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Anyone buying this "dip" on jnug?
Bought in at 11.40 should I cut losses or double down.... Vote trump they said Gold will skyrocket they said lmaoooo!
I'm selling anything at +30% from now on. I bought at $11 and woke up to Trumpland with the sweetwest 2 day gainz of my life. Holding the bag today. If it dips further I'm checking into an assisted living facility
Damn closed at 9.10$ Inverse WSB always strikes 24/24 7/7. "if it dips more tomorrow sell and re-enter at lower price and hold that shit for the rest of your life" remember inverse wsb
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I would like to get landlords' opinions on Cozy.com
I have a new tenant moving in on Monday who would like to pay by ApplePay. I'm not an Apple guy and was going to suggest PayPal, but came across Cozy.com. Does anyone have experiences, positive or negative? Thanks for your time!
I let my tenants pay with Venmo. There are no fees and it's quicker than cozy. Plus most people already have venmo so it's not another account they need to set up.
I used cozy to manage rent in one townhouse between 4 doctorate students in one property; you might kick yourself waiting for rent to clear though, it waits until everything clears on their end, combines the funds, and then finally deposits it into your account. I required them to use direct deposit (this was back in 2015; I can't speak for right now). On my most recent rental, I only used Cozy for the credit check/background check since they pay by cash before the 1st each month. I couldn't have been more pleased. I would avoid Square/Paypal/etc since their support is so limited and there are often substantial fees.
RealEstate
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What happens to money market/bond funds in a market crash?
This is a hypothetical and more for my education. Let’s say I have my Emergency fund or some other savings in VBTLX for VMFXX (Vanguard total bond and money market) What is the likelihood that those funds lose significant value if we have a market crash? What exactly goes into those funds and how do they react when stocks go down?
There's a reason [Vanguard]( and all other brokerages switched from Prime Money Market to Federal Money Market.. the Money Market Reform that took effect in 2016. "The boards of directors of Vanguard's government funds have decided to impose neither [redemption] fees nor [liquidity] gates." This means VMFXX, backed by the US government, is still pretty darn safe and will keep its value at $1/share and won't stop you from selling. VBTLX on the other hand, will move with the safe bonds market in general. Bonds tend to be viewed as safer asset than stocks, so you probably know where money is going to flow during a stock market crash.
I've been investing for 25 years and haven't personally witnessed money market share price vary from $1 (none I've been in anyway). It's as safe as the underlying currency. Bonds historically moved inversely from equities. That relationship changed after 2008. That event was a near perfect meltdown. If you want to know how safe anything is, looking back on how it performed then will tell you a lot. In general it is still a safe bet that the longer the term, the more volatile a bond will be, up or down in relation to interest rates. I'm a pretty conservative person so have a generous E fund in MM, but I still have plenty of bonds. I held them though the last dip when rates increased and reinvested dividends and they're now back to all time highs.
personalfinance
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notrewoh
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Did BoFa always charge $3 for outbound ACH transfers?
Just noticed this. All outbound ACH transfers to other banks come with a $3 charge. I feel that's pretty disgusting. Never seen a bank do this. Maybe I'm just out of the loop and this is "normal"? I typically log into the bank where I want to receive the money and "pull" the funds so maybe I just never did it this way and never noticed, but I'm looking forward to STOPPING all business with Bank of America soon because of stuff like this.
If you initiate the transfer from another bank, it is free. If you initiate it from BoA, it is a $3 fee. So if you control both accounts just do it from the other bank. And yes, they have always had this fee.
At least a couple of years, I would have to assume forever. BoA sucks, don't mess with them unless you have enough money through them to be a platinum honors member or whatever.
personalfinance
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minomes
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Housing Costs: How does one put a value on privacy/quality of life?
GF and I have been renting an apartment (1x1) for a few years and since we live in SoCal, housing costs are absurd. Our lease ends in April and the market price for our rent has gone up if we choose to renew. We can't buy because quite frankly we can't afford to buy here and we don't know if this is where we want to settle down long-term. With the increased rent we'd be spending close to $1,200 each which is teetering on the edge of the "housing < 30% of your income" rule (it's a little under for me and a little over for her). We've done an exhaustive shop of just about every housing community and have found that there aren't really that many cheaper options unless 1.) we downsize to like a 500 square foot studio, which is too small for us and those still go for around $2,000/mo or 2.) we move 15-20 miles away, which easily adds an hour+ to our commutes. Option 3.) Get another roommate. Her brother has asked us if we'd be willing to rent a place with him. I ran the numbers for a 2x2 in our area and even if my GF and I take the master bedroom/garage spots and take on a greater portion of the rent, we'd save around $300/mo each on rent. I get along with him just fine, he's slept over our place on numerous occasions and is fairly clean (and would have his own bathroom anyway), is kind of a homebody, and the only issue really is that he snores and just losing our privacy in general. Anyone been in a similar situation (living with just your spouse and then having roommates again) and what factored into your decision making? I'm inclined to pull the trigger as an extra $300 in our pockets every month will help tremendously and allow us to save more for when we do buy somewhere, but part of me is too selfish and doesn't want to give up my privacy.
It's all personal choice. Personally I can't imagine having a roommate again now that my wife and I live alone in our house. Thankfully that isn't a need but if I had to come up with another $600 between myself and her I would look to eliminate eating out, reduce hobby spending, cut alcohol way down, and otherwise make the money up elsewhere. My sister stayed with us for 3 weeks a summer or 2 back and the small things like needing to wear pants everywhere and having someone in the washer when you need it or having a pan your roomie used be dirty when you want it is super irritating lol. That said I can see if you felt that it wouldn't be a bother that maybe it works out.
Your only other option, if you have done exhaustive research, is to move to an area where your income and housing costs re-align to your target or get a higher paying job where you are. Other than that, if you choose to live where you live, you are stuck. Socal is overpopulated, so housing costs are through the roof.
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Personal advice needed on retirement
My husband (50 yr old) will retire soon with an annual pension of 40,000. I have a secure job with a guaranteed pension of 66,000 (when I retire st 60.) Currently I make 63000 a year. We still owe a bit on our mortgage at 800 per month. We also have two car payments at 900.00. All of this will be paid off in three years. We purchased a house that we are flipping. Have 55,000 invested. Will sell for at least 80000 by spring. When he retires, he has to move his 401K. He has close to 500,000 in there. I have 150000 in mine. Most of our cash flow went to some medical expenses and the flipping house. We also maxed out the 401k each year. My question is this...I know that if you pull money out of a 401k prior to age 59 1/2 you pay a penalty. Approx 40 percent. We have been given the opportunity to purchase real estate in March. This will be an apartment complex that we will split with our parents. We do not want to finance this The approx value of the property is 460,000. We will need to put up 150,000. The property will give us 4000 a month income. We need around 60,000 more to make this happen. Does it make sense to take 100,000 out of 401 k to invest in this? We will automatically have over 100,000 in equity at purchase. We will make 48,000 (minus rental charges, repairs, etc) in the first year to make it back. Is there ever a time that it is ok to cash out? We would still have 550000 in our funds plus pensions. We would also have the equity in our home and complex. Financing is an option, but our debt to income ratio will be close. Also, it is a bit more complicated when you see gping in with partners. Eventually, I will inherit the entire complex. (I will have to buy 1/2 of their share out.)
Cashing out 401k, paying 10% penalty and income taxes to buy this property would be insane. Finance it. The cost of interest on a $60k mortgage will be peanuts compared to the costs of cashing in the 401k early. Good luck.
How many units in the apartment complex, and is the $4k your share (1/3rd or 1/2) of the total net income? You pay a sizable penalty.. making most withdrawals a bad idea. The question you need to answer is this.. 100k in the 401k (if its in an index fund returns a value of about 7%.. now); If you withdraw the 100k to get a 60k balance on your 1/3rd or 1/2 of apartment complex will the net income of the complex be more than 7% of 100k ? If so, then yes otherwise no. Some questions you should know going into this deal: Are major repairs needed in the first 5 years? Such as a roof, foundation, or are several of the units needing a major overhaul? How long is the proposed buyout period for the remainder of the equity, and is the property expected to be profitable for all that time? As deals like these go, are your parents going to be passive investors meaning you and your husband are the property managers; If so, do you have a contract or other business vehicle (like an LLC for example, passive investors need the protection) planned? This sounds like a great deal, btw.. when parents help enable financial security is a rare gift. ps. This sounds like a cash purchase and I understand the reluctance of trying to get a business loan to cover the balance of the 60k. Those loans are nothing like residential loans for residential housing, which /r/personalfinance see's more of, and are usually more than unusually punishing. Avoiding the business loan with their insane pay off rates for very high interest is usually a great idea when you can.
personalfinance
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$MJX Thoughts (Marijuana ETF)
Can't be the only one here thinking this could either be huge or bust. Marijuana is at the verge of nationwide legalization with so much potential upside and a newly discovered market for america. And now we have an ETF on the US stock exchange that captures that market. Are you in or out? Is this to the moon? Any input helps, thanks!
Im down 15% in it already, but not a lot of money, and I see a time in as little as 5-10 years where is is completely legal in the US
I've been in it for the last 3 weeks and went from being up 20% to now only 9%. generally speaking though, it does seem to be a nice investment especially if I do not have the time or knowledge to make the best purchases on individual weeed stocks. I'm also holding Aphria, maricann and aurora
stocks
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Why is there an income limit on Roth IRA contributions if the backdoor Roth IRA method has been blessed by the IRS?
They're just creating extra paperwork and steps while not actually restricting anyone from contributing to a Roth IRA based on income. Are there other differences I'm not aware of? Or is this just an example of government bureaucracy inflicting needless work on people? EDIT: what's the rationale behind preventing high income earners from contributing to Roth IRAs? I'd understand (somewhat) if they were trying to shelter millions of dollars from taxes on the gains, but why not keep the $6,000 annual cap and remove the income limit altogether? What's the reasoning?
Congress makes the rules. The IRS can only operate within them. Someone asked the IRS if the backdoor works, the IRS looked at the law and said "Yes it does". Unless congress changes the law, it will remain open.
I think the rationale behind the income limits on regular contributions is to try to force high earners to place new money into non qualified, fully taxable investments should they choose to continue to invest at all. The result that the tax laws are going for is to generate the most tax revenue from all possible sources, and it does this by taxing higher earners at higher rates, placing income limits on contributions to qualified accounts, and trying to funnel that money into investments that will generate taxable dividend & interest payments as well as capital gains. Regarding backdoor Roth’s...you have to do a Roth conversion from a traditional IRA in order to fully execute a backdoor Roth contribution, right? Well, it would be foolish for them to disallow this because a Roth conversion typically generates tax revenue (or more accurately, it does not defer the income tax on these dollars).
personalfinance
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How exactly are finance guys getting so rich off of stocks if it’s not a sustainable financial strategy to “pick stocks”?
Are these people just the lucky ones who managed to pick the right stock? What does the current literature say about financial asset picking vs passive investing?
Firstly, holding every single stock in the S&P (i.e. an ETF) delivers a 10% return yoy on average since 1980. So if you invested $1000 in 1980, you would have $45,000. This is called beta, and you don't need to be a financial expert to generate this. Secondly, theres a major survivorship bias, because you only see the successful people. If you organised a rock paper scissors tournament where two people faced off and only the winner advanced to the next round, then starting with 1024 people after 8 rounds you only have 4 people. These 4 people would have won every single round in the last 8 rounds, and they must necessarily exist. If you only observe these 4 people and they tell you all about their funky superstitions like maybe one of them only ever plays with his left hand, then you might think they've got some actual technique. But they don't. Finally, just because it's not a sustainable strategy for you doesn't mean it's unsustainable for other people. Genuine edge does exist, if you can find a reason for it. A great reason could be that you have data that no one else has because you're a specialist in a certain technology that no one knows about. Another great reason could be dislocation when a bond transitions from being investment grade to non investment grade, and investment grade investors have to sell it.
Most "finance guys" (and gals) are compensated regardless of an asset or portfolio's performance (at least until they're fired) - this is called a management or transaction fee, usually a percentage of the value of the underlying asset - and for many, like VCs, PE fund managers, etc, they also usually get a commission for the performance of the asset/fund - this is called carry. On top of this, the assets they're dealing with are often increasing in value over time (ie private and public stocks trend up) so both the management/transaction fees and the performance/carry fees are consistently growing. Lastly, they're hyper leveraged because they're investing other people's money, and there's little financial risk for them (relative to the upside) because it's not their money, rather their reputation is at risk, which takes years or decades to accurately evaluate. This is why it's also extremely competitive to be "a finance guy."
AskEconomics
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(US) I just got a felony, how useless is my degree now?
I'm 28 and I've been going for a degree in computer science. I recently was convicted of a felony. I've been saving as much money as I can but I was wondering should I even bother finishing school?
The bad news is a lot of good tech companies aren't going to take you with a felony, let alone a violent one. The good news is, computer sciences skills can lend themselves to self-employment and freelancing. You're not completely screwed in the employment department.
Shouldn't it be a private thing? If you had issues with the state I don't see why is that anybody else's business. Specially if you have paid for it already.
personalfinance
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Is buying neighboring lot a no-brainer?
My wife and I bought our first house on a 1 acre piece of property in October. The neighboring lot is a half-acre, completely wooded, and hasn't been touched in years. The owner died a few months ago. We now have an opportunity to buy the lot for pennies on the dollar. The plan would be to clear (or nearly clear) the lot to give us more yard and a view of the community lake. That would bring us to a total of 1.5 acres and the entire project can be done for around $1200. This is a no-brainer, right?? Looking for any kind of input or objection. Thanks!
$1,200! If you don't buy, I will! I've always dreamed of having a very small scale hog farm and this location sounds perfect. Of course, I'm teasing, but I'm sure you get the point. It is worth $1,200 just to be sure that nothing you don't want happens there. I'd cut as few trees as possible. Leaving it as wooded as you can, while still getting a view of the lake. Better to decide to cut more later, than to regret cutting down too much.
Taxes would be the one factor to check. We have a thing here where you can mark a lot as forest area which means you can't build anything on it but you also pay very little tax on it. If someone ever wants to build it on again or modify the lot such as clearing it, they would have to pay all the back taxes to changes its status again.
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Buying a new car tomorrow, starting to get stressed out
I am a recent college graduate (3 weeks ago) buying a brand new car tomorrow. It hasn’t hit me yet but now that tomorrow is the day, I’m starting to get worried that I haven’t approached this the right way. I plan on buying a 2018 Honda Civic EX, and my uncle is putting down $5,000 for me as a graduation gift. I can accept the monthly payment of about $300, but don’t want to spend much more. When I originally went to the dealership, they tried to tell me that I would be paying “x” amount exactly each month, but they wouldn’t tell me the interest rate, even though that monthly number apparently included the interest. I found this odd. I’m going in the morning to a bank to get numbers before I go to the dealership after to close. 1) I have an account with suntrust, checking and savings, and no other account. Never had a credit card. My uncle has great credit and said he would co-sign to get a better rate. The dealership said the rate wouldn’t be different, but should I bring this up at the bank tomorrow? 2) How can I know how much I will spend on car insurance each month? Can I get an estimate online? 3) anything else I should know from anyone who is experienced at negotiating/buying new cars. I want to get the lowest possible price for the car. 4) Should I threaten to walk by going to another Honda dealer or a different company like Toyota? Thanks.
So this sub is full of "a purchased a car and the payment is ruining my life" stories. Take you time - look at bank and credit union loans. A guy who won't tell you the interest rate is not a guy you can trust. Look at your budget and make sure the car fits it. You haven't mentioned your income or expenses here. You don't have to do this tomorrow, you have time.
With no established credit the dealer will want to finance you at a higher rate,even with a co-signer, especially on a new vehicle. I’d suggest taking that 5k down and look at certified pre-owned vehicles with low mileage, If you keep up with your maintenance Hondas will last you a long time...And if they don’t know ask for someone who does because they should 100% be able to tell you the interest rate. You can definitely get insurance quotes online, or better yet call them an have them explain their rates and coverage options, see if you apply for incentives or discounts. As far as negotiation goes, never forget that you are in control. If something doesn’t feel right question it, make the salesperson explain it, ask about the 5 year or 50k mile drivetrain warranty, ask about the extended bumper to bumper coverage, their job is to get you to leave with a new car...They will pressure you into feeling like you want to get this done today but YOU DON’T! Let them give you their pitch and get a quote on paper, tell them you’ll consider it, and go to another dealer to see if they can do better. Shop around online before you go, get an idea of prices in your area and stay in your comfort zone until you’re ready to take that step.
personalfinance
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Inherited $20K. How do I make it grow?
Salutations PF, I (M/26), had a relative pass away and was left with a $25,000 inheritance. I immediately got out of credit card debt. I was originally in debt for close to $10,000 and it was about to roll into collections because I wasn't able to pay it. So I called them and talked them down to $5,000. So now I have $20K and am not sure how to make it make money for me. I'm currently finishing my BA at university. When I get out I will have about $14,000 in student debt. I'd like to make the money grow and pay off my student loans with my eventual job after school. Thoughts?
What are the interest rates on your loans? Any that are higher than about 5%, I would recommend paying off immediately. The surest way to make money grow is to stop debt from making it shrink.
See if your state sponsors a prepaid tuition plan, and if the school you're attending participates. There is also the federally sponsored 529 college savings plans. There's a bunch of qualifying details for both. Either way, you'd be smart to finish without student loan debt.
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[Request] What is/are the best ways to save/invest my money?
First year Master's student here. Thanks to my financial aid and TA-ing job, I think I'll be able to start saving money rather than barely scraping by. So, what is the smartest way to save money? If there's a better subreddit to post this question in, please let me know.
How much $$ are you talking here? Also, if you don't have an emergency fund, I'd go ahead and just sock it away in a savings account to serve as your EF.
betterment.com is working great for me. It is set up for people saving up money for a goal and everything you invest is free of transaction fees and automatically divests your money into ETFs. I think it costs 0.5% of your total investment per year. If you'd like i can send you an invite that will give us both some free money.
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What can we learn from 2008 about how to react to a potential new recession?
So there's a lot of talk lately (especially today) of another recession lining up over indicators like Bank deregulation, more asset-backed securities issues, and rising oil prices. The general consensus seems to be that the very wealthy are able to ride out a recession and bounce back in a big way, becoming even more wealthy. Things like buying heavily all the way down etc. Meanwhile those hit hardest may be left scrambling for work or enough money to make ends meet without very significant sacrifices. I'm wondering if there is some good way to help insulate my household (not very wealthy) from the impacts of another potential "great" recession. Can reddit offer links to some resources (this has surely come up before)? Or provide some insight into what a household like mine can do? I have no immediate plans to take on new loans and I work in aerospace, which was relatively stable through the last recession. If things get Grapes-of-Wrath bad, I doubt there's much to be done, but what about another 2008? With the power of hindsight, what could/would you have done in 2005-2007 to mitigate the impact of the 2008-2009 recession?
Economists have predicted 12 of the last 2 recessions as they say. Be conscious of cash flow. If you make 1,000 and spend 1,000 but your bills don't align with when you get paid perfectly you'll always have a cash flow problem. What really affected the housing crisis wasn't just sub-prime, but people over leveraging by trying to flip houses. Too much debt/leverage. Have a good emergency fund. Be true to what your expenses actually look like and make sure to have 6-12 months to cover. Diversify your holdings, not just single stocks, markets, or asset classes (some bonds with stocks, not all US). Diversify your skill set so that if something negative happens to your job during the recession you have skills that could help bring in income. Try not to panic, if you're not in a lot of single stocks you shouldn't worry about any funds completely bankrupting, so you only have real losses if you sell. Try and buy here and there on the way down if you can, though the fear of job loss may have you saving your money. Learn some frugality. If your life needs to become simpler and cheaper you're far more prepared than someone who eats out all the time, has an expensive car, and constantly purchases expensive things. Not sure if these are the types of things you're looking for, or if your question was more pointed towards government policies, etc. towards recessions. Cheers!
in terms of what to do about retirement accounts, just ride it out. don't be a fool and sell when everything is dying off. the markets will come back over time and you'll be back in the saddle. beyond that, same stuff everybody else has said. get rid of debt, have a stocked e-fund, same old deal. really, tbh, there's nothing you can do to soften the blow of a big-ass recession (if it even happens). most you can do is stay the course and keep doing what you should be doing in regards to savings and paying things off.
personalfinance
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What are some important financial things to do before the end of the year?
Things like contributing to Roth IRA, tax loss harvesting, or spending your HSA. Anything important I’m forgetting?
If you have automatic transfers of money to your Roth IRA and are able to max it out, you may need to update the transfer to account for the new $6k max! You might also need to update your 401k so you can take advantage of the new $19k limit there.
If you have 529s set up for your kids you should fund those as well. If you have investment properties you could consider spending on small improvements or maintenance to lower your income tax burden. Also consider paying the second half of your property taxes early on those properties if it makes sense for your financial situation.
personalfinance
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So a coworker told me to stop paying off my credit cards..
Said he learned from Dave Ramsey to just stop paying off debts on my credit cards, to go cash only and be done with it. While I don't exactly care to follow that advice (not that I have much CC debt to begin with), I'm curious what the ramifications are of this, if any.
I think they are misunderstanding, you still should pay off any debt you have on your CC's, but should stop using them (putting more debt onto them). Yes, credit cards can be used responsibly, but most people cannot use them responsibly, so it is good advice in general to simply not use them. But I do not believe that Dave Ramsey would ever tell someone to not pay off their debt.
Either your coworker wants to just simplify life (cash only = only having to pay for something once... instead of twice) Or he's suggesting that you avoid your current credit card debt by going "off the grid" and hoping that no one can track you??
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A tip for agents as a active buyer -
I am looking at beach houses and beach condos in a couple of cities right now. Often times I find myself on listing pages and I know agents are missing an opportunity to talk to me and potentially sell me a property because their listing are piles of POOP! Here is what drives me CRAZY. take it for what is worth - Advice that is free and on the internet. Pictures - no pictures or a handful of pictures tells me the property is trash. TAKE A LOT OF PICTURES AND POST THEM. Price - No price, I think you are a scam or a bait and switcher and you should feel bad for being lazy. Address - Tell me where the house is, no address you must be a scam artist. If you are worried people going around your back at least give a intersection. HOA fees (if APPLICABLE) - I do not want to call you to find out if the condo has a $200 or $2,000 per month HOA fee. just tell me in the listing. Then I will call if it hits my budget. Income - If the property has been used to generate a income for someone, put some numbers down (weeks rented last year, round total income for a year, etc. just give me something), don't say "great rental, people love it", when you give "potential" type statements I want to punch you, because every agent has "potential" listed 7 times in every one of their listings. Do they make you use "potential" in every listing or you get fired? Worse than a teenager with the word "like". Links - if you link to more information and the page makes me fill out a form before I see anything I back out. Last thing I want is to see a property that I do not like and then have you calling and emailing me about it. Then you add me to your monthly listing email list and all I wanted to see if the house had a garage and it didn't. Property Problems - be honest. If I drive 12 hours or spend $900 on airfare to look at some properties with you and you described them as "ideal" / "great" / "clean" / "upgraded"/ "ready to go" and we show up and it has issues - I hate you. You wasted my time and yours. If I come in knowing the carpet needs to be replaced or the kitchen was half ass upgraded I am ready for it and I look right past it. When I walk in and see a green fridge from the 70's that smells like a zoo and you told me the place is in tip top move in ready condition and recently upgraded I will never trust you again and I am done with you. Exclusive - I am willing to be exclusive with you after you show me properties and I get the feeling you know what I want. I WILL NOT sign anything when I just emailed you and asked "how big is the lot?" and respond with a exclusive request, you know where that can go. Social Media - last but not least. Do not send me a friend request on facebook after one communication about a property that is 600 + miles from my house. We are not friends, we are working on putting a business relationship together. I don't want my wife asking why all these 30 - 60 year old ladies are now my friends in other cities. What is the upside? really? LinkedIn - sure. Anything else, you are creeping me out unless we do become friends over the entire length of the deal.
I'll add one, don't Photoshop your listing photos. Went to one house, noticed something wasn't right with one of the pictures, didn't think anything of it. Upon arrival, massive water tower next to the house. Scumbag agent.
I'm assuming this list is related more towards the North American agents... If I was making a list about Australian agents I could write a bloody book! Dodgiest fuckers alive.
RealEstate
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My wife and I just completed a live in flip, how'd we do?
Younger ish couple, first time home owners. We bought in late Nov 2016, just sold (after dealing with picky/annoying buyers parents). We paid $149k plus $4k in sellers help for a new roof. We sold for $197k plus $6k sellers help (for what, idk... Just wanted to make a quick sale so it all happened over the course of a day). We used an FHA loan and had an interest rate of 3.1% at 30 years. Mortgage was $1100/month, including all taxes and insurance. Our total investment into the house (project wise) was about $12k, includes: tool purchases and materials and two sub contracted jobs (counters- 57sf granite for $1700 and concrete kitchen floors- grind and stain for $1800). We worked full time during our 2.5 year stay and we don't have to pay capital gains (I think?). We did a shit ton of work on the house, it was rough/meth lab esque when we bought it. Did we luck out or is this something we could do again or ? North East USA.
If the market moved up that much naturally on its own you didn't do great. But you learned a bunch, paid down some mortgage, lived somewhere for low cost. I'd say be careful on your next project that youre not over confident. Pay lower acquisition costs and, watch your rehab costs.
You guys sound really similar to our situation. I'm currently working on a live-in flip. Will be moving in at the end of this month. Installing floors this weekend. Paid $145k for a rental that badly needed upgrading. It was the cheapest house purchased in the neighborhood in over a year. Sellers paid $7k to re-side the whole house, $1200 for new garage door, $600 towards new appliances, and around $3k on repairing termite/foundation problems. We quote that $7k siding job with the assumption that every panel would need to be ripped out and replaced. Turned out to not be that bad, so we leveraged the rest of that money to replace all the gutters and re-size a window (the left one in the picture was too big to fit a peninsula under it so we had to go smaller). This is our first flip, and we projected our spend at $15-20k. That includes new appliances, AC/furnace, LVP flooring throughout house, two remodeled bathrooms, new kitchen cabinets, quartz countertop and backsplash. Of course, we're doing 95% of the work ourselves, which saves a huge amount of the cost. I'm still a bit nervous we over-improved, but I'll take the $ loss as a learning experience. We're planning on living in it for at least a year. We're almost certainly going to re-finance it and get our money out. Then we can use that cash to fund another flip. This area has a lot of duplexes that can be had for $100k, remodeled cheaply and then rented out.
realestateinvesting
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Continuing renting out house or sell?
I currently own a house that I rent out. I don't really make any money off of it but more just make enough to cover expenses and the mortgage. The house is starting to gain a hefty size amount of equity. At what point, if ever, should I sell? Should I just continue renting it out even after it is paid off? Or sell it and use that money for something different? I like my tenets and don't have issues with them and like giving them affordable rent in exchange for having a property that pays its own mortgage and expenses, but not enough for a profit. I am not planning on selling it right away, but figured this was a good place to ask since I am still an amateur in the investment game.
One option you could use - release some of the equity and purchase another investment property. Or if property isn't something you want to invest in perhaps some managed funds. It depends on your personal risk assessment.
I would say it depends greatly on the market in your area and where you are in life. If you are in Canada in the Toronto or Vancouver area, I believe that it is a clear sell as you'll get a pretty goofy ROI. If you find yourself in a different market like Detroit, you'll absolutely want to hold onto it. If you're close to retirement (<15 years) and you think that your housing market is going pretty well, you might be more likely to sell than if you were farther away (+15 years) and could weather another credit cycle. Best of luck with your decision.
personalfinance
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HELP Mother is asking me to pay for 15k in credit card debt. Need advice.
Background: My family has never been great with managing money, and has almost always been in debt. I've been called upon for help before and have always done it within reason, but this is the largest amount my mom has approached me about. Before anyone asks, she is a great mother. No drugs, gambling, addictions ect. that are the cause of money problems. This credit card came from trying to help my sister when she was trying to get an education, but eventually dropped out. Ultimately, my mom is asking me to either pay for the debt entirely and pay me back (I understand that this is extremely unlikely due to past experience) or transfer the balance to another credit card that will offer 0% APR for 12 months so she can start to pay for it. This more than likely will just delay the inevitable. I am 23 years old and am going to make between 110-130k pretax this year (commission based). No kids and single. I have about 45k in cash and 15k in a company 401(k). I've been saving to reach 60k in cash and was planning on investing the cash in real estate in the next 6 months to meet some personal goals. My mom has a part time job making $14 an hour and working between 15-20 hours a week. My sister who also lives at home with her daughter is jobless (FWIW she is the real problem here, but has been unwilling to contribute for years). My mom has a teaching degree but has had a hard time finding teaching jobs in our area for the past 2 years, however it's possible for her to get a teaching job in the next 6 months where she expects to make 50-60k per year. From what I see, there's three options here. Pay for the full amount under the condition that I create a budget with them both and will be actively involved in their finances until the debt is paid back. Roll the debt into another 0% APR for 12 months CC (cosigned with my mom) and give my mom time to get a better job. Tell them I can't help TL;DR Mom is asking me to pay for sisters "student loan" for a school she dropped out of. The card was 0% for the first year which is now over. Sister pressured mother into cosigning on the card. 15k in total debt @ 24% APR I have 45k in a savings account and make ~120k per year I'm looking for advice from someone who has been in a similar circumstance, or knew someone who was, and can offer some insight into what I should do or consider in this situation. Thank you for reading.
If you feel like it fits with your life and goals to gift your mother $15k (directly as a payment to the credit card account, of course, absolutely do not write her a check for the money) then do it, if not then don't. Do not expect that it will be repaid.
It's for you to decide. If I where you, I would help pay it out. You have great savings and are still young. If you continue saving as well as you have been so far, 15k will be a very small amount in your lifetime, for your mother that will be a huge change, especially at an APR that high.
personalfinance
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Any fire nurses out there?
I just graduated and will be starting my career soon and just wondering if any nurses have a fire path?
The median personal income is [$30,240]( The median income for an RN is [$68,450]( [$110,910]( for an NP, and [$160,270]( for a CRNA. Suffice to say that there's a clear path to FI if you make more than double median income.
Your comment or post has been removed by a moderator from /r/financialindependence Maybe it was too much of a /r/personalfinance thread or maybe it wasn't specific enough, or maybe it's a frequently asked question that doesn't need it's own post. It would be better served in the Daily Discussion Thread. Post it there for some discussion. In general, we try to make sure that top-level posts in the subreddit have very concrete ties to Financial Independence or Retiring Early. If a post is only tangentially related, it belongs in the Daily Discussion thread.
financialindependence
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Girlfriend's mother is about to lose her home, yet I am doing fine financially, what to do, if anything?
Background on gf's mother: my girlfriend's mother quit her job last August and hasn't found steady employment since then. Currently she is unemployed. We'll call her Judy. Judy owns a home, is around 55, has 10 dogs she fosters as part of a program to find permanent homes. The house is packed with dogs and people. When permanent homes are found for the dogs, Judy gets more dogs. She has an alcoholic boyfriend who lives there along with her nephew, who just started attending college. The nephew's mother, Judy's sister, also has a problem keeping a job. No one works in that household right now. My girlfriend has odd jobs / is a student, and sends money to her mom. I keep track of money she has borrowed from me to help her mom, currently it's $200. But now I am told her mom needs $2000 to keep her home as part of some "Save Your Home California" program. The thing is, her mom is not reliable, so this figure could change based on past experience. I've always assumed these programs are scams so banks can say they're trying to help homeowners while doing nothing to solve the problem. My background: I really don't want to give her mom any money. After losing everything financially a few years ago, I separated ties with the person who was a financial black hole, and I can hopefully retire early now. On one hand, I feel bad for her mother, on the other hand, I don't want history to repeat and have someone take from me everything I've worked hard at and never give back. I have loaned my brother money at 0% interest, but he has no problems finding a job and he pays me back, same thing with my parents who made smart decisions, are retired comfortably, and own assets. From a financial perspective, Judy's decisions, from how she has raised her daughter(not getting a driver's license), to hording things (dogs and things), to spending her retirement on treatment for a dying dog, not having a stable job, flying off the handle from time to time, etc., makes me reluctant to give her any more money. Note that Judy feels bad about this and how it could affect me. What are my options? (A) Loan her $2k, adding to the tab, Judy uses this program to somehow "save her home"? Not sure how this works, but I fear if I delve further into this and ask questions, I will be sucked into it and if I don't give her $2k, then when plan (B) happens, I'm the bad guy. (B) let her deal with it, she forecloses, lives on food stamps like she has done in the past when she raised her daughter, the people she supports will have to fend for themselves. tldr; girlfriend's mother is hitting rock bottom financially, what, if anything, should I do.
Option B - do not lend her the money. If you want to give it to her then fine but do not consider it a loan because you are never going to see the money. Your first line says a lot - "mother quit her job". Life is about choices. You cannot save people that do not want to be saved
Is this a serious question? House full of people who don't work. Quit job on purpose. Hoard pets. The mom is unreliable and can't be trusted. You don't even want to give her money. Where is the question? Don't give her money! I can already surmise the type of person she is if your description is accurate. If it is, $2,000 will only put off her problems for a short while, it won't fix anything.
personalfinance
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Should I purchase a home now with 10% down or keep renting until I can save up 20% down?
Wanting to buy a home now, looking at around 250k (average price of condos in our city) . Not sure I'd be able to come up with 50k by time we need to buy. Would it be wiser to rent for another year (rent is $1700 per month, mortgage would be the same with 20% down) and waste another 20k toward nothing or just deal with buying the private mortage insurance (as needed for all downpayments less than 20%) for $90 per month and get in on the market now with a 10% down payment? Words appreciated reddit.
It depends where you live, what the market is like there, and what future growth expectations are like. Renting is a good idea if you're living in a slow recovering market, that doesn't look promising. Whereas if you live in a city like Austin where inventory is at low levels, and the population is growing rapidly... it could be a good idea to just pay the PMI.
First off, you should confirm that you've got some prerequisites first Plan to stay in the house for 5 years or more A well funded emergency fund (about 6 months of expenses) after you fully fund your mortgage. Expected stability in your income As to your question, I'd argue Yes, you should buy. Why? Interest rates are very, very low right now. Buying now give you an opportunity to lock that in. We've already had our housing crash, so prices are probably reasonable in your area (or unlikely to decline a lot). Couple of tips: try to avoid buying more house than you need try to finance a 15 year mortgage; interest savings are substantial on the back end.
investing
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Ideal way of contributing to HSA
Hi PF, This is my first time signing up for a high deductible plan from my employer and the plan is a family plan. Because of this, I'm eligible for an HSA to which my employer also contributes. With the family limit for contributions being $6900, which also makes it ideal as a result of the out-of-pocket maximum being just slightly under it, I was planning to contribute such that I hit $6900 at the end of the year and then stop contributions to the HSA. I was then planning on using those contributions towards other goals like buying a house or other short term goals. However, I've been reading a few posts related to HSA's and the general consensus has been to max this every year and not to reimburse it right away. I can understand that these contributions are tax-free, but if I can only use them towards medical expenses, wouldn't it be better in my case to just have enough to meet the out-of-pocket expenses and then use the money towards something else without them being tied down? I guess I'm just looking for ideas....
The cash in an HSA can be invested and grow tax-free. Many people use their HSA as a supplemental retirement account. They invest it and allow it to grow, in order to cover increased medical expenses once they are older. Also, once you are 65 you can withdraw from the account for any reason penalty-free. You'll just pay tax on the earnings. Therefore, even if you don't use it all for medical expenses, you can use the funds for anything once you retire.
To go along with what others have said, my preference is to concentrate on maxing out my HSA after I've contributed enough to the 401k to receive all company matching. Once you've invested that money, it grows just like any other investment. HSA has more tax advantages than any other retirement account and, if you wanted, you could treat it like a 401k once you hit 65 so you're not committed to using it for health expenses long-term. That being said, if you have other, higher priority expenses coming soon that you need to save money for, retirement savings will have to take a back seat. Just make sure you continue to max out your employer's contribution, whether it's through matching or health tasks. As for paying out of pocket for health expenses, saving the receipts and getting reimbursed much later, that's a great idea on paper but not always practical. The idea is that, if you needed the money 6 months later, you could get reimbursed right then and still have had 6 extra months of free investment growth. I plan to "try" doing that for big expenses but I'll need to evaluate each circumstance individually to determine if I can safely pay out-of-pocket.
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Is it unhealthy to not want to ever own a house?
I have no desire at all to have a house. I hate gardening, painting and repairs. I like the idea of being able to just move when I want or if the house starts looking old or begins to host insects. Can I just not own a house / apartment ever? Or is that like throwing away money perpetually and I must own for when I ultimately retire? Do stock ETFs appreciate comparable to real estate? Why not just continue investing in things other than real estate? Or should I at least buy an apartment? For context I'm married F25. We don't want children. I have 35K in liquid savings/investments and 26K in 401k. My husband has savings that his parents set up for him + his own, so he can match whatever I put in. Our household income is 200K and we pay $3200 a month rent. We love this place. It's like a hotel: the amenities, doorman, gym, washer, drier, dishwasher, swimming pools, sauna, basketball courts, book clubs... Why would I leave this to own my own property and then have to look for gym, pool, etc.? I also like free HVAC repairmen being available and not having to fix stuff. I max out my 401k and also save $800 month. Major expenses: I spend 3K on gifts and 7K on travel annually. I expect a bonus of about 35K every February for the next 3 years and double that once I get promoted. Can I just rent my entire life or is this absurd? All my coworkers always talk about saving for real estate, car, etc., but I don't want to own apartment & car because you have to maintain both of these yourself. I like walking and using public transport when needed. Edit: thanks for advice! I think I've decided what to do. I want to be an almost lifetime renter (and saver!) until maybe 60 and then just buy a small house or apartment in a cheap state with cash when it's time to retire. EDIT 2: Actually no, this is dumb. If I have enough to buy in cash, then why not just keep paying rent. Hmm.. EDIT 3: My apartment is rent-stabilized: it can go up by no more than 4% a year. My credit score is 775.
Personal finance is PERSONAL. You do what you can and prepare as best you can so you can live the life you want. You do you. It may not be the financial plan for someone else but it might be perfect for you.
The math is as long as you offset what you would save by renting by investing that money and not just spending it on lavish things then you can potentially make more money on investments than opening a home and that also depends on where you live because some housing markets just push upwards others get stagnant and you can make more investing the money than paying a bank a 4% rate over 30yrs hoping your house value more than doubles
personalfinance
246
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brobronn17
1,560,820,648
1,566,683,704
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t3_c1vwtq
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WTDFROYSM
null
erg0w9n
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ouikikazz
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No More Stocks For Me. ETF Focused Now
I've lost so much on picking individual stocks over the past 4 years. I want to move some money into ETFs and am wondering if the following would be wise: I have \~$50k cash. Ally: $200 bonus for $25k deposit ETrade: $200 bonus for $25k deposit Should I open an account with Ally and another account with ETrade? The idea would be to deposit 25k into each, buy ETFs, and thus collect $400 bonus. Questions I currently have my Roth IRA with Vanguard. Should I instead just buy Vanguard ETFs? Are there any downsides to buying ETFs on Ally or ETrade? Any ETF suggestions? The only one I'm aware of that may be good are Vanguard's Admiral shares
1) Just curious, what individual stocks were you buying? The market did pretty well over the last 4 years. 2) Vanguard Admiral Shares is a class of shares, not a fund. 3) if you want Vanguard funds, I'd suggest opening an account with them or elsewhere provided you can buy and sell Vanguard funds comission free. 4) Split your money into total us, foreign and bond market funds. The vanguard etfs for this are VTI, VXUS and BND. You could also do the mutual fund equivalent or similar funds offered by other quality brokers (Schwab, Fidelity etc.))
Take a look at M1 Finance. They do ETFs and fractional shares. I have vanguard funds (VOO, VO, VB, VEA, VWO) but also QQQ, FDN, and EMQQ for tech tilts). There’s no extra cost, trading is free, and the only thing you get charged for is the normal fund fees you would find everywhere else.
personalfinance
21
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UsingThisInTheOffice
1,558,087,920
1,560,950,938
null
t3_bppe7p
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FIinvestor
null
enw2h1o
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throwitup1124
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enwm27z
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How much I'm saving from paying early each month?
Hi, I know in my case it won't be much, I got a house at the bottom of the market at a good rate and on a 15yr, but out of curiosity and future reference how would I go about calculating how much I'll have saved or am saving. I'm currently paying my mortgage early each month (I pay it 1 month ahead, eg the payment due on April 1st I pay on March 1st). My current lender allows paying up to 2 months early TL;Dr: How to do calculate my savings by paying my mortgage early each month?
I doubt you save anything but a couple dollars. Paying extra will save you money but paying the normal payment a month early will not make much of a difference.
Depending on how its structured, you may not be saving anything, you're simply paying early. Many times if you pay early, they hold the money, and make the payment on time. (Depends on the bank). To actually reduce your total interest paid, you'd need to make a payment on the principle, in addition to your monthly payment.
RealEstate
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Tdawg90
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t3_63ezs6
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phiber232
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dftm8vi
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drnick5
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dful47l
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I'm stuck in a job I hate and makes me depressed...
Hey everyone! I don't post much at all but I've been reading people's posts in this and everyone gives such great advice so I thought I'd ask for advice. The title pretty much explains my situation, I'm stuck in a dead end job which pays more than most companies in the area I live in. Things weren't always so bad at this company and I used to be happy here but over time it's gotten worse and worse to the point that I get depressed daily over having to go to work. I work too many hours, with horrible shifts and shift changes and piece of shit colleagues. My dream job is to be a full time twitch streamer and I work hard towards that but in the mean time I often feel like I can't keep going with anything anymore because my job just makes me so God damn depressed. The problem is that I can't get any other job because everything in the area I live in doesn't pay even close to the amount that I need to even pay my bills. My daughter goes to school here and my wife is working here and doing evening school so we are stuck here for another 3 years at the least. I've tried looking for remote work that I could do from home but there is nothing which pays good money when it comes to that... does anyone have any advice as to what I could possibly do? Sorry about the rant...
The problem is that I can't get any other job because everything in the area I live in doesn't pay even close to the amount that I need to even pay my bills. Here's your problem. You need to reduce your bills, consider moving, or suck it up at your shitty job. Start with the first because it is least disruptive. I would strongly re-evaluate every expense you deem is "necessary" and look long and hard at cutting back. If you post your budget based on your spending over the past year, along with what it would need to be reduced by for you to switch jobs, I bet some smart folks on this sub could help you. My daughter goes to school here and my wife is working here and doing evening school so we are stuck here for another 3 years at the least. Why is that? Adults and children transfer schools all the time? My dream job is to be a full time twitch streamer You also should probably assess some more realistic options for alternate work. Something maybe you aren't totally jazzed about, but that you can do day-in and day-out and isn't sucking the soul out of you. I realize it is not easy to change careers, but there are much more pragmatic goals than being a full-time twitcher. Finally, I wanted to say that I've 100% been in your position. I took a different job with a substantial pay cut (which required moving to a different state) and I am so, so much happier and healthier all around. I would strongly encourage you to do everything you can to get out of this job. You really don't want to spend 50%+ of your waking hours working and have it just beat you down every single day.
Really think about whether or not the job is the source of your feelings. If there is underlying depression or general unhappiness you could be blaming something on this specific job that would be true about any job. A new job might have a honeymoon phase and when it ends you would be feeling the same way and making less money which would be worse not better.
personalfinance
3
6
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Firiplays
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t3_8nt9j7
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chompz
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dzy69sy
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frzn_dad
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dzydqai
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Already have an emergency fund that will get me through six months.. does it also make sense to keep some of that as cash at home?
Not sure if it's too paranoid or otherwise irresponsible, but my logic is if something "real bad" happens on a wider scale, I won't be able to get cash out of an ATM and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Keeping a few hundred bucks at home isn’t a bad idea. Keeping thousands at home probably is. I usually keep about $200 locked somewhere in the house and $50-100 on my person ($200-300 when traveling out of state and more when international). With that said, 99% of my spending is not in cash, so I rarely touch it.
How much cash do you really need? You can buy almost everything with a card. If the Internet or something goes down and cards no longer work, most businesses probably won't be able to buy stuff either. A piggy bank for emergencies is fine, but you shouldn't hoard more than what you need to pay your bills. Put the rest to work earning interest.
personalfinance
51
90
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null
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leaves2235
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1,540,183,417
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t3_9jetvi
false
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Random5483
null
e6qtd3o
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monkChuck105
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e6qyar4
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I might be dead before 59.5... What's the best Investment strategy?
I am 24 years old, no debt, Maximum matched contribution into my Roth 401k, emergency fund established, blah blah blah. Chronic heart issues, have had 2 heart surgeries already, likely going to need a 3rd in the future. If I make it past 60 I'll consider that a win. That being said... I'd like to use my money while I can. What's a good investment strategy?
I'd like to use my money while I can. What's a good investment strategy? In your condition, you'll need to work as long as you can within reason and save and invest like you would if you didn't have any health issues. Make sure that if you have dependents, you have term life insurance. Continue to work like normal, save, and invest accordingly (401(k), IRAs, taxable accounts). If you happen to die before 59.5, then your spouse and/or next of kin will inherit you wealth, minus any debts in your name. If you live past 59.5, then it's up to your future situation to determine whether or not you would be financially-able to retire and live off your passive income. Overall, you can still enjoy your life. You just need to budget for the fun stuff as you would with bills and other life expenses. That being said, don't bet on dying early - because the worse thing that can happen to you is living well into your 70s/80s/90s and not having a penny saved.
Screw it man, just go out and live your life! Take a risk, start a business or something. If you fail, so what? Or go Travel take all your PTO for what its worth if you keep working. I would hate to look back when I am 59.5 knowing I am going to die soon and realize I didn't do the things I really wanted to do.
personalfinance
17
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42
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cab354
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t3_27enes
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adle1984
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ci02eyj
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motown88
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Still owe on car but need something different. How does this work?
I made a mistake a long time ago buying this car. It's really nice but not exactly what I need. I stupidly agreed to a extremely high interest rate of 28% because I had non-existent credit. The car was sold to me at 14,000 my old broken (cracked block) car was traded in for 2,500 putting me at 11,500 to finance. A year later and I've only paid off 1,500 of the principle putting me at about $10,000. I now have a 4.25% rate and the principle is coming down slowly. Now this car is only worth about $9000-$10,000 if I private sell it and $6,000-$7,000 trade-in value. What if I trade it in? How does that work at a dealership? I know that if I private sell it, Me and the buyer will have to goto the bank its financed from. I understand that part. but lets say I want to trade my car for this other car that is $22k. The dealership is giving me a trade-in value of my car of $7k. So they take 22k-7k=15k. But then I still owe 10k so they take that and add it to the 15k and finance it all together as $25k?
If I'm not mistaken if you owe $10,000 and if they give you $6,000 on the trade in, they will add 4,000 to the price of the vehicle you want, so $22,000 + $4,000 = $26,000 financed. So you'll immediately owe $26,000 on a car that probably has a trade in value of $16-$18,000 (Also a high interest rate because you have no down payment also you're upside down). By doing this your signing up to lose $8,000 essentially. Plus interest over time. Your best bet is to keep your car or sell it to a private party for pay off and start over on a car that fits your needs at a reasonable price.
What exactly is wrong with your car? Do you just want a nicer shiny? Yeah, the 28% rate was atrocious, but if it's now down to 4.25%, that's pretty reasonable. The way amortization schedules work is that you end up with a higher portion of your payment going towards interest early in your loan, with it gradually changing over the course of the loan so that you're paying almost purely principle near the end of the loan. That's why it's really easy to become "upside down" in your car loan early on, where you owe more on it than the car is worth (mainly because the difference between "new" and "used," literally driving it off the lot, is a few thousand dollars). If you go with this plan, you're basically going to be adding the remainder of your loan after trade in onto the cost of your new vehicle, and refinancing. On top of that, the dealership is always going to lowball you on trade in value, because they have to invest in the car to make it ready to sell, and also because they are experts at using your emotions against you to squeeze as many dollars out of you as possible. If your current car isn't a piece of crap, then I'd say keep it.
personalfinance
19
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Cthulhu_is_Love
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t3_50t7to
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CraigGoforth
null
d76qnph
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Tyrilean
null
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Hospital charged me for an ER visit even though they provided no services?
I was experiencing uncontrollable agitation on the 1st, so I decided I should go see a psychiatrist asap. Looked around, everyone said I should go to the ER, so I did. So the ER took me in, took my blood pressure, etc. and told me to wait. Well after a bit of waiting they said they didn't have any psychiatrists available, and just sent me on my way. Cut to a few weeks later and I get a bill saying I owe $407 minus 122.10 on a contractual adjustment leaving me with a $284.90 bill for basically taking up space for a few minutes. Is this normal?
Hospital charged me for an ER visit even though they provided no services? So the ER took me in, took my blood pressure, etc. and told me to wait. "taking your blood pressure etc." are actually services. You were triaged(?) by a nurse.
I went to the ER with sharp pains in my brain. I thought I was dying or having an aneurysm. It lasted 2 hours and after the first I decided it wasn't going to pass. I went in the Emergency room and they sat my on a table. She was coming to check my vitals and I heard a psssssssssss in my nose. All the pain went away. It was just extreme sinus pressure. We were camping and a front had moved in. I woke up with the pain. I was charged 300 dollars and they literally didn't even touch me.
personalfinance
59
111
null
null
null
Hnak_Hill
1,494,944,818
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t3_6bhs1f
false
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lilfunky1
null
dhmpaks
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-3
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reddituser1323
null
dhn7ldc
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What Real Estate related shows do you watch?
Currently into Flip or Flop. The numbers seem to be realistic when it comes to sales costs, rehab, etc. I also like watching Flipping Vegas. You won't learn anything from that show. It's just for entertainment purposes. Also watch Millionaire Los Angeles. I like looking at all the nice houses.
My 1 never miss an episode is HGTV/DIY's Income Property. Then HGTV's Vacation Home for Free because I live and work in a coastal area so always nice to see how little tweaks here and there can make a vacation rental more desirable. I cannot watch Property Virgins or House Hunters because I find myself talking back to the tv whenever those entitled twits think they can find the home of their dreams for $150K. Or can't possibly live in the house because appliance colors don't match, etc. I'll watch House Hunters International when there is an interesting location, New Dehli or Prague for example, but am so over those Australia and Belize/Costa Rica episodes. I watched a few Flip or Flop shows but, like Property Brothers, the style of houses they renovate are not all that common in my market so they are less interesting to me. And I watch Island Hunters because hey. a girl can dream.
This Old House - Awesome and always has been. Renovation Realities - Sometimes things don't go according to plan! Holmes on Homes - He totally overdoes everything, and I like that. House Hunters (and HH International) - So fake, but such a guilty pleasure.
RealEstate
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HnB_01
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t3_3hzidy
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letrinka
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cubyg40
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my_cat_joe
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cucgrru
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Lesson in leaving it to the professionals
My cousin was getting his roof redone and was told he could save 500$ by doing the flashing tear down him self. Well he fell from the 3rd floor balcony and died this morning. Over trying to save 500$. What's your being cheap bite you in the ass story?
Oh fuck that's terrible. I started painting the exterior of my 3-story and I only made it to the top of the second story as I realized I did not want to fall. I now have a 2/3 painted house.
GD, I'm sorry to hear that... Early this morning a good friend of mine called. We laid to rest his father last Friday. Well, he was asking if my Explorer was still for sale because on his way to work he'd just totalled his late father's truck which was not fully insured...
realestateinvesting
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philmtl
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t3_dge08z
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Crossback2017
null
f3axv75
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Bobarhino
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Offer accepted. I was arranging my own attorney and inspector when the realtor tells me that he's already contracted those services and they are listed on the transaction. Says I asked him to refer me to an attorney.
Granted, I did say if he has a referral to send him my way. Not contract services without my permission. He says that if I'm going to use my own guys, let him know today so he can make sure his guys haven't started any work? So far the realtor has been decent, not that I've had much experience with realtors. He's showed us homes, and this one we're contracting for was in a multi-offer and we bid an extra 9K above asking to have our offer accepted. This thing with the attorney and inspector having already been contracted raises a red flag for me. Is it warranted?
Not necessarily. Some agents are just in the habit of using the ones they are most familiar with because a good many people don't know/don't care and assume that's something the agent will provide.
Another thing to consider is that the realtor already has relationships with these people. They understand the process and are motivated to meet deadlines and provide competitive rates because the realtor is a good source of business. On the other hand, you may not get the same level of service or fee break if you hire someone on your own as a one-time customer. If you are truly concerned about it, ask the realtor to provide you with a list of 3 names he/she recommends for each and select one based on your own research.
RealEstate
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Whatyoushouldknow
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myspiritanimalisme
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ch60i1j
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cb13
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ch63tyx
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Using unusual data sources like Google Trends and Wikipedia to predict market movements
The stock price is the result of the trading decisions of many individuals. What if, instead of waiting for a decision, you had a way to see decision making steps that precede execution? Searches on Google Trends and pageviews on Wikipedia precede actual decisions. This blog posts explores some theory and results. [What Can Cognitive Science Teach Us About Stock Prices?] (
So my understanding is there are funds that have been doing this for quite some time. It would be hard to get at the state of the art as I'm sure this is highly proprietary information. You could go down this road and try and develop an algo and see what kind of profits it eeks out. Just be warned, this is definitely not a new idea and has been around for awhile. Heck, people have been trading based on word hits in twitter for at least half a decade.
if you ever watch "ghost in the shell" there is actually an ep based off this idea . The idea works very well but remember to let the computer gather the data and then decide weather to trade (auto trading = bad)
investing
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dunster
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t3_1h6ks4
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TDual
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carc9rz
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apez1267
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carjcl7
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Is the Fidelity Growth Commingled Pool a good fund for a 401k? 26 yo
Link: ER: 0.44% I'm skeptical of the 'commingled pool' title and it not having a ticker, but it's bested the index since its inception and its manager is the famously well-performing Steven Wymer of FDGRX fame. This seems to be FDGRX lite? As of last paycheck I updated my 401k investments to be: 30% FXSIX (SP500 index fund) 60% Fid Growth Co Pool and 10% FNSDX (2055 target date fund. About me: 26/M, 72k income, 12% 401k contribution + 6% employer match.
I just learned about commingled funds recently from another post on here. They aren't offered to individual investors, so people aren't always aware of them. Basically they offer lower costs by blending different accounts. [Here's a good description on them.]( Basically it's nothing shady, but as the article notes, there's no prospectus or anything for you to really look at, but they do have the info in the Commentary tab. It's an aggressive growth model. FWIW, I would just move the 10% FNSDX into FXSIX.
Personally a big fan of target date funds as they automatically rebalance to keep you diversified. With the market over the past year, a lot of people are most likely underweight as a percentage in stability funds. Nothing wrong with comingled. Personally I say balance 90% and play with 10%(crypto, single stocks, vcs)
personalfinance
21
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cellcultured
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t3_8heets
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andthenisawtheblood
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dyj6nzp
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Travelsman
null
dyje0e3
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US stocks vs international developed vs emerging markets long term
I've been thinking about this for about a week now. Up until today my portfolio in percents was 53/37/10 US stock/international/bonds. I just don't have any faith in international markets over the next 10 years or so. Almost every concerning trend I see in US markets is even worse in Europe. Sure China might gain on the US but other than that I don't see how international stocks will outperform US. I changed my allocation to 60/30/10. What does everyone else think about US vs international markets over there next decade or two?
US S&P megacorps have tended to outperform in the contemporary memory, due to favorable regulatory conditions, cheap money and relatively stable consumer sector. They have also seen a significant PE runup which requires them to outperform to justify the high prices they command. I would not be surprised if this outperformance trend continued, but I diversify to include foreign stocks because none of us have a crystal ball with certainty of what will happen. events like wuhan coronavirus can impact businesses in ways no one would have anticipated 3 months earlier. Economic miracles and disasters can come out of the woodwork.
The expected value and implied risk premium for EM is greater than US on a forward looking basis. Recency bias is hard to overcome. Regardless home country bias seems not uncommon due to currency hedging being more of an issue.
investing
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ninjajaguar
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t3_f1hwdm
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TheEverHumbled
null
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SD-Analyst
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Would opening a cash back card for a engagement ring purchase be wise in my scenario?
Hello all, first post here, hopefully I format this correctly. I'm a twenty-something-year-old guy who is preparing to propose to his amazing girlfriend in the near future. She is pretty against materialism and doesn't like the diamond industry, so she wants a very basic gemstone ring which costs around $500 + tax. A few years ago I opened my first credit card with Amazons prime card to get $75 off a purchase. I have really enjoyed the cashback card and essentially only use it as a debit card, If I don't have the money to immediately pay it off, I don't put stuff on it. Over the years Ive earned a few hundred cashback and have built my credit score to around 740! So my question is this. Chase Freedom has an offer where if you open a new line of credit and spend $500 in the first three months, you get $200 cashback. I am thinking of opening another credit card and putting the ring on and getting the $200 back. However, I am wondering if it would be wise at my age to open a second credit card. I know opening new lines of credit will dip your score down (tho I do not know by how many points). I dont think I will need credit for a few years as both of us have relatively reliable cars, with less than 100K miles, and less than 10 years old. Further, we dont plan on buying a home anytime soon. So I guess what I am asking is your opinion on if you think hurting my credit score for a few years is worth $200. My financial situation, Im finishing my masters this year and should be landing a job that starts around 50k next june or so. I have always worked odd jobs through school and have most of my schooling paid off, and have over 10,000 in savings. &x200B any advice from you guys will be appreciated!
The best time to open a cc is when you have a big purchase and so you can take advantage of the bonus for money you’ve already allotted to spend anyways. Just make sure you have the cash to pay it off in full so you don’t carry a balance. Two credit cards is not bad at all and the freedom is a decent one for earning cash back.
You can also get 0% interest cards for a certain number of months. I put a large purchase on a 15 month 0% and am paying it off slower rather than taking out a personal loan.
personalfinance
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osaout
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Seller will only sign contract if it's contingent on them buying a new place.
Wife and I are buying our first house. We put an offer in on a house we like and the seller countered with a reasonable sales price but they want to make it contingent on them finding a new home in next 30 days. Our realtor said no way we should accept that because it lets them back out of contract at anytime. We agree. We countered with giving them a longer settlement (60 days). Their realtor said they won't respond to any offer that doesn't have the contingency. We are offering to buy it and let them rent it back. But, their realtor is very new so our realtor isn't sure if she will be able to understand that and effectively communicate it to the sellers. What do you think we should do? Just walk away? Anyone know of any other creative solutions? Thanks.
How long have you been looking? How many boxes does this house tick, for you, on your wish list? How hot is your market? Is it a buyer's market or seller's market? Even the rent back is a risk, I don't know that I'd agree to that either because then you could get into a bunch of extensions and possibly have to evict them (worst case, of course). They listed their house for sale, but, they don't REALLY want to sell it or they would accept your offer. They only want to sell if it's super convenient for them. They seemingly don't want to consider a short-term rental while they house shop, they don't want to agree to a reasonably long closing (60 days is generous, IMO). They want this to be really easy for them, at your expense. I am not sure this is their agent's fault, but, either way, not much you can do except let them know what you will accept and what you won't, depending on how badly you want the house. But it is kind of a bad sign, IMO. Are they going to be realistic when dealing with inspection issues or repairs, or even to abiding by the contract they signed? I'm not sure I'd want to deal with them. But it depends on how many hoops you have already had to jump through to find a house. Good luck.
I think rentbacks are a fine idea as long as you have the terms (timelines, consequences) very clearly laid out at the start. Renters can give you a lot of grief but they may have no room to if you make the contract such that they can't pull a lot of BS. I don't get why your realtor doesn't want to discuss it, can't she explain how the rentback works, realtor to realtor? The sellers clearly can't juggle owning 2 houses at once and the rentback would solve a lot of this, give them money from the sale to buy the next one and they don't have to rent elsewhere and move, just rent their own house.
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Who did not sell during the Great Recession?
I'm interested to know because most of the people I know tragically lost their nerve and sold at exactly the wrong time. Is fear stronger than greed when it comes to the behavior of investors?
I'd have to go back and look to know what kind of money we're talking about, but I know I was down 60% at the low point. I think I went from around $500,000 to $200,000; was early 40's at the time. Never sold, but I rebalanced at some point when it was low (probably not the dead bottom) to move out of international and into US; basically figuring that the USA was on sale. Even though I had lived through the dotcom crash, I didn't really participate in it in any meaningful way. So by the time I got around to think that I should maybe sell, it was already down so much that it was kind of like "what's the point"? I also got somewhat lucky because days that I'd thinking about selling a bunch, the market would absolutely get trashed (kind of like Monday this week). So even if I put some mutual fund sell orders in on my mutual funds in the early afternoon, the damn market would drop by 4+% and I was back to "well shit, I can't sell now because I'm going to hit the bottom", and I'd cancel the orders before the close. At some point, I just stopped even looking. Once it got below 10,000 (which was "only" a 30% drop from the highs), it really felt like it wasn't real anymore. It was just people panicking at that point and feeling like the panic would leave the market any day and we'd return to "more appropriate" levels. Of course, at 10,000 we were barely halfway through the fall to 6600 that came 6 months later (and 6 months after that we were back to 10,000). People talk about irrational exuberance during a bull market, but there is the same irrationality in the form of panic in a bear market. The fall to 10,000 seemed concerning because Japan had just gone through the lost decade and it felt like it could be 10 years before we got back to where we were in 2007 (and it did take over 5 years). But the fall after that just felt irrational, and therefore less concerning. It just seemed that it had to come back quickly because there was no reason for it to drop that far. I was also a strong believer in the bank & auto bailout, along with the stimulus that GW Bush started and Obama finished. So once it was clear that Bush was going to get that through, I had some sense of relief. When Obama continued those policies - virtually unchanged - I had high confidence that we were out of the woods. It's easy to look back and think "damn... sell in May and go away; do that in 2007 and then buy back in 2 years later and you'd be so rich". But for starters, you really can't time the market so don't start trying to convince yourself that you can. And second, if I had sold in 2007 when the DOW was at 14,000, I'd have bought back in when it dropped to 12,500 or 13,000... the idea of holding out until we were below 7,000 would have gotten you laughed at.
I just about sold in 2007 at my stock's peak, but got busy and didn't want to deal with the tax reporting. 2008 happened and I held through the recovery and sold later for a small gain. I fear selling in a downturn more than losing paper value of stocks, so if my stocks drop below the price I bought them for, I will panic hold instead of panic sell. The opposite is true if my stock beats my estimates, I panic sell wanting to lock on gains instead of greedily hold. I guess that's just my flavor of loss aversion.
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Just got into stocks. Have a few questions that I cannot find
Hi I just got into stocks and I want to learn as much as I can before starting but I have two questions that I can't find on the internet: If the value of a stock you own goes down, can't you just wait until the next rise? I don't see much companies that have completely gone down the drain, most usually go back up at some point. If people knows someone successful, someone who won the stock market why don't people just copy their movements? Thanks in advance. I know the questions are stupid but they are stuck in my mind
That is the point. When a companies’ stock price falls, one should hold out until it goes back up. That being said, a company may not be able to recover, depending on how far it falls, as well as other factors. You can’t copy someone’s moves unless you’re being told what they are doing, exactly when they do it. Stock prices change every second. Even the most successful person can’t see into the future, meaning they can lose just as much as anyone else. I would definitely look into stocks a lot more if I were you. It’s certainly not always sunshine and roses.
2# You can't do this because the stock prices fluctuated base on supply and demand. When you buy stock the default option is actually buying at market value, it's not guarantee that you buy stock at the price you see. It's all dynamic. You can ask to buy at this price and you'll get the best price or your broker will try their best to match the price at the time you see. This is Slippage. Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Why does this matter? If everybody start copying some dude that make it big by buying a certain stock, the seller starts to raise to price of the stocks. Supply and demand. It highlight that the price of stock is dynamic and change in real time when you try to buy and sell things. The closing price listed is misleading because it's the last price before the end of the trading day.
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College grad, $2 in my checking account, unemployed and looking for full-time work. What advice or suggestions could Reddit give?
I've been looking for work every single day. Never been more motivated in my life. However, I need to earn some type of money in the mean time. I tried applying for free lance writing but no luck, and I don't want to look for a part-time job while looking for full-time work, I feel like it doesn't make sense unless I have to. Is that rationale wrong? I can't tell. I just have my sights set on a FT position and don't want to settle for PT work. I don't know though, I need some advice. Have to do something. I need and want to work. Any ideas for side-jobs?
I don't understand your situation. So you have no money, but you refuse to accept any part-time work in the interim? Your first concern should be getting any type of job at all.
You could try a part time job for some extra $ and also to make connections. Something like working as a part time bank teller, filing papers in an office, etc. It took me more than 8mos to find a full time job out of college. I tutored a few hours a week and had a very small part time job in a consignment store (10-15h/week) to make ends meet. Having a part time gig to go to a few days a week helped me to structure my time and meet new connections who could help me in my search. Also, if you can save $1-2k, you could potentially afford to relocate someplace where the job market is better. Good luck!
personalfinance
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Psychological Value of Less Risk
I am a typical r/fi reader. I am 25 with about XX,XXX invested all in VTTSX working as a software engineer. I only started seriously putting money into the markets a year ago and had a nice upswing this year by maxing my IRA on January 1st. Despite being young I am considering moving to a more conservative position. I have an extensive poker background during which I went though large downswings relative to my net worth with my most extreme being around X,XXX dollars. I can distinctly remember my psychological state when going through large downswings. I'd literally feel sick to my stomach. Your mind is dominated by thoughts of worthlessness and depression. I am trying to determine the value of not having to experience such a mental state. Some of my most self destructions actions happened during these periods. On the other hand enduring has definitely increased my tolerance for dealing with fluctuations. I don't feel anything at all for <1000 swings. I am comfortable taking risks that other's are not. But losing 1,000 is not the same as 25,000. Is it better to reduce risk knowing you are giving up value, or is the solution to work on your psychology so the big swings don't effect you?
I think you should try to change your psychology. Like you said there was an upswing over the last year. Let's say for example you are up 10k. If the market now drops by 10k, you're not down 10k. You're even. Secondly, if the market drops 50%, you should be happy about that because shares are on sale and you ONLY have 50k invested. That's a small amount relative to what you are investing each year, while you're starting out. Once you have 500k, 1M, etc., then sure, be more conservative. But by then you are likely approaching retirement and should be more conservative anyway. And even if it does drop once you have a large portfolio, keep in mind point 1. You probably aren't really down as much as it seems. 50k really is insignificant in comparison to where you will be at the end of your career. You are investing for (likely) a couple decades, not a couple years. So, my opinion is, be aggressive. But you know yourself much better than I. If you will panic-sell at the bottom, or if it will affect your mental health, do what is best for you.
You could also split your investment between low and high risk. You could put some portion in bonds which are relatively safe, and then the remainder in a more aggressive portfolio. As time passes you can reallocate your money to keep this at whatever ratio you found comfortable. I started looking for a job right out of college in 2008 when all of the markets were still crashing from the housing bubble. Many people were losing their jobs, foreclosing on their homes, having to completely restructure their lives. Because of this, I've made it a goal of mine to try to have multiple income streams. It seems so precarious to me to have everything based off of one single source. Since then I've bought two rental properties that more than pay for themselves that I plan on using as income after I retire. So my portfolio looks something like this: ~100k equity in rental properties, ~100k in an aggressive 401k, ~35k in a target retirement fund Roth IRA through Vanguard, ~1k/month in rental income. My net worth is approximately $325k, but I have almost $500k in outstanding debt. That in itself is something that sometimes makes my stomach churn ($500k?!?! that's a LOT of money!), but I think it will be worth it in the long run. In order to buy my second rental property, I also took out a $50k loan from my 401k for the down payment, which effectively halved the total value of my 401k. It was definitely one of those days where I said to myself.. "Man, I really hope this works out, because if not, I'm screwed." That was a year and a half ago and I am (between contributions, repayment of the loan and gains in the market) back to where I started with my 401k. I'd recommend diversifying so even when you do have the negative downswings, you still have gains elsewhere.
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Completely got ripped when buying a car, i'm here two years later needing help.
Hello, reddit! I need help and i've turned everywhere else i could go - so let's try you all shall we?! 2012 i buy a car for $29,000. It's a Mitsubishi Eclipse. Crazy, right? Well, back then, i was Muslim - and heavily forbidden to use interest. So, my dad, as i was 20 at the time, spoke to the dealership for hours. Thinking we won a deal, they gave us 0% APR, BUT added all the accumulated interest to the loan. Basically, a car that was work less than $20k, was sold for $30k with 0% APR. This happened in the beginning of 2012. I currently am paying $500 A MONTH for this car, and it's killing me - literally making me scrape through the goddamn week. I tried to trade it in, but i'm upside down. I still owe about $12k - and no dealership/third party car sales is willing to take this POS. even though my mileage isn't bad at all, I think I'm at 38,000. So, help! I'm thinking about voluntary repossession. What do you all think? P.S: my mom recently passed away (dont worry, this isnt turning into a sob story) so i had to start living on my own - which adds rent bills and what not. I get paid OK at work, but this car is literally kicking my ass. HELP.
If it's repod it will be sold at auction for likely less than you think it's worth then they will come after you for the difference plus repo/towing/storage fees. In most cases it's a myth that allowing a repo will save you money in the long run especially if you are seriously upside down. Also, no offense, but your father is a terrible negotiator. Assuming this was a 5 year loan on a 20k car, you are paying the equivalent of about 30% interest.
This can realy depend on where you currently live, in some places voluntary repossession clears the debt whereas in others you are still responsible for it. Also in some areas if you have a total loss and you are not responsible for the accident then you are exempt from the remaining balance whereas in others you are completely responsible.
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Knowledge fatigue - venting thread
I started investing roughly a year ago and applied as much as due diligence I could as a retail investor with a full time job. I enjoyed the learning process as it was something new. I made sure to study everything I could. From Quant Models to Factors to studying the superinvestors. I ended up with a sizable notebook, various excel sheets, momentum signals, fundamental ratios to fill an entire book. Now what? the knowledge feels so dense and yet so little that I don't feel I am any better than I was a year ago. I feel stuck. Stuck that the index seems right now the more reasonable choice. DCA, monthly contribution and move on. Do I feel like it was a waste studying stock analysis? no I do feel like it helped me understand businesses better and even carrying some of that knowledge to my day to day work. Should I have indexed right the way from the beginning? probably. Did you guys experience something that similar where you felt the influx of information on how to invest renders you literally numb on how to even invest? if so how did you break out of it or did you fold like me and added indexing to your mix? TL;DR one year ago I though I could do better than the market, one year later, the index doesn't look that bad.
I had a similar experience but I came to the conclusion that all these models are great at explaining yesterday's price, but there is no guarantee it will reflect tomorrow's price. I was essentially coming up with elaborate and complex signal algorithms to predict a glorified coin toss.
Stock picking requires the time to do the work and the inclination to do so. You also need to have conviction in your decisions along with discipline. It's not for everybody and you will make mistakes along the way. You have to figure out what you did wrong when something doesn't work out. That's how you develop discipline. The discipline that comes from the rules you make that protect you against your own bad judgment about what’s going on at the companies you own or what’s happening in the market overall. And you need to always put discipline over conviction. It's worked out well for me but like I said, it's not for everybody.
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Buying a home without an inspection
We just lost out on the first home we put an offer on because two other offers did not have inspection clauses. The house was built in the 1920s and looked reasonably well-maintained, but we feel it would be foolish to waive an inspection. Can we expect to lose to "no inspection" offers every time? Under what circumstances would you waive an inspection? (We are first-time buyers in Seattle, WA if that makes a difference.)
Unless you're a licensed plumber, licensed electrician, generally good at drywall, and roof repair, can identify foundation issues, and fancy yourself an exterminator, I'd go ahead and keep losing to people willing to waive inspections.
Property was 2 years old and I waived inspection to make my offer more competitive. We also wanted a quick close and it ultimately worked out fine. On something built in the 20's, you definitely want an inspection, even if there was a rehab; you just want a trained set of eyes to make sure it was done right.
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Home loan- Wife can't get on due to bad credit.
I'm in the process of buying a home. My wife cannot be on the home loan due to her having bad credit (from medical bills). We paid the bills but the items are still showing on her credit report (one still has an open status, Experian said they had to look into it and it might take a month, which we don't have). I had her email the confirmation numbers and bank statements showing the money leaving our account to the underwriter, but they still decided to deny her. I can solo this home loan but I'm a worst case kind of guy and have reservations about it. I love my wife, but what happens if we get divorced? Am I left with the bill and she still get half of the house when we sell? What if I die? Does the bank take it all and boot my wife and kid out onto the streets? Should go through with this? We already turned in our notice to the apartment landlord so I'm in a time crunch. Thanks for any response.
We already turned in our notice to the apartment landlord so I'm in a time crunch. You told your landlord you're moving out before you even secured financing for the house?
If you die it depends on your will. If you don't have a will or your will doesn't leave the house to someone else, then the house becomes your wife's property, and the loan does too. Do you have enough life insurance to cover your wife's expenses if she decides to keep the house? In no case will the bank seize the property unless the mortgage payments stop. A simple phone call after your death by your wife explaining the situation to the bank, and the bank will probably grant her a grace period while finances get worked out with the life insurance, the will, etc. If your wife can't afford the mortgage after your death, she'll need to sell the house in a timely manner to prevent foreclosure, but there'll be some time before the bank goes down that road. Divorce is less easily answered. Depends on the marriage and divorce laws in your state. Is it a common law state? An at-fault state? And no matter what the laws say the divorce decree issued by a judge based on the case presented can be almost anything. Personally I don't think you should be planning for divorce unless your marriage is already in trouble. It's not worth the effort or expense unless you are doing it as a pre-nuptual agreement, but since you're already married, it's too late for that.
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Just received outrageous, unexpected, and unwarranted medical bill. Advice?
3 months ago, my wife had surgery to repair a broken nose from a car accident. We were told in advance how much the entire procedure would cost and paid that entire amount. When the nurse was preparing my wife to be discharged from the facility after the surgery, the nurse gave me several instructions and items to take home with us to continue treating her in the recovery process. One of those items we were given was an Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) device to help prevent blood clots in her legs post-surgery. We thought this was only something that was being used at the facility and we did not realize we got to keep it. So when we were told we got to take it home, we said "Oh, we get to take this with us?" To which the nurse responded, "Yes, it is yours to keep." I do not remember if she said it is included in the cost or if she just didn't mention a cost associated with the device at all; all I remember is that no words were exchanged that would indicate that we would later be charged for this device, and that the feeling of the conversation that did take place is that the device was included in the cost/already paid for/free. If the nurse would have told us the cost of the device, we for sure would have said no to taking it home with us. Fast forward to today, we received a bill in the mail from some medical facility that we have never heard of. It wasn't the surgeon's office and it wasn't the facility that the surgeon used to operate on my wife. At this point I am assuming it is the supplier of the IPC device that I guess supplies those devices to the surgical facility. The bill is for $4,899. We don't have that kind of money sitting around as I am finishing up a master's degree and my wife is now pregnant. And even if we did, I do not feel that this is something that we should have to pay. We are planning on calling tomorrow and trying to clarify what is going on and hopefully dismiss the charge or something, but obviously there are several ways this could go. What advice does anyone have for us, and are we right in thinking this is a bogus charge that we shouldn't have to pay?
Just FYI, I don’t know if you know or not, nurses have absolutely no clue what anything costs and neither do docs (at least inpatient). It’s all a completely separate department and it’s actually strongly discouraged to discuss it at all because we have a legal obligation to treat patients whether they can pay or not, at least in the ED. That said, I think the structure of medical fees is ridiculous and these things should be upfront and available to patients so that they know what they are being billed for ahead of time. I would definitely fight this. Have you called your insurance or the company that did bill you?
When you call, get a copy of what they billed with a list of both the diagnosis and procedure codes they used. When you call your insurance, you can tell them what was coded and they will know whether or not it was covered by insurance or not. MANY medical bills can be lowered just by the insurance carrier catching coding mistakes or suggesting changes. Your doctors office may be able to change the coding and appeal the claim to your insurance.
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Sanity check
I could use a little encouragement right now my hands are getting weak. &x200B I'm a 25 year old who put most of his savings (aside from my emergency fund) into Vanguard essentially at the market high a few weeks ago. I've got 80% in VTI/VOO and 20% in Total Bond ETF. I did this because I looked at my timeline and didn't see myself realistically buying a house or having any big expenses in the next \~5 years or so. &x200B My question is, if I actually intend on using this money in 5 years, should I pull out and cut my losses or just ride it out? I kind of know already I should keep myself in the market but I need some reassurance, friends. &x200B
I've got holdings in VOO too brother. Honestly stop worrying about it. You're not helping yourself here by stressing over this my guy. Whatever you do, don't press the sell button because once you do THEN your losses are realized. You'll look back 5 years from now while looking at the rebound and think, "damn I can't believe I stressed that much over that Coronavirus thing lol". Just forget about it and don't even look at your portfolio for a while. You have years of investing ahead of you and you don't want to look back on today as one of your biggest mistakes in your investing career!
Oh man. I have the same situation!! Entered the market almost at the peak. Now I’m seeing huge losses (5 figures). I put all my money in roboadvisor and I can’t take it out! I know it will crash more tomorrow. This feels terrible.
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How low will the Apple share nosedive go?
Apple today tanking even more than others. Any ideas on where the bottom might be
For a bit while the weak hands are shaken out. This change in reporting is a non-issue. Apple should be judged on more than just iPhone sales. The smartphone market is mature and getting saturated, and no company is going to show massive growth. The moat is simply too big now. It's all about services, wearables now. Apple has a huge customer base that won't go away anytime soon. And they grew 20% YoY and trade lower than companies like Coca Cola.
I keep Apple on my watchlist and observe it's price daily, though I'll never buy because I don't believe in the company. That said, I do think any price under $200 is good for Apple, and it's probably beginning to bottom out (assuming the market stays stable).
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Credit card bill due tomorrow, scheduled to pay it off few minutes before midnight, is that considered late?
I have a Chase Freedom card and the bill is due tomorrow. I scheduled it just before midnight. It says the schedule is set to pay on the same day as the due date. Would that be considered late payment?
Though it may take out of your account at midnight, it might take a few days to process. Or it could also process on your credit cards end but not take out of your checking/savings account for a few days so keep an eye on that. If it does take a few days and you get hit with a late fee, call your credit card company. If they're good and you explain to them what happened, you can ask for a one time reversal of the fee. Though it says your payment is scheduled for a specific day, always pay a few days before, especially if it's over a weekend or holiday because those transactions have to process through ACH.
Maybe, call them. Had the same situation once. The gentleman canceled my payment, because it would be late and made a direct deposit through his system, which counts as instant.
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When will 10 year treasury yield rate be priced into the market??
Was just wondering when the consensus is that the increasing 10 year treasury yield rate will be priced into the market? I am tired of all my tech stocks getting obliterated lol...
As long as it keeps going up the markets will stay shaky like this. Just make sure you have strong stocks and average down cause in the long run you should be fine
JPow basically told lenders that they are okay with 2,5+% inflation for a decade. You tell me if you’d buy US10Y for 1,7% when Germany’s yield curve is partially inverted with the US heading there. ~20% of USD were created in the last 12 months and the FED just told everyone that this is going to continue and that they don’t care about the market with their priority being jobs. The amount of margin debt is headed towards an all time high, the stock market is at all time highs with little actual economy to back it up. The question is not if the biggest bubble ever blown up in the history of men will pop, it is when. No, IMO it is not priced in, not even close. 1,7% yield still is excruciatingly low, and the parallels to the Weimar Republic are spooky to say the least.
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High valuations for stocks and real estate as people are looking to invest their money...
I've heard this reason - there's nowhere else to put money with the valuations of real estate, stocks, and fixed income. Could this be why bitcoin is rocketing at a ridiculous rate?
If people are concerned that equity valuations have outpaced fundamentals, why the hell would they buy Bitcoin instead? At least equities have fundamentals. Maybe people imagine that Bitcoin and equities would have a negative correlation in a bear market, but we haven't really seen Bitcoin in action in an equity bear market. Perhaps the pressure to pull money out will affect it too.
No. Bitcoin is rocketing because of FOMO. When even popular tv shows dedicate entire episodes to it, many people will be interested and star putting some money into it. It's the same thing that happened in 1929 and 1999.
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USAXX Money market fund with 0% yield? Am I not understanding something?
I opened a money market mutual fund (USAXX) to use as a savings/emergency fund. I understood at the time that it was as good as savings account if not better, but don't remember why. Perhaps it was easy to withdraw from, etc. However looking at the yield each year it has stayed at exactly 0%, and from month to month the cost of a share is always $1. Am I missing something fundamental about this type of account? If they are intentionally keeping the value at $1, then why don't I just put my cash under a mattress? Why would I choose (maybe why did I choose...) this kind of account over a standard savings account? Are there better alternatives to use as a savings/emergency account? Thanks!
A money market account is designed to be as low-risk a store of cash that won't lose value as possible. As such, they invest in [high-quality short-term debt securities of financially stabile companies]( It is not insured like a savings account is. It is really designed for if you have large amounts of money you need to keep liquid, and want to keep diversified to reduce the risk of any one financial institution going under and taking your account with it. For this reason, it's used a lot for businesses or for wealthy individuals. It is also designed more like a checking account, in that you can deposit and withdraw funds easily without limits. The value of the share is designed to stay at $1. As the underlying investments pay dividends, they are used to purchase more shares, which is how the value of your account increases. Right now, the rate of return on those things is basically zero. You should not use a money market account for an emergency fund, unless your emergency fund is in the $250k+ range and that range is reasonable given your income and lifestyle and you need to keep that much money in a liquid form. You will likely be much better off by transferring the money to an FDIC insured set of accounts. A couple grand in checking for quick access, a chunk in savings that can be transferred to checking in a few days, and a chunk in something like CDs or I-Bonds (note any applicable withdrawal restrictions). For me, for example, I keep a good chunk of liquid funds in checking as working capital, so I don't have any emergency savings in my checking account explicitly. I have about 30% in a savings account, and about 70% in I-Bonds (or rather, I will, as I get the ability to deposit more into it in 2014).
I'm keeping all my money in my checking account. I'm getting 3%, and it's just the local credit union. [1] I'll admit, it's a bit more of a temptation to over spend though. [1]
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Why is it that my smallest investments do the best and my largest investments do the worst?
I was told that size matters.
Because if your 1% position drops 38% in a day you dont panic sell and feel fine letting it ride to the point where it becomes profitable. Once your small position makes 40% gains, you dont feel the need to sell it for profit either, so you let it ride even more. If either of those scenarios above played out with a very large position, you'd be much more emotional and affected by the % swings that you would become impulsive and panic sell either to avoid losses or lock in gains early.
Ya, I quadruple my $400 bet on Canopy yet my 4 figure plays get wiped out the moment I make them lmfao. Maybe VFFVX was made for ppl like me...
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At what point should I consider bankruptcy? I have ~$20k in credit card debt that I've been trying to pay off for 3 years, interest is killing me
Hey guys, I'm trying to make ethical/responsible decisions here and not sure what to do. I have about $20k worth of credit card debt and it's taking a long time to pay off, and it feels pretty overwhelming. What doesn't help is that I've had my own businesses that I've been running on my personal cards (I know, stupid moves) and I haven't been able to pay them off. I left my businesses and expect to start a full-time job soon maybe about $60k/yr after taxes. I like the idea of a fresh start because spending a year barely scraping by and just paying off the debt really sucks. Should I just suck it up and live frugally until it's paid or file for bankruptcy and start over? Thanks for your insight guys EDIT: Thanks for all your advice guys, I will make a budget as soon as I get a job and go from there
The general rule of thumb is you should start considering bankruptcy if it will take more than 5 years to pay off your debt. With your income you should have it paid off in a year or two. This is a no brainer; don't declare bankruptcy. Buckle down and pay your bills. I'm not sure if you could even declare bankruptcy if you're making $60k. The judge has to approve it and if it's clear you can pay your bills but just don't want to your request will probably be rejected.
It will require a lot of lifestyle changes but your situation seems very manageable. First maintain your payments and don't do anything to jeopardize your credit you are going to need it. Once you start working for the other guy you won't have to put business expenses on your credit cards. When that stops don't put any charges on your cards. Pay for what you need with only the cash you have. Watch what you spend. Every penny needs to have a purpose and when you have an extra one put it on the debt you have. You might want to find extra income from part time work or other sources. If you have savings bonds or a bank account with money that you are holding onto for some reason put that on your debt. Call the credit card companies and ask to have your interest rate dropped. Many will if you have a good payment history with them. Pay on your highest interest rate cards first. They are the ones that take more money from you. This is where all your extra money should go. Now some questionable advice on the cards. I had way more debt than you with less income and this is working for me. This is why you want to keep a good credit rating. Get one to a zero balance. When I did this they gave me an offer of a balance transfer at ZERO%. I jumped on it and used it to pay other card debt to a zero balance. Now I have no interest on one card and 0% on the other debt. Once this happened the now, second card with no balance did the same. Currently I am paying no interest on any credit cards and every payment goes against my balance. When I pay a $100, $100 comes off my debt. This is questionable because it keeps you using credit cards for debt. You do need to get away from them and presently I only have one card in my wallet the rest have been removed but not cancelled. Part of your credit rating is based on debt to available credit. My debt was the result of bad spending in the time of a family death and some other issues that already created financial problems. I did not plan well when things weren't optimal. Good luck. It can be done.
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How do I open a credit card/bank account? Would it be possible to hide it from my family? (BiH)
I’m a 20 year old woman. This might be the stupidest question ever, but I’ve never known much about personal finance because my parents never taught me much about it and I didn’t learn about it in high school either. I’m not allowed to go to a university so I’ve lived at home for the past two years. I understand that it might be different everywhere, but what are the basic steps to setting up a credit card account? What personal documents would I need? Would any of my family members be alerted about it? These are my main concerns. Please don’t offer advice on my personal situation, like telling me things will be better or that I’m too young to make a decision like this. My family is strict, abusive and refuses to let me advance in life. Thank you for understanding.
Please don’t offer advice on my personal situation, like telling me things will be better or that I’m too young to make a decision like this. I am pretty sure everyone here thinks the exact opposite: Your family is abusive, and your father is locking your documents in a place you have no access to, which is illegal. It doesn't sound like the kind of situation that gets better with time, things may well get worse. You need to get out of there as soon as possible. Take all measures necessary to get your freedom. Consider contacting a women's shelter if possible in your area, and going to the police to denounce the theft of your documents and get a new copy. Please be careful.
Your family will not be alerted that you opened an account. However, you're likely to receive stuff in the mail. Bills/statements can be paperless but this is often opt-in. You may receive a physical copy of account details or card terms in the mail as well. And if you open a credit card or a checking account, they will almost certainly mail you a credit/debit card rather than giving it to you at the bank, because it takes a bit to process/issue the card. And you'll almost certainly start receiving junk mail if you get a credit card. Look into a PO box or similar for you to put down on forms. As for actually opening the account, research banks and credit unions in your area. Most of them will have some sort of free checking account as long as you fulfill some requirement (minimum balance, having a savings account with the same bank, and setting up direct deposit from a job are common ones) so pick one that you'll be able to easily meet the requirements for. Do not choose one at the place where your family members bank. Go to the bank with some money (some require a minimum deposit to open the account, so research that too) and tell them you'd like to open an account. Bring your ID with you. I've never needed to have mail sent anywhere but my home, but I think you just need to provide a mailing address, not necessarily your place of residence. But make sure to ask if you aren't sure. As for credit cards, I'm not sure if you can have a credit card without a bank because idk how else you pay your bills. A money order, maybe? Typically you'll pay your balance online or over the phone with a direct transfer from your checking account, but you can also mail checks.. but those also require having a checking account. You certainly can't just shove cash in an envelope and mail it. Anyway, start with a checking account. Learn to manage your finances a bit with that alone. The worst that can happen with a checking account is overdraft fees - you can't go into debt by spending money you don't have, but you can do that with a credit card.
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PSA: Always keep you gym contract (and contracts in general).
I called my gym to cancel my membership. The manager stated I could not cancel until May because it was a 1 year contract. I'm staring at my contract and it was for 6 months (started in March) and then month to month after that. She tells me to bring it in and show her. So I sit across from her and she says "oh no problem just sign this termination contract and in 30 days you will be cancelled." I stare at my paper contract some more and nowhere do I see anything about 30 days notice for cancelling my membership. This would cause me to pay for another month I'm not going to use. I ask her to show me where I agreed to a 30 day notice. She reads the entire contract and can't find it. She tells me to call the regional office manager because they make up the contracts, I decline the offer and tell her to call the regional manager on my behalf. Regional manager says "oh yes, we are in the process of rewriting the contracts, the cancellation policy isn't clear in the initial contract." I tell them both that they will honor the contract I have signed and I will not be paying for another month or signing anymore paperwork. If I had not kept that original paper contract, I would be on the hook for roughly $200. Everything about the terms of my agreement in their computer system was incorrect. TL;DR: Keep everything you sign.
Keep signed documents. Keep legal documents. USA.gov has a [guideline]( for how long to keep other household documents as well. Be sure to keep car service records, house service records, and other documents if you plan on selling any time soon. I also suggest using some kind of repository, like Evernote or Dropbox (or equivalent).
Good on ya. This really goes for a lot of things. I had two debt agencies try to collect on a debt 5 years after I had paid it all off. Had I not kept good records, I'd be screwed. I also had Bank of America send me to collections for a credit card I paid off. The reason was that they merged with HSBC and changed my account numbers so my payment applied to a now closed account at the same time the balance of that account transferred to my new numbers. It took 11 months and lots of proof on my end to fix. Now I keep records like that in both paper and scanned electronic form.
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My aunt asked me to co-sign with her on a house because she has bad credit?
As the title says my aunt, who is her 30's, asked me to co-sign on a house with her. She is currently living in Western New York and after living there for about 20 plus years she has decided that it is time to come back home and move close to her family, all her sisters, brothers, cousins. She says her credit is not that well so she can't get a house on her own and would like me to co-sign and after a couple of years I can choose to sell her my portion and she would give me an agreed upon amount. She is currently selling her old house and says she will be getting some money from that and also has some money in her savings for the down payment on the house, for repairs or any other money she may need. I am hesitant right now to do that as i am still living at home, paying off some credit cards, student loans, hospital bills, and also provide my mom with money for rent, food and any other things she may need from me. I haven't checked my credit score in a while but it is in good standing. Is this something I should consider doing? Would it help me when I consider buying a house for myself?
You really should not do this. Your aunt will figure it out on her own. Tell her sorry, you can't co-sign, and let that be the end of it. Read all the horror stories on PF related to this:
why is she asking you and not her sisters or brothers??? you already have alot of debt - you will never be able to get a mortgage of your own down the road if you co-sign and add to your debt load.
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Does anyone have a compilation of 2000-2002 or 2007-2009 financial news coverage?
Hello everybody, I'd like to experience what it was like to watch the news before, during and after these recessions. Do any of you know of any such compilations? Thanks in advance :)
Kinda tangential, but, here is my attempt at a play by play around that time. Take the 2008 crash for example. SPY was at 142 in May '08 and proceeded to fall to 123 (-13%) by July '08 (couple of months) Then, it went UP to 130 in a month, a 6% jump. (was the worst over?, should I buy?, did I miss the boat already?) SPY then dropped 32% in a couple of months to 88 in Oct '08. (Great! I found the bottom! Let me pull the trigger and buy now!) You feel great as you contemplate your yatch models as you see it rising to 96 by the end of October. When, suddenly, it falls to 79 (drop of 10% from 88) in Nov '08. You are panicking now and losing the last two strands of your hair. Your wife is pissed because you used all your savings in Oct to buy at 88. Luckily, you are paralyzed by fear and analysis and don't know what to do next and spend the next few months biting what remains of your nails. In march '09, the SPY hits $69 (a drop of 21% from your purchase price of 88 which itself was a 32% drop from $130) You decide that the stock market is not for you and decide to recoup your losses and sell. You are immediately promoted to become the mod of [/r/wallstreetbets]( All this while homes are being foreclosed, companies are declaring bankruptcy. Layoffs are being announced everywhere including the bay area. Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Dell, Cisco, IBM, and later on Intel all laid off thousands of people. [
Magazine archives of the major weeklies or monthlies may be a good source. Barrons, The Economist, Forbes might be places to look. Many larger libraries keep archives. Some have them in digital format. Not sure what a person will do with all this. You are talking about hundreds of relevant articles, perhaps thousands of hours to go through them in a systematic fashion. To what end? If a person just wants a taste, sample the cover stories from the time periods.
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Thinking about buying land. What's the best way to pay for it?
My wife and I are looking at a lot that we could one day put our future home on. The owners are friends of the family and are taking a pretty good loss on it to move on. They had originally planned to build there but for personal reasons are now unable to do so. My question is, how would you pay for the land? We can afford to put about 30-40% down comfortably... maybe more but I don't want to get in to our 6 month emergency fund or stocks/ira. Thanks in advance PF!
I have purchased several tracts of land and I built my house on one (by myself) so I am 100% in favor of this type of thing. Land loans from the bank are pricey, so outright purchase will save you a lot of interest. I would put down as much as you can comfortably afford to minimize interest and keep payments low. But keep a few thousand aside to start land improvements ASAP. Now some tips if you want to build a house on it: Start ASAP. I have seen many of the pieces of land around me purchased by people who plan to build a house and then a few years later life gets away from them and they never do it. Then the land is up for sale again, much like the people YOU are buying from. I can't tell you how many people I run into, of all ages, who say "my dream is to someday buy land and build a house" but they never achieve this dream. Build a small cabin by yourself at first. This gives you a place to stay on weekends, and you may decide it's all the house you need for a while. I built a little cabin myself in about 6 months of weekends. You will need a small septic system and probably a well and electricity. These things are not cheap, but you can shop around and get bids. The bids I got for my first septic system (the others I did myself after I watched how it was done, simple really) ranged from $3500 to $15000. I took the cheapest one and it works great. There are also some small cabin solar power kits out there which are cheaper than the power hookup fees in some areas. Plan your cabin and home locations carefully. Use prevailing winds and sun information to make it as efficient as possible. It's over 90 degrees out today but my windows catch a good crosswind and I am comfortable inside the house with no a/c. Don't worry too much about it not being perfect. I can see hundreds of mistakes in my cabins, but other people rarely see any.
are taking a pretty good loss on it to move on. Dunno the details, but question the context of this. Many people bought land in the bubble, and because it may correcting, don't let this influence your decision. Market value is market value. One of the negatives of real estate is it's lack of liquidity. That being said, I'm really attracted to real estate as an investment, it seems so much more self-determining than being part owner of a company, which is what the stock market essentially is.
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My best friend's joint bank account was garnished for past medical bills belonging to her husband.
They took $5,185 from the account, putting them at a balance of -4979.74. They weren't married at the time that he got these medical bills. So not only is his money being garnished, her's is as well. These bills were from 5 years ago and they've been married for just over a year. Is this a normal course of action to be taken? And if not what can she do about it? They have two kids so any advice at this point would be super helpful!!
Is this a normal course of action to be taken? And if not what can she do about it? Yes, it's a joint bank account so the creditor can garnish it if the creditor has a judgment against one of the joint owners (court order). If they can't repay $5000 right now, they should stop using that bank account and open an account somewhere else to pay their bills. Then talk to the first bank about paying off the debt (negative balance).
All assets are joint and all debts are joint upon marriage. Usually they move for garnishing wages first, so it seems to me that he's be dodging this bill for a long time. I advise to contact their bank to beg for mercy before they get slammed with overdraft fees.
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Is The Fed Creating a Bubble?
Taking the example of Real Estate in my area, due to cheap financing, property prices are going through the roof. Rent prices are skyrocketing as more people cant afford to Buy creating a high demand of rentals. Even people who want to sell have nowhere to go as everything is expensive. The biggest problem though are builders who taking advantage of market and selling small homes at top dollars. These people who are Buying wont be able to sell anytime soon. Thoughts?
Yes. Dotcom & 2008 were also central bank based/heavily influenced. Except this time all asset classes are expensive at the same time (stocks, bonds and real estate). Previously it was one at a time. "The Everything Bubble".
Yeah. I noticed my house value is even higher than I think it was during the real estate boom (I didn't live here back then so I'm not sure). Don't be upset at the builders though. Them building more houses is the one and only thing bringing pricing pressure on housing down. It's too bad we don't have more builders "Taking advantage of market and selling small homes at top dollars" but unfortunately, many of the smaller builders are mom and pop operations that went bust during the real estate crash.
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Has anyone here ever purchased a church for the purpose of it being a home?
Hey! I hope this fits within the realm of this sub. A few years back I was introduced to the idea of purchasing a church for residential use. I've always been super fond of the idea of a nice stone church being renovated into a home. I've recently stumbled upon listings and noticed how incredibly cheap church property actually is. We're talking 350k for a huge church, parking lot, living quarters with 4-6 or more bedrooms, etc. I have my reservations of course. I can only imagine the maintenance​ costs of keeping up with a church built early 1900s. Plus i don't know if there are additional taxes and costs that come with the purchase or owning of a " special use building/property" What are your thoughts? Do you think I'll be dishing out way more funds than what it's worth? Would you recommend avoiding this sort of purchase. I'll include (if allowed of course) a link to some example listings I was looking at when I get back to my desk.
There are several churches in my general area that have been decommissioned and converted to private residences, and one a bit further out that has been converted into a convention hall. While the property is potentially inexpensive, I think you're going to end up spending a lot more in conversion costs than you might expect. There are ways around the window issue another poster mentioned, but heating it will be insane. The ductwork that's already installed was done with a completely different air flow in mind than what you'll end up with, so you might even end up with an undersized system for your planned layout. I get the esthetic appeal, but make sure you account for all potential costs and not just the initial purchase price.
In my experience in the church world, a lot of church properties are not maintained well. This is especially true in denominations and polities where pastors are cycled through every few years. Very large restoration and maintenance costs are put off due to a NIMTOO attitudes. I have seen multiple buildings that look good but had huge issues, such as plumbing, foundations, or rampant termites. Definitely go above and beyond on the due diligence with inspections and whatnot.
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Financial planner and team advised me to invest in a $200k life insurance policy?
Last year I (24f) inherited a significant amount of money that has changed my overall perception of finances to say the least. I have had a financial advisor with a mutual company for a while who is a family friend, who I trust, and obviously I kind of looked to him and his team for guidance because I’ll be the first to say I don’t know a lot about money decisions. A few weeks ago, he and his partner advised me to invest in a $200k permanent life insurance policy. Trusting that they were advising me on what was the best choice, I agreed, and paid the $2300.00 annual premium for this year. Earlier this week, I had an advising appointment with a CPA, who I’m planning to work with on creating a trust for my assets. I mentioned in our conversation that I had purchased this policy, and he said he wasn’t sure why anyone would advise someone who is 24 and healthy to invest in such a policy. I’m mostly wondering if this kind of policy is worth having, and if this really was the best move these advisors could have suggested for me. They explained having this kind of policy to be like “buying a house instead of renting an apartment.” Looking for opinions here because I’ve really appreciated browsing this community the last few months and I could use some unbiased feedback. I can provide additional information if I left anything out. Thank you in advance! EDIT: The CPA was doing a comprehensive evaluation of my current situation, not planning the trust for me. I have an attorney who I would go through to actually write and establish the trust. My wording did not explain that well!
There is no reason for a single, 24 year old female, who has no dependents to buy life insurance. Who would the money go to? Whole life insurance can sometimes have tax benefits, but this is not that kind of situation. The truth is that whole life insurance policies make a lot of money for the people selling them and typically offer a smaller return to investing the money in the market. Your CPA knows what he’s talking about.
So I have one but I pay 200 a month for it since I got it when I was 26, and it’s the type where it gives money back. I still don’t know whether or not it’s a good thing to hold onto or not since I’ll likely be needing something like this in the future
FinancialPlanning
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There's no guarantee you'll be alive tomorrow, let alone in 40 years. What's your motivation to save v. "live life fully" now?
I find endless opportunities for me to save more money. In fact, I know where I'd spend another few thousand each year if I had access to the funds: Fully Fund Roth IRA (self, at $1k/yr now) Fully Fund Roth IRA (spouse, at $1k/yr now) Fully Fund 529 (Kid 1, at $1k/yr now) Fully Fund 529 (Kid 2, at $1k/yr now) Pay extra against mortgage Contribute more to 401k (currently only enough to get employer match) In just the IRA's and 529's it'd take another $16k of post-tax income I just don't have to feel like I'm doing the bare minimum to save for these events (retirement/college for kids). How do you stay motivated to tuck every dollar away? It'd be so much easier (read: more enjoyable) to drop those bills on home improvements and personal projects than to push them into electronic bank accounts for some indeterminate and unknowable future.
Motivation to save? The same as my motivation for ALMOST ANY CHOICE EVER. Do some rough expected value calculations. You have maybe a 95% chance of living to retirement. Everything you save now is going to keep you from being miserable in your old age. To me, (misery of being broke and old)(chance of living to be old) is larger than (joy of doing a personal project)(chance of seeing personal project through to completion). You give some up now so you won't have to give up even more later. Disclaimer: 95% number pulled completely out of my ass.
I happily spend money on items today that provide more utility now than the future lost utility/freedom due to spending the money. But I weigh those decisions carefully. For example, kids are cute, but they cost around $400K each including college, and I'd rather have the savings/freedom, so I don't have kids.
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Is buying a condo a terrible idea for me?
Hello PF! I'm 25 and looking for a new place to live for the first time, so I don't know exactly what I should be thinking about here. Let's start with the vitals: I have zero debt of any kind, I have no expensive habits (I don't smoke, I rarely drink and I don't go out very often) and my current salary is $29k with a raise of 4-5k likely in the very near future. I have about $14k in the bank right now and no impending expenses that I can see. I'm eyeing a condo that costs $75k and as far as I can tell there's no reason that should be a problem for me, but this is a first for me so I'm hoping those of you with more experience in this arena can help me out. Some of the questions I have so far: Can I get away with a 10% down payment or is that going to be too low? What's the ideal number here for balancing what I can afford to put down now versus what's going to keep my mortgage from being absurd? I know there's HOA fees, utilities to consider, closing costs and so on. Can anyone give me a rough idea of how much money we're talking about here (specifically the HOA/closing, I know what the utilities will cost me) and are there other things I should be concerned about or planning for? I'm going to set up an appointment to go look at this condo in the near future, what kind of questions should I be asking and what should I be looking for while I'm there? If you need more information, just ask!
Condo owner here: If I could do it all over again, I'd rather buy a small piece of land and live in a house. Here's why: I want a garden. I want to blast music at high volumes. I want to jog on my treadmill instead of walk. I want a big dog. If an appliance leaks, I want to just fix the thing and then forget about it - instead of having to go make sure everyone elses stuff is okay. I don't like association meetings. My dues could be going toward paying my place off. Mostly though, I want to have a garden. Without asking anyone if it's okay. Maybe get some chickens too. I already do it at my girlfiend's house, and the work/reward ratio is incredible.
A condo is all of the cons of owning a house (risk, cost, illiquidity) with none of the pros (privacy, complete ownership, control over what you want to do, flexibility). I would almost never advice buying a condo to anybody. If you're just too lazy to do yardwork, find a house that is cheap enough that you can factor in payments to a landscaping company to keep it up. Or rent an apartment.
personalfinance
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All in on apple puts
I see this being the top, thinking about getting in on some puts for beginning of jan. Whats everyone thinking?
I never understand why dumbasses think that “a stock is up too much, time to short it”. Do you not understand the BILLIONS of dollars someone can dump into this stock and keep buying it for the next couple months. As a retail traders it’s important to understand that your job isn’t to set the tone of the market or to force the direction of the market. Your job is to let the big fish setup the trade and ride on their back.
Based on technicals it's worth the move, depending on the amount of risk and your time frame. Based on fundamental, and trading like "parrots" which all these retards are trading on.. it's a risky move. Goodluck
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Daughter has asked me to co-sign a apartment lease for her and boyfriend
I've already read the advise against co-signing in this forum, but I'm having emotional feelings about my current situation and need some objective advice. so here's the situation. My daughter who just turned 19 has been with her 25 year old boyfriend now for a year. she is twitterpated beyond reason, and believes that he is the one. It is her first serious boyfriend. I just got a new job and I will be relocating 3 hours North. she wants to move in with her boyfriend, and stay in her current location as she has a couple of minimum-wage jobs and is going to school although she has already informed me that she will be dropping school to work. they have been looking for apartments to move into together, and because they both do not have any credit history rental history or verifiable income, plus she's under 21, they are not getting anyone to want to rent to them. So now the next step that they're asking me is to co-sign. I know this is a bad idea, and I'm not super fond of the boyfriend, but because of my new work situation having to move out of the area I am wondering if I'm leaving my daughter in the lurch. We have off her to put her on campus at her University and move her into a dorm, but she doesn't want that she wants to be with her boyfriend 24/7. Thoughts? I know the answer here, but need some objective advice. ETA: well holy forking shirt balls, did this ever blow up. thank you so much to everyone who contributed your precious time on a Sunday to give me some great thoughts on this somewhat awkward and painful situation. I really appreciate appreciate the time and effort that you so many of you put into your answers, and I absolutely 100% appreciate the fact that you were kind enough to give me information that has helped me stick to my guns on this decision. I will come back an update if there's any updates to be had, but again thank you so much.
The answer is no. Also, he's 25 and has no verifiable income? Sounds like a real winner. You've offered her a completely reasonable solution: if she wants to make bad choices, she can do it on her own dime.
Not really advice, but he is 25 and doesn't have credit?! What's he been doing the last 7 years. I'm the same age with a 780. Sure I was intentionally working toward it, but even by chance you'd think he'd have a credit card or a car loan by this point to have some kind of credit.
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Share your personal ‘tricks’: What things do you do near year's end to improve your tax situation?
What about throughout the entire year? Any creative changes to earnings or expenses? Please share!
Is it close enough to call it year's end now? We're going to the hospital to have a baby tomorrow, which will substantially improve my tax situation:) I do my tax planning mostly at the other end of the year--adjusting my W4 and whatnot so that I'll have paid exactly when I owed the previous tax year. As long as you have last year's amount deducted from payroll, you won't get a fine, even if you under pay. So no giving Uncle Sam a 0% loan like my co-workers (but no windfall in April, either). On years when I do get a refund (like I probably will this year) I file taxes as soon as I get the last 1099.
I just got married! Also I just bought an EV, so I'll be getting back a federal tax credit. Probably not a couple of things you can just jump in to.
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Two friends buy the same home at the same price, one takes 30-yr loan, the other (me) takes a 15-yr loan. Who made the better call?
Hi, I'm new here. So a new bank came to my city and made a big splash announcing better mortgage rates. Already had my home but I hated my bank and my 30 year loan which never seemed to go down. I switched banks and opted for a 15 year loan. At the same time, my friend decided to buy an identical home a few houses away, and got a loan at the same new bank, but asked for a 30 year loan. I'm happy with the deal I got. It feels good to see my bank statement, and see the principal going down. But my friend claims he got the better deal, because he got a lower monthly payment, and can make an advance on the principal at the time he chooses (I can too). So, what do you think? EDIT: Wow, so many good responses! this is a great community. Note that I didn't mean it as a "who won?", I presented it as a thought exercise, based on something real that happened to me. The consensus seems to be that a 30 year loan is better deal, even if you will end up paying more in interest at the end of the 30 years, because the lower monthly payment frees you up to invest the difference and come out ahead. So treat it basically as a low interest loan. Now, something that hasn't been mentioned is that I could refinance! 5 years have passed. So, considering that the property has gone up in value, and that I haven't missed any payment, I could potentially get a different loan. Then follow the advice here and invest the difference.
As with most comparisons, it entirely depends on what each of you does with the difference, and what happens along the way. If a severe financial emergency like an extended job loss should come up, he's probably better off with the lower monthly payment. If you both pay the mortgages as if they were 15 years and there's no emergency, you win because (I assume) you got a lower interest rate. If he instead invests the difference in your payments, it gets more dependent on what happens in the stock market, and your friend comes out ahead on average but also takes on more risk. If he just expands his lifestyle to consume more with the extra and doesn't really save it, you win due to the forced savings.
Bought a house in April. We opted for a 30-year-loan, but we do 50% of the mortgage payment every 2 weeks, which amounts to one extra payment per year. Our broker said the loan will be done in 22 years at that rate. So we kind of split the baby as best we could on the 15 v. 30 question.
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Keep renting, or buy?
My husband and I are both (enlisted) military, about four years from retirement. We hope this is our final duty station (El Paso, TX) as my husband is obligated to a specific assignment until Aug 2019. (He must retire by the end of May, 2021; he's not allowed to stay past 30 years) We're starting the networking process for post-military employment; Fort Bliss is a strong contender, but so is Fort Bragg, NC. We currently live on post and are renting a 3br/2.5ba house for $1563, which includes electric and water. We are across the street from my husband's unit, and 3 miles from mine. For no reason whatsoever, I ended up browsing the real estate ads, and was wondering if it would make sense to buy. I'm looking at a 3br/2ba house about 11 miles away for $169,500. We have more than enough in a taxable investment account to cover 20% down, closing costs, and a cross-town move. The estimated mortgage (including insurance and property tax) is $1209, with estimated utilities of $136. (Built in 2008, so it's possible - it's also only the two of us, no kids) But wait, there's more. I own a paid off house at Fort Bragg. It has not appreciated since I bought it, and likely will not, but it has remained rented all but two months since February 2014. After management fees, it brings in $800/month. I could sell it and realize just over $100k, or continue to rent it out, with the possibility of moving in if we got jobs there in 2021. Current income: $170k, with another $10k in rental income. Current debt: a single $300 car payment, phones, cable, etc. No student loan or credit card debt. I know we could swing buying another house, but is it a smart thing to do? Build a bit of equity and perhaps appreciation in a growing city, or stay renting and value mobility? I know I'm overthinking this.
We hope this is our final duty station hope hope I wouldn't buy a house without being certain that this is where you will stay. If you get unexpectedly transferred, what then? You'll lose so much money in a short sale
As SNCOs that close to retirement with some POGgy MOS you guys should be pretty set even if something kicks off. Given that you're wanting to stay put after your retirement but have a lot of able bodied career time in you afterwards, I'd say your proposed plan is pretty good. Nothing is a guarantee, either way.
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best vanguard for diversification
I have about 30 years before i retire. I have money in VOO and looking for other options to diversify but still some risk. What are other ETFs that I should look to invest in?
This /r/investing/ subreddit generally will tell you to switch from VOO to VTI, so you include the entire US market and not just the large caps. This is a great piece of advice, but my take is a bit different (and performs much better). You could begin by adding a small caps fund (Ticker VB), and an international developed fund (VEA) and international small cap too (VSS). Add REITs (VNQ) and international REITs (VNQI) if you want. I also invest in emerging markets like Russia, China, India, and Brazil. Vanguard's Emerging Market Index fund makes that easy too (VWO). All in all, pick the right combination that is good for your situation and risk tolerance. All of these funds have almost zero crossover, so feel free (generally) to mix and match. Then at the end of each year rebalance back to your base allocation. If you go to a backtester tool like you'll see that a portfolio equally divided among the above funds (VOO,VB,VEA,VSS,VNQ,VWO) vs. just VOO will perform TWICE as well (since 1972). Twice! If any of that doesn't make sense to you, read books like A Wealth of Common Sense by Ben Carlson.
The best way to increase diversification depends on the strength of your investment views and on the amount of time you want to spend monitoring your portfolio. If you don't have strong views, don't want to have to worry about rebalancing, and aren't wedded to ETFs vs funds, the [LifeStrategy funds]( provide broadly diversified exposure to world stocks and bonds, and rebalance themselves. If you have stronger views--maybe you want to avoid long-term government bonds or you want to go overweight in small caps--a basket of the narrower ETFs suggested by others could work well, provided you're happy to spend a little more time monitoring your portfolio.
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Help with a settlement for my 5 year-old daughter.
My 5 year-old daughter is receiving a settlement for an injury she suffered not too long ago. I can't provide specific numbers for fear of violating a confidentiality clause, but I think just some general advice would help out a lot. Basically, her trust will be divided between an annuity with a fixed rate of return of around 3%, and a special needs trust to be invested as a trustee and I see fit. We were ready to set all of this up when I learned that any of the trustees that I wanted to work with required a higher minimum amount in the trust. Also, many trustees and financial advisors I spoke to told me that now is not a great time to get locked into an annuity. We will not be able to shut down the annuity at this point, but I am faced with the choice of moving money from the fixed rate non-taxable annuity account to a variable and taxable special needs trust to facilitate using a preferred trustee. If I move the funds from the annuity, the rate decreases, but not by much. It will still be about 3%. As a hypothetical, I'd like to assume that the amount in consideration is about $60,000 to $80,000. We are hopeful that the money in the trust will be able to be invested as a long term investment (10-20 years) without having to draw on it for any needs my daughter might have. The annuity is set to start paying out within a similar time period. Should I move the money to the trust and hope that the investment surpasses the fixed and guaranteed income from the annuity? Even with the tax considerations? I would like to make the best possible choice for my daughter, understanding that making any investment comes with risk. Any insight from this group would be greatly appreciated.
Ask your financial advisor if they are a fiduciary. If they're not, do not trust that person with your money. The reason for that is that a "financial advisor" does not have to act in your best interest, but a "fiduciary" does.
IME the vast majority of settlements are a combination of an annuity and then a smaller lump sum. This hasn't changed in the last few decades. Judges like annuities because it guarantees the kid's trustees won't lose the money in "risky" investments. (It's just the risk-averse nature of the courts - not anything personal to you or any other recipients.) Since you likely won't be able to touch this money unless it's for medical needs for your daughter the basic index fund advice generally given is probably fine. That's if you're allowed to invest in an index fund. Remember the judge will have to approve anywhere you put the money (going off the $60-80K numbers) and anything that appears "exotic" to a judge who likely doesn't have an investment background will need a thorough explanation. Finally, the "income" from the annuity is often re-invested in the trust and not available. (This is in situations where a child is injured temporarily and will fully recover from injuries. In situations where there is a permanent disabling injury the settlement is structured differently.)
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Great uncle just turned 81 and has outlived his life insurance policy for the second time; he needs a new policy and has solicited my help, however I need help.
He outlived his Term Life policy the first time at 75 and then again at 80. He is now looking for a new policy and has asked for my help, however I have no clue what I’m doing or what anything means. Could someone please shed some light on what the best company and policy is for his age and limited income (he has not yet retired and currently drives the shuttle for a hotel)? I requested a quote through Colonial Life and the results completely confused me, even after some Googling of terms [Life Insurance Quote]( Thank you! TL;DR Understanding and acquiring the right life insurance policy for an 81 year old male in Maryland. EDIT: Thanks to those that reached out, I realized I should have mentioned that the reason a man of his age his looking for life insurance is to prepare for burial costs when the time comes. Just trying to understand what makes sense for someone older with minimal savings; thank you!
He can contact a funeral director for a prepaid burial plan, and set up payments. Burials are extremely profitable for funeral directors, especially prepaid, so they’ll do everything they can to work with him. For many folks of that generation burials are very important, and if that’s what he wants to spend his money on so be it. If he’s a US veteran, he can access a plot at a military cemetery and have a military funeral, which is economical and quite nice as such things go - very solemn and respectful. If he’s more flexible, you can find economical options such as cremation or green burials. Look in the wiki for end of life planning for more info. These can be prepaid as well, or he can set up a savings account specifically for this purpose. Without a will, his heirs decide on burial plans. So if it iS important to him, he needs to draft a will. Life insurance is not an appropriate option for someone of that age with these kind of plans.
I didn't see it mentioned yet, but it is often bought up that donating your body to science is usually free and when they're done, they'll cremate you and return it to next of kin. People have different feelings on this though - the thought of being in a med student class studying the stages of body decomposition gives me the creeps.
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When you ask for opinions or advice include your state or country.
Every single state has different real estate contracts and laws. There's a lot of misinformation being told and spread because of this. There's a lot of pontification going on and not a whole lot of meaningful opinions being presented because of this.
This happens. All. The. Time. People will come in here talking about things like the attorney review period, permit packet, transfer taxes, homestead exemption, etc. - all sorts of issues that are not applicable in all areas. And many come in with questions that are very specific to their market, i.e. "How much is it going to cost me to build on this piece of land" and no one here is going to able to answer that. When I have clients coming in from out of the area or those that have been doing a ton of internet research, they routinely want to go to battle over something that simply is not the way it is done here.
It’s so frustrating, but most people are completely oblivious to why it matters. And it’s Reddit, so who wants to name their location? But I’d absolutely be in favor of having a rule. It would save SO much time.
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fckw42y
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1,586,384,133
null
2
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i__cant__even__
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fcmcys7
1,577,770,893
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Should I buy a 177k house? Details inside
Hello first time post. I'm trying to get some help deciding if I should by / if I can afford to get a mortgage for 177k home. The seller is offering 5k in commissions to help with closing costs. I have enough cash to cover the 3.5% down payment. But now I'm looking at having to get PMI. Is there a way to avoid that without putting 20% down? My debts are: Student loans 40k federal and 15k private Car loan zero interest 20k My monthly payments are 480 federal loan 220 private loan Car plus insurance at 420+180 Health insurance at 200/month and gas/food/misc at around 400/month. I make 30/hour before tax and take home after taxes around 1800 each paycheck (2 week pay periods) I live with my girlfriend of 7 years in an apartment currently renting at 1000/month. We split all costs 50/50 even though she makes 17/hour as we are with rent and utilities I can afford to save each month but now that we want to buy this house in a very good neighborhood that has been fully updated and renovated it would be a good investment for us I believe. However, monthly payment goes up to 1200 a month and that doesn't include emergency costs / things that come up that I'd be unaware of Sorry if this is a dumb post I'm just really nervous this is first time buying a house and I don't want to screw myself over financially. Any advice would be wonderful Thanks.
You will have to pay PMI with such a low down payment. Do you have a healthy emergency fund/6 months of expenses? That should be priority 1, IMO. You have a decent amount of debt, and it seems like it would be difficult to make the mortgage payment should your girlfriend be unable to contribute (or if you break up). Additionally, if you lost your job or were unable to work, it doesn't sound like your girlfriend makes enough money to cover all of your bills, which would put you in a very bad spot. Keep in mind that any house can/will need (often unexpected) repairs; what if the furnace breaks in the middle of winter and you need a new $10K unit? There will always be other houses that are "good investments" later down the road when you are in a more solid financial position. While you could likely qualify for a mortgage, you should probably focus on paying down some of your debts first, and then start saving for a larger down payment. Best of luck with whatever you decide!
Check with your local credit union and see what their options are for first-time home buyers with good credit. I only had 5% down for my house, and a good credit score so my bank tweaked my mortgage a tad, breaking it up into a 80/15/5 ratio to avoid PMI. This reduced my rate over $100/month. The last thing you would want is to be 'House-broke' but if you can swing this option, I would say make a move on the house!
RealEstate
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[deleted]
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roboticbobwhite
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cw81aok
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FuzzyIndianBoy
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cw886r8
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null
17 year old with $2500 to my name. Is there anything I can be doing with my money?
I’m a High School student, 17 years old, and I have a little over $2500 in my bank account. It just sits there, I’m not spending it or anything. Is there anything I can do at my age with this money? Can I invest in anything? Or should I just let it stay in my bank account?
Put it in a high interest (~1.85%) savings account and keep it available and secure while you finish high school and prepare for the next step in your life. Regardless of what path you choose, you're going to need at least $2500 for expenses and/or emergency fund.
The best thing to do is probably stick it in a savings account and earn a little interest but still have access to it. This is going to be a drop in a bucket once you finish school and you're on your own and you're going to need everything you can get. By the same token.... this is only a drop in that bucket. You could probably put it in a Roth IRA and not miss it. If you're going to college and your parents have you covered you don't really have a lot in the way of bills to cover. The Roth does allow for an early distribution for the purchase of your first home, too, so it's not tucked away beyond your reach forever, either. Even if it's only a trickle for now, it's not a bad thing to get the account set up now and let that trickle begin. Just be sure to keep contribution limits in mind.
personalfinance
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Hakan1218
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OttomanKitty
null
e9lqlzi
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tooboredtostayaway
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e9mekbh
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First time credit card user, need suggestions on GameStop credit card?
So yes, I am 18, and my primary reasoning for getting the store credit card is to buy an XBox One, but I am somewhat knowledgable and know not to over use. I already have about half of the money in cash ready to buy the XBox, but if I spend $500 in the store with the card then I have 6 months to pay it off. Realistically I will be able to pay it off in 1-2 months, far before the 6. With an interest rate of about 26%, will I have to pay interest if I pay it off before the 6 months? Not trying to tank my credit score at a young age but I do want to take advantage of a good opportunity and begin to build my score up. Thanks for any and all help!
Really, personally, I don't think this is a good deal. I mean, it's not like you can use that card for stuff you really need while building credit - game stop is essentially a toy store. To me, personally, it makes a lot more sense to get a Walmart store card (or similar) - you can buy anything from groceries to tires for your car on it and build credit at the same time. Maybe I'm just becoming crotchety in my old age. Get off my lawn.
Get whatever credit card you want no mater what the APR is. There are some really great cards with wonderful reward points. Some have a high interest rate and most do to be fair. I have a capital one card that rewards me with games or many Sony products. I spend enough money monthly that I can score a full $60 game every 2 months. My bills are probably higher than someone like you though. The best part is that these are my bills, I'm not going out and buying more toys to gain points. The money I charge on my credit card are things I would have paid for anyways. I do however have a credit card that has a lower interest rate than my Playstation Credit card by capital one. I use that for the things I will pay in payments. Anyways just save up more money, which you said was just 2 more months. Put the Xbox on your credit card of choice and pay it right away.
personalfinance
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wut_r_reddit
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michikade
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chris1neji
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For a sub that acts like it's level-headed and reasonable, it feels incredibly emotional.
A few months ago, when the markets were going up, people mentioning that maybe after 10 years of bull market a bear market might become more likely, they were shut up and being told the usual stuff, time in the market beats timing the market, there is no reason to think there will be a downturn, etc. etc. Now that stocks are down 10-15% literally everybody seems to be convinced that there will be a 2008-like recession. Why? It could just be like in 2011 or 2016, when we went down around 15-20% max and then up. Why doesn't anyone seem to even consider this scenario that is at least as likely? In reality, the sub really reacts like a typical emotional investor. When the market is up, everybody's convinced it will go up, when it's down, everybody's convinced it will go down. It was the same thing in the smaller dips during the year, people were also being convinced we were heading towards a recession for a few days—except it was more short-lived. Honestly, we have no idea if the market will be 20% up or 20% down in a few months. Nobody can predict that. So why don't people try to consider all scenarios?
Vocal minority. Those who have been in the game a while likely don’t feel the need to say anything as this is all fairly normal to them so it seems skewed. That said if I’m 24 and just threw $10k in the market for the first time and it’s down 20% that can be a shock to the system.
I bet if people stopped checking Reddit all the time this "crash" wouldn't seem that bad. Information availability, I think, is causing people to think that everyone else is freaking out a ton. Of course there's going to be more people complaining about the market and worrying after it's down 20% vs before when it was up. We're just now getting back to where we were 1.5 to 2 years ago on the S&P...during the 2007-2009 crisis the S&P bottomed around 740 around Feb 2009...you would have had to go back to December 1996 since that level had last been seen.
investing
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loulan
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t3_a95fls
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Farrison_Horde
null
ecgjv40
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UnoDeag1337
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echqgs3
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Nvda Pullback enough to Get in?
Nvda down to $187 pre market this morning, I just opened up a Roth IRA account, and deposited this years limit of $5500 dollars... Is this drop in NVDA enough to get in for 29 shares right now?
I think investors have a bad taste in their mouth after the tech. Correction and the recent low volume. but once NVDA smashes earnings everyone will feel safe to dive back in, and the run will be epic. Can't keep a good company down, they've done this before and blasted off once they shook off their slump.
how is nvda stock more than twice as valuable as something like microsoft? companies like msft are going to be the ones that make nvda tech/AI accessible to consumers. as a layman it seems like selling to consumers allows much better profit than selling to businesses (experts), like nvda does.
stocks
5
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null
null
null
OptionNate
1,513,347,493
1,515,334,101
null
t3_7jzygb
false
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null
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chrisieg66
null
dralgqf
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1,514,746,621
null
-4
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kevincredible
null
drasebj
1,513,361,623
1,514,750,758
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Buyer's remorse - Is it normal?
I am in high school and I feel am very good with my money, I made about 8 grand last year working as a waiter and still have over 6k in the bank. While I do spend money on food/beer/whatever else, I always have a hard time buying anything remotely expensive. I bought a nice pair of Nikes that were $80 and promptly walked back into the store and returned them because I felt that I could buy a cheaper pair of shoes recently, even though I have enough money to pay for them. Should I be less concerned about the things I spend money on or do you think it's normal to be so cautious about spending?
You're in high school, and thinking about your finances. You're MILES ahead of everyone your age, and many people who are older than you. I'm 22, and started taking an interest in my finances last year, and even that was "extremely early" from all sources. Here's my advice: Save as much as you can, yes, but don't forgo the things you want. For example, I have saved 800/month for the past year or so. I'm currently in the process of moving my finances from one institution to another, and in the process my direct-deposit in to my savings has been put on hold. So I took some of that money, and bought myself a Nintendo 3DS with a few games. Spent about ~$300 total. But that's OKAY, because I know I've saved ~$10,000 in the past year. So I say you should go back and get those shoes if they're something you want. You're going to have your whole life to save, and you're already way, way ahead. Get the money you have now working for you in a smart vehicle, but don't be afraid to make yourself happy now and again.
You want to save money? Quit drinking beer for a few years until your legal. Nothing against drinking under age but avoid spending money on alcohol for as long as you can.
personalfinance
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TheStrangeChild
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Mister_Mad
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brokenpipe
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(AUS) Saving roughly $500-600 per week, wondering what to do with it?
Hi everyone. New here but have been reading for a few days. I'm young (Almost 20), completely debt free. I own a decent car worth just under $15,000 with 50,000 kms. This is all paid off and in my name. I'm a casual employee, but earn between $1,200 and $1,600 per fortnight currently (Dont work full 38hr week). Most of this is saved. I transfer all besides some that's needed for general everyday use. The account it goes to is a "high interest" savings account, I believe the rate is between 1 and 2% p.a. Can't withdraw or I lose monthly interest. I have just over $10,000 saved. So it puts me at about $25,000 worth with the car too (Car bought 6 months ago). Expenses are incredibly low. I pay some rent to my parents, petrol, registration, insurance. Lets say $2,500 a year plus 10% of income as rent. I still save up at least $1,000 per fortnight ($26,000 a year). I only got this job about 6 months ago and am just wondering what can I do with this money? I don't really like it sitting in the bank, but could this be the best/safest option? Wanting to look at something with higher returns. Just need some advice, thanks! Also if I was working full time rather than casual I'd be on around $45,000/yr after tax. I'm not full-time, but just in an everyday retail job working anywhere from 3 to 7 shifts a week. All figures in AUD, I don't go clubbing/drink/etc or spend much money at all on social outings.
My recommendation would be to take your money out of the "high-interest" savings account. 1-2% isn't even enough to cover inflation typically. I would put about $5k in a normal savings account you can transfer money in and out of whenever. This will be your emergency fund incase you have a big car repair or anything of the sort. Next take the remaining money and open a brokerage account, I use TD Ameritrade. Look into moderate to high risk investments, I recommend splitting your remaining money between 3-4 index funds as they require less work to diversify your portfolio. Moderate/high risk investments will provide you with the best chance of making a very large return, while you are young this is generally not a bad move as you have time to recover if the worst should happen. If you are not willing to go that risky, investing in very low risk stocks/index funds will average a return of around 6-8%. In other words you are taking your high interest savings account and putting it in the stock market which has slightly higher risk (even with low risk investments) but you would actually be making money on your savings. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. I have a degree in investment analysis, and would be more than willing to give you some pointers.
Hi all, I'm looking into purchasing an index fund from Vanguard as per the advice on this thread. Does it matter which one I buy? There are a variety on the Australian Vanguard site for 5k for things like cash/fixed interest/property etc. Are these the investments my 5k will contribute to? Thanks.
personalfinance
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null
null
obblebobbler
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CrackinACold1
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Jayc3
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Investment gift for my 3yr nephew - need help.
I have a 3 year old nephew and I would like to start a 3k investment with $500 monthly towards his name. I want to give him/parents (depends on maturity level) when he is around 18 and hope he mainly spends it on college but doesn't have to (I was originally thinking of a 529 but what if he doesn’t go to college). I’m thinking with a 3k start at $500 a month for 15 years at 5% annual interest rate would be around 130k…but I don’t know where to go get that 5% rate…or better. Sorry I’m stupid. What is a good option for me to look at (stocks? ETF?)...could someone point me in the right direction? Thank you all ahead of time.
You first have to decide on the TYPE of account. You basically have three options: Brokerage account in your name (or trust name): No legal connection to minor; income accrues to -you-, and taxes due (by you) on gains each year -- no deferral. Simple; easy to change your mind. 529 account: "Qualified" account, meaning earnings accumulate tax-deferred; must be used for -education- (but that does NOT mean "only college"); beneficiary can be changed if circumstances change. Any adult can be the custodian. UTMA/UGMA: "Non-qualified" account, meaning earnings and cap gains are taxed -as earned-. Transfers/gifts are irrevocable gifts to the minor, so you can't get the money back if you change your mind. Reverts to minor at age of majority, typically 21. Big gains can force the minor to file 1040 long form! (Just for completeness, there are also Custodial IRA accounts, but the minor has to have income for those, so they aren't an option in this case.) There's not an overwhelming argument for or against any of those options; there are strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons to each. Taxable income doesn't have to be a big deal, as a certain amount of it is taxfree to the kid, for example. Once you have the account in place, you either transfer money into it, and purchase funds there, or purchase it yourself and transfer the assets "in-kind" to the minor's account. Generally, the first is preferable, as it has all the history in one place.
Get 80% 10 year T-Notes and 20% large cap index. The only way you'll achive the return you want is if you go all equity. The problem with that is that you have a specific date in mind you want to liquidate, and you don't know what the market will be like 15 years from now; it could be a year like 2008.
investing
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One year trip planned. How to build an easy “set and forget” portfolio?
My wife and I have decided to take 1 year off to travel to South America. One big question is what to do with our cash and investment. During our journey to South America, we won’t be able to rebalance our portfolio. How can we take our assets and build a “set and forget” portfolio that we don’t have to touch for the next 1 year, before we leave? Current portfolio looks like this: We have $46K in mutual funds. Just sold our condo at $350K because we plan to move near family after this trip. After travel, we plan to rent for a year and buy a house if everything goes well. Otherwise no big spending is expected. Our travel budget is $30K. Therefore we’ll have about $320K afterwards.
I think for one year just about any mutual portfolio is "set and forget" since a year is within a reasonable rebalancing window. - If I were you I'd put 30k into a high yield savings account for your one year's travel expenses, then set it up to automatically transfer money every two weeks like a paycheck into another account that you can access with an ATM card. That would keep you on budget and offer a firewall to your bigger 30k stash. - Invest the rest in whatever is your appropriate asset allocation, then in a year when you return you can rebalance and pull whatever is needed for startup costs. - For your travel account check out Schwab savings account with ATM card, they reimburse fees and have no forex. Their checking account must be linked to a brokerage, but the savings account does not. ATM withdrawals don't count against the 6 withdrawal limit for savings accounts so for traveling it functions just fine. - Good luck, have fun!
Are you looking for a "set and forget" idea for the $46K portion, or for the whole portfolio of $46K + $320K? If it's the latter, are you comfortable with the risk that [your portfolio could decrease in value]( Or is it super important to you that your asset value is preserved (even if the upside is small)?
personalfinance
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gnoccowhite
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null
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xiaoyaga
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ctcqjva
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decca2149
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Uninsured veterinary student here. Should I sign for my school's health insurance?
Hi! I'm a 4th year veterinary student on rotations right now and due to unexpected recent events my insurance coverage is now gone. I've heard really horrible things about my school's contracted health insurance through Aetna, and I'm wondering if it is even worth it to sign up or if it would be cheaper to pay cash. I have 5 months left before graduation and hopefully I secure a job in between now and then that will provide health insurance. I appreciate any advice you can offer! If it helps I can link the terms and conditions of the Aetna insurance policy. Thank you.
You need a health coverage product yesterday. This is to mitigate financial damage up to and including bankruptcy. If the school's coverage product is your only option, take it. If you lost a coverage product due to one of these ["special enrollment period" events]( plug in [your zip code here]( and see what else you might be able to temporarily enroll in.
I'd look for something on the private marketplace, maybe even something non ACA compliant with a high deductible and reasonably low out of pocket maximum. This assumes you're a fairly healthy not accident prone person. Basically a safety net to keep medical debt in used car territory instead of house purchase territory.
personalfinance
12
31
null
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null
xemmradio
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AllTheyEatIsLettuce
null
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Dr_thri11
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How can I maximize my employer's interest free loan?
Hey PF, Once a year, I am eligible for an interest-free loan of up to $2000 from my employer. I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on how I could take advantage of it. Thanks!
How is it paid back - deductions from your paycheck? Is it automatic? What span of time? What happens if you leave the company, do you have to pay it in full immediately? Do they ask why you're taking it? Who at the company would know you took it? If you have non-interest-free debt, it would probably be worthwhile to put the loan towards that. If you don't have any debt, don't bother with it. You shouldn't borrow money to invest, and the returns on anything insured probably wouldn't be worth the hassle.
Here's some advice only for the risk-takers: take that money and loan it to someone else (a friend) with interest. Best case scenario, your friend gives the money back + interest in time before your loan is due. Now you have extra money in your pocket! Worst case scenario, your friend doesn't pay you back (now ex-friend) and you're stuck paying back 2k.
personalfinance
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pfthrowaway1002
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Gigiya
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swazzi
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Can somebody explain compound interest?
I'm the average 18 year old, about 8,000 in savings, working two part time jobs, barely over 18 years old. I've been looking into compound interest and how it works, and I want to know how it would help me. My mom whenever I bring it up disregards it by saying that interest rates are so low there is no point. If i put aside a small amount for 20+ years, is it worth it? how much is worth it?
The thing that separates regular interest from compounding interest is reinvestment of principal PLUS interest earned. If you take $8000 and invest it in something with 1% of interest, at the end of the year, you'll have $8080, because you earned $80 or 1% of $8000. That's INTEREST and you can use the interest as profit and spend it on something. It's like free money that the bank pays you for leaving your money in their hands. COMPOUND interest is when you allow that $8080 to sit there for another year, and now you've earned 1% of $8080, or almost $81. Every year you leave that money there, and every year that you re-invest the interest (by leaving it in the account), your return gets bigger. The curve is logarithmic, so in the beginning, you make very little (the difference of less than a dollar in the first year), but as time goes on, you earn more and more each time, so each following year, it's that much bigger. COMPOUND interest is re-investing the principal AND the earned interest again. COMPOUND interest looks boring and not very profitable in the beginning, but gets better and better faster and faster as time goes on. You need patience and dedication for it, but you'll be glad you did in the end. Trust me. Invest. Re-invest. And best of luck!
Compound interest means that if you start with $8000 and get 1% interest per day (hypothetically), you'll have $8080 on day 2 (increase of $80). On day 3, you get 1% of that, bringing you to $8160.8 (increase of $80.8). The important factor to consider when investing is the interest rate, not the fact that it compounds. Typically, advertised interest rates already take compounding into account.
personalfinance
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[deleted]
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GrandMasterTuck
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RedAlert2
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School from ten years ago is holding my transcripts hostage.
This semester I started back to school, and in gathering everything I needed to start back, I asked for my transcripts from a school I attended ten years ago. I got a notice back from the transcript company that said they couldn't release the transcripts because the school was saying I owed them a balance of 1,300, and I wouldn't be able to get a transcript until I paid the school the balance. Please know that I keep a very good eye on my finances and credit and have never gotten a phone call or received anything in writing saying that I owe them a balance over the ten years. I'm current on my monthly payments for federal student loans that I'm paying for for when I went to school there. The school I'm currently attending won't let me register for next semester's classes without this transcript from this school, even though I've explained to them this entire situation. In their defense, I understand they don't know me from Adam, and they have standards that they have to follow. Anyways, upon calling the school that says I owe them money many times, I was finally able to get someone on the phone yesterday. The lady I spoke to on the phone said that the debt was marked with a possible discrepancy and that she'd get back to me as soon as she could. She did get back to me by email saying the business office says it was for a class I dropped ten years ago that the student loan didn't cover. I've asked for a bill or formal piece of paper saying I owe the money, but so far no response. Is there anything I can do on this matter without shelling out 1300 bucks just because someone says I owe them? So far, they've been able to give me no proof of the debt, and even if they could provide "proof", how would I know that it's legitimate? Thanks in advance for any help or advice on this matter. I really feel like my advancement in my current school is being held hostage.
Pay your debt to the school and they'll release your transcripts. It's the only thing they have to hold against you to be reimbursed, and you better believe they'll hold onto it tooth & nail.
Pay them, get the transcript, and file a dispute with your card company. Tell the you haven't been to the school in 10 years and they mistakenly or fraudulently charged you. Get your money back and move on
personalfinance
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null
Why hasn't the land along BART in Oakland, CA been developed yet?
I took BART into San Francisco the other day and noticed that there are tons of empty lots and dilapidated homes in Oakland that one can see from BART. If land is soooo expensive in SF, Marin and in general the Bay Area why haven't developers bought the empty lots en mass and started developing? Have they? Could an average Joe buy the land or one of those dumps, fix it up and hope others follow suit and that's it not a terribly dangerous neighborhood?
why haven't developers bought the empty lots en mass and started developing? Local politics. You want to build something? X% better be welfare housing, or it's a no-go, and there went your chance to make a buck. People do still build, of course, but much less so than they would if not for local politics. It's quite ironic because the 'affordable housing' advocates are the very reason that we're in an affordable housing crisis. Supply and demand, dammit! These are economic laws, not polite suggestions. It's a cycle. Could an average Joe buy the land or one of those dumps, fix it up and hope others follow suit and that's it not a terribly dangerous neighborhood? Yes, a small time average Joe can do pretty good flipping in Oakland once they know what they are doing. Many do, to the chagrin of 'affordable housing' advocates that want the shacks to remain shacks forever (or magical pixie dust to bring it up to Section 8 standards, but oh wait even then landlords frequently don't want to deal with Section 8 tenants). As an anecdote, Oakland real estate agents have a far higher chance of knowing about the obscure "FHA Flip Rule" than agents in any of the other Bay Area markets I frequently lend in. It's a very obscure rule because it only comes up if you more than double the value of a property in <6 months, but somehow a ridiculously high percentage of Oakland agents know this mortgage rule without me having to explain it (because it killed or jammed up a deal of theirs). You don't see properties more than doubling in value that quickly on a regular basis in most markets. It is of course not necessarily easy, no matter what HGTV says. You still have to know real estate, know contractors, know the local permit process, know what appraisers will call out, know zoning/setback/etc rules, etc. If you break even on your first two you're doing OK, and now maybe on 3 you know what you need to know to actually make a buck.
I'd rather not give myself a permanent case of tinitis living next to the whistling noise. Also all the empty lots I see from the train seem near factories and junk yards, probably too close to some hazmat issue to be zoned for housing.
RealEstate
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ThrowawayUncutDude1
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So why isn't there more hubbub about M1 on this subreddit?
I've seen a few threads on it, but lord almighty a brokerage firm with zero fees -and the ability to sock away some bucks into an index fund without any fees . . . isn't that a wet dream of this whole subreddit audience? &x200B (note--I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop on this, or someone showing me it's too good to be true. . .haven't found it, but would like to know if it indeed is too good to be true)
and the ability to sock away some bucks into an index fund without any fees . . . isn't that a wet dream of this whole subreddit audience? You can do this at any major brokerage. Lots of these discount apps don't offer much in actual discounts but that hasn't stopped them from convincing people they have. Commission free stock trading is nice but it's only about $4-5 a trade elsewhere so not worth it for most people given the sacrifices of going with an app with nonexistent support and limited capabilities. Every major broker has a massive list of commission free ETFs and mutual funds which should satisfy any retail investor's reasonable needs.
Other than being very new, it is a investing platform, not a trading one, meaning you need to place your orders before the daily trading window, so you don’t control the exact price (no limit buy/sell). I believe if there are a lot of orders, then your trade can happen much later than the start of trading window. That being said, I have had a positive experience so far
investing
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MasterCookSwag
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Flipping_chair
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ed83jc7
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1st time apartment hunter with a question
I've read about the guideline of apartment hunting: your gross income should be 3x rent. Im in CA, where taxes + 401k remove almost 1/3 of my gross monthly income. So if i go by that 1/3 standard, it feels like rent alone will take use up half my monthly net income... Is that how it is for most people? And living is just contingent on really prioritizing your budget? Thanks in advance!
Is that how it is for most people? Nope. Because most people don't live in California. Stupidly high cost of living is normal in California. Expect to have at least 1 roommate.
Where are you planning to look for an apartment? Rent being a maximum of 30% of gross income is just a guideline. You can pay a higher rent in a nice area but it would be financially unwise. Or you could live in a maybe less desirable area for much less, or like the poster below, get a roommate to lower costs. I know plenty of people in Los Angeles area (and myself) who are not living in the middle of downtown who are paying 20-25% of gross income as rent. My apartment wasn't a greatest, given the low rent.
personalfinance
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traken
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xilex
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I'd like to buy a house when I'm 35. How much should I have saved up?
Hello I am currently 28 yrs old and have very little in savings (500$). My current plan includes putting 10% of my paycheck in my savings and let it sit there. I also have a ROTH and a 403(b). Now roughly my monthly I take is 1600$. I've been doing side jobs here and there and saving half of that. Now, I want to go back to school and right now am taking a few classes at a community college with hopes of transferring to a 4 year university in the next two years. Is buying a house by the time I'm 35 a realistic goal? Is there any more money saving tips that would be helpful to me?
It would be important to know what area of the country you live in. My husband and I recently purchased a 3-bedroom house for $80,000, but in some areas of the country that's not even a downpayment.
Diversify your financial portfolio and try to look for legitimate money making opportunities so you can increase your cash-flow. It could be realized depending on your cash flow. Try to look for passive incomes like stock market investing (not trading) so you can increase your funds.
personalfinance
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hiyouareawesome
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[deleted]
t1_c7r24oa
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ayls_billones
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Does it ever make sense to put more than 20% down?
I know 20% is kind of the golden number for a down payment on a house, but as far as I can tell, the primary reason is that anything less means wasted money on mortgage insurance. But does it ever make sense to put MORE than 20% down? Just trying to get a sense of whether it would make sense to save for more than that, or if there's absolutely no good reason to do so.
This is an aspect of an argument that will never die here on /r/personalfinance. "All debt is evil excreted from the butthole of Satan" vs. "You should be leveraged to your eyeballs because 7% ROI to infinity in the stock market." (Obviously that's a bit of a caricature of both sides, not a commentary on what people have said right here.) Personally, I think that for most purposes it doesn't matter much. If you're a reasonably typical homebuyer, you could calculate the cost of (say) 20% vs. 30% in terms of total cost of ownership and compare that to the range given by a Monte Carlo simulation of how much investing that money would save (or cost) you. But if the difference made a substantial impact on your long-term plans, then a better question to ask yourself is "how can I make this amount of money a rounding error in my retirement calculations?" Which may in turn mean buying a different house, saving more, etc. The same thing goes for 15- vs. 30-year, buy vs. rent, and basically every other major financial decision you'll ever make. All that having been said, 20% would probably be a decent target for most people even if it weren't required to avoid fees. So if the purchase makes sense for you otherwise, I wouldn't sweat starting off with 20% equity vs. more than that.
In addition to looking at the effect of a larger down payment, may I suggest you also look at the effect of a shorter term loan? Going down to 15 years usually lowers the interest rate. Mostly, I think the original question has more of a philosophical answer than a financial one. It is a question of whether the additional debt is cause for worry or not to you personally. I hate being in debt and would minimize that. Others here rightly point out that there may be investments that return more than the interest rate on the house. As long as you have an emergency fund, you don't squeeze your budget too tightly and you are saving for retirement, this decision can't go too wrong.
personalfinance
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AlwaysTheNoob
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CapeMOGuy
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Is now a good time to invest?
I hope I don’t get shit on for this, because I know the market is unpredictable. However, I still think others’ opinions would be valuable. I’m a pretty casual investor, and I don’t have many expenses. I have more money to put in the market, but I’m wondering if now is a good time or if I should wait for the market to decrease. We’re in a pretty dicey environment. Could the market realistically crash soon, and how should I prepare for that? I want to put more in, but I won’t if that’s a real possibility. Sorry I’m kind of all over the place, but all opinions are welcomed and appreciated!
I had to ask myself the same questions when I came into an inheritance 2 years ago. I went all in on stocks, but it took me close to a year to buy them all. The initial amount is up about 25% since then. But that still doesn't mean I'm right. It could all go to hell next week and I'd end up feeling like a sucker for not waiting. But my investments could decline 20% from here and I'd just be back where I started. I've learned to be a little contrarian. When everybody and their grandmother is talking about this being a late stage bull market, and a recession coming in a year or two, and this is the prevailing wisdom most everywhere you turn, from "respected" voices even. It seems to have been accepted as truth............ well, how likely is it that everybody is right about that? When is the conventional wisdom ever right about what the market as a whole is about to do? Of course on the internet you can find anyone saying anything, but this truly is the prevailing sentiment you get from the business media these days. I know because I've paid attention. Recently I ran across a 1991 article from Barron's with the headline's subtitle reading "finding value in this sky high market." Similar to what you hear today. But that was written at the beginning of one of the greatest decades ever to be in stocks. Maybe some things never change? Even though I wasn't an active investor then, I remember what the euphoria of the 1999-2000 bull market top looked like. And this isn't it. Not even close. I mention that because when everybody is convinced the good times are here for good (how it was then), maybe that's when to worry a little. But with all this wailing and gnashing of teeth going on these days, I'm more inclined to hold tight and wait. Any good bull market needs a wall of worry to climb. I think it's good to pay attention to the business media just to know what is being said, as a sentiment gauge, but I would rarely or never consider any of it to be valid investment guidance. It is mostly trash, clickbait, and ginned up sensationalism. (speaking of CNBC, FBN, MarketWatch etc.) I think in general it's good to take investments one at a time and try not to worry about the market as a whole.
I've had the same dilemma. I first put money into stocks in mid 2016 with a wide range of funds. I've continued to invest in the same funds each month and they have all done really well (as everything in the current market has). This April just gone though I pulled out 50% of my portfolio, 25% into cash for an extension and 25% into bond funds (previously had 0 in bonds). I felt like this was a fair balance if the market does turn, although it makes any continued boom less profitable.
stocks
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zizu598
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rebelde_sin_causa
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Animalmagic81
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Got lucky in the stock market, giving back
Dear faggots, Let me go completely New Age on all of you for a second here. We are all gathered here on WSB in pursuit of the elusive tendie. Amid FDs, quadruple digit gains, and total account wipeouts it’s easy to lose track of what’s really going on. The higher the numbers get, the more they lose their meaning. If you have recently gotten very lucky (or unlucky!) in the stock market, I encourage you to pause. Did you recently make big gains because you accidentally bought AMZN calls instead of puts? Congratulations! Before plowing it all into MU 80 4/17s, think about the difference that amount makes to you. Think about the fun things you can buy for yourself and enjoy, or how you can make your life or that of your loved ones a little bit more pleasant. Turn those numbers on the screen into something tangible, and make sure to actually enjoy derive enjoyment from them. Did you lose 150% of your account because you thought a global pandemic should negatively affect stock prices? I’m very sorry to hear that. “They’re just numbers on a screen” is a trite saying, but it’s also true on a fundamental level. Take this moment to count your blessings, your health, your family, your friends, your (hopefully) relatively comfortable status, your knowledge and your education. Things will improve. I’m a big proponent of putting yourself and your generosity out there in the world, and I believe that doing so will be rewarded. What goes around comes back around. I invite you all to join me today. If you comment on this thread with a donation receipt to any cause (any at all) that is dear to your heart, I will add my own USD 5 donation to that charity. In recent months, WSB has had a tide in which donations are posted and celebrated by the community. Let’s keep that momentum going and being awesome. Love, A degenerate
I know this might sound shallow but investment gains are buffers for your losing day. Don't feel so generous just yet because you think you're gaining some measly amount in comparison to Jeff bezos. If your account has high volitility, it can either go up or down.
I made in person donations whenever I could before they suspended volunteers, so I’m sorry I don’t have a receipt. I’ll be making a large monetary donation soon though so ban me if I don’t follow up with one. This is the only no kill animal shelter in my area, and one I’ve volunteered with intimately and really have a passion for. They could absolutely use some help now, especially with everything going on. If you want to donate or buy medical supplies for their clinic it would make a huge difference to animals who are being surrendered and abandoned during this time and have no one else to care for them. If you do choose to donate, thanks.
wallstreetbets
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dusterhi
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Offered assistant job title so "they can bump me up in two years". Why should/shouldn't I ask for the higher job title now, if I would be doing higher level work anyways?
Background: In my industry, job titles are pretty standardized across department. Assistant > (2 years) > Coordinator > (3 years) > Analyst/Specialist > (???) > Lead/Manager etc etc A former colleague contacted me to interview for a position in her department that is at a Specialist level. Although I was the least experienced of the candidates they were interviewing, I was offered the position because she thinks I can not only do that job well, but also help her move along other projects because of my generalist background. But when I got the job offer, the job title was Assistant. She says she is starting me at Assistant so that she would be able to give me a "bump" with a promotion to Coordinator in ~2 years, instead of starting me at Coordinator and it taking much longer to get to the next level/bump. The salary is what I was hoping for, and is on the higher side of the average Assistant salary, so no issue there. But my question is - is it really smarter for me not to ask for the higher job title now? I don't necessarily have the 2 years experience in the exact job role that would qualify me for the title now, but it's not like the job description has changed - I'll be doing the higher level work and would like my title to reflect that. Also, I don't know why that would prevent me from getting raises in the future. I know "title's aren't important" - but I am a 25 year old woman and I don't want to be seen as an Assistant until I am 27, when I'm doing work far above that. I can't tell if she is actually looking out for my best interests, or if this is a corporate tactic so they can keep me happier for longer by giving me incentive to stay for two more years before that title. Or if she really is just trying to help me get more money in the long run? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!! Trying to figure out the smart move here. Thank you!!
So this can honestly go both ways. At many companies, titles and pay grades go hand in hand. Title X has pay grade 5. Senior X is pay grade 6. So good way to view this is if you can come in at the very top end of pay grade 5, but with the lower title, you can easily get promoted in a couple of years and jump int pay grade 6. Whereas the alternative would be to bring you in at the very bottom of pay grade 6 (which isn't necessarily higher than the top of grade 5) you wouldn't be eligible for promotion for quite a while and annual increases inside the paygrade are usually very small. So I think the best way to look at this is to ask your yourself "Am I doing the kind of work I want to do, for the type of compensation I need?" If the answer is yes, then take the job and push for the promotion. She might also just not even be able to offer the higher role, some companies have some draconian rules about levels. No 5 years experience no Senior title, period, the end. Etc. Also as you go, constantly evaluate your job, don't wait for milestones. If 6 months in you hate it, then consider a change. Don't just sit around and wait for them to make it happen.
I don't know if this answers your exact question, but in deciding whether to take the job, assume that "bumping you up in two years" is not guaranteed, because it isn't. It's good to know that's what she's thinking, but it's not a promise unless it's in writing. So assume that this is the job you will have indefinitely. Do you still want it?
personalfinance
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GunnerMcGrath
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How much should I have in my 401(K) at age ___?
I'm 28, and have worked for 5 years at a company with zero 401(k) matching at a salary that started at $40K and has worked its way up to $70K. (I didn't have any retirement contributions at the job that preceded this one.) I've got my money spread across a few target date funds (2045, 2055, 2060) and have currently got just over $18K (7.4% return). I'm building up my 6-month emergency fund now and hope to soon start to save up for a down payment on a home, so I've been planning to scale back my contributions a bit. I had a pretty aggressive contribution from my paycheck for the last few years that I was proud of (20%) and thought I was doing great. Just compared notes with a colleague who's 5 years older than me and she has well over $50K in her fund and thought that was "decent." What have I done?! I hear so many good things about aggressive 401(K) contributions at companies that match, and I wonder how far behind I am for missing out on that advantage for all these years. It's bad, but is it leave-this-job-for-one-with-a-better-plan bad? Is it foolish for me to scale back retirement contributions to get out of my apartment rental sooner? Am I behind for my age, or is does a target "x savings by y age" even exist? Thanks for any input — this sub has been so incredibly helpful to me and I so appreciate all the great discussions here!
There is no answer to "how much should I have at age X". You should have as much as you can towards your personal individual goal. There is no standard guide or benchmark. Everyone's financial goals are unique to them. That's why it's called PERSONAL finance. I've got my money spread across a few target date funds (2045, 2055, 2060 There is zero reason to do this. It defeats the purpose of a Target Date Fund Just compared notes with a colleague who's 5 years older than me and she has well over $50K in her fund and thought that was "decent." What have I done?! Umm, you have 18k now, you make 70k, and you are putting 20% away a year. In 5 years, just from contributions alone, your 401k will be at 88k. Factor in any company match and market growth and you are likely over 100k in that timeframe. You are on track to have double your friends 401k amount in the same timeframe.
I'm one who will say you should have been maxing it since you started, so 5 * 18000 = 90,000 plus whatever returns you got. And then there are people who put in 5% of their salary... I understand that can be difficult at 40k, but at 70k there is almost no reason not to max it unless you have debts that haven't been paid off.
personalfinance
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