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danielv835

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pf_coach_v0.1

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User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "Nope! I'm 30. Have been doing IT for 10years. Just enrolled in some college courses with the intent of changing career paths to do more programming/cloud computing. I signed up for classes bc i wouldn't finish the online bootcamps offered all over. \n\nBesides myself, there are a lot of older students, even in their 60s that are here looking to start something new.\n\nI heard a guy on a podcast talk about how he was a rodeo clown for years and then got into carpentry. Now he does home remodeling for celebrities in CA.\n\nYou could also look at government programs that would give you a grant towards funding for education or starting a business. Look up Matt Lasko as a source for more info on that route. Here is a link to his youtube\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwKJZfa7sWV_qKxQnLBUpjA" corbo25 (corbo25): "I worked in IT and re-assessed my situation after the tech bubble popped. Got an Accounting degree at 28 and am happy in Accounting now." NeverNo (NeverNo): "Why did you decide to go with accounting?" corbo25 (corbo25): "Stability, I'm good with numbers, it made sense, and I get to use a bunch of excel / accounting software."

User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "Its never too late man. Just try to find what will make you the happiest. It that ends up being where you currently are, fully rationalize the downsides so it will be easier to mentally deal with it later.\nMy wife has been a nurse less than a year, and is going through the same thing as you right now" User (donewithemsnewcareer): "I just am unsure how realistic it is based on my bills and savings I have currently. Will I have to be employed full time at my current job to fund my way through school?\n24 hours on, 48 hours off is an different schedule than most. My current job would make attending school on specific days not realistic. But then I am also unsure if I even need schooling from a traditional school, or if I can do some online bootcamp to learn at my own pace." NeverNo (NeverNo): "If your spending of $600 a month on rent, bills, and food is accurate, you should be able to save quite a bit making $53k a year. I would also see if there's any financial aid you could get while attending a bootcamp. In addition, there are a couple of bootcamps who will take something like 30% of your first year's pay at a new job rather than charge a set price for their school."

User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "I don't know much about your particular field, but when I was 26 I was a teacher. I hated it after about a year. I liked the kids but couldn't handle dealing with parents. \n\nTHAT being said. I completely abandoned that and got into something else. My brother and I now own our own business and I'm pretty happy. I mean, my new career has it's good and bad days, but every job will.\n\nWhat I guess I'm getting at, I used to drive to work and think "boy I think I'd rather crash my car into a wall and be sitting in a hospital than go to work today." If you're even remotely close to that, change. But prepare yourself. Like others have said, save up, really save up, and try to plan as well as you can so you don't have to do this for a 3rd time :D.\n\nI don't know a lot about programming, but my best friend is a code monkey. His industry in California is very competitive and requires a lot of constant re-education and many of your fellow workers will eat, sleep and breathe the occupation. I'm not trying to deter you; Like I said, I don't know much about the field and the different job variants, but it seems to be HIGHLY competitive from what I've gathered over the years. So If you're not satisfied with 70k, a job in this industry with no degree might be difficult to attain .\n\nIn the end you're going to be doing whatever you choose for quite some time, so find something that you enjoy, or at the very least, can tolerate." NeverNo (NeverNo): "> His industry in California is very competitive and requires a lot of constant re-education and many of your fellow workers will eat, sleep and breathe the occupation. I'm not trying to deter you; Like I said, I don't know much about the field and the different job variants, but it seems to be HIGHLY competitive from what I've gathered over the years. So If you're not satisfied with 70k, a job in this industry with no degree might be difficult to attain .\n\nI think that is very dependent on location. From everything I've heard, SV is pretty saturated with developers, but there's a pretty severe shortage of developers nationwide which is why bootcamps have started to pop up so much."

User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "I just want to say that you're probably not going to like anything that you pick.\n\nYou make yourself happy not your career :( " NeverNo (NeverNo): "That is totally ridiculous, certain careers fit certain people. A shitty job/career will have a huge impact on your life.\n\nEdit: All you have to do is look through this thread to find people who switched careers due to being miserable and are now happier." Self: "You sound like you don't come from experience. " NeverNo (NeverNo): "Ok. I came from a career flying helicopters in the Army which I enjoyed, and now I'm in a miserable job in the waste industry. I know exactly how much a job can affect your life, both positively and negatively. "

User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "Nope! I'm 30. Have been doing IT for 10years. Just enrolled in some college courses with the intent of changing career paths to do more programming/cloud computing. I signed up for classes bc i wouldn't finish the online bootcamps offered all over. \n\nBesides myself, there are a lot of older students, even in their 60s that are here looking to start something new.\n\nI heard a guy on a podcast talk about how he was a rodeo clown for years and then got into carpentry. Now he does home remodeling for celebrities in CA.\n\nYou could also look at government programs that would give you a grant towards funding for education or starting a business. Look up Matt Lasko as a source for more info on that route. Here is a link to his youtube\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwKJZfa7sWV_qKxQnLBUpjA" corbo25 (corbo25): "I worked in IT and re-assessed my situation after the tech bubble popped. Got an Accounting degree at 28 and am happy in Accounting now." s1337m (s1337m): "Are you worried about AI/automation taking over accounting?" stopbeinghip (stopbeinghip): "Currently working in the industry. I think the demand for accounting is still high, albeit the work may shift a bit. That being said, I'm switching to computer science because the work is so dull to me. \n\nAI is a long ways away from replacing accounting really. I concur with corbo on the CPA comment. It's way too grey for automation. "

User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "I had my "dream" career for a few years, one that I thought I wanted from a very young age, and owned a house with property a couple km's from work. Bought the place when I was 22 from the great money I'd saved at said job. By 24 I realized I hated everything about what my life had become - what kind of person the industry was turning me into, the hours, the people I was spending time with in the industry and the small town I was in, how my morals and ethics and what I thought were fundamental pieces of my personality/soul/whatever-you-want-to-call-it had been pushed aside for this job I dreaded going to - and up and left. \n\n\n\nNow I'm 26, with no savings or property. I've jumped around to different possible career options about a dozen times since leaving my former industry and still have no idea what I want to be or do with myself, but the biggest thing I've realized is how much friggen time I have. There's so much time to do everything still, and I'm finally enjoying my own life. You can start over ANY time you're unhappy. It'a never too late to start being happy.\n\nEdit:grammar" stopbeinghip (stopbeinghip): "Just curious, what industry were you in? " Self: "Dairy farming." stopbeinghip (stopbeinghip): "Very interesting, wouldn't have guessed. Without going into detail, do you drink milk after knowing the secrets of the trade? " Self: "I do not! No milk or milk products. I worked for one of the top rated, most humane, and cleanest farms in Canada (there's a 1000 point system in place that objectively rates every producer in the country - it's a highly regulated industry) and there were still some horrific things happening there. Knowing how good my cows had it compared to most in the country, yet how very far from perfect it was anyways, gave me no other choice but to vote against dairy with my wallet. Also studying the effects of Canadian dairy production and the farming methods used meant I was no longer blind to what a terrible impact it has on global society and the planet's wellbeing. The North American setup is absolutely horrible for the environment, and for the cows involved." stopbeinghip (stopbeinghip): "Jesus Christ. It's sad that we Americans don't realize these things either, because of the crazy corporate lobbying and propaganda. \n\nThanks for the insight. " Self: "No worries, I'm happy to discuss it. "

User (donewithemsnewcareer): "First I will start off by giving some background. So, I am currently a 26 year old male living near in Illinois. I am single, have no kids, and am mobile. For the past three years I have been working in EMS, as and EMT-B and paramedic. I originally thought going into this career that I wanted to be a paramedic/firefighter, but after working as a paramedic for the past year and a half I am really starting to have my doubts about the job.\n\nI chose this job because it was a job that I thought I would really appreciate, and love working. Lately although I find the job okay, there are just some things about that really make me question if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The work schedule, we work 24 hour days then get 48 hours off. At first I thought this schedule was amazing, but lately with having nights where I literally do not sleep due to the amount of the calls make me really question this. Is it worth being gone for a whole 24 hours, only to want to sleep the following 24 hours so that I do not feel like a zombie? I am also questioning the pay that I will be receiving for this career. I currently make around $53,000 salary. The place I work with currently, I could expect to earn roughly another $10,000 if I stay with them. Ideally, I could get full time with a big fire department, start around $63,000 and top off around $85,000 after several years. There is also a physical strain on my body with this job. Lifting and moving people in awkward small areas of the home does take a toll on a person's back. I am unsure if this pay is really worth the lack of sleep, stress, and liability I have to deal with when people's live are literally in my hands on a day to day basis.\n\nThis brings up what I should do.. I am currently still employed, but am really thinking about changing careers. I have thought about learning some more coding (I have taken a few intro coding classes at a community college before with java, javascript, python). I enjoyed coding at the time, but never really considered it as a full time job until now. Looking online it seems like I don't necessarily need a degree to get employed, but I still will have to dedicate LOTS of time to get where I need to be to be employed.\n\nIs this even a viable route for me right now though? I currently live with 2 roommates, and pay roughly $600 dollars a month on rent, bills, food etc. I have around $5,000 in savings. No credit car debt, no car payment, no student loans, etc. I could most likely get assistance from my parents in regards to money if I were to choose a career change. But I am 26 years old.. and I already almost have the job that I thought I wanted (keyboard "thought"). It is probably worth noting also that I currently have an associates degree in General Sciences, as well as an associates in Emergency Services.\n\nAre these online bootcamps, or even an in person bootcamp a viable way to become a programmer? Is it worth getting a degree in computer science instead? Should I just continue my current job, and accept that $70,000 salary is the best I can do?\n\nI feel like I want more in my life, I want another goal to work towards, and I am becoming unsatisfied with my current work.\n" Self: "I'm 24 and just now returning to college!! pursue your dreams "

User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Probably a stupid question, but are there ETFs which are widely considered to be "safer" than others?"" Self: "Any ETf that tracks an index is probably the safest. Something like SPY" User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Ok thanks! I'm relatively new to the stock market. I want to have some "safe" ETFs to go along with my individual stock picks. So far, I have invested in XBI, VNQ, and SPLV and wanted to see if there were any more that I should invest in. Do you think it's safe to invest 50% in individual stocks and 50% in ETFs?" DeluxeXL (DeluxeXL): "If one of the individual stocks is Enron and another is Lehman Brothers, how much do you stand to lose? I would keep risky investment to no more than 10%.\n\n" User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Fair point"

User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Probably a stupid question, but are there ETFs which are widely considered to be "safer" than others?"" Self: "Bond ETFs such as BND are safer than stock ETFs. Or you can buy a conservative mix of stocks and bonds in one ETF, such as AOK.\n\nWide or Total Market Stock ETFs themselves are safer than a lot of other types of ETFs, such as commodity ETFs or leveraged ETFs."

User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Probably a stupid question, but are there ETFs which are widely considered to be "safer" than others?"" Self: "Any ETf that tracks an index is probably the safest. Something like SPY" User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Ok thanks! I'm relatively new to the stock market. I want to have some "safe" ETFs to go along with my individual stock picks. So far, I have invested in XBI, VNQ, and SPLV and wanted to see if there were any more that I should invest in. Do you think it's safe to invest 50% in individual stocks and 50% in ETFs?" DeluxeXL (DeluxeXL): "If one of the individual stocks is Enron and another is Lehman Brothers, how much do you stand to lose? I would keep risky investment to no more than 10%.\n\n" User (HereWithoutHarambe): "But isn't it difficult to distinguish what a risky investment is?" DocQuixotic (DocQuixotic): "Of course it is. That's why, unless you actually know what you're doing, you should keep your assets in a diversified portfolio with stocks and bonds in a proportion that you are confortable with. " User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Well, I am trying to learn, so that I know what I am doing. I already have a 401k in which I have a portfolio that someone manages. I want my own personal stock portfolio, as well. What are some identifiers of risky stocks? Is it simply just medium to high volatility?" PoopyDoopie (PoopyDoopie): "Stocks are risky. Some might be riskier than others, but they are all more risk than you need to deal with and we generally recommend against individual stocks. We instead recommend index stock mutual funds or index stock ETFs. It's a whole bunch of stocks rolled into one fund."

User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Probably a stupid question, but are there ETFs which are widely considered to be "safer" than others?"" Self: "Any ETf that tracks an index is probably the safest. Something like SPY" User (HereWithoutHarambe): "Ok thanks! I'm relatively new to the stock market. I want to have some "safe" ETFs to go along with my individual stock picks. So far, I have invested in XBI, VNQ, and SPLV and wanted to see if there were any more that I should invest in. Do you think it's safe to invest 50% in individual stocks and 50% in ETFs?" DeluxeXL (DeluxeXL): "If one of the individual stocks is Enron and another is Lehman Brothers, how much do you stand to lose? I would keep risky investment to no more than 10%.\n\n" User (HereWithoutHarambe): "But isn't it difficult to distinguish what a risky investment is?" PoopyDoopie (PoopyDoopie): "He's referring to individual stocks rather than total market funds. He is saying don't have more than 10% of individual stocks in your portfolio. 0% would be better."

User (fight0fffyourdemons): "6 months ago I moved from one state to begin a new job. I haven't switched over my car registration and driver's license to the new state I'm living in now. As far as filing my tax returns for next year, will I need to file taxes in two states or can I file in one state? My job has offered to change my address to my permanent address where I am originally from.\n\nAny advice would be great. If anyone would like to know more information please send me a personal message. Thanks." 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 (fight0fffyourdemons): "6 months ago I moved from one state to begin a new job. I haven't switched over my car registration and driver's license to the new state I'm living in now. As far as filing my tax returns for next year, will I need to file taxes in two states or can I file in one state? My job has offered to change my address to my permanent address where I am originally from.\n\nAny advice would be great. If anyone would like to know more information please send me a personal message. Thanks." Self: "If you live or work in the new state, you need to file taxes for both.\n\n\n\nCharge your card, dl, voting, etc immediately especially your insurance. They can drop your coverage if they find out you are lying about the location of the car"

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "Well, whether you think it's right or wrong that your car got repossessed after you made a partial payment on a bunch of money that you owed, the debt and repo fees aren't going to go away if you ignore it and you will be out a car. It's your responsibility to understand the terms of the loan and that you are always required to keep insurance on a financed vehicle."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "If there's no insurance on the car, then the finance company isn't protected if you total the car. That's why all finance companies require it until the loan is paid off. You might be able to avoid the repo on your record if you get current right away. \n\nIf you don't pay, they're still able to sue you for the rest of the loan. " lantech19446 (lantech19446): "they can only sue him for what they don't recover, the car will go to auction afterwards he'll be sent a bill for the remainder. I don't know how well a 2013 will do in auction but i got really lucky I had an 04 tundra limited repo'd in 08 and recovered all but 4,000 dollars which the car company cut in half if I paid it within 30 days\n" hobbituary (hobbituary): "> 04 tundra limited repo'd in 08 and recovered all but 4,000 dollars which the car company cut in half if I paid it within 30 days\n\nWow that's almost a blessing in disguise. And a tribute to how good of a buy a Tundra is." lantech19446 (lantech19446): "you aren't kidding, I loved that truck and I got a splendid deal on it used with like 28000 miles in 05 but it was still 393 dollars a month plus gas at 4.50 a gallon. I stood outside talking to the repo man for almost an hour I was just so relieved to not have to worry about it for a minute."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "If there's no insurance on the car, then the finance company isn't protected if you total the car. That's why all finance companies require it until the loan is paid off. You might be able to avoid the repo on your record if you get current right away. \n\nIf you don't pay, they're still able to sue you for the rest of the loan. " lantech19446 (lantech19446): "they can only sue him for what they don't recover, the car will go to auction afterwards he'll be sent a bill for the remainder. I don't know how well a 2013 will do in auction but i got really lucky I had an 04 tundra limited repo'd in 08 and recovered all but 4,000 dollars which the car company cut in half if I paid it within 30 days\n" Self: "Right, but people that are way behind often owe more than the car is even worth, so OP is probably in pretty deep here, especially with the penalties for not carrying insurance." lantech19446 (lantech19446): "yea and even moreso if they got it some place like car sense"

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "Oh just wait it gets worse from here. \n\nThey will now take your car, sell it at auction, use that money towards your loan, apply a bunch of fees, and then send the difference between what they got for it at auction and the amount you owed to collections. \n\nI hate be the bringer of such bad news, but this really only gets worse from here. \n\nSo long story short you'll end up still paying for a car you don't even have anymore. \n\nYour best bet is to beg borrow or steal the amount of money you owe on your car from mom, dad, your dog, whomever and beg the bank to let you get the car back if you can pay in full TODAY. \n\nI'm assuming you are dealing with a legit lender. If you used some kinda shady lender, it might be worth making sure they followed all of the repossession laws for your state. \n\nSo long story short, even if you do nothing, you'll still be on the hook for more money. " User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Yeah I'm going to see if I can pay everything off today. I just got paid so hopefully with the amount I paid off 2 weeks ago it's not too much."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "How is this shocking? You didn't insure it. You didn't pay their insurance when they enacted it. And you didn't pay the whole balance. \n\nIt's not like $112 a month is really expensive insurance. You just need to pay the whole balance now and get it back and insure it, which by the way will be substantially higher because you let it lapse." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "I did ensure it I was paying it for months but fell behind when I ahd roommate issues then got tickets which raised my insurance by almost 50%\n\nBasically the last 2 years of my life have been a financial hell and I worked my ass off to get a good job a couple months ago and get back on my feet. "

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "My sister got her car back in 24 hours. But it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed.\n\nWell if I only need to do pay the money I was *behind* I should be able to do that right away. " kylejack (kylejack): "> Well if I only need to do pay the money I was behind I should be able to do that right away.\n\nYou're behind the extra fees as well. What's happening here is that they are buying insurance for the car (which protects them only, not you), since you aren't, and then passing that insurance cost along to you. It would be much cheaper if you just carried the insurance yourself."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed? \n\nIf you don't do the right thing here, they'll sell the car for less than you owe, and you'll still owe the difference. It sucks that you got yourself into this, but you need to deal with the situation if it's still salvageable. " User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed?\n\nI did misunderstand the insurance fees. My insurance quadrupled from what I was paying before. Thanks for the smug condescension fucking asshole. I really needed that great and helpful advice.\n\n" Ithica69 (Ithica69): "Brah, stop blaming everyone else for your problems. You didn't do you research and got fucked for it. No one's fault but your own. \n\nYou can man up and deal with it, or act like everyone is against you and ignore it." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Who did I blame? " NotAVeryFlyWhiteGuy (NotAVeryFlyWhiteGuy): "> Who did I blame?\n\nThe bank.\n\nThis is 100% your fault. If you aren't adult enough to understand that, get off the road because you certainly shouldn't be driving."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed? \n\nIf you don't do the right thing here, they'll sell the car for less than you owe, and you'll still owe the difference. It sucks that you got yourself into this, but you need to deal with the situation if it's still salvageable. " User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed?\n\nI did misunderstand the insurance fees. My insurance quadrupled from what I was paying before. Thanks for the smug condescension fucking asshole. I really needed that great and helpful advice.\n\n" Ithica69 (Ithica69): "Brah, stop blaming everyone else for your problems. You didn't do you research and got fucked for it. No one's fault but your own. \n\nYou can man up and deal with it, or act like everyone is against you and ignore it." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Who did I blame? " Frozenlazer (Frozenlazer): "You didn't blame anyone specifically, but your post reads like a classic "victim". "

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed? \n\nIf you don't do the right thing here, they'll sell the car for less than you owe, and you'll still owe the difference. It sucks that you got yourself into this, but you need to deal with the situation if it's still salvageable. " User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed?\n\nI did misunderstand the insurance fees. My insurance quadrupled from what I was paying before. Thanks for the smug condescension fucking asshole. I really needed that great and helpful advice.\n\n" Ithica69 (Ithica69): "Brah, stop blaming everyone else for your problems. You didn't do you research and got fucked for it. No one's fault but your own. \n\nYou can man up and deal with it, or act like everyone is against you and ignore it." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Who did I blame? " Fubar904 (Fubar904): "You blamed your previous roommates down a couple of comments. "

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "My sister got her car back in 24 hours. But it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed.\n\nWell if I only need to do pay the money I was *behind* I should be able to do that right away. " Self: "They have to give you the opportunity to pay them and get your car back. You need to contact them right away though. If you don't contact them, you're releasing ownership basically and they'll auction it or sell it within a week or two. Then, they will still go after you for the full amount of the defaulted loan, despite having taken the car and resold it." Rullerr (Rullerr): "> Then, they will still go after you for the full amount of the defaulted loan, despite having taken the car and resold it.\n\nActually, they'll go after OP for the loan amount + fees - the sale price of the car. The bank can't just pocket the money and not apply it to the loan. The whole reason they can repo and auction the car is because the rules of the secured loan state that the loan is backed by the car, and in the case the loan gets defaulted on they may use the backed property to recoup the loan as best they can. \n\nNow the reality is that the car is likely worth less than the loan, especially after fees are tacked on, so OP will likely still owe the loan holder money. This will still be required to be paid (or it'll be sent to collections), but it is not the "Full amount of the defaulted loan"." Self: "Wow, super valid, thank you. I can't believe how much more your clarification added to my point."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "If there's no insurance on the car, then the finance company isn't protected if you total the car. That's why all finance companies require it until the loan is paid off. You might be able to avoid the repo on your record if you get current right away. \n\nIf you don't pay, they're still able to sue you for the rest of the loan. " lantech19446 (lantech19446): "they can only sue him for what they don't recover, the car will go to auction afterwards he'll be sent a bill for the remainder. I don't know how well a 2013 will do in auction but i got really lucky I had an 04 tundra limited repo'd in 08 and recovered all but 4,000 dollars which the car company cut in half if I paid it within 30 days\n" Self: "Right, but people that are way behind often owe more than the car is even worth, so OP is probably in pretty deep here, especially with the penalties for not carrying insurance." Bam801 (Bam801): "Not to mention, as nice as Hyundai cars have been getting, they still depreciate like hell." Self: "Yeah, I'm thinking my next purchase will be a used Hyundai. I get the up-front discount from fast depreciation, and get a car that is getting good initial quality ratings from JD Powers."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "My sister got her car back in 24 hours. But it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed.\n\nWell if I only need to do pay the money I was *behind* I should be able to do that right away. " Self: "They have to give you the opportunity to pay them and get your car back. You need to contact them right away though. If you don't contact them, you're releasing ownership basically and they'll auction it or sell it within a week or two. Then, they will still go after you for the full amount of the defaulted loan, despite having taken the car and resold it." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "I already contacted them. They haven't given me any info because they just took my car hours ago. \n\n" Self: "Ummm... someone knows where it is, so I'd keep trying." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "They know where it is but they said they can't give me any info on what I need to pay to get it back yet. I have to check back every 2 hours they said. \n\nThey basically told me my car was repossessed but that I would have to wait to find out what I need to pay to get it back."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed? \n\nIf you don't do the right thing here, they'll sell the car for less than you owe, and you'll still owe the difference. It sucks that you got yourself into this, but you need to deal with the situation if it's still salvageable. " User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed?\n\nI did misunderstand the insurance fees. My insurance quadrupled from what I was paying before. Thanks for the smug condescension fucking asshole. I really needed that great and helpful advice.\n\n" Smitty_Oom (Smitty_Oom): "> Thanks for the smug condescension fucking asshole. \n\n> I really needed that great and helpful advice.\n\nHighly, highly unlikely that anyone is going to be interested in giving you ANY advice if that's how you're going to handle things. You're asking for free advice here, you should be glad people are even bothering to reply." CuddlesMcHuggy (CuddlesMcHuggy): "I'll give him some advice.\n\nMake more money or spend less money."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "My sister got her car back in 24 hours. But it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> it means you have to call them and pay all behind money owed.\n\nWell if I only need to do pay the money I was *behind* I should be able to do that right away. " agjios (agjios): "You need to pay them what you were behind, plus any fees that they charged you for not having insurance, towing and storage, etc. Doesn't matter, you NEED to fix this. You'll be sunk if you let it get any deeper. Every dollar spent possible goes towards this. Cut down your lifestyle." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "You're right. I fucked up. Shoulda been more urgent about this. I just hope they don't charge me too much to get the car out today. If I can't get it out right away I'm pretty sure I'm fucked and my car is gone."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "Well, I will say, once you're finished being frustrated, you can fix this. All of what they did, I'm sorry to say, was the "correct" thing to do. You had a secured loan. I can guarantee you that in the contract that you freely signed, it clearly said that if you stopped carrying insurance, since they have a rightful lien against the car (i.e. they are the first to get paid in case it is sold), then if you stopped carrying insurance, then they had the right to do so themselves. You also could have checked the cost of insurance BEFORE buying a car. You should have checked, but no crying over spilled milk now.\n\nWhat are the REAL details of the loan? What is the balance of the loan, the interest rate, and how many months are left? If they repo the car and you don't do anything, they are going to turn around, auction it off, charge you for towing and storing it, and then you'll still owe the difference. So, if it sells for $5,000 they will charge you $1,200 for example, apply the $3,800 against your current balance, and you'll still owe the difference, so you'll still have a car payment.\n\nI see from your post history, and not judging, but you spent money very recently on hookers, dating, motorcycles and gear, etc. You don't have a car payment problem. You have a spending problem. Sell your motorcycle and gear, or return what you can. Sell any hobby stuff. Use every dollar to get your car back, or your insurance will be trashed. No eating out, no going to bars. Don't spend on bodybuilding powders and supplements. Get on Credit Karma and check your credit score. Fix any bad habits like late payments. Groom your credit. You need to fight for EVERY DOLLAR that gets dropped into your bank account. You need to get out from under this. You don't want your credit being trashed, with only a bike as transportation (coming from a fellow motorcycle rider that just re-upped some gear on 2wheel.com, again not judging you, but you're essentially financing toys if you're buying things like this when you have a potentially high-interest loan hanging over your head, especially one that you keep falling behind on)." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "You're right. I actually cancelled all the gear I just bought. \n\nI just got repo'd this morning I bought everything last night. This is so frustrating when I was actually ready to pay off the balance today on payday... " Frozenlazer (Frozenlazer): "Wow. You need to take what /u/agjios said to heart. You are working a classic "bro" pattern, that leads to you constantly in situations like this. You'll have lots of great toys and fun, but will literally be broke until payday at which point you head to the bar or motorcycle shop, or whatever, and blow 30% of your check on fun. \n\nThat behavior is one of the biggest differences between people who are grown up children and people who live as adults. \n\n" User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "I've been surviving on $18,000 a year until I got this job 2 months ago I was basically living in poverty with $60 a month to have fun with.\n\nWhile going to school full time.\n\n" whatifitried (whatifitried): "I think the point of the post you are responding to is that, at 18k and poverty line, 1 dollar was too much of a fun budget, much less 60 (if you wanted to escape)."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "If there's no insurance on the car, then the finance company isn't protected if you total the car. That's why all finance companies require it until the loan is paid off. You might be able to avoid the repo on your record if you get current right away. \n\nIf you don't pay, they're still able to sue you for the rest of the loan. " lantech19446 (lantech19446): "they can only sue him for what they don't recover, the car will go to auction afterwards he'll be sent a bill for the remainder. I don't know how well a 2013 will do in auction but i got really lucky I had an 04 tundra limited repo'd in 08 and recovered all but 4,000 dollars which the car company cut in half if I paid it within 30 days\n" Self: "Right, but people that are way behind often owe more than the car is even worth, so OP is probably in pretty deep here, especially with the penalties for not carrying insurance." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "I'm not that behind. I never missed a regular payment. The only thing I'm being charged for is the lack of insurance. " Self: "You bought a car last year for retail price and they're going to auction it for auction price, so yes, you'll be pretty far behind. It will almost definitely be negative equity, not even considering the fees you owe for not carrying insurance." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Yeah I know that. I'm not going to let it go to auction if I can avoid it obviously. " Self: "Lantech and I were just talking about how far behind you'd be if it went to auction."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "If there's no insurance on the car, then the finance company isn't protected if you total the car. That's why all finance companies require it until the loan is paid off. You might be able to avoid the repo on your record if you get current right away. \n\nIf you don't pay, they're still able to sue you for the rest of the loan. " CN3RET (CN3RET): "It sounded like they may have been paying an insurance rider to cover their asset and billing him for it while he didn't have his own insurance." Self: "Correct, they carry insurance that protects them only and pass along the cost to buy it to OP. " CN3RET (CN3RET): "Again why you need to carry your own insurance.\n\n1: Its illegal not to (liability)\n\n2: Its cheaper to insure yourself and the car than what the lender will bill you just to insure the car"

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "Well, I will say, once you're finished being frustrated, you can fix this. All of what they did, I'm sorry to say, was the "correct" thing to do. You had a secured loan. I can guarantee you that in the contract that you freely signed, it clearly said that if you stopped carrying insurance, since they have a rightful lien against the car (i.e. they are the first to get paid in case it is sold), then if you stopped carrying insurance, then they had the right to do so themselves. You also could have checked the cost of insurance BEFORE buying a car. You should have checked, but no crying over spilled milk now.\n\nWhat are the REAL details of the loan? What is the balance of the loan, the interest rate, and how many months are left? If they repo the car and you don't do anything, they are going to turn around, auction it off, charge you for towing and storing it, and then you'll still owe the difference. So, if it sells for $5,000 they will charge you $1,200 for example, apply the $3,800 against your current balance, and you'll still owe the difference, so you'll still have a car payment.\n\nI see from your post history, and not judging, but you spent money very recently on hookers, dating, motorcycles and gear, etc. You don't have a car payment problem. You have a spending problem. Sell your motorcycle and gear, or return what you can. Sell any hobby stuff. Use every dollar to get your car back, or your insurance will be trashed. No eating out, no going to bars. Don't spend on bodybuilding powders and supplements. Get on Credit Karma and check your credit score. Fix any bad habits like late payments. Groom your credit. You need to fight for EVERY DOLLAR that gets dropped into your bank account. You need to get out from under this. You don't want your credit being trashed, with only a bike as transportation (coming from a fellow motorcycle rider that just re-upped some gear on 2wheel.com, again not judging you, but you're essentially financing toys if you're buying things like this when you have a potentially high-interest loan hanging over your head, especially one that you keep falling behind on)." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Well so much for getting my car back today. Called the bank and they don't have any info for me on getting the car back. It takes "1-2 business days to process" and if I don't hear back by end of business today, I have to wait until MONDAY.\n\nSo I can expect an extra 200-400 just on holding fees alone since my car is sitting in repo. Just fucking great."

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed? \n\nIf you don't do the right thing here, they'll sell the car for less than you owe, and you'll still owe the difference. It sucks that you got yourself into this, but you need to deal with the situation if it's still salvageable. " User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "> So you bought a car without considering the total cost of ownership (insurance and maintenance), and then failed to uphold your responsibility to insure said car. Sounds like the bank took matters into their own hands by insuring the car for you (and billing you for it), and now you're pissed?\n\nI did misunderstand the insurance fees. My insurance quadrupled from what I was paying before. Thanks for the smug condescension fucking asshole. I really needed that great and helpful advice.\n\n" demicrown (demicrown): "You drive without insurance? What a garbage thing to do. "

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "Honestly, it sounds like you got into a deal without making sure you could handle it. Insurance is not really an optional thing for cars (most states have a minimum coverage required to drive) and for a car that has a lein on it, most banks will require full coverage so that if you mess up and total it, they aren't just out of the money. It sounds like you dropped the insurance, and the bank covered it and charged you for it, with some fees tacked on. You should really have kept better tabs on your account statements rather than just assuming payments went through well and everything was ok. You probably also should have tried to work something out with your bank when you noticed the issue, not just let it climb to over $1500 owed and making a big payment hoping it would remedy the situation.\n\nSaying "fuck it" will not help. At best they'll sell the car at auction for close to it's value, tack on all the repo and selling fees, and then forward the remaining balance to you or collections. You'll still have to deal with them, and a collection on your history.\n\nYour best bet is to scrape together as much as you can, and call the bank to work out some kind of deal. Stop depending on auto-payments without verifying everything (trust but verify) and in the future look into all the costs of purchases (insurance, maintenance, depreciation)." User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Yeah my bank rep was shitty and I was caught up with other stuff to deal with it properly. I should have requested another rep because 2 months ago I asked if I could organize a situation to show proof of insurance and negotiate my balance and the lady wasn't willing to negotiate with me.\n\nGonna have to deal with it now. And yes I did get into a deal without making sure I could handle it. Sometimes in life shit forces you into a certain position when I got my car totaled I needed to replace it ASAP and made the best deal I could at the time.\n\nI'm really surprised by the condescension, smugness, and arrogance in many of the other posters replies to be honest. I never posted here before.\n\n"

User (BoyWhoreWithASword): "Woke up this morning to go to work. My fucking car isn't there. I knew I was behind on my payments so I knew it was the car company. Messed up thing is I paid them almost $500 a few weeks ago to get my balance down and get them off my ass. Wish I had that $500 now to just buy a motorcycle.\n\nSituation is I tried to finance a car after a bad car accident last year I got t-boned by a guy who ran a red light, he totaled my car. I decided to finance a used car because I didn't want to buy a junker that I'd have to repair every few months.\n\nWe agreed on payments of $238. What I didn't realize was how much more EXPENSIVE auto insurance is on newer vehicles. I never had a nice car before and this was a 2013 Hyundai. So after adding in insurance I was paying $350 a month on my car. \n\nI fell behind and dropped insurance but never once missed a car payment. What I didn't know was that the car company was charging me hundreds of dollars every month that the insurance wasn't active so a few months later I have over $1000 in "late payments". I call the bank asking how I have late payments when I paid the $238 literally every month (automatic payment). \n\nSo despite me thinking I was paying the minimum, I was actually being charged late and was delinquent without realizing it.\n\nI got a new job 2 months ago and have been paying off bills, tuition, and debt and finally had some cash to put a dent in my payments 2 weeks ago and now this happens. I was finally able to afford the full cost of the car again and then I end up going through this. \n\nI was surprised they reposssessed it I think I was over by $1500 on my payments so that's why I paid the $450 a couple weeks ago to bring it down until my next paycheck (today). \n\nWhen I called them, they said my account went over on the 19th, and my payment was made on the 21st.... WTF? So surprised that despite the fact that I paid the original $238 every month, and was only over on the extra charges they tacked on, and I made a payment of 30% of how much I was over, they still took the car....\n\nI'm so fucking pissed right now. I'm more pissed because I planned to sell the car next month because I didn't want to insure it and was already looking for motorcycles to buy this weekend so I could do it before the bank came after me. Goddammit not even sure what to do right now. And now my credit (which was already low 500s) is even lower. \n\nI wanna just say "fuck it" and leave the car and not bother dealing with them at all. The responsible person in me says I should pay whatever amount I need to get the car out of repo, then get back on payments, but if the repo is on my record anyway, what's the point?\n\nFuck I can't believe this happened right when I was able to pay...." Self: "Well, I will say, once you're finished being frustrated, you can fix this. All of what they did, I'm sorry to say, was the "correct" thing to do. You had a secured loan. I can guarantee you that in the contract that you freely signed, it clearly said that if you stopped carrying insurance, since they have a rightful lien against the car (i.e. they are the first to get paid in case it is sold), then if you stopped carrying insurance, then they had the right to do so themselves. You also could have checked the cost of insurance BEFORE buying a car. You should have checked, but no crying over spilled milk now.\n\nWhat are the REAL details of the loan? What is the balance of the loan, the interest rate, and how many months are left? If they repo the car and you don't do anything, they are going to turn around, auction it off, charge you for towing and storing it, and then you'll still owe the difference. So, if it sells for $5,000 they will charge you $1,200 for example, apply the $3,800 against your current balance, and you'll still owe the difference, so you'll still have a car payment.\n\nI see from your post history, and not judging, but you spent money very recently on hookers, dating, motorcycles and gear, etc. You don't have a car payment problem. You have a spending problem. Sell your motorcycle and gear, or return what you can. Sell any hobby stuff. Use every dollar to get your car back, or your insurance will be trashed. No eating out, no going to bars. Don't spend on bodybuilding powders and supplements. Get on Credit Karma and check your credit score. Fix any bad habits like late payments. Groom your credit. You need to fight for EVERY DOLLAR that gets dropped into your bank account. You need to get out from under this. You don't want your credit being trashed, with only a bike as transportation (coming from a fellow motorcycle rider that just re-upped some gear on 2wheel.com, again not judging you, but you're essentially financing toys if you're buying things like this when you have a potentially high-interest loan hanging over your head, especially one that you keep falling behind on)." DontTellHimIWasHere (DontTellHimIWasHere): "Damn! I love that you did your OP research." RiceandBeansandChees (RiceandBeansandChees): "Judging by OP's comment history and his dismissive, confrontational replies on this thread, we should think about x-posting this to justiceboners. "

User (isthisforeal): "I'm working on a mortgage and my lender called me saying they found an issue on my credit. I have $3k in collections with a collection agency from 2010.\n\nI had spoken to this collection agency in the past and they had been super hostile refusing to send me any details or paperwork to show why I owed this money,just telling me I knew why and I owed them the money. From what I can gather the debt is from an apartment complex I lived in. But I can't figure out what they money is owed as I never missed any rent payments. \nI disputed the charges about a year back from the collections company and my mortgage lender wants me to either remove the dispute or pay off the amount. \n\nI was wondering if how this will effect my credit if I remove the dispute and if this is a good idea to do. Or if I contact the creditor how I should proceed in either negotiating the amount down or getting it removed.\n\nThank you for any help." Self: "Well, whatever happens to this item, its clear that you aren't getting the mortgage without doing something. \n\nSo you've gotta decide what is most important right now, getting the mortgage, keep the 3k, or what. \n\nTrying any kinda of paperwork and dispute and all of that, is going to take AGES. Most of the time, time is not on your side with a real estate deal. \n\nSo the likely only QUICK way to get rid of this is to shell out the money... \n\nEven then, you'll need to find out exactly what your lender needs to hear from the CA and how quickly the CA could provide that assuming you pay. "

User (isthisforeal): "I'm working on a mortgage and my lender called me saying they found an issue on my credit. I have $3k in collections with a collection agency from 2010.\n\nI had spoken to this collection agency in the past and they had been super hostile refusing to send me any details or paperwork to show why I owed this money,just telling me I knew why and I owed them the money. From what I can gather the debt is from an apartment complex I lived in. But I can't figure out what they money is owed as I never missed any rent payments. \nI disputed the charges about a year back from the collections company and my mortgage lender wants me to either remove the dispute or pay off the amount. \n\nI was wondering if how this will effect my credit if I remove the dispute and if this is a good idea to do. Or if I contact the creditor how I should proceed in either negotiating the amount down or getting it removed.\n\nThank you for any help." Self: "I hope you're not fighting a deadline.\n\nWhat you need to do is read the Collections section of the Wiki. It will tell you how to send a debt verification/validation letter by certified mail. If the debt is not validated, you can appeal to have it stripped from your credit report.\n\nOnce it's off your credit report, go through the mortgage process.\n\nOr you can wait a year for it to fall off on its own, as 7 year old debts fall off your report." User (isthisforeal): "Thank you for the advice, sadly I'm trying to close for January 1st so looks like I'll have to just drop the dispute." Self: "You can always appeal through the credit bureaus and hope the bureaus drop because the collector won't send verification."

User (ekkso): "I'm a young man who was unemployed for awhile and I got stuck in a deep hole. I used to have great credit until I lost my job and now I'm working weekends ($150-$200 a paycheck). How much of my check should go to my credit card and what should I set aside to live off of. " 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 (ekkso): "I'm a young man who was unemployed for awhile and I got stuck in a deep hole. I used to have great credit until I lost my job and now I'm working weekends ($150-$200 a paycheck). How much of my check should go to my credit card and what should I set aside to live off of. " Self: "> How much of my check should go to my credit card and what should I set aside to live off of. \n\nWhat's your budget?"

User (ekkso): "I'm a young man who was unemployed for awhile and I got stuck in a deep hole. I used to have great credit until I lost my job and now I'm working weekends ($150-$200 a paycheck). How much of my check should go to my credit card and what should I set aside to live off of. " Self: "For now, just enough to make the minimum payment, which is probably like 25-30 bucks a month. \n\nJust enough to keep them happy, work on finding more work and earning more income, then start worrying about the rest. " User (ekkso): "It just sucks because before I got screwed out of my job, I had such perfect credit. I've never missed a payment but my usage is almost maxed out " Self: "Don't stress too much about that, that is evaluated every month, so once you get out of this job hole, and pay that card down, your utilization will drop with each payment and your score will improve nearly immediately. \n\nSo if in 3 months, you get a sweet job, drop a fat check on the balance and take it to 0, your score should climb right back up in 30-90 days. \n\nYou are doing the right thing, just keep making payments, those missed payments stick around for a very long time, high utilization does not. "

User (ekkso): "I'm a young man who was unemployed for awhile and I got stuck in a deep hole. I used to have great credit until I lost my job and now I'm working weekends ($150-$200 a paycheck). How much of my check should go to my credit card and what should I set aside to live off of. " Self: "What's the exact amount and interest rate? What other expenses do you HAVE to pay each month? We need to know this information to properly help you " User (ekkso): "I commute pretty far for work and school, and my car doesn't get the best gas mileage. SO gas is a big 20 or more a week. My phone bill is around 90 a month (employee discount is so prime). I have a vaping habit. Stops my binge eating but It costs me some money once a week. 27 bucks every week or two there " lilfunky1 (lilfunky1): "> I have a vaping habit. Stops my binge eating but It costs me some money once a week. 27 bucks every week or two there \n\ne-cig type vape? \n\nThere are loads of discount ejuices available, or you should look into DIY'ing. " User (ekkso): "I've been considering DIY "

User (ekkso): "I'm a young man who was unemployed for awhile and I got stuck in a deep hole. I used to have great credit until I lost my job and now I'm working weekends ($150-$200 a paycheck). How much of my check should go to my credit card and what should I set aside to live off of. " Self: "For now, just enough to make the minimum payment, which is probably like 25-30 bucks a month. \n\nJust enough to keep them happy, work on finding more work and earning more income, then start worrying about the rest. " User (ekkso): "It just sucks because before I got screwed out of my job, I had such perfect credit. I've never missed a payment but my usage is almost maxed out " brd_is_the_wrd2 (brd_is_the_wrd2): "Your credit score is irrelevant unless you were planning on showing it to potential creditors. It's okay to carry a balance right now. Take care of yourself."

User (anonymous836489): "My job recently added the ability to "backdoor roth" within our 401K plan, essentially converting post-tax 401k contributions to roth 401k contributions. Since the announcement, I have been contributing $550/2 weeks (max allowed) to post-tax. Ideally, I would like to convert this money as soon as it hits (every other Wednesday) to limit tax liability. Looking over the forms today to initiate a the backdoor, I see that you have to fill out a withdrawal form ($50 fee) which stays "on file" (can be used for multiple transfers) for 6 months. So to transfer $6600 for six months (and avoid taxes on future growth), I have to pay a $50 (.75%). Is this a good "deal"? I assume taking a one-time .75% "hit" (cost of doing business) on the money, for ~30 years of non-taxed future growth (I am in my mid-30s) is acceptable but I wanted to solicit a second opinion. \n\nThank you all very much for your insight! " 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 (anonymous836489): "My job recently added the ability to "backdoor roth" within our 401K plan, essentially converting post-tax 401k contributions to roth 401k contributions. Since the announcement, I have been contributing $550/2 weeks (max allowed) to post-tax. Ideally, I would like to convert this money as soon as it hits (every other Wednesday) to limit tax liability. Looking over the forms today to initiate a the backdoor, I see that you have to fill out a withdrawal form ($50 fee) which stays "on file" (can be used for multiple transfers) for 6 months. So to transfer $6600 for six months (and avoid taxes on future growth), I have to pay a $50 (.75%). Is this a good "deal"? I assume taking a one-time .75% "hit" (cost of doing business) on the money, for ~30 years of non-taxed future growth (I am in my mid-30s) is acceptable but I wanted to solicit a second opinion. \n\nThank you all very much for your insight! " Self: "If I understand you correctly, then absolutely. In-service conversion to Roth makes your post-tax investment basically tax free in retirement. 75 basis point is dirty cheap to allow you to have better investment options, and tax proof your future."

User (anonymous836489): "My job recently added the ability to "backdoor roth" within our 401K plan, essentially converting post-tax 401k contributions to roth 401k contributions. Since the announcement, I have been contributing $550/2 weeks (max allowed) to post-tax. Ideally, I would like to convert this money as soon as it hits (every other Wednesday) to limit tax liability. Looking over the forms today to initiate a the backdoor, I see that you have to fill out a withdrawal form ($50 fee) which stays "on file" (can be used for multiple transfers) for 6 months. So to transfer $6600 for six months (and avoid taxes on future growth), I have to pay a $50 (.75%). Is this a good "deal"? I assume taking a one-time .75% "hit" (cost of doing business) on the money, for ~30 years of non-taxed future growth (I am in my mid-30s) is acceptable but I wanted to solicit a second opinion. \n\nThank you all very much for your insight! " Self: "Your post is unclear - are they allowing you to do an in-service withdrawal of your after-tax 401k money to a Roth *IRA* (the so-called "mega backdoor roth")? \n\nAnd just to confirm - is this money going into the after-tax portion is after you've maxed out a traditional/Roth 401k ($18k/year) and put $5500 into a Roth IRA, and you're still able to save more?" buyabighouse (buyabighouse): "Mega Backdoor Roth is additional $35K after your $18k." Self: "Yes, but usually relies on making an in-service rollover to an IRA, which is not what the OP is describing. \n\nI have encountered posters who mistakenly contributed to an after-tax 401k before maxing the regular contribution amount in the past, which is why I check. "

User (anonymous836489): "My job recently added the ability to "backdoor roth" within our 401K plan, essentially converting post-tax 401k contributions to roth 401k contributions. Since the announcement, I have been contributing $550/2 weeks (max allowed) to post-tax. Ideally, I would like to convert this money as soon as it hits (every other Wednesday) to limit tax liability. Looking over the forms today to initiate a the backdoor, I see that you have to fill out a withdrawal form ($50 fee) which stays "on file" (can be used for multiple transfers) for 6 months. So to transfer $6600 for six months (and avoid taxes on future growth), I have to pay a $50 (.75%). Is this a good "deal"? I assume taking a one-time .75% "hit" (cost of doing business) on the money, for ~30 years of non-taxed future growth (I am in my mid-30s) is acceptable but I wanted to solicit a second opinion. \n\nThank you all very much for your insight! " Self: "Your post is unclear - are they allowing you to do an in-service withdrawal of your after-tax 401k money to a Roth *IRA* (the so-called "mega backdoor roth")? \n\nAnd just to confirm - is this money going into the after-tax portion is after you've maxed out a traditional/Roth 401k ($18k/year) and put $5500 into a Roth IRA, and you're still able to save more?" User (anonymous836489): "My understanding is that our plan is not offering a traditional "backdoor Roth IRA" conversion like I have read on Bogleheads. The money does not actually leave the 401K provider, but moves from a "post-tax 401K classification" to a "Roth 401k classification".\n\nYes, I am pretty far down the personal finance "where to put my money" chart. I max 401k and Roth IRA (cannot contribute to tIRA due to income limits). This $550/2 weeks would otherwise be going to my checking account and eventually a taxable investment account." Self: "Like the other commenter, this is the first I've ever seen someone suggesting this approach. I know the IRS made a ruling about isolating after-tax basis for in-service rollovers, but making a conversion within the plan from after tax to Roth is surprising to me, since if it were possible everyone would be doing it. \n\nThat said, if it were possible, the fee you describe seems justifiable for access to the tax-free space. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more about this and would be interested if you find more details to share. "

User (anonymous836489): "My job recently added the ability to "backdoor roth" within our 401K plan, essentially converting post-tax 401k contributions to roth 401k contributions. Since the announcement, I have been contributing $550/2 weeks (max allowed) to post-tax. Ideally, I would like to convert this money as soon as it hits (every other Wednesday) to limit tax liability. Looking over the forms today to initiate a the backdoor, I see that you have to fill out a withdrawal form ($50 fee) which stays "on file" (can be used for multiple transfers) for 6 months. So to transfer $6600 for six months (and avoid taxes on future growth), I have to pay a $50 (.75%). Is this a good "deal"? I assume taking a one-time .75% "hit" (cost of doing business) on the money, for ~30 years of non-taxed future growth (I am in my mid-30s) is acceptable but I wanted to solicit a second opinion. \n\nThank you all very much for your insight! " Self: "Your post is unclear - are they allowing you to do an in-service withdrawal of your after-tax 401k money to a Roth *IRA* (the so-called "mega backdoor roth")? \n\nAnd just to confirm - is this money going into the after-tax portion is after you've maxed out a traditional/Roth 401k ($18k/year) and put $5500 into a Roth IRA, and you're still able to save more?" User (anonymous836489): "My understanding is that our plan is not offering a traditional "backdoor Roth IRA" conversion like I have read on Bogleheads. The money does not actually leave the 401K provider, but moves from a "post-tax 401K classification" to a "Roth 401k classification".\n\nYes, I am pretty far down the personal finance "where to put my money" chart. I max 401k and Roth IRA (cannot contribute to tIRA due to income limits). This $550/2 weeks would otherwise be going to my checking account and eventually a taxable investment account." DontForgetWilson (DontForgetWilson): "I've honestly never heard of employers offering this option before. If it is possible then numerically it is a solid deal. Functionally it sounds like your employer is offering a pretty low cost(and quite low effort) mega roth backdoor with the stipulation that you're money doesn't leave the 401k account. I wouldn't mind if my employer offered something like this.. " User (anonymous836489): "I had just started looking into the Mega Backdoor Roth as an option for additional retirement savings when my employer announced this was a new plan option. I went to the meeting and quizzed the 401k company representative and my understanding is that they offer the "backdoor Roth" to a Roth 401K in-plan only (no transfer to 3rd parties). My intention was to transfer to my Vanguard account, but he explicitly said that was not an option. The good news is that our 401K is well managed, and we have access to a number of good index funds with fees and setup similar to my Vanguard funds." DontForgetWilson (DontForgetWilson): "Well i am not yet maxing my entire tax advantaged space, but like /u/c2reason said this seems like a no-brainer in terms of 401k providers. They want to manage more funds, and it's not like they get more money for handling post-tax versus Roth assets. With the general trend of conversions(including mega backdoors) they have the risk of the smart step being to take funds out from their management. If they can start offering those options without needing to lose assets from their ecosystem, they stand to gain. One related thing i would be interested in is whether this would unlock our ability to convert employer contributions to Roth assets. "

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "Debt free, $70k in cash, and $105k/year income... yeah, I think you can afford a car. The only question if you want to get something on the cheaper end ($20k or less) so you can save up for other things (retirement, house) now... or if you want to get a nicer car now and put off other things til later. That's mostly just personal preference and values at this point."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "Depending on your mileage needs I would go for a lease of a "luxury" car. Got examples of what an entry level luxury car is?"

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "Yes, get a motorcycle instead =)"

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "What car is it? What is it about luxury cars that draws you in? I love cars for their performance, and loud noises, and sporty looks. What do you want from a car? \n\nJust calling it luxury puts a minimum price on it right away, especially if new. If you consider what you really want from a car, then it's easy to find many options new and used. If you want a new mercedes, then you only have one option, a new mercedes. And you will pay a lot of money for it and lose money to depreciation."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "My recommendation: Get an entry level used luxury car, with records. Something like a used, certified pre-owned Acura could go for $19,000 - $21,000. I did this earlier this year, with a certified 2013 TSX with 20,000 miles. Sticker was $31,000 originally, original buyer probably paid $29,000 for it, and I paid $20,500 before taxes, so 30% off for a measly 20,000 miles.\n\nThis saved me a boatload of money, and Acura actually gave me their financing offer since it was certified, so 0.9% interest for the next 36 months. Not only did I talk them down $2,000 from the price on their website, but with that low of interest rate and short term, I'll never be underwater on it. I plan to happily drive it for the next 15 years. I can tell you that as a working professional, no one cares what you drive. People have been where you were, and no one looks down on you for driving a 15 year old Civic. In fact, people were impressed that I wasn't acting like a $60,000 millionaire."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "If you're 23, that $40k would be worth $685,770 at 65 given a 7% return on your investment. You're young, every dollar invested for retirement is much much more valuable. Even if you could wait 5 years, the difference would be big. I really wish I had that money early in my career."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "A lot of luxury dealers/brands have great certified pre-owned programs for cars that are usually no more than 6 months to 4 years old. Check those out if you really think you want a car, as pre-owned can save you tons and you'll usually get some sort of warranty from the dealer. "

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "There are nice and cheap used luxury cars too though, like under 25k"

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "IMO wait a year at this company before splurging on a fancy car.\n\nYou might hate the job, the company, or the coworkers. Or they might not like you. Make sure you're solid at this company before getting into luxury goods with big price tags." AmoebaNot (AmoebaNot): "I agree with waiting a year. Even that signing bonus can be clawed back if they suddenly decide that they don't want you. Lots of recent college grads look like great employees until they show up for work.\n\nSource: Retired HR - "

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "Buying a luxury car is never a "good" financial decision. \n\nYou lose about 30% on a luxury car to depreciation in the first year, and buying luxury means you're also buying higher maintenance and fuel costs. \n\nFrom a financial standpoint, you're always better off buying used, reliable, low-mileage vehicles that you can drive for as long as possible. \n\nYou need to get a handle on your expenses, your monthly budget, and better ways to invest your money than throwing away on a car you can technically afford. " Gbiknel (Gbiknel): "This isn't totally true. The biggest part of the 30% depreciation is that the three big German luxury cars (BMW, Merc, and Audi) all include "free" maintenance for the first 2-4 years. It's basically just including it in the price of the car. Which is why they take such a huge hit.\n\nHowever, I agree it's not the best idea to buy a luxury car straight out of school. You're setting your self up for lifestyle creep very early." fastdbs (fastdbs): "Even toyota includes the first 2 years of maintenance for free and last I checked they did ok on depreciation. \n[toyota care](http://www.toyota.com/owners/parts-service/toyota-care) \nHonda sells a 4yr/60k plan for $1055\n\nAssuming the longer period maintenance, costs for the first 60k-80k on a new car are pretty low... 10 oil and filter changes, 6 tire rotations and maybe a set of tires and brake pads? If you were smart enough to use non dealer mechanics that's $800 - 3200 with it averaging heavily to the low end for most owners who won't go through a set of brakes pads in that time. That's just not a meaningful contributor to the $15k-50k depreciation. " Gbiknel (Gbiknel): "Maintenance in luxury cars are more expensive because they have better parts. A Toyota Corolla has small front brakes and drums in the rear, a BMW 3 series (or similar) has 4 pot front brakes and rotors are twice as big as well as 2 pot rears with large rotors. This improves stopping by quite a bit but also is quite expensive to replace. Luxury cars also tend to have bigger performance focused engines that require more expensive fluids as well as more fluids that a typical corolla.\n\nI'm not trying to justify buying a luxury car, but you're not just buying a brand name, you get more for the money, whether you need it is a different question.\n\nI personally buy luxury cars out of warranty because they are cheap and I do 99% of the work myself (I don't have setup for tires or alignments). To me it costs about the same as paying someone maintenance on a corolla and it's something I enjoy." fastdbs (fastdbs): "I'd have agreed on warranty but maintenance parts are different.\nBrake rotor replacement within 4 years is relegated to a small percentage of very hard drivers and caliper replacement is a warranty issue, not a maintenance issue. The pads are still cheap no matter the rotor size or number of caliper pots. You can almost always find a place to replace your pads on both axles for under $500. And those larger rotors and pads mean less wear on average and they last a lot longer.\nAll the items in a maintenance plan aren't brand specific. oil, tires, filters... These aren't that much more and are not the reason for the high depreciation."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "the signing bonus is often not secured unless you meet contract obligations for a year or 2. Make sure you know the info on this. If this is the case do NOT spend that money. They can use the threat of termination, and you being responsible for paying it back, to really make things rough for you. I've seen it happen with dentists that join corporate jobs and have to meet quotas or risk being fired and losing their sign on bonus that they have already spent. You do not want people in this situation working on you or your children."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "Read your contract carefully to figure out when you can actually consider the signing bonus "yours" -- if you hate it at the company and want to quit after 6 months, you might have to pay some or all of it back. I personally wouldn't spend a signing bonus on any major investment until after the time frame within which I could potentially be required to pay it back."

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "I would suggest leasing one for 24 months, get settled in post college life / where ever you'll be living. A 3-series can be had for ~$300/mo, Q50 for like $330/mo\n\nOr buy something 2 years old coming off a lease.\n\n"

User (throwingawayjohndoe): "Throwaway but I'm going to be graduating from college debt free and about to make around 105k a year with a 70k signing bonus. \n\nI want to buy a entry level luxury car, but I'm not sure if this is a bad decision/unsure how I should attempt to budget it. " Self: "if you buy and 'entry level' luxury car now, do you see it as a stepping stone to a more luxurious car in a few years? \n\nbuying too much car is one of the worst uses of money. it'd be a shame to earn that great income and then devote too much of it to an item that'll go down in value like mad. plus to avoid being car-poor, the basic rule of thumb is that the total value of all your cars, motorcycles, jet-skis etc should be 50% of your gross average annual salary. for you this means cars worth an absolute max of ~$50,000. any more and you risk having too much wealth in a depreciating item. \n\nsave cash for only a few months and you can buy a very nice used car in the $25-30k range. or just use half the signing bonus and bank the rest. \n\nall your coworkers driving luxury cars are probably broke. they earn high incomes but spend too much on status items trying to impress everyone. \n\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Stop-Acting-Rich-Living-Millionaire/dp/1118011570" DaveInPhilly (DaveInPhilly): "> the basic rule of thumb is that the total value of all your cars, motorcycles, jet-skis etc should be 50% of your gross average annual salary.\n\nI assume you mean it shouldn't exceed 50% of gross income. Otherwise, I'm screwed and need to go and buy a couple new cars quick. " Sidekicknicholas (Sidekicknicholas): "... if the stuff is paid for, is it really a problem?\n\nMy boat alone is 40% of my wife and I's gross income, but its paid for... so a little insurance and maintenance is all it really costs me at this point." DaveInPhilly (DaveInPhilly): "Yeah, I was just busting balls because if the way it was written. These are really loose rules of thumb, but still helpful to a point. "

User (earnerd): "Hi r/personalfinance,\n\nI've read the credit section of this subreddit but I was hoping I could get some greater insight from you guys since you've been so helpful before. \n\nI've run my credit score through 3 different scoring agencies and have scored with good credit on each:\n\nDiscover (Experian): 718\n\nCapital One (TransUnion): 741\n\nMint (Equifax): 784\n\nI applied for an auto loan, but was denied because of my credit score, which was reported by Bank of America to be 689. This took me completely off guard, and I'm not sure why my score would be so much lower than what I have been shown through the free models.\n\nI guess my question is, how do I get around this? Will I be rejected for other auto loans too? I need this loan, and would really prefer low interest rates. \n\nIn case it helps, my longest line of credit is 2 years, I have ~$7,000 left in student loans, no credit card debit, and I have never missed a payment. " Self: "You may find these links helpful:\n\n- [Credit-related wiki pages](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_credit)\n- [Credit Reports](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_reports) \n- [FICO / Credit Scores](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/fico)\n- [Improving Credit Scores and Building Credit](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building)\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 (earnerd): "Hi r/personalfinance,\n\nI've read the credit section of this subreddit but I was hoping I could get some greater insight from you guys since you've been so helpful before. \n\nI've run my credit score through 3 different scoring agencies and have scored with good credit on each:\n\nDiscover (Experian): 718\n\nCapital One (TransUnion): 741\n\nMint (Equifax): 784\n\nI applied for an auto loan, but was denied because of my credit score, which was reported by Bank of America to be 689. This took me completely off guard, and I'm not sure why my score would be so much lower than what I have been shown through the free models.\n\nI guess my question is, how do I get around this? Will I be rejected for other auto loans too? I need this loan, and would really prefer low interest rates. \n\nIn case it helps, my longest line of credit is 2 years, I have ~$7,000 left in student loans, no credit card debit, and I have never missed a payment. " Self: "Mint and Capital One are using the Vantage Score, not FICO. FICO is what most lenders use. Discover's Credit Scorecard uses FICO.\n\n689 is a so-so score and can probably get approved for a loan with the right lender. The interest rate may be higher, though." User (earnerd): "Any suggestions on what lenders I could try? I have a few others in mind but any other ideas would be great" Self: "I'd try a local credit union. They usually offer good fair rates. Worst case scenario, the dealership should have some in mind that they could shop it around to. The risk here is that sometimes the dealership will add on their own markup to the interest rate."

User (earnerd): "Hi r/personalfinance,\n\nI've read the credit section of this subreddit but I was hoping I could get some greater insight from you guys since you've been so helpful before. \n\nI've run my credit score through 3 different scoring agencies and have scored with good credit on each:\n\nDiscover (Experian): 718\n\nCapital One (TransUnion): 741\n\nMint (Equifax): 784\n\nI applied for an auto loan, but was denied because of my credit score, which was reported by Bank of America to be 689. This took me completely off guard, and I'm not sure why my score would be so much lower than what I have been shown through the free models.\n\nI guess my question is, how do I get around this? Will I be rejected for other auto loans too? I need this loan, and would really prefer low interest rates. \n\nIn case it helps, my longest line of credit is 2 years, I have ~$7,000 left in student loans, no credit card debit, and I have never missed a payment. " Self: "Different models come up with different scores, as far as I understand it, the Discover one is the only one that uses FICO in that budget (besides the one the bank pulled). \n\n689 is by no means a bad score. Are you otherwise iffy on this loan? Borrowing 30k on a 30k salary or something like that? \n\nPlenty of people get car loans with lower scores than that, so I just wonder if there is more to this story or if possible that the BofA loan you were applying for was somehow meant only for premium borrowers or something, and can't just give you a 5% rate or something instead of 2.5% or something like that. " User (earnerd): "I'm planning to borrow 8k on a 45k salary, so I don't think its a borrowing problem.\n\nMaybe I did accidentally apply for a premium loan, I'll double check thanks!" Self: "You might actually have the problem of too small of a loan. Lot of banks don't want to mess with car loans that small. " User (earnerd): "Oh wow I never thought of that. If I apply for a bigger loan and pay some of it off lump sum instead of applying the amount towards the down payment do you think it would increase my chances of getting approved?" Self: "What you need to do is stop guessing and just talk with some loan people. Keep in mind, they generally make a commission or profit from making a loan, so they want to help you close a deal. \n\nCall a couple places and just chat, if they aren't helpful, just tell them you'll be glad to take your business elsewhere. \n\nTell them what you know about your scores, etc, and just chat, before they start doing an application process, etc. \n\nYou might try credit unions, they tend to be staffed by humans instead of robots. \n\nOh and on 8k, the rate, really doesn't make a huge difference. \n\nHere are some examples:\n\n1. 8k @ 2.9% 60 months = 144/month = 8,603 total\n2. 8k @ 5% 60 months = 151/month = 9,058 total\n3. 8k @ 8% 60 months = 162/month = 9,732 total\n4. 8k @ 10% 60 months = 170/month = 10,198 total\n\nSo even from a really good rate, to a very high rate, there is only about a 30/month swing. \n\nOver the 5 years it does add up though, but going betwee 3% and 5% is only an extra 400 bucks over 5 years. So maybe a months worth of utility bills, but not 10k or something crazy. \n" User (earnerd): "I hadn't thought of that! Thanks for the breakdown and all of your help, I will definitely call some lenders and chat with them!"

User (earnerd): "Hi r/personalfinance,\n\nI've read the credit section of this subreddit but I was hoping I could get some greater insight from you guys since you've been so helpful before. \n\nI've run my credit score through 3 different scoring agencies and have scored with good credit on each:\n\nDiscover (Experian): 718\n\nCapital One (TransUnion): 741\n\nMint (Equifax): 784\n\nI applied for an auto loan, but was denied because of my credit score, which was reported by Bank of America to be 689. This took me completely off guard, and I'm not sure why my score would be so much lower than what I have been shown through the free models.\n\nI guess my question is, how do I get around this? Will I be rejected for other auto loans too? I need this loan, and would really prefer low interest rates. \n\nIn case it helps, my longest line of credit is 2 years, I have ~$7,000 left in student loans, no credit card debit, and I have never missed a payment. " Self: "When you are denied a loan you are entitled to a free copy of the report used. Get one. There may be incorrect information on it. If so, challenge the information and get it removed. " User (earnerd): "I've checked all of my credit reports within the last month and nothing seems to be out of place :/" Self: "Did you get the one they cite as their reason for denial? That's the one you want. "

User (earnerd): "Hi r/personalfinance,\n\nI've read the credit section of this subreddit but I was hoping I could get some greater insight from you guys since you've been so helpful before. \n\nI've run my credit score through 3 different scoring agencies and have scored with good credit on each:\n\nDiscover (Experian): 718\n\nCapital One (TransUnion): 741\n\nMint (Equifax): 784\n\nI applied for an auto loan, but was denied because of my credit score, which was reported by Bank of America to be 689. This took me completely off guard, and I'm not sure why my score would be so much lower than what I have been shown through the free models.\n\nI guess my question is, how do I get around this? Will I be rejected for other auto loans too? I need this loan, and would really prefer low interest rates. \n\nIn case it helps, my longest line of credit is 2 years, I have ~$7,000 left in student loans, no credit card debit, and I have never missed a payment. " User (earnerd): "Update: I got approved for a loan from a credit union! Thanks for the help!"

User (smooth_as_a_baby_vag): "Okay so I have some old debt that's negatively impacting my credit. They are going to be on there for a few more years so I'm going to attempt and mail a request for "Pay to Delete"; I've noticed in this sub that some recommend it and others don't but I'm going to give it a shot. If not, then I will go from there.\n\nMy question is do I need to send the request to the original creditor (hospital in this case) or the collection agency?\n\nAny other suggestions or information related to this is also welcome. My main objective is to rebuild my credit and apply for a home loan within 3 years. I've already been using a secured credit card and have jumped from 530 to 615 in just a few months." 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 (smooth_as_a_baby_vag): "Okay so I have some old debt that's negatively impacting my credit. They are going to be on there for a few more years so I'm going to attempt and mail a request for "Pay to Delete"; I've noticed in this sub that some recommend it and others don't but I'm going to give it a shot. If not, then I will go from there.\n\nMy question is do I need to send the request to the original creditor (hospital in this case) or the collection agency?\n\nAny other suggestions or information related to this is also welcome. My main objective is to rebuild my credit and apply for a home loan within 3 years. I've already been using a secured credit card and have jumped from 530 to 615 in just a few months." Self: "Not everyone is willing to do a pay for delete. This is becoming less and less of a thing IIRC because the credit agencies are cracking down on it due to it falsely inflating people's scores.\n" User (smooth_as_a_baby_vag): "That's what I've gathered but figured it was worth a shot. If that fails, what next? Pay off the debt and contest it afterwards hoping they purged the record? "

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "I have an e90 M3. It's not a great financial decision, but it is an amazing car and that's worth something. You can afford it on your income, so if you want it badly enough then go for it!"

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "If you like cars, this isn't really an issue. At income a little lower than you, 100k in car loans was nearly negligible."

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "I hope it's an M3. With your current savings and padded retirement account (which I assume is just for you) I think you won't have any issues!" User (throwaway092298): "The retirement is actually combined. I don't think that'll change anything though. " Self: "Not really. Id be very sweet to have that much at your age but not necessary at all. \n\nEnjoy your new ride!"

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "I have a hard time seeing how this would end in disaster, considering your large income and solid start on retirement savings.\n\nI would probably buy an example of the car that's taken as much depreciation as reasonably possible, though... but that's mainly because I'm cheap and like to live without car payments, even at good interest rates (I just hate the inflexibility of having a car payment and choose to buy 3+ year old cars instead)." User (throwaway092298): "I'm with you. I haven't had a car payment since 2011. Believe it or not the car I'm looking at is 5 years old and still $45k. It only has 10k miles though.\n\nI'm pretty confident that this won't be a disaster, but am I screwing myself in the future?" Self: ">I haven't had a car payment since 2011.\n\nWell, except for the car payment your wife has :P\n\n>Believe it or not the car I'm looking at is 5 years old and still $45k. It only has 10k miles though.\n\nYeah, I'd go for something with higher mileage if you can shave off $15k from the price tag. An extra $15k pays for a lot of repairs that may not be needed anytime soon anyway, and I'm pretty confident in reliability of most modern cars (ie: 80k miles on a decent car really isn't a big deal to worry about anymore).\n\nIn any case, I don't think you're screwing yourself and I'm pretty conservative on car purchases myself (income in the low 200s with a 2005 prius and 2013 fusion, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from... planning on replacing the prius with something "fun" if it ever dies, which I hope is soon but so far it looks like it's going to outlive my entire family tree).\n\nBottom line is you have plenty of cash savings, are loading up on retirement contributions, and have a nice big income. This purchase isn't 100% ideal, of course." User (throwaway092298): "You're right. It's a brand new loan though, just got her car a few months ago.\n\nI agree it's not ideal, but wanted to do a sanity check here. "

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "What car is it? Just curious, fellow car nut. You can certainly afford it. Many more irresponsible people buy a car like this when they make 60k. " User (throwaway092298): "I'd rather not say because it can tie me back. But I will say it's a fast sedan, RWD, 400+ HP and compact. That narrows it down to about 5 cars. " Self: "Chevy SS, BMW M3, BMW M5, Charger SRT-8 maybe, C63 AMG used, E63 AMG used, S4, S6, Older RS6. You have a lot of cool options if you go used. Either way I was just curious and I think you can certainly afford it with your income. Have fun!" User (throwaway092298): "SS, M5, Charger, E63 RS6/S6 are all boats and not compact!" Self: "I guess so. To me though anything with 4 doors is already big for a sports car so I put an M5 in the same boat as an M3 sedan. Might as well go a bit bigger for more convenience and more power too in most cases. M5 v10 can go 200 mph, that's one of my reasonable dream cars." skyvalleysalmon (skyvalleysalmon): "> M5 v10 can go 200 mph, that's one of my reasonable dream cars.\n\nMake sure you have term life insurance to take care of your kid if you smash it." Self: "Yeah driving fast isn't safe. But at least I'm not considering a motorcycle. I've been a car nut all my life I can't help it." skyvalleysalmon (skyvalleysalmon): "It's safe enough if you do it in the appropriate place (i.e., rent time at a track), but almost no one does that." Self: "Yeah. I wouldn't do 200 on the road. But I admit I drive fast sometimes. I would like to do track time, but that sounds expensive. Either way, I don't have to worry about it for now in my 20 year old saab."

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "It depends on how close you are to retirement, resale value of the car, if you have kids nearing college, etc.\n\nif you're 55 and plan to retire in 10 years then you shouldn't do this because 200k isn't enough. However 35 would be much more reasonable. But if you have to fund 3 kids going to Yale or something then you can't and so on for similar situations. If the car you buy only loses a few thousand dollars in value over the next few years then that changes things drastically as well." User (throwaway092298): "Just turned 33 with 1 kid but planning to have more. I do want them to learn the value of money and expect them to take out loans - like I did. Car holds value well if the mileage is kept down, no promises on that. " threeLetterMeyhem (threeLetterMeyhem): "> I do want them to learn the value of money and expect them to take out loans - like I did.\n\nI'd really urge you to re-think this (or at least expand some options). I don't mean to berate you into paying for your kids college, but there are certainly options in between paying for their college out of pocket and having them student loan everything. A little help (even full help) from parents to pay for college absolutely doesn't eliminate kids ability to learn good money management, either.\n\nRachel Cruze (Dave Ramsey's daughter) recently wrote a book called "Smart Money Smart Kids" where she talks a bit about this topic, you might be interested in checking it out sometime."

User (throwaway092298): "Hey PF - \nI am looking to purchase a new used car that will be splitting the duty between my existing car. The requirements for this car is that it can handle kid duty (4-door) and fun to drive (400+ HP). My other car is reaching it's expiration (180k+ miles), but not worth selling with the high mileage. This would be the third car in our household.\n\n\nI've decided on the car I want, which will be pre-owned, which means that the price point will vary highly. \n\n\nThe numbers...\n\nHousehold income: >$260k\n\nMonthly spend: ~$4-5k/month\n\n--Mortgage @ 3.375%. 30-year fixed with extra $250-500 per payment on principal\n\n--Utils\n\n--Her Car Loan @ 1.9%. 60 months. 56 months left. Balance is around $19k\n\n--Credit card paid in full each month\n\n401k's are both maxed, retirement savings is around $200k\n\nCash savings: ~$60k\n\n\n\nThe car:\n\nOlder, higher mileage examples are in the low $30s, but a newer, low mileage car is in the $40s. The car I'm looking at is $45k private party. The plan is to put down $25k and finance the rest (about $25k), hopefully at a reasonable rate for 5 years. This will add $100/month to insurance.\n\n\nQuestions:\n\nAm I making a horrible decision by having $40k+ in car loans?\n\nShould I just buy a higher mileage example and save $10-15k?\n\nCan I truly afford this car or should I look at something cheaper?\n\n\nUsing a throwaway because financials. Question and comments are welcome but really looking for advice. TIA." Self: "What car is it? Just curious, fellow car nut. You can certainly afford it. Many more irresponsible people buy a car like this when they make 60k. " User (throwaway092298): "I'd rather not say because it can tie me back. But I will say it's a fast sedan, RWD, 400+ HP and compact. That narrows it down to about 5 cars. " Self: "Chevy SS, BMW M3, BMW M5, Charger SRT-8 maybe, C63 AMG used, E63 AMG used, S4, S6, Older RS6. You have a lot of cool options if you go used. Either way I was just curious and I think you can certainly afford it with your income. Have fun!" User (throwaway092298): "SS, M5, Charger, E63 RS6/S6 are all boats and not compact!" Self: "I guess so. To me though anything with 4 doors is already big for a sports car so I put an M5 in the same boat as an M3 sedan. Might as well go a bit bigger for more convenience and more power too in most cases. M5 v10 can go 200 mph, that's one of my reasonable dream cars." IceCreamforLunch (IceCreamforLunch): "Personally, I'd much rather drive the M3 than the M5 (and I do). The M3 feels extremely nimble. The M5 feels like a full-size sedan. But to each their own." Self: "If I were looking for nimble I'd get a m3 v8 2 door or a porsche cayman s. I don't like the compromise of compact sport sedans. I don't frequently have passengers so I'd rather have a 2 door for true fun driving. But if I want practicality, I'd rather have a decent sized sedan with legroom and trunk space, even if it's less nimble\n" IceCreamforLunch (IceCreamforLunch): "The M3 sedan consistently laps tight courses faster than the coupe. So I don't think there's a compromise there. \n\nTo me, a coupe the size of a sedan is a much bigger compromise. My Elise is a proper 2-door car. The e92 M3 is really an e90 (which was developed first) with two big doors instead of four small ones." Self: "I see. I don't worry about track times though. The e92 2 door just looks so much nicer, and I would hardly ever even open the back doors on a sedan. "

User (spoonhand): "I have a debt of $95 which has gone to collections. I have called the agency offering to pay in full if they can give me a "pay for delete" agreement, but no one on the phone has ever heard of this. Should I stop talking to people on the phone and just send a letter? \n\nHow can a collections agency remove this from my credit report?\n\nApparently the first collections notice came in August, but I was out of state until late September and I did not receive any notice until last week. \n\nThank you" 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 (spoonhand): "I have a debt of $95 which has gone to collections. I have called the agency offering to pay in full if they can give me a "pay for delete" agreement, but no one on the phone has ever heard of this. Should I stop talking to people on the phone and just send a letter? \n\nHow can a collections agency remove this from my credit report?\n\nApparently the first collections notice came in August, but I was out of state until late September and I did not receive any notice until last week. \n\nThank you" Self: "Hmm if they are a collection agency, I highly doubt they have never heard of the concept. Personally I've never heard that term before, but clearly I can figure out what you want. When I was settling some debts I asked for them to delete as well, but also demanded a letter confirming the deletion worth their letterhead and signature. Every agency, like 3-4 of them, acted like this was un heard of and also not necessary. Everything online I've read specifically states to get this letter and not to proceed without it. They tried everything to get me to pay before sending be said letter, even saying they were drafting it up now and go ahead and pay. I refused multiple times, then finally each one relented and I got my letter, and they reported as paid in full. My point is they want your money and will eventually give in " User (spoonhand): "Thank you. I read about "pay for delete" on this sub. I don't think it is the same as "paid in full." If I can pay the full debt, should I just do that and stop wasting my time? "

User (spoonhand): "I have a debt of $95 which has gone to collections. I have called the agency offering to pay in full if they can give me a "pay for delete" agreement, but no one on the phone has ever heard of this. Should I stop talking to people on the phone and just send a letter? \n\nHow can a collections agency remove this from my credit report?\n\nApparently the first collections notice came in August, but I was out of state until late September and I did not receive any notice until last week. \n\nThank you" Self: "Not everyone is willing to do a pay for delete. This is becoming less and less of a thing IIRC because the credit agencies are cracking down on it due to it falsely inflating people's scores."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "Buy a big fat car, preferably a German one. " Rambles_Off_Topics (Rambles_Off_Topics): "Not sure why you got down-voted. OP sounds like he completely has his shit together. OP - good work - get your cash-on-hand up and buy something fun (I recommend a motocross bike ;0) I also wouldn't move into a more expensive house or anything major anytime soon since you said real estate is high and you are planning on leaving your industry."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "What comes with your transition out of the industry in 4 years? More money? Less money? \n\nI'm guessing the $11k is your emergency fund. I would try to save up 6 to 12 months expenses so you can be prepared for anything. \n\nCongrats on getting a raise and being on the right path!"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "Uh. Compute your ideal lifestyle and cost of that lifestyle annually.\n\nSave up and invest in low-cost mutual funds (vanguard) until you are at 3% annual draw that meets or exceeds your desired lifestyle.\n\nYou probably are not getting out in 4 yrs. sorry."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." BezniaAtWork (BezniaAtWork): "Law"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "The biggest question is figuring out when you want to retire. If you have a year/age in mind then you can start backing into the math and setting financial goals. "

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." thankyouforsmokin (thankyouforsmokin): "iBanking. Unrelated to that, I'm in accounting and it's not unheard of for a 30yo to make partner if they are a top performer."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." steeb2er (steeb2er): "And why are you trying to leave." mrwillbill (mrwillbill): "Maybe the high pay/HCOL comes with high stress and OP does not enjoy the work?"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I'd recommend adding some more rental property. Look for small buildings in good areas. I've known many people who pretty much run a small 4-8 unit building after it is paid off. Sure it is still "work" to an extent, but you can easily get a management company to run it for you. Depends on the state, but in California I think you need an on-site manager for 12 units or more. "

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "Looks like you're in the position to check out /r/financialindependence "

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I was in a similar situation though, I didn't leave my first job voluntarily, I was laid off. I ended up taking a position I would not normally have sought out and it just happened to work out incredibly well. Though, getting laid off left an impact on my psyche so I continue to live on my old salary and use the extra income to pay down my student loans and my mortgage and generate enough savings that I can either retire early - or supplement an easier, lower paying job, when and if I have/want to leave this one. "

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." 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'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k. \n> \n> Knowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next. \n> \n> Stats: \n> Cash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k \n> 401k: $106k \n> IRA: $50k \n> Investment accounts: $55k \n> Private investments: ~$40k \n> Debt: $0\n> \n> I currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too. \n>\n\n----\n\n^(I am a bot. Contact) ^[pentium4borg](https://www.reddit.com/user/pentium4borg) ^(with any feedback.)" FatalDosesOfOsmosis (FatalDosesOfOsmosis): "Who's a good bot? You are! Yes you are!"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "Congratulations - Check /r/financialindependence for early retirement advise and tips."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "Buying a home is not a bad idea. Since you could easily come up with a down payment in a short amount of time, you would be building wealth, basically, instead of throwing it away with rent. Then, when you leave your high-priced area (I'm guessing San Francisco, since you're in IT), you get a nice additional windfall from selling your place that can help you buy a place somewhere cheaper. Aside from that, like others are saying, just put your extra away with your investment accounts and some low-cost index funds. You'll be set for life in a short time if you do this right."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." jaggity_boom (jaggity_boom): "Not OP, but software engineering." aaronisherebro (aaronisherebro): "As a recruiter for a large Gov Integrator in Northern Virginia. I second this, and its a candidates market for sure. Especially if you have a clearance!" dencalin (dencalin): "How does getting a clearance work? I'll be graduating relatively soon in software engineering, and it's come up a few times looking for jobs/internships." SXLightning (SXLightning): "I assume you apply one. Or have worked in another defence company who paid for you to get cleared.\n\n"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "What were your goals and plans before the raise? Lifestyle creep comes in when people think a raise means they need to do something differently (i.e. more expensive)." AlphaDomain (AlphaDomain): "I think lifestyle creep would of already hit. He clearly can save pretty well based on his old income and savings. If he keeps going at his current rate I would argue he is on pace for retirement at 40. "

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." User (GotsPaid): "OP here...not far off. IT Management. High stress work in a high stress environment. I'm 30 but the last two years probably took 5 years off my life." AlphaDomain (AlphaDomain): "OP I make similar to what you use to and they are looking to push me into management in 2-3 years. Was it worth it?" NiceKicksGabe (NiceKicksGabe): "Hmm. You want an extra $60k or nah?"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." jaggity_boom (jaggity_boom): "Not OP, but software engineering." aaronisherebro (aaronisherebro): "As a recruiter for a large Gov Integrator in Northern Virginia. I second this, and its a candidates market for sure. Especially if you have a clearance!" dencalin (dencalin): "How does getting a clearance work? I'll be graduating relatively soon in software engineering, and it's come up a few times looking for jobs/internships." SpaceRasa (SpaceRasa): "You apply for it through the job you took that requires a clearance. Generally the application starts after you accept the position but before you start. They walk you through the steps (though it can take a while to go through.)"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "Lowering your taxes is your new top priority. In addition to real estate, look at back door Roth and mega back door Roth " ChiantiAndFavaBeans (ChiantiAndFavaBeans): "At 30 years old w/ 50k in an IRA, I assume OP Is already maxing the IRA." Self: "You can't do an IRA at OPs New salary range but backdoor Roth is something different..." ChiantiAndFavaBeans (ChiantiAndFavaBeans): "You can open an IRA at any salary range. A Roth IRA restricts limits based on income. A Traditional IRA is not income-limited, but contributions are not at deductible at certain income limits. That's why people backdoor from a Traditional to a Roth IRA.\n\nSo OP can both open an IRA and do a backdoor Roth. They go hand in hand at his salary level."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "What do you do?\nI think I'm in the wrong business!!"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "At your income level, using tax shelters helps out a lot as you're well into the 33% bracket. There aren't many available to six-figure holders so maximize the few that are there for you. Definitely consult a tax lawyer/CPA to discuss the options. Leveraging equity has expenses but it can make you a lot of money long-term as well as lower your tax bill. I would take advantage of that. \n\nDeferring taxable income to future years where you'll most likely be in a lower tax bracket will help.\n\nMax out your 401K deferred contribution to $18K. At your income level, that is one of the few ways to lower your taxable income. "

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." jaggity_boom (jaggity_boom): "Not OP, but software engineering." aaronisherebro (aaronisherebro): "As a recruiter for a large Gov Integrator in Northern Virginia. I second this, and its a candidates market for sure. Especially if you have a clearance!" jasonnellis (jasonnellis): "Let me guess - based somewhere in Crystal City? :)" Jay10814 (Jay10814): "Probably Reston"

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "You mention that you'd like to retire at 40. But a big component to retirement (at least in my eyes) is having a place to live that's paid off. However, if you live in an expensive area, and plan to leave in 4 years, I'd say it doesn't make sense to buy anything where you live. \n\nIf you know an area you'd like to live in, you could look to buy a house now and rent it out til retirement. The rent numbers would have to make sense for it to work, which can vary by area. (House price vs rent price). But it's an option. \n\nThe other option is to invest the extra money in the market via a taxable brokerage account. You don't need to be active with it. Buy and hold companies with good long term track records, ideally that pay dividends. Or use ETF's like SPY to be diversified. You can check it quarterly and make changes as needed. But ideally I'd be looking to hold positions for at least a year to get the lower capitol gains rate."

User (GotsPaid): "I'm 30 years old, and just took a new job that puts me at $185k a year, an increase of $60k.\n\nKnowing that there is risk with this position, not sure how I should position myself next.\n\nStats:\nCash on hand (savings/checking/cash): $11k\n401k: $106k\nIRA: $50k\nInvestment accounts: $55k\nPrivate investments: ~$40k\nDebt: $0\n\nI currently do not own a house (co-own a rental property with a partner), max out my 401k and IRA, and contribute monthly to other investments. I guess what I want to know...where do I go next? I live in a high priced real estate market that I hope to leave in 4 years. I also plan on transitioning out of this industry in the next 4 years too.\n\nEdit: I have a car that is paid off. Never really had any goals or big dreams, other than early retirement. \nEdit 2: Let us say I want to retire at 40." Self: "I don't mean to pry but... Damn. What profession pays 125 to 185k that early in your career? Good for you." User (GotsPaid): "OP here...not far off. IT Management. High stress work in a high stress environment. I'm 30 but the last two years probably took 5 years off my life." AlphaDomain (AlphaDomain): "OP I make similar to what you use to and they are looking to push me into management in 2-3 years. Was it worth it?" Psycik99 (Psycik99): "I'm OP 5 years ago. I'd say stop and think really hard if you want to be a manager or a technical contributor. They are extremely different roles and if you love what you do but want more money, focus on specialization (cloud, security, etc). If you want to have broader impact, less hands on technical exposure, and are prepared to deal with a large part of your day being spent on people management (hiring, firing, people issues, goal setting, etc) then go into management.\n\nI waffle. I loved being deeply technical. I initially made the jump for the money and almost immediately didn't like it. Now I love the larger organizational impact I have and I really like mentoring/developing staff. That said, there are very tough and unpleasant parts of being a manager and you also have to deal with a lot of people's personal BS. Also be prepared for your relationship with your team to change. " AlphaDomain (AlphaDomain): ""larger organizational impact I have and I really like mentoring/developing staff" this is the part that really appeals to me. But as you stated I also don't want to deal with people's BS. Also I am in security and still have a bit more room for growth if I wanted to go that route. " Psycik99 (Psycik99): "Yeah, it's a tough one. For me, the pros outweigh the cons and I really enjoy being in management, especially at a senior level (middle management totally sucks).\n\nBut, my biggest piece of advice would be, understand your first priority is to staff and second is to 'work.' Make sure you're happy and comfortable to prioritize what you do in that manner. "