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danielv835

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personal_finance_v0.2

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Human: So, since the start of the year, my employer hasn't paid us on time. Right now they owe me 1 check, but they have been up to 2 checks behind before, some of my coworkers are owed 3. Its really inconvenient not knowing when we will get paid, I think they are about to go bankrupt...I just want out. I live in NY, would I qualify for unemployment if I quit? I checked out the DoL website but I cant find a clear answer.

Immediately call your state labor board or Labor & Industries. Find out what your rights are, turn him in, and follow their advice.

In an extremely similar situation. Have no advice really, but what people keep telling me is to look for something else, quit, and face the reality you may not see that money anytime soon / AT ALL.

Human: So this may be long and ramble-y, but I want some of your guys' opinion on this scenario and what you'd do. My Mother and I moved in with these people In San Diego a year ago and they litterally saved our lives. I'm 17 and she's 47. We escaped a *really* bad situation and our life is *FAR* better than it was. But we can't come up with a way to make money at all. We have no I.D's, No car, no family, no schooling, nothing. The people we live with are helpful but they've made it clear that they won't do things like drive us to the DMV or anything like that due to their social phobias. I've tried looking for general no-brains labor like mowing lawns, roofwork and landscaping stuff online but nobody wants to hire some skin-and-bones teenager. My mother has severe back issues and depression. We're completely broke, and I don't mean "broke" I mean *broke*. $0 to our name. My Father died in December so there's no way he could help us out, not that he would've anyways. His family resents us so they won't help us either, and my Mother's parents are dead. Again sorry for the ramble, but I just feel out of options. It's only a matter of time untill we're on the streets again and I'm just wondering if any of you guys have any ideas as to what we might be able to do to prevent that, although it might not be that bad, since San Diego is gorgeous and we wont have to worry about shit like freezing and stuff. Also, I just want to make it clear that going to school for a future job is completely off the table, I have to take care of my mother, and I've been outta school since I was 12, I'd be so far behind and I'd probably get into a bunch of fights. Any responses are appreciated, even mean ones. :D Assistant: A few questions, are you able to get an ID? Meaning are you legally a resident of the US? If so, then getting documentation is the most important thing to get. Without it you won't be able to do anything. Once you have documentation, then you need to sign up for public programs. Food stamps, public housing, things like that. As a minor you will be entitled to several different government assistance programs. These will come at no costs, and will enable you get back on your feet. In the case that you don't have documentation (my situation when i was 18 in the states), then you need to start job hunting in markets that are lax around requiring documentation. For me this was working in restaurants, but construction and some trades are also good. To get a job, create a list of targets. Just run a search of local restaurants, construction firms, things like that, and get their address. Your going to visit as many as them as you can, on a regular basis until one of them gives you a job. I had a list of 40 restaurants that I visited every week for a month before I got hired. At the same time you'll also need to get documents, 9 out 10, the employer won't double check whatever you give them so don't worry about them being legit. Just get whatever you can. It's possible to build out of where you are, but its gonna take some serious effort and hustle. . Human: Unfortunately I don't think I'm a legal resident. I've never legally lived anywhere in my life before, except if shelters count. But I agree, restaurants seem the way to go around here. Thanks for the reponse! Edit: Last time my mother tried to get food stamps she got declined for some reason. This was years ago though.

If you were born in the US you are a legal resident. If you were enrolled in school, then you had a birth certificate at some point. That's your first step. Get your birth certificate. From there you can file for a replacement social security card. I'm guessing you're out of luck on this front, but you might be able to try contacting your old school and seeing if they'll release any of your old records to you. Probably a major no-no on their end. If you can, see if you can go to a public library, police station, city hall, etc. The people there might be able to listen to you and help you out in some way.

Restaurants are a great source of income and you can work at them while pursuing a second higher paying career/or going to school. Try to get a position in the front of the house if you can, the hours are better, and you'll get tipped out. I started as a bus boy and worked my way up. Good luck!

Human: Hey there. Not the owner of the account, am his girlfriend. I am a camgirl/pso/Porn actress. I'll be making about 30,000/year if the last 3ish months is any proof, through different online payment methods, google wallet, cam sites etc.. I sometimes let this money sit for a while and have made payments with the accounts directly so they aren't in my "brick and mortar" bank account. Is this going to be troublesome and make it look like I'm trying to avoid paying? if so, how do I get around that? Let me say that this is the first year I have done this kind of work, so 2016 I put in my W-2's and am done with it. I know I owe money quarterly, have no idea how much, and don't have any "real adults" to come to with this (19, parents would try to take money) so I was hoping to pay a professional? Am I just seeking an accountant? I'd need to try to claim certain buisness expenses and such.. I think I have a plan for a budget down, but I'm stuck at this bit. lol. Thanks guys.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/self-employed

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 work a fairly steady Mon - Fri 40 hour week, and while I am not in debt and I make ends meet, I don't seem to be able to get ahead very much. I see a lot of my co-workers go in for part-time second jobs, things they work on the weekends or even the same days. Never intending to do them for more than a couple of months just to get a bit ahead on things. Part of me sees this as crazy, as these people are always tired on the days they work two jobs from lack of sleep, and I'm sure are rather stressed out by the lack of free time. The other part of me thinks that as a temporary thing, maybe it would be a good way to get a little extra income just to boost things along, but many things make me feel this isn't rational. It seems like there's many other routes to look into first before doing that to yourself, and on the employer side of things it can't be good for that company to just have employees come in part time for a couple of months with the intention from the get-go that it's only going to be temporary. The last straw is that most employers that would even consider hiring part time at the unusual schedules my primary job allowed me off pay rather low wages if not minimum wage, and at part-time, would that extra couple hundred dollars really be worth killing myself over? So my real question here is, are there any circumstances in which getting a second job actually worthwhile? What are better alternatives for someone to free up or bolster their income assuming a job with a non-negotiable salary instead of getting a second job or different employment?

> What are better alternatives for someone to free up or bolster their income Some good tips here on the income part. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/sideincome

It really depends on what you are currently doing as a career choice, I believe. I work graveyard in film but I contract myself out to create Proxies and film creation for another company roughly 15hr - 20hrs extra. That money is put aside for saving/debt consolidation but I am really doing it for the extra experience.

Human: First time poster here, long time lurker. So this is the story: I'm a 28 year old male with a BSME in the NYC metro area. I work for a company that provides a very specific mechanical system that all buildings are required to have. I don't want to go into too much detail because some of my co workers might be reading this and I don't want to start anything at my company. I've been with my company for 5 years now and I've been described as a top performer; one of the top designers the company has. We design and build. My company has been in business for over 80 years and has a very good reputation in the construction industry. We have worked on some, maybe all, of the biggest projects in NYC. We're good at what we do and we do well. I have personally work on 3 big projects by myself where the company has done very well so I've a good track so far. I've done a good number of small projects too but these don't get much attention. Here is the deal; I'm making a little over 100k in base salary right now and I'm afraid I'm slowly pricing myself out. I know my work is appreciated and needed at my company and this is the reason why I'm making this salary. I'm afraid I'm making too much too fast and that I'll get to a point when the company won't be able to afford me. I was recently told that I'm making way above others are making with my experience level and this scares me a bit. Other engineers retire from here making about 180k after 35 years of experience! Am I pricing myself out? I want to hear from other engineers or construction managers and see what's their take. Thanks.

Salary often increases faster in your first few years and then slows down, so you're still pretty far from that 180k mark. If they couldn't afford you, they wouldn't keep giving you raises. 100k for an engineer with 5+ years experience in NYC is very reasonable.

>Other engineers retire from here making about 180k after 35 years of experience! And when they started, they were probably making 25k. It's not really a fair comparison. If you are a top performer, they should pay you accordingly. Keep in mind that it's cheaper for them to retain you--even at your salary--than it is to onboard a cheaper employee with less experience/skill who requires more oversight, etc. They feel like they are getting their money's worth with you, or you wouldn't be there.

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).

Thanks to mint.com and tightening up my spending, i was able to close out another student loan today. Now i've got an extra $64.87 going to my other loans. Still a long ways to go, but the finish line is getting closer and closer.

I'm 19 and am commuting to college. Just hit $4000 combined in my savings and checking accounts. :) I've had my part time job for a year now and instead of spending all of it on luxuries I've been putting some into savings each paycheck(Ally with 1% interest). I can put away a lot though because I only pay for food, gas and car. I don't really have any bills to pay and 80-90% of my tuition is covered by tuition and my parents give the remaining $1k a semester, but the buffer feels good in case I need to pay off tuition or books so I don't incur any debt.

Human: I work in fundraising for a small nonprofit that I really care about. I've been there for five years. I'm the only person that does fundraising out of our small staff and over 80% of our income comes from fundraising. I think it's time for a change because I'm underpaid and I'd like to try to get some experience at other nonprofits. However, at my current job - I'd leave them in a huge lurch if I found another job and I turned in my two weeks notice. They'd need more time to find someone new and transition. I know this is not my "responsibility" to help them after I'm gone but I really care about this nonprofit- about its mission, the people it serves and my coworkers. If heard of people in my field and similar situation give their employers give a 3-4 month notice. Then they look for another job to hopefully start when that period ends. There's some risk to that because you don't have a new job secured yet and there's no guarantee you'll find one. But good fundraisers are in high demand in my area so it's not the dumbest thing you can do. Are there any other downsides to this? Is there any other way I can go about getting a new job without leaving my employer in a lurch?

Totally agree with the other comments, but wanted to add: If they value you, they will ask what they can do to keep you from leaving. You should have an answer to that question when they ask, even if that answer is "there is nothing you can do."

I think you could negotiate a start date 1 month out with a new employer and give 1 month's notice to your employer. Any longer than that and they might find it hard. Remember, 2 weeks notice isn't designed to completely cover the transition. It's for you to wrap up some tasks, prepare as much documentation and do as much knowledge transfer as you can. I don't know that I'd be comfortable giving 3-4 months notice to my current employer, but 1 month is a reasonable compromise.

Human: Hey everyone, I checked my credit score today and saw a bill had been pushed to collections on transunion from a doctors visit about 6 months ago. I never received a bill regarding my visit. How should I proceed? Should I call the doctors office directly or just work through whatever agency this is. The bill is only $86 so I will just pay it in full. Any help with this is greatly appreciated. Edit: Everyone, thanks for your advice. I called the doctors office and they had the correct address, but the bills were never reaching that address. Unfortunately the billing time was literally right around the time my parents were moving from the address. Collections have been cancelled now that it is paid in full and will be off my credit score next month.

Had something similar happen to me, took me months to sort out a stupid fucking $100 X-ray charge, even after they admitted they had never invoiced me correctly. I will say it lit a fire under their ass when I reported them to the CFPB, so consider that.

Had this happen to me as well. They lumped an office visit from months ago and a recent visit in one bill and sent it to collections. After several hours on the phone, it was finally cleared up. I worked doing heath insurance claims at the time and that knowledge helped me get things resolved but for people who have no clue, it's easy money. They also will send it to collections as soon as possible because that means there no insurance discount. If you dr charges $100 for visit, insurance will say, no, for an office visit you can only charge $60, then insurance and dr write off the $40 BUT if it goes to collection they can try to charge the full $100.

Human: So basically I have one card with an $700 balance and another card with a $600 balance. Both cards have about a 20% interest rate. One card closes on the 24th of the month and another the 14th of the following month. This debt was originally about twice that, but I made a solid dent in it with my tax refund. Now I can pay about $300-400 a month but some of that is going to interest. My question is: can I pay off the entire balance on one card while the other card closes and then do the same with the other card, essentially having whichever card is closing soon at a $0 balance and the other card at the full balance? This way I can make my payments towards the actual debt and not have interest eating away at me? Without interest I can get it all paid off in about 3 months but with interest it's gonna be a few months longer. Is this possible/legal? Any suggestions? And yes I know I made pretty poor decisions leading up to me being in this situation, but I haven't made any large purchases in the past 5 months so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. (Big ticket items are what landed me here in the first place)

I don't know of a credit card that can be paid with another credit card. There are things called balance transfers but that wouldn't work on a month to month basis and there are fees associated. tl;dr - No

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: **edit 2: Thanks! I wrote him back honestly basically summarizing everything you guys said - that he didn't give me enough numbers on expenses or anything to help with an actual decision but that it sounds like enough to get by, and if all else fails I make enough money that they can live with me (which seemed a funnier way of saying, "Don't worry about me", which some of you suggested he was checking on in subtext). And that he can't rely on a bull market forever. (it was a much longer email, but that's the gist). Thanks for the advice!!** In his Money magazines that he gets, they said that past the age of 60, parents should ask their kids about money matters so they don't make bad decisions... but, well, I don't really know that much. He was originally going to retire May 2016, he then pushed that to 2017, but he's perpetually worried about having enough money, and now it's February 2018. But he just sent me an email asking for my advice on whether he should stay on until 2019.... I am not qualified to advise on this ><. Please help! Here is the info in the email I got: > I have been reviewing my spreadsheet projections for next year, after I retire, thru Oct 2019. Quite an income drop – not sure I am ready for that yet, even though I can make it up from investments. Going from monthly take home of $6,600 (after Roth IRA investments) to $1,350 (after health ins costs). But gets better in Sept 2018 when your mother goes on Medicare. And improves even more when I reach Medicare and take social security (Oct 2019), to $5,450. A short term hit on my investments of about $60,000 before I have extra money again. But I am definitely tired of working, and as long as the stock market stays strong for another 2 years, I should not notice the impact; guess I could always work till 2019. I know that isn't enough information, so here is everything else I know from searching emails he's sent me the past few years: - They're solidly upper middle class, living in CT. - He's stated that when he retires, he'll likely have to pick up a part time job to afford the taxes of CT (and they're never moving, because they built their house on family land and have never lived anywhere else). However - he can't figure out what he wants to do, so I'm not actually sure the part time job is going to happen. I'd put that at 40% likely. - We also have like 27 acres of land, which this September he's going to get a forester to come out and classify as forestry land, which I think drops the taxes on the land to somewhere between $3-5K. But then there are still taxes on our house. - I know he has a pension and a traditional 401k through his job, and he's been putting $13K or whatever it's allowed for a married couple in the Roth IRAs every year. - He goes off the "to save enough to spin off a benefit of $50K a year; using the 4% rule, one would need $1,250,000 in a 401K at age 65 to get that each year." I don't know if he has that, but he's told me that should be my goal. And I think he has at least $1m in assets, but idk if that counts the house. - It's very difficult for me to imagine that they're short on money because my mom always talks about how much I'm going to inherit, so I imagine my dad is playing safe rather than sorry. Plus, I make enough that if I live somewhere cheap like the Carolinas or Maine or something, they can come stay with me (my boyfriend probably won't like that though, haha). - I know my mom has a lot of medical bills; she has thyroid problems and IBS That's everything I know. So... what questions should I ask? Or say? Or... ?!?! :( Thanks! *edit - Thanks! I'm writing down the questions that you guys ask to pass on to him, and reading the rest, but I can't go on reddit a lot at work, so sorry if something requires a reply and a lot of time passes by. I'm trying to check in the bathroom :). Also, I highly, highly doubt they're leaving CT... they were talking about it, but then they just 5 more acres of land when a farm next door went on sale, so I think the probability of this is at like 0%.*

Too hard to know based on information provided. How much are current retirement savings (IRA/401k/pension)? What other investments exist (brokerage account)? What are currently monthly expenses and debt load (if any)? What lifestyle are they trying to live in retirement? The 4% rule allows for a gradual draw-down of your nest egg. You should have the expectation that your investment will shrink over time. It is not a rule that allows for principal preservation. If that is his expectation he needs to revise his approach. Also, $5450/mo post-tax in retirement income is substantial. That's over $60k/year. Spending every dime every month (living paycheck-to-paycheck) doesn't matter anymore because you are retired with a million dollar plus emergency fund in the form of your nest egg, which is spread around your various retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, cash in hand, and cash flow from SS.

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: First time posting, and on mobile. So bare with me. I opened an account with B of A early February. And let's just say that they have been fucking awful since day one. They have put holds on every singe check I have ever deposited. And not just one or two day holds. They have been 8+ day holds on pay checks. I've called and asked about this and each time they tell me a different reason and also a different release day for the check. So basically I've been having to budget $30 for over a week. Which is kinda doable if I wasn't dependent on each check to get though the pay period. So my list of questions are: - in the state of Tennessee what is the maximum amount of days a bank can hold a check. I heard it's two. But I tried googling it and I couldn't find anything - is there another bank that is semi big (aka in Tennessee and California) that is better that I can switch to. - can I take this to court?

[This outline from the Federal Reserve](https://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/regcc/regcc.htm) explains the regulations regarding Funds Availability. The other important document will be "availability policy" for your particular bank, you can find it on BoA's website. Chances are very good that they are following these policies, not doing so could get them in a lot of hot water. If they aren't, a complaint to the CFPB would be in order.

Banks count business days, you are using calendar days. Transfer money into the account instead of depositing a check if possible. If it is your paycheck, cash it first then deposit cash

Human: Every single year I do my taxes I end up owing like $300. I don't understand it at all. I give about $1k to my church every year, but other than that, I'm just a simple person who rents an apartment, has a regular 9-5 job, and doesn't really own anything. Where / who can I turn to and ask "am I doing this right?"

The simple answer is you're not withholding enough. But Congratulations, you got a $300 loan from the Federal government for 0% interest!

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: Just leased a new car, 36 month, 10,000 miles a year. I thought I did the math and even double checked the math but I mis calculated not taking into account a few days a month where I travel much further than usual. I actually need 12,000 miles. Should I contact the dealer and see if it can be adjusted or bite the bullet and pay the extra $0.25 per extra mile?

After triple checking your math, your title said you needed an extra 2,000 miles a year before stating you need 3,000 extra miles. It might be time for an independent source to handle the math before making any decisions.

What do you plan on doing at the end of the lease? You can pay it when the lease is up, or you can generally buy the car at the end of the lease, and doing that will throw out the mileage fees (I believe your lease will say how much this is). I wouldn't bother going to the dealer, you already signed, what incentive do they have to give you a deal?

Human: I just signed a lease on a new apartment. My landlord seems easy-going and available for apartment issues/improvements etc. We are both pretty internet-inclined, so we set up a direct transfer from my checking account to his (his suggestion after I suggested we do an online payment of some type). I never keep too much money in my checking account and just transfer necessary funds from savings (which he does not have any info about) as needed. I also have no concerns with not being able to pay rent at any point and him somehow seizing funds. Additionally I've set up an extra mobile password security measure with the bank for transfers over 1K. My concern is mostly about records- If I want to purchase a house in the relatively near future, will this method of rent payment be sufficient to prove that I am paying rent, or do I need those check images?

No lender is going to really care if you are paying rent or not. They'll just ask you what your monthly rent is and then check your credit to make sure you aren't delinquent.

I send my landlords rent through pop money and we both get a receipt. He's a pretty easy going guy too. My advice is always rent from an individual. Every renting company I've dealt with was horrible. I see no harm in it and I don't worry about the tax crap, I need a place to stay and he can supply it and we agree on a price. No need for the govt to get their hands in a free market.

Human: Close relative of mine has turned 60 years old. I'd like to give them helpful advice, if I could. * Earns $33k/year working for the government (a county in the US). * Has about $4k in savings * $40k in home equity * $55k left on mortgage (refinanced a few years ago) * Lives alone in a 3-bedroom home (kids and ex-spouse moved out several years ago) * After retiring in a few years, will receive **only** social security, no pension from job. Expenses per month: * Mortgage $325 and also pays $50 extra * Food $300 * Utilities $145 * Home and car insurance $60 * Dog food $50 * Gym membership $35 * Gas for car $35 * Car parking space at work $30 * Misc (including home repairs & health) $100 Yes, a 3-bedroom is too much space for one person, but apartments in their area cost more than that mortgage payment. Any advice for them? Any advice for that person's kids who may be able to put a few thousand $ towards something (whatever would help the most)? Assistant: They should *really* try to keep working until they have reached full social security retirement age (66-67). If they retire early (as early as 62) they will get a greatly reduced SS payment. Plus obviously the longer they work, the more of that mortgage they will have paid off. Social security is not going to be a lot of money. Probably ~$15k per year, depending on when exactly they retire and what their lifetime contribution has been. That is not going to be enough to live on, especially if they are still making mortgage payments. Also, I'm only seeing $1130 in monthly expenses here. Where is the rest of the take-home pay going? there should be almost another $1k somewhere. Is there other debt that you have not listed? I would strongly, strongly advise them to get the house paid off 100% before they retire. Human: > I would strongly, strongly advise them to get the house paid off 100% before they retire. Interesting. I was going to suggest to them that they plan on selling that house and downsize when they retire. Without financial help (which maybe their kids could provide) they wouldn't be able to get the house paid off in 7 years (I don't think).

Well sure downsizing could work, my point was that SS benefits of $15k/yr is going to be very tight and they should make sure all debt is paid off before they retire if at all possible. I don't know what area they live in but if their current house is worth $95k, how much downsizing do you think is really feasible? Keep in mind that selling & buying a house is probably going to cost $10k in transaction fees, so it would have to be *substantially* cheaper to have a meaningful impact. There may be other benefits to moving (less maintenance, more comfortable, etc) but if they are only $55k away from owning the home outright that seems like one decent option. Note that once they own the home there are ways of getting cash out of it, e.g. a home equity loan or a reverse mortgage. It's hard to know whether those would be good options for your relative but it is one way for them to stay in their home longer, if they desire. In any event, the situation would be a LOT better if they spent the next 7+ years working, saving, paying off debt, and building up SS.

They can not retire. They are in denial. He will have to work for another 10 years at least.

Human: In the past 7 days: $500 for new tires (2 flats made me realize that you could see the treads.. I'll pay more attention from now on) $1,000 for my cat's emergency surgery (thankfully I had a small savings account just for her) $500 for a new phone (mine suddenly died after 3 years) $300 in medical bills that I was expecting insurance to cover **$2,300 in 7 days** It was stressful, but it didn't break me, and I still have 3 months emergency savings left. Without this sub, I wouldn't have been so prepared. Thank you! Not having to ask my parents for a loan or go into credit card debt was an incredible feeling. Edit: I have now learned that I can return this phone and buy a refurbished phone that is compatible with my plan. Thank you to all of you who let me know about that. I appreciate it! However, please remember that some people have different opinions on how they spend their money. Some people like to splurge on certain things, and that's okay.

Wow, you had a terrible week.

I'm assuming you're still young. Wait until you start owning homes. One day I'm nice and warm. The next day the boiler is leaking and won't turn on. $12000 and three days later I'm warm again.

Human: First off, throwaway as this is deeply personal and friends know my regular username. Short and sweet: I'm 35, married, and have a young child. 12 years ago, I received a liver transplant to save my life. 7 years later, the immunosuppressants prescribed to me for said transplant gave me non-hodgkins lymphoma (cancer). I reacted well to the treatment and have been in remission for nearly 5 years. Earlier this month, I began feeling tired and noticed some other symptoms. Tests were ran and it's been implied that I may have a blood disorder commonly associated with leukemia. My problem is for the last 2 years I have been repeatedly denied life insurance/short and long term disability as I'm trying to provide some assistance for my child and wife when/if I pass. I'm not being pessimistic but it doesn't take a genius to see that I probably won't live to retire. My wife is an educator (read: poor) so I'd really like to leave them with some comfort in my absence. I have managed to get about $50k policy through my professional organization. As you all know, won't last very long. My current prognosis has led to a renewed vigor in attaining some additional insurance. I welcome any advice. Edit: FWIW I never said i was going to commit "fraud" by omitting a diagnosis, I simply was trying to convey what makes an otherwise ethical person think about when they find themselves thinking in such a situation after countless rejections. Assistant: Your health conditions mean you aren't a very good risk for life insurance companies to take - so any policy you get, if you get one, will be quite expensive. The best thing to do is shop around to different providers and see if you can find one that will accept that risk. Does you or your wife have access to a group policy through your employer? That would be worth investigating as well. Even changing jobs to one that includes those benefits might be worthwhile. Human: Yes, I realize I am not a good risk. At times I'm tempted to omit a diagnosis to attain a policy but I know it will probably be rescinded and just add to my wife's grief. I've thought to switch jobs - my current employer doesn't offer any of the aforementioned benefits. Additionally, wife's job doesn't offer any of these benefits. Thanks for the reply.

Yeah no let's not commit fraud

Do not do this. If it's found that you made a material misrepresentation at the time of policy issuance the death benefit will not be paid out. It is not worth the risk. The unfortunate reality is you may not be able to get life insurance. As others indicated, do shop around, but at the very best you will be a high table rating which will be quite expensive. You might be better off "self insuring" and just saving as much as possible for your estate. Unless you have a lot of assets these likely won't be subject to estate taxes.

Human: Hey all! I've just gotten my first job! Literally applied online two days ago and hired the next day! I start Saturday and I'll be working all spring break (9days in a row) at 10.25 an hour, 8 hours a day. Anyways I've never had a good sum of money like I'll be getting before so, what do I do with it all? I read the sidebar, but as a teen I'm not really worried right now about emergency funds or retirement.

What are some of your future big ticket items? (Car, computer, school). Take half of what you made and squirrel it away for that. The rest, play money.

Good for you it feels good to make some money for yourself! I would agree that you don't have the normal worries of the world yet. I would however as a learning experience open up a Roth IRA. Deposit 10% into this account and let it build over the summer. After the summer I would start investing it is THE BEST form of education real money on the line. This will let you avoid making mistakes down the road when you are earning much more. As far as the rest I would enjoy your time and spend it on having some fun consider saving another portion 10-40% of your paycheck towards a fun big purchase. Great job getting started.

Human: I just received a call from some weird Idaho number, I'm from MA. Saying pretty much "this is a pre recorded message from the IRS. The IRS has issued a warrant for your arrest. You and your assets are being watching. It is important for you to contact us immediately, followed by a number" What does this mean? What do I do? I'm so scared. I think I made a mistake last time I filed my taxes but I didn't think it was this bad. Should I call a lawyer? Thanks in advance everyone

This is a scam. You're fine. If you're really worried, look up the _actual_ number for the IRS and call them. But again, this is a scam.

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: It's only natural for an 18 year old to move out of his parents house, but I was curious if it would be a better financial plan to get my on apartment, share with a friend, or just stay where I'm at now. Edit: My college is the next exit over from my parents, 1-bedroom will cost anywhere in between 400$-700$, 2-bedroom will be anywhere in between $600-$800.

It's financially better to continue living with your parents and commute to college. You may decide to move out and get a shared apartment with friends in a few years, but for now, I suggest you stay at home and save your money.

Move out. College isn't the same if you live at home. If you want to be involved on campus (greek life, clubs, study groups, etc) and if you want to be able to go to "events" of the adult beverage provision, you're going to regret living away from campus, even if it's only one exit over. Source: Grew up in the same town I went to college in. Had a way better experience than friends who lived at home and struggled with being involved/having fun. College is an experience - live close, have a great time, study hard and you'll be fine

Human: I'm 23 living at my parents, and I've been leaving all the extra income I have into my savings account. Right now i have like 1 years worth of salary in there, but it is earning like a penny of interest a year . Iv'e upped my student loan payments to 500 a month. But I still earn a few hundred a month that is not currently in use. I have a Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund I put money in since I work for a small company with no 401k. On top of putting money into there would it be wise to put all my extra money I earn monthly into my 2 Vanguard funds I have? (They are Vanguard Growth Index Fund Investor Shares, and Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares) I dont have any huge purchases on the horizon for now, except I plan on moving out soon so I'll have rent, food, etc. soon Thanks for any input

Pay off all your debts, then build back up a 6 month emergency fund that includes what the average rent would be of an apartment you would live in if you didn't live at home. And don't forget to have some fun too. Being prepared is great, but there's nothing wrong with spending a little enjoying your young life.

Pay off more of the student loan or any other debt with high interest. Then put some in higher yield savings, I use Capital One 360 and Barclays Dream Account, Barclays actually gives you extra interest if you deposit monthly and don't withdraw like every 6 months. You said you want to move, DO NOT RENT. 50-60k can easily be a down payment on a small house or condo. Renting when you have a possible down payment already is the same as lighting the money on fire and just laughing. You can also invest in some stocks, big name companies that will give you a dividend and possible return. As suggested by another comment, XOM, NVDA, APPL, DIS, maybe even an ETF.

Human: Kind of a weird one here. My mother is getting ready to retire. She'll be 65 in July. She is entitled to a small pension from her current employer, it's a state job so it should always be solvent. It is $930 a month and is indexed for inflation. But she can elect to add me to it. So when she dies I get the benefit for my lifetime. I am 38. The payment goes down to $720 a month if she adds me. I would get the $720 for my lifetime as well, again indexed for inflation. If I die first her payment would go back up to the $930. I am thinking about paying her the $210 difference during her lifetime. Then when she dies I have an income stream. I make good money so I am not sure this is worth the hassle or the loss of the $210 plus what it can earn each month. I've done some rudimentary calculations and it appears to be a good deal for me as long as I actually outlive her by 10 years or so. So is this a no brainer or just not worth the hassle? *I guess I am looking for some analysis for why or why not.

If you did the math and 10 years is the break even point, then it's a no brainer. Think of it this way, if you pass before you reach the 10 year break even, what do you care? You'll be dead and not regretting over the bad investment.

I guess I wonder if my math is wrong.

Human: So the question is basically in the title. Currently I am putting 5% into my 401k, but I am saving plenty. I currently have about $1,000 in the stock market; split mortgage/utilities with my girlfriend, etc. Would contributing more to my 401k lower my actual income, or not affect it at all?

This question suggests you don't know how tax brackets work. If you're in, say, the "25% tax bracket", not all of your income is taxed at 25%; only the amount above the tax bracket threshold. Common misconception.

You may find these links helpful: - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k) - ["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: Hey guys! I am trying to decide whether I should I join a local bank or a commercial bank for a checking account. What are your experiences with both? If you have a local bank, why? If you have a commercial bank, why?

I have local banks and an online bank (CapitalOne360). At this point, I don't find a ton of difference between local and big banks in terms of capabilities, and I find locals almost always have lower or no fees for services. My local bank that I use as my primary checking account has online bill pay, interbank transfer (so I can move money between my two local banks), a mobile app, etc. It also refunds ATM fees if I do take money out at an ATM other than theirs. Free checking, direct deposit capable, probably not evil. (Or at least less evil than other big banks.) In these days of doing everything online, I don't see a ton of value to the big guys as long as the little guys have the online options.

I've recently switch from what used to be a local bank. Over the course of doing business with them, they have merged with other banks. Since the merge, the service has gone down and the fees have gone up. One thing that I have started trying is 'brickless banks' or online banks. The one I'm using has zero fees as long as you stay above a zero balance and I'm making money off of their interest! I've been really happy going with an online bank. There is the rare occasion that I run into an issue of depositing a check, so I still have a small account at a local bank for backup.

Human: I have come upon the opportunity to put my investments with a financial advisor. They would group my assets with my family’s assets so I would benefit from a lower rate. Currently my family’s fee rate starts at 1%. My wife and I are both 25. We just became debt free last week. We have a full 6 months emergency fund and we are about to put our first 11k (5500 each) into our first Roth's. So we are literally at the beginning of our investing/savings career. Would it do more harm than good to put my finances with a financial advisor this early? If not, are there any drawbacks besides the one percent to a financial advisor or is it all sunshine and rainbows? If it is too early, what savings number is ideal to bring on a financial advisor? Assistant: What is the advisor going to do for the 1% of your money (plus any other commissions) that you give him? What sort of advice will he provide, what investments will he put you in? Generally, if all you want to do is invest money, there is no need for any sort of physical adviser. Investing is easy and automatable. Come up with goals, come up with a plan and asset allocation sand savings rate for each of those goals. Automatically move cash to your investments or savings accounts to meet those goals. Human: They will provide asset management and financial planning services. Is investing as easy as you are making it sound? I know absolutely nothing about it. Since I work freelance, I currently dont have access to an employer match 401k or anything like that. And probably never will. So i think I may need more finessing than just putting money away in accounts and waiting.

> So i think I may need more finessing than just putting money away in accounts and waiting. That's all investing is.

Have you read any of the guides in the sidebar, or the bogleheads guide? https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investing_start-up_kit

Human: Hello Friends,   I am 22 years old and graduating this coming May with a B.S in Chemistry. I will be immediately starting a full time position as process chemist at a pharma company for **62,000** dollars a year. However, in order to commute from my home I need to buy a car. At the moment and for the next year my commute is about **90** miles round trip. Aside from about **75K** in student loans I have no other form of debt and about **1,500** saved in my savings account. Is it worth the investment to finance a new car or a used car. Would buying a CPO car be in my benefit? I'm worried about reliability due too the a significant amount of miles I will be putting on the car. What kinds of cars would you recommend?

I know some posters here ascribe to not going into debt, but 90 miles per day is quite a lot of miles for a car. The best thing I think would be to get a ~3 year old compact (Civic or similar) car and drive it until it gives out. Buying it new leaves you paying more, a vehicle several years old is going to be past the worst of its depreciation.

Get a small, relatively newer, CPO compact car.. The peace of mind is worth a lot at that age, and in your financial stage.

Human: I took an independent contractor job with Paneland Marketing last week. I was told I would be mailed paychecks plus expenses on Monday. Monday I received a check for $2500 and and list of non-perishable groceries to purchase to make a charitable donation. I purchased the items totaling $2k and dropped them off yesterday. today I logged into my online bank to see that the check I deposited had been returned. what should I do? should I dispute the charge on my card for the groceries? should I take legal action? Assistant: You should file a police report. But you just got scammed hard - this is a classic one. It's interesting that they had you buy groceries, usually it's something with electronics or a motor. Hate to say it, but I doubt you'll get your money back. Human: Can you help me understand how this kind of scam benefits the scammer? I'm confused as to where they're making profit, it just seems like they took their money back. Assistant: They make a fake check (or money order) and give it to you, there is a law that says banks have 3 days after cashing a check to give you the money, and they frequently will give all of it or most of it to you instantly. The problem is there is no guarantee that the bank can actually verify the authenticity of a check, and money orders tend to be even slower (they need to send a request off to the issuing bank and wait for a response). When they respond that the check is fake, and no such account exists, your bank will tell you the check bounced, and subtract the funds out of the account. So the scam is they make a fake check, against an account that doesn't exist, and tell you to buy something for them with part of the check (here is a check for $2k, give me $500 in gift cards or cash back, or whatever). Your bank lets you draw the $500 from your account, against the fake check, and 2 weeks later they determine it's fake and take their $2k back, leaving your account $500 short (assuming you only withdrew $500). There is no money, no account to actually trace, as your bank technically loaned you the money. The scammer gets whatever you bought them, in this case, groceries, they never spent or lost any money writing that fake check. The only recourse is to trace what you gave them and use the police to identify them, that's why usually the scammer has you buy something physical, then they can resell it and there is no money to trace. The OP will want to find all the contact info they have on these people and give it to the police. When you find out who gave you the check you sue them, and press charges (check fraud). Finding them is going to be the hard part. Human: I didn't know about the three day law. I could have saved myself all this by just dragging my feet on going to the grocery store?

No. Even if 3 days have passed, a bad check is still a bad check. If your bank can't get any money from the scammer (they can't), they'll claw back the money they gave you.

It's 3 days for the banks to give you the money, but they have loads of time to verify and take the money back if it bounces. I'm not sure if there is a time limit on it, but if I was unsure, speak with a bank teller prior to cashing it, and after cashing it, wait at least two full weeks for it to clear, 30 days is better. My sister had one of these checks once, the teller said they had an active fraud alert against it from numerous people cashing them, and was able to identify numerous instances of people cashing checks against that account and them bouncing, so she knew not to even bother cashing it. Anyways, that's why you see places like grocery stores asking for stuff like ID to cash checks from strangers. If the check bounces, you want something other than the check to track them down with, writing down the drivers license number and address and matching it to the check will give the cops something they can actually trace.

Human: I contribute $150 per month into an IRA account via Schwab. If im purchasing etf's around $120 per share and commission is $4.99, should I wait untill I can buy more than 1 share or just purchase as soon as funds are available? I dont know if I'm making a mistake spending $$ on commissions every month on such a low trade value.

You should probably buy ETFs or mutual funds that don't have commission fees! Look for the OneSource funds at Schwab. http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/investing/accounts_products/investment/etfs/schwab_etf_onesource

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 I've got my financials mostly straight. I make ~3k per month after taxes. Rent, utilities, food, and student loan payments total $1900 (if I'm not paying my loans super aggressively). I throw $250 a month into savings. My E-fund is at 7k. However, my car is a 10 year old Nissan Quest with 130k miles on it, and it's only going up with my 60 mile daily commute (total, not one way). I'm about to take it to the shop because it's making some godawful noise again. In 2016 I paid around 2-3k for repairs and upkeep. This is a ballpark because I don't have all the receipts with me. I expect I'll have to pay that much this year as well. So now I'm thinking about a used car with much lower mileage, because I don't want to have to deal with repairs and possibly getting stuck on the highway and missing work. I picked out a decent car on CarMax, 2014ish Honda Civic with 14k miles for around $15k. Unfortunately, to purchase the car I'd have to get another goddamned loan. This is the exact opposite right now, as I'd like to throw my extra income at my student loans. The terms I was offered were ~13k after down payment at 5% APR. That's like another student loan. I've heard about interest free financing, but only in reference to new cars. What should I do? Are there better options I've overlooked? Halp please and thank you

So you are paying 3k/year for repairs....so $250/month. If you take out a $13k loan at 5% for 60 months, that is about what the car payment would be. Of course, the new car will also need maintenance, but hopefully less than your current. That said, i think its worth it to take it to the mechanic and ask him/her to do a full assessment and estimate the cost of maintenance over the next few years for you. If all the major stuff has been done, I'd keep it for awhile. If it is going to keep needing money you may want to bail. Plus, there are a lot of other cars you could get besides a 2014 Honda that would be cheaper. So that's always an option.

If you're paying more than $300 a month on repairs then get rid of it. Obviously this is not the case. Drive the heck out of that thing. I would get a good running reliable second car, used, just in case. I have two cars but I live alone. I keep'em both in running condition. One has over 200k miles on it. The other about 80k miles.

Human: So I have been contemplating a move to a different company for a while now, among the reasons being some tension in the present workplace and better offers if I looked elsewhere. I would probably get a pay raise possibly bonus and definitely better Healthcare at a different place, which would be important because my wife and I have just discovered that we are expecting. I was just wondering if there was any rules or guidelines for if I should mention that my wife is pregnant and I would need to go on paternity leave or at least some time off in the next 6 months, or if I didn't mention it until/unless I actually got on board with a new company ...

> or if I didn't mention it until/unless I actually got on board with a new company I don't think it should need to be mentioned until a couple months before the expected birth date. I'd wait until your in the company.

I would not say a thing, none of there business. Only reason it should come up is when you do you start earning vacation days and do they offer fathers leave. As long as she is less than 6 months, so insurance can kick in before due date, I would not let this be an issue.

Human: I've recently been let go from a salaried position without warning. Afterwards I was offered the option to resign on my own and that they'd give a reference if I do so. They'd also require that I sign a release form. They told me that this would not affect my unemployment status, but that doesn't sound correct. I'm not sure what to do in this position. Thanks!

That likely will affect your eligibility for unemployment benefits. Do not sign.

In for knowledge. I didn't know about this slight of hand employers use sometimes. Holy fawk.

Human: We are not 100% on it, wondering about information on renting the 2nd smaller house. We live in Maryland. Larger house is 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath on 1.17 acres. Smaller house is a single or double wide with 2 bedrooms and a full bath with its own private driveway, has septic and well with its own washer and dryer. Price would come out to around $1,200 a month mortgage. We make around $3,000 a month combined.

Rent out the big one for 7 years. Live the good life by having a free mortgage.

Ask the real estate agent how much the small house would rent for. Decide if the hassle of being landlords is worth the deal. If the rent covered a fair chunk of your mortgage, and you could get good tenants easily, it could be a good deal.

Human: My girlfriend and I are considering marriage while we are in college for a few reasons regarding rent, financial aid/loans, and convenience for the future. I'm wondering what the affects on our current financial situation would be. More specifically how would getting marriage effect our insurance that our parents provide, our current financial aid (around 6000 in unsubsidized loans per year), our dependent status, and our parents taxes. We are both currently working part time and attending a full time university, she is graduating next spring and I am graduating in two years. I know there are probably a lot of other variables that I'm not thinking of any suggestions? Assistant: It will significantly change your profile for FASFA as you will not longer have to include your parents financial information. [Source](https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/dependency-status.png) You most likely will not longer be dependents for parents taxes and you would not want to be. Marriage does not impact ability to be on your parents health insurance until age 26. [Soure](https://www.healthcare.gov/young-adults/children-under-26/) Human: That is an excellent response thank you. What would the implications for my parents be if I was to become an independent, do the tax breaks affect them in anyway?

They lose the tax benefits you provide

If you are married filing jointly, the first $20,700 you make between the two of you will not be taxed at all aside from the social security and Medicare flat taxes. If you're making significantly less than that ($6,300 each or $12,600 between the two of you) then it may be more beneficial tax-wise to keep letting your parents claim you, as it will lower their tax bill a lot and wouldn't help yours since you can't go below zero. There's also the American Opportunity Credit, which can lower the taxes even more.

Human: I invested $10,000 in a friend's business for a monthly return but now he can't make any monthly return payments or the principle amount. He has shutdown the business but hasn't filed for a bankruptcy. He resides in Maryland and I'm located in a different state. I paid with a check. What are my options ? If I hire an attorney can I recoup attorney fees ? I'm only looking to get back my principal amount at this time. Below is an excerpt from the email he sent out as part of our agreement. 1) Investment amount=$10K 2) Return on investment 10% almost guaranteed and could go as high as 12% depending on monthly sales. 3) Your investment is secure and personally guaranteed by me. Assistant: you lost your investment. sorry. you can't get anything back. your agreement is void. you have no written contract. no court or judge is going to accept that a predictable 12% rate of growth was realistic. go talk to a lawyer or two if you want. but they'll tell you the same thing. a good lawyer will tell you that it's not worth your time. they'll tell you that they'll need a retainer of $2000 or more to start, and that then they charge $200/hr. they will tell you that costs could easily exceed $5000 and there's no guarantee and, in fact, you don't have a good case because there's no written agreement and the terms were unreasonable to begin with. and even if you do happen to win, that's not a guarantee you can collect from him. then if he doesn't want to pay or can't pay, you'll need to go back to court again and pay more money to the lawyer and for court fees, and garnish his bank accounts or put a lien on his car. that's what a good lawyer will do. he'll say that it was an expensive lesson. a bad lawyer will say you've got a very strong case, and pump you up with lots of promises that are evasive enough so that he's not guaranteeing anything. he'll string you along and pad his bill and then drop you like a hot potato after you lose in court. Human: Thanks for the detailed response. This is the email I got from him prior to investing with him. Can't this be used in the court of law ? Thank you for showing your interest in investing with me. Here are some of the parameters that we are agreeing to. 1) Investment amount=$10K 2) Return on investment 10% almost guaranteed and could go as high as 12% depending on monthly sales. 3) Your investment is secure and personally guaranteed by me

nope. and I don't get it. You invested in a business, and it failed. Why are you viewing it as a loan? if you buy shares of Microsoft, and it tanks/ goes to 0 tomorrow, do you expect Microsoft to pay it back? They promised a return too (dividends), and you invested. No investment is a 100% risk free. sometimes they work, other times they don't.

I really hope you don't take this the wrong way, but the ignorance on both sides of this agreement is... staggering. 1. What did you receive for your $10k investment? An investment is a *purchase*, typically of a share of the business, as in "I'll give you $10k for 30% of your company." 2. You say you want to get your "principal" back. You don't have a principal, because this was not a loan. Using the example in #1, you now own 30% of whatever is left of the company. 3. ROI *always* has a time element, as 10% gains in a year is very different from 10% gains in ten years. Yet your "contract" doesn't even mention this. 4. Nobody should be guaranteeing returns. The *whole point* of creating a company is to shield yourself from unlimited losses. That is, the invested capital can be depleted and the company shuttered, but the business owner doesn't have to pay debts beyond what the company itself owns. 5. Nobody can actually guarantee 10% annual gains, much less 10% in dividends. That kind of earnings is in the stock market range, which comes with considerable risk for investors. So my guess is that you fell for a ponzi scheme.

Human: Long story short, I'm a young guy who has 100 dollars in savings right now. It isn't a lot, and I haven't the slightest clue about investing. That's why I'm here. Is it even worth investing $100? And if so, how? Total notice here. Thanks.

I would keep saving, don't think there's really anything worth investing in with $100

See if you can add to it on a scheduled frequency. A good habit that will bring benefits for an entire life. Whether it is one dollar per month or ten......try to make it constant and consistent.

Human: I am 26 and am leaving my current job. At this job I have contributed about $8K into my 401K in one year. I can roll it over to my new employer, or I can cash it out and receive a check. I can also do any combination of both. I live on the close outskirts of a very expensive urban city. Because of high living expenses it has been difficult to save much money. Right now my savings account has maybe 1.5 months worth of living expenses in it. I would like to have a 3-4 month "emergency fund" as it is often referred to in this sub. What is the better decision? Cash out my 401K now and keep it ($6K ish after taxes) to help contribute to my savings, or roll it over to my new employer and keep contributing? I plan to continue to contribute at my new job regardless of what I do with the existing balance. Will cashing out and starting my 401K over be an ok thing to do at this point? Being 26 I feel like I have plenty of time and starting over now would be ok. I don't plan to retire until age 65+ and have only been contributing to it for a year. TL;DR: I want to know if I should cash out my existing 401K balance in order to have a larger emergency fund.

Do not cash out your 401(k). Roll it over to an IRA. You will lose taxes **and** a 10% penalty.

You may find these links helpful: - [Emergency Funds wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/emergencyfunds) - ["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 a friend signed a lease (renting) a house today, she (stupidly) didnt read the lease and just signed. When they got home and read it, it has unrealistic expectations (No smoking, not even on the porch, no hanging of anything on the walls WHATSOEVER.. ETC.). My question to you, does she have any legal recourse? She already paid the deposit and first month rent ($1400). OHIO

She does not have a single recourse. Read the lease before signing.

Thanks Guys. I'll let her know

Human: Money that I have: $800 in savings and checking combined. Money due for rent: $683 Money due for wireless bill: $95 (just got the internet hooked up this month so this month's bill is almost double) Money due for electric: ~$35 (haven't gotten the actual bill yet) So you can see I need more money. But now a very shitty surprise almost fell on my head, and I'm wondering if there's a way to spin this into a positive thing. This all happened about 15 minutes ago, by the way. Any advice or help that you can give me, I would be very grateful for.

So you want a scheme before you call your landlord? Doubt you can get any damages out of him but they are required to keep you unit habitable. Call them.

Doubt you'll get a rent reduction, but I'd definitely ask to be put up in a hotel with a meal allowance. If raw sewage is being discharged into your unit, it is not safe or sanitary for you to stay there. Don't let the landlord BS you. You DO NOT (and should not) stay in a unit with (someone else's) poop spraying into your bathroom!!!!

Human: Long story short, I cancelled my home security company service on 1/5. I was out of contract so I didn't expect any issues. On 1/16 I noticed they charged me. I called to inquire and they told me it takes 30 days for the cancellation to complete and that I should notice it was prorated. Of course I thought this was silly since I cancelled on the 5th they should stop service once I cancel...especially since it's prepaid. Meaning I paid for January service in December. They basically told me there was nothing they could do for me and refused to reverse the charge. I called my bank and told them the story, they stopped the payment and put a merchant I.D. block on the company so they could no longer charge my account. Now the security company is trying to collect their $45 plus late fees. Has anyone dealt with this before? Can this harm my credit score? Technically, since I cancelled the service and refused to pay they should simply not provide service.

I'd take a look at the original terms of the contract. If it says it takes 30 days to cancel, they're gonna send it to collections, and yes, it will harm your credit score. It's the fine print that gets you 99% of the time. And there's really nothing you can do about it if you clicked/signed the "I Agree" without reading it. Cheap lesson to learn.

Pay the bill, let their system process it. You'd probably get money back. This has happened several time when I've closed out on anything paid anything month to month. Even happened with our last security company bill.

Human: Recently made some quick money and noticed I've earned less then 50 cents on my last two months of interest from an account holding $25,000. Yes I know this isn't the account to store the money in if I'm looking to watch it grow but still just can't believe how pathetic that amount is.

Inflation was also very high.. loans were very high. There is no winning through savings accounts

I remember taking my passbook to the bank and earning like a dollar in interest on my kiddie bank account. I would make my mom give them my passbook so I could see what I earned every month.

Human: Alright so update: I figured out what the issue was and it's the pay period. Ours is from the 16th to 15th, so when I started work on the 5th, worked on the 5th, 12th, and 15th, that's what was counted into this pay period. I was thinking bc we get paid on the 23rd of every month that it would count in the 19th, 20th, and 22nd since I also worked then, but now I understand how it works so the $57 is legitimate since the 19-22 will go onto my next check. Thanks for all the help and advice! I would appreciate it if some people could tell me how the taxes are taken out and all. I did fill out a W4 (W2 maybe?) form but I filled it out with my boss as I didn't really understand it myself. I work part time childcare for $8 an hour at a facility. We get direct deposit once a month. After calculating my total hours I worked for the whole month I found that before taxes I would've made $124. After taxes, my total that I received was $57. Not going to lie, this really disappointed me as i forgot about the taxes and all and I feel like more than 50% of my (very very hard) work was essentially useless? I know this is probably how it is for everyone else but nobody ever told me about this before so it's very surprising to say the least. Where is over 50% of my pay going besides taxes? Surely the government isn't taking over 50% of someone's pay when they're only making $120 a month before the taxes? Is everyone losing over 50% of their pay to taxes regardless of how much they make a month before them? I am very confused on this so I would appreciate a breakdown of how the taxes work from hourly wages. If it helps, I am in SC. Assistant: Look at your check stub. It shows where all that money went. Human: Thy didn't give me one so I'll ask for one this weekend.

Make sure you do. They are actually obligated to give you one and it's important to have to ensure there aren't mistakes in withholding. You have every right to know what's being taken out of your paycheck and why. I learned this the hard way when I was younger; my employer had too many deductions listed (I don't remember if this was because my situation had changed or is was a mistake on their part) and was taking out almost nothing for taxes. I owed a lot of money at the end of the year.

Many places don't give physical pay stubs anymore. You log into a web site like paychex, ADP, or yourcompanyname.com and view it online. Talk to HR or another coworker about it.

Human: Hi everyone, I am a college student who has $1000 in my savings account. Should I keep it as an emergency fund or invest it. I read that a good idea for a beginning investor is to invest it in low-fee index funds. I am only in the infancy of my personal finance journey so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Keep it in a savings account for emergencies. You're far away from worrying about investing. [Read the sidebar.](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)

Put 10% into an index fund just to get a feel for investing and to get set up in an account. Then save up another hundred to top off your emergency fund. I'd then try and set a monthly savings goal and invest 75% into low cost index funds and 25% into your emergency fund.

Human: I bought a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. I currently owe 41K, financed at 84 months, paying 650 a month. These are not the best terms, I know. It was an impulse buy and I was stupid for doing it. I love the jeep, but I am so tight on money due to other bills that I am trying to figure out if I could trade it in for an older vehicle and get my monthly payment decreased at the cost of going upside down on the vehicle. The bank I finance with adds a convenience fee of 10 dollars every time I make s payment. Considering I do split monthly payments, I am pay 670 dollars just for the car and then another 75 for insurance. I simply just want to know my options. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's infinitely better to sell the vehicle now and pay the depreciation hit than drag out the loan for 7 years and pay north of 50k on a vehicle.

You need to get your Chain of Command involved and see if they can offer some assistance or direct you to some sort of financial advisor on your base.

Human: Here's what I'm thinking to do (I tried researching this but I couldn't find anything solid): I'm 17 and I want to get a job over summer this year, is it possible for my father (with Wells Fargo) to open an account for me that I can deposit the money I make from into, and then at the end of the summer withdraw the money and close the account. I think the only issue with this is if I make a large amount of money and try to withdraw all at once I may have to go through some paperwork, but I don't think Ill be making more than maybe 1500-2000$. The reason in doing this is I want to open my own bank account when I turn 18, 6 months after summer ends. Here's what I need to know: Is this possible? (If not what should I do instead?) Will there be problems depositing a large amount of money into a newly opened account? (I imagine I should keep the transaction from the withdraw) Is there a better way if doing this?

You can open your own bank account before you turn 18, you know? If your father opens an account, he would have to be the one to close it, but yes, you can take your money out and stop using the account, no issue. Most ATMs have like an $800 a day limit but you can walk in to a bank and withdraw thousands no issue.

You have to call ahead to withdraw large amounts that's all I know due to the fact that I'm pretty young too

Human: I sold an item on EBay and the buyer now stated he wants his money back because there was a scratch. I listed it as "comes as is" and "no scratches". There were no visible signs of wear or tear on my item at the time of shipment. Now, PayPal has overdrawn my account for the amount that was paid to me. What do I do? Do I need to return the money? Assistant: If I'm reading this right it is your paypal account that is overdrawn. If you have a direct debit set up with them they will try to take the money from your bank account if not you need to load your paypal account with money to bring it back to a zero balance (or positive if thats what you want) Hope this helps P.S. If you have a direct debit set up but don't have enough money in your bank account cancel it. Paypal says that it "needs paid back at your earliest conveniance" and has no fees for being overdrawn. Source have had to do this before Human: Yes, my debit card is linked to PayPal. I have enough money to transfer over the overdrawn fee, but I don't want to accept the EBay buyer's return because initially there were no scratches on my item. But I'm still confused if I unlink my debit card from PayPal without reprimands.

You won't be able to use that account until there is funds in it. Paypal have already given the customer their money back ask the customer to return the goods to you and if they wont then report them to ebay. It looks like the customer is acting shady as requesting a refund from paypal before you have had a chance to sort things out with them is not the normal approach. Good luck

If this is a small-ish amount and you aren't tied to your paypal account in any meaningful way I'd just ditch it and move on. I had a business paypal get overdrawn because an old costumer decided to chargeback all his shit after we closed the business (this was web hosting and we let him run out his contract and even relocated him to a new host). The account ended up about $200 overdrawn so I just removed the linked card and left the account. Never heard back from anyone and this was 3 years ago.

Human: Alright, so this is my first time posting and on mobile, so sorry for any spelling errors or rule breaking. First off, I plan on going back one day, I just recently dropped out of college due to stress and financial reasons. Had to pay monthly payments and couldn't make them anymore. And with the struggling grades, I just needed to take some time off. So, I went to my parents' place last month so I can get my head back into place a bit. That was in Colorado. I just moved back to my old house in San Diego county that my brother and his family (baby momma and 2 kiddos) at the start of this month. Parents gave me some money so we could have food and stuff. Doing my best to save it. Cheap food for the most part and probably gonna stop using data on my phone as mich when I get the car fixed and I'm working. I'm working on getting the car that my mom said I could have to use for my own personal vehicle up and running. Fairly simple, just need to replace two parts. Once that is all up and running, I'm gonna find a job asap. We live a while away from anything so I'll sleep in the car if I get a good job that's kinda far. Plus, I would like to save up for an apartment so anything to save money will help. I was going to college for and work in the culinary/baking industry. MMA/Jiu-Jitsu is my passion, hoping to make something out of that one day. Any help would be appreciated. Edit: I forgot to mention that my girlfriend and I are planning to get an apartment together. We met in college and it's been pretty serious for the past year so we want to have somewhere to live together. She's gonna go home to Florida to do a bit more school. Was thinking about going with her, but want to try to get something out here while I am at it. We both want to travel while we're young but that'll be in like a while til we can do that.

All right man, so a little bit of tough love... your a little bit all over the place. Like it sounds like your spinning in your head a bit and feeling frustrated about where you currently are and where you should be going. Dropping out of the college isn't the worst thing in the world. And dropping out of a Culinary program might actually be a good decision. With that said, not having a structured plan about what you want to do and why is a recipe for disaster. My immediate suggestion is that you start by defining what your overall goals currently are. What is it that you want your life to look like. Like what type of job do you want to have, not just now, but in 5 or 10 years. Where do you want to live? What is baseline, moderate and premium quality of life. Basically define your goals and principles. From their you can start backing into a set of steps to get you to where you want to go. Start with high level objectives, and work your way to detailed concrete steps to get to those objectives. Have all of this written down and defined will help you figure out how to directly improve your current situation.

Sorry I didn't reply all day. Sick, must've been food poisoning. In all honesty, I love MMA more than food. I can see myself being a coach more than owning a restaurant. I love food, but seeing some of the people at college, I am more passionate about Jiu-Jitsu/MMA than food. Okay, I have been journaling more recently so I can do that soon. I've been talking to my gf about where she wants to go, because what she thinks does matter, and it's still up in the air. I'll re-read this over a couple times when I feel 100% again.

Human: Dear Personal Finance, I have never been a risk taker, in fact, I have am very risk averse personality. I take comfort in just living the day to day with no time scheduled for wild curve balls. Here's some background information before I get to the meat of the problem: I am 29 years old and I've been working a full time job as a custodian near the Portland area. I work for a community college and therefor an employee of the state I live in. I've been working there for 6 years in October and I make approx 27000/yr with good health and dental insurance. I am pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and I would like to transfer to the local state college to get my degree. Right now, I get a waiver due to my full time status that pays for about 95% of my tuition. This won't be the case when I transfer to the state school. Here are my expenses: ¤rent - $750/month, might go up to $800. I live alone in a small 1 bedroom that I share with my cat ¤food - $300-350/month including eating out and the occasional vending machine or convenience store snack ¤electricity, internet, and gas - $60/$70/10 respectively. I don't pay for tv, a friend let's me use his Netflix account or I watch something off prime. I don't really watch a lot of movies anyways. $500/yr in video game purchases that I occupy most of my time with I have no car payment but my vehicle was stolen a few weeks ago. I'm still working with the insurance company. I don't know the payout but based on the age of the vehicle, despite it being in very good condition, I will be suprised with $5000 to go towards a purchase. I have <$500 in credit card debt. The problem is my job is sucking the life out of me and I desperately want to quit. There are people that have been working here since they were 19 years old and most fulltime permanent will never move on. They will probably never make more than $50k/yr. I don't want to wake up one day 40 years old with my life gone. I want to be smart about this so I don't make an irrational decision and throw my life away more than I am doing now. My supervisor and coworkers bully me, I am constantly anxious at any trouble I might get oher miniscule mistakes. I have no social life, i cannot pursue extra curricular activities or networking opportunities. I want to take out a loan for 2 years of salary and just go to school for full time to get my career and move on with my life. Please help.

You might have incorrectly formatted line breaks. To create a line break, either put two spaces at the end of the line or put an extra blank line in-between lines. ([See Reddit's page on commenting for more information.](http://www.reddit.com/wiki/commenting)) I have attempted to automatically reformat your text with fixed line breaks. ---- > Dear Personal Finance, > > I have never been a risk taker, in fact, I have am very risk averse personality. I take comfort in just living the day to day with no time scheduled for wild curve balls. Here's some background information before I get to the meat of the problem: > > I am 29 years old and I've been working a full time job as a custodian near the Portland area. I work for a community college and therefor an employee of the state I live in. I've been working there for 6 years in October and I make approx 27000/yr with good health and dental insurance. I am pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and I would like to transfer to the local state college to get my degree. Right now, I get a waiver due to my full time status that pays for about 95% of my tuition. This won't be the case when I transfer to the state school. > > Here are my expenses: > ¤rent - $750/month, might go up to $800. I live alone in a small 1 bedroom that I share with my cat > ¤food - $300-350/month including eating out and the occasional vending machine or convenience store snack > ¤electricity, internet, and gas - $60/$70/10 respectively. I don't pay for tv, a friend let's me use his Netflix account or I watch something off prime. I don't really watch a lot of movies anyways. > $500/yr in video game purchases that I occupy most of my time with > > I have no car payment but my vehicle was stolen a few weeks ago. I'm still working with the insurance company. I don't know the payout but based on the age of the vehicle, despite it being in very good condition, I will be suprised with $5000 to go towards a purchase. > > I have <$500 in credit card debt. > > The problem is my job is sucking the life out of me and I desperately want to quit. There are people that have been working here since they were 19 years old and most fulltime permanent will never move on. They will probably never make more than $50k/yr. I don't want to wake up one day 40 years old with my life gone. I want to be smart about this so I don't make an irrational decision and throw my life away more than I am doing now. My supervisor and coworkers bully me, I am constantly anxious at any trouble I might get oher miniscule mistakes. I have no social life, i cannot pursue extra curricular activities or networking opportunities. > > I want to take out a loan for 2 years of salary and just go to school for full time to get my career and move on with my life. Please help. > ---- ^(I am a bot. Contact) ^[pentium4borg](https://www.reddit.com/user/pentium4borg) ^(with any feedback.)

New grad here. Just wanted to warn you that it's not as easy as finishing the program and getting a job. At the moment I have a nice internship I'm in... just as the people in the comments suggest. A lot of my friends who graduated (from mechanical engineering coincidentally actually) still don't have jobs and it's been 10 months. One is working at a factory making minimum wage. Others I know that have graduated a year or two ago are still unemployed. Think very carefully before you do anything risky. If you want to keep pursuing mechanical engineering please PLEASE ensure it guarantees an internship/co-op. I don't want to see you or anyone in debt AND back at square one. These I.T. and engineering jobs aren't as in demand as they were a decade or two ago. Now if a company wants to hire someone they have a million university graduates to choose from.

Human: My uncle and grandma recently passed away leaving me with about $100k in inheritance money. I have about 55k in student loans, and was planning on paying that all back right away. But, a friend told me I should consider investing all $100,000, and not paying back the loans right away, as I will have a much greater return. When it comes to investing, I also have no idea about that. All comments welcome. Thank you all.

What's your interest rate on your student loans? Even without knowing, I'd say pay those off first and you'll still have 45k left! IMO, the best thing you can do is reduce your bottom line first, then invest afterwards...especially since you don't know much about investing (yet).

Invest your retirement to the maximum, especially a roth IRA. If its hard to do away with the inheritance at one time, then pay large chunks monthly (Say $3000 per month) onto the student loan. Loan will be paid off within a few years, builds your credit a bit with the monthly payments, and doesn't give you the pain of drastically reducing your savings/inheritance. The key note here is how discipline you are with your budget. If you imagine yourself ever being tempted to blow this savings on a new car, an expensive vacation, repetitive high end expenditures, pay off all of your debts immediately. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get ahead.

Human: My car is a Nissan Sentra from '97, 160,000 miles, broken windshield wipers, probably a power steering fluid leak, and "something weird" going on in the back involving smoke. I've recently started making about $500 a week ($2,000 a monthish) so I'm considering looking into getting a fairly new used car from the late 2000s or early 2010s for $15,000 max, probably going to stick close to $10,000 though. Does this seem reasonable? I am terrible with saving and planning and finances as a whole. But I figure, if I get a car from say 2012 with less than 50,000 miles on it, it'll probably last me quite a while. Assistant: Honestly, if it's only 1k and you keep up with maintenance, you can get a lot of life out of it. Human: The $1000 was just an estimate I personally made, I plan on actually taking it into a shop next week. It could be way less. Or way more. But you're right I should just try to keep it maintained. Assistant: My grandmother had a Chevy Impala that she ran up to 300k miles and then passed to me for another few thousand as well. All because every few months, a very WELL trusted family friend/mechanic would take a look at it. Human: That's great! I'm new to the area so will be starting completely fresh in terms of mechanics. Any advice for finding a good one?

If you want the classic good mechanic relationship you're gonna have to look around and find a small shop probably. Avoid the big chains where the employees rotate often and probably don't care about anything than a sale.

It's a small shop near her house that's shes used for almost 30 years or something like that. I would look fpr small shops as the other poster said

Human: What does a realtor do that a general home-seller can't?

They market the house for 6% of the total sale. If you don't need marketing, you don't need a realtor.

access to MLS...access to realtor network....full knowledge of home selling vs private sellers who don't know much.....having said that, VSBO can be successful but the seller best educate themselves on what the selling process is, how to limit wasting time with unqualified buyers, having a good real estate lawyer onboard and what you have to do advertise and sell your property. AND expected potential buys to expect a cost reduction as a realtor and their fees aren't involved

Human: I found a really affordable home in a decent area. It's not completely up to date but it looks nice. I'm considering purchasing this as a rental property for a second income and wanted to know what I should be looking for in an investment property that differs from looking at it as a home. It's in a good area with good schools and is in my price range. I have a down payment. I'd put it in an LLC to limit my exposure. Does anyone have advice on looking at a first investment property?

www.biggerpockets.com

Make sure you can afford the mortgage even if you are without rent income for an extended period.

Human: I'm wondering if there are any govt or private programs that would help cover funeral costs. My grandma passed away on Thursday and she didn't have life insurance to cover the funeral costs. She did have the plot paid for, but not the burial/vault. That is going to be around $1450. She was against cremation, so we need to respect her wishes on that. We found a casket on line for $900. My wife knows a funeral director so we are getting a discount on the embalming/transport, which is another $1000. She has around $800 in her checking account, but no one else is on the account. I'm assuming that those funds will get tied up in probate. She was receiving my grandpa's military benefits and ss benefits. Does any one know of ways to pay for this? I get it's not much, but we don't have anything set aside for this. If I pay for it, my bills don't get paid. Reddit always has good ideas, what do you all think? Assistant: How much does it cost to get cremated? Because to be extremely blunt about it... she's dead. She doesn't know what's happening to her body anymore. Human: Trust me, we have thought about that. She was adamant about no cremation. She actually moved her sons body to be buried next to grandpa and bought a plot so they could all be buried together.

Not to be insensitive here, but cremains can totally be buried too. It's not necessarily an either / or. I'm sorry for your loss, OP.

Bury her ashes there. Bones just turn to dust with time anyway. What's the difference?

Human: Hi, I recently had a large student loan forgiven. The balance was around $27,000. The company went under. Now, I have to pay taxes on the forgiven balance. Are there any work-arounds because that almost doubles my current salary.

Congratulations. Now you only have to pay a fraction of the balance.

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: I've been trying to work the debt snowball plan that Dave Ramsey has laid out. As I'm going down this path, I've been always on the mind set that "you can buy a house without credit." Is this true? Talking to a lot of my coworkers and friends (that are in financing), I'm being told his plan truly doesn't work. One of my friends is a mortgage broker, and he said he only uses manual underwriting if there is a "special" reasoning, and that Churchill Mortgage (that Dave recommends) has a very low business rating. I started this journey with my girlfriend and have paid off 3 credit cards, but still have $4k between two cards and a $8k car loan with a credit score of ~630. She does not have any debt besides student loans and has an amazing credit score of 700+. Should I continue Dave's plan, or play the FICO game to get a high credit score? Not looking to buy a home for a couple years (I want to be able to afford a 20% down). Any advice is appreciated. EDIT: Thanks everyone for the great advice and input. It's helps to get a sense from other sources on what they do to be successful. I'm going to still follow Dave's plan, as far as the getting out of debt with the snowball. It seems that closing those three CCs wasn't the smart thing to do. I still have 3 others open, that are carrying balances but will continue to work to pay those off. I just want to be successful and be able to be wealthy when I retire, and it originally seem like Dave was the only option at the time when I started a few months ago. Once again, thanks to everyone who gave their input.

Dave Ramsey is the AA of personal finances. It's a fantastic system if you're a spending/debt addict and have an actual problem with reckless spending. If you aren't in a deep, dark addiction-type hole, you can take bits and pieces of his advice but to follow it wholesale might not be necessary or in your best interests, financially.

It's possible to buy a house without credit cards, especially if you are Dave Ramsey getting people to buy into the Dave Ramsey Plan. The man sells his common sense plan for 100 dollars a pop promising to give you financial freedom if you follow it. He hasn't updated his plan for a while, and almost everything is in the common sense approach to things. Honestly he's like a pyramid scheme, but he's the only one who gets paid.

Human: I'm finding mixed advice online and from my lender. Is it true that PMI can't be removed until the loan is seasoned, which takes 2 years? I'm looking to purchase a home and put ~15% down now, and get to 80% LTV before the end of the year. Conventional loan.

Read your mortgage, talk to your banker. These things differ from bank to bank and mortgage to mortgage. We don't know your situation and can't help you with it.

I just bought a house back in November with 5% down and have no PMI on my loan. How? The lender paid for the PMI to remove it for me for a slight increase in the interest rate. Instead of 3.50% they bumped it up to 3.75% which I was fine with as both were quite low. The return from going the other way would have meant I would have had to kept my house for quite a bit longer before I sold the home. Chances are I'll sell it before that would happen. Check with your lender and if they don't offer it, find another lender (preferably local)

Human: TLDR: someone broke our exterior water pipe, should I let insurance deal with it? I came home yesterday, and the pressure pump for our house water was struggling and super hot. No water in the house. After digging around I figured that a car backed out in our driveway, broke the pipe from the well to our water tank. (and the pump switch had been shut off). We're out of water, there's some cosmetic damage and a broken pipe. Should I involve our home insurance ? It might be a simple fix but I don't know for how long it's been sitting there, and the pipes might be clogged now and who knows if my pressure pump got damaged. By the way, if I make a claim, can I weasel out of it it's way below my deductible (1000$) ?

Get a plumber and general contractor out to give you quotes before contacting insurance. that will give you your answer.

First try to track down whoever caused the damage and ask them to pay. If not that then get quotes to fix it and don't involve your insurance unless it's well above your deductible. Making a claim will probably raise your rates and make it more difficult to shop around for insurance in the future

Human: My plan is to request my pay early and get everything for the hours I've worked so far. Currently I am between pay periods so this works well. As soon as my manager gives me all the cash I am owed, I plan to quit right then and there. The job does not matter to me and I do not need the reference. Are there any unforeseen issues with doing this? I understand the courtesy of 2-week notice but my boss has treated me like shit for far too long so it does not matter to me. Assistant: > My plan is to request my pay early and get everything for the hours I've worked so far. Currently I am between pay periods so this works well. As soon as my manager gives me all the cash I am owed, I plan to quit right then and there. Why do you need to request your pay cheque early? Why not just quit, then wait til pay day for your last pay cheque like normal? Human: Well if I just quit without notice then I was under the impression they would not have to pay me. . . Assistant: > Well if I just quit without notice then I was under the impression they would not have to pay me. . . You're always owed for the time that you've worked. Human: Oh, okay! Though, knowing my manager she will pull some shady stuff. False hours and what not

> Oh, okay! Though, knowing my manager she will pull some shady stuff. False hours and what not Keep an independent log of your schedules & your hours worked. If your boss tries to pull something shady, go to your local labour board.

If that happens, and they insist on not paying you for the hours you worked, contact your department of labor and they'll be in deep shit.

Human: So I got in a wreck a few days ago. And unfortunately I only had liability (I know, I should have had full coverage). Originally it looked like it was only cosmetic damage but then it started having issues. My mechanic is saying the transmission is fucked. I haven't gotten an exact quote but it's looking like it will be around $1500+ to fix. Not counting cosmetic damage which is about $1800. I got a new credit card with a $4500 limit and 0% interest for 15 months. But I remembered I still had a 401k account with $3300 in it from a previous job. If I take it out I'll get $2660 after taxes. I'm just not sure which option would be best. I could potentially pay off most of my vehicle damage with little debt to me at the costs of losing that amount in my 401k. My current job doesn't match which is why I haven't rolled it over. I work for a contractor company and waiting to get hired on with them because they promised me a job soon and they match up to 7%.

I would use the credit card and pay it off before the 0% interest rate is up. I would *also* roll over the old 401k to your very own IRA (individual retirement account). I would open that account with an institution like Vanguard or Fidelity. What you will have then is the option to invest in diversified index funds for very low fees. The options of your old 401k are probably worse, and the fees are likely higher. So I would roll it over. PS wikipage on rollovers: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/retirementaccounts/rollovers

You may find these links helpful: - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k) - ["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 planned to meet my mom in DC for my brother's graduation in July. She and I don't live in the same state. She just told me she booked a hotel that's over $200/night for 4 nights (which I know she can't responsibly afford and neither can I) and wants me to look for flights so she can fly to me and then we fly up together. I never even planned to fly because I can drive there and back for $80 of gas! She was so excited to tell me I didn't have the heart to tell her I don't want to fly and she shouldn't have booked a hotel without us shopping around. This is NOT in my budget, and I'm still in the "build a $1000 emergency fund" stage while simultaneously saving for a move in August. Just stressed out... Edit: I didn't actually expect anyone to reply with practical advice as I was just frantically typing, so thank you all! With a calmer mind and heart rate, Im going to take some of the advice. I'm waiting for my mom to send me the hotel info (so I can find out if it's refundable). Tomorrow, I'm going to compare some pricing for airbnb vs hotel, driving and parking costs vs flying, and I'm sure there's a thread for free/cheap things to do in DC. Once I know for sure what I can afford, I'm going to tell her what my limit is, plan with that, and enjoy myself within the limit I set, and no more.

Hotels in DC are expensive and $200 may actually be a great rate. If she can't afford that you may need to think about staying outside DC and taking the metro in (more added expense though). I would just flat out tell her you plan on driving to save money. If you stay in DC parking is extremely expensive. This may be another good reason to stay outside DC and taking the metro.

Yeah, just let her know you can't affor the itinerary and to adjust it.

Human: Hello All, First, thanks for taking time to read this. I am a married (but separate) 37/f with three kids 19, 11, 6. I am a certified school teacher in my 10th! year of teaching at a public high school. I currently make 47,369 before taxes. I work 3 jobs throughout the course of the year which is included in my pretax income stated above. My monthly bills that are reoccurring and fairly static are: Mortgage: $820 (paid biweekly for the extra payment a year) APR is 6% Car insurance: $95 - Full coverage - I am scared if I am in an accident that I can't afford a car. Cell phone: $181 (4 phones, unlimited data because internet is not available at my house from landline options - long story) Home Equity loan: $141 The following are averages of what I have paid for the past few months: Before/after school care: 240 a month Groceries: $400 a month Gas: $180 a month With three kids I have some miscellaneous spending that ranges from 300 to 500 a month - think sports registrations, school supplies, college text books (for both myself and my son). I also have an oil furnace/hot water that in the winter it's $200 a month but from like May to September it is only 200 for those three months. I have no car payment, I drive a 2004 Honda pilot with like 275k on it but it's still going strong. Now the really bad (negative) part, I have about 56k in student loan debt, that I defaulted on, and I am now in rehabilitation paying $57 a month until September, when I will be out of default. The Department of Ed took my tax refund this year, which sucks, due to my poor bill paying ability. I have zero money in savings, (like 200 right now but that's nothing really) I feel like I am doing everything right, but I still feel like a complete failure with this, am I missing something? What else can I do? Thanks in advance! edit: more information Assistant: Question 1: is the father paying child support? Human: No child support - he makes significantly less than I do, his yearly before tax is 20k

That doesn't let him off the hook. There are people out there making less than him.

Even 100 or 200 dollars a month from him would make things significantly easier for you or sounds like.

Human: It was previously 1.05% for the 12 month high yield CD, and it is currently higher than the 18 mo for the first two tiers. I'll take it as a good sign that they will raise rates for their online savings accounts soon.

> I'll take it as a good sign that they will raise rates for their online savings accounts soon. I hope you're right, but I doubt they'd do that. I mean, I've been confused by some of their CD rates already so I may be wrong, but by raising their Online Savings Account rates they'll just cannibalize their CD products. There's already so little incentive to put money in CD at Ally unless you're in it for the really long term (and even their long term CDs don't beat my credit union's CDs at the moment...).

Check out Aspiration. 1% on checking accounts.

Human: First off, I'm aware how much of a loser I am and am responsible for most of these problems. That being said, any advice is very much appreciated. Here goes my shitty problems. I got a DUI 8 or 9 years ago and was 21 at the time. I was paying off a car loan of 2 and 1/2 years and was a year and half into it. I was still living at home and my dad co-signed on the car loan. He decided to take the car over against my will and then took about 3 years to pay off the final year which ruined my credit. I lost my social life and started drinking and got depressed. I worked steadily and paid rent to my parents and got into a routine of taking public transportation to work and walking to get groceries. Fast forward to today (8years later) Im still at home have little money saved up ($1300) and my company I've been with just sold to some new investors looking to upgrade which is nice but they bought a building about an hour away with no bus routes available and taxi's costing way too much. I need to pay $500 to install a breathalyzer and then $100 every month for 6 months. I need full coverage insurance which is about $400 and I need last and first month upfront. So, just to start getting a car is $1300 before I get a car. I tried applying for a car loan with lending tree and was denied by half a dozen places because I have bad credit. I'm looking at getting a $2.50 raise at my 'new' job with the new investors and I really need this job because I've worked there for 8 years and this is a great opportunity except I don't have a plan to get a car. I can carpool with a friend for the first month but after that it's going to get dicey. Also, my parents are kicking me out and I have no rent history since I've have just paid them directly and there is no record of it. So, Im worried about being homeless and completely lost but still have a chance at a great opportunity with this 'new company'. Any advice on how I can get a place or a car is much needed. I have no one to help me with these things and Im an adult that fucked up his life but still have a slight chance to turn it around before it all goes to hell. Again, any advice is much appreciated. Thanks! Edit: I forgot to mention that I make $16.25 right now and I should be getting a raise to $18.50 soon. I'm also in Florida if that helps, any.

> First off, I'm aware how much of a loser I am and am responsible for most of these problems. We're not here to demean you, I think the community would appreciate it if you didn't demean yourself. Life is hard enough, the last person needing to get down on you is yourself. For reference, your raise will put you at $38,480/yr! The common recommendation is you don't want to spend more than 28-30% of your net income on housing. Presuming you pay ~22% tax, that leaves you with ~$30,015. That leaves you with ~$700/mo for housing. I recommend you find a place close to work, where you can commute via a motorbike or ATV or something, possibly just get a plain ol' bicycle. Saving is more important to you right now, as you can't afford a lot of risk, so I suggest finding a roommate. Some housing will rent out rooms, so you share an apartment and are both on the lease - you both pay your share individually. You can also consider Section 8 housing, which I've had plenty of friends live in, and it carries more bullshit stigma than anything. Get a secured credit card. The idea is you put money into it as collateral, and you can only spend that much. Use it for everything. Start tracking your spending. I recommend [Mint](https://www.mint.com/), it's free and it has a phone app. You need to understand how you spend money in order to develop a plan to minimize it. You also need goals, because you can't just live paycheck to paycheck, making money for it's own sake, existing only to get to tomorrow. You need financial goals, it will do wonders to give you direction and motivation, because you set your own goal posts and you watch as you approach it. Never use cash, it's too easy to abuse - cash in your pocket isn't "as good as spent", then it disappears, you don't know where, and you have nothing to show for it. Get that car, gain the additional mobility, and then start looking for more lucrative work. There's nothing wrong with constantly being on the job hunt. A better opportunity is better. Loyalty doesn't buy you anything, companies certainly don't give it. I would say there's more lucrative work out there compared to whatever it is you're doing. Go into IT. If you go to your community college and get A+ and N+ certified, you can get your foot in the door doing desktop and eventually server support. You can make at or near 6 figures in 5 years. While you're at it, consider getting your AS. Education will give you an advantage and opportunities over your peers - anybody can hustle, but not so many can think.

One way you could start out without any credit is to sublet an apartment or move in as a roommate on an existing lease. Just make sure you don't fail to keep up your end of the bargain! I think the biggest thing you need to do is to take control of your finances. The suggestion of using Mint is a great one. You should be able to see how much you spend on what things, and you should be able to automate some of your saving - for example, set something up to put 5-10% of every paycheck into a savings account. Get a secured credit card to help rebuild your credit, and pull your credit report to start figuring out what you'll need to do to repair your broken credit. After you get on your feet, look into education. If you're making nearly $40k now, an extra certificate or a degree can really make a difference, even if it seems intimidating based on the up front investment. Good luck. Making a mistake 8 years ago is still haunting you, but I think it's safe to say you learned your lesson and wouldn't repeat that same mistake. Now it's just a matter of going out and proving it!

Human: Okay, stupid question, but why is the average student loan debt $26,000 when my bachelor's degree costs around $10,000 per year for 4 years? Statistically speaking, most people don't win scholarships up the wazoo, so how is this possible? Are most people attending cheaper schools? Do their parents have trusts funds? I just don't understand.

How do people shave off $14,000 of college costs? Start at community college, work part-time, get a decent summer job, max out AP credits and save on a semester of classes, a couple of small scholarships.

Financial aid, parents, working through school, etc.

Human: The backstory is not important, just know that for the past 6 months i was making very little from uber/lyft living with my parents and ignoring bills. (Mental Illness) The current setting: Moved out of parents house with only a car full of stuff and a couple hundred dollars to my name. On february 13 i drove multiple states away from my parents and back to the area i grew up in. I am currently staying with a friend. I aquired a full time 40 hour a week job for 17 dollars an hour. The friend i am staying with is moving out of his house and across the country in 30 days (sometime before end of april). TOTAL INCOME: after taxes and deductions for insurance 2020$/M PAID WEEKLY EVERY FRIDAY 505$ Bills and expenses Rent: 350$/m CREDIT CARD: 2060$ total owed as of today. Last payment was 6 months ago. Total minimum payment used to be 50$/m but is now up to 150$. Only used once to save my cat from dying. Interest is 12% Car loan: Currently 35 days behind, previous 2 payments were sent to the end of the loan by request. Total owed as of today 744$. Interest is 14.5%, started in 2012. Total left due is 9080$. Minimum payment per month 378$ Car insurance 150$/m. Insurance lapsed as of today. Daily commute is 25 miles, highway. Past two weeks showing that i spend 20$ a week for fuel. 80$/m Parking is extremely expensive. 10$ a day. There is a monthly pass for 110$ a month, but i havent been able to afford it. I get reimbursed 50$ per month for parking from work. Total costs as of now is 200$/m with a 50$/m reimbursement so 150$/m actual. Ive been spending about 25$ a week on lunch. And 100$ a month on groceries. Purpose of this post: Before the end of april i need to have my own place to live, be caught on my bills and self sustaining. Ive never created a budget before. I have lived alone before, but i spent money however i felt and was always broke. Id like to have a good system in place so i dont end up as behind as i am right now again. Is it even possible for me to make it out before the guy im staying with leaves? I read the sidebar, have mint set up, and read through tactics and basics. However, my mint is screaming that all my bills are past due and im not real sire how to use it. The sidebar doesnt tell me exactly how to make a functioning budget. I dont know where i could cut costs and fix bills. Please, if anyone can help me, i would be in your debt. Which i couldnt pay, just like the rest of them. EDIT: So from the advice ive gotten so far, i have done the following; Previous money in bank 497.13 Paid car insurance -152.65 Bought sandwich materials and canned goods for dinners -65$ Current money in bank 267.50 What else should i handle with the current money i have? Am i in danger of repossession in the car? Assistant: Hi OP I broke down your initial budget below which is a good start. However- you should be saving about $550 a month based on this- you need to find out where that extra $500 is going. Immediate steps id take to reduce expense is bringing in lunch and scrape together enough to get that monthly pass...thats $100+ savings easily right there. Human: I know this would help, but i simply dont know what to buy for lunches that are less expensive than a 5-6 dollar fast food meal per day. Can you advise? Assistant: Certainly. A casual brown bag lunch of making a sandwich (bread, cheese, lunchmeat, lettuce, etc), drink, and side can be done with little effort for $3. Assuming $2 savings per workday thats an extra $40 a month. The more hard core reddit page can really blow my $3 figure out of the water and probably make more exciting meals to boot. Check out /r/mealprepsunday Human: Im currently eating subway everyday, so sandwiches sound just fine. Ill check out that sub too. So basic things wont end up costing more? Pack of bologna, mayo, lettuce, cheese, bread?

I certainly would price it out yourself but yes you will save money.

Pork loin can be bought for under two bucks on sale. I buy the whole loin and have the butcher slice it up into two pound roasts. This makes a ton of sandwiches. Fewer chemicals, lower sodium and better.

Human: My tale is somewhat unique in that I've also changed fields but I think it's still a good idea to hop jobs if you're looking to increase your earnings. 4 years ago I left my career to help my brother run his small business after he underwent major surgery and needed help. Not having kids, a house, or a spouse meant I could take the pay cut. I made ~$15k working for him that year. 3 years ago I moved back to my city and worked as a Jr. Underwriter for $25k. 2 years ago I was promoted and made $33k. 1 year ago I changed fields and went in to Software Implementation and made $47,500. Today I accepted an offer at a new company for $58,500 as a Data Analyst. I went from nearly destitute to quite comfortable (I'm in a pretty low COL area) in a few years by job-hopping. As an aside, thank you PF for helping me keep focused on my financial goals. You guys rock.

I make 1.7x my original salary now as I did in 2011. Also made the mistake of being loyal to my first company. I would advise against this as I was grossly underpaid and denied a raise several times. When I secured another offer and put in my notice, I was countered with a 40% raise. I took the counter, but in retrospect shouldn't have. The first place didn't value me and could only be forced to give raises under threat of losing talent. In the end, I left anyway for another 17% because I knew it would be like pulling teeth to get ahead there. I'm happier now, the benefits are better, and i'm not constantly putting out dumpster fires.

Awesome! Keep developing your resume and skills and you will job hop your way to better and better jobs. If you're anything like me, it is not all about the money. It is about staying interested in your career. I find I am happy in a position for about a year before I get bored.

Human: Long story short, my wife and I are terrible with money and have been reckless spenders for a long time. For the first time ever, we are on the same page about getting our debt under control and budgeting for the present and future. Here are what I believe are the relevant details, but ask me anything: Between us we have 9 open credit cards with approximately 30k in debt. Minimum monthly payment combined is $1210. APR's vary from 13%-30% We have a mortgage (990/mo plus 245 condo fees) and 1 car payment (300/mo + 63/mo ins) Cable/Internet = $115 Electric = 140 We also have $70/mo in subscriptions currently which will be cancelled. We will also be cancelling cable, but need internet for work. Not sure what that final number will look like yet. ...that doesn't even include food for the 5 of us (3 kids from ages 3-7), gas, or anything else. I make $62k (take home is about $1500 every other week) and my wife is a stay-at-home mom, but has a side job that brings in about $140 a week during the school year, and $250 during the summer. I do have a 401k, but we have no savings. HSA account has a few grand for anything other than a major medical expense. Things look bleak...in 4 years when all 3 of my kids are in school full time, she'll be able to get a full time job, and things will begin to look up, but we need to make changes now and at the very least tread water instead of drowning...I'd like to chip away, but I don't know how. We just got our tax return of 7k, and put it all towards the CC w/ the largest balance (current numbers reflected above). Any suggestions? Assistant: I didn't mention that my individual credit score is actually good, despite all of this (722). 33% utilization 0 derogatory Marks 9 years of credit history 99% payment history (290/291 on-time payments) ...essentially, we've been paying the minimum on all bills on payday, and using credit for anything else we need after running out of cash. ...like I said, reckless.

If your credit is actually that good, then consider opening a credit card with citi that offers like 18 months of zero interest. Consolidate high interest/ balances on that card as much as possible and pay as much as you can per month. I consolidated like 5 grand of cc debt into one card. I am about to pay it all off next month. And I will have paid zero dollars in interest while doing so. It has saved me close to $800 in interest so far. It was a game changer

See if you can get a credit consolidating loan from your CU? That would probably help quite a lot.

Human: I currently own a 2006 Ford fusion (paid off) with 140k miles no major issues but I might have to fix the suspension in the coming months that might get costly. I'm looking to get a new Toyota rav4 hybrid for about 30k. I have about 30k in savings and earn between 50k-60k a year. I was planning on putting 10k as a down payment or as much needed to bring the monthly payment down to $300 a month. I need to make a decision before April 1 because the dealership has a $500 rebate and 0% financing. My current monthly bills equate to around $850 a month. I definitely do not need the car but I was planning on keeping it for a long time maybe 8+ years and think it would be beneficial. Any suggestions would help.

I'd fix the Fusion. That $1,000 will buy you potentially additional years of driving in that car. Don't fret the sales. It isn't like car dealerships are going to stop having sales after May. There will always be more car sales. What is wrong with the suspension? Define "costly." Also, define "might." So, the car might NOT have to have the suspension fixed?

While I understand that building credit may seem important, and financing a vehicle may help with that, you are also financing a depreciating asset. While it may be worth 30k now, it will not be worth that amount by the time the financing term is through. I'd recommend, if you want a new vehicle, to look for something that has already taken the initial depreciation hit, slightly used. You could also put 300/month into an investment plan for the time being.

Human: I want to get the most contributions from my employer. Say I earn $100K/30years old. Here are the rules. Contribute 1-65% of eligible pay, subject to IRS limits Save in 401(k) on traditional pre tax, in after tax roth 401(k) or combination of both 50% match on first 6% to pre-tax and roth 401(k) Beyond 6%, match of 3% of annual salary True-Up Mechanism at end of year So what should I contribute to 401(k) + Roth to maximize the amount I get from employer? What is the employer contribution in this max scenario. EDIT: Here is the wording for beyond 6%. "If you contribute more than 6 percent of your eligible pay, *COMPANY* matches 3 percent of your annual compensation."

Funny wording, but I think that they are saying that their match tops out at 3% of annual salary. In other words: contribute 2%, get 1% contribute 4%, get 2% contribute 6%, get 3% contribute 6.1-65%, still get 3%

You may find these links helpful: - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k) - ["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: Hi /r/personalfinance - first off, I recognize that this isn't 100% a personal finance question, but I wasn't sure where might be a better sub to post it - I know that legal stuff goes in legaladvice, relationship stuff goes in relationships... if anyone's got a suggestion of a better venue, please let me know and I'll relocate! Anyway: so my girlfriend is the owner of a small retail business, where she does the majority of her sales online. Today, something happened that's raising red flags for both of us: she received an order from a US customer, who purchased a gift card, and paid via credit card (not using PayPal or anything, but directly entering the credit card through BigCommerce). Within less than five minutes, this gift card was immediately used to place a $200 order to be shipped to a different person in Russia (a country from which she has never received an order in the history of her business). Both customers seem to be male, which while not impossible, would not be the typical customer of her business, which caters to women. My gut feeling says that this may be a stolen credit card, and that if she were to ship this order to Russia, the initial payment would be cancelled once the cardholder discovers the charge. However, why go through the hoop of buying the gift card under a different name/American address? Apparently BigCommerce will flag transactions where the credit card country of origin doesn't match the country to which the order's being sent - maybe it's to work around that? Does this match the pattern of any scams anyone's familiar with? Anything I'm overlooking here?

Sounds pretty scammy with me. 1) Don't ship immediately. 2) You can call your credit card processing company to verify the transaction. You might be able to call the customer, but that wouldn't guarantee it goes to the credit card holder. 3) If customer calls to ask why it hasn't shipped, say "Trying to deal with Russian customs". Or trying to verify the transaction.

Definitely fraud!!! Report it if you can.

Human: Anyone know why this might be? They don't have enough money to spend either and I'm not sure how they should go about getting her into a hospital so she can be helped.

Sounds like someone needs to call mom's insurance company and ask which hospitals she can go to who will be within their network.

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Human: **TL;DR:** My sister from Panama went on a “reduced rate” vacation to Orlando, but in reality, she paid to be corner into purchasing a timeshare. She doesn’t speak English and she is now asking me for help getting out of it. I don’t even know where to start, any advice? Sorry for the long story, but I am trying to help my sister. I wish she would have told me before, but I just found out about this. She has been paying for about 2 ½ years now, but she can’t really afford it. Backstory: About 3 years ago, my sister who lives in Panama heard a radio ad saying that they would fly you to Orlando and give you room and transportation for a low rate. Anyways, she thought that she could use a vacation and she could afford it so she decided to go with it. She came and went back in 2015. I wanted to hang out with her back them, but I am in NY and I couldn’t travel to Orlando for the days she was going to be there. Fast forward to last night: I called her to wish her happy birthday and she sounded sad, I was asking her what is going on, I am older than you and I should be sadder, etc. Then she started crying and told me everything. She said between taxes and maintenance fee she pays about USD $250/mo (for her house in Panama she pays $145/mo) and although $250 doesn’t sound like a lot, in Panama the minimum wage is USD $500 mo. I told her I will try to help, but I have no clue where to start. I asked her to scan and email me the papers of this place and what she signed. She did and I received the email this morning. I can tell why she is overwhelmed; it is confusing, to say the least. There are at least 3 different places involved, but for what I see the main place seems to be “Vacation Village at Parkway”, the address seems to be from Fort Lauderdale, Fl. I have a couple of numbers to call, but before I do, I wanted to have an idea about what should I expect and the best way to just get rid of the thing. I figured that I should ask here first since you guys are great helping clueless people with money problems and this seems to be one. Also, I don’t want to end up buying a timeshare by accident. I know the easy way out is: just don’t pay it! Good luck collecting from another country, but she is thinking maybe at one point coming over and who knows staying, etc, she is young still. She doesn’t want to start with credit or immigration problems in case she decides to come because of this. I started looking into ways to get rid of timeshares last night and found places that would get rid of them for a fee, but I am trying to avoid getting scammed. Luckily I also found some good advice here on PF, something called “deedback” but I wonder if since she doesn’t speak English and everything was done in English; maybe there is some other angle?. All the papers she signed and all the mail she receives is in English. I know, not knowing the language shouldn't be an excuse, but I wonder if she was taken advantage of because of it. She even thought up until yesterday that she was buying a place, but when I explained the little I know about timeshares; you could hear her tears hit the floor. Any advice on how I can help her?

This subreddit is not the best place to get this advice. By far the best place is at: http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php They are a message board that have been helping folks for many years. You'll be blown away by what they know. They'll walk you through how best to get rid of the timeshare and what scams to avoid, etc. I assume she is paying both an annual maintenance fee AND she borrowed money to "buy the timeshare" and that is what the monthly payment is.

Try this place https://timeshareexitteam.com/. Timeshares are a waste of money and a drain on finances as your sister has found out. Therefore it's going to cost more money to get out of the timeshare. I have heard these guys basically will legally get you out of your timeshare for a price.

Human: I've heard credit cards can be helpful, but my entire family says to avoid them at all costs, no matter what. Is getting a credit card that bad, even if I am smart with my spending (Only use for gas, essentials, etc.)?

Credit cards aren't bad. Many people are irresponsible and buy things they can't afford and then blame credit cards when the only one responsible is them. Credit cards are good if you have self control and only spend what you would pay for in cash and always pay in full every month. If you aren't confident you can do this, then you should wait to get a credit card.

Is a screwdriver bad? Is a wrench? A credit card is a tool like any other. You can do good things with a screwdriver (fix shit) and bad things (stab people). It's all in how you use it.

Human: I've seen some really impressive looking graphical resumes in the tech field but I wasn't sure if this just field specific, a fad, or something today's HR departments want to see. I don't want to appear stale by just relying on an old one page Word Document.

Unless it is for a creative position (e.g., graphic designer, UI designer, etc), I would stick with a traditional looking resume. You want your resume to stand out, but not in a bad way. Plus, many job posting site for big companies just scrape the text from the document and not the graphics when uploading it into the applicant system.

Unless you're applying for a creative gig, stick with the most legible format. I applied to hundreds of jobs with my text resume and a fancied up one with cute graphics etc - text won out 7:1 on callbacks for marketing positions.

Human: So currently I'm a college student working part time, so my income is low, meaning I pay 0% on qualified dividends and long term capital gains. GME currently has dividends of over 7%, and is trading at 5.5 times earnings. However, they're an extremely risky stock, as online sales are taking over retail sales, and most games nowadays involve nontransferable licenses, thus hurting their used game model. Thus, while they yield well now, they're likely to decline in the long term if they don't adapt to changing market conditions. When I graduate, I'll probably be making a lot more to where I owe a lot in taxes. Therefore, could it help to take advantage of stocks like GME? So i take advantage of high dividend yields for a few years(which may decline), but the stock likely also depreciates due to their business model becoming obsolete. So therefore, in ~3 years when I graduate and get a decent job, I can sell, and deduct any capital losses, thus effectively reducing my loss by 25-28%. So basically, let's assume I buy $3000 worth of GME stock. I get $600 in dividend yields over the course of 3 years. However, the value of the total stocks declines to $2,250. At it's surface, that's a $150 or 5% loss, and seems terrible. However, as I paid no taxes on the dividends, but deduct the capital loss, I come out on top. I sell for $750 less than I paid for it, so I deduct $750 from income. Assuming I'm in the 25% bracket, that's $187.50 less in taxes. So in the end, even though I lost money, I end up $37.50 ahead after accounting for taxes. On the contrary, suppose GME somehow rallies(perhaps a new CEO updates their business model to one that works better), and actually appreciates in price. Assuming I held for at least a year, I can sell the year before I graduate, and pay absolutely no taxes on the gains. Am I missing something here, or is this a viable strategy?

Honestly, your question is probably better suited for /investing.

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, this is a throwaway because my friends know my Reddit username and I do not want them in my business. I am a 23 year old female. I'm getting my own apartment soon (moving out of toxic home environment). I live in NYC. I do not owe any student loans or a car and I make $6.5k a month after taxes. I also only have $600 budgeted expenses (lights/groceries/phone/internet). I have a 750 credit score and only $400 used on credit cards with $15k available credit (I treated myself to shoes ha). I have fallen in love with an apartment that is $2.9k a month. Judging that I have no debts and about $24k in savings, with my IRA maxed out for the last 3 years (I do not have a 401K) and $20k in investments accounts with no plans to move, marry, or have kids in the next 10 years, is this an okay idea? Thanks in advance. Assistant: Well, that's a lot of money as a percentage of your income, but you're in New York where I guess that's fairly standard. How do you know you can subsist on $600/month (not including rent) when you've never lived on your own. Electricity? Heat? Netflix? Internet? Car? Phone? Car insurance? Public transit costs? clothes? There are so many expenses in life that folks who don't live alone don't really account for until they start paying them. Write out an exhaustive budget that involves some research. Be realistic about costs. Have you thought about a roommate. I know your current situation sucks, but that doesn't mean every shared housing situation sucks. Living alone is a luxury good in NY, and spending half your income on a luxury at age 23 is usually a terrible idea. Human: I don't watch cable thankfully so I'm budgeting the neighborhood average (I have friends in the area) for electricity and gas. My phone is $70/mo, I meal prep and only spend $150 a month on groceries and internet here is $70/mo for FiOS. My monthly transportation is $130 for a metrocard and I do not have nor want a car. I don't owe any money for school loans or debt either. Edit: it would be living alone. There is cheaper options and I don't need a roommate, it's just this specific apartment. Assistant: Well, no debt and fixed costs make something like that easier. Do you want to travel? Save up for any big expenses? Need to replace a computer once in awhile? Do you have a good emergency fund? Furniture needs? Gifts for others? Alcohol? Restaurants? Bars? Renter's insurance? $600/month is just very, very little money. I don't want you to have a nice place and feel poor. Or live in a perfect place in your 20s at the cost of a nice retirement. Human: I'm afraid of flying so I don't have any travel plans currently. I'm not very materialistic so aside from my $7k furniture fund that will furnish my new place, I have nothing much to buy. I build computers and photograph as a hobby but I just purchased a new build and my camera is currently solid--just got new lenses. I have $24k in my savings as an emergency fund. No friends so no need for gifts lol I also do not drink so no alcohol needs or bars. My renters insurance is $22/mo and is budgeted in the $600/month expenses. After my budget, if I pretend I pay rent, I have $2k unaccounted for a month. Assistant: > After my budget, if I pretend I pay rent, I have $2k unaccounted for a month. I think that's your key fact right there. Lots of people here are giving you heat over the 600/month living budget. While I admit that I, too, think this is very low (side note: you mention you have a dog, but no mention of dog stuff in the budget), even if your actual expenses were *three times as much*, you'd still be left with $800/month for savings/slush fund. So I think you can do it. Also, $7k furniture fund sounds really generous. You can find amazing furniture for free/cheap. If you're feeling a little hesitant, maybe try re-assigning a part of it to some kind of "higher rent offset fund" since this place is 3.6-8.4k more a year than your original budget of 2.2-2.6k. Human: My dog expenses are $100/mo. It was counted it actually but didn't mention it. I get his food delivered monthly for $75 plus poop bags or whatever he may need. He goes to work with me so no need for a dog walker. I was actually looking at Wayfair. Im so used to buying cheap because I have to rather I want to buy pieces I actually want and enjoy for myself.

The secondary market for furniture tends to excellent for buyers s well.

Be sure to budget for vet costs, which are astronomical in NYC.

Human: It's a warehouse job and the position I am being interviewed for is 'Operations Associate.' The hourly wage is $10.50 - $17.00. I have 4 years experience doing Aviation Supply in the military and I have been out of the warehouse workforce for 2.5 years. I was going to try to bargain somewhere between $14.00 - $15.00 because of experience. Is that reasonable? Should I ask higher or lower? It's a full time position however I listed on the application and resume I am a full time college student so part time is more preferred until summer rolls around.

Always always always ask for the maximum you can get if you are lucky enough to know the range. Never count on a raise and never count on overtime. The strategy that I use is to ask for the annual amount that you want that corresponds with the hourly amount. $17 per hour is about $35k a year. That's a good round number to ask for. So it goes like this: interviewer "so what are you looking to make?" You "I would be really happy with an annual salary at or above 35 a year" if they ask why just tell them that this is the amount you have calculated to meet your family and household needs as well as remain competitive in the industry. Good luck!!

Go for 15-17 an hour and if they give you 14 you'll be happy. the part time might hurt you. If they start you lower with the "idea" of getting a bump in pay once you go FT, the bump usually isn't very good. So try to get commitments up front if they are willing

Human: Hi PF! I've historically been extremely bad with money and saving. At 24 I had about $500 in the bank, $32,000 in student loans, and about $10,000 in credit card debt and was making ~$30,000 per year, spending $1150 on rent (56% of my take home pay). It was really not sustainable and I was going into deeper debt as I couldn't keep up with payments, insurance, tuition, and a lifestyle that exceeded my income. A friend recommended Mr Money Mustache and related blogs and after reading them for a while eventually something clicked. Fast forward today I am 28. I have a new job paying $56,000, I'm still only paying $1150 on rent, I have a ~$15,000 emergency fund, I have eliminated all credit card debt, and sold my car (commute by bike) so no insurance or maintenance costs. I still have ~$27,000 in student loans to pay off with a ~$300 per month minimum payment. I'm on track to save ~$17,000 this year. At the end of the year I could pull the remainder from my emergency fund and pay off my entire loan at the end of the year and be debt free for the first time in my life. However, I see a lot of advice on the forum to just make minimum payments and invest instead. However, I'm not sure what the interest threshold would be to consider weighing that as an option (as well as the mental freedom of being debt-free). The interest rate on my loan is floating and is prime + 2.7%. In the last 5 years in Canada the prime rate has fluctuated from 2.7% to 3% so at most the interest on the loan over the next few years is about 5.7%. Does it make sense for me to pay this off or should I be taking that money and investing it elsewhere? TL;DR $27,000 student loan at 5.7%. $15,000 in savings. No investments.

People who tell you to make minimum payments and invest instead are poor. Ignore them. Do **not** wait to pay them off in a lump sum. You pay avoidable interest that way. Just pay the things off.

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: I had two months where I couldn't afford the Affordable Care Act mandated coverage... http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/21/president-trumps-aca-order-appears-target-mandate/ this says the executive order removed the mandate This article furthers details http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/14/irs-blow-to-obamacare-individual-mandate And says IRS has to process returns missing that form field data where you report coverage NPR has an editorial though saying the opposite... http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/02/08/513755719/even-if-you-expect-obamacare-to-be-repealed-dont-skip-paying-tax-penalty-now So...Should I submit my return sans that form (I did get the coverage form note from my insurer for the months I was covered. Btw it's even messier since I changed carriers since BCBST left my state while I lost my coverage...

Executive orders don't outweigh Federal law, I wouldn't risk messing with the IRS and the fact is you may not even owe the penalty as you might qualify for an exemption. If you were without coverage for only 2 months, you would most likely qualify for the stop gap exemption: https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions-tool/#/results/2016/details/short-gap

Washington Times and reason.com have an ideological ax to grind. Don't trust them when you're trying to do your taxes properly in the real world. If Friday's events mean anything it's that nothing is too clear on the future of health care law. You're allowed a short gap in coverage. Just follow current law.

Human: Its not so much a bonus as it is money my employer owed me due to an accounting error. Either way its $3000 (after taxes) on top of my $1000 pay check. * Currently owe 16.5k on my car (all payments have been on time since I got the loan 1.5 years ago). * owe $200 on my credit card. * Have about $2000 in my emergency fund. * No other debt and all bills paid. My question is how should I distribute this money? Im thinking $1000 into my car loan, pay off my credit card, and throw $1000 in savings. But that still leaves me with about $800 left over from the "bonus". So maybe 1800 in savings? What would you reccomend. edit: $3000 after taxes.

I would pay the CC and the rest to EM fund.

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/ https://i.imgur.com/CcEVQAV.png

Human: I will be returning to my state university to finish my business degree. I understand perfectly that this means I will have almost no social life and a limited amount of sleep, but as a 24-year-old man supporting himself, I don't have a choice. I have already applied for FAFSA back in October, and am estimated to get a $3,700 Pell Grant and I have just over $3,500 left in a 529 college fund my grandparents set up for me many years ago. I will be living off campus to save money and will be working full-time​ as a server in my restaurant job to pay my bills. How can I effectively manage my time and money to survive the next 4 years?

I do this. I work 50-60 hours a week and am at university full-time. It CAN be done. I haven't seen friends in months and I've had to cut out time with a lot of family as well but it's well worth it. Some things that helped me: 1. Carry your books everywhere! You have no idea how much time is wasted sitting around for a doctors appointment, on the bus, at work, etc. 2. Schedule your time thoroughly. Get a planner and write EVERYTHING down. If your friends want to hang out last minute, its gotta be a "no." 3. Meal prep - I spend my sunday evenings grocery shopping and meal preping for the entire week. Helps save on money of course but then I'm not running out to grab something on my lunch break which equals more time to study! 4. I record my lectures and then listen to them around the house while I clean and meal prep on Sundays as an extra study tool to help me do well. You can do this. It will be hard and you will want to quit sometimes but you definitely can! Good luck.

Seriously, get a script for adderall.

Human: Hi PF, I recently graduated from college and am fortunate enough to be in a field that pays decent off the bat (software engineer). I have 24k in student loans that I plan to have completely paid off in about 5 weeks, but at that point I wont have much (any?) money to my name. I'm also considering buying a new civic (i have a 97 with 200k miles with inspection due this month that Im thinking wont pass). I like the civic cause it is reliable, good on gas, and will last practically forever without maintenance. I'm currently living at home paying $600/month still to help me save up, but I'm at a point where I really need to move out for my mental sanity. So basically looking at apartments a 1 bedroom in my area is ~$1600 /mo, or I could share a 2 bedroom for ~2k and pay ~1k a mo. There's houses in my area though for 350-400k that I really like. On a 400k loan I calculated the monthly payment would be ~$1850. I know that I also will have more utilties, property tax, house maintenance, etc. So basically im assuming it will be about $2500 month. So in my mind, yes i'm paying ~$700 more a month, but with everything factored I'm actually not really spending more cause the tax write off i'll get. I currently take home just above 4k a month. To me, my payments giving me equity is obviously so much better than paying rent. And even with estimates on extra taxes and maintenance, I think it's a modest increase in payment for that benefit, and with the write off it proably just about washes out. I would also much rather live in a house than an apartment if I had a choice, no risk of noisy neighbors etc. Anyways I haven't put a ton of thought into this, but i'd love some feedback. I would be student loan free before doing the move. I dont have the 20% to put down, so i'm sure I'd have PMI unless there's some sort of deal for fresh college grads. Assistant: What is your gross income per month? You may have a hard time getting approval for a mortgage that big on your income. Human: 86k /year

That house is way out of your price range.

$86k/yr is very low to be buying a $350k house. Especially if you don't have the 20% down. And you can expect the taxes, insurance, and PMI on a $350-400k house in a high cost of living area to be way more than $650/mo. Then utilities on top of that (probably another $300/mo or so, plus cable/internet).

Human: As the title states; My girlfriend was diagnosed with Leukemia last year and went through Chemotherapy at a number of large medical facilities. A year later, she's in full remission, which is wonderful and the best news possible. ... BUT... She now owes money to a variety of Medical institutions including three area hospitals, a few doctors offices, medical testing labs, you name it, she has an account there. She is currently unemployed (Because of the intensive treatment), and unable to work for at least the next year. What compounds and complicates her situation further is that she is young and unskilled with no current future career path. This meaning that her chances of being able to even make payments at all are pretty slim to none. What are her options? Would filing for Bankruptcy be a fitting option at her age (early 20s)? IF so, what does that process entail? She does not own any property or anything of great value. Assistant: Try having her call up the hospitals and see if they do anything based off income. I had a hard time paying some medical bills after my own cancer treatments a year ago, and called into the billing department at the hospital. I was pretty up front about my situation and said that I want to pay the bill but I don't have the money. Do you do payment plans, forgiveness, or anything like that? They quite readily let me know that they had income based forgiveness. If I made under 21k it was 100% forgiven after insurance paid out. If I made under 71k it was reduced by 75%. I just had to prove it with my taxes and w2 verifying my income, and they asked about my expenses. Wish I had known about it earlier, I'd have more of my hard earned dollars today. I am very grateful that it exists for my hospital! Human: OP Here Interesting... I'll have to look into this I was aware of forgiveness/discharge programs, but i was under the impression that it was not this generous. Thanks!

Varies wildly by hospital for sure, but definitely worth a quick couple of phone calls to find out!!

I think they use these programs to forgive the debts of patients like the homeless, who are just completely unable to pay. I know they also allow it for other unemployed/low income patients so you're girlfriend should definitely qualify for some type of break.

Human: In May, I graduated highschool. In August, I moved out and now live on my own with a full-time job. In November I turned 19. I am going to university but I'm not a "full time" student, I'm not even enrolled in any classes this semester. Even though I fail every IRS test, my dad stills wants to claim me as a dependent. Edit: I made this post in ignorance, missed a few words in the IRS guidelines so it sounded to me that my dad trying to claim me as a dependent was him trying to commit tax fraud. Assistant: Didn't you attend a school for 5 months in 2016? It seems that your dad can claim you as a dependent for 2016. Human: I was in highschool until May, so yes. Though I still moved out and provided for myself for 4 months of the year, but my dad most likely still provided for more than half of my support throughout the year so that isn't an issue. Thanks for the help!

So your father can claim you. Unless you made more money than he did, it's probably to your family's net advantage that he do so. You can file taxes in any event.

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. But yes, the bottom line is that you should file your own taxes, but mark that someone else can claim you as a dependent. That means you will pay more in taxes this year since you won't have the personal exemption, but since you only worked for four months, you probably won't hit the higher tax brackets anyway. 2017 is a different story though. Make it clear that come April 2018, you will be claiming yourself for this fiscal year.

Human: I'm 19, unemployed, desperate for a place to myself. Just lost my job of 6 months for being shitty during rushes (oops :/ i guess i made the mistake of just applying to any old place for money, rather than places i knew i would be able to handle). lost it 2 months ago. been filling out apps. still unemployed after 2 months. been saying on my apps that i have no experience. had an interview finally, but no calls back. i'm getting depressed and scared that i'll never find anything. even making minimum would suffice for me, however what i would REALLY like is to make a living wage bc i'm desperate for a place to myself. family is toxic. NOT abusive, though, so since they're not ABUSIVE i can't exactly use that as an excuse for extra advantages. They're toxic, but not abusive, it's different & complicated. Sometimes I wish they would lay hands on me just so I can have that advantage. Anywho. My family situation isn't the primary problem here, my financial situation is. Is it even possible to make a living wage with no experience? Thing is, when I get my own place I will also be self employed. With good pay. I don't want to speak too much on what I'll be doing (Just know that I know it's legal and that it is NOT a scam. Reason I know this is because I've actually DONE it before and was making GREAT money, reason I stopped is more of a personal matter, which entailed a combination of things, one of which was that I didn't feel comfortable working from home whilst living with this toxic family, whom I knew would sabatage everything [and already did at times when i WAS doing said job]) So basically, I just about have my ducks in line. Have a great career plan. Thing is, I just need a house to KICK IT OFF and then I'll be GREEAAT!! But the way life is set up, idk how I'll even get this damn house in the FIRST place!! Sad I can't implement this yet. Any advice?

You may want to try a different sub. You don't seem to be asking for any kind of financial advice. And as a sidenote, I understand that a toxic family is tough, but please don't wish they were abusive. There aren't any "advantages" awarded to people who have abusive family members.

Only way you're moving out is if you get a job. Pretty simple.

Human: Hi PF, A friend of mine is having surgery. She didn't disclose to me the cost of the procedure but she claims the hospital told her she would only have to pay half of her deductible​ (I remember her telling me she had medicaid). Later she contacts me and says the hospital is asking for her full deductible​ and she needs 2k so I wired her the money. I've never been to a public hospital or undergone surgery before, but I am curious of a few things. Will a public hospital demand the payment for the cost of a surgery in full, upfront? Would they even ask for any payment upfront? Would a hospital ever ask for half of a deductible​? Much thanks in advance!

You already wired it? You have seriously goofed here man

http://www.lawhelpnc.org/resource/faqs-medicaid-deductible

Human: Hello - I have a question on contribution limits for retirement accounts. Can I put $18k in my 401k, $5,500 in my IRA, and $5,500 in a Roth IRA? Also, how do you set up an IRA if I already have a 401k through my employer? Thanks for any help you can provide.

You can only put $5500 total into IRAs of any kind. You can set up a traditional or Roth IRA through a broker. Vanguard is a popular one with low fees.

You may find these links helpful: - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k) - ["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: Good evening all, So as I stated I got a bill for $1500 from an anaesthesiologist and the date of service is for a surgery in June of 2015. I know I paid this bill in January of 2016 (I remember laughing because the anaesthesiologist's last name on the bill was Butts..haha) but they claim I owe. They will not provide the name of the provider, just the name of the company. They will not provide me an invoice for services rendered. Should I just let them send me to collections and then dispute it? File a complaint somewhere? I really don't have money for an attorney. And why are they sending me a bill nearly 2 years after the surgery? Is this common? Any help would be great.

Sounds like a scam. Call the hospital from the number on thier website and confirm. I think you'll be pleased that there is no bill.

this sounds like that debt buyer scam/ zombie debt that John Oliver did a piece about

Human: Ii currently don't have really any credit, and I'm looking into buying a "new" truck and was wondering if I should take a single loan out for 28k at my local credit union, or, take a loan out for 18k, then take another one at my place of work for 10k. I work for a municipal and we have our own private credit union, and the loan for 10k will be directly withdrawn from my paycheck. EDIT: sorry for the lack of information everyone. I'm a 3rd step Apprentice Lineman making $38.92 hourly, with a minimum of 10 hours of overtime per week. I can pay cash, as I have with my motorcycle, and my weekend car, but I have a "nasty" habit of buying cash, and only recently got a credit card, roughly 6 months ago. Now that I'm looking to get away from renting, and want to buy property, I need to build my credit. I can get the loan through work, but since it's a private credit union they don't report credit to anyone, so it's like I never got a loan in the first place. Private credit union is 2.999% and my bank is doing a loyalty promotion right now for 2.999% also.

Sounds to me like you're buying more truck than you can afford.

Get at least 3 loans.

Human: Hey guys! I normally read this subreddit in a more, I'm poor-ish how do I not starve, sorta way. But that has changed (yay!). I'm an independent contractor that started a full time job a month ago (still being paid as an independent contractor). I'm going from earning 30k a year to around 100k this year. I normally use Turbo Tax, however, that won't be enough now that I need to pay taxes quarterly. I know I need an accountant and a financial advisor, but finding one that I feel secure with is proving difficult. **What criteria should I be using? Anyone use one in the LA area that they love?** I have no credit card debt. I have a 12k car loan at a reasonable interest rate. I also have about 20k in student loan debt, all of which is at a low interest rate. **Should I pay these off within the year or go slow and steady incase of a rainy day?** Before this job I had around 20k in a money market savings account, earning 1% interest. **Should I do anything with this? Add to it or move it to someplace more useful?** I just got myself a Roth IRA and I'm considering a 401k. **Is there anything else to do with my money?** **What other questions should I be asking that I haven't thought about yet?** Thanks in advance! Every bit of advice helps!

>"I know I need an accountant and a financial advisor" You don't need either of these at 100k. Do some research and buy a book. Good accountants are expensive and financial advisers will rip you off. Pay off your debt as soon as possible and continue to live like you make 30k for as long as you can.

First things first. I have no idea what industry you're in, but you need to ask yourself if it's recession-proof. Do NOT escalate consumption patterns or get yourself into debt you cannot afford if your income were to take a dump. Save like a motherfucker bro. Put trailing stops on everything. Make sure your brokerage firm isn't complete shit. Many of the discount brokers just stopped working when trade volume exploded the last meltdown. Also you want to make sure they aren't invested in some bullshit derivatives or other wonky shit that could cause them to go bankrupt in a credit crunch/depression. Don't keep more than 100k at a single bank, and even FDIC insurance is worthless because of how laughable their reserves are in a real crisis. We're living in an era of public shouldering the risk so the few can stay wealthy. Money market accounts are NOT SAFE in a downturn. They were toying around with the idea of implementing policies that would freeze MMAs indefinitely until a period of "economic crisis" was over. What a joke. Roth IRA at a good brokerage firm, sure. 401k IF they do good matching. Trailing stops on everything, open up a testing ground trading account and backtest acceptable stop %'s to simulate last crash if you're technically inclined. Maybe around 20-25%. Get prepared for a wild ride, it's coming fast. Also, LA area? Wait for all these morons who bought FHA loans at near nothing down to go bankrupt when rates raise and their home values implode. Tons of home flippers and REITs and dumb construction money still hanging around too long too. Then would be the time to jump into the market, possibly a few years after everything unhinges and it starts to recover. Learn fast, if you learn fast enough and are prepared with the funds you will set yourself up to have a freer financial future for the rest of your life from one 5 year period of time.

Human: I really get excited just by seeing dead things. I love paleontology and I love reading about dinosaurs and other extinct fauna. For college, I was thinking of applying to MIT as a reach school and Penn State as a target school. I will be taking several AP/IB's in my high school career. I'm also doing some paleo research for my school and I am in a paleontology society. I was thinking about going out west over the summer to help with a fossil-collection project. I highly doubt I'd get accepted into MIT (if I did, that'd be lovely, lol), but realistically if I get into Penn State, I'm hoping I can get some good scholarships. I was wondering how I could best apply myself as a paleontologist to not launch my entire family into crippling debt? Are there any profitable fields a person with a duel bio-geo undergrad with a paleo doctorate can enter more easily? Or should I go the biochemistry route to analyze extinct biomaterials? I definitely want to minor in a language and perhaps in programming to supplement my education. Would I have job security if I entered paleontology as a field? Would my degree get me anywhere? Essentially, I don't want to wall myself up into this one field, spend all this money on a doctorate, and wind up finding out that, surprise, no money, no jobs, $200k in debt! Any help on this topic would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Nothing to add to the viability of paleontology, but mad props to you for asking this question at 15. I do know that my sister in-law with a Masters in Zoology (and an MBA although not utilized) earns about a third of what I do as a C grade business student (7 years out). She has traveled to some really cool places for free though. Galapagos islands etc.

Read through /r/geologycareers. Paleontology is (was?) applicable to oil and gas exploration if you're interested in micro fossils. There could also be climate related job opportunities but it's probably going to be a life of research and teaching. It's pretty much impossible for you to know if you would enjoy a life of academia at this point in your life but if you are passionate about it I would encourage you to give it a shot.

Human: I read this quote by Jack Ma the other day, and I believe Bill Gates also said something along the same lines, "If you are born poor its not your fault, But if you die poor its your mistake". What's everybody's thoughts on this? I feel like this is semi-true.. for example almost anybody can try and get out of poor conditions and at least earn a decent life (middle to upper-middle class) if they worked hard, *but certainly not necessarily become rich*.. ? especially by that age. Enter workforce by 22-23, get decent savings/income by 30, start investing and maybe get to a good situation by 35 but certainly not "rich", if you started with nothing.. its gotta take a lot more time than that unless you got lucky with certain opportunities/investments/timing/etc..

The land of opportunity has become a bit tighter in recent decades. Sure some people make it from the 'hood to good', I did, but most do not despite working hard. It's not really how much you get, it is more of how much better you are now versus where you started and that isn't necessarily defined by money.

I think there are two different points that have to be kept in mind. First, in the US and other first world countries, it is true that almost everyone who is poor is poor because of mistakes and bad decisions that they made. Most commonly dropping out of high school and having children out of wedlock, although being convicted of multiple felonies is also a problem. (These mistakes are much more difficult to overcome than, say, excessive spending leading to bankruptcy.) *However*, it's important to note that it's much easier for people from educated stable two-parent families to make good decisions than it is for people raised in poverty by a single parent who didn't graduate from HS and works at McDonald's. It's really hard to model appropriate behavior if you rarely see it.

Human: I would like to invest in my niece and nephew's future by starting a some sort of account but have no idea of what my better options are. They are 6 and 8 about. I am not sure I want them to know I have the accounts for them and I also would like to set some kind of parameters. What are my options?

If you would like it to be used for their education, open a 529 plan accounts for each. You remain the holder of the account and retain the right to set and change investments in the account and even change beneficiaries, if the need arises. The money grows and can be used tax free to help pay for their qualified education expenses. You can but don't have to tell them about the accounts until they are ready to use it. You probably will have to tell your sibling (their parent) because you'll probably need their SSNs to open the accounts. $500/yr that will grow tax free over the next 10-12 years is such a great gift.

You may find these links helpful: - ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [Investing wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing) *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 almost 21 years old, no credit, and nobody I can ask to be a cosigner. I'm about to start a full time job this coming Monday, 11 bucks/hr (I know not a lot) and I have almost 2 grand in savings. I'm looking to move out of a very abusive home by June, and I live in Southern California. My current car is a very beat up 1997 Honda Civic that is slowing dying on me, had tons of issues before I was given it and has started to overheat a lot recently. I need a new car but I'm honestly clueless on what is the best option for me. If I move out in June, I'm looking at rent being between $500-700/month for a room and utilities. My car insurance is $100/month (I've been in two minor accidents since I was 17, and I get this insurance discounted because my parents are veterans, not sure if that is relevant). I hope to get some money from my tax return soon. I can't live with this abuse at home anymore, I'm honestly terrified for the next few months. If anybody can give me any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Fix the civic, that's your best bet. Spend the 2k on repairs. They're good cars

Look on Craiglist. If you already know how to fix a lot of stuff on your old 1997 Honda Civic, you can find a better 1997 Honda Civic, trnasfer the good parts into the newer car, and your insurance and registrstion shouldn't go up at all.

Human: I'm married with no kids currently. Last year my wife and I got $2200 back from our taxes, and this year we owe $4000. I have realized that we made a lot more money this year than last year and we weren't withholding enough each month to cover our new incomes. So my question is how to avoid this in the future. In June we will be having our first child and she will stop working (except for some part-time hourly work). I make 114,000/year and that will be our only income. I do some freelance work on the side (1099) and I'm sure to save at least 30% of it for taxes. What should I set my exemption status to when she stops working? I fear that 0 won't be enough and we will owe money again next year.

I find that completing the w-4 honestly and using that number of allowances usually gets me in the right ballpark.

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: For starters, I know very little if anything about buying/trading stocks so any tips or insights are welcome. I was thinking about opening an account with something like E-Trade or Fidelity and purchasing stock. Is there a standard "minimum" as far as a good starting point with how much money I would need?

I would recommend against investing in individual stocks unless you have the knowledge (and willingness) to read the financial reports and understand what is happening. Otherwise, you will inevitably lose money and not know why. If you agree with a company's ideals and values, support them as a customer. It will be a lot more valuable than blindly supporting them as an investor.

You may find these links helpful: - ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [Investing wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing) *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: This is probably a dumb question but I donated some money in late January of this year and am currently filing my 2016 taxes. Can I include these donations on my 2016 tax return, or do I have to wait until next year's tax return to include this?

Donations in 2017 can be claimed when you file 2017 taxes.

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 recently sold property in Jordan and need to send it back here. What would be the best way to get it bac here. Thanks in advance

For a large amount like that the only real way is via wire transfer. Chat with the bank FX desk (foreign exchange) to see who offers the best rate. Side edit: be sure to file a FBAR with your tax return by April 18th.

Can you open an account with an international Bank with branches in Jordan and the united States?

Human: My husband has an old 401k from his previous job and we were thinking about rolling it over into an IRA. It has about $1,700 in it. However, this summer will be very tight for us because I'm a pre-k teacher and I don't get paid during summers. I have found a summer job and we have some savings but I'm worried it won't be enough. I'd like to cash out the old 401k and put it in our savings account to get us through the summer just in case. How do we go about doing that? Are there any tax penalties that we'll have to worry about? Anything else that's important that we should know?

Cashing it out is generally a really bad idea. I would first look at tightening up your budget as a means to get through the summer and spend the next school year saving to cover the next summer's months without an income. Roll it into an IRA. And if it really comes down to it and you need to cash it out, all of the same penalties will apply. Just know that if this is traditional pretax money, you will lose about 40% of it when you cash out.

There are tax penalties unless you take it out as a loan and pay it back. You should avoid this if you can.

Human: I currently work in an affordable city in the US and was approached by a former colleague for a position in their company at a $20,000 raise. The actual salary wasn't given, just more of a "would you move for 20k then you make now?" The colleague would now be my boss and the move would essentially be a lateral move. Here's my question, I LOVE where I work now, the firm is about half the size of the firm courting me and only has 1 office vs several for the courting firm. Both firms are privately owned by just a few people, but my gut tells me to stay where I am. Thoughts? I can provide answers to questions - obviously this is a throwaway account.

people work for income and many fear change....and why they stay in jobs making less. You need to discuss the offer more to get specifics. I will safely say this, you have no idea at this moment whether you would NOT love the new job in a year....of hate your existing job in a year

Go to a formal job interview and ask Why İ should pick you? if they are not convincing just leave it. Don't just compare the salary, look at the other employees or employers, location, their reputation and such. it might be a trap, open your eyes! Good luck bro

Human: Credit score is 800+, and we have the money in reserves, but I'd rather now draw that down for the minimal amount of interest I'd be paying in this case. I can do a personal loan through AMEX at "up to 6.98%" which makes me think I might be able to get a lower rate due to high scores. Alternatively, a home equity loan would be available, but I'm thinking fees would eat up the difference in rates. What say you?

Home Depot offers 2 year interest free financing on large purchases. Even when the promo was over, I talked to a manager and was able to get it do to the fact that I was spending more than $2000 at once. The card helped me out a lot last summer while doing renovations.

HELOC or Construction Loan then pay it off when you can. You'll still have cash flow/e-fund if things go pear shaped with the reno and they provide pretty insanely low interest rates (highest rate might be prime plus 2 but I wouldn't be surprised if they gave you prime or prime minus half) because you're using it to build more equity into the home.