. Im a college student working part time at age 20. Will I get those higher offers when I have a higher paying job after school? Or should I be getting them now? Thanks!

In my experience, it's more the type of card than anything you do (beyond having good income and a good score). Retail stores don't typically like high credit limits as they're risky cards. Some banks just refuse to give out high limits. Then you'll apply for some random card and triple your available credit in 5 minutes.

You may find these links helpful: - [Credit-related wiki pages](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit) - [Credit Cards](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards) - [FICO / Credit Scores](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico) - [Improving Credit Scores and Building Credit](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hi Reddit, I'm in a little bit of a pickle here and I apologize if this is not the right place to post but this directly relates to my financial situation. Basically, I've been unemployed for almost 3 months and off and on since July. I've racked up a few thousand dollars in debt and really just dig myself into a hole. Been searching for a job desperately to no avail (small town, only experience is retail, no degree but in school, etc.) and it's caused me to become depressed. Recently I had an interview for this swim school as an instructor, passed it with flying colors, pay is great compared to what I'm used to, got in the water to watch some lessons and it was a lot of fun. However, they mentioned in the interview, that because not only do they not require you have the instructor certification before applying, they provide it to you and pay you for the training, if you resign before 1 year they will ask you to reimburse them for the training which they value at $2,000. Initially this didn't seem like a huge problem to me as I can definitely see myself doing this for at least that long. The Glassdoor reviews are great, management seems awesome, and it really seems like such a fun and rewarding job. I spoke to a manager and clarified that if I'm fired or let go for some reason I will not be charged. However the wording of the contract makes it seem otherwise. I already signed it but have not received training as of yet so I can still back out. My question is is this normal? Should I take it considering my somewhat desperate situation? I realize I can always find another job but like I said I live in a small ish area and I really need a job asap (debt has caused my license to be suspended so I'm driving around illegally and would like to get this situation under control asap). Has anyone ever heard of this kind of thing before? Tl;dr if I quit before a year my employer wants to charge me $2,000 for training I could easily receive for $600 max sans specific techniques EDIT: Not really concerned about getting fired, I've never been fired and I'm a great employee. I guess what concerns me is what if school gets in the way and all of a sudden my hours don't work anymore? Or some emergency I can't foresee occurs? I'm really leaning towards taking it although my friends are leaning the opposite. I appreciate any input, thanks again Reddit!! EDIT #2: It pays $14/hr to start but with lots of opportunity for bonuses and advancement if that makes a difference

Take the Job and don't get fired. Save a little each check to cover yourself. It might seem like a lot of money but in the grand scheme it is not. If you are a good employee you have nothing to worry about.

Is it mr. krabs?

Human: Well my wife said I should try it in order to keep tabs on my credit score, so last night I did. To my dismay I saw 2 Federal Tax Lien on my report, one that states that I owe $23k, and another that says that I owe $76k I am honestly baffled and confused what a Federal Tax Lien is and why it says that I owe so much. Up until a year and a half ago I had been working simple minimum wage jobs and never a full 40 hours a week, never owned any property or a car, never had any outstanding bills or anything medical... I've honestly been living a very simple life. Work part time, and rent an apartment, and use a bus system to commute. It wasn't until 2 income taxes ago that I started making any real money, but my life is still simple and property free (still no vehicle). Honestly the only thing that I can think of is that this is an error and that this report is meant for my dad. We share the same name, except I am the 2nd, and we have had them get us mixed up before. Back in 2013 I got a letter stating that I owe $12k in taxes, but upon investigation I came to find out that that was meant for my dad. Now all of a sudden I owe close to $100k in just 3 - 4 years later? If I really owed that much then wouldn't I have not gotten tax refunds all these years? Who do I call to clarify all of this mess? I'm honestly very worried, even though I'm sure they have the wrong guy..

Tl;Dr - don't give your kid the same name as you unless you want to cause problems for them in the future.

The same name shouldn't cause an issue. You pull up your credit report by using your SSN. Either this is some grave error on ALL credit agencies or your dad is using your ssn because of the shit he's in. Neither one is IMPOSSIBLE- but my bet goes to #2.

Human: A couple of years ago, my bank offered me an credit limit increase. I went from $1500 to $4000. I never use the full $4000. The most I've used at one time is maybe $2500. Now the bank is offering me another increase. This time they are offering me a limit of $6500. I don't need it but I heard that turning down a limit increase is bad for your credit rating. Is this true?

Turning down a limit increase does not harm your score, but taking a limit increase can help your score by decreasing your credit utilization. I'd say take it, as long as you don't use it as an excuse to spend more. Keep your same rules about spending within your means and it's always a good idea to take a credit increase.

Others have said otherwise, so maybe things have changed. I remember having to close a card (didn't use but could have had it reduced) because the available credit was too high. Forget the terminology they used, but when I refinanced my home, having $25k available made me a higher risk. Turning it down won't hurt your credit from anything I've ever heard.

Human: ### New members, please read through the [New User Orientation](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/newuser). Instead of posting individual threads for positive success stories of how you've funded your emergency fund, made progress on your debt, saved for a future goal, reached a certain net worth, or anything else you would like to share, let's consolidate everyone's stories into one weekly thread! *Make a top-level comment if you want to share something positive regarding your personal finances!* For past Triumphant Thursday threads, please search the [Weekly Archive](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/search?q=Triumphant+Thursday+author%3AAutoModerator&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=year#res-hide-options).

I have paid off my car ... finally. For the past year I concentrated on making double / triple payments. This year's tax return paid for the remaining balance. And I won't be making the mistake of getting a new car only to be saddled with payments again. Instead I will happily keep driving my current car without monthly payments to worry about. I will be investing the money instead.

[Since graduating 5 years ago in Engineering I finally got my first Entry Level Job! Whew. Sigh of relief! Which benefits should I pay for in my new job? I had LASIK awhile back so my vision is fine. I'm not too familiar on HSA/FSA's though. I highlighted the ones I will probably do. Or are they all mandatory? And are the optional ones the truly only optional benefits employees can opt into?](http://i.imgur.com/OWo7LAE.png)

Human: Hi PF I recently got inspired by this sub & others to start investing more & more efficiently. Step 1 for that was maxing IRA contribution for 2016 & 2017 for my wife & myself ($22k) in Jan '17. Was surprised when doing my taxes to see that you can't deduct IRA contributions if you AGI is above $118k, which ours is. I should have looked into this more before investing, but here we are. Couple Questions: - Can I take back my contributions? From some googling it looks like it is possible since it is before 4/15, but looks kind of complicated - Should I take them back? If I did, I would put the money in a taxable account with the same investments (4 fund portfolio). I know in an IRA they can grow tax deferred, but without the deduction it seems like it might not be that much of a benefit to justify locking the $$ up for 30 years. I don't have anything specific we are saving for and don't need the money anytime soon, but I am sure there will be big expenses before retirement (kids college, home remodel or buying a more expensive one, etc). We max our 401ks every year, and have decent IRAs from 401k roll overs, but have not invested directly in IRA before.

Convert it to a Roth.

You should not take them back. Look at it this way: you're still getting a tax-deferral benefit, you're just not also getting a tax deduction. Maybe this year you don't add to it, if you need to save for large expenses, but otherwise you're getting a good start to let compounding benefit you.

Human: I've been looking for a long time. I finally found something online that I think is beyond perfect for me. it meets every bit of criteria and more, and it's well within my price range. The problem is I'm a merchant mariner and I'm at sea for 4 months at a time. I just got back onto my ship. I casually mentioned it to my mom and sent her the link, just to take a look. Out of nowhere she offers to buy it for me. Did not expect that. I don't typically believe in loaning large amounts of money to family because...well... shit can happen that you can't foresee and i don't want to risk bad blood in my family. Now assuming I have a full inspection done of the condo and everything's perfect, is there any way for her to do this where I can be the first name on the mortgage and she cosigns while I'm away? Or some way for her to buy where she can transfer the deed fully to me when I get back and I take over the loan without having to pay new closing costs or anything? I really want to consider the option but I need to consider my family's financial well being first. Any help would be appreciated

I bought my current condo without seeing it. I was away on vacation at the time and the market in Vancouver can be competitive. My real estate agent (I've worked with her on many transactions, we have a good deal of trust) viewed the unit for me, took videos/photos. I signed all the paperwork electronically, transferred funds, and owned another condo by the time I got back to Vancouver.

If you haven't seen it in person a couple times, then you probably shouldn't want to buy it

Human: Thank you for all the advice! Assistant: A friend of mine did. He works for a company that sells shoes and he was asked to move. I think that's the difference...if you were asked to move I think it would be fine to ask for a pay increase (he didn't do it until they said they'd give him a bump)...but if you asked to be relocated then I wouldn't ask for a raise. Human: I was offered the transfer, it was my decision to accept.

That would've been the time to negotiate pay. When you were going over moving expenses and breaking your lease, you should've brought up salary as well. It's too late now, since you've already accepted the terms of the transfer. Wait until your next performance review and negotiate for a raise then.

You can always ask.

Human: Im currently looking at buying a house and the area i live in everything is expensive so saving 20% is going to take awhile even though i make good money. Is there a big down side to using a FHA and putting down 5-10% vs a normal loan that usually requires 20%? Assistant: What percentage downpayment are you reasonably able to afford? How good is your credit? You could still get a conventional loan at 10% down but with PMI (or lender-paid PMI). Human: id like to do 5-10%. from what im seeing online my rent is more then a mortage

Don't forget taxes, insurance, and a few thousand more each year to maintain the house.

For now. Rent will go up, while the mortgage won't. However, you'll need more of an emergency fund to have a house, because you'll have occasional necessary repairs. I've had my house a few years, and I've spent probably $15k on upgrades, though only about $2k of that consisted of stuff I *had* to do. In my opinion, if you can't afford to pay extra principal every month, you can't really afford the house. If you can afford a house *comfortably* and you aren't planning on moving in the near future, then it's a good deal. A lot of the rent/own advice here seems to follow a pattern similar to the Traditional/Roth advice in that it's geared toward young people. Young people benefit more from being able to leave an area more easily, since you tend to settle in one place as you get older. Similarly, young people are about the only ones who benefit from a Roth IRA. I know at my age I certainly don't -- a Roth IRA would be really stupid for me now that I'm making a good salary for a middle-aged person.

Human: Hi Reddit. I have about $30k in student loans from undergrad that I am paying off. My mom recently got a promotion/bonus and unexpectedly gifted me $4k to use towards my student loans. I also plan on using around $800-$1000 of my tax return money to help pay down my debts. I am familiar with both the avalanche and the snowball methods of paying these debts off, and I am more inclined towards the avalanche method, since I would like to pay as little interest as possible. I am wondering what the best way to allocate this $5k-ish towards my loans would be. Here are the totals and interest rates: Loan 1: $7033.43 at 6.550% Loan 2: $4006.01 at 3.610% Loan 3: 2,836.85 at 3.610% Loan 4: 8179.46 at 4.410% Loan 5: 7808.78 at 4.040% Does it make the most sense to put all $5k towards the loan at 6.550%? Or should I spread it between multiple loans, perhaps putting $3k towards the highest interest loan, and $1k each towards the next highest interest rate loans? I have been trying to do the math and I can't make heads or tails of it past a certain point. What's the most economically efficient way to allocate this money?

>Does it make the most sense to put all $5k towards the loan at 6.550%? Yes this is the most efficient payoff option.

I aint familiar with this at all but i would do it so that pay off the smallest loan first allthou it has small intrest and put the rest in the highest intrest one becouse even if it has the smallest intrest it will accumilate over time

Human: Hi, so I rented some books for school on Amazon and when I received them they were in pretty bad shape. It's almost time to return them. I did some research and found out that Amazon is pretty sketchy when it comes to returns. They are known for not accepting rented books and charging you directly to buy the books. I was talking to a roommate who told me to cancel my debit card and wit for the bill and then talking to them. Is this a good strategy? Or should I just take the hit?

I haven't had a problem with returning rented books through Amazon. Why are you trying to solve a problem you don't even have based on some bad advice? If possible I'd suggest using a credit card versus debit card going forward because the cc company can help mediate any disputes you might have with amazon.

Did you document the shape the books were in when you received them? I sure hope so.

Human: I called Wells Fargo today. I have $4,000 on a platinum credit card. They charge me 25.49% APR. I have a 707 credit score and asked them to lower my rate. They basically laughed at me. I threatened to transfer the balance to another card and they blew it off. My wife and I are school teachers. I make about $42000 (she's $35,000) annual and I have about $14000 on 23%+ APR cards. I've called each and they don't care. I have been working to drag ourselves out of debt. I have already paid off four other credit cards and have been snowballing. But money is tight and that leads to temptation to use credit. I am now looking at debt consolidation loans and balance transfers. I'm worried that I won't be approved for high enough balances to make the transfers or loans worth the hit on my score when I apply. How can I shop around without ruining my credit? How do I make good on my threat to leave Wells Fargo? Edit: I should have mentioned. I have other debt. A personal loan and other accounts with interest 16 and below. I am working to pay off my debt. My total consumer debt payments are about 60% of my monthly income. Which is way too much.

interest rate is not your problem. you're currently paying about $85/month in interest, maybe $100. $4000 at 25% is $1000/year, divided by 12 is $83.33. round up for compounding and you're paying maybe $100 or so a month in interest. your household income is $77,000. take home of about $4800. the interest payments are thus only about 2% of your monthly income. interest rate is not the problem. people get focused on the interest rate and think it's critical and will solve everything. but this usually isn't the case. interest rate is an easy, simple number to understand, so a lot of emotional energy gets directed at the interest rate. odds are you simply need a tighter budget, a little more discipline, and maybe a weekend job. if each of you earns just $500/month with a second job, you can pay this off in 4 months and be done with it.

You need to increase your income and decrease your expenses and pay off your debt faster. As well as learn to live below your means so you don't end up $14k in high interest credit card debt ever again.

Human: Hi All, My wife and I have a large combined income, but also have large student loans that we pay a lot extra to every month. Our combined salaries are about 180k/year and we put about 90k/year to student loans. To paraphrase someone here, we have large cash flow, but are not wealthy. We just got married, we are young, we enjoy the flexibility of an apartment, and we live in a "fun" area. We do not want to settle down or live in a house yet. In 3 years, yes; right now, no. However, we live in north DFW. This housing market is red-hot, and will likely continue to be so for the next few years as more and more companies move their headquarters here. Home prices increased 11% last year. Locals are saying it will keep growing until something like 2019. The year-over-year home price increases are staggering. I know that, when estimated over the long term, real estate investment approximately tracks or barely matches inflation. I know that we could do a lot better even on just the S&P. All those numbers are not lost on me. But, I'm looking at the reality of our situation, and not theoretical long-term/large sample size averages. And the reality is that when we buy a home 3 years from now, the price will be 30%+ higher than it is now. Any money we lost on the rental investment would more than be made up in the home value. We've looked around. There are some really nice houses in the $200k range that we could buy and have rented by the end of the month. We have the cash flow to cushion a few months of empty rental property if something happens, and could get the cash for a 5% or so down payment. We've really been thinking of buying something now just to get our foot in the door while we can, and renting it until we are ready to settle down. Is this a good idea, a bad idea, or a terrible idea? What factors am we not considering?

I've rented out two apts and a single family house over ~15yrs. It's wonderful when it's going well, but disasters (in the form of broken heat where you might cover hotel bills while is it's being fixed to bad tenants) can make the bad times really bad. Honestly, even good tenants are typically really confused about what they can and can not do. What state do you live in? Mine is super tenant friendly and not knowing the law can cost me triple damages. Last, don't assume you know what the market is going to do. I never planned on owning more than one house, but in 2008 my house was unsellable due to three foreclosures on my street. From what I understand from the older landlords in my area, the same thing happened in the early 90s. We now have another political climate like we had before those two crashes. I dunno...the policies sound good on paper, but statistical trends are tough to ignore. Good luck with your decision.

You can't time the housing market any more than you can time stocks. Don't evaluate your options on the assumption that prices will certainly be 30% higher in 3 years. If that was the case, it would be priced in now.

Human: I'll try to keep this short and sweet, just not sure what I should do. I have amassed some credit card debt (around 4500 dollars) it's not much but it's enough to kick my ass. It's spread out over 5 different cards and the good news is 3 of the cards have 0% interest until august of this year for one, and January of 2018 for the other two. I'm trying to get them paid down before those dates but 500 a month is really taking a toll on me. Enough to where I had to get a second job. My question is should I go through my credit union and get a personal loan to wipe all this out? My payments will be a fraction of what I'm paying now but it'll take a lot longer to pay off and there will be interest. Or do I just keep doing what I'm doing and not have any money leftover after payday.. Thanks!

Keep slogging. 9 months and you're done. Then take a two month break, spend $1000 on something fun. Then go back to saving $500/ month.

You did the right thing by getting a second job. There's really no benefit to a personal loan, as the interest rate will be more than 0%, and usually comparable to a credit card. Keep slogging. If it's across five cards, are you paying the minimums on each one? If you can pay a little more, try to snowball it. Pay more on the one with the lowest balance, until it goes away. Then pay more on the next lowest balance, etc.

Human: So let me start by saying that I am posting this on behalf of a close friend of mine who doesn't have a Reddit account (yet). Friend recently moved from GA to FL after buying a car from her very recent ex-husband's father. The engine failed and mechanics informed her that the engine would need to be completely refurbished. The car has an extended warranty which will cover up to 4k in repairs, but the warranty company requires the engine to be deconstructed to verify the claim (this would cost 4k at the mechanic here). Her mother suggests she let the bank repo the car, I think that's ludicrous. She still owes 9k on the car, so if she has to pay for additional repairs, she will 1. Need a loan, and 2. Add 50% of the cost back to her debt. We're looking at breaking a cycle of generational poverty here- what are her options for responsibly perserving her credit and holding all parties accountable?

Start with a second opinion from another mechanic.

She's definitely not going to break a cycle of generational poverty by letting her car get repoed. Most engine failures are due to a lack of maintenance so there is a high chance the warranty company will deny the claim. The mechanic knows this that's why they say 4k to get it taken apart- they don't want the business​.

Human: I am graduating this year and the closer I get the crazier this seems. The interest alone is over $3000 a month! My current expenses are around $2000 a month. I plan on moving somewhere cheap and rural to help save money. Should I do IBR? Should i get a mortgage on a cheap house or rent if i know where i will be living for a while? Any advice I would greatly appreciate! Edit: I will be graduating dental school. Not sure how much I will be making yet. edit2: People have a hard time believing the debt. Here is cost of attendance according to 2016 of a lot of different dental schools so this doesn't include any undergraduate debt: NYU: $544,614.28 MUSC (OOS): $535,664.80 UPENN: $523,501.09 USC: $517,876.94 University of the Pacific: $503,370.66 (OOS) University of Washington: $501,638.58 Columbia: $497,438.60 Western University (CA): $494,434.67 (OOS) Oregon Health Science University: $486,323.52 (OOS) UNMC (Nebraska): $485,907.64 Midwestern University (IL): $475,965.09 Midwestern University (AZ): $474,847.96 (OOS) Minnesota: $472,916.82 AT Still Arizona ASDOH: $468,565.99 Tufts: $466,692.36 Boston University: $461,826.64 Creighton University: $453,609.14 Iowa (OOS): $447,122.06 Roseman University (Utah): $446,705 Harvard: $435,520.47 Nova (FL): $433,921.77 (OOS) Temple University: $428,271.10. (In-state = $397,898.50) Detroit Mercy: $428,162.63 Case Western: $422,628.63 (IS) University of Illinois Chicago (UIC): $442,306.97 Louisville (OOS): $415,710.75 Pittsburgh (OOS): $397,005.04 MUSC (in-state): $382,154.80 Buffalo (OOS): $476,018.45, but can receive in-state after a year which becomes $374,003.81 total. Iowa (OOS): $368,755.63 UCLA (In-State): $364,373.58 Marquette (OOS): $363,769.74 Iowa (IS): 335,275.38 Marquette (In-State): $323,612.52 Assistant: $540k is an astonishingly high number. What will your degree(s) be, and what will your career/salary be? Your salary or career path should be the driving factor here... under normal repayment terms and 6.8% interest (my assumption), $540k would translate to roughly $6,000 a month in student loan payments. Human: Dentist. Expect minimum 100k. Hopefully 120+ and I want to buy a practice in the next few years but that will be another $500k+ debt

Honestly, you shouldn't even be thinking about buying a practice. You're broke... very broke. You have a huge hole you need to fill, luckily you're also going to have a big shovel, so use it, don't be stupid and live on the bare minimum until this debt it knocked out. Don't be going off and buying a brand new BWW as a reward for finishing school, then a house because you found a job, and this practice you want shouldn't even be on your radar for now, otherwise you'll be in debt forever.

I thought dentists make at least twice as much. Comparatively, I make over 100k with a PhD in Chemistry and zero student debt (college was free). I would not imagine having over half a million in student debt!

Human: We I have been having problems with Navy Federal Credit Union. [First](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5jta4x/bofa_sent_an_electronic_payment_to_navyfcu_back/) [Second](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5xup2l/update_bofa_sent_an_electronic_payment_to_navyfcu/) I get a call from them yesterday stating that we have two late payments on our credit card. I was surprised to hear that since they closed our account and the balance was only 500 something dollars. Anyway the person proceeded to tell me that the balance on the card is over $43,000. The credit limit when we had this card was a max of $25,000 with its 11 year history. The credit card was closed on 3/6/17 and now there is a balance of over $43,000. How can this be? I am looking for some advice how this can happen. Looking for some advice.

I'm sorry but why are you asking people here for advice before even knowing the details of the balance? What do your last 3 statements say? Have you printed an online transaction history to review all recent activity? Have you called the bank? What did they say? I scanned your last posts and everything you seem to be doing is just wrong. You're being way too passive about all this and assuming other people will somehow fix it for you, like that Boa check fiasco. Even this post is kind of evidence of that. You really need to take control of this situation now, especially if there's the potential of fraud activity on your account.

Find whatever communications you can (emails, phone call dates & times, mail, etc.) that shows you closed the account. Anything that was processed after that date shouldn't be your problem.

Human: Say someone had $1000 in a total market index fund right before the 2008 recession. About what dollar amount did that $1000 dip to in the bowels of the recession?

If they held on and didn't sell anything they made all their money back in about 18 months. It all depends on what they were invested in and if they sold their investments.

The DOW lost about half it's value. If you bought on the highs in November 2007 and sold on the Lows in 2009, you would have lost half.

Human: Sorry. Throwaway account. Where is the safest place to park money in excess of FDIC insurance limits (I think it's $250k)? Is there supplemental insurance available for this? Do I need to get multiple accounts and spread the money around so each account is under the limit?

Multiple accounts if you're not going to invest it somewhere else.

So, if you're married, you can actually get 3x the FDIC limit by playing with the names on the accounts. Account 1: You (Insured to $250k) Account 2: You and Spouse (Insured to $250k) Account 3: Spouse (Insured to $250k) Really, though, all FDIC (or NCAU) insurance means is if the bank goes under, you get your money back no matter what. If you're planning to invest the money in several places over a few months, I wouldn't sweat it too much since the bank would have to collapse for your money to be at risk. If you know where a good chunk is going to go and can move it quickly, that could be a hedge against bank collapse as well (for example, if you know you'll want to drop a bunch into Vanguard investments, you can just move that money over now and pick the funds it'll go into while it clears, then move those around).

Human: This is the first time I post here. I really enjoy the useful advice here and find the examples of how people live instrumental. Something I'm seeing more and more of on this subreddit and in the world at large is that too many people get themselves into debt thinking that going to college is the only way, and that incurring loads of debt is par for the course. You can join a skilled trade still! Some local unions are taking in new apprentices. Apprenticeships are about as long as a college education (mine took five years) but the main difference is is that you get paid to learn a skill. I started with the millwright's union at $19.01 per hour in 2007. I drove a borrowed car and a few hand tools together and went to work. Today a union journeyman millwright from my home local makes over $41 per hour take home. I worked outages at power plants in SW US. I made $90k in my third year in and I never had to work May to September. I take great satisfaction in being able to transfer these skills to use them at home on home fixes and auto repairs. It's not just millwrights, too. The ironworkers I'm working with earn around $36 per hour. If you're not especially "handy," the laborers, who employ people from a wide gambit of skills, earn high as well. These trades do not require you to get indebted financially to start earning a living right away. Assistant: They should really push this more in schools. Human: I really don't understand why trades aren't there with the colleges and armed forces. Assistant: I am all for trades, but for the most part, I imagine people don't want to work in a trade because it is very hard on your body. If you've got "it" you can make more money in much lower bodily impact professions. The world needs ditch diggers, welders and electricians too though! I applaud anyone in a trade. I am the first person to go to college in my family, my whole family are tradesman. At 30 my brother who was a scout sniper in the Marine Corps and now lays carpet, has blown out knees. My dad, a mechanic for 40 years can hardly stand up because his back is jacked up. My uncle, another carpet layer (the one who got my brother in the business) has a busted back and blown out knees. All 3 are, or previously were, alcoholics, in general to numb the pain. Trades are noble, but they are much harder on the body than a desk job. My biggest risks are automating myself out of a job and carpel tunnel. I also earn more than the 3 of them combined simply because I am good at what I do, and I took a risk and went to college. Human: You touch on an interesting point about alcoholism. I've seen far too many millwrights suffer from alcoholism, sex addiction and loneliness. It's usually the guy that works and travels year round and boasts his $200k income hauling his toy hauler with his giant brand new pickup. He's also the worlds loneliest divorced alcoholic. On the flip side there's that dentist with $540k of debt. I'm sure that causes it's own kind of health hazards.

>It's usually the guy that works and travels year round and boasts his $200k income hauling his toy hauler with his giant brand new pickup. He's also the worlds loneliest divorced alcoholic. I used to work a desk job that was 100% travel and you just described most of the older people I worked with, I think it is more to do with the lifestyle than the work environment. Pay was decent and I had 0 expenses for 3 years, but no way did I want to end up like them.

I think you focus too much on the debt aspect. I had debt, but it was a calculated risk/investment. Everyone is different. One big place I do agree wth you is that schools should push trades more. Not all kids are meant to go to college. Many hardly make it through high school and the classroom environment just doesn't cater to their learning style/interest them. In high school it was obvious that my counselors were pushing college on me. In my case it didn't matter because I didn't care what they had to say about it, I was going. In the case of more malleable children though, that is dangerous. We need more high school shop classes and kids need to know that trades are fine choices for some

Human: Basically title. I joined the Army at 18 and did the thing literally everyone tells you not to do. I bought a semi nice car (Pontiac G8) for way more than I should have paid for it but we were all young and dumb at some point right? Anyway, I'm looking to trade in but I owe over $10,000 on a car that the KBB values around $5,000. Is there anything I can do finance gurus? Thanks in advance.

Your best bet is to ride it out until you're not underwater. Dragging negative equity to a new car will be continuing your dumb and young mistake instead of fixing it.

Cut spending and dump every spare penny into paying it down. Make sure you stay on top of maintenance so it doesn't need anything when you close in on its actual value. When you get down to its actual value, clean it up really nice and sell it privately...or keep it until it falls apart and take solace in the fact that you busted some ass to get out of that hole.

Human: I use a computer a lot personally and professionally, but the one I have now isn't cutting it. I'm just looking for a few financially responsible way to get one with in the next few days. I am open to 6 month to a year in financing if the interest makes sense. I have decent cash flowing in, just not a large amount available at the time. As for the current laptop. I purchased that in college as a cheap option, but it really struggles with what I ask it to do. Also I used it a lot in the wild so to speak, so there is fair amount of cosmetic damage as well as a few keys on the keyboard no longer work. edit* More Info

Well what do you mean that it's not cutting it? Was it fine before, but has gotten a bit more sluggish? If that's the case, a good reformat will make it run like it's brand new.

smart way: keep the computer you have while you save for a new one. Do stuff like pick up extra work or sell items around your house (DVDs, video games, etc). Also, save money by eating in rather than going out and put the difference towards the computer. By cutting out other parts of your life, you can determine how quickly you get the new computer. Another option - stop-gap upgrades. Rather than upgrading the entire thing, can you upgrade the ram or graphics card? Won't fix everything, but you are looking for an extra few months while you save for a better option.

Human: It does take money to make money, but a good businessman finds a way was the first thing that crossed my mind. I don't want to give him a free ride and the feeling that he can burn money without consequences. Assistant: Perhaps this is a learning moment for your son. 1. You should be perfectly within your rights to explain that it is YOUR money, not OUR money (in the family sense). 2. He should be able to explain why he is asking for 40k versus say 10k. That also gives you the opportunity to judge whether he is just burning money. 3. What is he going to contribute to his business? 4. Can he convince anyone else to invest in him, or is he coming to you b/c you're his parent and he thinks you're expected to believe in him? 5. How close is he to age 18? It is possible he may then be eligible for loans from banks / credit unions / SBA etc. Human: Its difficult to be objective if its your son. He will turn 18 in 5 months.

It's easy to be objective if he presents you with a breakdown of that $40k and why it's necessary. I would imagine he could get by on 1/4 of that if necessary but it would make it so much easier if you gave him the full $40k and he may not learn how difficult life can really be when daddy won't bail you out. You're not setting your son up for succsss by making it so easy for him. He will come to expect someone to bail him out and that's a terrible lesson for him to learn so young.

Fair enough. Perhaps another perspective - would you otherwise be investing $40k in him in another way like paying for college? You don't have to give him money and pay for college, you could let him pick one. In the end, you know your son best. Is he the kind of kid who gives up easily, or does he power through adversity? Does he have sales or marketing skills or the "gift of gab" or a large network of friends that will help him make his business a success? Entrepreneurs often fail, what distinguishes them from the rest of us is that they don't give up.

Human: Filing jointly. $330K per year adjusted income. Only outstanding debt is $372K mortgage. Retirement account at work already maxed out in terms of monthly contributions. Should I use my income to more aggressively pay off my mortgage, or invest more in the stock market?

What is the interest rate? 4% and under, then invest, up to 5% think it's a personal choice depending on appetite for risk, much over that then you should pay it down.

You could invest 15% and put the rest toward the house that would still max everything out and you would be mortgage free in like 2-3 years

Human: I had attended the first half of a semester at this particular college. The payments of this college were bi-semester, I had paid the first half. However I stop going to this college because I landed a full-time job... paying enough to not worry about college. I had no formal leaving notice. So for all the college knew I could have just died. Now, 120 days later I get a phone call from their tuition office. He saying I've got to either appeal the fee, or pay the 4K for the second half of the semester. Without any action, they're going to get a collection agency to start barking at me. I'm currently filing the appeal, hoping the appeal gets approved. But I know it's not -- colleges are just as greedy as banks now in days. I'm not paying 4K for a half-semester that I never went to. To my knowledge I have no legal obligation to pay it. Or do I? Thanks!

You gave them no notice you were leaving how do you expect them to know you are not attending the other half. I would say you are on the hook for the whole semester. I would assume that the bi-semester is a payment plan and that they will really not care that you stopped coming.

You may find these links helpful: - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) - [Dealing with collections](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections) - [Credit Repair](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I found out recently that i could be making significantly more working outside the federal government. I don't want to leave my job necessarily because i enjoy it and the other benefits are good, I'd just like to squeeze more salary from them.

It's incredibly rare to get a raise in the Federal government without changing jobs or putting in the time required to get a Grade/Step increase.

Faking another offer is high risk. > I don't want to leave my job necessarily because i enjoy it and the other benefits are good, I'd just like to squeeze more salary from them. Then go interview and get a real offer and use that to negotiate a raise.

Human: I lived in a house in Kansas City Missouri for two years, the final year I got some new roommates I did not dig, got off the lease an moved out. Apparently my name was a co-signer on the electric bill, though I have no recollection of this as it was back in 2014. When I left I had been on top of everything I had owed. Im really trying to build my credit and would love to get rid of this, what should I do?

If your name was on it then you are responsible. You could ask for proof of debt that you are responsible.

You may find these links helpful: - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) - [Dealing with collections](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections) - [Credit Repair](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Not sure if this is the right sub for this question, so sorry in advance. So I've been banking at Wells Fargo for a long time now (about 7 years), and I always hear people talking about how bad of a bank it is. What makes it a bad bank? Why are other banks better? I have a savings account that always has a pretty good amount of money in it, and I know almost nothing about interest rates and stuff like that. I also don't have a credit card, have never had one, and I'm considering getting one once and for all, to start building up my credit. I am also newly self employed, and will need to open a business account. These are things I am taking into consideration when trying to figure out what bank is best for me, or if I'm better off with a local credit union. I know this is a pretty broad question, and a lot of answers will be opinionated, but any information helps! Again, if this isn't the right sub to ask this question, just point me in the right direction. Thanks!

This episode of Planet Money covers a lot of the unethical and illegal shit they were doing http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/07/497084491/episode-728-the-wells-fargo-hustle

Theyre unethical but they refund all my atm fees sooooooooo i stay

Human: So I've just landed a new job making 32k a year... I owe money in a couple of places and would like to save up for a car. Before ultimately finding a room to rent. ***My debts*** * 600 dollar traffic ticket * 3 payday loans 276, 174, and 117 respectively Expenses * about 200 per week I am leaving my current part time min wage job in two weeks before starting at the new one where I will be paid bi-monthly. I'm not sure how to go about saving or paying off tickets/loans or what order I should do them in.

Pay the ticket first. There may be criminal ramifications if you don't pay it off. If you can, check with the courts to see if the ticket can be reduced.

First and foremost, pay off that ticket. We don't know what the ticket is for, but that could have severe consequences and that's not something like a parking ticket. It's a $600 ticket. Get it taken care of so you don't fuck yourself. Also, if your state allows it, take a driver's safety course. Some states/counties will remove traffic points off your license if you take it and possibly keep your insurance lower. Check your state laws or go visit the DMV and see. The interest on payday loans are absurd. Pay those off next. I prioritized the traffic ticket because a payday loan won't revoke/suspend your driving privileges or put a warrant out or whatever they do. You know why these payday loans are terrible. Plan and budget to never ever need them again. Lastly, even with your pay bump, live as if you never got that raise. You'll incur a higher monthly debt w/ a car payment (buy used and older, but reliable... i.e. a Camry) and quote the hell out of insurance. A 600 dollar traffic violation probably won't help you in lowering costs, but you'll have to eat that until it drops off. Save about 6 months worth of expense, and estimate on the high side. From this, figure out how much you're left with for rent, for food, for utilities, for internet, for a phone, etc... Lots of young folks go into a rental contract not factoring in costs like water, gas, electricity, cable, internet, etc... Don't be those people. You can usually do a Google search and find out average costs of those items.

Human: This is an update to this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5zkod3/my_bank_which_uses_chexsystems_is_going_to_send/?st=j0d5tjvn&sh=6883717f My brother is saying that I should tell the bank that the card was stolen so that I can save my account. I already told some branches what happened, so the only way I could get away with this lie is to go to a branch where I haven't been yet/where I haven't told them what happened. But I don't feel right about lying. And is it even possible for someone to get my account number from a debit card? Is that even a plausible lie?

Sounds like you're asking if you should commit fraud. I'd advise against it, personally.

It seems to me that you have some other issues you need to work on here. If you can get a new account, great. But those other closed accounts might already prevent you from opening a new account. But I think that not having a checking account might actually be a good thing for you at the moment. Work on finding a job and improving some of your mental health issues. I'd suggest giving your pay checks to your dad to deposit, once you get a job. Ask him to help you keep track of the money you have in his account, and have him pay your bills with that money. Then he can give you some of your cash from his account for spending money. You need to learn to make money and to manage it responsibly, or you'll end up right back in the same situation. You've shown the banks this, so of course they're worried to give you an account.

Human: Trying to look at the budget again and realized I'm spending way to much on the convenience of a Burger King Sandwich and coffee every morning + a soda for the afternoon at work. Across the month this adds up to a lot. How Should I overcome this? I've tried snacks, cooking, planning extra time in the morning. I'm ordering a aero press tomorrow. What other tips helped others here at PF? I know its silly but common enough. I'm struggling with it. Thanks

Write down how much you have been spending every week and keep a tally of how much you have spent so far.... When you see the cost...CUMULATIVE over time...I find it much easier to resist the urge.

Yes it's quite easy. You like burgers just make burgers ahead of time. Burgers take like 5-10 mins to make. Want 5? Just set aside 5-15 mins. Saves time and money. Like coffee? Make your own. Like soda? Just buy a 20 pack. I mean it literally just comes down to (well I really don't want to come across rude or a jerk so PLEASE don't take it that way) not being lazy. We've all been there, but if it's costing you too much just make a habit of cooking ahead of time. I'm sure most of us know how to make a better burger than most fast food joints anyway. So the bonus is you get better food cheaper and save money. Don't be lazy just plan ahead. Bonus: Cooking also impresses the laaaadies ;) (if your a guy or actually guys like food too so either way impressive lol)

Human: I'm a high school junior and I don't want to waste anytime. How can I start a 401k? Are there any other funds I could start?

First, to save any retirement funds, you are required to have earned income. You cannot contribute more in a year than you have earned income - ie, income from a job. Money from gifts, investments, etc doesn't count. So if you don't have a job, step one is to get a job. Then, for a 401k, your employer needs to administer the 401k. There is such a thing as a 'solo 401k' but you need to be self-employed to do that, and you'd need to have pretty high income for that to be worth it. You could however open an IRA - as other have suggested, a Roth IRA is good for you because 1) it's more tax efficient when you have low income, and 2) you can withdraw your contributions (but not earnings on those contributions) without penalty, so you can get it back if you need it for college or whatever.

Kudos to you for even thinking about retirement at your age. I wish they would teach a short financing course like they do sex ed in high school.

Human: Please tell me I'm paying too much for these monthly? I make $65-70k per year and paying $623/month seems like a lot.. I'm currently single but engaged to be married later this year and own a house. Northwestern MutualInsurance Life Insurance 90 Life Net Death Benefit$280,935.00 Net Cash Value$1,077.96 Annualized Premium$4,223.28 Term 80 Net Death Benefit$800,000.00 Net Cash ValueN/A Annualized Premium$1,286.16 Disability Insurance Non-cancellable DI Benefit$3,530.00 Annualized Premium$1,967.64 Billing & Payments Billing Account Insured TERM 80  Total$107.18 90 LIFE  Total$351.94 NON-CANCELLABLE DI Total$163.97 Total Payment: $623.09

>Northwestern Mutual - Am I paying too much? Guaranteed

Cancel now before your insurance salesman's new BMW order comes in, since you're paying for the car. I don't see that you even need term now. When you're married with kids, you could look at it again. Does your work provide any life insurance for free? My employers have always provided between 1 and 3 times my yearly salary for free. I have 2 kids and a wife, will retire in 2-3 years and have never had life insurance ever. Sounds like you fell for an insurance agent's lines. (my parents and grandparents owned an insurance agency since the 30's. And I've never bought life insurance)

Human: Some asshole used my credit card info on some fucking dating site. I've asked the site for a refund/cancel. I also looked into that site and people claim they have a history of fraud payments. The assholes bought some 3 day trial...which will resort to me paying a monthly fee. Any way to block the website from getting my cash? Please help!

When your card gets compromised you only need to deal with the card issuer, not the stores where it was used. Report the card as stolen and tell them what the fraudulent charges were and your card issuer will take care of everything. You need to report the card as stolen as soon as you can. Your liability is based upon how long you wait to tell the bank after you notice your card was stolen.

call them and tell them the situation. call your credit card company to freeze your card

Human: All the time, I see people recommending anywhere from 1-6 months of expenses for an emergency fund. What I rarely see, is actual amounts. I know it will vary, but I'd like to see some actual numbers. What do you have and what are you comfortable with: $1000, $10000, or more? EDIT: Add what/how many months this amount covers.

As others have said your question is somewhat meaningless. I don't know anything about you or your situation. Do you have kids? Do you live in an area with a high standard of living? Are you healthy? Personally, I find that $10000 cash and my credit cards make me feel comfortable that I can get by in the case of an emergency.

I'm at $400 of a $1000 goal. My other goal after reaching this one is to pay off ALL my credit card debt (about $6,000).

Human: We currently have $150,000 saved for retirement (35 yrs old). My husband is putting 10%+14% employer match into his retirement plan (he does not contribute to SSI). I am putting in 5%+2% employer match. In total, we are putting in 15% into retirement. In addition to this, we are putting $400/month into kids college, which will increase once they are out of daycare. Plus an additional $500/month into savings for general house repairs, car repairs, etc. We have no other debt and have our 6-month emergency fund fully funded. We have an extra $900 in our monthly budget. Should this go into our IRAs ($450 each) or toward our house to have that paid off in 10 years (we recently purchased, owe $200,000 at 4.3%)?

This question gets asked every day, just FYI :) Statistically you'll do better in the market. Practically speaking, you might prefer to have less debt. It's a personal preference. More here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/4kt9um/is_paying_off_my_mortgage_better_than_saving_for/ https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5zsz0s/pay_off_mortgage_early_or_invest_more_in_stock/ https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/55cskm/planning_increase_mortgage_payments_vs_putting/

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) (articles on 401(k) plans, IRAs, and more) - ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I know a common theme on this subreddit is to max a 401k every year after things like emergency fund/high interest debt are taken care of; however, I was running some numbers and wanted some feedback. I'm 22, and starting at my first job making $63,500 in August. They do an employer match of 100% up to 4.5% of my salary. So, to max the 401k I would need to contribute about 28% of my salary (only 23.5% out of my check due to the match). I used a 401k calculator to see what would happen if I went the rest of my life without raises contributing that amount, and the end result was being able to withdraw what equates to $84,000 accounting for inflation. If I go down to contribute 13.5% of my check (for a total of 18% contribution), then I still end up being able to withdraw $54,000 annually, which is almost my salary now and I would not have a mortgage to contend with at that point in my life. Given this, and the fact that over time I will probably be getting more than 3% raises (this is being conservative. In computer science with a degree from Georgia Tech), is it wise to not max my 401k from the start? I can financially handle that much money being taken out of my paycheck each month; however, I can get my student loans paid off faster and more aggressively save for a down payment on a house. Thanks for any help! Edit: Thanks for all the responses. I'm responding to some, but I never expected this many replies. General consensus I'm seeing is that it's super personal. I'm actually doing this for my boyfriend, so I'm going to sit down and show him three "paths" to choose from and what these lead to in terms of retirement accounts, student loans being paid off, lifestyle, and other savings goals: -4.5% 401k contribute to get the match, then $5,500 in a Roth IRA -10% 401k contribution, then $5,500 in a Roth IRA - Max 401k

No, you don't have to max the 401k if you have other goals like reducing debt or buying property. But you should at least contribute 4.5% to get the maximum match. However, while you're playing around with calculators, do some simulations of starting to save aggressively at 22, then taking an 8-year break in your 30s, vs. waiting to save aggressively until age 30. Compound returns are your friend...

Having a large 401k is all good for getting a loan to buy a house. I showed I had 100k in my 401k for my first home buy and even with only a average credit score I got the lowest interest rate loan.

Human: Long story short I would like to deposit this money into my bank account. I am familiar with both the gift tax of 13.5k and the 10000 rule but am confused as to when that applies. Thanks for the help!

write you a check and put it into your bank account. Trying to do anything to avoid the 10000 rule like structuring your deposits to remain under 10000 is illegal.

Unless you are charging him interest, you don't have any taxable income from this transaction. And because it's not a gift, there is no circumstance where he has to file a gift tax return. Have him pay you by whatever means is convenient for you and deposit it. Even though the bank has to report large cash deposits, there is nothing inherently suspicious or wrong about that; you don't need to worry about it. If you don't have one yet, it might be useful to get a written statement from your father about the debt, which you can keep with your tax records. For example, it help show the repayment is all principal and no interest. It could also help you keep track of repayment, if he's paying in installments.

Human: PF I am in need of serious help and guidance. I do not know what to do anymore and I am about to lose everything including my sanity. I will admit I am not a good with money never have been and I am definitely paying the price for that now. I live in hindsight which is not helpful. 5 months ago my SO and I welcomed our second child and since then life has been shit. Child was born with a heart defect that is manageable but very stressful. I have no savings and have borrowed so much money from people I don't know how I am ever going to pay it back. Our credit is shit and I can not get a bank to help me in anyway. My SO is slowly getting back to work but the job she has is based on seeing insured clients and SO has not been full credentialed to receive payments from the biggest insurance companies so the select few that will pay out is a very limited pool. Every bill is past due. I am struggling to keep food in the house. I need to know if there are programs for me out there or if I should just say fuck and file bankruptcy for us. I don't know what to do. I am completely scatter brained. EDIT- Thank you everyone for your advice and help. I am scheduled to meet with the county Human Services dept. on Monday. Initial phone interview: I qualify for the following assistance- Rent/eviction protection, utilities, childcare, food and potentially CASH! Answers to some of your questions; cell phone and internet- two lines and two installment plans for phones because there is no such thing as a free upgrade anymore, internet is only about $50. Daycare- Two kids at $1200 a month is actually insanely cheap, $300 a week is unheard of in my city. If we take the kids out of daycare we will lose or spot at said daycare, considering my SO's job is based on client load she has to be available to take clients. She is in the final phases of being fully credentialed which is what we have been waiting on. After SO is fully credentialed then her case load will sky rocket thus bringing in more money. SO took this job because her salary would increase $17k from her previous job. Also considering her career path, her new employer has a State Supervisor on site that can supervise my SO's working hours. In the mental health profession you can level up your license if your working hours are supervised. This service would cost us upwards of $5k if we were to pay for it ourselves. The car- it is no secret that I am paying through the nose for it, our credit is terrible and this is the best deal I could get. I attempted to refinance the car but could not get a better deal. I have also contacted a credit counseling service to assist with getting everything organized. What I have learned in this crazy chaotic situation is that no matter the situation there is a way out and you can receive help. Just have to find it in the right place and ask for it earlier. Thank you for your time today everyone. I am not closed on this topic so if there are any masters of finance out there PM me on strategies on being better about money management. The thing I hate the most about my situation is that I have to monitor my bank account heavily via online banking. I want to feel more old school about how I manage my money and not rely on online banking so much.

You guys need to increase income and reduce expenses. Filing for bankruptcy costs money that I'm assuming you don't currently have. And that will only take care of some past debts. But it sounds like your current expenses are still going to exceed your income and at that point you have nowhere else left to dig.

I work in the healthcare industry and highly suggest applying for financial assistance with the hospital. if you don't qualify, you can still negotiate a payment plan with them. The Financial Assistance and Account Resolution teams at hospitals are there to help you. Explain the situation and that's one more debt you can either get completely written off to charity, partially written off to charity, or at the worst have a very small monthly payment on. When you get back on your feet you can pay it off at a faster rate if you want. Best of luck!