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Human: Hello , So currently I’m 24 years old, and have a stable job making roughly $65k/yr before taxes. My girlfriend who I live with makes roughly $25k/year before taxes. I have a car payment of 450/mo, about 160$/mo in student loans, 250/mo for our auto insurance, and about a few hundred in bills and other expenses. I’m the main bread winner obviously and I have about 1500$ paychecks bi-weekly, and monthly bonus checks as well, ranging anywhere from 250-1500. We pay 730 for rent right now and are very comfortable paying this price. Since I am now making a lot more money than I used to, I would easily be able to be paying more monthly for housing, and still be able to save and have extra money. What would you guys advise about buying a house? Is this a wise choice right now? Do we have enough annual income to be doing such? What should a good rule of thumb be for a price range? I know next to nothing about finances, and have never been in s situation where I’m contemplating this, so I want to make smart moves only.

First: property values where you live are going to be a huge deciding factor here. If you're in Iowa and can get a house you like for $120k, I think you'll do fine. If you live in SF or NYC or some other place with sky-high property values, kiss the house dream goodbye for a good long time. Do you know about how much a house in your area with the features you want would cost? Second: how's your credit? You can get a lower interest rate with a better credit score. If you don't have credit, or your score is low because you haven't had credit cards/loans for very long, you should work to increase it before you buy a house. Third: since I haven't seen it explicitly stated yet, I'll go ahead and get it out of the way: don't buy a house with someone you aren't married to. (I'm a hypocrite about that, BTW, and I currently have zero regrets about my decision, but it's one of the most commonly repeated pieces of advice I see on here.) If you buy on your income alone, GF should pay rent as outlined in a lease agreement with you, and if that's insufficiently romantic for you, you can always save her rent and gift it back to her when you get married or want to go on a vacation or have kids or whatever. You've gotten a ton of good advice about how to plan for down payments and home repair costs, so I won't go into much detail there. I will second the fact that houses are expensive. My house fund is my highest-funded savings account, and I'll still be saving for years to be able to do the things I want to do with it. As for the 20% down ... if you're looking at a $300k house, yes, 20% down would be $60k. Look around you though; do you need to spend $300k in your city to get the house you want? If you want a house that goes for $200k, you need $40k to make a 20% down payment. Still a lot, but maybe a little more doable. 20% is only a hard and fast rule for PMI; it isn't a hard and fast rule for getting a loan. Some lenders will give you a loan with as little as 5% down. I put 10% down. If your down payment is less than 20% of the cost of the home, you have to make an additional payment called PMI (private mortgage insurance) on top of the loan principal, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI), which the banks do to cover their butts in case property values go down, you default on your loan, and they've paid $200k for a house that now will only sell for $150k. I pay $43/month in PMI, and that will continue until I've paid off 20% of the value of the house. I did the math once and I was much better off buying when I did with 10% down and paying PMI than waiting until I had the full 20% and getting stuck with a higher interest rate, but of course, YMMV and who knows what interest rates will be in the future.

People will tell you it’s stupid to buy a house with less than 20 percent down but the truth is that is very difficult nowadays, especially if you’re a first time home buyer. My fiancée and I are looking at houses to buy in the next year and we will likely only have 8-10 percent as we are funding the wedding. You’re paying more for the house in the long run with a lower down payment, sure, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Human: I have been working for a government agency for the past year and 8 months where I make 48k/year plus a pension and great benefits. HOWEVER, there is very little room for growth. I love the four day a week schedule and flexibility. I don't like the beaurocratical structure and slow paced work. I got a job offer at an international law firm with 18 offices where I would be making 65k a year with 401k and health benefits. The glassdoor reviews are 65% positive and 35% negative. I did not see many reviews for the position that I would be hired for. They just opened up the 18th branch so I would be joining the bran new branch! What do you think about public vs. private sector jobs? It took a year for me to get the government job but I really don't like it. Also: I work 4/10hr. days for my government job but I would be working 5 days a week at the law firm but 37 hour weeks. Hope I made sense.

If you want to make more and work *a lot* more go for it. Just give up on the idea of a pension, union, and job stability.

Unless they offer 100k in your case, I would not go. Im current federal employee who has very little salary compare to the equivalent area jn the private sector as well.

Human: Hi, so I recently sent my resume to someone for a job, they said the position was filled but someone else was hiring. So I sent my resume to the new person and they said after a few follow up questions that I was confirmed for the job. The job was to basically take care of financial stuff and do errands for a 60 year old woman. She told me that she would be back in Cali for an interview after her business trip, but I replied that I wouldn’t be able to because I was living in Hawaii and would be moving back in a couple months. The email I sent was pretty much disregarded and she sent me another email listing some of my first tasks. One of which was to schedule a plane trip for her. A check came in the mail for 2500 dollars, which I assume was from her to do her stuff. But never did I explicitly accept the job, nor did I sign anything, nor did I confirm literally anything at all. What do I do with the check? I also don’t ONE HUNDRED PERCENT know that the check was from her, there was no letter or info just the check from a bank in Minnesota. And what should I do in general. Im very confused at this situation. Edit: also wondering if it’s illegal to cash the check Assistant: It's a scam. They'll ask you to buy something with the money from the check or send them part of the money back (claiming that they 'accidentally overpaid you' or some other BS), then the check will bounce and you'll be on the hook for it. By that point you'll have already sent them money or plane tickets or something else, and you'll be screwed. This is an incredibly common check scam that people fall for every day, and people actually post about it on here pretty frequently. There's 0% chance that someone that didn't know you offered you a job and sent you money before you even accepted the job or did any work for them. Human: Ahh interesting, I didn’t think about that. What if I cashed the check and it did end up actually going through what then?

You'll get the money within a day or two, but it still takes the bank about 5 days to receive the funds, so either way you're on the hook to the bank for that money. Shred the check, it's definitely a scam. Other people here will say "it's probably a scam." But this is a definite. No legitimate company would ever send someone a check for a job they haven't accepted. It just doesn't happen.

It won't go through. You'll be left holding the bag for NSF charges ($25 to $50), future deposits in your bank account will take longer, and - depending on how strict your bank's security controls are - risk getting your bank account shut down. Shred the check, and in the future, know that any job that requires you deposit payments and then forward them is a scam.

Human: Hi Gang. Due to recently moving and also due to the pay schedule my company has, I've needed to live somewhat paycheck to paycheck when it comes to the biggest expense I have: Rent. Rent is due on the 1st but I've been needing to pay rent on the 4th or 5th when the direct deposit goes in. Landlord is starting to get cranky about it. Is there anything I can do to stave him off a bit or buy some time? Guy just sent me a somewhat aggressive 'reminder' email and it is concerning. Is there anything I can do in this situation? Thanks. Portmoor

You are 100% in the wrong on this. If rent is due the first it's due the first. You agreed to that when you moved in and now you're the one trying to skirt the agreement.

rent is due when its due and its up to you to structure YOUR finances to pay it on time. As a landlord, I allowed 2 late payments before I invoked a penalty of 10% as was in the lease we had.

Human: Car salesman says he has an Audi Q7 that is certified pre-owned and in good condition...it's only 2 years old, only has 17,312 miles. I test drove it, looked at the Carfax report he provided... everything seemed fine. ​ But then he said, "It's actually not certified pre-owned.. I was wrong... it's just used so we lowered the price." ​ But I don't understand...it's a 2017 Audi Q7, purchased in 2016, only has 17,130 miles on it. Previous owner drove it for only 2 yrs. It was a leased car. So what gives? Why take away the CPO-ness? ​ Audi's CPO qualifications are 1) 300 point inspection, 2) 5 model years or newer, 3) < 60k miles...I guess the only thing I don't have so far is the 300 point inspection report... I think I just answered my own question. There's probably something on that report that makes this a "used" car and not a CPO car. But please educate me if I'm being too sensitive here... ? ​ He also was murky on the warranty issue... said it wouldn't be based on time, but on number of miles? This is getting fishy now that I write this out... but again, if I'm being too twitchy... please let me know. I get a new car every 10 years...not a skill I have at the ready...

Don’t buy the car. There is some issue with the car that is preventing them from calling it a CPO. It sounds like you know you want a CPO, so I’d say move onto the next car.

From memory the Audi warranty is 4 years or XX miles, and CPO adds another 2 years and XX miles. I bought a Q5 that was a couple of years old and got one that was CPO but there were a ton that weren’t. I think it gets pretty specific, like x% tread left on the tires etc., it’s not really just a gloss over inspection. They have to make a call on how much extra they would get in sales price to make it CPO, vs cost of getting it there (e.g if they had to put new tires on). They may have looked at it and decided it wasn’t worth it. I would compare this car to an equivalent that is CPO to see the price delta (this one should be cheaper) and then work out whether that delta is worth it to you.

Human: Why do some people care so much about making sure their last name stays successful after they die. I understand that they want the best for their kids but anything beyond their kids and perhaps grand kids why does it matter anymore? I would long gone and I would feel hesitant to trust multiple generations to preserve wealth or the family name. There are many sayings and articles that 3 generations is average for family wealth to dissapear. All it takes is one bad apple who has a spending problem or perhaps a gambling problem. Is there anyone else like me who feels confused as to why people care so much about their last name being succesful later on? I personally feel once we die, we die... so enjoy life while we can and just leave enough for kids to live semi to real comfortable and that is THAT. People who start companies and care for it to survive or for their last name to leave legacy value, I see MANY people care about this but I do not at all. Am I in the minority here? Or perhaps am I missing where the value is for preserving wealth or the last name for generations way beyond mine? Responses and discussion much much appreciated!!!

I don't care about generations beyond my adopted kids. I plan on leaving them everything I have and it's on them to leave anything to kids they may have

Generally speaking, it's tradition and bucking tradition in this circumstance ends up hurting the next generation. I can tell you I know of several families that had their grandparents pass and there were decent inheritances. All of these people benefited for it, in a visible way.

Human: Okay, so I’m going to try this again because the first post I made about this was under the influence and I didn’t offer any details. Sorry about that Anyways, this is very serious and I would like to know if there is anything I can do to get my money back. Here’s a bit of backstory if it helps. My dad had recently became a part of my life again which was great at first. I moved to Dallas with him (about an 8hr drive from my hometown) and besides all the bad talk my mother gave him and rumors of a con man he was, I learned to forget about it and take the leap. It was a bigger and better future, what could go wrong right? During this time I was living there for a year depositing money into his savings account because we were gonna move to a new apartment at the end of the lease. I was suspicious at first but he made himself very credible. Towards the end I put about 7-10k into the account. Eventually before our lease ended I decided I was going to move back to my hometown because of my girlfriend. We were gonna get a place. I ended up asking for my money back because I was no longer going to move into the new apartment. Despite the numerous times of asking he constantly made excuses saying the account is locked etc. Got to the point where he completely stopped replying to me in general. Haven’t heard from him since. Been about half a year now. The only person that is a witness to this was my cousin who started living with us in the middle of all this and my girlfriend who new about the deposits. Don’t know if any of this helps, but any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Edit: Thank you all for your feedback, just going to move on and take it how it is.

I would take it as an expensive lesson. Just make sure you actually have learned what the lesson is and what you should learn from it, or you can be sure that you will repeat it with him and with others too.

Prove it and be willing to sue in court. Also don't ever talk to him again

Human: First one is, when I plug in the numbers (monthly contributions x years etc) and I get an expected return in a dollar amount, does this only include estimated dividents or is it just based on % of return? Which leads to my second question.. If I do 70% stocks, I assume lot of stocks must pay dividents- right? If so is there a way to reinvest? I don't see that option anywhere neither on the app or actual website. And lastly, how do you suggest I customize the stocks to bonds ratio? I'm 33, not saving for something in particular and just looking to invest, maybe for 7 years and comfortable funding 200-300/mo. Should I go more aggressive or keep the recommended?

Betterment automatically reinvests dividends, they will also auto balance your account from time to time to keep the stock/bond allocation close to what you set it at. Since there is no specific goal for the money, just investing, I might go more aggressive than 70/30 stocks/bonds. Maybe 85/15. But that’s really your call. Betterment used to have a questionnaire you could take about your risk tolerance and at the end they would suggest an allocation.

they auto reinvest the dividents 7 year pull out 70% sounds okay. if you really dont think you'll touch it at all over that time you can probably up it. but if you think you might, then 70% is okay we have it at like 30% stocks but it holds our emergency fund which isnt very risk tolerant

Human: The title may be a bit shocking so let me explain: Last year I was hired for a job at a large cryptocurrency startup. I was hired for a particular project that fell outside of the normal portfolio. I am admittedly being overpaid for the amount of work I have been doing. Because the job is paid fully in crypto, I decided to go the freelance route and set up an s-corp to funnel my income through. ​ The company did a lot of hiring during the crypto boom, but is now not bringing in nearly as much money. They are undergoing some restructuring due to this. They want to keep me on, and give me a larger portfolio of projects (more work), but the average salary for people in this role is half of what I'm making now. Most of these employees live in countries where the cost of living is relatively low. I live in the U.S. where it is higher. ​ The company understands this, but they can't (or claim that they can't) keep paying me at my current salary, and want to meet somewhere in the middle. They've asked me to come to them with a reasonable number. I've decided I am going to most likely do this, because I will pick up other work to supplement my income. ​ My question is, how do I go about this negotiation? I've only ever negotiated for more, not less. I am sure that if I start with 10% less, they will want me to go lower. I'm afraid that if I try something like 5%, it won't be taken seriously.

Well.... if you really want to stay with an organization that is giving you a paycut, then you need to decide what your lower limit is and stick to it.

I would do the best math you can on how much more work it'd be and proportion that to the difference between the lower and current pay. It's pretty fair and somewhat objective numbers to give them to back up what your asking for

Human: Hi all, ​ I am finally in a position to start saving money. ​ My company provides a 401k which I can contribute about 10k to annually and still live a comfortable life. ​ I could max it out but it might be a bit of a struggle then. ​ I am wondering if I max out my 401k every year going forward as a 27 year old, would that be enough money for retirement or should I be doing 401k and additional outside savings? ( IRA e.t.c)

The fact you're under 30 and show this much interest on the matter of retirement savings puts you well ahead of the curve. I probably won't be able to provide more insight than you've already researched, I'll just say good luck and godspeed!

Short answer, if managed correctly, yes. As you get older you should increase your contribution, at least, 1% a year. A good time to do this is when you get your annual raise (assuming it is annually)

Human: I’m sure there are opinions on both sides but what’re your thoughts on which route is more beneficial. I can comfortably afford to make the full contribution and making payments also wouldn’t be an issue. Thanks in advance for your time

Lump sum investing typically out performs dollar cost averaging, so if you have the money on hand I would put it all in now.

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/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: Why do people transfer their previous 401k to IRAs instead of to their new 401k with their new job? What are the benefits of it?

Some people don't have 401k's offered at their new job, or like someone else mentioned the expense ratios are lower in the IRA.

You may find these links helpful: - [General Information on Rollovers](/r/personalfinance/wiki/retirementaccounts/rollovers) - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/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: Hello all, My grandmother has an Schwab IRA that she has stopped caring about and has given me the go ahead to manage the money as I deem fit due the the money/account being willed to my sibling and I when she passes. Unfortunately, I do not know what I can and can't to with the account/money and it is currently loosing rather than making money. Am I able to re-invest the money within the IRA so that it begins to be profitable again? Is this something I should meet with a Schwab representative about? From what I understand, the IRA is matured. Here is some more potentially useful information: My father/mother have power of attorney over my grandmother's finances, with both of them and my grandmother willing to do whatever I recommend with the account. The money in the account is currently split in the following manner: ETFs/Closed Funds: ~50K Mutual Funds: ~25K Cash/Money Market: ~130K Any advice/recommendations for my situation would be appreciated and thanks in advance!

What is it actually invested in?

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/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: pausing your contribution towards your 401K and Roth IRA just so you can help contribute to paying your spouses debt incurred BEFORE marriage - loan debt, personal debt, student loans yay or nay

You should never totally pause your retirement contributions unless you're gonna be homeless. I wouldn't start working on it until you're married at the least

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans](/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](/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 applied for a car loan through a credit union and had been approved but they never really sent me the details besides letting me know that I was pre-approved. We had discussed potential APR and term of loan during the initial call while I was applying and they informed me a lender was going to get back to me. I got tired of waiting and called and was informed that I had been approved and I was given the lowest rate but then they told me they were going to have to add a whole point to the loan because the car was over 5 years old (2010). Is this a common practice? I have asked a few other lenders prior to applying now and I can't get a straight answer.

Yes, it's common. Many banks and credit unions know what happens when a car breaks down and stops working and isn't worth repairing: the person stops paying. A higher interest rate helps them with the additional risk. Anyway, just pay extra and get it paid off early and avoid all that interest.

My CU's [rates](https://www.direct.com/borrow/auto-loans.cfm) vary based on age (and length of loan) from 2.64% for 2017-2019 cars to 4.24% for 2009-2010 on 4yr loans. Per thousand lent this comes out to $21.98 and $22.69 per month. On a $20k loan this would be an extra $14.20/month. (Some one check my math) - so yes more, but should not be a budget breaker.

Human: I do not have a full time job and only usually works during a school year, so I can’t have a savings account (I am under Wells Fargo). Is it better to just keep my money in my debit card and never touch it or save money with cash and stash it somewhere?

They are doing you a favor. Wells Fargo is a garbage company. The irony of Wells Fargo *not* opening an account for someone is hilarious. Open an online savings account with Marcus or Ally instead, no fees and a real interest rate.

Open a high yield savings account (ally, Amex, discover, synchrony, etc) & if you are currently paying fees at Wells Fargo to keep your debit card, close it and find a bank that doesn’t charge monthly fees for checking account since you are a student. I have had savings account since I was little, you don’t need a job to keep a savings account.

Human: My company recently got bought out by an investment group. It was previously owned by a smaller investment group for several years. The company has been around since 1984 and recently opened up to employees that we can buy shares in the company. This is not publicly traded company. *There is a minimum investment of $5,000. *It would be at the current market rate. *This is a one time offer for current employees. *There are no dividends. *The company has been sold to multiple investment firms over the years. *When an employee leaves, the company may buy back the stock. If the company does not buy back when the employee leaves the now former employee will received benefits of the stock. *Fair market value determined annually by the board. *Employees will know about fair market value each April. *All at once investment. *There is no anti-dilution protection *We were not told about stock's past performance.

You don’t get a discount rate for the shares, you don’t get dividends, depending on how much you make 5,000 is a significant investment into one asset for average person. Like you said the company has been sold multiple times which would indicate weak performance so I would say no.

You may find these links helpful: - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [Investing](/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: Hi, so my husband and I are going to be buying a used car soon. We have the savings to buy it with cash ($16000), but are considering putting down a down payment of half and taking out a loan for the remainder to improve our credit score. The dealership offered us an APR of 3.95%. We both have good credit, in the 700's. I paid off my student loans 5 years ago and we are good about paying off our credit cards. No kids or bills other than rent and utilities. We're both steadily employed and paying outright for the car would be about half our savings. We are looking at purchasing a house in the next 2 years. Would taking out a loan be a good financial move for us or would it be better to buy outright? Thank you!

No. It is not worth to pay to increase a credit score.

Nope, if you are just dying to pay money to get a loan on your record there are secured loan products that can give you ~90% of the benefit for 10% of the expense. Still probably not worth the money doing those when your credit is already in the 700s. Just keep doing what you are doing and you should qualify for the best mortgage rates available in another 1-2 years.

Human: My wife and I welcomed a new son over the weekend and it got me thinking about what I need to change/add in terms of financial health. ​ Wife and I both and have well established professional careers. Both of us max out our 401ks each year and have around 400k saved in retirement accounts. Save 3k a month to a brokerage account. I have a 2M term life policy, my wife is in the process of getting a 2M term life policy. ​ I know I need to get a will, but what else is important to consider? I have heard about trusts, college savings plans, etc. but there seems to be some overlap and I am not sure where to start. ​ TIA!

Start looking for a preschool. The good ones usually have one to two year waiting lists.

Sleeplessness, poverty and, eventually, custody court.

Human: So, I've never had a lot of money, but I lost my full time job this past April and I'm now working part time at a bank while also attending college during the day, 3 days per week. I make about $250 per week. My grandma gives me $400 per month to help with my rent. I know, I'm pathetic. I've been having to borrow a lot of money from my parents, and it's been pretty shitty, so I broke down and finally added up all my expenses and income, and I make about $700 less than I need to just to break even. I check on Indeed pretty much every day to see if I can get a second job, but the job market in my area is really bad, and I'm also kind of limited by my school schedule as to which hours I can work. Dropping out is not an option - I'm a semester and a half away from my Bachelor's. My rent is $600 and I am probably moving soon, in with my brother, which should cut that almost in half. I did notice that I spend a lot of money on food - like $400 per month. I don't eat out very often but I do cook a lot and I literally never check prices when I'm grocery shopping, I just get what I need for the recipe. So that's an area of opportunity. But even if I cut both my rent and my grocery shopping in half, I'd still be in the hole. I have about 4 credit cards all with low limits (the highest is $650) but they're all maxed out and I pay about $130 monthly for them, just minimum payments. My credit sucks. I would get a debt consolidation loan for them (they all have high rates, like 24%) but I almost certainly will not be approved for any kind of loan based on my DTI and my credit score. I'm overwhelmed by all of this. I'd like to start digging myself out of this hole but I have no idea where to start. Edit: As requested, here's my breakdown: ​ Income: $1430/mo ​ Expenses: ​ Rent: $600 Renter’s Insurance: $17.50 Gas/Electric: $95 Trash Service: $21 Phone: $80 Groceries: $350 Food at Work/School: $50 Vision Insurance: $13 Car Payment: $256.80 Car Insurance: $103.10 Gas: $140 Misc. Car Stuff: $40 EZ Pass: $45 Student Loan: $50 Cable/Internet: $67 Alcohol: $20 ​ Credit Cards: ​ Capital One Quicksilver: $25 Capital One Platinum: $40 Credit One Platinum: $40 Indigo Card: $25 ​ Total Expenses: $2078.40 Edit: I understand what RIP inbox means now. Thanks for all the replies. I’ll go through them all when I get home later. Sorry to those I couldn’t respond to. Assistant: One little piece of advice is make a grocery list/meal plan. That will save you a lot. Go in, buy what you need and that's it. Also, look at prices. lol Human: Thanks for the advice! I should probably do both of those things...

r/MealPrepSunday is a great place to start with food planning. A lot of people post how much their costs are for prepped meals.

Also i dont know your area, but in my home and college town there's usually one or two discount/outlet stores that often either have cheaper products or bulk items that are good if you're on a budget. Ive found that major grocery chains aren't always cost efficient. There's also not buying name brand on most things. that helped me save a decent amount each month. I hope this helped!

Human: My mother died in a car accident a couple months ago. I've stayed on her insurance plan (Anthem CoVA), but the premiums are really taking a financial toll on my father and I. I can't go to his insurance considering he's on Medicare (he's 66). I'm a 20M who's working part-time (11.50/hr for 29hrs/week) and attending college full-time. However, I've considered dropping out to lessen the financial burden on my father and try to get some type of affordable benefits, even though I'd rather not do that. Are there any alternatives? Can I get insurance for me that's affordable enough to to attend college with?

Many universities offer low cost insurance for students. Other than that, you may qualify for Medicaid depending on your state.

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Human: I've been told to keep my credit card balance at roughly 20-30% of the maximum credit line available. Is this just a myth? I would like to pay it all off. Does keeping a low balance increase credit score? EDIT: Thank you everyone for your advice, I've really learned a lot. I'm still new to the credit system (college student with only a few years of one card) and just want to be careful not to ruin my score. I've learned to keep utilization under 10%, but pay off the balance as soon as the statement is due to accrue usage on the card without having to ever pay interest. Cheers.

No, don't keep a balance. Pay off the statement balance in full every month on or before its due date.

It is 100% a myth. You want to carry zero balance. You want to use your credit card to make purchases to establish credit. You want on time payments for the same reason. You do not want to carry a balance. There is no benefit to your credit score by doing so. It it takes up too high an amount of your available credit, you will have poor credit utilization and that will actually hurt your score.

Human: Not sure if it's too paranoid or otherwise irresponsible, but my logic is if something "real bad" happens on a wider scale, I won't be able to get cash out of an ATM and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

I keep a couple grand in cash at home. It makes me feel better to have it, and I will never miss the $20 of interest per year that I'm not getting.

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Human: Hey everyone, quick question. Is it possible to put the down payment of a vehicle on a credit card in order to get the points? I want to be clear that I’d have the money to pay for it. My plan is to put say 20k down, wait like 48 hours, then make a 20k payment on the card. Will dealerships allow this? I ask because I know you can’t use them for money orders, and not sure of auto dealers stance on this. Edit: i see what you all are getting at. The transaction fees completely slipped my mind. If they allowed it they’d probably raise the price some to recoup. Guess I’ll just have to use a cashiers check for the down payment

I'd recommend calling the Dealership you plan on getting the vehicle from and confirm with them. Different states and Car dealerships have different rules for form of purchase and down payment.

No, it's not allowed.

Human: I currently have a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, and a 401k. All the money in each of them are invested in the same funds. I need to draw 10k in order to have a down payment for a new real estate purchase. My options are to either \- take the new home buyer exemption on my Roth IRA \- take the new home buyer exemption on my Traditional IRA \- take a loan against my 401k (I should stay at my job long enough to pay it off) EDIT: I understand the drawbacks of doing this vs waiting and saving the money. I don't really care to go into alot of detail about all of that as this is not a throwaway account. Thanks for your suggestions to be more conservative, but I've already made the decision to tap into savings. I just need to figure out the least impactful way to do it. ​ All other things being equal, which one of these options is the best for the long-term stability of my retirement nest egg?

Why are these the only 3 options - if you have to withdraw from retirement accounts for a down payment, you are simply not ready for a home purchase. Take some time, save up and then come back to this in a year's time - you might even benefit from some cool down in the real estate market. If this is something you absolutely need to do, have you considered putting less than 20% - a FHA loan would be ideal for you.

I would say take from the $10k from the contributions for the Roth IRA. Less hassle than worrying about the housing exemption.

Human: So my credit is in the 640s currently. I have a few small bills that I can pay off to bring it up a bit, maybe. I have a student loan (3k-$50 a month but I pay more) a current credit card (unused $900-$49 a month, I pay 60) and a current loan on my 2008 Santa Fe (4500-$220 a month). My husband thinks I should get a new car. I don’t think he realizes how bad my credit is and I don’t really want to tell him. I think it’s best if I pay off my current loans and wait on the new vehicle. He thinks the lower payments (refinancing the current amount) will make a difference in our circumstances. I’d rather run the thing into the ground but he says that the car will get more and more expensive as we go on. I’m stuck and kind of sick about all of it, I worry so much about when we go to get a loan and they tell him that my credit is shit. I also have an old credit card that shows as defaulted that he has no idea about (not sure what to do about that mess). Any ideas on how I should proceed?

I'd guess you're underwater on your current vehicle now... under no circumstance should you roll that negative equity into yet another depreciating vehicle. >I think it’s best if I pay off my current loans and wait on the new vehicle. And you would be correct > He thinks the lower payments (refinancing the current amount) will make a difference in our circumstances. Short term gain at the expense of long term pain. Focusing on payment instead of cost is a sales tactic. Don't fall pray.

Save up a couple grand and get you a toyota.. Car payments can have up to 18% and highs of 30%+ in interest on your car payment... If you buy a 20k car loan thats an extra 6k+ on loan that you're just giving the bank for free.... And with global warming the gov might make you switch to ev in a couple years so you might have to buy another car even if you havent payed off your car loan

Human: As college approaches, I'm going to have to start dealing with student debt and the such so I'd like to take the initiative and hide away a few thousand for emergency funding My thoughts were since crypto isn't something that's governed and therefor couldn't be affected by something like the financial crisis, or a natural disaster would it not be a very smart choice for an investment of this matter? Edit: I'm more focused on a long-term emergency fund not a tangible in case I get robbed or my house burns down fund

pretty sure that's the opposite of what you want to do. emergency fund should be somewhere stable and easily available, not locked up in something super volatile

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Human: Hey guys! Need some advice about getting a car. Here we go. **About Me:** 25 y/o Living with parents, married, looking to move out just about as soon as I pay off my student loans $50k salary (Roughly $2932/mo after taxes) $22k in the bank as of right now $29k student debt (mostly at or around 4%) - 3 weeks ago I was at $50,000 debt, made a massive $21,000 payment all at once a week ago New plan to pay $2k loans per month, then finally move out of parents Driving parents old Ford Taurus 2002 that has had way too much money put into repairs and is basically months away from death I drive about 15 miles a day going to work and back Credit Score 747 - FICO - 808 **Monthly bills include:** $2,000 per month loans for the next year and a half, staring next month $100-200 Car insurance, potentially (Ford is still under my parents) ~$200-300/mo - Food, clothes, misc. My car is currently in bad shape. I don't know how long it'll last, but I really want to get something newer that'll last me a really long time. I'm looking at a 2018 Toyota Camry or 2018 Honda Accord, both going for around $23k. I'd put $10k down, leaving me at around 12k in the bank. In the long run, I made the right choice dropping my savings from 44k to 22k to pay off a massive chunk of student loans + my strict plan to pay off my loans within the next year and a half. I had planned to push this car as far as possible (the Ford), until it dies, but winter is coming and I really don't think it'll make it through. The plan was also to wait until the 2019 versions come out so that the price of the 2018 would drop a bit. I'm really into both cars and I'm dying to have something super reliable and modern, but hey, if I can't afford it, I can't afford it and maybe it's best to research something way cheaper and used. That's why I'm here.

>I'm really into both cars and I'm dying to have something super reliable and modern > >want to get something newer that'll last me a really long time. You don't need to buy a brand new car to get this. A 2014 Accord or Camry is going to be reliable, modern, and will last a long time, yet will only cost you $14k-$15k. Also, it's a bit of a slap in the face to be living at home "to save money" and then going out and buying a brand new car.

You made a $21k payment recently and have $10k for down payment on car. Why are you living at home?

Human: monthly income: $2200 per month (take-home after contributions to pension, equity options, benefits) ​ monthly expenses: rent: $550 but increasing by $10 per month food/coffee: $450 (\~$15 per day on take out) groceries: $80 per month alcohol: $300 avg. transit: $40 avg. uber: $240 monthly trip to capital city: $100 shopping: $500 (some massive expenditures such as a new bicycle has brought this avg. up a lot) gym: $25 physiotherapy: $260 (now out of pocket because I've used up benefits - was $52 when I had benefits) psychotherapy: $56 (benefits bring this down a lot) massage therapy $100(I go once a month- now out of pocket 'cause I've used up these benefits) total expenses: $2701+\*\*\*Edit $140 for student loans\*\* =$2841\*\*EDIT 160 for phone/internet\*\* =\*3001 ​ background: 25 y.o. single male no kids who splits rent with mom. wow before this post I had no idea I was spending more than I make! I was wondering why my bank balance never goes up! IDK how to budget because my monthly expenses fluctuate a lot and I'm working on some stuff with my therapist that will help me save and do more cost-effective stuff. Where should I start? ​ EDIT: student loans $16,300 EDIT: phone/internet: $160 omg it's getting so bad ​ ​ Assistant: Short answer, yes, you are. Way too much on the takeout, buy more groceries and make more meals for lunch. Way too much on booze, cut back for financial and health reasons. Use less uber and more transit. Why do you go to the capital every month? Shopping, a little high, break out the massive expenditures for a better analysis. Lose the massage, that's purely a luxury. Is the physio related to a specific injury from something? Human: >well physio is from years of bad computer ergonomics. I might cut it down from 4 to 3 and then 2 days a month. OK I know a lot of this stems from being lazy which I'm working on... I drink which causes me to wake up later and miss the bus which adds to uber. I hate cooking/cleaning so I order take out. I make good strides for a week and then I stay out late for drinks and the cycle repeats. I'm probably on the wrong sub.

Or do the physio at home instead of going somewhere, Physios main purpose is to teach you how to do it, and then you do it on your own. Get a standing desk at work. and get some self control when it comes to the drinking, switch to a soda water with a lemon if it's about the social and no one will notice much and assume it's a G&T or something like that. There's lots of ways to cook without making much of a mess that needs to be cleaned up, cooking 2 times a week can give you meals for an entire week that actually take less effort than ordering take out. and yeah, you need to learn personal responsibility more than personal finance, once you have that then you can figure out the finance part.

You need professional help for alcohol addiction. You're drinking so heavily and it's affecting so much of your life that it's hurting you financially. /r/stopdrinking

Human: So my buddy is close to 100k in debt, all of which is credit card debt and personal loans. He has no job, is a full time student, and spends way too much on luxuries. He's recently realized how bad his situation is but has no idea how to fix it. He's in a U.S. University, but is an international student. He can't work here, and the only way I can help him is to teach him frugal living. What can he do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Omg , i thought my situation was bad .

I hate to say this, but you should probably give him some general advice, and stay out of his way. You're not going to fix this situation, nor should you try.

Human: As the title says I landed a welding job at the age of 17 (18 in a month and a half) and will be making $14.56 an hour. I'm just not really sure what the best/most wise way to handle this money is. Also would it be a good idea to get a credit card when I turn 18 to build credit? Edit: Forgot to mention I'm still in highschool and live with my parents

Get the cheapest living situation you can, save as much money as you can for as long as you can, and make that money work for you. If you work hard for 20 years and live like a hobo, making sound investments with your money(no big expensive trucks, no partying like crazy, etc), you will wake up and realize you are rich.

Advice from someone who was 18 and around the industry; don't get a fully loaded truck/welding rig. all your friends will do it.

Human: I've had a credit card for about 4 months now. Every few days I pay off my credit card completely, I typically have no more than $100-200 at a time. By doing this I never go above 5% use of my credit ($6000). ​ My question is - does paying off the balance frequently and in full weekly help or hurt my score? Should I be spacing my payments out more?

It makes absolutely no difference. Your credit card only gets reported once a month with outstanding balance and if a payment was made.

Your CC provider will report the balance every month or two. The main thing you want to focus on is the statement amount. To answer your question, paying it once per week/month would cause the same reaction for your score. If that’s what works for you, keep at it.

Human: I work as an independent contractor. I make ~ $80k/year. My 3 children are 10,8,6. What type of accounts are recommended for me to invest for my children's future? Is it better to have three accounts or one large account? Thank you in advance. EDIT: I am primarily looking for accounts for my kids' college. I am thinking of investing 70k per child leaving me 40K to play with. I really don't have much debt, my house payment is very low and I owe very little. EDIT2: Thank you so much for all the advice! I have a lot to think over, but this community has given me encouragement and perspective. I greatly appreciate everyone's response!

So sorry for your loss. I went through something similar. Don't forget to contact social security. Your kids are eligible for survivor benefits based off your wife's social security earnings. It will be paid to you monthly until your children reach 18. Depending on your wife's work history it can be a substantial about of money.

I would definitely put $18,500 into a 401k for yourself. After that I’d do whatever you want. Survivor benefits might be a substantial amount so factor that in as well.

Human: I put a down payment (5k) on a new car. What's the best "cash back" or "rewards" type credit card to transfer the balance to? I'm ready to pay it off from my checking account, but if I can get "rewarded" for that $$$ then shoooo, what ya'll think is the best reward card out there? I have excellent credit so I ain't worried about getting another credit card and taking a credit score hit or anything.

Transfer of balances aren't eligible for rewards 99/100 times. If it was, everybody would just take out huge debt, put it on credit cards, then pay it off. CC companies are smarter than that.

Not having a credit card is better

Human: Hi there I made a similar post this week but now I have a new situation: I'm going to start paying off my student loan of $40k by the end of the month. Currently, I have $18k in my bank account and I’m planning to quit my job that pays 3k a month. I currently spend around 1.2k every month and I live with my parents. However, my parents are low-income earners, working in seasonal-demand jobs, and pays rent on a monthly basis. Hence, my living situation is not stable. Given that I plan on getting a new job within the next 6 months, what is the best way to maximize my student loan payments, given my financial situation? Do you recommend paying minimum amounts for now or pay a certain amount down? Thanks Edit: I understand finding a job first is the most financially sound choice but that does not answer my question. I’m quitting for mental health deterioration from my workplace and it’s not something I will personally expand on in the forum.

I would try to get a new job before quitting your old one.

You need to have some sort of income or else you will find yourself in more debt and harder to dig yourself out of that hole. Walk dogs, deliver pizza, babysit, etc. Your monthly expenses at the moment will eat up a good majority of your savings, if you stay unemployed 6 months. Plus paying student loans from it?

Human: So my wife, is a medical student, and I am a system designer. Combined we both make a income of 60k, our living expenses (car payment, rent, utilities, and phone bills) are around 2.5k a month. We just had a newborn a few months ago, so my wife decided to take a year off from school (hard to have a newborn and study for boards) but that meant that her student loans stopped coming in and our income dropped to \~32k. Now with our current income, I'm struggling to get by and pay all of our living expenses, and keep food on the table. I've tried cutting costs as much as possible (getting rid of entertainment costs i.e eating out, Netflix..etc). But I'm still at a deficit, my wife is planning on getting a job, but as it stand it looks like I won't be able to keep up with the expenses for another month. Should I take out a personal loan, to bridge the gap till my wife starts working? Assistant: You are saying that your wife's "income" that you were living off of was actually student loans? That's NOT income; that's debt! Bad idea. Good thing they quit coming in; you were shooting yourselves in the foot! Human: Only way to afford and pay for medical school...

But it wasn’t paying for medical school, it was paying your living expenses apparently. Once you start med school, you’d better finish, because if you don’t those debts are going to own you for the rest of your life. How much do you owe already?

Paying for med school with debt is one thing. Paying living expenses with debt is financial suicide.

Human: I'm almost beyond words at this point. I feel like I live to work at this point and almost nothing else. I did an online program at Full Sail University, which cost an arm and a leg (and FYI: Don't do it online. My professors kept reiterating the quality disparity between students online and students at the university was significant). It's an accelerated program, and I came within less than 6 months of getting my Bachelor's in Web Design, but some weird financial stuff came up at the end. They basically stated I needed additional money to cover the remaining balance of the final classes, which for some reason my loans alone didn't cover. As the program progresses, so too does the cost of each monthly class. At the time, I was getting unemployment due to a furlough (which turned into a full layoff eventually after coming back for a month or so), which I was able to swing into a student unemployment plan. Basically, if I attended full time at a college, I would be able to keep getting unemployment without having to pursue jobs. However, some changes in state law brought that to a close one year, and I ended up getting a job which promised to cater to my school schedule. As is the case with any big business, they didn't. Between trying to sort out the financial situation at my university and working a job with an unaccommodating schedule, I just decided to stop going. Due to the financial situation, I am unable to get a transcript as well until I am "current", which has prevented me from finishing up elsewhere, despite my current job offering a nice student reimbursement package. The job I ended up getting at the time didn't pay well, and as a result, I requested forbearance on my federal loans. What was a relatively low student loan payment on my federal loans has ballooned due to a multitude of reasons. I requested forbearance ~~a couple~~ a lot of times since my job situation was not very secure. As of now -- with another forbearance about to end -- my total monthly payment between my federal and private loans is approx. $520/month. The private loan has an interest rate of approx 9%. With my tax return earlier this year, 1 of the 3 loans I had through the private lender I paid off in its entirety in an attempt to reduce my monthly payments. It helped, but not significantly. My current job pays me quite nicely if it weren't for these student loans. It is commission based, so unfortunately it fluctuates, but I grossed approx $52,000-$56,000 last year. Because of the higher taxes that come out of commission, I netted around $35,000-$38,000 when all was said and done (EDIT: This is factoring in ALL deductions for health/dental/vision/etc.). What makes me feel bad about it is I know there are people with higher debts and lower income than me that have somehow made it work, but I just cannot. If I had gotten this job sooner to avoid the forbearances, or never gone to college, things would definitely be fine. Alas -- hindsight is 20/20, so let me just give a breakdown of my monthly expenses: **Expenses:** * *Rent:* $900/month (includes all utilities other than cable TV and Internet) * *Student Loan Debt*: $520 between federal and personal * *Car Payment & Insurance:* $375 * *Gas*: $80-$120 depending on the month * *Food:* $300-$350 between eating out and groceries * *Haircut:* $20 * *Music Subscription:* $14.99 * *Internet/TV/Phone:* $130 after taxes * *Cell Phone:* $60 after taxes * *Credit Card:* $75/month (debt is all on one card now with 0% interest for about another year) Total: Approx $2565/month **Here's a list of the good things right now:** * Utilizing all of the company match for the 401k (which according to the website is no where near enough for retirement, but something is better than nothing). The 401K will fully vest some time in Q3 2019 * Car Payment is done in 18 or so months (it *feels* like a positive because I've had this on a 72 month loan) * All Credit Card debt is on one interest free card until Q4 2019 (approx. $2500) * Typically keep my bank account around 1K-2K throughout the month, so there's always a bit for a rainy day fund **Here's a list of the bad things right now:** * **Almost no chance of a tax return this year.** I've paid off a lot more in student loans this year, but I've also taken a significant amount of allowances on my paychecks. If I do get a tax return, I'm not banking on it being much. * Barely any leftover money to get ahead on any of the debt, or to just enjoy life beyond getting coffee occasionally * As the industry I work in evolves, I anticipate my pay to take a pretty substantial pay hit within a year. The gravy train is definitely coming to an end sooner rather than later I'm burnt out with this. I want to enjoy life. I want to have a relationship where I can afford a weekend trip without a problem, instead of having thing fizzle out. The Netflix/Coffee/Food/Bar cycle is awful, and an influx of money would definitely help from time to time. Really what I'm hoping for is if somebody has any idea about my student loans and getting them lowered. $520/month is just too damn much. And if my job starts paying less like I predict, it's going to be impossible unless I move in with my parents (which is not happening). I looked into refinancing with SoFi, but they require that you have a degree. Citizens Bank was just awful, extend my debt 10 more years to save $20/month?? No thanks ​ Any suggestions? Advice? Additional details needed? Please let me know, and thank you for your responses. ​ EDIT 1: Loans are split $32K in federal (interest ranges from 3.5%-7%), $11K in private (interest is at 9%) ​ EDIT 2: Thanks everyone for the replies! There's a good mix of quick changes for savings, and some that require more planning but would result in a lot of savings. As obvious as some of these seem to you, they clearly weren't to me. Food alone never seemed like enough, but with all these other suggestions, it feels like there will be enough savings factoring in all these cost cutting measures. I appreciate all the kind words, and all the bluntness ​ EDIT 3: And so it begins -- begrudgingly switching my internet to a (supposedly) tax free package at $44.99/month. Approx. $85 in savings -- good start so far Assistant: Get a roommate? Then you can probably clear all your debt from private bank in 1 year Human: I need to reconsider this. Came close a couple of times, but I kinda liked having my own space. Still, that would easily put hundreds of dollars back in my pocket each month. Thanks for the suggestion

Dude to be blunt, you need to make some sacrifices here. Get a roommate

If your landlord is okay with it and you've got a one-bedroom apartment, the roommate gets the bedroom and you figure a way to get some privacy in the living room if you Google Lego walls or modular walls you can see some non-destructive non nail requiring things to do

Human: I recently got a credit card my first (I'm 27). I checked my email confirmation to see if I misspelled it. I didn't. And then called the company right away to report the mistake. I was told I could use it and they would send me a new one. Now assuming that this card has different numbers. Could this new card effect my credit negatively. Or would it have no impact because it's secured visa cc?

You're not opening a new account when you request a replacement card, even if it has different numbers, so it will not affect your credit.

It's only one account, so it won't affect your credit. The card number is arbitrary - for example, if you reported it lost/stolen, you'd get a new card but it's still the same account. In any case, I'd bet that you get the same card number anyway. Source: I work for a major US card personalization bureau.

Human: My mother recently asked me to help her co-sign a mortgage for a home she'd like to buy in Pennsylvania. I currently live alone in an apartment in NYC. Currently my mother rents an apartment for $1,300 a month where she lives with my two younger siblings, but she says her monthly mortgage payments would be considerably cheaper in the home she wishes to buy and it would be a great help to her financial situation. She assured me that she'd make her payments on time every month, but her income isn't high enough for the mortgage to be approved and she's a single mother so she needs me to be her co-signer. Both of our credit scores are in the 700s but my income is higher than hers. I'm in my early 20s and haven't established a career or finished my studies yet. I also know nothing about home ownership or mortgages in any capacity. I don't want to disappoint my mom but I'm terrified that somehow my future finances and credit score can be wrecked if something goes wrong with this. What are the risks associated with this situation if I follow through and co-sign her mortgage? Any help is appreciated, thanks. Assistant: If you cosign, then you will not be able to buy a house of your own unless the loan underwriter determines you can comfortably afford both mortgages. As such, co-signing on this loan will likely have the effect of you never being able to buy a house of your own without either a hefty down payment or marrying somebody with substantial means. It's almost never a good idea to co-sign. Financial info could help here (IE, if your mom is buying a 60K condo and you make 100K a year, cosigning isn't quite so bad), but the general advice is "Never cosign." Human: My yearly earnings are in the low 30K's (hers are in the 20K's) and her mortgage would be ~$800-900 a month.

$900/month means that your DTI (debt to income) ratio would be 32% (assuming you make 34K). At that, it may not get approved even with you cosigning (most lenders want to see 31% for housing, 43% for all debt service). And this means that, should you wish to buy your own home of (guessing here) value of about 150K, you'd need to make more than 2x what you're currently earning today to be able to pass underwriting muster. There's no easy way to shake out of a cosigning, either - this'll be with you for 15-30 years.

How much is the loan amount? The details of the loan are more important than the payments. As many who lost their homes to foreclosure learned, payments sometimes increase. What if you are injured or lose your job? A couple of weeks ago, someone on this sub asked why they would be approved for a loan despite their employer preparing to fire them. He lost his job within months of buying the home. I understand the desire to help one's Mother. Like in an aitpkane emergency, you must secure your oxygen mask before you should help others. I would 1) buy a home and allow Mom and siblings to live there; or 2) supplement her income buy sending her a monthly stipend to help her pay rent. [This was the route I took since my Mom already had a mortgage. She used the money to pay off her loan about 10 years early.]

Human: It's freaking me out because it literally increases my debt by 300k. My score dropped by about 70 points. I've been waiting until October 1st before calling since that's the effective date, but the other lender doesn't even have my loan yet, but somehow they're reporting to my credit. Anyone deal with this before?

Unfortunately this occurs often to people who’s mortgages are sold. You’re stuck in the limbo phase. This happens because both lenders are reporting at different times and there is some overlap. Just give it until the effective date and check your score again. Honestly it may even be a bit after that. I would suggest calling though like you mentioned just to bug them about it.

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

Human: Hello PF, ​ Having a bit of a personal crisis trying to decide if my fiancé and I are ready to purchase a home. We are in our late 30s w/combined yearly income of 215,000. We want to buy a home in Washington, DC. The asking price is 700k for the home (those that know DC know this doesn't buy a lot), but the home is actually in a great area in DC that will only appreciate in value. We have had a dream of home ownership for a long time, and this has been a goal of ours that we have been saving towards. We finally found a great home that has all the bells and whistles we have been looking for (although it's a bit outdated and will need some repairs over time). Here are the remaining details on our finances: Assets: \-100k investment account \-20k in checking account \-50k in Roth/SEP/401K \-75K savings account Debt (all my SO's): 12k -Credit Card (currently paying roughly $600 per month) 20K - student loan (currently paying roughly $200 per month) Income: \-165k salary Expenses: Food, Mortgage/Rent, Gym ($300), Utilities ($300) The house/ mortgage: 700k offer 5% down (35k) Closing Costs about 20K Interest rate \~5% $500 HOA (6k per year) Monthly mortgage payment /=5K Prepaying PMI /=8k total. ​ We have been approved for the loan and we have locked in the rate. My fiancé is the holder of the debt, and this concerns me as we prepare to purchase a home. My down payment and closing costs would essentially take my savings account funds. This is by far the largest investment/purchase we will ever make in our life. Are we nuts? Other info I should provide to get better feedback? ​ I have spoken to our FA (he says go for it), mortgage broker (go for it). Yet, I am still super concerned.

DC blows. You’re in a tough spot because the math doesn’t work out but I don’t doubt $700k isn’t getting you a ton. You should be keeping your mortgage payment around 25% of your take home pay or less. Here’s the real issue though: you’re arguing you and your fiancé are together and therefore justifying buying this house together but in the same stroke you’re saying if you pay off her debts you’ll have her pay you back. You’re either in it together or not. There’s no buying a house together but saying unsecured debts are separate. My advice would be to go down to the courthouse and sign the marriage certificate, pay off your (because they are yours and your wife’s together) debts and then try to find a house that is a little more affordable or see what you can do to increase your income. Edit: typo

Move to FL, 700K house's here are HUGE and pretty new. lolol JK but honestly, I wouldn't buy it with them on a joint mortgage until you are married. and if you are this hesitant about it that you have to ask a subreddit after talking to professional, mortgage broke and FA, then i would say no. Pay off the debt first then go back to the drawing board if that will make you feel better about it, I would pay them off with savings you have and then just keep saving until you decide to go for it when you are married.

Human: I got a phone call the other day while I was at work, I didn't answer tho and they left a voicemail. It was someone from the trading platform that I use (TDAmeritrade), introducing themselves, Hi I work with TDAmeritrade, etc. I'd like to get to know you as an investor, etc. I'm curious as to why they would give me a call, this has never happened to anything I've ever signed up for, but I guess stocks and trading is kinda serious business, maybe this is normal? Lol what do you guys think, is this a normal thing that occurs when you open a trading/investing account? What could this person, or the company want to know about me that isn't already in my personal info? I got flashbacks of the movie Boiler Room and Wolf of Wall Street when I heard the voicemail, I was like lol, I got on somebody's list of leads of potential cold calls, and some dude is pretending to be from Ameritrade, and is gonna slick talk me into buying some penny stock if I stay long enough on the phone with him. But idk, I have a big imagination.

Yes, I received a call too when I opened my account. They usually have local offices and want you to come in so they can advise you or manage your investments. No big deal you don't have to return the call if you aren't interested.

> I got flashbacks of the movie Boiler Room and Wolf of Wall Street when I heard the voicemail Good that you got these flashbacks, and good that you are aware of potential tactics that they may try on you. This subreddit has a good: * [wikipage on investing](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing) * [list of books about investing](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/readinglist)

Human: Here's where I posted about finally outgrowing my debt. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/8c3qqz/liquid_accounts_finally_more_than_debts/?utm_source=reddit-android How have I done it? - I have a very low rental payment - I dont have a car payment. Finished that in 2017 - I meal prep. Monthly groceries are under $100 including all the stuff I treat myself to (other than booze...I'm an alcoholic...) - I stopped just wasting money at bars. I'm an alcoholic, and I love bars, but I limit myself to $100/month for bars. It's well within my means and takes my focus away from alcohol and onto money. It might not work for everyone, but I do drink less than I did 5 months ago. - I've committed to saving, and add more to my savings than my auto-draft is set up for each month. I do this the day after payday to make sure it's out of my balance and I forget about it. I have 401k matching capped, I'm investing 10% into my stock program. I'm looking at buying a house soon. What do I do next?

>What's next? Pay off the debt. if you're sitting on $10k cash, and have $8k in debts, just pay off the debts. regardless of interest rates. because if you had $2k cash and $0 debts, you would never get $8k in loans and keep the money in a savings account.

Are you really an alcoholic? Don’t joke about it if you aren’t, and seek treatment if you really can’t control it. If you feel you are investing a sufficient amount towards retirement, and have a big enough emergency fund, and have any higher interest debts in order... invest in happiness. Donate to charities, travel more, take classes, find hobbies, focus on family. Let that extra cash buy some happiness,

Human: So the hospital I work for increased the rate of Call for our nurses from 10$ to 12$ per their union negations and it was announced that the Surgical Techs would be receiving an increase as well back in July. Great. Except only the Certified Techs have received this increase. When I asked my manager to check into it with HR they said that since the union (we are NON union) that negotiates call pay for similar positions didn't bargain for higher call they would not be increasing ours even though the certified techs all received an increase so I am four dollars behind the certified techs. This is very frustrating for me as I have been taking a ton of call recently thinking they were going to cut me a Retro check at some point. I was trained on the job as opposed to going to school so I am unable to become certified for another month as you need three years experience. I don't really know how to proceed. I love my job but this just seems really unfair to the people like myself that are trained on the job and can't certify until a set amount of time has passed.

The other techs either put their time into school or in field work to become certified. They should be making more money. In a month you'll be able to become certified as well and you should start looking for a new skill to become certified in. Im sure you wouldn't want to be paid the same as an uncertified new hire once you're certified.

union vs non-union, Do you pay union dues?

Human: This is embarrassing. I'm not 100% sure why I'm posting this. To vent, voice the fears, everything I've been keeping in for the last long while. Maybe to see if other people have been in this situation and beaten it, that would help. I'm stressing, losing sleep and going grey, every month I dread checking my balances, it's not a good feeling. I'm a 40 year old guy, with a long term GF and an 8 year old I share custody with my ex with. I'm at an age where not only should I have my shit in gear, but also be saving money and investing into my retirement. In reality, 5 years ago I had over $50,000 (result of the split from my ex) in my checking account, I paid my bills today only to see it dip below $10K. I had a panic attack, still feeling it. Feeling like a huge failure, I want to provide the best for my family but unless something changes I'll out of money sometime next year and lose everything.. This prompted a reality check (along with the heart attack) that I can't just spend and spend and hope that "stuff just gets better". I need to take action, stop spending money and just learn to say no to going out, I'm counted over $700 in fast food, restaurants, booze and other nonessential expenses each month alone. I have a good job that should be paying all the bills, not including non-essentials. I've got some credit card bills, but if I hunker down I should be able to pay everything off this year. Between my income and help from my GF, we should be saving almost $1000 a month. I've downloaded YNAB and entered my data, set the budget. Hopefully the numbers will stabilize, and god hoping maybe even start to grow each month. Am I starting the process right? Anything else I should be doing to stove off this crisis before it's too late? Thanks

You know what to do. Do it. If inflows > outflows, you’ll be fine. The math is just simple addition and subtraction, there are no secrets.

Man don’t worry too much - things have a way of working themselves out. But seriously you need to have a ‘spend less’ mentality until your *new* spending habits become that, habits. Also try to throw some clutter away (or sell some shit) - this has a real cleansing feeling, and makes it feel like you’ve auctioned something... cause shit man, saving is hard and it’s a grind. Little things add up - looking for options to go to the park with the fam, instead of the movies. Do some crafts instead of buying that next fashionable toy. Don’t lose sleep on this stuff tho man. Once you have your budget locked in - rest easy knowing you have the power within you to follow it. Love your wife and enjoy the years just being together.

Human: Hi Reddit: My girlfriend recently purchased a car, which she paid in full. We both want to figure out a fair and equitable financial approach to sharing the car. Logistically, we live separately in two different cities about 30 minutes away with no traffic. We currently see each other on the weekends where we run errands, drive to places where we can hike or mountain bike. We also like to go backpacking or camping at least once a month and sometimes more when time/weather permits. The car will stay with her where she lives. In the past, she had an old car that she had for years before we met. Once we were more serious, I paid for half of the insurance, half of all gas, and half for any parts/services. We broke up for a few years, got back together, and became serious again. Here are some other things for a bit more context.- I make almost twice as much as she does- My rent is twice as much as hers- I pay $200/mo. extra for a garage in my apartment (I live in a very dense city and it's impossible to find street parking)- She doesn't have/pay for a parking space at her place- The car is new and was a substantial amount money- Not that it matters, but we are both women What is fair?- pay a certain amount per mile?- pay a certain amount of money each year - like a rental/lease?- pay for a portion of the insurance?- how much gas should I pay for? Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ updated: 9/28 ​ Thanks for the responses. They have been extremely helpful. ​ I wanted to also point out that when we got back together, she eventually sold the old car when it was unusable and we were carless for two years. During that time, we took public transportation or ride hailing apps (e.g., uber/lyft) to see each other or get around locally. We also rented cars to take our road trips which we split in half. I say this because since we rented cars and shared that cost, it does feel unfair if she bare the burden of buying a car and I get the benefit of not having to split car rentals. ​ Thoughts?

I don't think you need to pay for any of it. She wanted a new car, she got one. You don't live together or share expenses. If you borrow the car, put petrol in it. If you go out together, pay parking and petrol.

If you also had a car, she would still have her car payment and insurance. The difference is that she would spend less on gas, put fewer mileage on her car, and spend less time driving herself. I would try to quantify that and put a price on it if you want to be fair.

Human: When I was younger I thought making a 100k (pretax)was a lot of money, I'm 28 now and make a 100k and it is really not.... what I really want is to make at least 80k a year without going to work (investments). I live in toronto, canada. Am single no kids. I bought a brand new dodge challenger sxt v6 for 32000$ on an 8 year loan 3 % interest, back in 2015. Holy shit was that dumb..... what is my best course of action? Any advice is appreciated! Monthly income 5600$/month Income after taxes Monthly expenses 1700$ rent 400$ car payment 300$ insurance 300$ gas 100$ internet 80$ phone 100$ utilities 280$ groceries Loans 21000$ remaining car payments 4000$ credit card Savings 0$

You list $3,260 in expenses with $5,600 in income. Where is the other $2,340 of your income going? You can't have 42% of your income unaccounted for when making a budget. For the car, how much could you get if you sold the car right now? For the credit card, is that paid off every month? Or is that balance rolling over? Do you have any savings right now? Retirement accounts, investment accounts, savings at a bank, etc?

You got a Dodge and not a Lambo. Your car expenses actually are pretty inline at your income level (except the insurance is tag high). I think it is the other stuffs that you did not list are killing your finance. What are those?

Human: My husband and I are house hunting, and I just want thoughts on our current budget and what we think we can afford. We will have to make a minimum down payment as we do not have enough for 20% (probably should have planned better but it is what it is). My credit is good so we got approved for a loan, we're trying to stay below 260,000. A 3% down payment for that would 7,800, which we definitely have and then some (enough to cover closing costs and have a bit left over, hoping not to have to pay closing costs though). Our monthly income after taxes is about 6,200, although that is under estimating since my paychecks are usually higher than expected (overtime, shift differentials). My husband currently gets quarterly bonuses that vary but so far tend to be around 15,000 before taxes (was about 9,400 after tax). Those go towards debts and savings. Right now we pay 1,420 in rent, but if we got a house at top of budget (obviously we dont want to do that) mortgage would be close to 1,800 (including taxes, PMI, etc.). We are planning to stay in this home at least 5 to 10 years, thinking closer to 10 if not longer. So that gives us time to grow into it and by that point we plan to be making more money (annual raises, etc). Here are our other monthly expenses: Student loans (combined): 886 (majority are my husbands, planning to refinance those soon for better interest rate and payment) Car loan: 346 Car insurance: 76 Pet insurance: 56 (worth every penny) Phone: 177 (this is high, once we pay our phones off it should drop, which will be soon) Credit cards: 150-200 (most of this is cards on special payment plan with no interest. We have barely any actually accruing interest) Gas: 150 Water: 60 Gas/electric: 200 Internet: 65 Entertainment (spotify, hulu, etc.): 50 Groceries: 400 (this may be an overestimation, but we also do food delivery sometimes like HelloFresh and I don't want to underestimate) Pet expenses: 75 (we have multiple animals) Fun money (restaurants, nights out, shopping): 400 Misc supplies (cosmetics, meds, etc): 50

~$57k in debt and you’re about to add another $250k. Idk I guess that is normal but it would cause me anxiety. Realistically you should pay off some debts before you purchase your new house. That will make any unexpected bills (house related... and they WILL come) a lot easier to swallow.

I would say no. You need to save at least 10% of the house cost plus 6 months cash reserve, so you may be able to do a 80/10/10 to eliminate the pmi. If there is a small recession the next three years, you can easily get wipe out.

Human: So, over a year ago I moved out of an apartment. I moved out and still owed rent. I was making $4 less per hour and part time. Now I'm getting a promotion and have gotten several raises with a large one on this horizon. But, when I moved out I couldn't pay and it went to court. I agreed I owed the amount and am paid up now. This is still showing as an eviction on my credit report. Is this accurate? Do I have any options to remove this since I'm fiscally secure now and desperately want to move? Edit: been out for the weekend looking for a new place, sorry for not updating! I gave and adhered to a 30+ day notice (I think it was like 47 days or something), and was out at that time. I left the place in decent shape, needed swept if anything. I had some boxes of stuff I wasn't keeping that I said "I don't want to put it on the street and you get a fee for it being out all week. So I can come back before next garbage day and haul them out". When I got there after work the boxes were already out. Edit2: might be a slum Lord landlord in Illinois. She stated during court that she could "have still been charging me rent". Which I now realize may have been her setting up the lie to the court that I hadn't been out for months.

On behalf of all landlords, thank you for paying what you owed. ​

Most likely you will need to put a much larger deposit down on your next rental. At least first and last, and probably 3> months

Human: Long story short, I moved all the way to Florida for a girl I thought I was going to marry. It's not working out, go figure. I need to get out of this lease and home as soon as possible, but I'm completely broke at this point. I have the option to pay 2 months rent upfront to get out, but what's the worst that will happen if I just left? Is it likely that my landlord will try to chase me down to get the money when I'm moving back across the country?

You are on the hook for the full amount of the contract if you take off. Most likely the landlord will file a lawsuit to recover and/or send your debt to collections. Don’t be a scumbag. Take the 2 month deal.

Kick her out and get a roommate if you can't come up with 2 months.

Human: Before we get all judgmental about "needing" a new car versus "wanting" a new car, let me explain. I have been driving a hooptie for a while and have recently been promoted into a management position that comes with an allowance. This allowance would be $350/month plus mileage reimbursement (.20/mile.) My wife and I are looking at some more dependable options that would not exceed the $350 monthly payment. One of my major hesitations is that we are currently paying off student loan debts (<2K for her, \~45K for me.) I do not want to introduce another debt into the picture but I feel like it would be fine in this scenario since the monthly payments would be paid for. We make about $150,000 a year and live comfortably but im not sure how that will change once our baby boy is here. I am basically hoping for some reassurances from someone in a similar position. I want to make sure I am not overlooking anything when buying this new car. ​ Thanks!

Would you get this money even if you don’t take on a payment? If so, stash the money aside and then buy a car cash in the future. I don’t trust these car allowances. I have seen people take out loans, then the company backtracks or lays them off a few months later.

>We make about $150,000 a year and live comfortably but im not sure how that will change once our baby boy is here. Just generally, this is a question that would be smart to answer before you make any moves. If you haven't established a post-baby budget, do so soon. Figure out the estimated costs and how that'll work into your current expenses. There are lots of resources on budget items you should include for a newborn. If you're having the car paid for that certainly helps—so long as you keep the job that gives you the allowance. Would you be able to afford the payment + maintenance + insurance + gas if you lose your job, or switch jobs?

Human: Hope this is the right sub. About two months ago, planned a trip to New Orleans for late October, for my birthday. Got an Airbnb, got plane tickets for two. The arifare on Frontier, with bags, taxes, fees, etc, came to around $650. Then, my wife and I found out we were going to be parents. We were pretty excited to get to party town and party it up, but the news took the wind out of our party sails. We're very excited, just not about getting all shit-faced on the streets of Nawlins. The booking site for the flights tells me I have no recourse--I'm eating that $650. Frontier, with some pushing, agreed to refund our luggage fees with a doctor's note proving the pregnancy. Changing the tickets in any way or rebooking later will cost me quite a bit more, and we're not interested in doing that anyway--we are in frugal mode now. Do I have any options? Or, do we suck it up and take the trip, and try to enjoy ourselves without that sweet, sweet booze?

If it's non-refundable then it's non-refundable. >Do I have any options? Or, do we suck it up and take the trip, and try to enjoy ourselves without that sweet, sweet booze? Gonna be a parent soon- it's time you learned how easy it is to have fun without alcohol.

Thanks, everyone. Good insight so far. It's true that we like to booze it up on vacation, and tho I think many Americans are oversensitive about drinking in front of their children, we will surely need to learn how to have more fun with less alcohol.

Human: Lease ends next Christmas and we are paying $350 a month for it. We are wanting to buy used to save money but don't know if it's a good idea to get out of this one first or wait it out. Does buying it out mean we are financing and just changing the monthly lease payment to a loan payment?

Take a look at the car's residual value from your lease paperwork. It's usually a percentage of the agreed-upon sales price. If the car was $20k, and the residual value was 54%, then the vehicle's assumed value at lease-end would be $10,800. If you elect to buy the car after lease-end, this is the amount you would pay. Then go take a look at the used car market for your vehicle, and filter search results for similar age, mileage, features, etc. If your search yields vehicles that are lower in price than the residual value of your car, turn the car in after the lease, and go buy a similar car on the used market. If you find that the used market for your car commands higher prices than your residual value, it makes sense for you to buy out the car after the lease. For brands like Honda/Toyota where used car values tend to be high, a lot of the time it makes sense to buy out the vehicle at the end of the lease.

Ride the lease out until the end. The amount you will pay will be dependent on the money factor associate with the lease. If it was an advantageous money factor you can remain in lease and pay less interest then if you were to buy it now. On top of that you would be paying interest on what would be considered negative equity from the preexisting loan. What you owe to Honda is what you owe. Expect a $595 disposition fee during time of purchase. Most dealerships are going to tack on a supplemental fee for the title work. You can do it yourself and save yourself a few hundred dollars. I sell Honda for what it’s worth.

Human: Hello, ​ I froze my equifax account ever since the breach last year in 2017. When I unfroze it to apply for a loan from Citizen Bank when I purchased the new iphone, I noticed that my credit score dropped \~20-\~40 points. Can anyone please explain why this happened? See pictures below of the drop and my credit utilization. ​ [https://imgur.com/a/BOpOGLl](https://imgur.com/a/BOpOGLl) [https://imgur.com/a/kAKmV0b](https://imgur.com/a/kAKmV0b) [https://imgur.com/a/pVdb81B](https://imgur.com/a/pVdb81B) ​ ​

>When I unfroze it to apply for a loan from Citizen Bank when I purchased the new iphone You put a new hard inquiry onto your credit report and, if you accepted the new account, also lowered your average age of accounts. That would affect it, not unfreezing the report.

Drops of that size are insignificant and really can't be explained .

Human: So I currently split time between two IT tier 1 support roles. One job is two days a week at a food manufacturer and I hate that place, but the place I'm at three days a week is a local MSP (managed service provider) about 5 minutes from my house that I love working at. I started at the MSP about a little over a year ago as an intern making $10 an hour. Around February I was offered a non related IT job for $14.00hr. Only working about 20hrs a week at the MSP I used that offer to ask for full time work at the MSP. The MSP didn't give me full time but they did match the pay and got me another part time job at the food manufacturer for the same pay. So currently I work about 42hrs a week between the two places making 14hr at both. I've been dying to work at a single place for a couple months now, I'm tired of having to split my time between two places. I really love the work I get to do at the MSP and I enjoy the people I work with so I would love to get full time employment there. I just feel like I haven't been offered such things because I haven't really asked them for it since February. So Monday I got said I've had enough of working at two places and started submitting my resume to a few jobs in my area. Less then 8 hours later I got a call from another job I submitted my resume to telling me they would like to schedule an interview next week. This job is pretty much covers the same duties that I do now but is offering between $20-22/hr compared to the $14hr i make now. If they offer me the job should I use that as leverage to try to get my MSP job to match their offer? Or is it a bad idea to try to use another job offer to leverage better pay twice in the same year? I'm prepared to take the new job if needed, but I would really love to get hired full time at the MSP as I enjoy how much I get to do there, the people I work with and how much I learn on a regular basis. Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks! Edit: I should have mentioned that my in the past my supervisor did mention to me that if I ever received other job offers to inform them so they can evaluate the offer and see what they can do for me regarding possibly matching such an offer. Not sure if this is common practice or not but I figured I should include that detail. Also the new job would be about a 35min-45min drive one way compared to my current job which is about 4 minutes from my house. TLDR; Possibly getting offered an IT job with better pay. I really like my current job but could really use the increased pay. Should I use this as leverage to get full time work and better pay at my current job?

You have to move on. I'm an engineer and knew i was underpaid by a lot. i was making 60k when market said i should be making around 100k. got a new offer for 100k submitted my 2 weeks and they said see ya later, we can't afford you. i've learned in this business from myself and other past colleagues, if you're underpaid, you won't get what you're worth unless you switch companies. it's the reality of it. Good luck to you in the future!

As a word of advice that may already have been given. Never leverage a prospective job with you current employer, most likely they will agree to give you that raise, you will decline the new job, current job reneges and fires you! Now you have neither

Human: I deposit biweekly 60 dollars approximately. this week i'm checking mint app and see 9 cents instead of the usual amount.

Look at your pay stub. Open the 401k website directly, not through Mint. Wait a week and see if it fixes itself. Contact HR/Payroll.

You may find these links helpful: - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [401(k) FAQs](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k) - ["How to handle $"](/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: We have a budget. We work off of it every month. I live or die by the budget. Currently, I keep it all on spreadsheets. I love excel. But for my wife, it's a killer. She hates math, hates spreadsheets, and hates budgeting. I keep a running total and always know what we have left. But that involves opening OneDrive and checking the spreadsheet. It is just currently not working. So just wondering if anyone else has gone through something similar, where one party was super into budgeting, but the other wasn't. What finally worked? Did you switch to an app? Switch to cash? I need her to be proactive in her spending, seeing what we had left when she spends it, rather than reconciling it at the end of the week/month, when we already went over budget. Thanks!

Does she fight you on spending, or just fight you on digging into the spreadsheets, etc? If she just doesn't care to know, but is happy to spend X amount instead of X+Y (with Y being her personal whims at the moment), then you should just accept that you'll be in charge of finances. Discuss with her reasonable spending based on income and needs/desires, with some money for her to enjoy, so she doesn't feel like you're consigning her to poverty, and make sure it's equitable for the both of you. Then you could either go the envelope/cash method or something else.

What if I told you once upon a time there was only cash and if you happened to leave that cash at home you would have to go home first before you went shopping. Tl;dr Discipline

Human: Hello all, Recently I found out that my bank(Chase), has a journey credit tracking system through transunion. When I looked at it as I surprised to see it was 22 points higher than what my Barclays credit card FICO credit trackers said. I was wondering which would be more accurate in terms of financial planning as I think this would make a difference in qualifying for certain loans.

Journey uses Vantage scoring system, not FICO. So they are different credit scoring systems and shouldn't be compared as if they are the same.

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

Human: I hate to ask this because I know many people feel that you should invest/save 50-75% of your income, live in a shack and keep sinking money into a 1995 sunfire. But realistically, what % is a good realistic target to save every year? I did a budget forcast and it is coming in between 8-12% of my income I can save per year. Our monthly expenses eat up anywhere from 92-105% of our base salary (some bills are quarterly) but luckily we both get bonuses (mine quarterly hers monthly). We consolidated credit card debt into a loan (we were burning 1k+/month when wife lost her job). We've gotten our expenses down as low as possible. Our cars (2015 & 2018) & insurance are about 18% of our net base salary. Sadly, I am not saving for retirement only because my work does not offer it yet, it will be part of my negotiation next year (5% increase in pay and a 6% match). ​ But is 8-12% assuming I am investing 6% match a decent place to be at? Sadly, 30% of my income would be 6 months work of bills. So it will take 3 years to get a 6 month emergency fund together. But my wife's car is paid off in about 2 years (mine 5 sadly) and the loan is paid off in 5. House still has 28 years (also new, built in 2016).

10-15% is good for general savings. but to me, that means 'savings for new cars, vacations, and other short term goals *after* you're already saving a minimum of 10% for retirement.' but those cars jump out at me. a 2018 car, when someone just lost a job recently? huh? you're creating a false choice: there are more options than "dump money into 23 year old car" and "buy brand-new car". >Sadly, I am not saving for retirement only because my work does not offer it yet, you can open retirement plans outside your job. >So it will take 3 years to get a 6 month emergency fund together. that's because you're unwilling to sacrifice short-term comfort to hit long-term goals. an emergency fund > Our monthly expenses eat up anywhere from 92-105% of our base salary you need to dramatically cut expenses. I don't know if that means something radical (like selling the house because the payment is 50% of after-tax income) or just garden-variety overspending on eating out. but those numbers simply do not work. you need to make cuts,

I would say that 10% is mandatory if you don't want to live by worrying about emergencies and your future. 15-25% the minimum if you actually want to retire one day. 25-50% if you want to retire early or want a plan to work to 65 and have a fat retirement (vacationing often, having newish cars, and doing nice dinners, etc.). The most important thing is reducing expenses. It seems like you have a ton of expenses and many of them could be reduced.

Human: I owe fifth third bank some money due their overdraft high jinx a few years ago which they got sued for in a class action suit. I didn't we qualify for any relief from that. I pretty much forgot about it but I get a call today from a lawyer that made a statement about taking some kind of legal action and made a comment about my car which is financed through Wells Fargo. I couldn't make out everything due to the garbled voicemail. Are they threatening to take my car? I will probably go ahead and pay them it wasn't too much to settle. I was just curious what game they are playing. Thanks for listening!

Call the bank directly and confirm with them and pay them, not with anyone who called you.

You may find these links helpful: - [Dealing with collections](/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections) - [Credit Repair](/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I graduated in May 2016, began working in August 2016 and began making payments on my student loan in November 2016 after my grace period (6months post graduation) ended. When I made my first payment, I had $139,000 in student loan debt. They are federal student loans with combined average interest rate of 6.06%. Currently I have $35,000 left to pay, and also have $35,000 in my checking account, what should I do? Pay it off in lump sum? Currently I reside with my parents who have graciously let me stay with them until I get my debt paid off and settled somewhere. Aside from personal expenditures (phone, clothing, gas, etc.), I don't have any other major expenses/bills. I also don't have any investments or savings. My company does have a 401k plan with 5% match?? Also an employee stock purchase plan with 10% off lowest stock price between a 3 month period, or something like that. Like many others in this subreddit, I have no knowledge of how any of that stuff works, which is main reason why I never did it or any other investments/portfolios. I'm a person that doesn't like debt hanging over my head, so my plan always was to try to pay if off soon as I can. I currently make about 5500 per month after taxes. I don't like my job or the company I work for. I want to leave but right now, it's paying me well enough to help me get this thing knocked out. So should I just go ahead any pay off the remaining 35K, and start scratch with zero in bank account? Do I just keep making payments and saving money for future expense (such as down payment on house)? Do I start making some investments, and keep making payments? TL:DR I have 35K in student loan debt, 35K in checking account, with no other savings or investments, what should I do?

6% is pretty high. Take 20k and throw it at them. Maintain some funds for emergencies

I would throw $20k at the debt. This would leave you with $15k left over to put into a high yield savings account. This will give you a good emergency fund if you need it. I would then look at the remaining $15k of student debt and figure out how long it will take you to pay it off on monthly payments. Once you have that figured out I would talk to your parents and try to get an arrangement where you stay with them for six months to one year after your loans are paid off. This will give you some breathing room to save up to move out without having to dip into the emergency fund. Once you're on your own then you can look into investing.

Human: This ended up being more of a rant, but here goes nothing... I'm a 23 year old female who graduated from undergrad a few months ago. I have $25,000 in savings and $18,000 in federal student loans. Eight weeks ago, I began my first ~real salaried position, making $45,000 before taxes. I also have a side hustle where I make anywhere between $500 and $3000 dollars monthly. When I first began my full time job, I had high hopes. However, it seems to me that the position mostly involves doing secretarial work, and offers no possibility of teaching me 'hard' skills that can be utilized in another role. I try to have a good attitude, but I feel stressed out and bored at the same time while I'm there, and currently have no idea how well I'm doing because (despite my requests for a meeting) my manager has not provided me with any feedback regarding my work. There is high turnover, and my position is notorious for poor possibility of growth within the firm. The position requires about 50-60 hours of work per week, on a "Chinese overtime" schedule - meaning that for every hour over 40 that I work, I make half of my regular hourly rate. So, $45000/2080 = $21.63 comes to $21.63/2 = $10.80. If I work the required 50 hours a week, I make $106 before tax, on top of my weekly pay. I am incredibly thankful to be getting a regular paycheck, but my schedule provides me with little ability to apply to jobs or develop skills/connections. I am living at home while working at the job, and feel like I've gotten worked into a stagnant pattern in the past two months, and that I need to make a radical change in my surroundings in order to actually gain momentum in a job search. However, I am also terrified of the possibility that I may not get a job for months and months, and that this decision will end in financial ruin. Part of me feels like a spoiled baby for even disliking the job (after all, it's a regular paycheck, and the most financially sustainable option by far would be to stay working). However, the other half of me is hyper aware of the options and opportunities that I am letting pass by while I am working 60 hours in menial labor. Am I a brat? Is this simply the result of a quarter-life crisis? More importantly - can I even afford to quit my job?

Never quit without having another job lined up, I made this mistake almost ruined my career. That being said, just move on it is your first job. Try to stay a year, but any hiring manager will understand that you chose poorly on your first attempt.

Good chance your pay plan is illegal. /r/legaladvice I know it sucks, but you have to find another job before you quit. Professionally, financially, it's just what you have to do. Call in sick. Find another job.

Human: I’m not sure if this post belongs here. I was engaged to be married, but now I’m not. She gave back the ring and I’ve just kinda sat on it. People tell me I need to get rid of it but nobody seems to know what the best way to do that is. The only advice I get is, “whatever you do, don’t take it to a pawn shop.” I’m sure there has to be a way to get this ring with somebody who would actually want it for a decent price. I’m not expecting to get my money back but at least a couple hundred dollars close to what I paid would be ideal? Idk, I’m kinda lost and I can’t seem to find anything on google that is helpful with this.

www.idonowidont.com is a popular site

You can return it to the jewelers or you could sell it yourself. Craigslist or Facebook market place. Just exercise caution and common sense about where you meet strangers to sell stuff.

Human: Throwaway because reasons. I don’t have a lot of people to talk about this with, so I’d like to share it with you fine folks. As of today’s paycheck, I officially gross 6 figures! I thought this might be a good point to share where I’m at, really just an extra data point for everyone. I’m 33, married, and live in what I consider an average cost of living area. It is comparable to Wichita, KS. We moved earlier this year for the better job opportunity closer to family. For about 6 months, we went from a 2 income household to 1 (edit: back to two incomes at start of September), which drove up our CC debt a good bit. Lesson from this - having a good stockpile of cash increases economic mobility. And now, let’s run the numbers: Net worth: $5185 Assets (incl home): $445252 Debts: $440067 Assets breakdown: * Home: $267500 * Retirement: $134725 * Cars: $38649 * Cash and small investments make up the rest Debts breakdown: * Mortgage: $267157 * Cars: $30839 * Student Loans: $95201 * Credit Cards:$46870 Monthly (4wk) Budget: * Income, net taxes, retirement, and employer insurances: $9262 * Mortgage (PITI): $2246 (24.24%) * Cars: $791 (8.54%) * Insurance: $198 (2.14%) * Credit Cards: $840 (9.07%) * Student Loans: $725 (7.83%) * Phone: $225 (2.43%) * Cable: $70 (0.76%) * Child Care: $964 (10.41%) * Utilities: $300 (3.24%) * Groceries: ~$1000 (10.79%) * Non-retirement savings: $200 (2.16%) * Additional debt payments: ~$250 (2.69%) That leaves $1453 (15.69%) that I’m not very good at accounting yet. It goes to gas, retail, eating out, charity, entertainment, and parts of life that just seem to happen.

Dude you gotta watch some Dave Ramsey. You are broke. You don't realize the risk and problems with your situation. If your CC's are 15 percent interest, you are spending close to a month's worth of net take-home pay a year on interest alone. 47,000 * .15 = $7,050 If its 20% 47,000 * .20 = $9,400 --> more than a months take home You have no money left over at the end of the month because you are only getting paid 11 months out of the year. Do the math with the actual interest rate and see how much money you are throwing away (literally, this amount just keeps the balance from increasing, you are not touching the principle.) This doesn't even account for the student loans and car notes. You need to wake up.

How much are your salaries? If you're grossing over $100K/year I can't imagine your spouse is making much. It seems your debt is definitely out of line with your salaries and you should work hard on decreasing expenses and work on paying your debts. I would work on lowering your grocery bill - we're a family of 3 that rarely eats out and we're sadly at around $150/week. I feel our grocery budget is outrageous, but we have very little eating out and we meal plan. However, we eat mainly vegetarian and produce is a large part of that budget. I would also lower your cell phones, get different (cheaper) cars, and lower your utilities/cable. What is in utilities?

Human: Instead of taking the auto loan approval letter, they are forcing us to take their financing by telling us that we need the actual check from the bank. Is this common? How do we get around this? Dealer financing of 4.6% vs 2.8% with my bank.

This is standard. An approval letter is not money. Before they let you leave with the car they need a negotiable financial instrument to insure they will be paid for the car. You can sign their contract and take it to your bank, your bank will then have you sign their contract with the vehicle details and issue you a cashiers check made out to the dealer. Take that back to your finance guy and he will give you a receipt and their contract will stop right there. Edit: All the other comments on this thread are incorrect. (Former finance director at a car dealership)

Dont take their loan. When I financed through my own bank I had to get a check just as described (but I was never coerced to get the loan from the dealership). I took the bill of sale (im not sure about the legal term here... but the thing with the price and description of car) to the bank and they printed a check for me to take to the dealership. I remember it needing two signatures on the back but not sure who's (i think one would be mine and the other from the dealership)

Human: Ever since I started working after graduation, I kept a budget (because I'm accountant and I love keeping track of numbers). 3 years later and some revisions due to pay raise and paying off car loan, etc., this is my current budget. Feel free to rip it down with advice!! Income per month after tax: $3,990 Apartment rent: (1,123) Phone: (87) Internet: (95) Utilities: (70) Chase credit card: (900) to (1,100) I use my credit card to collect points for travel. I use my CC mainly for food purchases. I eat breakfast at home but otherwise I eat out everyday for lunch and dinner. Sometimes I need to go grocery shopping and put gas in the car. I average that out to $30 a day. The extra $200 is for fun stuff like going drinking, movies, buying a cake, etc. Car - 2007 Subaru Legacy - paid off Student loans - $(1,800) at 3.9% Savings - $5,500 Robinhood investment - $3,800 No retirement account set up as of this moment. I'm 27. You might be thinking, what the heck are you doing with $1,500 in savings after paying all the expenses above? Well, you see, I love to travel. I been to Asia 3 times in the past 12 months. Using a combination of credit card points, good timing for sales, 300 OT hours per year (extra $13k before tax per year), I can do that and have a nice cushion of savings. I am looking for imperfections in this current budget and way of life. Help out a fellow lurker of this subreddit:)

No retirement savings is a huge miss in the budget, especially with such low debt. Make strides on both a pre-tax and post-tax retirement account to take full advantage of your age. You have decades for your returns to earn returns so don't waste any more time.

You may find these links helpful: - [Budgeting](/r/personalfinance/wiki/budgeting) - [Tools and spreadsheets](/r/personalfinance/wiki/tools) - /r/mintuit: all about Mint - /r/ynab: all about YNAB *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've finally gotten to the point where all of my credit card debt (3 cards total, with 1 being a Target store card) is paid off. Reading around here I see the general rule of thumb seems to be to put charges on the credit card each month, and then pay off the statement in full, not the "balance" (per-say, if I worded that correctly). ​ That being said, should I be putting charges across all of these cards, or just one and paying that one off? Does it look bad if not all of the cards get a balance reported for an extended period of time? This is of course for keeping a better credit score and not lowering it due to "losing" history. ​ The first card I have is a wells fargo bank card that I have 12 years of history on. My other card is a chase amazon card (for the 5% cash back mostly) that is only 2 years old. The target card is 4 years old. Never missing a payment, late, etc. on any of these cards. ​ I guess I haven't seen anywhere here (unless ive been blind or overlooked / misunderstood something) people saying more than just "put stuff on your cards each month and pay them off at the end of the month to not accrue interest" but in a situation of multiple cards if it hinders you to not use all of them.

I would use each card for purchases that make sense for it. For example, use the Amazon card when you buy something on Amazon or at Whole Foods. Use the Target card at Target. Use whichever gives you the most rewards for any given purchase. If you find that you don't use one much (maybe you don't live near a Target anymore), try to use it for a small purchase at least once every six months to avoid it being closed for inactivity.

You may find these links helpful: - [Credit-related wiki pages](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit) - [Credit Cards](/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards) - [FICO / Credit Scores](/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico) - [Improving Credit Scores and Building Credit](/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: ### If you need help, please check the [PF Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index) to see if your question might be answered there. This thread is for personal finance discussions, questions, and sharing your success stories: 1. *Make a top-level comment if you want to share something positive regarding your personal finances!* 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! 2. *Please make a top-level comment if you want to ask a question! Also, please don't downvote "moronic" questions!* If you have not received your answer within 24 hours, you can feel free to [start a discussion](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/submit?selftext=true). **A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions!** For past threads, please search the [Weekly Archive](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/search?q=title%3A%28%22Weekend+Discussion%22+OR+%22Triumphant+Thursday%22%29+author%3AAutoModerator&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=year#res-hide-options).

**I've been tracking my net worth for 9 years. Here's what I've learned since my last update** Here is the graph as of today: https://i.imgur.com/ns7UeLc.png ...and the spreadsheet: https://i.imgur.com/FqLcOvH.png * Here are previous links to my 8 year update: https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/79swn2/ive_been_tracking_my_net_worth_for_8_years/?st=jmm6c5na&sh=2b127c83 * ...and my 7 year update: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/55tkjk/ive_been_tracking_my_net_worth_for_7_years/?st=jmm6bsx1&sh=27c13b6b You'll notice I now only show my chart in the current month and then January 1st of each year. This is for simplicity's sake and realizing I need to take a longer look at things, not necessarily focus on the month-to-month details. My computer crashed a few months ago so I had to recreate the spreadsheet from other sources so that's why the format and a few small details may have changed. **Since my last update I've had quite a few big changes.** * My wife and I had baby number two. This has caused our daycare expense to go from about $700 per month to $1,400 per month. At first I tried to keep everything the same in my financial life but realized we were leaning on credit cards too much. I reduced savings into my online account (Ally Bank) from about $150/week to $90/week. I also renegotiated my DirecTV and insurance bills, savings about $500 total between the two. * Oddly enough our cars were both involved in accidents. We bought her a new minivan at 0% interest (due to baby #2) and me a new small SUV (at 2.99% interest). I said I would never buy a new car but I used my settlement check as down payment and was able to get a nicer car than I had with the same payments. Yes, the payments will now take me out another five years, but if something happens we have the cash reserved so I could pay it off if I needed to. * I sold a rental property. This particular property was causing me some headaches and I offloaded it at a loss. This is reflected in the net worth reduction a few months back on the chart. I used the capital loss on the house to rebalance my investment portfolio without needing to pay capital gains taxes. It wasn't ideal but it's one less stress to worry about. Now I am down to one investment property with a stable tenant. I don't make anything month-to-month but the increased equity does help my net worth grow. * The stock market had some huge ups and downs this year so I realized much of my net worth growth in the past few years has been through stocks. Much of that is based on luck and not skill. My advice is to keep investing little by little, every month. * My wife got a $6,000 raise at work that was mostly offset by higher health insurance prices. But this, coupled with my insurance changes, is paying for the 2nd kid's daycare. It's a net-zero affect, essentially. * The most important realization is finances ebb and flow but I only get older. I've made the decision to spend money on things I want to buy while still being responsible. I don't just need to save, save, save. I work to live, not live to work. My wife and I went on another international vacation. I bought a new $X,000 guitar. We're doing more things out of the house with the kids. Thanks for reading, and if this is your first time reading my updates, please take away this one thing: keep saving. I started at $50/month. Something is better than nothing.

Success Milestone: 22 years old, $77k annual income, no college degree. I have commonly read that the income level where the correlation between happiness and income peaks is $75k/year. After working full time jobs since I was 16 years old I was able to achieve that number a couple months before my 23rd birthday without having completed a college degree. For those who are curious I work in digital marketing. Will try to answer specific questions without giving away too much if anyone is curious. ​

Human: My job is as a nurse assistant and I receive a certified letter from the state board saying my license was suspended immediately because I am in "default" paying my student loans. I have 11 thousand in loan debt and my pay check is garnished $98 every month for the last three years, no questions asked and no problem for me before. I thought that was the end until the loan was repayed. But, when I called the education department they said that doesn't count as making a payment because the garnished money is "involuntary". They offered me a new agreement to agree to pay $390 a month, but it is too much and I can't afford this. I make $11 a hour at my first job and $9.50 a hour at the second. Both of my jobs put me on leave with no pay because they said it's illegal for me to work there with a license that is on suspension. I am worrying they will fire me. I can't afford a lawyer and the legal aid hotline said it is a two month wait to see a lawyer. English is my second language and I live and take care of my mom who does not work with her disabilities. Without my pay check we only have her disability check which is not enough. I don't know where to start !

Call back to education department and ask if there's any kind of hardship you can claim since you can't afford the 390.

Assuming you can work you at your current rate of pay it would take a full 6 months to earn 11k without any money going to your own expenses. Thats totally not doable plus you can't work without your license. I'm sure you're aware that you were hosed on your CNA program and it's sad the program was so shady. Truthfully you need to find other employment. Factory work is less stressful and at worst the same as physically demanding plus I'd imagine it pays more.

Human: I have a couple thousand dollars saved and honestly a savings account is not worth the .01% interest each year at all. I’m looking for low risk ways to better invest that money so it’s not just lying around losing value to inflation. Ideally would like 4-5% yield depending on risk, and am curious what is available and what would be unsafe during a national financial crisis.

Do you need that money in the near future? If so, keep it in a high-yield savings account (check the sidebar for bank recommendations). If your intention is to have that money as a long-term investment, short-term financial crises shouldn’t be a concern of yours.

For a 4.to 5 % yield you will have to take some risk. Another possible route to take is a conservative balanced fund like Vanguard Wellesley Income. It's about 35% stocks and 65%bonds, with an average intermediate maturity. If you need the funds in less than 5 years, perhaps it's best to stay away from stocks.

Human: Had an invoice arrive in the mail for 134.23usd for my sons surgery. Paid the bill promptly with my hsa for the exact amount of 134.23. Today, six weeks after the payment. I received a collections letter stating that I owe 134.23. Called the hospital and they acknowledged receiving the payment. However, they paid a different invoice of their choosing. This doesn't make sense to me for a few reasons: 1. They require an invoice number to process the payment. 2. I have not received any further invoices from the hospital or my insurer. I disputed this with the creditor, but I'm afraid that they will find that it is a valid debt. This is going to comedown to the hospital and while I have records showing the payments I'm not sure if moving the payments to a different invoice is legal. What are my next steps? I can easily pay the 134.23, but it's the principal that bugs me.

You need to work with the hospital to get the payment properly credited and the collections agency notified of this.

You may find these links helpful: - [Dealing with collections](/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections) - [Credit Repair](/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: So I applied to Sears for a sales rep and they called today for the over the phone interview. The job is 100% commission so I'm aware that my income can and will fluctuate and my success is in my hands on how I do. I've never had a commission job and I'd just like some advice? I'll be 19 next Thursday I live with my parents still and owe $2600 left on my car. I'm just trying to figure out if I should take this if I get the job

At the state Sears is in I really doubt that your income will fluctuate much. It will probably stay very close to $0. They're offering this at 100% commission because Sears can't really afford to pay salaries, so you're going to be a 19-year-old kid at a failing store trying to convince people to buy stuff. How many girlfriends have you ever had? Less than six and you might not have the needed sales skills.

This isn't really financial advice, but more so life/career advice: do it. Its not going to be an easy job. A lot of people aren't cut out for it and will fail. But sales skills are invaluable, and this is the type of job where you either learn them or you quit. You're young, don't have a lot of bills at the moment so variability in income is not as much of a concern at the moment. Learn all you can about sales, Grant Cardone, and Victor Antonio both have some awesome content available to help hone your skills. Regardless of what you want to do with your life, learning how to sell will help get you there.

Human: I have received two calls today saying they are from the US government and that I have been chosen to receive a one time payment of 9k for being a citizen. They want to give you the money through a money gram or direct deposit. It’s from a call center and the person is of Indian decent. Please don’t give into them. If it was really the government, you would most likely get certified mail or they would already know your info since it is the government after all.

These calls are common, and sadly many people fall for it - especially elder people.

This is an old one. I've been getting calls from these guys for over 5 years. It used to be more persistent, 2-3 calls a day, but now it's like once a week. There was a whole ring shut down in India a few years back that made news, but they didn't get catch them all.

Human: I am currently looking at two cars, both 2018 Mazdas. One has 15k miles on it and is an ex-rental car, the other is brand new. The brand new one is slightly more than I wanted to spend, but I feel like I should get the new one just for piece of mind? Are brand new cars more reliable than late model used cars? If I consider this car as a long term choice, which will go on many road trips, does the new one make sense, or am I overly downplaying the used one?

For $2000 more, get the new car. Zero miles = more warranty time, less potential abuse/neglect/deferred maintenance from previous drivers, and new cars tend to have better financing options.

How many mile da used got? Eitha way fam wats 2000 mo. Just get da new one

Human: I’m considering relocating from the South Florida area to greater D.C. area for work. I’m a bit torn on accepting the job (should I get it) because of the differences in taxes in D.C. There’s no state income tax here in Florida so a $20,000 increase doesn’t seem that much of a difference. I’d basically be starting in an entirely new industry, but there’s significant potential to grow and earn more later. I don’t know, it may seem like a no brainer to most but I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, so I really want to make the right choice. I’m also concerned about the moving expenses associated with it. Any advice? Btw, I’m single, no dependents, no major expenses at the moment, a couple grand in the bank, and really nothing holding me back besides the fact that I’d be leaving my entire life behind. Anything helps! Edit: Perhaps I should have added that my salary would be $70k including benefits. Assistant: Use numbeo.com to compare cost of living differences. I'm hoping your decision is based on career opportunities rather than salary increases, because you're not getting a whole lot. Factoring in taxes and COL differences. It's expensive in the DC area and so people generally commute. Has anyone ever told you about DC traffic, it's mind numbing. $70k/yr in DC is not a whole lot, that's really not a lot. You shouldn't look at this relocation as a pay increase because it isn't, your disposable income per month is likely going to look the same. You'll be in an area full of options though, if you plan on having a roommate you can live in a nicer area closer to work. Human: Thank you! Should have been more specific but fortunately I won’t actually be working in the city... I’ll be in the Springfield area. Commute shouldn’t be as bad but it’s my understanding that Springfield is still costly.

I moved from the West Palm area to DC four years ago. I’ll be coming back to Florida in July. Anyway, I will say on 70k, you won’t be getting much for your money in the DC area. When I moved I was lucky enough to find a place that was just built so there were specials and my rent was only $1100 but most of my coworkers were paying between $1500 and $1700 and that was four years ago. If you don’t have to go in the city you’ll be saving a lot of money. I think at one point I was paying about $60 a week for my commute using the metro and paying for parking. If this is a career opportunity I would take it but for the price increase, don’t do it. The state taxes are brutal lol.

Hi there. As someone who already lives in Northern Virginia, I'd recommend this move. An increase from 50 to 70K is 40%, and your costs will NOT increase as much. Obviously if this was a move from 250K to 270K, it'd be a different story. If you're willing to put up with roommates, I see rooms being rented out with private baths (typically an entire basement unit) for under $1000. If you're willing to share, people are renting out rooms anywhere from $500-700 or so. If you need your own place, you can find studios/1 bedrooms for under $1500 in the region (areas where the commute will be 20 min or less each way to Springfield).

Human: So I called a chain waxing salon for a service, and while on the phone, they told me they need to have my credit card info on file. I've been serval times before and never had this request. Why? I don't think it's a good idea and I don't understand why they would want it. I'm leery of this. Anyone have any insight?

Sure, my insight is to say no. ​ They have no need to have it on file.

You may find these links helpful: - [Credit-related wiki pages](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit) - [Credit Cards](/r/personalfinance/wiki/creditcards) - [FICO / Credit Scores](/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico) - [Improving Credit Scores and Building Credit](/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: Just looking for general advice about what companies will work well for my age and goals which are long-term and hands off if possible. This is my way of saving for retirement and I am lucky to have the extra funds from an unfortunate accident and I know a Roth IRA will be my best course of action over an extended period of time. Let me know if you need more info or if this is the wrong sub for this question! Thanks in advance.

Vanguard for passive management, Fidelity for active management imo. Most people here will probably recommend Vanguard.

In general, a lot of people are going to reccomend Vanguard. And I'd do the same. They have a simple interface, theyre investor owned (so kinda a co-op type deal), and they have low fees across the board. (That being said, Fidelity is doing the first \*free\* ETF's, so those select funds will be cheaper for sure, for now.) Vanguard is a great "invest it and forget it" company. Do your max contribution, diversify it according to their chart (or don't--depends on your personal risk tolerance). In general, Vanguard wont nickel and dime you like other banks might--it just isn't their style. Also, make sure you sign up for paperless statements.

Human: I'm 21 and have been working for two years. My income is steady. I live with my parents and pay rent but now I have all this money and saved up and well... I don't know what to do with it.:( like what should I do now? Update, More info- I don't like spending money. I don't see the point so I've just been hoarding it. I know most people spend it on stuff but nothing really appeals to me because I can find alot of cool stuff free. Now I just have this account with money in that serves no purpose other existing...

Don't do anything with it. Keep it in savings and put it in a high interest-earning account like Ally. Once you move out it'll never be that easy to save that amount of money again. You'll want it in 5 years to buy a house. Even if that seems like it's a long time away you'll thank yourself in the future for having it. I bought my first house when I was 20 because I was able to save up a lot like you.

Spend some of it on experiences, a nice vacation, or if you're like me a 500$ bottle of tequila because why not

Human: I am 30, and am the primary provider for two young kids. I live in a more expensive city because I love the schools and the community. However almost all housing is 300K+. I have no debt, and 750 credit score. I have considered both FHA loans and traditional mortgages. Besides a 2-3 month emergency fund I have nothing saved. I claim both kiddos on taxes which is financially helpful. I make around $17/hour and work full time. I do not plan to move and have also had the same employeer for 4 years. The biggest reason for the push to buy comes from the ever increasing cost of rent. All 2-3 bedroom apartments are easily over $1200/mo, and mine will be soon as well. My parents own, and have offered to help with a downpayment. I can also use my next tax return (7k last year) as part of the downpayment. My rent is $850 and will be raised to $950 or so by next year. At what point should I buy?

At $17 an hour you dont want a 300k house. With 5% down you're looking at around $2,000 a month mortgage payment.

If your kids can go to school in the district that you and your ex prefer, can you live further out of town in a less expensive area? Where I live, the same townhouse in a second tier suburb to the south will cost $350-$400K, but in a third tier to the north, under $250K. That, unfortunately, still won't get you into a home. But there are fixer upper townhomes, as well. At any rate, with your current income, I would NOT be looking for a single family home, but that fixer upper townhome. OR. If you are handy, find a townhome that needs help, and a seller that does, too. It's time consuming and can be frustrating, but if you can find a tiny, old house that has good potential (have a trustworthy contractor look at it for a fee,) and move in, fix it up and sell it. Rinse, repeat, with slightly better places each time. At 30, you have time luxury of time, and if you buy/sell a house every other year, by the time you're 40 you may well be in a MUCH better home for the cost to you of that first fixer upper. Along the way, you'll have picked up the skills needed to flip another house in the off years from flipping your own. It takes time, work and skill. But you can have your home and extra income, as well.

Human: I spoke with an agent selling whole life insurance and it seems like a safe stable way to build a nest egg over time while getting returns smaller than the stock market but far more stable. Wheres the bad part? Everything has one. I feel as though I'm too young and inexperienced to fully comprehend the ups and downs.

Ask the salesperson what percentage of your first two year's "investment" will go to pay commissions and fees. The answer is usually somewhere between 50 and 100%. When you invest money and all of your investment is gone after the first year is that a good investment or a bad investment? ​ Run away, he is a salesman, not an agent. ​ if you want insurance buy term insurance If you want to invest in the stock market buy index funds and forget about the money for 20 years ​ Whole life is smoke and mirrors of the average person. Stay away

It’s a bad investment and overpriced insurance. Do not pass go.

Human: I'm a single 27 year old w/ no kids. I have a new job I started that is base salary + commission, but I see myself at for at least the next couple years. I expect to make about $70-85k my first year. I currently live with my friend who owns a house and pay $550 a mo. in rent. I have about $26-$27k in savings. Each month my parents pay me roughly $375 due to a loan of $20k I gave them a year ago. That $375 will continue for the next four years. I don't have any money in any investments, no money in a 401k or IRA. I am pretty frugal w/ money and my only monthly debts besides my rent are my car insurance (roughly $130/mo), phone bill (roughly $80-$100 depending on data usage), one credit card that I payoff every month, and student loan debt which is almost entirely paid off. I guess what I'm asking is what's the best way to invest my money plus what I have in savings? I hope to purchase a house of my own within the next few years.

In order of importance - 1/ Stash away for a emergency fund for 3-6 months worth of living expenses. Critical. 2/ Depending on how close you are to paying off loans, I would aggressively start saving for retirement w/ 401(k) and a Roth IRA which you should qualify for. If you get an employee match - no question about contributing to 401(k). 3/ Understand what risk appetite you have and begin investing. Given your age, it makes sense to edge a little riskier and invest in mutual funds (and some stock). What I do, which others might not, is allocate a small 1-2% of my income to high-risk investments. This limited exposure won't affect you if things go belly up, but if things go up - it can be a nice bump in wealth.

No one ever talks about life insurance being a investment. But theres no risk if you choose the right company. Check out any mutual company that pays dividends.

Human: Hi guys. Made a throwaway because I don't want my friends to find out about my sudden influx of money and treat me differently because of it. I'm a 20yo living in Minnesota, renting a room in a house and going to school part time. Pretty regular. Never really knew my father, but when he died earlier this year I got to meet my grandmother for the first time. We hit it off super well and made plans to visit often (she lives in another stare). Unfortunately she passed away after I only got to meet her that one time. I guess she really liked me though, because she wrote me into her will and I just recieved a check for $200,000. So my question is this: what should I do with it? I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I don't want to squander this money on something that I will regret later. My first thought was to pay off my mom's mortgage ($168,000 remaining on a house probably worth about $200,000) and then I would just inherit the house when she dies and not have to worry about the money until then. My only concern here is that if she were to rack up debt, I wouldn't be able to get any inheritance back if she died (which would be fine since she's my mom, BUT.... ) My second thought was what if I BOUGHT a new house and then just let her live in it and pay for utilities? We both would like to move out of state. This way she could afford to live in a nice place (her mortgage payments are wayyyy too expensive.. she bought the house during the bubble or whatever) and I would be able to sell the house in the future, maybe even for profit. Any advice? I can't sleep since I got this money because I'm afraid I'll make a stupid 20yo decision and squander it. Thanks in advance. TLDR; inherited $200k, wondering if buying a house and renting it to my mom so I don't spend it would be a good idea? EDIT: Thank you all for the thoughtful responses. I guess I didn't even think about the fact that I don't have to make a decision tonight. My mom lost her job a couple years ago and is now making like half of what she used to, and can barely afford her mortgage. Maybe I'll just invest the money and help her out a little every month with the payments. She raised me single handedly and I feel she should at least get some of the money since my dad wasn't around to help out.

First of all, I am sorry for your loss. It is never easy when someone passes away and it can be even more difficult to try and make sense of money, direction and life when all of it seems to happen all at once. If the passing was recent, there is no need to rush to action. The cash isn't going anywhere. The first thing I might consider is making an inventory of your personal finances, credit cards, bills, student loans, monthly expenses, car loan, insurance, etc. Build this out for the month. This will help identify where you stand financial today. If you have debts, those might be something to prioritize paying off because of their interest costs. Think about the major purchases that are ahead of you. Are you in college? Plan to attend college? How do you plan to play for college? Do you have reliable transportation? Do you think you'll purchase a home/condo in the future? Wedding/Kids, etc etc. If you build a strong financial foundation for yourself, it will make taking care of your family easier (mom). I would be cautious gifting money to family with an exception that it will come back to you. It might not. Lastly, I might suggest taking 10% of the inheritance and treating yourself. It is an incredible gift past to you by your grandmother. She might have wanted you to at least enjoy a part of it.

I have had some experience in this area, so I just wanted to mention a few potential downsides you might not have considered. First, I’ve seen problems develop in this situation when parent and child don’t see eye to eye on the status of the house. The parent thought they lived there, so they could do what they wanted, including things not allowed by local laws. The child thought it was more of a 50/50 partnership since the child owned the house and was very nervous about the parent’s activities. In the end the disagreement escalated until a formal eviction was served to stop the bad activity and it destroyed their relationship. I’ve seen another situation where the relationship was damaged when the child needed some money 5-10 down the road, and had none because everything they had was used to buy the house they let their parent live in. The parent eventually moved out so the child could sell the house. The situation you’re describing certain can work, if everything goes well. But I just want to be sure you’re thinking of all the potential outcomes, both positive and negative.

Human: Purchase was made w/ my CC info via PayPal fraudulently but item was delivered to my house. Is this just done for the hacker to test the credit card out? Or do people locally go and pickup these items up then? ​

Someone sent about 1100 in electronics to my place, couple of cellphones, and some memory cards and such. Got in touch with the companies on how to send it back, and they all just told me to keep it. Great early xmas present.

I used to work debit card fraud for a large bank. The only time I have ever seen this was when someone had stolen a relatives card. They just took it from their mail. One thing to check is that your debit card address is the same as your personal address. They have different address slots in the bank system (like shipping vs billing address). Someone may have created a copy of your card but failed to use their own address when scheduling shipping.

Human: hello guys, i just got a raise at a family friend's small business. i am currently making 20$ hour at 40 hours a week, and anything overtime is paid in cash. i usually work 45-50 hours a week sometimes more. i currently owe $22,700, broken up into 8 different loans ranging from 3-high 4%. i was making 13$ an hour before this raise this past week and have been putting 1000$ into my student loans every month so far (around 50% of my income at the time). out of the 8 loans 5 are not occurring interest until january. my game plan so far has been to target the highest interest rates regardless of how much the loan is, (ex my 9th loan was 1k for 5%). i have pay no rent, i get free home cooked meals for lunch and dinner. the only thing i really spend my money on is breakfast which is 5~$ every morning and getting food on my own on weekends when no one is cooking. i have a excelspread sheet if it would be more helpful for me to post that my mentor tells me while it is important to pay off debt i should save money for business ventures since we have things cooking up together and not put 50% of my income towards my student debt. (this was when i was at 13 an hour). with the raise now i am just unsure on how much to put towards it. i also just got my credit score back today, it is 724. i am 23 , just graduated 4 months ago. very new to this credit idea, never owned a credit card since i always heard horror stories of people getting into debt. i applied for one and should be getting results soon.

As much as you can afford after paying all your expenses. You should not be saving up for "business ventures", all savings (except for a small emergency fund) should go straight towards your loans. You're correct to put it towards the highest rates first.

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans](/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](/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 elected a 300k/500k auto insurance, 300k renters insurance, and $5m umbrella insurance which will cost me $1900 annually. I make about 65K a year. Married and have a 2 year old. Live in Chicago, and work as a school staff for the Chicago Public Schools. I just don't want bad things happen and lose everything I worked so hard for. Am I being paranoid? The auto only would run me $700 annually. My networth as of right now is about $50K.

5m umbrella is overkill. The renters may be overkill as well. But if it makes you sleep at knight, there are far dumber ways to spend 2k

Even if you are paranoid that doesn't mean they aren't out to get you. With proper planning this doesn't sound like it'll break the bank but what do I know? I haven't had proper budgeting since the fall of the wall.

Human: My fiancée has, or had? A large amount of debt. She tells me most of it has gone away/ been written off? by the credit card companies she owed them too. She was summoned to court, did not go, and received a letter stating she has 45 days to fill out some information. The county court letter states she owes the debt collector 800 + 200 dollars in court fees. She can't even afford the gas in her car (I pay for that) She lives pay check to pay check. The only savings she has is her 401k and I believe 5k in apple stock that her job (apple) gave her that isn't really hers yet. She can't sell it or anything for I believe 3 more years? What are her options? She can't afford the bill and honestly, her head is barely above water, wave garnishing would be devastating.

If the court requires her to appear or fill out a form listing her assets, bank accounts, etc., it would be best to comply since ignoring court orders can bring more trouble. Most likely, the entity that sued her will get a court order to either take money from her bank account or take money from each pay check, until the amount is paid off. Might as well be prepared for that to start happening in the near future (keep some money in cash, in case her bank account balance disappears without notice). Typically the states limit how much can be taken from each pay check to about 25%, so she would still be getting 75% of her pay.

They good news is that the court will be happy to garnish her paycheck to paycheck. If you plan to keep her, plan on more surprises and to add her car insurance etc. to the list of things you'll be paying for soon.

Human: Let's say I have a car for sale for $4,000, how do I ensure that I don't get scammed, before signing over the title? How do you check to make sure the money is real or not, and should you accept checks? Should I ask for money order? What actions would you take when it comes to making large transaction face to face, to be on the safe side.

Cash is heavily the preferred method. Next would be you going with them to talk to the teller at their bank and watch them receive the cashier check from the teller and hand it to you right then and there. Personally, I wouldn’t accept any other method

I’m guessing that you want to go to the bank, have him withdraw the cash or get a cashiers check, hand it to you and then you deposit it in your account and then give him the title. Unless there is some sort of official way to do it with a contract.

Human: I have 6000$ in shit debt ( CC and payday loans) 150000$ in govt. School debt. Right now, working insane hours, bordering on bad for my health, making around 6000$ a month after taxes. I can probably keep this up for 4-5 months. Then I'll be back to about 4000$ a month. I have 0 investments, I live walking distance to work, don't own a car, live in a bedroom for 575$ a month. What should be my priority? I'm down with saving for the future but also don't want to hold off living till I'm 65.

You could be debt free in 3 years if you kept making $6k per month and put every extra penny towards paying off debt.

What is your career? You need to try and get a job making a lot more money, because at that income level it'll take you a while to pay off the debt and get retirement going. If you focus heavily on the debt, which is my advice, putting at least 2500/month on debt will get you out of debt in 5 years. That's giving you 1500 to live on (including rent, so less than 1k). If you can boost your income up a couple thousand a month somehow through a full time job change, that puts it down to around 3 years. If you focus heavily on retirement, and only say, 1000/m onto debt, you're not getting out of debt for over a decade still. Quick calculations on a compound interest calculator, assuming 8% returns show that if you split it 1000 on debt and 1500 into retirement starting now will get you appx a 830k nest egg by 55. If you crack down on the debt and don't invest in retirement until it's done, at the most in 5 years, then invest the full 2500/m into retirement, you come out slightly ahead, 860k. And, splitting it, you'll be in debt almost all the way up to this retirement age and pay a lot more interest. Tl:dr, you can be ok, just how long do you want to be in debt?

Human: Hi everyone. I am a long time reader, first time poster. I just finished grad school (debt free) and have accepted my first full-time job in Texas. I am a male in my mid-20s. My salary is $57k, which comes to $46.8k after taxes ($3.9k/month). I need your help in deciding how to manage my money. Basically, I need to know what to do with the $1000 I have left each month from my paycheck after taking care of monthly expenses. Current financial situation: -debt free -753 credit score -$80k in savings account that I earned through summer work over the last 6 years -I have no investments in stock or anything Below are my projected monthly expenses. Just a heads up that the cost of living in this city is ridiculously high. • Rent/utilities/internet/rental insurance: $1615 • Living expenses (food, gas, hobbies): $1100 • Cell phone: $80 • Health benefits (deducted from paycheck): $98 This comes to ~$2900/month in expenses, leaving a net income of $1000/month. My company offers a 401(k), which I don't know enough about in general to understand how to efficiently use it. Basically, I know it is used for retirement and the sooner I start adding to it, the better. But what if I want to continue adding to my existing savings account? One day I want to buy a house, or buy a wedding ring. I want to take a nice vacation every couple of years. From what I understand, taking money out of a 401(k) early has penalties. So, I want to have liquid assets - like I do now, but continue to add to them. Here is what was outlined in my offer letter regarding the 401(k): • The company match is dollar for dollar on the first 3% of your eligible pay and 50 cents on the dollar on the next 2% of your eligible pay that you contribute to your account each plan year, for a maximum match of 4% on a 5% employee contribution. In general, the match is contributed on a biweekly basis. • Employee and employer contributions are immediately 100% vested. • Employees may contribute (pretax and Roth) up to 90% of pay. Bottom line: I want to start my 401(k) now, but I also want to add to my $80k in savings. What is a reasonable way to divide my $1000 in net monthly income? Thank you for any advice!!

Have you read through the [Prime Directive](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) in the sidebar? >>>

Thought it said negative $80k

Human: I don't know much about this investment but I was told there's a lot of money after 5+ years if I plant teak trees and sell it. If I invest 20k$ here, I might get 6 acres of land minimum. Assuming each acre can hold 500 teak trees. I was also told selling 500 teak trees might get me 50k$ after 5 years. The bigger it is, the better it will be. I don't know much about teak trees and the lands here are very good. Surrounded by a lot of hills and the chances of natural disaster hitting this place is very low. Other than fire, I don't have to sweat much. But I'm also thinking of taking insurance. The risks include: irresponsible trespassers, villagers that doesn't agree with my work, freedom fighters (yep), law etc. I'm 18 right now, I'm legally allowed to have a land. I'm planning on investing with my parents money. My mother have retired and I plan on living with them still. My dad agrees with this. Is it worth it? How would you want me to proceed if it is? I was also told there's no need to do anything after planting.

A quick Google search shows: Teak is one of the faster growing tropical hardwoods (half an inch per day), still, it takes 20 to 25 years to grow into ONE mature tropical tree to final harvest. Guadua grows up to 8 inches a day, or 5-6 months to grow into a full size stem (culm).Feb 20, 2012 Guadua Bamboo vs Teak Plantations — Guadua Bamboo https://www.guaduabamboo.com › guadua Buying decent land is always a good idea if that's what you're looking to do. It'd definitely be better than blowing all that cash on useless crap. Any type of farming will require setup, tools, and equipment though. There maybe be some unknown costs too. I think it's a great idea if you think you can do the work to turn a profit. Or just being a land owner is awesome and you could build on it or camp or make nature trails... We bought 3 acres in central WA a few months ago. It's been rewarding building it up and making it our own. No money makers yet but there's definitely room to grow over the years. Some basic livestock like sheep can turn easy profits too. Just keep the grass green and either cut the wool to sell or process, or sell the lambs for meat.

Please talk to your local timber farmers. I've done this before with northern white pine trees--just fucking around--and most of them died lol...was only about 60 trees, though. I got them on ebay for next to nothing, so I wasn't too upset. My point: certain trees do well in certain places, and other than my pecans, pears, apple and figs, most haven't done that great and are really slow growing. Citrus is also a dangerous game...

Human: Wanted to buy a car (Tesla). I've avoided loans my whole life because of the cautionary tales against them. Up until now I have only purchased what I can afford. I've had 2 credit cards for the last 3 years that I pay off in full every month. I got denied by 3 different banks for the loan I requested stating: 1. LENGTH OF TIME ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED 2. LACK OF RECENT INSTALLMENT LOAN INFORMATION 3. RATIO OF BALANCE TO LIMIT ON BANK REVOLVING OR OTHER REV ACCTS TOO HIGH 4. TOO MANY ACCOUNTS WITH BALANCES Why do I have to waste money to prove i'm responsible with money so I can get a loan? What do I purchase with a smaller loan and how do I offset the interest payments so I can build my credit history? Edit: Thank you for the replies, I'm taking it very seriously and trying to learn. Edit2: Again I appreciate the help. I had gotten bad advice before and was never taught how to build my credit. No $7500 is not my entire savings. I did not think I was over extending myself with this loan. I could afford the monthly payments. Some people in this thread are jumping to conclusions. Assistant: Will you lend me 100k? No.. probably because you dont know me well. ​ That's what credit is about, they dont want you to pay to get a loan but they want to know you're a good risk. You've got a high score but not too much history backing it up, on a large loan with minimal collateral (cars depreciate very quickly) it is riskier than say offering 3 people 15k loans with a similar score. ​ Do you have a relationship with a local bank or credit union? Human: I opened an account with a local credit union and they were very helpful setting me up with the loan process but I was ultimately denied. My friend had no problem getting a loan but he's taken out tons of loans (student loans, mortage, car loans). It seems like he's being irresponsible with his money having to make so many payments. Like it's counter intuitive that the person without the massive expenses would be the least capable of making additional monthly payments. Assistant: Your friend has taken tons of loans AND HAS PAID THEM. You never took a single loan. This makes your friend more trustworthy to the eyes of the bank. Taking loans is not being irresponsible. Sometimes it is a financial advantage (APR sometimes can be lower than inflation and usually are lower than investment returns). On the more helpful side, did you apply through Tesla? Human: He hasn't repayed them all.

i meant he has all those loans and most likely than not he always paid on time (not necessarily paid them off).

I have paid my mortgage for a year. That looks trustworthy when I got my car loan a couple months ago

Human: HELP. I (29) and my husband (27) got married around two years ago and have kept our finances separate this whole time. We also have an infant daughter. We were both employed in the military and making nearly the exact same income, up until this month, when I left my job to go back to school for a degree in nursing. So my income has shot to 0, but the army will pay all of my tuition. This program will take until aug 2020, if all goes according to plan. It’s online at first, allowing me to stay home with our daughter, and then is in person starting in May. We are moving, which everything is entirely paid for by the military, as he is still in. We have no healthcare costs, and we are moving on post to our next location so we won’t have a rent or housing bills here (he will be getting paid about 1300 dollars less a month to accommodate this). Both of us have car payments, he has some credit card debt (around 2,000), we have a joint cellphone bill, and I opened a 529 for our daughter that I would like to keep contributing to. I also pay for his car insurance, but that’s mostly due to it was only 20 or 30 dollars more to do our cars together than I was doing separately. I never saw a problem with our expenses being separate and now I am starting to, and I don’t know if that’s fair because I am now the one with no income. Previously, I bought the majority of groceries because I was the one more able to do the shopping because of our work schedules. We split daycare by alternating weeks. I have around 6,000 saved and I previously told my husband I would just kind of live through that and he agreed he would buy more groceries and daily expenses. But is that the right way to do this? I trust my husband completely, our relationship is really solid. I am pretty confident he is not doing anything financially that I don’t know about, other than occasional clothing purchases of around 100$ here and there- which I really don’t know the full extent of. He knows I think he spends too much on clothes I’m worried he will think I just want to join accounts to monitor those purchases. I guess it’s partly true. I don’t really buy anything for myself because I’m dealing with post baby body issues, however I am quick to jump to ‘our daughter NEEDS xyz’ when she doesn’t. I don’t even know where to start, or what I am asking. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

This is a relationship question more than personal finance. You need to get on the same page about your finances and we can't help you with that. You are married and in most US states your money would be pooled in a split anyway. It doesn't matter if you're currently earning 0, you're a team. It shouldn't be him giving you **his** money. It should be he's supporting his family.

I am sorry, am I the only person to find it funny that the wife is complaining a husband spending too much on clothes?

Human: I recently went through a break up and am moving back in with my parents for 4-6 months and then making a big move cross country. I want to be smart about this and was thinking of either putting it towards my car ($29,000 loan), my credit cards ($19,000) or other (Savings and etc...). As of right now I’m saving about $600 per month for the move and will have about $4,500 saved up when the time comes to move which should cover the cost to move and allow me about a month before absolutely needing a job. Any and all advice is welcome! Thank you! Assistant: Pay off the debt as fast as possible. Human: From the credit card(s)?

From whatever has the highest interest rate.

If you pay off as fast as possible, gazelle intensity, than interest rate really won’t matter much at all. I’m talking any extra money you have. The most important thing is to budget first and foremost to see where all the money is going.

Human: I'm just trying not to get hit with overdraft stuff; I'm off at college and every penny counts. Obviously this is due to the money having been deposited on a Friday, so it hasn't cleared yet. I'm in the United States if that makes a difference.

Ask the bank and not reddit.

Depending on how large the check is, it might take a while to clear. Some banks can give you access to some of the funds sooner if you are a loyal customer, then release the rest of the funds once the check clears. I would hold off on spending until it actually hits your account.

Human: I currently have around 50k in Wells Fargo student loans, along with around another 100k in mixed private and federal. The monthly payment for all loans is astronomical. Every lender EXCEPT Wells Fargo, has put me on a payment assistance plan. When I tried to consolidate my two WF loans, they told me I needed a co-signer, which I do not have. And then when I tried getting on their payment assistance plan, the judgment they rendered, was the monthly payment of $500 was reasonable. What are my next steps in order to lower the monthly payment. I am falling behind in other areas of life, because a large chunk of my paycheck goes to WF. I’m tempted to just stop paying them to pressure them to lower the payment.

If you just stop paying, the only one you are hurting is yourself because it’s going to kill your credit and it’s not like they will just go away and leave you alone.

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans](/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](/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: Hello all! So, don’t get me wrong. If an employer is willing to match the first X%, I’m all about the immediate return; however, what if an employee was terminated from the company later on? Could the company pull their match, and leave you with a 401k where you cannot touch the money until your considered the retirement age? I personally plan to supplement my retirement with rental income, and stocks. I prefer it that way because I can have complete control of my money. I’m willing to invest in a 401k only to match my employer’s offer. Anything else, I’d rather pay towards another investment where I can leverage it before retirement age (40 - 55). To give some background, in my area, several Food Lion grocery store managers were terminated. They probably could have sued, but they lost their “match” from the company. I believe they were still able to keep the capital gains given from the money that was invested by the company, but the company took back their match, essentially stripping several thousands of dollars. Is this normal for a company to do? What if I want to quit a company, and move to another? Could they pull their match as well, or does it only apply to terminations? tl;dr - I don’t like 401ks because they restrict you from using them until you’re retirement age, and I want to retire early. Also, even though I can match an employers offer, can they still take away that match if I was to be laid off or terminated? EDIT: My plan for retirement is to move from home to home. Rather than place all my money towards maxing out a 401k each year, I was thinking about aggressively paying off home mortgages. I want to live in a home for about 5 years, pay down the mortgage until there’s about 20% left, and rent out the home. Assistant: I don't know about "idiot", but you don't seem to understand the mechanics and benefits of these. Let's just go with ignorant and naive. Company contributions can be subject to a vesting schedule, but that's increasingly rare these days; most plans have immediate vesting. It's required under the popular "safe harbor" rules. You own your 401k balance and can transfer it after you leave employment. There are ways to access retirement funds before retirement age if you really want to, but you are probably also going to want money after you reach retirement age. Human: I’ve known about the transfer process, but not the vesting rules. The only problem I have with attempting to max out the 401k is the fact that I would rather use that money to pay down homes. I plan to move 5-6 times throughout my life, and want to aggressively pay down mortgages. I want to be able to move out with 20% of the mortgage value left, and rent to other individuals. I also don’t like the idea of a penalty for choosing to draw out money early; however, I may be able to live off of rental income during the interim period? Assistant: You don't have to "max out" the 401k. Suppose you make $50K/year (could be more of course) and you put 6% into your 401k and your employer matches with 3%. Do that for what, 25 years, something like that? That assumes you are 25 and retire at 50. Your 401k balance assuming 7% annual return (which is not guaranteed, but it's often more than that) would be $284,000ish in present dollars, assuming no inflation or raises, and you'd have paid no taxes on that. If we assume your marginal tax bracket is about 20% including state taxes, those $4500 contributions would have only cost you $2400 annually after tax. Net net, if you assume you are going to have the cash flow to pay down these mortgages and buy more rental properties, which is probably quite a bit harder than you are imagining (since houses you want to live in are often not the best rentals), there's no reason to turn down an immediate ~doubling of your money invested in the stock market, just because you think you need regular income. (One of my pet peeves is people who think that real estate is "passive income"...really, it's not, at least not relative to investments. Cashing dividend checks is way more passive than repairing a rental unit after evicting a tenant.) Human: I’m definitely aware that rentals are not passive. My brother has his real estate license, and has pursued rental housing as well. He has around 6 homes now, and he just outsourced his management to a property management service because he couldn’t take it anymore. I definitely understand the problems. I’m aiming for modest single family homes around the $55k - $150k region in my area. Nothing too crazy.

and like market returns, rental income is not guaranteed...expenses and vacancies could kill any performa/ business plan. it's best to be diverse...hold cash, equities, and paid-for real-estate in your portfolio...that way you tolerate a downturn in either of these...and of course, your salary/ income is the horsepower for building your portfolio until you retire.

Most people who look at this find they can make more money more easily in the stock market than with rental real estate, but if you have a brother that does this, I can see that you would want to do the same.

Human: More about myself: 22, Male, have my license, no crime history, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, no medical problems, credit score about 750, no debt (well about $150 on Best Buy credit card but nothing significant), no outside financial support (parents are out of the picture and my friends are trying to make it by themselves, nor would I ask anyone without feeling terrible about myself), I live in Northwest Ohio, and soon I will be able to put away about $700 a month. Currently have $997 saved away, want to buy a car soon but not today so my budget isn't set in stone My thoughts: I would like to get a used ~~brand~~ new car. I've seen some brand new cars sitting around 14k and that doesn't seem too bad to me (but if I was sure I wouldn't be asking here first) Reasons are: Payments (not all down at once like getting a car from a listing) Life (if I take good care of a brand new car I can at least know it's reliable or the warranty will cover some) I haven't exactly been blessed in life and I have the biggest fear if I invest money in a used car to save money, in the end it will just die on me and I'll end up without a car and an empty bank. I have also been thinking it could be a motorcycle. New motorcycles are a lot cheaper + the insurance would be cheaper as well. I don't have a license for one of those yet, also it may be difficult in the wintertime. But currently I ride my bicycle to work so I see it as a step up either way. I would also not be able to transport people and things like groceries easily but it would still be easier than my bike right now. *Driving a motorcycle makes the road a big game of accidental number cars where you will always lose I would really like some thoughts and ideas to help make this happen sorta soon (the mornings are already starting to get pretty chilly) and I will try to keep up with this thread as much as I can. The only thing reliable about my ISP (that may or may not rhyme with (F)uckeye (F)r(au)dband) is that it is not reliable at all. Edit1: So BRAND NEW is bad. I see people recommending Corollas. Any others makes/models to look out for? Edit2: I am going to read every comment that comes in. I probably won't respond to it (unless it's a question about getting more details or refining my question) but I will at least upvote it Edit3: I have learned to fear other drivers more, especially if one is on a motorcycle. Edit4: What price and/or year range should I narrow down to? How much should I have ready in cash beforehand?

Your first car should probably not be brand new. A few years old dependable car like a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic is the sweet spot. Brand new you’re gonna pay a large markup, if you get a car 3-5 years old it’s New enough that it won’t need constant repairs. Cars like corollas and civics are cheap to fix, cheap to maintain, your insurance will be a lot less, and you can still do monthly payments you don’t have to buy it in a lump sum. Some people buy a brand new car because they want a brand new car and that’s fine. But the right financial decision is to buy used. And not luxury car used, but economy car used

TL;DR: there are multiple factors to consider. Like someone said above- we’ll need a budget to point you in the right direction BUT here are some initial thoughts: 1. Go for a vehicle that gets good gas mileage. If money is an issue at all, gas adds up quickly. Lots of small cars get good gas mileage. 2. Do you live or work in a city? Is parking an issue for you? If so you need to consider how large the vehicle you are looking at is and what you can safely and efficiently park. You may also need to price parking lots/decks if your work and home don’t have parking spaces provided. 3. Motorcycles are a fun and sometimes cheaper option but keep in mind that you may drive extremely well but you are still more likely to be seriously injured or killed on a motorcycle because other people sometimes do not see them when they are driving. My sister worked for years in an ER for years and she’s told me that when people came in after a wreck on a motorcycle that the Injuries were almost always terrible (of course because there isn’t as much structure protecting you). That said, people are injured in car accidents as well, so just make sure you look up the data on motorcycles and tips on staying safe if you go that route. 4. Remember to price insurance before you buy as some cars come with a higher insurance price. 5. Work on your credit (if needed) so that you can get a good interest rate if you are set on a new car. 6. You may want to consider looking at gently used cars from places like Enterprise or other rental agencies because those places are required to service the cars on the regular recommended schedule. You can often buy them with low mileage. Sorry for the book- just things I wish I’d considered before my first car!

Human: Been with betterment for a few years now. They are still way below the SP500 comparison. Time to quit? ​ [Betterment vx SP 500 comparison](https://imgur.com/tVkFhP2)

Your first mistake is comparing a globally diversified portfolio against a single asset class. If you want to keep up with the S&P 500, buy the S&P 500.

This year the market has distinctly changed compared to the last 10. The international markets are down in a significant enough manner that they're dragging down many balanced portfolios. Also there was that early year dip in the domestic stock market (after a big boom right before that) and we're just starting to see the numbers truly recover. If you bought during the dip, you're doing better than if you bought before it but overall you have to remember, every year isn't going to be incredible. I think that's something not discussed on this sub a lot because the reality is it's very likely many of the people are 18-35 and that means during their investment lifetime, the market has either been shit or incredible.

Human: I got a report from capital one that someone did a credit check or along the lines (sorry for my lack of knowledge) on my credit? Is there a way to check this if this was intentionally or not? ​ [https://imgur.com/a/WoFDElv](https://imgur.com/a/WoFDElv)

It is saying one of your current lenders has reported you are working at McDonald's, not that McDonald's is the one who ran a credit check.

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Human: Alright, so here I am, a man of 26 years old, married. I have a lovely wife that drove a 2008 Mazda3 vehicle with the door was nearly falling off and I wanted to put her in a safe vehicle since she drives our daughter to and from school. Financing a car wasn’t in the scope of possibilities because she is too picky and insisted on a Mazda. I got my wife into a Mazda 6 Touring leased for 48 months. My premiums on insurance won’t cost me much to add her and I’m actually going to save money despite her parking ticket on her driving record from two years ago. I currently am twice upside down on my 2016 Ford Fusion after trading in my 2014 Ford Fiesta back in December 5, 2015 for my Ford Fusion SE 2016. I love my car, it has 43k miles, I’ve used it on a roadtrip, and I’ve got subs in there and a top-of-the line dash cam setup. What is costly is that I pay 569.38 a month and I’ve got 43 months left. I started at 40,995.36. As far as repairs and maintenance go, I’ve only ever had to pay for gas, oil changes, and just recently replacing the car battery. I’ve been in a not at fault accident and it was more or less a fender bender and I got it repaired at no cost to me. I do not plan on filing bankruptcy, I also do not plan on defaulting in my monthly payments. This is what I’m wondering: Granted I’ve been paying down negative equity on my first trade-in, and now I’m close to paying down the negative equity on this second trade in, once I do pay off my vehicle, that would accelerate all the debt that I have to take care of. (I have like 50k debt or so, between this car note and a debt consolidation of like 23k) by the time my debts are paid off, I’ll be zero debt, with maybe a year left on my car payment. The agent who helped me get my wife’s 2018 Mazda 6 Touring said that they would offer me 11.5k for my fusion. If I pay them 2k+1st month of lease payment, I’d be rolling out of there with another 2018 Mazda Touring with the exact same monthly payment as my loaned car $560s ballpark for 42 months. I think it’s very plain and simple. Do I take the new vehicle which has safety features I care about such as car play, (very handy to navigate with both hands on the steering wheel, no matter what phone holder I find, phone holders break on me) not to mention those extra bright led headlamps vs my halogens. Or do I keep my car and reap the benefit of still owning a car? 43 months at 569.38 on conventional and get to zero debt and be free? Or 42 months at $560 on a lease and still get to zero and have a fresh start into a lower lease? I understand the benefits of the lease, which mainly are not having to have expenses for sticking with new but of course I understand consequences such as any damages to the vehicle incur fees. (Can be avoided by just being careful) I’m the kind of person who sells their iPhone every year to get the next one, I just recently decided to go with the iPhone upgrade program which means I’m effectively leasing my phone. Leasing has made so much more sense for me, I’m just hoping someone can shed some light as to why I shouldn’t and keep my car instead. UPDATE: THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR FRANK AND HONEST RESPONSES. Yes I realize all caps looks like I’m yelling. I will NOT trade in my car and lease like how the agent was suggesting. I’ll just pay off my mistake, and keep my Ford Fusion, treat it well, continue with maintenance until we part ways. Some of you were cruel as shit, but the decisions I made did spark up some wrath. I prefer honest opinions over just hearing my wife say: “no.” Or maybe I should just listen to my wife more before posting?🧐 Thanks everyone!

Sorry if I sound a little mean, but you need the hard truth. You have your head stuck so far up your ass that you're a 1 man human centipede. You traded in a 1~2 year old vehicle and now thinking about trading your current one in when it's not even 3 years old yet. The balance on your current car started at 40K for a car that was 24K. You're thinking of trading that in for 11.5K which is less than half of what you probably paid for your current car. Now you're ready to pay $560 for 42 months + 2K down payment, which is 25.5K which is actually the EXACT MSRP for a 2018 Mazda 6 Touring. In essence, you're paying the same amount as buying the car and will have nothing to show for it in 3.5 years. Unless you have no debt outside a mortgage and have an income over 250K a year, these numbers are absolute insanity. $1100 just on 2 car LEASE payments...

Okay, thanks.