Datasets:

danielv835

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pf_coach_v0.1

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User (ActionBastardBeam): "I bought a truck 7 months ago and got an extended warranty for an extra 3k.\n\nThe transfer case snaps off the transmission while driving, so I get it towed to the dealership.\n\nThe dealership says the extended warranty people are going to send an inspector to view the damage.\n\nDealership calls and tells me the extended warranty wont cover the damage due to the truck having a flatbed, but i bought the truck with it already equipped.\n\nHow can they sell me a warranty on a vehicle that doesn't even qualify to be under warranty?\n" Self: "> How can they sell me a warranty on a vehicle that doesn't even qualify to be under warranty?\n\nWho sold you the warranty? Was it the dealer, or did you buy it yourself from a 3rd party separate from buying the truck? What was the process of describing the vehicle (and its options/features) to the warranty provider for them to assess the price/coverage?\n\nI have a feeling you're screwed either way, but maybe you could argue being sold an unenforcible warranty (if *nothing* is covered due to it being a flatbed) and threaten small claims court for the original cost of the warranty." User (ActionBastardBeam): "One of the main reasons i bought it is because the dealer told me it was eligible for extended warranty."

User (ActionBastardBeam): "I bought a truck 7 months ago and got an extended warranty for an extra 3k.\n\nThe transfer case snaps off the transmission while driving, so I get it towed to the dealership.\n\nThe dealership says the extended warranty people are going to send an inspector to view the damage.\n\nDealership calls and tells me the extended warranty wont cover the damage due to the truck having a flatbed, but i bought the truck with it already equipped.\n\nHow can they sell me a warranty on a vehicle that doesn't even qualify to be under warranty?\n" Self: "Car dealer here - Moving forward, don't buy a warranty for an incomplete vehicle (Chassis Cab, Dump Truck, Flat Bed, etc.) unless it is a warranty from the manufacturer of that vehicle. I sell Fords, and Ford has separate warranties for vehicles that don't have a factory bed or box. They're considerably more expensive, but also take into account the end use of the vehicle.\n\nThat out of the way, I would also recommend asking for some legal help. Extended Service Contract law is different state to state, so you might not be able to get good advice here. My thought would be that you should end up with a FULL refund, not a cancellation and then a prorated refund. You bought a vehicle with a flatbed; any warranty the dealer sold you should have taken that into consideration. "

User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "So, I ended up having to go to the ER about 3 years ago. To the best of my knowledge I received a single bill in the 1200 range and requested my trust pay for it. I assumed it was over and done until I just recently checked my credit score. My current score is 524 and I'm fairly certain I won't be able to get an apartment with it. Here's where it gets strange, what I had assumed had been paid is now in collections. There is 1 thing in collections on the transunion (the 1200) and 3 things in the Equifax. In the Equifax is not only the 1200 but an additional 1400 that I never received a bill for at the hospital and have never received any notice for it is simply there and I have no idea why. In addition there is a 21 dollar fee that is listed as medical....no idea what that is for as well. I have never received a bill or information of any kind regarding these 2 collections and I had thought the 1200 was paid.\n\nSo, I would really, really appreciate any and all advice on this matter. Where should I go from here? I have a roughly minimum wage job and currently live with my parents but I would prefer to get an apartment in a year or less. I'm really not sure where to begin." Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F)\n- [Dealing with collections](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections)\n- [Credit Repair](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.)\n\n*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.*"

User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "So, I ended up having to go to the ER about 3 years ago. To the best of my knowledge I received a single bill in the 1200 range and requested my trust pay for it. I assumed it was over and done until I just recently checked my credit score. My current score is 524 and I'm fairly certain I won't be able to get an apartment with it. Here's where it gets strange, what I had assumed had been paid is now in collections. There is 1 thing in collections on the transunion (the 1200) and 3 things in the Equifax. In the Equifax is not only the 1200 but an additional 1400 that I never received a bill for at the hospital and have never received any notice for it is simply there and I have no idea why. In addition there is a 21 dollar fee that is listed as medical....no idea what that is for as well. I have never received a bill or information of any kind regarding these 2 collections and I had thought the 1200 was paid.\n\nSo, I would really, really appreciate any and all advice on this matter. Where should I go from here? I have a roughly minimum wage job and currently live with my parents but I would prefer to get an apartment in a year or less. I'm really not sure where to begin." User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "Additional info: I have never been contacted by collections or sent bills or information regarding any of these things. The only notice I have ever received is by looking at my credit report. It's been 3 years and nothing. "

User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "So, I ended up having to go to the ER about 3 years ago. To the best of my knowledge I received a single bill in the 1200 range and requested my trust pay for it. I assumed it was over and done until I just recently checked my credit score. My current score is 524 and I'm fairly certain I won't be able to get an apartment with it. Here's where it gets strange, what I had assumed had been paid is now in collections. There is 1 thing in collections on the transunion (the 1200) and 3 things in the Equifax. In the Equifax is not only the 1200 but an additional 1400 that I never received a bill for at the hospital and have never received any notice for it is simply there and I have no idea why. In addition there is a 21 dollar fee that is listed as medical....no idea what that is for as well. I have never received a bill or information of any kind regarding these 2 collections and I had thought the 1200 was paid.\n\nSo, I would really, really appreciate any and all advice on this matter. Where should I go from here? I have a roughly minimum wage job and currently live with my parents but I would prefer to get an apartment in a year or less. I'm really not sure where to begin." Self: "Start by disputing the debt with the credit bureau showing it. They will have to produce proof or delete it. " User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "Should I do this through another party? I noticed an option for this through credit karma. For the reasoning to dispute should I put that I did not receive notice?" Self: "I would do it directly, but you can do what you think best. You fill out the dispute honestly to the best of your knowledge, e.g. if you do not know what a debt is and do not know that you authorized it, you'd express that in the context of the available choices. " User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "Ah i see, thank you! I most certainly did not authorize anything as i did not receive any notice. Would this be grounds for a dispute? if there is sufficient evidence of not receiving anything (e.g. sent to wrong address, not sent, etc.) Would my credit score go up?" Self: "So many questions. You can always dispute something. The question is whether you win. If this was really your debt, it will depend on what documentation they come up with. If it's not really your debt, it could go away after some weeks, and your credit score would benefit."

User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "So, I ended up having to go to the ER about 3 years ago. To the best of my knowledge I received a single bill in the 1200 range and requested my trust pay for it. I assumed it was over and done until I just recently checked my credit score. My current score is 524 and I'm fairly certain I won't be able to get an apartment with it. Here's where it gets strange, what I had assumed had been paid is now in collections. There is 1 thing in collections on the transunion (the 1200) and 3 things in the Equifax. In the Equifax is not only the 1200 but an additional 1400 that I never received a bill for at the hospital and have never received any notice for it is simply there and I have no idea why. In addition there is a 21 dollar fee that is listed as medical....no idea what that is for as well. I have never received a bill or information of any kind regarding these 2 collections and I had thought the 1200 was paid.\n\nSo, I would really, really appreciate any and all advice on this matter. Where should I go from here? I have a roughly minimum wage job and currently live with my parents but I would prefer to get an apartment in a year or less. I'm really not sure where to begin." Self: "The AutoModerator linked to two good resources. Frankly, there's no formula, so you might get lucky on one or another. \n\nDisputing it is a good place to start. It's late (3+ years, actually) so the 30-day window is a question. You never received notification, so it's pretty fair to claim that. There are some different theories on disputes, in that some people believe the 'CreditKarma' dispute is lazy and sometimes ineffective (you click "I want to dispute this debt," and they send a letter.) \n\nThe more thorough way would be to call each credit agency on which the negative mark appears, and ask to dispute this debt. They will ask for supporting documentation, if you have any. That will strengthen your case. I can't think of any reason why you should be off the hook for this (it's appropriate age, it sounds like your debt, they're going through proper channels, etc etc), so you're just banking on them not being able to prove it IS your debt.\n\nPaying the debt doesn't remove it from your record unless you negotiate a pay-for-delete beforehand and the company follows through, so get it in writing if you do go for it.\n\nIf you don't want a pay for delete or the company won't go for it, you can offer to pay half. It will remain on your score but may (?) report less negatively than an unpaid balance. I think the new FICO was going to do that but it probably isn't being used yet." User (OneSpockTwoSpock): "What would be an example of supporting documentation if i was unaware of the situation and did not receive notification of any sort before it was sent to collections or at any point during the ~3 year period? By directly calling them, do i put myself at risk for claiming the debt and extending the time - barred period or being sued for more than the amount they are claiming i owe? What is the most i could expect out of disputing these claims? By negotiating a pay-for-delete do i put myself at risk of prosecution by larger companies or practices? Thanks for your answer, and sorry i'm asking so much."

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Retirement Accounts](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) (articles on 401(k) plans, IRAs, and more)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n\n*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.*"

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "Do you want a profane response to your profane post?\n\nHow many years from now are you thinking of retiring? If it's more than five, then you shouldn't be worried about what is happening to the value of your investments at the moment.\n\nStocks fluctuate. Get used to it. "

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "I don't know how you are under your basis with the market at record highs. What are you invested in?"

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "Who is your Roth with? How long have you had it? What are your expenses ratios? All of those could give a lot of useful details." User (shinobi_gi): "I've had it opened for like quite a while but I don't regularly contribute to it. I put some money, literally like no more than maybe 500 into it thus far. \n\nIt's through Sharebuilder and I opened it in like 2007 as a high school project, and I think they were bought by a different company. I have investments in like SnP 500 and another similar fund, and I guess what little I did invest has increased actually from dividends and reinvestment. \n\nI guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down? And like what would be my reason to start contributing money to it regularly now? " evaned (evaned): "> I guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down?\n\nBecause nothing else goes up enough.\n\n(*Nothing* else is too strong of a statement, but you can't get enough growth to get at least what I would consider a good nest egg without investing in things that go up and down on periods even of 5+ years, or have other risks.)" User (shinobi_gi): "So at the end of the day, over the course of let's say 25 years... If you put in X amount of dollars for all that time, and are ready to cash out, if the values are then less than that x dollar amount when you're ready to retire, you're just screwed? \n\nAre you really just hoping for the values of these things to be higher than what you bought them for in the future? Like this isn't aggressive stock trading, these are retirement accounts. I'm sorry I'm just confused as to why anyone would use this when you could just end up with a huge loss later. " yes_its_him (yes_its_him): "There is no 25 year period over which the US stock market has shown a decline over time.\n\nOn the contrary, there are many 25 year periods when it has gone up over 300 percent. \n\nHad you bought in 2009, you could have made 200% on your money. If you invest every year, you're going to catch some good years. "

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "'Tis a poor carpenter that blames his tools..."

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "Who is your Roth with? How long have you had it? What are your expenses ratios? All of those could give a lot of useful details." User (shinobi_gi): "I've had it opened for like quite a while but I don't regularly contribute to it. I put some money, literally like no more than maybe 500 into it thus far. \n\nIt's through Sharebuilder and I opened it in like 2007 as a high school project, and I think they were bought by a different company. I have investments in like SnP 500 and another similar fund, and I guess what little I did invest has increased actually from dividends and reinvestment. \n\nI guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down? And like what would be my reason to start contributing money to it regularly now? " evaned (evaned): "> I guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down?\n\nBecause nothing else goes up enough.\n\n(*Nothing* else is too strong of a statement, but you can't get enough growth to get at least what I would consider a good nest egg without investing in things that go up and down on periods even of 5+ years, or have other risks.)" User (shinobi_gi): "So at the end of the day, over the course of let's say 25 years... If you put in X amount of dollars for all that time, and are ready to cash out, if the values are then less than that x dollar amount when you're ready to retire, you're just screwed? \n\nAre you really just hoping for the values of these things to be higher than what you bought them for in the future? Like this isn't aggressive stock trading, these are retirement accounts. I'm sorry I'm just confused as to why anyone would use this when you could just end up with a huge loss later. " Talks_To_Cats (Talks_To_Cats): "On paper you're absolutely correct. In practice, time is the great equalizer. It's like having house odds at a casino. You may win and lose many different games, but over the course of thousands of games, you'll win more than you lose and turn a profit.\n\nThe stock market is risky, but it gives you house odds when you invest correctly. You might lose money over 2-3 years. You'll always make money in the long run though. "

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "What did you invest in? An IRA is just a vehicle; it is the actual investment within the IRA that matters."

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "The stock market is hitting new highs, so if your account is not increasing then it may be poorly invested. [This](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EGSPC?ltr=1) graph shows the S&P 500 over the past 10 years and as you can see it's a lot higher than it was, about 52%.\n\nYou should be invested in a stock index fund like VFINX or SPY or something like that. If you aren't post what you're invested in and you'll probably get some feedback.\n\nThe reason to have a Roth IRA account is that, normally, when you invest money, you need to pay taxes on any gains. If you hold an investment for more than a year you pay 15% capital gains tax plus you pay taxes on any dividends usually at the same rate. With a Roth IRA account, once you put money into the account, you never pay taxes on any gains, forever.\n\nGenerally speaking the stock market increases at an AVERAGE of about 7% per year, but with a lot of ups and downs. The graph I pasted above shows a 52% increase over 10 years. This is an average increase of about 4% per year over that period, which is below average, but still not bad. This means your $500 should have become $750.\n\n$250 is not much money, but if you make regular contributions to an account like this, this growth can be very meaningful to your financial situation. If you contribute $200 per month for 10 years and get the same 4% per year performance as above you'll have $30k and this money will probably keep growing until you retire. The sooner you start this process the more the money will grow into and the more money you'll have at retirement."

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "Who is your Roth with? How long have you had it? What are your expenses ratios? All of those could give a lot of useful details." User (shinobi_gi): "I've had it opened for like quite a while but I don't regularly contribute to it. I put some money, literally like no more than maybe 500 into it thus far. \n\nIt's through Sharebuilder and I opened it in like 2007 as a high school project, and I think they were bought by a different company. I have investments in like SnP 500 and another similar fund, and I guess what little I did invest has increased actually from dividends and reinvestment. \n\nI guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down? And like what would be my reason to start contributing money to it regularly now? " evaned (evaned): "> I guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down?\n\nBecause nothing else goes up enough.\n\n(*Nothing* else is too strong of a statement, but you can't get enough growth to get at least what I would consider a good nest egg without investing in things that go up and down on periods even of 5+ years, or have other risks.)" User (shinobi_gi): "So at the end of the day, over the course of let's say 25 years... If you put in X amount of dollars for all that time, and are ready to cash out, if the values are then less than that x dollar amount when you're ready to retire, you're just screwed? \n\nAre you really just hoping for the values of these things to be higher than what you bought them for in the future? Like this isn't aggressive stock trading, these are retirement accounts. I'm sorry I'm just confused as to why anyone would use this when you could just end up with a huge loss later. " 4nonym0u5 (4nonym0u5): "At your risk tolerance level, I suggest investing in a good safe so that you can look at your money and make sure it's exactly the same every night before you go to bed. Investing does not appear to be for you."

User (shinobi_gi): "I recently started paying attention to my crappy Roth IRA again, and like all of the market values in the funds I'm invested are below my basis now. So like hypothetically, if I were to cash out, I'd lose money? \n\nWhy the fuck would I keep using this as a retirement tool? Am I missing what the advantage is to this? I want to start putting away some significant dollars, but this is not looking like the way to go..." Self: "Who is your Roth with? How long have you had it? What are your expenses ratios? All of those could give a lot of useful details." User (shinobi_gi): "I've had it opened for like quite a while but I don't regularly contribute to it. I put some money, literally like no more than maybe 500 into it thus far. \n\nIt's through Sharebuilder and I opened it in like 2007 as a high school project, and I think they were bought by a different company. I have investments in like SnP 500 and another similar fund, and I guess what little I did invest has increased actually from dividends and reinvestment. \n\nI guess what I'm trying to get at is why would anyone invest money into a Roth as a retirement account if these stocks and funds can just go down? And like what would be my reason to start contributing money to it regularly now? " wijwijwij (wijwijwij): "If you invested in an S&P 500 fund in 2007 and didn't touch it, you should definitely be up, not down. Can you give more details?" User (shinobi_gi): "It definitely is up compared to what I put into it years ago. As a everyone is saying, I guess time is the big factor, and enough gains will offset the dips. I think that was the answer I was overall trying to get at. "

User (Sin-AndTonic): "Hello all, I've recently been interested in getting involved in the stock market as a way to start paying off my student loans. I have 2 semesters left until I graduate with about $10,000 in loans. My parents will be retiring soon and my degree won't be granting me al to of money in a career until I get my masters. Can someone give me an introduction into the stock market, how to get involved, and what my smartest decisions as a college student are? Thank you!" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n- [Investing wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing)\n\n*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.*" scatigna12 (scatigna12): "If you going to start using real money immediately and you are a short term trader or swing trader. Your going to lose that 10,000. \n\nPaper trade first. And read a lot of books and blogs. "

User (Sin-AndTonic): "Hello all, I've recently been interested in getting involved in the stock market as a way to start paying off my student loans. I have 2 semesters left until I graduate with about $10,000 in loans. My parents will be retiring soon and my degree won't be granting me al to of money in a career until I get my masters. Can someone give me an introduction into the stock market, how to get involved, and what my smartest decisions as a college student are? Thank you!" Self: "Investing money is investing money. not rent money, not school money. Only invest in the stock market when you are welling to let that money sit for as long as it takes. When i just started to invest in the stock market i invested all my money and when my car broke I sold at a lost and when I needed rent money I sold at a lost until I lost around 30% of my initial investment don't do that mistake "

User (Sin-AndTonic): "Hello all, I've recently been interested in getting involved in the stock market as a way to start paying off my student loans. I have 2 semesters left until I graduate with about $10,000 in loans. My parents will be retiring soon and my degree won't be granting me al to of money in a career until I get my masters. Can someone give me an introduction into the stock market, how to get involved, and what my smartest decisions as a college student are? Thank you!" Self: "You don't invest in the stock market to pay off your student loans.\n\nWhat if the market goes down? Your loans will still be due." User (Sin-AndTonic): "What if I had a small amount set aside from my regular savings? " Vmoney88 (Vmoney88): "Yes, invest."

User (Hollis613): "My fiancé owes around 40k in student loans. She makes well over 100k a year. She has worked for non-profits for well over 10 years. She is a major fundraiser for a university. Would she be eligible for student loan forgiveness? I've heard of it and brought it up to her. But she insists she makes to much money. So, I thought I would ask here. Nothing online I have seen says there is any stipulation on how much money she makes. Also, we want to buy a house next year and this would greatly increase how much we could pay each month to the mortgage. (We live outside of Boston where real estate prices are through the roof)\n\nThanks for all the info in advance. \n\n" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Student Loans wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n- [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F)\n\n*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.*"

User (Hollis613): "My fiancé owes around 40k in student loans. She makes well over 100k a year. She has worked for non-profits for well over 10 years. She is a major fundraiser for a university. Would she be eligible for student loan forgiveness? I've heard of it and brought it up to her. But she insists she makes to much money. So, I thought I would ask here. Nothing online I have seen says there is any stipulation on how much money she makes. Also, we want to buy a house next year and this would greatly increase how much we could pay each month to the mortgage. (We live outside of Boston where real estate prices are through the roof)\n\nThanks for all the info in advance. \n\n" Self: "It would be extremely unethical to not pay off your student loans, especially if you make well over 100k a year and only owe 40k. This coming from a student who goes to school in Boston, owes more than 40K, and pays of their loans."

User (Hollis613): "My fiancé owes around 40k in student loans. She makes well over 100k a year. She has worked for non-profits for well over 10 years. She is a major fundraiser for a university. Would she be eligible for student loan forgiveness? I've heard of it and brought it up to her. But she insists she makes to much money. So, I thought I would ask here. Nothing online I have seen says there is any stipulation on how much money she makes. Also, we want to buy a house next year and this would greatly increase how much we could pay each month to the mortgage. (We live outside of Boston where real estate prices are through the roof)\n\nThanks for all the info in advance. \n\n" Self: "There is no income limit.\n\nThe public service loan forgiveness program started less than ten years ago, so she can't have ten years in the program as it is constructed. It has many rules that she may not have qualified for if she wasn't trying to do so in previous years. Here's more about it:\n\nhttps://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service\n\nhttps://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/public-service-employment-certification-form.pdf\n\n"

User (Hollis613): "My fiancé owes around 40k in student loans. She makes well over 100k a year. She has worked for non-profits for well over 10 years. She is a major fundraiser for a university. Would she be eligible for student loan forgiveness? I've heard of it and brought it up to her. But she insists she makes to much money. So, I thought I would ask here. Nothing online I have seen says there is any stipulation on how much money she makes. Also, we want to buy a house next year and this would greatly increase how much we could pay each month to the mortgage. (We live outside of Boston where real estate prices are through the roof)\n\nThanks for all the info in advance. \n\n" Self: "At her income, it probably will not take her more than 10 years to pay her loans. Her income doesn't make her ineligible. But her income does mean that she probably would receive no benefit from am income driven plan and thus be on a 10 treat standard repayment.\n\nEdit to add:\n\nPSLF eligible payments started only 9 years ago. No one has received that specific type of loan forgiveness yet."

User (charliehann): "Hi personal finance! Two questions:\n\nI made a budget for the first time. I'm using Mint. It sounds dumb, but now that I've made it, do you have any suggestions on how to follow it/take advantage of it? I'm having trouble telling whether my budget has helped me curb my spending. \n\nAlso, I have a few things that I am saving for: an emergency fund, money for a conference I have to attend, and my taxes at the end of the year. Do you suggest opening savings accounts for each one of those goals, or just keeping them all in my one savings account and keeping record of how much I have of each?" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Budgeting wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/budgeting)\n- [Spreadsheets section of the Tools wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/tools#wiki_redditor_created.3A)\n\n*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.*"

User (charliehann): "Hi personal finance! Two questions:\n\nI made a budget for the first time. I'm using Mint. It sounds dumb, but now that I've made it, do you have any suggestions on how to follow it/take advantage of it? I'm having trouble telling whether my budget has helped me curb my spending. \n\nAlso, I have a few things that I am saving for: an emergency fund, money for a conference I have to attend, and my taxes at the end of the year. Do you suggest opening savings accounts for each one of those goals, or just keeping them all in my one savings account and keeping record of how much I have of each?" Self: "The budget is for planning, that was the easy part.\n\nNow comes the discipline... that's the hard and boring part.\n\nYou have to stick to that budget which means you probably won't get to do and have things you want, at least not right away, and possibly never.\n\nThe budget doesn't curb the spending, the discipline does.\n\nSuggestions on how to follow the budget and stay disciplined? ... Update your budget/registers at least every pay period--nothing keeps me more honest (and aware) than staying on top of each penny as frequently as is reasonable. Don't wait till the bills are due to do the math, stay ahead of it all and keep yourself on target.\n\nAs for the savings accounts, I think it depends on your timeframes.\n\nFor example, if you know you will owe $6000 in taxes by mid-April 2017 and you think you'll have about $6000 *total* saved by that point then I'd argue separate accounts makes no sense because ultimately you'll have to drain all the accounts to meet this obligation. However, if your budget and timeframes allow you to save what you need by the time you need it, then you could go the separate account route.\n\nI've personally done both, mostly recently I've kept a few separate accounts setup for various categories, I pay into each one as though it were a bill and I stay disciplined about not touching the money otherwise. It works well, but it does often feel like busy work--separating out deposits, tracking, etc, when it could all just go into a single pile and you stay mindful of how much each category has toward it... \n\nI think once you've got a large amount of savings the lump method makes more sense... you may have $50-60K in cash and simply decide that $20K is for the next car, $25K is e-fund and $5K is toward the next vacation... your $60K covers all of that and more already, so each month you dump as much as possible in there knowing you've already covered the things you ear marked the money for."

User (charliehann): "Hi personal finance! Two questions:\n\nI made a budget for the first time. I'm using Mint. It sounds dumb, but now that I've made it, do you have any suggestions on how to follow it/take advantage of it? I'm having trouble telling whether my budget has helped me curb my spending. \n\nAlso, I have a few things that I am saving for: an emergency fund, money for a conference I have to attend, and my taxes at the end of the year. Do you suggest opening savings accounts for each one of those goals, or just keeping them all in my one savings account and keeping record of how much I have of each?" Self: "Stick to your budget. That's step 1.\n\nFor the following steps, I found this spreadsheet helpful.\n\nhttp://i.imgur.com/g6j4IRu.jpg"

User (rrozema1): "Hi all, I am looking to take a mortgage for a house, but now the big question:\n\nA 1-year fixed interest rate of 1,85%, or a 20-year fixed interest rate of 3,04%?\n\nI don't mind taking the risk of a 1 year, I just want the cheapest option. If it is of any help, I am from the Netherlands.\n\nWhat is your opinion?" Self: "Having a 1-yr fixed mortgage will give you lower payments now but you run the almost-certain risk of your rate rising in the future. Your payments a few years from now have a real chance of being higher than if you got a 20-yr mortgage today.\n\nWhen financial disasters occur, its the people who have mortgages that aren't long-term fixed who get screwed hard. Rates could significantly rise making you unable to pay for your house. "

User (rrozema1): "Hi all, I am looking to take a mortgage for a house, but now the big question:\n\nA 1-year fixed interest rate of 1,85%, or a 20-year fixed interest rate of 3,04%?\n\nI don't mind taking the risk of a 1 year, I just want the cheapest option. If it is of any help, I am from the Netherlands.\n\nWhat is your opinion?" Self: "Not quite sure about 1yr vs 20yr but at least in Sweden it has most of the time been cheaper in the long run to have a 3 month fixed rate compared to 10years. If you opt for the 1yr calculate(the bank will also probably do it before approving the loan) that you can manage at least a rate of 6-7% and consider using the difference between the 20yr rate and 1 year to pay off extra principal if there's no penalty for it."

User (rrozema1): "Hi all, I am looking to take a mortgage for a house, but now the big question:\n\nA 1-year fixed interest rate of 1,85%, or a 20-year fixed interest rate of 3,04%?\n\nI don't mind taking the risk of a 1 year, I just want the cheapest option. If it is of any help, I am from the Netherlands.\n\nWhat is your opinion?" Self: "I have no idea how lending works over there but wouldn't there be fees attached for a mortgage that you would pay everytime you took out a mortgage? I can't see how doing a one year mortgage would ever be of benefit if you have to pay fees every year to get a mortgage"

User (Drbert21): "I will be eligible for my company's 401k plan in June. I'm currently 20 and have yet to really learn how this stuff works. My company offers rates at the following through American Trust Retirement.\n1:1\n2:1.5\n3:2\n4:2.5\n5:3\n6:3.5\nThey also have two ways to put in. My understanding is there is a normal way with taxes as well as something called Roth. Apparently I can do a 50/50 mix of them or any other variation.\n\nThey also have a company they work alonside called Howard Capital Management, which can be opted into. It LOOKS like a decent way to invest based on the growth reports I was shown. It is a more aggressive investment option.\n\nSo how can I maximize my gains in such a complex system and is there anything I can do before becoming eligible for it that would give me a headstart?" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds)\n- [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n\n*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.*"

User (Drbert21): "I will be eligible for my company's 401k plan in June. I'm currently 20 and have yet to really learn how this stuff works. My company offers rates at the following through American Trust Retirement.\n1:1\n2:1.5\n3:2\n4:2.5\n5:3\n6:3.5\nThey also have two ways to put in. My understanding is there is a normal way with taxes as well as something called Roth. Apparently I can do a 50/50 mix of them or any other variation.\n\nThey also have a company they work alonside called Howard Capital Management, which can be opted into. It LOOKS like a decent way to invest based on the growth reports I was shown. It is a more aggressive investment option.\n\nSo how can I maximize my gains in such a complex system and is there anything I can do before becoming eligible for it that would give me a headstart?" Self: "You might have incorrectly formatted line breaks. To create a line break, either put two spaces at the end of the line or put an extra blank line in-between lines. ([See Reddit's page on commenting for more information.](http://www.reddit.com/wiki/commenting))\n\nI have attempted to automatically reformat your text with fixed line breaks.\n\n----\n\n> I will be eligible for my company's 401k plan in June. I'm currently 20 and have yet to really learn how this stuff works. My company offers rates at the following through American Trust Retirement. \n> 1:1 \n> 2:1.5 \n> 3:2 \n> 4:2.5 \n> 5:3 \n> 6:3.5 \n> They also have two ways to put in. My understanding is there is a normal way with taxes as well as something called Roth. Apparently I can do a 50/50 mix of them or any other variation.\n> \n> They also have a company they work alonside called Howard Capital Management, which can be opted into. It LOOKS like a decent way to invest based on the growth reports I was shown. It is a more aggressive investment option. \n> \n> So how can I maximize my gains in such a complex system and is there anything I can do before becoming eligible for it that would give me a headstart? \n>\n\n----\n\n^(I am a bot. Contact) ^[pentium4borg](https://www.reddit.com/user/pentium4borg) ^(with any feedback.)"

User (Drbert21): "I will be eligible for my company's 401k plan in June. I'm currently 20 and have yet to really learn how this stuff works. My company offers rates at the following through American Trust Retirement.\n1:1\n2:1.5\n3:2\n4:2.5\n5:3\n6:3.5\nThey also have two ways to put in. My understanding is there is a normal way with taxes as well as something called Roth. Apparently I can do a 50/50 mix of them or any other variation.\n\nThey also have a company they work alonside called Howard Capital Management, which can be opted into. It LOOKS like a decent way to invest based on the growth reports I was shown. It is a more aggressive investment option.\n\nSo how can I maximize my gains in such a complex system and is there anything I can do before becoming eligible for it that would give me a headstart?" Self: "Are you getting a match on the 401k?" User (Drbert21): "They match up to about 60%" Self: "At your age, you should really invest your retirement dollars as cheaply as possible in the stock market. Ask Howard Capital Management for their cheapest stock funds."

User (dumbfoundded): "I have 30k that is just sitting in a checking account, I'm wondering what I should do with it. I've considered index funds, buying stocks, gold, and a bunch of other things but I have a difficult time deciding the best route. I worry about losing what I've worked hard to save up but I know I'm wasting money by doing nothing with it.\n\nAbout my situation:\n\n- No dependencies\n\n- No rent (still live at home)\n\n- A separate 10k emergency fund" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds)\n- [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n\n*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.*"

User (dumbfoundded): "I have 30k that is just sitting in a checking account, I'm wondering what I should do with it. I've considered index funds, buying stocks, gold, and a bunch of other things but I have a difficult time deciding the best route. I worry about losing what I've worked hard to save up but I know I'm wasting money by doing nothing with it.\n\nAbout my situation:\n\n- No dependencies\n\n- No rent (still live at home)\n\n- A separate 10k emergency fund" Self: "presumably you plan to buy a house someday soon, so don't gamble it all for a slightly higher return." User (dumbfoundded): "I've thought about a house but there's not a particular area I want to settle down in atm. From my understanding, a home is a great investment but also an anchor. "

User (Oldamog): "I used to own a small hobby shop. It was open for 2 years and was widely loved by the public. I'm not a business professional and made some mistakes.\n\nI wound up around 10k in debt to Sales tax (California Board of Equalization) and an additional 5k to Income Tax. Again, I was an enthusiastic business owner with no clue how the real world worked.\n\nAn ex-customer is very good with business having managed many restaurants. He has a business model which I have looked over and is realistic and feasible. He told me he would buy my old company name, logo, website and my endorsement. I am all for having him take the torch and provide for the hobby community.\n\nBut is any of my old property worth anything? Do I even have the rights to any of my old intellectual property? Honestly I would help him out for free but I can't give up an opportunity to lessen my tax debt. I also don't want him to be liable for my mistakes.\n\nThis is the first real issue I have reached out to the mighty reddit for. Please Help!" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/41dew6)\n- [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes)\n- [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates)\n- [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator)\n\n*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.*"

User (Oldamog): "I used to own a small hobby shop. It was open for 2 years and was widely loved by the public. I'm not a business professional and made some mistakes.\n\nI wound up around 10k in debt to Sales tax (California Board of Equalization) and an additional 5k to Income Tax. Again, I was an enthusiastic business owner with no clue how the real world worked.\n\nAn ex-customer is very good with business having managed many restaurants. He has a business model which I have looked over and is realistic and feasible. He told me he would buy my old company name, logo, website and my endorsement. I am all for having him take the torch and provide for the hobby community.\n\nBut is any of my old property worth anything? Do I even have the rights to any of my old intellectual property? Honestly I would help him out for free but I can't give up an opportunity to lessen my tax debt. I also don't want him to be liable for my mistakes.\n\nThis is the first real issue I have reached out to the mighty reddit for. Please Help!" Self: "Ask him to make an offer. If it's less than your outstanding debt, counter with that amount." User (Oldamog): "I'm not sure what I have is worth that money. If it is then I would be enthusiastic. But I don't know what the actual value is." Self: "Ask him to make an offer. Maybe you'll be happy with it. If he won't make an offer, ask for $20,000. Be agreeable and willing to negotiate. Even $1,000 is better than $0. It's advantageous to you if he is not aware of your debt and if you don't seem eager or desperate to sell."

User (Oldamog): "I used to own a small hobby shop. It was open for 2 years and was widely loved by the public. I'm not a business professional and made some mistakes.\n\nI wound up around 10k in debt to Sales tax (California Board of Equalization) and an additional 5k to Income Tax. Again, I was an enthusiastic business owner with no clue how the real world worked.\n\nAn ex-customer is very good with business having managed many restaurants. He has a business model which I have looked over and is realistic and feasible. He told me he would buy my old company name, logo, website and my endorsement. I am all for having him take the torch and provide for the hobby community.\n\nBut is any of my old property worth anything? Do I even have the rights to any of my old intellectual property? Honestly I would help him out for free but I can't give up an opportunity to lessen my tax debt. I also don't want him to be liable for my mistakes.\n\nThis is the first real issue I have reached out to the mighty reddit for. Please Help!" Self: "Ask him to make an offer. If it's less than your outstanding debt, counter with that amount." User (Oldamog): "I'm not sure what I have is worth that money. If it is then I would be enthusiastic. But I don't know what the actual value is." splat313 (splat313): "I know nothing about the industry but I can't imagine the name, logo, and website could be worth all that much. I agree with having them pitch the first number and go from there. I'd make sure the sale goes through though as any amount of money will help." User (Oldamog): "I designed a very catchy logo and have all the vector graphics I developed for it. The website cost me $400 to get done (which was cheap for the hours and final product). But I get that the money was a loss and probably isn't worth much. Thank you for the reply"

User (NUDE_Tayne_): "4 years ago, I forgot to pay my credit card balance one month, and the minimum payment was $25. \n\nThis has been killing my credit ever since. 1 missed $25 payment in my whole life due to forgetfulness, and now I am unable to get approved for a heloc that I applied for. \n\nIs there any way I can remedy this?\n\nEDIT: my credit score according to CK is 777." Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F)\n- [Dealing with collections](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections)\n- [Credit Repair](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.)\n\n*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.*"

User (NUDE_Tayne_): "4 years ago, I forgot to pay my credit card balance one month, and the minimum payment was $25. \n\nThis has been killing my credit ever since. 1 missed $25 payment in my whole life due to forgetfulness, and now I am unable to get approved for a heloc that I applied for. \n\nIs there any way I can remedy this?\n\nEDIT: my credit score according to CK is 777." Self: "I assume you're pushing back hard? That blows. I just found out a few weeks ago that I was sent to collections last year. I had no idea I owed anything. I called the hospital and told them I never got any notices and paid the bill. They helped me get in touch with the collections agency who took it off my record. My score went up around 100 points less than a month later. 628 to 731.\n\nI know it's a different situation but maybe you can call the credit card company and see what they can do."

User (NUDE_Tayne_): "4 years ago, I forgot to pay my credit card balance one month, and the minimum payment was $25. \n\nThis has been killing my credit ever since. 1 missed $25 payment in my whole life due to forgetfulness, and now I am unable to get approved for a heloc that I applied for. \n\nIs there any way I can remedy this?\n\nEDIT: my credit score according to CK is 777." Self: "Why do you say that's why you were not approved? That seems pretty unlikely on the face of it. That's an excellent credit score, if your FICO scores are similar. Anything over 750 is excellent. \n\nhttps://www.creditsesame.com/blog/credit/credit-score-range-for-experian-transunion-equifax/" User (NUDE_Tayne_): "> Why do you say that's why you were not approved?\n\nThat's what they told me. I applied for the interest only payment option here: https://www.pnc.com/en/personal-banking/borrowing/home-equity-loans/choice-home-equity-line-of-credit.html, and after going through extensive application process, being told I'm a shoe-in all along they way, they approved me for P&I, but denied me for Interest-only product. I was incredibly angry, and they told me I had a missed payment, that resulted in my being denied for interest-only. I feel like they bait and switched me one product and were using any tiny excuse against me to force me to get another product.\n\nSo yeah, like you, I was in disbelief because I've always heard above 750 is excellent for loan approval." Self: "I just think they wouldn't have approved anybody for that product, and would have made some excuse for why anybody was not approved."

User (NUDE_Tayne_): "4 years ago, I forgot to pay my credit card balance one month, and the minimum payment was $25. \n\nThis has been killing my credit ever since. 1 missed $25 payment in my whole life due to forgetfulness, and now I am unable to get approved for a heloc that I applied for. \n\nIs there any way I can remedy this?\n\nEDIT: my credit score according to CK is 777." Self: "Your credit score isn't the issue. Maybe you don't have enough equity in the home. You can always try a different bank." User (NUDE_Tayne_): "I have plenty of equity in my home. Appraised for 500k. Current mortgage balance is 293k. Thats over 200k in equity.\n\nApplied for 75k limit. "

User (ghostxmarksman): "18 year old male here. With a 681 Vantage score (good-pretty good I believe) I have had my credit card for 9 months and am allowed in increase to the measly 300$ limit. Currently I only have about 100$ worth of charges a month, my iPhone which is financed through citizens bank and paid from my CC, which is paid from my checking... and gas I put on there too. \nI make like 400-600 a month working part time in college. Only making enough for car/CC payment and a little extra for spending cash. \n\nTLDR:/ I don't need the higher credit but should I do it just because, and what are the effects?" Self: "So much to explain but just gonna bottom line it: get the highest limit u can. But do not utilize it. So keep asking them to bump up your limits but keep the debt amount low and don't miss payments." User (ghostxmarksman): "Yeah never gonna miss a payment. I got saving just in case it comes to that. \n\nDo you have a link to something that explains in detail? "

User (ghostxmarksman): "18 year old male here. With a 681 Vantage score (good-pretty good I believe) I have had my credit card for 9 months and am allowed in increase to the measly 300$ limit. Currently I only have about 100$ worth of charges a month, my iPhone which is financed through citizens bank and paid from my CC, which is paid from my checking... and gas I put on there too. \nI make like 400-600 a month working part time in college. Only making enough for car/CC payment and a little extra for spending cash. \n\nTLDR:/ I don't need the higher credit but should I do it just because, and what are the effects?" Self: "More credit limit helps you with zero drawback. Might as well.\n\nEarly on in building credit, you'll have much better luck with opening new cards every few months than with raising your limits alone (do both!). For example American Express gave me a starting limit that's still higher than 2 of my earlier cards after 3 years, and Amex had given me increases beyond that as well. If I just kept asking for increases and never opened a new card, my total limit would be about 1/3 of what it is today.\n\nAt your income level you won't see huge improvements, but every bit helps. "

User (2swag4you): "Hello everyone. I am 18 years old. I would like to start seriously investing. I currently have a Robinhood account which I use to mess around with. But now that I have some actual money saved up I would like to know the best option for me. Right now I have about 10k saved that I can use to invest with. I was thinking about opening a roth IRA with vanguard. The only problem is that I would like to invest more than $5500 a year. I am not super interested in dumping all my money in a 401k either because I don't want to wait until I am 60 to use the money. What is the best account type I can open that has a highish yield that I can put more than $5500 a year into? " Self: "When talking about investment accounts, the yield doesn't depend on the type of account, it depends on what you put in the account. You can have a 401k full of cash that makes next to no interest, or you can have an IRA or after-tax brokerage account full of ETFs, mutual funds, commodities, stocks, whatever. And vice versa.\n\nYou should open an IRA and fully fund it ($5500/yr). You can always do more in another type of account, so take advantage of the tax benefits of an IRA while you can.\n\nIf your employer offers a 401k, take advantage of it, especially if they offer a match. Not taking advantage of the match is refusing free money. There are ways to get your money out of a 401k before you're 60, so if you have dreams of retiring early, don't despair.\n\nIf you want to have non-retirement money available for some future long-term goal, you can open an after-tax brokerage account at any one of the popular places such as Fidelity or Vanguard. There you can invest in whatever strikes your fancy, depending on your risk tolerance." User (2swag4you): "Yeah I worded the high yield thing kinda weird. As of right now I am putting 5% in my 401k. My employer matches 4% of that. Im going to open a Roth IRA tomorrow and put in the max amount. But is there some kind of aggressive account i can open with vanguard or something to put the extra money in? \n" Self: "Again, the account isn't aggressive; what you choose to invest in can be. If you have a 401k and an IRA, then the next step would be an after-tax brokerage account. You can choose to invest in whatever you'd like within that account, as aggressive or passive as you'd like."

User (2swag4you): "Hello everyone. I am 18 years old. I would like to start seriously investing. I currently have a Robinhood account which I use to mess around with. But now that I have some actual money saved up I would like to know the best option for me. Right now I have about 10k saved that I can use to invest with. I was thinking about opening a roth IRA with vanguard. The only problem is that I would like to invest more than $5500 a year. I am not super interested in dumping all my money in a 401k either because I don't want to wait until I am 60 to use the money. What is the best account type I can open that has a highish yield that I can put more than $5500 a year into? " Self: "Any kind of after-tax brokerage account lets you put in as much as you'd like. Are you asking about types of accounts, or types of investments? " User (2swag4you): "Types of accounts. I really only have experience with Robinhood. Which is self managed and I wasn't sure if that's how all accounts worked. "

User (griffinsniffin1234): "Hello, \n\nI hope my question is appropriate for this subreddit. If not, feel free to direct me somewhere else. Happy holidays. " Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [United States Treasury Savings Bonds](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/savingsbonds)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n\n*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.*"

User (griffinsniffin1234): "Hello, \n\nI hope my question is appropriate for this subreddit. If not, feel free to direct me somewhere else. Happy holidays. " Self: "Depends on your income. If you have no income, or less than about $5300, then you won't have to pay any taxes. If you make more then you might still pay no taxes, depending on how much of the $950 is interest and whether you qualify as your own dependent."

User (ericdtla): "I'm 25, and I work for a mid-sized multinational headquartered in the US. My company would like me to relocate to Kuala Lumpur for at least 18 months for a project. I also have they option of staying longer if I would like.\n\nWe haven't gotten into details such as compensation, housing, relocation packages, etc. yet, but I wanted to see if I can get some help on which questions I should be asking my employer, and what I should know before making this kind of decision. The only thing I know for sure is that I expect to make at least the same amount of money in Malaysia as I do here in the States with a high chance for more (currently at $90k/year). \n\nP.S. if anyone has any feedback or insight on what it's like to live in Malaysia that would be great as well!" Self: "You should look into the tax implications of working abroad (assuming you're a US citizen). There will be a tax burden when you come back - on top of the taxes you'll be paying there. "

User (ericdtla): "I'm 25, and I work for a mid-sized multinational headquartered in the US. My company would like me to relocate to Kuala Lumpur for at least 18 months for a project. I also have they option of staying longer if I would like.\n\nWe haven't gotten into details such as compensation, housing, relocation packages, etc. yet, but I wanted to see if I can get some help on which questions I should be asking my employer, and what I should know before making this kind of decision. The only thing I know for sure is that I expect to make at least the same amount of money in Malaysia as I do here in the States with a high chance for more (currently at $90k/year). \n\nP.S. if anyone has any feedback or insight on what it's like to live in Malaysia that would be great as well!" Self: "You should definitely look into taxes. You still have to file them every single year as an American citizen. Although I've never heard of a particularly large tax burden.\n\nUsually up until about 100K of foreign earned income is untamed and the US has tax treaties with a lot of countries that determines how the amount above that is taxed. I highly recommend you speak to someone well versed in American tax law for citizens abroad. It's quite a complicated matter." User (ericdtla): "unfortunately, there is no treaty with malaysia. thanks for the suggestion though. i'll definitely look further into taxation" Self: "I wish you luck! This is definitely an awesome opportunity and you should take full advantage of it. But tax law is so complex and when you get to international income, especially if it includes things like housing being covered or anything else, there are so many rules and it's so dependent on country. Good luck finding more resources. Which I could be of more aid. "

User (PhD_decision_throway): "Some background:\n\nI've been offered a PhD - it looks great. It's just what I'm interested in. However it would come with a standard EPSRC untaxed stipend of ~£14,500 (I appreciate that whether it's taxed or not is almost irrelevant as it isn't much above the untaxed personal allowance any way). For the purposes of this decision I'm assuming I won't be able to work during this PhD, although my partner is happy to support me (£27,000).\n\nI'm working at a science startup as a senior member of the team. I'm earning £34,000 with an unconditional company pension contribution of 7.5%. I also will have share options (once they've been set up), and it's mainly these that I want r/personalfinance's opinion about, as I want to make as informed a decision as possible.\n\n10% of the company value is set aside as employee share options, so I imagine that, as a small company my share option will be worth at most 0.5% of the company value. Is that unrealistically high?\n\nHow much can I expect the company to sell for?\n\nHas anyone had experience of being in a science/tech startup company that's made it to being bought out?\n\nThe company aims to be ready to buy within a 3-5 years - am I right in thinking it statistically has approximately a 50% chance of succeeding?\n\n\nThese share options are literally a gamble, and I don't even know the odds or the prize. Consequently, I can't make an informed decision. Any help appreciated.\n\n\nAny broader advice also appreciated, although as this is r/personalfinance I imagine it will be to keep my job!" Self: "I cant comment on the rest of it, but good god - 50% is a ridiculous rate. Maybe 5% if you're lucky.\n\nIf it was as high as 50% success rate we'd all be in start ups!\n\n\nAssume the value of them is 0%, and feel lucky if thats not true" User (PhD_decision_throway): "Thanks - I think you're right. My main concern is that I leave, then the company is hugely successful and I miss out on a ~£50,000 or so.\n" Indefinitely_not (Indefinitely_not): "Assuming your PhD is going to take you 4 years, you already missed out on a *guaranteed* ((£34,000-£14,500)*4=) £78,000. \n\nI genuinely hope that your PhD is going to give you some really solid future job prospects. " User (PhD_decision_throway): "Take home annual pay (exc. student loan, tax) is actually £24,801.75, so I'd be missing out on ~£41,200.\nIn addition, tax refunds from beginning and ending the PhD in the middle of a financial year and council tax reduction, and the ability to transfer some of my personal allowance to my partner as the bread-winner. So, £41,200 minus ~£2-3,000.\n\nYou're right I would be sacrificing that money though. All my colleagues have PhDs, and not having one is a hindrance when applying for jobs. But a PhD wouldn't necessarily help me much more than four years of extra work experience. It does, however, open up academia as a possible career path.\n\nFor me it's only half a financial decision - so long as I can afford it, it's a values question - is it worth sacrificing my earnings to pursue this? So I've got to figure out what I'm sacrificing, and how much I want the PhD." Indefinitely_not (Indefinitely_not): "> You're right I would be sacrificing that money though. All my colleagues have PhDs, and not having one is a hindrance when applying for jobs.\n\nWell, if it increases you future earnings potential enough, the temporary cutback is not necessarily a problem. \n\nThough I have to point out, you can say that it 'only half a financial decision'. If the two of you are happy scaling back to accomodate your decisions, then you should do whatever you think is best. At the end of the day, money is (and will be) quite an important part in the equation to your long-term happiness. \n\nThink of kids, people think they're damn fun - but that only holds as long as their income can relatively easy pay for them. "

User (PhD_decision_throway): "Some background:\n\nI've been offered a PhD - it looks great. It's just what I'm interested in. However it would come with a standard EPSRC untaxed stipend of ~£14,500 (I appreciate that whether it's taxed or not is almost irrelevant as it isn't much above the untaxed personal allowance any way). For the purposes of this decision I'm assuming I won't be able to work during this PhD, although my partner is happy to support me (£27,000).\n\nI'm working at a science startup as a senior member of the team. I'm earning £34,000 with an unconditional company pension contribution of 7.5%. I also will have share options (once they've been set up), and it's mainly these that I want r/personalfinance's opinion about, as I want to make as informed a decision as possible.\n\n10% of the company value is set aside as employee share options, so I imagine that, as a small company my share option will be worth at most 0.5% of the company value. Is that unrealistically high?\n\nHow much can I expect the company to sell for?\n\nHas anyone had experience of being in a science/tech startup company that's made it to being bought out?\n\nThe company aims to be ready to buy within a 3-5 years - am I right in thinking it statistically has approximately a 50% chance of succeeding?\n\n\nThese share options are literally a gamble, and I don't even know the odds or the prize. Consequently, I can't make an informed decision. Any help appreciated.\n\n\nAny broader advice also appreciated, although as this is r/personalfinance I imagine it will be to keep my job!" Self: "I cant comment on the rest of it, but good god - 50% is a ridiculous rate. Maybe 5% if you're lucky.\n\nIf it was as high as 50% success rate we'd all be in start ups!\n\n\nAssume the value of them is 0%, and feel lucky if thats not true" User (PhD_decision_throway): "Thanks - I think you're right. My main concern is that I leave, then the company is hugely successful and I miss out on a ~£50,000 or so.\n" Indefinitely_not (Indefinitely_not): "Assuming your PhD is going to take you 4 years, you already missed out on a *guaranteed* ((£34,000-£14,500)*4=) £78,000. \n\nI genuinely hope that your PhD is going to give you some really solid future job prospects. " User (PhD_decision_throway): "Take home annual pay (exc. student loan, tax) is actually £24,801.75, so I'd be missing out on ~£41,200.\nIn addition, tax refunds from beginning and ending the PhD in the middle of a financial year and council tax reduction, and the ability to transfer some of my personal allowance to my partner as the bread-winner. So, £41,200 minus ~£2-3,000.\n\nYou're right I would be sacrificing that money though. All my colleagues have PhDs, and not having one is a hindrance when applying for jobs. But a PhD wouldn't necessarily help me much more than four years of extra work experience. It does, however, open up academia as a possible career path.\n\nFor me it's only half a financial decision - so long as I can afford it, it's a values question - is it worth sacrificing my earnings to pursue this? So I've got to figure out what I'm sacrificing, and how much I want the PhD." Self: "It depends on what area you're working in, why you want a PhD, and what the impact is"

User (jodilikesanal): "Hello PF, \n\nI was recently unemployed after I quit a horrific job that had decent pay. It left me in good enough shape to get by until I found another job but that took me over a month. I used my credit card for nearly everything to keep my car payments and insurance from bouncing.\n\nI'm also trying to get a second job because I'm only getting about 30 hours a week at my current job and it isn't paying the bills.\n\nWages: 11.85/hr x 30 hours/wk \n\nMonthly expenses: \n\nCar payments: $118.43 bi weekly\nInsurance: $143.52\nGroceries: ~$200\nGas: $80\nGym membership: $90\nRent: $100\n\nMy current credit card balance is $1800. My limit is 2k. I need to be able to pay this off fairly quickly as I have other expenses I know will be coming up like getting my oil changed and some other car maintenance. \n\nHow can I pay this off given my expenses and hours of work? This is starting to stress me out quite a bit and I am losing sleep because of it. \n\nThank you!\n\nEdit: Sorry about the formatting, I'm on mobile. " Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F)\n- [Dealing with collections](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/collections)\n- [Credit Repair](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building#wiki_i_have_bad_credit.2C_and_i_am_looking_to_repair_it.)\n\n*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.*"

User (jodilikesanal): "Hello PF, \n\nI was recently unemployed after I quit a horrific job that had decent pay. It left me in good enough shape to get by until I found another job but that took me over a month. I used my credit card for nearly everything to keep my car payments and insurance from bouncing.\n\nI'm also trying to get a second job because I'm only getting about 30 hours a week at my current job and it isn't paying the bills.\n\nWages: 11.85/hr x 30 hours/wk \n\nMonthly expenses: \n\nCar payments: $118.43 bi weekly\nInsurance: $143.52\nGroceries: ~$200\nGas: $80\nGym membership: $90\nRent: $100\n\nMy current credit card balance is $1800. My limit is 2k. I need to be able to pay this off fairly quickly as I have other expenses I know will be coming up like getting my oil changed and some other car maintenance. \n\nHow can I pay this off given my expenses and hours of work? This is starting to stress me out quite a bit and I am losing sleep because of it. \n\nThank you!\n\nEdit: Sorry about the formatting, I'm on mobile. " Self: "You might have incorrectly formatted line breaks. To create a line break, either put two spaces at the end of the line or put an extra blank line in-between lines. ([See Reddit's page on commenting for more information.](http://www.reddit.com/wiki/commenting))\n\nI have attempted to automatically reformat your text with fixed line breaks.\n\n----\n\n> Hello PF, \n> \n> I was recently unemployed after I quit a horrific job that had decent pay. It left me in good enough shape to get by until I found another job but that took me over a month. I used my credit card for nearly everything to keep my car payments and insurance from bouncing. \n> \n> I'm also trying to get a second job because I'm only getting about 30 hours a week at my current job and it isn't paying the bills. \n> \n> Wages: 11.85/hr x 30 hours/wk \n> \n> Monthly expenses: \n> \n> Car payments: $118.43 bi weekly \n> Insurance: $143.52 \n> Groceries: ~$200 \n> Gas: $80 \n> Gym membership: $90 \n> Rent: $100\n> \n> My current credit card balance is $1800. My limit is 2k. I need to be able to pay this off fairly quickly as I have other expenses I know will be coming up like getting my oil changed and some other car maintenance. \n> \n> How can I pay this off given my expenses and hours of work? This is starting to stress me out quite a bit and I am losing sleep because of it. \n> \n> Thank you! \n>\n\n----\n\n^(I am a bot. Contact) ^[pentium4borg](https://www.reddit.com/user/pentium4borg) ^(with any feedback.)"

User (jodilikesanal): "Hello PF, \n\nI was recently unemployed after I quit a horrific job that had decent pay. It left me in good enough shape to get by until I found another job but that took me over a month. I used my credit card for nearly everything to keep my car payments and insurance from bouncing.\n\nI'm also trying to get a second job because I'm only getting about 30 hours a week at my current job and it isn't paying the bills.\n\nWages: 11.85/hr x 30 hours/wk \n\nMonthly expenses: \n\nCar payments: $118.43 bi weekly\nInsurance: $143.52\nGroceries: ~$200\nGas: $80\nGym membership: $90\nRent: $100\n\nMy current credit card balance is $1800. My limit is 2k. I need to be able to pay this off fairly quickly as I have other expenses I know will be coming up like getting my oil changed and some other car maintenance. \n\nHow can I pay this off given my expenses and hours of work? This is starting to stress me out quite a bit and I am losing sleep because of it. \n\nThank you!\n\nEdit: Sorry about the formatting, I'm on mobile. " Self: "> Car payments: $118.43 bi weekly Insurance: $143.52 Groceries: ~$200 Gas: $80 Gym membership: $90 Rent: $100\n\nDo you need the car? If not, sell. Gym membership? Pause or cancel it. \n\nYou're not in a terrible situation right now. You should be able to pay this off. Make sure to get an emergency fund when this is has passed. "

User (Aerothermal): "In November 2016 my pay was short of about £350. The amount was the first installment of a 'Priority Court Order' for a case in July 2016 in City X.\n\nThe thing is, I haven't lived or worked in City X since December 2015. I've never had debt, or even a credit card, or been on the wrong side of the law. Payroll doesn't know anything and the court is being slow to respond.\n\nWhat is my recourse for finding out what the Priority Court Order was and getting my money back?" Self: "payroll would have information as the court order would have gone to them...you need the court order number so you can research the "case" and get a lawyer"

User (Aerothermal): "In November 2016 my pay was short of about £350. The amount was the first installment of a 'Priority Court Order' for a case in July 2016 in City X.\n\nThe thing is, I haven't lived or worked in City X since December 2015. I've never had debt, or even a credit card, or been on the wrong side of the law. Payroll doesn't know anything and the court is being slow to respond.\n\nWhat is my recourse for finding out what the Priority Court Order was and getting my money back?" Self: "That's rough. Do you have a case number? If so, you can use that to look up the details of the case, that way you know what kind of lawyer to consult." User (Aerothermal): "I do not have a case number. The way the email was phrased suggests I'll be billed again in the December period. This is going to royally mess up my Christmas and I don't imagine it'll get resolved any time soon. I'll ask for a case number. Though even contesting it will rack up court fees in addition to what they've already taken.\n\n"

User (throwaway234326): "I just graduated college, and landed a great job but now it is time to pay off student debt. I currently have ~20k total in debt at around 4.5% interest. Typically I'd just say that I'd wait to contribute to 401k until my loans are paid off, but the 401k matching plan at my work is insanely good and I'm not sure what route to pick. \n \n\nOne of the amazing offers of my job is the 401k matching, with is a match at 100% up to $3,000. This means that if I contribute $3,000 to my 401k each year, my work will match it dollar for dollar. In addition to that, if I contribute more than that annually they will match at 50%. This means that if I contribute more than $3,000 and up. For example, if I contributed the federal contribution limit of $18,000, my work will contribute an extra $9,000. \n \nI make a guaranteed 98k a year and an additional 15% annual target bonus that is based on performance. Based on how long I've been here, I am expecting a 3k bonus when it comes. I'm currently contributing $3,000 dollars to my debt each month, and 10% of my salary to 401k as well. Should I reduce my contributions to my 401k temporarily to expedite my loan payments? \nThanks! " Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds)\n- [401(k) FAQs](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n\n*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.*"

User (throwaway234326): "I just graduated college, and landed a great job but now it is time to pay off student debt. I currently have ~20k total in debt at around 4.5% interest. Typically I'd just say that I'd wait to contribute to 401k until my loans are paid off, but the 401k matching plan at my work is insanely good and I'm not sure what route to pick. \n \n\nOne of the amazing offers of my job is the 401k matching, with is a match at 100% up to $3,000. This means that if I contribute $3,000 to my 401k each year, my work will match it dollar for dollar. In addition to that, if I contribute more than that annually they will match at 50%. This means that if I contribute more than $3,000 and up. For example, if I contributed the federal contribution limit of $18,000, my work will contribute an extra $9,000. \n \nI make a guaranteed 98k a year and an additional 15% annual target bonus that is based on performance. Based on how long I've been here, I am expecting a 3k bonus when it comes. I'm currently contributing $3,000 dollars to my debt each month, and 10% of my salary to 401k as well. Should I reduce my contributions to my 401k temporarily to expedite my loan payments? \nThanks! " Self: "The return on paying down your loans is 4.5%. The return on contributing $18k to your 401k is greater than 50%. Therefore, contribute $18k to your 401k before paying down your loans." kayoss_ (kayoss_): "Agreed. OP can max out their 401k and still make aggressive repayments to their loan. One or two years and the loan is repaid."

User (throwaway234326): "I just graduated college, and landed a great job but now it is time to pay off student debt. I currently have ~20k total in debt at around 4.5% interest. Typically I'd just say that I'd wait to contribute to 401k until my loans are paid off, but the 401k matching plan at my work is insanely good and I'm not sure what route to pick. \n \n\nOne of the amazing offers of my job is the 401k matching, with is a match at 100% up to $3,000. This means that if I contribute $3,000 to my 401k each year, my work will match it dollar for dollar. In addition to that, if I contribute more than that annually they will match at 50%. This means that if I contribute more than $3,000 and up. For example, if I contributed the federal contribution limit of $18,000, my work will contribute an extra $9,000. \n \nI make a guaranteed 98k a year and an additional 15% annual target bonus that is based on performance. Based on how long I've been here, I am expecting a 3k bonus when it comes. I'm currently contributing $3,000 dollars to my debt each month, and 10% of my salary to 401k as well. Should I reduce my contributions to my 401k temporarily to expedite my loan payments? \nThanks! " Self: "You're only contributing 10% of your salary to your 401K? Why? You should be maxing that out. You're leaving about $4K / year on the table." User (throwaway234326): "currently at 10% to contribute more to my loans. The original question was to figure out what balance I should have so that I still can get myself out of debt."

User (Ohio510): "This is my third year as a freelancer (I also have a W2 job that does not cover all taxes due). I did not pay estimated quarterly taxes this year. I didn't last year and just ate the penalty. I have been saving money so April won't be a shock. An attorney told me that there is possible jail time associated with not paying estimated taxes and I am in a panic. (My SE income is about $22K). Is this true? Second question...now that I have a good chunk set up, should I send it in now online or just wait and pay up on January 15?" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/41dew6)\n- [Taxes wiki page](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes)\n- [Understanding tax brackets](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates)\n- [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator)\n\n*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.*"

User (Ohio510): "This is my third year as a freelancer (I also have a W2 job that does not cover all taxes due). I did not pay estimated quarterly taxes this year. I didn't last year and just ate the penalty. I have been saving money so April won't be a shock. An attorney told me that there is possible jail time associated with not paying estimated taxes and I am in a panic. (My SE income is about $22K). Is this true? Second question...now that I have a good chunk set up, should I send it in now online or just wait and pay up on January 15?" Self: "By no means am I an expert but I think you usually just pay a little extra interest on it. Like $50. I don't think you have to worry about jail. You're saying that's what happened last year, yeah? It sucks but try not to make a habit of it, make a savings plan for the coming year"

User (Ohio510): "This is my third year as a freelancer (I also have a W2 job that does not cover all taxes due). I did not pay estimated quarterly taxes this year. I didn't last year and just ate the penalty. I have been saving money so April won't be a shock. An attorney told me that there is possible jail time associated with not paying estimated taxes and I am in a panic. (My SE income is about $22K). Is this true? Second question...now that I have a good chunk set up, should I send it in now online or just wait and pay up on January 15?" Self: "Going to jail for not paying taxes is rare if you simply never filed, or don't pay.\n\nYou are likely to go to jail if you lie on your taxes and falsify documents.\n\nI.E. If you just never paid, they'll eventually garnish your wages but it's unlikely you'll see the inside of a jail."

User (Ohio510): "This is my third year as a freelancer (I also have a W2 job that does not cover all taxes due). I did not pay estimated quarterly taxes this year. I didn't last year and just ate the penalty. I have been saving money so April won't be a shock. An attorney told me that there is possible jail time associated with not paying estimated taxes and I am in a panic. (My SE income is about $22K). Is this true? Second question...now that I have a good chunk set up, should I send it in now online or just wait and pay up on January 15?" Self: "you will be charged some interest and a small penalty....otherwise our prisons be filled with people who paid their taxes late or underpaid their taxes..."

User (Ohio510): "This is my third year as a freelancer (I also have a W2 job that does not cover all taxes due). I did not pay estimated quarterly taxes this year. I didn't last year and just ate the penalty. I have been saving money so April won't be a shock. An attorney told me that there is possible jail time associated with not paying estimated taxes and I am in a panic. (My SE income is about $22K). Is this true? Second question...now that I have a good chunk set up, should I send it in now online or just wait and pay up on January 15?" Self: "The attorney is completely wrong. You are not required to pay estimated taxes; the only consequence is a possible underpayment penalty."

User (Ohio510): "This is my third year as a freelancer (I also have a W2 job that does not cover all taxes due). I did not pay estimated quarterly taxes this year. I didn't last year and just ate the penalty. I have been saving money so April won't be a shock. An attorney told me that there is possible jail time associated with not paying estimated taxes and I am in a panic. (My SE income is about $22K). Is this true? Second question...now that I have a good chunk set up, should I send it in now online or just wait and pay up on January 15?" Self: "maybe a small penalty but nothing crazy"

User (35under): "I'm just under $34,000 in Credit/Installment Debt, and I really would like some advice as what to do. My average take home income is about $3,100 and my monthly payments including utilities are $1,931.54 approximately. That does not include food expenses or fuel expenses.\n\nI know the method that is most recommended is to pay off the highest interest card first, but right now that balance stands at about $8,300 and seems insurmountable. Should I try paying off the smaller debt cards first to try a snow ball effect that way? Also I get "offers" for debt consolidation loans all of the time from companies like Lending Club, are those a viable option?\n\n\nIf it would help I could list the balances, type of balances, and interest owed.\n\n\nThank you. And any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.\n\n\nHere are a list of my debts: *INST = Installment *REV = Revolving\n\nINST: $5910.84 $210.33 11.75%\n\nREV : $5858.14 $121.00 20.24%\n\nREV : $2807.51 $29.00 0% introductory then 28.24% starting 05/17\n\nREV : $3086.21 $75.00 17.24%\n\nINST: $2077.80 $103.00 9.99% \n\nREV : $2092.77 $53.40 18.24%\n\nREV : $2011.32 $25.00 19.99%\n\nREV : $8222.81 $171.00 22.24% \n\nREV : $462.07 $25.00 13.15%\n\nREV : $1238.83 $36.00 26.24% \n" User (35under): "Added a list of my debts with corresponding APR's. Is a consolidation loan a feasible idea for me?"

User (35under): "I'm just under $34,000 in Credit/Installment Debt, and I really would like some advice as what to do. My average take home income is about $3,100 and my monthly payments including utilities are $1,931.54 approximately. That does not include food expenses or fuel expenses.\n\nI know the method that is most recommended is to pay off the highest interest card first, but right now that balance stands at about $8,300 and seems insurmountable. Should I try paying off the smaller debt cards first to try a snow ball effect that way? Also I get "offers" for debt consolidation loans all of the time from companies like Lending Club, are those a viable option?\n\n\nIf it would help I could list the balances, type of balances, and interest owed.\n\n\nThank you. And any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.\n\n\nHere are a list of my debts: *INST = Installment *REV = Revolving\n\nINST: $5910.84 $210.33 11.75%\n\nREV : $5858.14 $121.00 20.24%\n\nREV : $2807.51 $29.00 0% introductory then 28.24% starting 05/17\n\nREV : $3086.21 $75.00 17.24%\n\nINST: $2077.80 $103.00 9.99% \n\nREV : $2092.77 $53.40 18.24%\n\nREV : $2011.32 $25.00 19.99%\n\nREV : $8222.81 $171.00 22.24% \n\nREV : $462.07 $25.00 13.15%\n\nREV : $1238.83 $36.00 26.24% \n" Self: "You could list the balances, type of balances and interest owed and you'd get the best advice for your specific situation.\n\nHowever, it won't help until you fix your mindset. You have nearly ~$1200 a month in disposable income, yet you are 34k in debt. Why? Something is wrong with your budget because you are living above your means. \n\n34k of credit card debt is a financial *emergency*. You need to set up a budget outlining your payments, including food and fuel expenses. Trim the fat out of it wherever you can, and put every single penny that you can towards this debt until it is *gone*. If you can, pick up extra hours at work or a second job to hasten the time frame in which you can take care of this." User (35under): "Just added the info. Thank you for the response."

User (35under): "I'm just under $34,000 in Credit/Installment Debt, and I really would like some advice as what to do. My average take home income is about $3,100 and my monthly payments including utilities are $1,931.54 approximately. That does not include food expenses or fuel expenses.\n\nI know the method that is most recommended is to pay off the highest interest card first, but right now that balance stands at about $8,300 and seems insurmountable. Should I try paying off the smaller debt cards first to try a snow ball effect that way? Also I get "offers" for debt consolidation loans all of the time from companies like Lending Club, are those a viable option?\n\n\nIf it would help I could list the balances, type of balances, and interest owed.\n\n\nThank you. And any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.\n\n\nHere are a list of my debts: *INST = Installment *REV = Revolving\n\nINST: $5910.84 $210.33 11.75%\n\nREV : $5858.14 $121.00 20.24%\n\nREV : $2807.51 $29.00 0% introductory then 28.24% starting 05/17\n\nREV : $3086.21 $75.00 17.24%\n\nINST: $2077.80 $103.00 9.99% \n\nREV : $2092.77 $53.40 18.24%\n\nREV : $2011.32 $25.00 19.99%\n\nREV : $8222.81 $171.00 22.24% \n\nREV : $462.07 $25.00 13.15%\n\nREV : $1238.83 $36.00 26.24% \n" User (35under): "I've shredded all of my cards. But I understand the thought of the temptation to be there. "

User (WhatDoIDo2911): "Hi, i'm recovering from a bit of a gambling problem(Currently talking to people about it and receiving help). Feeling a lot better about things after talking through with some payment plan companies and seeking help for the gambling but wondering your thoughts on my debt breakdown. My debt consists of: \n£7400 un-secured loan(Have got a 2 month payment holiday). £1000 pay day loan. High interest\n£4000 overdraft. Low interest\n£1500. Borrowed from friend\nI am currently trying to get another form of credit to cover the payday loan as currently I will not be paid for another 20 days and think the interest I will save will be worth the extra credit.\nI am also seeking a credit card to start building my credit rating back up but to only use on things I can repay each month.\nI make approximately £1500 a month." Self: "You might have incorrectly formatted line breaks. To create a line break, either put two spaces at the end of the line or put an extra blank line in-between lines. ([See Reddit's page on commenting for more information.](http://www.reddit.com/wiki/commenting))\n\nI have attempted to automatically reformat your text with fixed line breaks.\n\n----\n\n> Hi, i'm recovering from a bit of a gambling problem(Currently talking to people about it and receiving help). Feeling a lot better about things after talking through with some payment plan companies and seeking help for the gambling but wondering your thoughts on my debt breakdown. My debt consists of: \n\n> £7400 un-secured loan(Have got a 2 month payment holiday). £1000 pay day loan. High interest\n\n> £4000 overdraft. Low interest\n\n> £1500. Borrowed from friend\n\n> I am currently trying to get another form of credit to cover the payday loan as currently I will not be paid for another 20 days and think the interest I will save will be worth the extra credit.\n\n> I am also seeking a credit card to start building my credit rating back up but to only use on things I can repay each month.\n\n> I make approximately £1500 a month.\n>\n\n----\n\n^(I am a bot. Contact) ^[pentium4borg](https://www.reddit.com/user/pentium4borg) ^(with any feedback.)"

User (WhatDoIDo2911): "Hi, i'm recovering from a bit of a gambling problem(Currently talking to people about it and receiving help). Feeling a lot better about things after talking through with some payment plan companies and seeking help for the gambling but wondering your thoughts on my debt breakdown. My debt consists of: \n£7400 un-secured loan(Have got a 2 month payment holiday). £1000 pay day loan. High interest\n£4000 overdraft. Low interest\n£1500. Borrowed from friend\nI am currently trying to get another form of credit to cover the payday loan as currently I will not be paid for another 20 days and think the interest I will save will be worth the extra credit.\nI am also seeking a credit card to start building my credit rating back up but to only use on things I can repay each month.\nI make approximately £1500 a month." Self: "General rule of thumb is to tackle highest interest debt first. You haven't given any numbers, but In your case that would probably be the pay day loan, then the un-secured loan.\n\nHowever, it also depends on the terms of the loan from your friend. Does he expect you to pay him back first? If you want to keep your friend, who apparently is a really good friend, you should pay him back about as quickly as he expects.\n\nOther than your friend, make all minimum payments, extra money goes to highest interest debt."

User (Spyazz): "Hello world\n\n\nI am a young professional who is qualified and been working full-time for over a year. I want to look at financing for a car, and rent for a house. Only problem is that I have no credit history what-so-ever. I have never gotten myself in debt, and I dont plan on doing that. Ive always believed in working hard and saving up for something. Now I need to get myself in debt to prove I can pay debt off\n\n\nThis leads to my next question: Can I use a credit card as a savings account (as the interest is really good) and bring up my credit history?? I know I can buy stuff using the credit card, then immediately pay it off and bring my credit up, but wouldn't it be easier to just place some money on the credit card end of every month and bring my history up??\n\n\nThanks in advance" Self: "I think you are confused with how credit card interest works. You can't make an overpayment on your credit card and expect to get paid interest on your overpayment so no, you can't use a credit card as savings account.\n\nGet a credit card and use it as a debit card. Use it to make the purchases you already would have made, like gas and groceries. **Pay this card in full, on time, every month.** This is the FASTest and FREE way to build your credit history.\n\n" ironicosity (ironicosity): "Well written, I was going to write nearly the same thing. \n\nIf credit cards did work that way, as a reverse savings account, credit card companies would quickly be out of money paying 20% or more interest to the churners and financially savvy."

User (asetupfortruth): "Hi everyone\n\nFirst, I live in Taiwan, so the laws here are probably different than for you guys. Fortunately, I'm not looking for legal advice.\n\nBasically, I recently took a trip to a South Asian city, and I saw a guy selling coffee out of a converted bicycle. I bought some, and it was great; and the more I thought about this guy and his business, the more attracted to the idea I became. To make a long story shorter, I put in some time and effort and am getting the ball rolling on doing the same thing myself.\n\nNow, I'm not going to get rich doing this. I don't really care. I figure, if I can make just US$1,000 a month in profit, I'm set. Many posts on this reddit have advice for people starting up new businesses, and it seems a bit... overwrought, would be a good term for it, at least for my situation. But what do I know?\n\nSo, if you would please give me a little advice, I would appreciate it. Do I really need to work 100+ hours a week to get this thing rolling? Is it going to kill my social life? Any random tips for a tiny business owner? (That's tiny business, not tiny owner. Although I'm not the tallest guy either...)\n\nThank you!" Self: "If you want to make good money, start selling equipment OR give for rent to other Taiwan guys who want to sell coffee. You can also train them for free to attract new people in your business" User (asetupfortruth): "That's good advice for a next step, thank you!"

User (asetupfortruth): "Hi everyone\n\nFirst, I live in Taiwan, so the laws here are probably different than for you guys. Fortunately, I'm not looking for legal advice.\n\nBasically, I recently took a trip to a South Asian city, and I saw a guy selling coffee out of a converted bicycle. I bought some, and it was great; and the more I thought about this guy and his business, the more attracted to the idea I became. To make a long story shorter, I put in some time and effort and am getting the ball rolling on doing the same thing myself.\n\nNow, I'm not going to get rich doing this. I don't really care. I figure, if I can make just US$1,000 a month in profit, I'm set. Many posts on this reddit have advice for people starting up new businesses, and it seems a bit... overwrought, would be a good term for it, at least for my situation. But what do I know?\n\nSo, if you would please give me a little advice, I would appreciate it. Do I really need to work 100+ hours a week to get this thing rolling? Is it going to kill my social life? Any random tips for a tiny business owner? (That's tiny business, not tiny owner. Although I'm not the tallest guy either...)\n\nThank you!" Self: "You need to make sure your business is viable. The best way to do that is to go hardcore when you start your business. That might take as little as one week, or as much as one year to figure out your business, or maybe even never if no one is buying. That's the risk you take as an entrepreneur.\n\nIf you have good, regular buyers, and you can make sustained profit, then *of course* you can take it easy, work fewer hours, have more of a social life, etc. The hard part is getting there.\n\n"If I can make $1000 USD/month in profit" is extremely easy to say. Even at that low number, it could be much harder to realize." User (asetupfortruth): "Good point, thank you for your advice. Although it seems like a good idea from my viewpoint, I realize I might put time and money into making this a reality... and have no one interested, or at least not enough people.\n\nStill, Taipei has like 7 million people in it, I'm sure I can find a niche if I try hard enough!"

User (Sloppyjoeman): "Hi guys, \n\nI'm 20 now, in my second year of university. What's the best way to build up a pension now if i plan on retiring very early? I am lucky enough to have inherited some money which is in a managed fund, but What should I be doing when I start working? \n\nAs far as I understand, any pension that I pay into won't pay out to me until i'm older than 55. What form should a "personal" pension pot take for somebody planning to retire very early?" Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Retirement Accounts](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) (articles on 401(k) plans, IRAs, and more)\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n\n*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.*"

User (Sloppyjoeman): "Hi guys, \n\nI'm 20 now, in my second year of university. What's the best way to build up a pension now if i plan on retiring very early? I am lucky enough to have inherited some money which is in a managed fund, but What should I be doing when I start working? \n\nAs far as I understand, any pension that I pay into won't pay out to me until i'm older than 55. What form should a "personal" pension pot take for somebody planning to retire very early?" Self: "A pension is just a tax efficient way of investing. You can also use stocks and shares ISAs to avoid having to pay capital gains tax on the growth. \n\nYou'll want to try and work out the right split for you between ISAs & pensions."

User (Kryoxic): "I'm 17, still in High School, and have a part time job.\n\nI currently only have about 600 saved up, but make about 300 a month. Since I don't have any bills to pay yet, I was wondering what options I have when it comes to either investing or a better way to save up for the long run. \n\nI've looked into opening up a Roth IRA and the general gist of it seems solid enough, but I also want to ask you guys for a second opinion on what options I have, if any. Do I have enough to start investing in stocks? Should I just shove everything into a savings account? " Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- ["How to handle $"](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)\n- [Investing wiki page](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing)\n\n*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.*"

User (Kryoxic): "I'm 17, still in High School, and have a part time job.\n\nI currently only have about 600 saved up, but make about 300 a month. Since I don't have any bills to pay yet, I was wondering what options I have when it comes to either investing or a better way to save up for the long run. \n\nI've looked into opening up a Roth IRA and the general gist of it seems solid enough, but I also want to ask you guys for a second opinion on what options I have, if any. Do I have enough to start investing in stocks? Should I just shove everything into a savings account? " Self: "Nothing wrong with that at all. However, before putting everything into a Roth, give some thought to what you might need money for over the next five years or so and plan accordingly. For example, if college is in the future, using your money to reduce the amount you need to borrow will serve you well in the long run. Banks do pay low interest - an online account is at best 1% or so - but the money is available to you and you don't have the risk of market declines.\n\nIf you choose to invest, look at broad indexes to get the benefits of diversification. Read the wiki here on investing\n\n" User (Kryoxic): "This post was assuming that I'd need very little funding for college since my grades and test scores will get me a full ride to almost every college in state, but I agree, I should put more thought into the more immediate future.\n\nAs for broad indexes, what other well known ones besides VTI are there? Are they all about the same price? If not, then about what price range should I start looking at?" flat_top (flat_top): ">As for broad indexes, what other well known ones besides VTI are there? Are they all about the same price? If not, then about what price range should I start looking at?\n\nPrice per share is an irrelevant figure. For funds and ETFs it is simply the net value of all of the assets in the fund divided by the outstanding shares. You can have a fund that has 10 shares worth $100 each or a fund with 1000 shares that cost $1 each, as long as they are invested in the same thing you'd have identical performance.\n\n\nRead up on mutual funds and ETFs, and investing in general. This guide is a good start and recommends a few books specifically geared at younger people: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investing_start-up_kit"

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "She "thinks" this is a gift - whether through misunderstanding or willful ignorance. Unfortunately, I think this is a 30-pound lesson in not handing something over without immediate payment. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "Why did you give her the giftcard without receiving payment? When you handed her the gift card and she did not give you anything, that is when you should have clarified.\n\nWhere you stand is nowhere. Best you can hope for is some sense of social obligation/guilt getting to her.\n\nEdit:\n\nJeez, I work in HR. I would not want to deal with this petty personal squabble between employees. I am not a therapist or mediator. It is a personal issue, not a work issue." User (RabiesLion): "other people are saying would I take a comprimise i.e less money.... I would rather have nothing than take a little bit like it is her doing me a favour, I feel like she has gone back on what she agreed (She agreed to pay me £30 but thought I was joking when I asked her) \n" bisco_ (bisco_): "Your dealing with and idiot, no hope now..."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "The unfortunate thing about situations like this is they only give us 20/20 hindsight. You were doing something nice for a coworker, and that's fantastic! That means you're a nice person who likes to help people out. I'm the exact same way, so I probably would have done the same thing you did. Just keep trying to get the money from her. If she doesn't pay, you at the very least have a lesson for next time: don't release the item without at least a percentage of the full amount being paid. I'm sorry that happened, though. I would be frustrated, too." User (RabiesLion): "She sadly doesnt feel guilty and is literally angry at me for asking money and in her words "going back on a gift". When I bring it up she shuts me down and says it is making her frustrated and we shouldnt bring it up. Its realise the situation is making her upset... but she is not helping the situation." Self: "I know someone who used to do things like that. There's no reasoning with them. As much as it sucks, this may be one of those things you'll just have to let go of and keep in mind for next time. You did nothing wrong, it's all on her. But sometimes, it's just not worth arguing about, especially if that person can't be reasoned with.\n\nEdit: I wonder if she knows what "gift" card means. Maybe since it's in the name, she thought it was free...there are people out there who think like that." User (RabiesLion): "I think she is used to having gifts thrown at her in the workplace. I do understand her frustration. If it was the other way round I would pay the £30 or replace the £40 gift cards after I used them if I had thought they were joking in the first place. at the end of the day she spent them." Self: "I know. It sucks, but at this point, she's not going to do the right thing, so there's not really much you can do except keep this in mind for next time."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "It's hard to really know without being there. Maybe you didn't make it clear that it wasn't a gift and that you expected payment.\n\nWhen handing over the card, it should have been clear that you expected either 30 now or that she would give it to you tomorrow.\n\nAfter the fact, now? I would take the 15 and a lesson learned. The embarrassment/drama isn't worth it.\n\nYou don't mess with HR. You are being watched." User (RabiesLion): "Oh completely, the Head of HR just had a quite word with me. the problem is she has been missing out key information like me even asking for payment... saying I never mentioned £30.... which just erkes me. (Im only contracted for 3 months so its not forever) " Self: "It'll probably cost you a lot more than 30 if you keep persisting, unfortunately."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "My personal recommendation: HURT HER FEELINGS! If she is getting mad or angry when you bring it up, bring it up in front of her peers. She most likely know what she is doing, and just can't be bothered ro pay up. If she says she's getting angry say "well I'm getting angry too! We had a deal now give me my mom the WE both agreed on. When YOU agreed YOU understood this was not a joke and agreed to pay ME $30!" Or something similar, best of luck!\n" kujaultima (kujaultima): "That's a really bad idea and is likely to lead to the OP losing their job. That will cost much more."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "Write it off as a learning experience. And bad mouth her behind her back. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "Why did you give her the giftcard without receiving payment? When you handed her the gift card and she did not give you anything, that is when you should have clarified.\n\nWhere you stand is nowhere. Best you can hope for is some sense of social obligation/guilt getting to her.\n\nEdit:\n\nJeez, I work in HR. I would not want to deal with this petty personal squabble between employees. I am not a therapist or mediator. It is a personal issue, not a work issue." User (RabiesLion): "other people are saying would I take a comprimise i.e less money.... I would rather have nothing than take a little bit like it is her doing me a favour, I feel like she has gone back on what she agreed (She agreed to pay me £30 but thought I was joking when I asked her) \n" PoopyDoopie (PoopyDoopie): "Taking half of what you agreed isn't her doing you a favor. It's you accepting a settlement offer. If anybody brings it up, say, yeah, I wasn't really trying to do her a favor by accepting half of what she owed me, I just didn't want to deal with her any more.\n\nDebt collectors accept half to settle a debt all the time, and those are usually for bigger debts.\n\nFor bonus points, after a week or so bring it up again and ask her when she is going to pay you the other half." User (RabiesLion): "hahaha! Yes this! or just ask for her to replace the whole thing afterwards as I thought it was a gift not a solution. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "The unfortunate thing about situations like this is they only give us 20/20 hindsight. You were doing something nice for a coworker, and that's fantastic! That means you're a nice person who likes to help people out. I'm the exact same way, so I probably would have done the same thing you did. Just keep trying to get the money from her. If she doesn't pay, you at the very least have a lesson for next time: don't release the item without at least a percentage of the full amount being paid. I'm sorry that happened, though. I would be frustrated, too." User (RabiesLion): "She sadly doesnt feel guilty and is literally angry at me for asking money and in her words "going back on a gift". When I bring it up she shuts me down and says it is making her frustrated and we shouldnt bring it up. Its realise the situation is making her upset... but she is not helping the situation." YourFriendIsLogic (YourFriendIsLogic): "Why does she think it was a gift?" User (RabiesLion): "Because I said:\n\nI wouldn't use them,\nI wont go because my girlfriend doesn't like it there, \n\nI regrettably made it sound like I didn't want them anymore even though I said I wanted £30 for them (Which she thought I was joking about) and just giving them to her." YourFriendIsLogic (YourFriendIsLogic): "Without witnessing what happened, I can see both sides.\n\nI would eat the loss and apologize. It's not worth the bad feelings, but that might be too late. Are you a shy person?" User (RabiesLion): "I wouldnt class myself as shy... but when it comes to these awkward situations I would say I am. Im just stubborn and It feels like she is used to people bending their backs for her. It would upset me to just let it go as I would genuinely feel like I lost alot. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: ">I opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life.\n\nOk....so at any point did you actually say 'I will sell this to you for $30?' or 'When are you bringing me the $30?' or something like that. I can see how/why she'd be confused if this was not clearly said." User (RabiesLion): "I feel like I said it alot, like a broken record and while handing it over said... £30 quid.. is that ok? \n\nOn the other hand I did say. I dunno exactly how long is left and I wouldnt use it as my GF doesnt like it there (I was trying to make her feel better about accepting the charity of using it) " wijwijwij (wijwijwij): "Yeah, she probably can't do math. When you said "Want to save 25%?" she didn't get that you meant "Do you want this £40 card for £30?" Why she would go to HR about this is a mystery. She sounds spoiled. I would drop it and avoid her. Just think of it as paying £30 for the right to never have to talk to her again." User (RabiesLion): "She works in HR.... I also sit in their office. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: ">I opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life.\n\nOk....so at any point did you actually say 'I will sell this to you for $30?' or 'When are you bringing me the $30?' or something like that. I can see how/why she'd be confused if this was not clearly said." User (RabiesLion): "I feel like I said it alot, like a broken record and while handing it over said... £30 quid.. is that ok? \n\nOn the other hand I did say. I dunno exactly how long is left and I wouldnt use it as my GF doesnt like it there (I was trying to make her feel better about accepting the charity of using it) " wijwijwij (wijwijwij): "Yeah, she probably can't do math. When you said "Want to save 25%?" she didn't get that you meant "Do you want this £40 card for £30?" Why she would go to HR about this is a mystery. She sounds spoiled. I would drop it and avoid her. Just think of it as paying £30 for the right to never have to talk to her again." User (RabiesLion): "while handing it to her I said. So you are ok to pay £30 for this. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: ">I opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life.\n\nOk....so at any point did you actually say 'I will sell this to you for $30?' or 'When are you bringing me the $30?' or something like that. I can see how/why she'd be confused if this was not clearly said." User (RabiesLion): "I feel like I said it alot, like a broken record and while handing it over said... £30 quid.. is that ok? \n\nOn the other hand I did say. I dunno exactly how long is left and I wouldnt use it as my GF doesnt like it there (I was trying to make her feel better about accepting the charity of using it) " wijwijwij (wijwijwij): "Yeah, she probably can't do math. When you said "Want to save 25%?" she didn't get that you meant "Do you want this £40 card for £30?" Why she would go to HR about this is a mystery. She sounds spoiled. I would drop it and avoid her. Just think of it as paying £30 for the right to never have to talk to her again." User (RabiesLion): "I sadly have to talk to her..... "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "Lesson learned in not handing over a product you're selling until you have the cash money first."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "Why did you give her the giftcard without receiving payment? When you handed her the gift card and she did not give you anything, that is when you should have clarified.\n\nWhere you stand is nowhere. Best you can hope for is some sense of social obligation/guilt getting to her.\n\nEdit:\n\nJeez, I work in HR. I would not want to deal with this petty personal squabble between employees. I am not a therapist or mediator. It is a personal issue, not a work issue." CountVilheilm (CountVilheilm): "I agree. Learn from this experience that people are greedy, and just don't give a damn. Move on."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "My personal recommendation: HURT HER FEELINGS! If she is getting mad or angry when you bring it up, bring it up in front of her peers. She most likely know what she is doing, and just can't be bothered ro pay up. If she says she's getting angry say "well I'm getting angry too! We had a deal now give me my mom the WE both agreed on. When YOU agreed YOU understood this was not a joke and agreed to pay ME $30!" Or something similar, best of luck!\n" User (RabiesLion): "Well its difficult, she has gone to the head of HR and said she is upset over this and I feel and understand she will have loyalty to her department. Im not here to ruffle feathers but to work and do the best job possible. I dont want to act petty I just want a solution (preferably paying her debt) " yeah-what (yeah-what): "I would drop it because your job is undoubtedly worth more than 30 quid." User (RabiesLion): "I think i have to realize that..." yeah-what (yeah-what): "It's frustrating to have to give up even when you know you're in the right, but not all battles are worth the collateral damage of fighting." User (RabiesLion): "I know. I just hate how she didnt tell the whole truth to HR, played the victim then says Im the one who is being unfair. \n\nI hate how an injustice goes by. "

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "consider it a very CHEAP life lesson...in many cases...people throw away 1000's on such lessons"

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "It's hard to really know without being there. Maybe you didn't make it clear that it wasn't a gift and that you expected payment.\n\nWhen handing over the card, it should have been clear that you expected either 30 now or that she would give it to you tomorrow.\n\nAfter the fact, now? I would take the 15 and a lesson learned. The embarrassment/drama isn't worth it.\n\nYou don't mess with HR. You are being watched." User (RabiesLion): "Oh completely, the Head of HR just had a quite word with me. the problem is she has been missing out key information like me even asking for payment... saying I never mentioned £30.... which just erkes me. (Im only contracted for 3 months so its not forever) " RAproblems (RAproblems): "Don't risk your job for this."

User (RabiesLion): "I sold a £40 nice Restaurant gift card to a co-worker for £30 as she mentioned she was off there that evening with her boyfriend. \n\nI thought I was very clear that I expected £30 in return for using it. \n\nShe uses it all and then says she thought it was a gift and refuses to pay or talk about it.\n\nI opened the first discussion with "Want to save 25% at the restaurant? This was a cash value gift card not a discount code or offer. It still had over a year on the 24 Month life. \n\nShe says she thought I was joking when asking for money and that I wasnt going to use it (I did say I wouldnt use it) to mainly make her feel better about taking it (I thought I was doing her a favour)\n\nShe works in HR and I am trying very hard to comprimise and offered to have it after christmas and other people in HR have said would I accept £15.\n\nMy issue is she used it regardless and would have spent the money with or without the card.\n\nPlease help on where I can stand on this. The money would be very helpful to me right now and its the principle of just letting it go. I loose money not her when she has already spent it.\n\nplease help.\n\n\nEDIT 1" I have a meeting Monday with the lass and head of HR to fix the issue.... What are my points? what should I accept? (It will be a meeting with pretty much 2 people from HR.)\n\nEDIT 2" I admitted defeat. I have dropped the whole thing. The general consensus "Dont fuck with HR. Live and learn"" Self: "Is this someone you would have given a gift come Christmas? If so, give her nothing, she got her gift already."

User (_Jean_luc_Picard_): "I have recently been seeing a lot of advertisements for program called Snap Cash Binary. has anyone used or have any experience with these programs? " Self: "Would you be comfortable investing your savings on the outcomes of odds and evens? It's kind of like that."

User (_Jean_luc_Picard_): "I have recently been seeing a lot of advertisements for program called Snap Cash Binary. has anyone used or have any experience with these programs? " Self: "Let me start by saying that you are assigned to a random broker during registration. Different broker gives different results and most will end up losing. \n\nThe Austin Ford character in the sales video did not create the software. It's a generic software that other scam companies such as Gemini2 and Quantum Code uses. Reference here, http://thebestbinaryoptionsbrokers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/SnapCashBinary-software.jpg\n\nAlso, different broker will display the software differently. Reference here, https://youtu.be/EC_XeQGh2BQ\n\nThe actors in the videos are obviously fake. They have bad acting skills too. Reference here, http://thebestbinaryoptionsbrokers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/actor.jpg\n\nThe testimonials are stock photos. Reference here, http://thebestbinaryoptionsbrokers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/testimonial.jpg\n\nDo not believe what you see on Youtube especially those people who have their own SnapCash Binary affiliate link.\n"

User (socaldad): "[original thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2wf675/good_perf_review_good_company_profits_but_a_0/)\n\nThis post was from the middle of 2015. Most of the replies said the best way to get a raise would be to change companies. I stayed with that same company at that time, because I couldn't convince myself to make a move to another company. After getting a 0% raise in 2015, the company gave me a 3% raise for 2016, again with a good performance review. I decided at that point to apply elsewhere, and I was recently hired by another company. I got a 15% raise, and my commute went from 45 minutes (one-way) to 10 minutes. I should have made the jump sooner." Self: "human nature resists change and why most people will talk themselves out of doing something than not....that being said...the only consistent reliable way of getting raises is to change employers as you have demonstrated"

User (socaldad): "[original thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2wf675/good_perf_review_good_company_profits_but_a_0/)\n\nThis post was from the middle of 2015. Most of the replies said the best way to get a raise would be to change companies. I stayed with that same company at that time, because I couldn't convince myself to make a move to another company. After getting a 0% raise in 2015, the company gave me a 3% raise for 2016, again with a good performance review. I decided at that point to apply elsewhere, and I was recently hired by another company. I got a 15% raise, and my commute went from 45 minutes (one-way) to 10 minutes. I should have made the jump sooner." Self: "Congrats!\n\nI tell my students (soon to graduate business undergrads) that they should be learning or getting paid, and preferably both. By learning, I mean skills and experience that are transferrable to a new position and/or employer. By getting paid, I mean market or better. When you stall in either one (or both), look for internal and external paths to get back on track."

User (socaldad): "[original thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2wf675/good_perf_review_good_company_profits_but_a_0/)\n\nThis post was from the middle of 2015. Most of the replies said the best way to get a raise would be to change companies. I stayed with that same company at that time, because I couldn't convince myself to make a move to another company. After getting a 0% raise in 2015, the company gave me a 3% raise for 2016, again with a good performance review. I decided at that point to apply elsewhere, and I was recently hired by another company. I got a 15% raise, and my commute went from 45 minutes (one-way) to 10 minutes. I should have made the jump sooner." Self: "Nice work. Never regret! "

User (socaldad): "[original thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2wf675/good_perf_review_good_company_profits_but_a_0/)\n\nThis post was from the middle of 2015. Most of the replies said the best way to get a raise would be to change companies. I stayed with that same company at that time, because I couldn't convince myself to make a move to another company. After getting a 0% raise in 2015, the company gave me a 3% raise for 2016, again with a good performance review. I decided at that point to apply elsewhere, and I was recently hired by another company. I got a 15% raise, and my commute went from 45 minutes (one-way) to 10 minutes. I should have made the jump sooner." Self: "company loyalty really isn't a thing anymore. if the company treats you well, then stay. if they don't, leave."