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Credit score dropped 70 points because Discover closed account after dispute. What can I do?

I’ve had and loved my Discover card for six years. Never had an issue before. Last week, I noticed three almost $100 charges ($99, $99.80, $99.85) from gas stations in a state I’ve never been to. I still have my card and never lost it. I called Discover to let them know I did not authorize those charges. They were helpful and let me know I am not liable for those charges, to stop using my current card, and that they’d send me another card. Yesterday, I got a Mint notification that my credit score had dropped from ~780 to 710, because Discover closed my longest line of credit, and I went from an average 4 year history to under 1. I plan on trying to call back tomorrow to ask to reopen the account but issue a different card. Is this possible or is there something else I can do? I may need that credit to buy a home in a few years. If I need to rebuild I plan on applying for a few cards now so I won’t take another average age hit in the future. I don’t think I should have to take a major credit hit because of a fraud that wasn’t my fault. Any help would be appreciated!! TL;DR - Discover closed my account and credit scores dropped because of the updated account history factor. What can I do to raise it again?

I had a similar thing with a different card. They closed the account, but we received a new card that showed as a different/new account shortly thereafter. The new card had the same account history on my credit report as the old one, same age of account and everything. Before panicking, wait and see how the new card shows up on your report.

Discover was pretty unfair to me before too. I had a verizon account go to collections because they kept charging me even after I had closed my account and moved. This caused my credit score to drop. Discover saw my dropping credit score and then decided to close my account. They were my longest credit account, around 15 years of always paying on time. Closing my account caused my credit score to drop even more. Even after Verizon admitted their mistake and removed my collections report, Discover refused to reinstate my card. Interestingly, a $140 collections account caused my score to drop from 800 to 690. It was crazy.

personalfinance

adg3724

t3_8rsrmn

431026

e0tvoa5

iscrew4ners

e0ucd8a

Best way to provide for kids if I die suddenly? (Odds are I’m going to)

Looking for suggestions please. I am 49. US resident. I somehow managed to make it this far without knowing that I have a genetic disorder that means I must realistically plan for the possibility of not making it past 53, or even getting to 53. Obviously I’m hoping to roll lucky dice on that, but in the meantime here’s my question: As a lifetime single parent I took a lot of 1099 work. I don’t own real estate. No 401k or IRA. Zero savings now because I haven’t worked since June 30th as one symptom is narcolepsy & it’s kicking my ass. I have two children, one under 18. I’m betting life insurance won’t touch me now. If we imagine that I resolve my income situation favorably soon, what financial vehicle can I use to RAPIDLY create some sort of tiny nest egg for the kids? I also owe back taxes so I need it to be protected in that regard. Impossible request I know, but any input would be welcomed. If I am wrong about the life insurance, please let me know. I don’t need to plan for hospice etc., as my exit will be sudden if it does happen. TIA.

You should be able to get a job still. We have someone with narcolepsy at my work. He got hired with this condition and explained that he needed reasonable accommodation under the ADA. He got a stand up desk and has a little cot in his cubicle. He takes 5-10 minute naps every couple of hours and no one gives him shit when he falls asleep during meetings. Also, our work automatically gives a $10,000 life insurance policy and you can opt in to a $100k policy for a couple bucks a month with no questions asked. You should be able to reach out to some of your state agencies for help finding work with a real disability-- vocational rehabilitation agency is where I'd start. I hope that you will make the most of the time you have left and fill your days with love and laughter.

Sucks that this is happening & good that you're planning for it. I bet you could get a 5 year term $50k or $100k policy. Or more than one, from different companies. MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS KNOW ABOUT THE POLICIES & who to contact. Insurance companies have no legal obligation to pay out unless YOU (your beneficiaries) contact them. Do you have a will? You need a will, if only to state who your minor child will live with. You can even hand write one. Nolo Press has a book on wills.

personalfinance

fascinatedobserver

t3_7g45bs

Icussr

dqge0ln

Sufganiya

dqhj58k

I'm not a huge fan of the recent tech IPOs (GRPN, ZNGA, LNKD, ...). But this one's a little different. What are your thoughts on Facebook?

Facebook even has google worried, with their continual and aggressive changes (buzz, g+, new privacy, "search your my in world" or whatever they called it). FB is very powerful with the attention and information on what's approximating to be a gazillion users. No one really questions this. Financially, there's little information out there and we also know how nimble social media users can be (myspace, digg) to suck the life out of these things. There's all sorts of chatter right now of an imminent IPO. So r/investing, what say you?

Facebook will have the biggest IPO of the whole group (GRPN, ZNGA, LNKD) and is actually making money. But the valuation seems insane to me at 75 - 100 billion. A valuation of 100 billion would make it more valuable than amazon or the same as McDonalds lol. Then again I think that social media is hugely over hyped in general and is a bubble which will crash eventually. I would not get involved in IPO craziness and if you choose to invest give it a number of months to let the price stabilize some.

I'm torn on my opinion. If they stay private there's no doubt in my mind that they will continue to grow and go up against any of the big players in the technological convergence market (aapl, amzn, msft, goog, nflx). Especially without the pressure from shareholders in the open market. But if they go public, it could go either way. Seems like its a different game at that point. The good thing is that they're only opening 10% of the company up.

investing

[deleted]

t3_ozhet

blazin961

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c3la9k8

jartek

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c3la4ck

A Quick Rant and Suggestion

I know that this is a sub for those new to investing. But there should be some universal understanding / agreement about the quality of a question, comment, etc. posted. For example - instead of saying "I own XYZ what do you think?" or "My holding of ABC is down 10% in the last week what's going on??" How about laying out a hypothesis or showing that you've actually done a little bit of due diligence? Not only is reddit maybe the worst place to look for anonymous investment advice, asking questions blindly and without any evidence of prior research is no way to learn and grow. If everyone - even those who are new to this - were to show their work, present a thesis, etc. then this could become a much more productive forum for everyone. I would love to provide encouragement, thoughts, comments, criticisms, ask questions, etc. for anyone who cares to listen.....but not when someone clearly has not put forth the basic effort of reading the prospectus, checking Yahoo Finance, or reading up on some basic market theory. I don't mean to get on a soapbox, and I'm not here pretending I'm Bernard Baruch, but the only way to win at this game is to build a solid foundation of understanding about the capital markets.....and then the real work starts.

Fully agreed... I actually enjoy offering my perspective to those who ask questions, but not when somebody has spent zero effort and wants me to be their personal Google assistant. I enjoy reading and participating in thoughtful discussions, but I’m often discouraged and end up just exiting Reddit due to having to filter through so many poorly constructed posts.

We do have a rule about low effort posts, and I agree 100% that a lot of posts aren't very helpful, however the comments on those posts often have a lot of good quality information or advice, so we usually keep them up. For instance, there's a low effort post right now of "any good buys right now" which I would normally want to remove, however the idea of this subreddit is that you can get ideas for new stocks and ideas- unfortunately we're not all experts and many of the posts are looking for ideas and suggestions for things to look into, which I think is reasonable enough.

stocks

mwyand

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OldMan0919

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ScottyStellar

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Is TSLA completely retarded?

How it's possible that a positive delta of 0.52$ between the expected and the real earnings per share makes the whole stock go up by 70$? I get that expectations for the future dividends are priced in and everything, but this is beyond retarded. Am I missing something here guys? Any fundamentals you want to share? I see a massive bubble here

When TSLA was rallying around 380/390 and the $420 price target that was only a myth before then was actually coming into sight, most people didn't expect to keep going to and past it. For the last 3 months every x00 (400/500/600) price target has acted as both an important psychological point in terms of how people view the company's long-term potential, and a very crucial resistance point. So far each has broken but 700 will inevitably be another test. Every time throughout this rally that Tesla hit x80/x90, it faced resistance due to the short seller's having breakeven points at x98. But each time, there was a positive catalyst that forced shorts to cover and caused a short squeeze since they had to buy back their shorts at higher prices. First it was an analyst re-rating it to a buy even at the new high price, now it's the long anticipated earnings The Tesla rally is completely justified based on the news that's come out. However, the sheer size of the rally was exaggerated by how unexpected not only one bit of news was, but a consistent chain of unexpected positive surprises. And all these positive surprises ended up being such big catalysts to the upside because it was all in the context of leading into today's earnings, as it became more and more apparent that last earnings wasn't a fluke and this earnings will be in line when many hedge funds did not think TSLA would post such an amazing beat again. Now as a result of this beat, TSLA is priced to absolute perfection. Bears are fucking hungry and ready to sink their claws back in. My prediction is that tomorrow we might see one final short squeeze as shorts are forced to cover their positions, after which hedge funds load heavy shorts at $698 to prevent TSLA from hitting $700, and will proceed to start successfully driving TSLA's stock price down for half the time between now and the next earnings report. At the same time, as shorts are covering, many many people might take profit at this price level since there is no more anticipated catalyst (i.e. earnings) on the timeline any time soon. So we really might not even see a huge short squeeze tomorrow as profit taking might cap the upside.

No u r. U should've seen the writing on the wall. If u knew what u were doing u wudve made a killing the last few months. Shit is still going to moon next 4-6 months. If u think it's a bubble then short it. Otherwise ur just wasting people's time.

wallstreetbets

bragghy

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1353-

ffzeef8

wheresDAfreeWIFI

ffzedld

ELI5: What are bank bonds?

I've read up online, they are debt obligations which when you issue them, you receive an amount and that amount is a form of a loan that you need to repay. But I still don't fully understand how they work and who uses them, it's very frustrating i keep coming back to this. Also, what would i be able to understand better if I develop a better grip on the concept of bonds? &x200B Thank you for your time and assistance.

In addition to what others said: the advantage of a bond over a regular load is that bonds can be re-sold before the repayment date. So whoever buys them when you issue them, knows that if they want to convert to cash, they can sell the bonds to a third person. So it's easier for a borrower to sell a bond than to take out a loan. I, a bank, issue a bond for a million dollars. It matures in five years. I promise that after five years, whoever is holding that bond at that time, can come and give it to me - and I will pay them, say, a million and a hundred thousand dollars. Guy A buys the bond from me now for a million dollars. A year later he sells it to Guy B for a million and ten thousand dollars - Guy B is willing to overpay a bit to wait only four years, not five. Then Guy B urgently needs to buy a house, so he sells the loan to Guy C for nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, just to make a quick deal. Guy C holds on to the bond for another three years and sells is to Guy D for a million and fifty thousand dollars. Guy D holds on to it for a year, comes to me, and gets a million and hundred thousand from me. (In the meantime, I have lent out that million dollars to a bunch of people in short-term loans, and have made two hundred thousand dollars in interest. I give back a million and a hundred thousand, and keep the other hundred thousand as my profit.)

In the old days, a bond was a physical piece of paper, that had little physical coupons on the edge of it that you could tear off. If you lent me $1,000 for 10 years at a 10% interest rate, I would give you a bond printed with the value $1,000. That bond would also would have ten coupons on it, each printed with the value $100 and a date on which they could be redeemed (one for each year of the loan). Once a year, you would tear of the coupon, bring it to me, and I would pay you the $100 for it. Then, after ten years, when the loan matured, you would bring me the bond itself and I would pay back the $1,000 you originally lent me. A bond is better for you than a loan contract, because if you decide to move across the country, or you decide you need the money now rather than years in the future, you can sell the bond (and any un-redeemed coupons) to someone else for cash. That person can then bring the coupons (or the matured bond) to me and get paid, and I don't have to worry that I'm paying some stranger instead of you, because I get the coupons (or bond) back as proof that I paid the debt. Knowing that you can sell the bond to someone else if you need your money back sooner may make you more willing to lend money to me; and if more people that are willing to lend to me, I should be able to negotiate for lower interest rates; so in this way a bond is better for everyone than a typical loan contract. If there is a 100% chance that I will pay back the bonds, and there is no inflation then the only reason to buy and sell them would be if you prefer to have cash, or prefer to tie your money up in an investment that pays interest. But there is inflation, and there is a risk a bond issuer might not pay. So, if you lent me $1,000 to invest in my umbrella factory, and there is a record drought that causes people to stop buying umbrellas, you might get nervous about my ability to pay you back, and you'd be willing to sell my bond to someone for $700 just to avoid that risk. Then, if a monsoon comes through and demand for umbrellas skyrockets, that person might be able to sell my bond to someone else for $950 dollars. In this way bond prices can fluctuate up and down. And if you think you are a better judge or risk than other investors, you could buy and sell the bonds with no intention of holding them until you get paid to make money off the price fluctuations. Similarly, let's say inflation is at 5% this year, and you lend me money at 10% interest. In real money terms, you are only getting 5% interest after accounting for inflation. Then, if three years into a 10 year bond, the inflation rate goes to 10%, your interest becomes effectively zero. Or, if inflation goes to 2%, your interest is worth more than 5% in real dollar terms. So in the same way speculators might buy and sell bonds trying to predict credit risks, they also buy and sell bonds to speculate on whether future interest rates will go up or down. &x200B Now there are all kinds of different bonds, like "zero coupon" bonds that only get paid at the end of the life, and get no annual payments' or insured bonds where an insurance company agrees to pay if the borrower doesn't, or "convertible" bonds that get paid in stock of a company rather than cash, but the basic reasons people buy and sell them are the same.

explainlikeimfive

QueueH

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AnTyx

ec1kkxq

HelthWyzer

ec1vndo

Is IBM's Watson just an ad campaign to cover lackluster business performance?

I see Watson being heavily advertised on a lot of media platforms as a technological panacea. I haven't heard of any large scale deployments with meaningful success. I studied neural nets and machine learning as an undergrad in ECE, and I believe companies like NVDA are getting us to the point that we may start to see some real practical applications. But the advertising for Watson is all over the map in terms of its applicability and it strains IBM's credibility in my mind. Can anyone with more knowledge in the field and specifically with knowledge of the Watson product shed some light on if this is advertising hype or something that will result in actual revenues long term? I don't see how a company having difficulty maintaining its traditional business can successfully execute on something so radical, even if there is some merit to some of its applications, and I have a hard time believing they have any special sauce that would make the tool more generally applicable save for perhaps better access to certain datasets than competitors. I currently have no position in the company fwiw.

Lots of uneducated responses here. I don't work at IBM, I work at a competitor. Here's some insight: IBM has the largest group of PHD mathematicians and data scientists working on Watson in the world. Its not even close. It is statistical modeling/machine learning that can be used to interpret large amounts of data faster than anything else. Thats its purpose. Watson has real world applications in multiple industries; finance, healthcare, sales, and more. Although you may never see it, nor hear about it, expect it to be on the backend of a lot of major businesses and services you use regularly very soon if not already.

I actually got to go Watson presentation since they wanted to roll it out in my industry. It from what we gathered is it is cool but it isn't a finished product yet and they don't have any support for it. Give it 5 years or so and Watson will be in every industry.

investing

godredditsucks

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prancerciseisthebest

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IamLeven

dhskpeg

Buyer backing out due to virus shutdown

Already in escrow and supposed to close early next week but buyer (healthcare professional) wants to back out and refund earnest money due to the shutdown. There is only the loan and appraisal contingency. What are my options here? I have incurred a lot of expense staging/moving and selling.

I am in your buyer’s position right now. I am in contract, pre-approved, inspection is done. As the crisis has continued, the prospect of trying to sell our house (which is necessary to make this work) seems nearly impossible at least for the short term. We are in Ohio, a shelter in place state, effective starting in about an hour. We could extend the contract timeline potentially, but we would need it to be a substantial extension to clear all these hurdles. Like 30-45 days minimum, quite possibly longer. I am going to speak with our realtor tomorrow to figure out next steps. This isn’t fun for anyone, we love this house and still want it, but the financial world is essentially falling apart around us.

We just sold our house in Riverside county, CA last month so I completely understand the kind of money you’ll be losing if you take their 5% off offer. If I were you, I would sit down and compare how much it will cost you to keep the house on the market with staging, mortgage, possible market changes, etc. and then compare it to how much you’ll lose if you take their offer. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to keep their earnest money, especially due to the circumstances. There’s no way to know if the housing market will change drastically after all is said and done so it’s likely best to just take the offer if you need to sell this year.

RealEstate

entropyhaus

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BTP88

flbzez2

laurajlegge

fldlerg

[Bay Area, CA] Buying a small condo in the East Bay VS Buying a large home in Manteca/Lathrop

Im a 39 year old, single male finally ready to buy. I have all my all my ducks in a row, money is there, and Im working with a realtor. Now, where do I buy? Im all by myself, no wife, no kids. Do I buy a small, 1 bedroom, older condo in the East Bay, where Im close to family and friends, twenty minutes from work and a small mortgage. OR Do I buy a large home for a 100 grand more in the Manteca/Lathrop area. Id be about an hour away from said work, family and friends. Mortgage would be about 400-500 dollars more a month. However, there are some big beautiful homes out there that I would never be able to afford in the East Bay by myself. Id like to hear your guys pros and cons for each.

How do you feel about driving to visit your family after commuting all week in bumper to bumper traffic? Is that important to you, to see them often? Buying a whole house is so much more maintenance and unforeseen expenses. I would suggest buying the condo and when you retire move out there and buy your house. Sure you can buy a house out there now but it won't appreciate the same way a house in the East Bay will and wont be as easy to rent out IMO. The Manteca/Lathrop area would probably also be more likely to dip lower in a recession than in the Bay Area, pending tech companies are still around. I own a home in Elk Grove.

So, the large house will cost you more, triple (at least) your commute, remove you from friends and family, and will require you to maintain everything on the large piece of property on your own. Don't overthink this one, man. It's nice to have and to consider options, but buy the condo until you're ready for a house.

RealEstate

TiltedKangolHat

t3_83t7nu

jespicy

dvkekmp

vangelator

dvkqxes

How many of you still want to work while being financially independent?

This is my first time hearing about this subreddit after spending months trying to figure out what to do with my life. A little over a year ago something happened in my life that made me rethink my career choice. I'm not sure if the job was the problem, or the life event that got me down and started changing my outlook on life, but all I knew was I wanted a career change, and I wanted to work doing something I love or something that actually had meaning to me. The only problem is that almost every career I could think of that I would enjoy would pay out bare minimum. On the other hand, the things I like that are in demand and pay well(i.e. programming), I would most likely not enjoy because I would be working for someone else on a project I may not even care about. A little while ago I read "Growing the Money Tree" by John Svazic and the intro alone gave inspiration. Many people try to strike it rich quick and fail and end up have to start from the beginning all over. But I don't want to be rich. I want enough money to live comfortably. If I could eventually make a passive income that would that would be enough to let me live comfortably, I would be happy. But I don't plan to stop working completely, so I could combine passive income with active income working for myself and become partially financially independent. I could set my own ours and do work that I care about without having to worry about money. I'm wondering if anyone else has the same idea or is currently doing it right now.

How many of you still want to work while being financially independent? I am and I do. I love what I do, but I also don't want to be dependent on it, and I like the ability to travel a lot without worrying about finances.

I think most people don't retire not because they are stupid but because retirement is not the ideal state. I'm a new data scientist and I'm hoping after 10 years with all my experience I can get a low stress job working for a non-profit/charity for sub 40 hours and reduced pay. I'm a frugal person so even if they paid me half what the market values I would be gaining money post financial independence. Also if I can get a week or two off every other month for trips and 3 day weekends a lot of the time that would be the ideal state.

financialindependence

TinyStego

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KingSnazz32

etsmtm5

goodsam2

etwwjmv

Parents think I should buy a house... for my brother

So I'm sitting on a little bit of savings (~25k), don't really have a plan for it at the moment except maybe to start an IRA. I make a little over 40k a year, contribute to my 401k to the maximum employer match, and pay only $250/m in rent to share a room in a house with my girlfriend and some other roommates. I have no loans, credit card debt, or car payments. My parents think I should buy a house. The thing is housing is pretty expensive where I live, but my rent is super cheap. I'm not sure I'm necessarily settled enough to want to buy a house for myself at the moment, and it's expensive. My brother, however, lives in an area where housing is pretty cheap (Pittsburgh) but he pays a lot for rent, and doesn't make much money at all. So my parents think it's a great idea for me to buy a ~100k house in Pittsburgh and rent it to my brother for slightly more than the Mortgage. They say that housing is usually a pretty good investment, and that I should be owning at this point in my life. They make it sound like it's all pretty simple and will almost definitely come out in my favor, that I'll just sell it later and get my money back. Personally, I'm not convinced it's so simple. I buy a house, pay closing costs, property taxes, upkeep, and technically be a long-distance landlord, doesn't sound like an amazing opportunity other than the chance to help my brother out. What do you guys think?

I looked into my crystal ball and saw this happening just months after you buy the house and your brother moves in: Brother: hey man, I'm going to be late on the rent this month. You: no problem just pay me when you get paid. B: yeah I will. Thanks bro. ..... .... ... .. . Y: hey bro, it's been 3 weeks and you never paid me. Are you going to be able to pay me for last month and this month? B: you know what bro, money is real tight, I can't. You understand though, right? ... .. . Mom: son, your brother is really tight on money. He won't be able to pay you rent this month. Y: mom, he owes me 2 months already. M: you know your brother, sweetie. But remember family first. ... .. . Y: I need the rent money, it's been 6 months. B: dude stop bothering me. I told you I'd pay you. Y: you did say that. Then you didn't. Instead you bought "insert expensive items here." M: I can't believe you would be so mean to your own brother. We let you live in our home rent free and never bothered you. I can go on if you'd like. Or you could just not buy a house and let your brother live in it, to avoid this situation.

Please DO NOT do this. Not knowing much about your brother other than the fact that he doesn't earn much, I think there's a high probability he'll end up screwing you out of a lot of money. Maybe not intentionally, but if it happens it can tear your family apart. If your parents think it's such a great investment, they should take the plunge instead of trying to coerce you into doing it.

personalfinance

Random12399

t3_2lhrvm

es84

t1_clv1h05

clv1h05

_YesMan_

t1_clveuer

clveuer

High performer but passed over for promotion. Now what?

I am a top performer in corporate America and am recognized as such. Received great reviews, salary increases, bonuses, etc. The problem is my director's position has been vacated twice and both times I've been passed over. After the first time, I expressed interest the next time it opens up. The second time, I got a runaround about how they were looking for certain type of experience. Advice? I am appreciated and recognized by upper management and am compensated as such, but am being limited career track wise by the same upper management.

This is a prime reason for looking for a new job. If your current golden handcuffs limit your ability to advance because they need you to do whatever you are currently doing, then you have to change employers to break the cycle. Good luck.

Something similar happened to me. The messed up part is I had switched groups and the guy who backfilled my role rose to become a manager in less than 1.5 years. When my boss left, he pushed for me to become a manager and his boss, the director, led him on thinking j was going to move up. So I had a face to face with him telling him why I would be the ideal candidate and he basically told me "I need someone with more experience." Mind you the role my "replacement" filled was a more important role than the one I was gunning for. So yeah I ended up leaving last week and I started a new job this past Monday. The director was pissed but oh well.

personalfinance

FriedchickenEater

t3_63p296

funnybids

dfvv4wn

luckytaxi

dfwkvw2

Getting paid $40,000. Can I pay 1k for rent?

Rent is 959$ and all utilities / parking included. I don't have to pay for car payments, insurance, or phone bill. Will this be okay? I just have to pay off school loans which shouldn't be too bad. I also meal prep my food so it doesn't cost that much either. Please let me know how much I should be saving.

At that salary level, you should be considering roommates. Otherwise, you are spending so much on rent that you won't be able to save or pay off debt at a proper rate. B

Yes. You will probably take home about $2500/month on that salary and it doesn't sound like you have many other expenses. So long as your loan is <$750/month, you should be good.

personalfinance

chefcurry123

t3_4tilyd

Big_Daddy_PDX

d5hpr8n

BendyMouse

d5hm0ju

HMNY Stock Advice

So, I really messed up... I found out about Moviepass and parent holder Helios and Matheson Analytics, last year from a small and unpopular thread on Yahoo. It immediately caught my attention so I wanted to read more about this new disruptor of a stagnant industry. I read about the successes and impact Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe had previously had done with the entertainment industry (Redbox and Netflix), so I decided to put a few hundred into E*Trade and went for my first trading experience! Within days, I saw $250 become $750 and figured, I'd done pretty well for myself, to sell and move forward. Day after day I monitored the stock and saw as it continuously rose to the point where $16 seemed unreal! I decided to drop a few thousand (and by a few I mean a lot). Now, I am in a hell of a predicament made by bad decisions and my desire to take a leap of faith. Unfortunately, I have minimal knowledge of stocks, terms, SEC, etc which is what brings me here to Reddit as a first time user. I have a few hundred shares purchased at a very high price with HMNY which if I would have purchased at today's value would be several over 10,000 shares. What happens if the business model is too unstable and it hits $0.00? Will I owe them money for the shares I own now? Do I sell and get back less than 5% of what I put in for the stock and take a major loss? Any and all advice is sincerely appreciated.

So, if you own the shares outright then you have to decide to hold or sell for the loss, and get stock education the hard expensive way. You won't owe anyone anything as it was your cash you invested. If you have a margin account, then you could owe the broker, but I have to think this is not the case or they would have already given you a margin call or sold you out . . . Have to say, it is at .82 today, so not much lower it can go unless they go BK, which may happen. However, since you rode it down this far you may think about holding on to see if they can reverse course as your risk is pretty low at this point. I get some grief when I promote investing in profitable blue chip dividend paying stocks, and this is one of the reasons I harp on putting money into stable reliable companies, at least until an investor gains some experience. Speculative small/micro/nano cap stocks have a place in a portfolio, but only for the most experienced traders who know the risks . . . Sorry this happened and hopefully they can get the funding they seek to come back.

If company goes bankrupt, you don't have to worry about owing money to them. But the money you used to buy shares will be gone. If you want to try to make back some of your money on HMNY, it's almost impossible but you can try writing covered calls.

stocks

InformalAdvise

t3_8i8h7o

ScottishTrader

dypq8uy

TheAncient1sAnd0s

dypq6tc

About to have a baby, can I get ready in time?

I just found out my girlfriend is pregnant, unplanned but happy. We are both young and at big points in our life. My debt to income is good but both my credit cards are almost maxed out, totaling about $1700. I have a changing income based on performance but my checks are never less than $700 for 2 weeks. I am an auto mechanic so I'm taking in any side work I can and saving it all. I want to know how much I should have saved up to prepare for a child, and would going back to school now be a bad idea, getting an associates in mechanical engineering. I made a new account to be one for my girlfriend and I to use, she doesn't have an account and I don't want her in my history. We had been talking about getting married soon even before the big news if that changes anything.

First off, breastfeed. Formula is EXPENSIVE. Second, consider cloth diapers. They are a higher initial investment but pay off several times over. Your baby will not be ready for them until a couple months so that buys you time. Buy fruits and veggies, blend them into baby food once the youngin is ready for solid food. A jar of baby food is about the same as a couple zucchinis or apples and make much more food. Use ice trays to freeze and store the food. The trick with a child is to eliminate the perpetual "new" expenses as much as you can.

Get WIC. They will give you food for your wife, and if she can't or doesn't want to breastfeed you can get the formula for free. Then when the baby needs baby food they will hook you up with cereal and baby food. In Kentucky I had to go to the health department to sign up with my wife.

personalfinance

holdfastunion

t3_3f5geu

Sabz5150

t1_ctlhe91

ctlhe91

natsse

t1_ctlswax

ctlswax

Thoughts on holding Biotech for long term investing?

Thinking about XBI.

Unless you know biotech don't play biotech. Everything in biotech goes down over time. If you get lucky news will break with positive results and jump 50%... For like 2 days. During those two days you think the company will dominate the market but it won't and it will slide lower and lower yet again. All small/microcap biotech are basically gambling. If your lucky they will have a good trial or get bought. If you're unlucky (like 90%) are you will lose most of what you put in. Source: I work in biotech and trade biotech stocks.

Depends on what 'long term' means. And when you buy. Without a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical industry, I bought a biotech stock , which after staying flat for years and years, eventually was worth 50x what I paid for it. It took decades.

investing

critaa

t3_6ma594

germican

dk09ecw

redditlady999

dk17bg5

Somebody used my name in a Hospital Emergency Room

In 2010, someone used my name to be seen in a emergency room. They've already told me the person had no ID. It's on my credit report multiple times, multiple collection agencies, plus a radiologist, also multiples. I filed a Dispute, they all validated. They won't fix it. What next?

What next? If you haven't already, you need to go beyond merely disputing and you need to inform the credit bureaus that you were the victim of identity theft. They may have you fill out a police report. In any event, that'll suppress the information while they look into it (again). If it comes back again after that, find a lawyer.

This is very bad; worse than normal identity theft. If you don't stop them, they could start mixing their own medical records with yours, which could have life threatening consequences if you ever find yourself in need of emergency care.

personalfinance

lyn816153

t3_2ypc6f

JJJJust

t1_cpbnzmo

cpbnzmo

Arcas0

t1_cpc27m7

cpc27m7

Do you guys react when the CEO of a company sells his shares?

Amazon's CEO, directors, Senior Vice President just disposed their insider shares. Does this mean anything significant. I mean when the CEO of a company sells, there is no reason to buy the stock. It this correct?

Eh.. Regarding insider trading activities in general, there are almost infinite reasons to sell stock. Examples include rebalancing personal holdings, kids going to college, really any large expenses or investments outside of the company. Alternatively, there is really only one reason insiders BUY their company's shares.

There was just a really bad article on Seeking Alpha about GOOG insider selling: The problem with the article is that the author didn't look into the historic insider sales for GOOG. Brin, Page, and Shmidt sell the same number of shares every quarter regardless of how the company is doing. It has nothing to do with how they feel about the future. The other sellers were likely just diversifying or buying a house or something.

investing

sunaynay

t3_1qhdeo

sicksense

t1_cdcx32l

cdcx32l

[deleted]

t1_cddbk7i

cddbk7i

Commuters of /r/investors..Futures contracts and your gas

Say if someone were to do alot of commuting and use alot of fuel..wouldn't they benefit from buying a futures contract for gas and locking in their prices for the year? As a chartist, it would make sense to see where S/R levels in terms of average prices are and go from there. I know big trucking companies do this but is it feasible for a single person?

There is a gas station near my house that does this. There are some people out there who are still filling up on their 98 cent per gallon gas they bought years and years ago.

Yes you certainly can do that. A friend of mine said years ago to me "once we go to war with Iraq we'll see gas prices surge to $5 at the pump. I want to buy a tank to hold $2000 of gas. Then I can fill my tank at cheap $2 prices and profit by selling to neighbors." I gently explained that the markets have a solution to this notion, called options, that doesn't require owning a dangerous and probably illegal gas reservoir in your backyard. These days he could do the same with the right ETF as well.

investing

watersign

t3_1dceh6

simulations

t1_c9p2dix

c9p2dix

Snootwaller

t1_c9pjs2z

c9pjs2z

Has your local market "turned?"

Just curious what everyone out there is seeing. I'm in ATL and we're definitely seeing some signs of softness. It's not a crash by any stretch of the imagination, but here's what I see: - Late 2017 and early 2018 had almost ZERO supply of turn-key ready homes sub $300k in any of the nice neighborhoods (thinking OTP like Marietta, Sandy Springs, etc.). In the "up and coming" places with gentrification, you saw a ton of 1,000-1,4000 sq ft homes get into bidding wars for about $75k-85k (anything around the Belt Line, west midtown, etc). Bidding wars abound, and the rehabbed homes were easily hitting $225k-$250k (depending on area, size, finishes). - Nowadays anything sub-$75k is sitting on the market longer if it's over-priced, there is a TON more supply in that price point vs. almost nothing about a year ago (or bidding wars). At the higher end homes, we've seen a lot of homes with price reductions (esp OTP). Those homes in the mid-$200s and now trading in the low $200s. Probably a combination of equities selling off Q4 2018 and interest rates hitting multi-year highs in the same period. What's going on in your local market?

I wonder how much of that softening is just the fact that school is about to start again and families aren't looking to move as much any more. Everybody's watching so hard and expecting the market to turn that we're making up doomsday scenarios at every little blip

Perhaps. That or prices finally reached a point that people have decided that would rather drive an extra 30 minutes and get more house. How long has it been since you’ve noticed the slow down?

realestateinvesting

drago_must_break_you

t3_crrfnj

SmittyBand

ex8q8dy

Sweetwater_for_us

exd7elg

My lease is up April 30th and my landlord is out of town and won’t answer my calls. What do I do?

I’ve been at the same apartment for over two years (2 12-month leases and 1 5-month) and my lease is coming to an end. I wanted to see about possibly extending out for just one more month because I’m due to move out of the state for a job transfer soon. I tried calling him and he has not gotten back to me. What do I do?

Contact the landlord in writing by certified mail to tell them you want to stay an additional month and what your move out date is. Always do these kind of things in writing, certified mail.

Sec. 47a-3b. Rental agreement: Term of tenancy in absence of agreement. Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, the tenancy is month to month, except in the case of a tenant who pays weekly rent, then the tenancy is week to week. Sec. 47a-3c. Payment in absence of rental agreement. In the absence of agreement, the tenant shall pay the fair rental value for the use and occupancy of the dwelling unit. Sec. 47a-3d. (Formerly Sec. 47-22). Holding over not evidence of new lease. Determination of monthly lease. Holding over by any lessee, after the expiration of the term of his lease, shall not be evidence of any agreement for a further lease. Parol leases of lands or tenements reserving a monthly rent and in which the time of their termination is not agreed upon shall be construed to be leases for one month only. You need to provide a [3 day written notice]( when you terminate either lease or month to month.

personalfinance

nbridges77

t3_8am3sk

PacoFuentes

dwzp6xy

sal9002

dwzpveh

Had an interview with a company 6 months ago, they decided to go with hiring a friend instead of me. That didn't work out, they called me today. How do I ask professionally for a better offer that pays higher? (specific numbers inside)

Title says it all. I interviewed in my career field about 6 months ago. It went really really well, and I was really surprised when I didn't get the job. But it was ok, I wasn't and still am not unemployed. I got a call from the company today, and the CEO explained to me she was trying to do a friend a favor and hired them instead of me which was fine. But it hasn't worked out, and she really regrets not hiring me. She told me she is aggressively hiring and she really needs me to have it clear in my mind what I want when I meet with her in 2 hours. Since I interviewed, I have completed my bachelors degree (in that same field) and I also got a small raise at my other job. I really enjoy my job now, and feel a loyalty to the company. But the company is also in a position where I will never be able to make higher then what I am making now. I am currently making around $40,000 a year. Which isn't bad, but isn't great either. I am not sure how to leverage my degree into my offer professionally. I want to ask for at least $50,000-$55,000 a year. Is that unreasonable? TLDR: Interviewing today, not sure how to professionally present the amount of money I want.

Your situation has changed, you have a job you feel loyal to now. Tell them you can leave but it won't be for less than $55k. You do run the risk of pricing yourself out of a job, but on the flip side of you get the 55k it is well worth your time and energy. EDIT: Just saw that you said the salary range is $60k. If they are willing to pay 60k, then you are STUPID to not ask for at least $60K. No offense but you would LITERALLY be leaving money on the table. Since you KNOW the salary range, I would ask a bit above it actually. Ask $65K and have $60k be your floor. I have found some companies stick VERY hard to salary ranges and others will fudge the edges a bit for someone they REALLY want. THEY are chasing YOU and you have a LOT of leverage in this situation. Companies do NOT like interviewing for positions after they have made up their mind. They will do so if they have to, but it is a tedious time consuming process. I have been on the hiring side and it REALLY sucks. You would not believe the number of bad interviews I have had. You can, and SHOULD, use this to up your salary. EDIT2: I saw someone else mentioning don't tell them your salary. This is a MUST! They will use it to try to pay you way way less. Just respond "That is not relevant to the current situation. What I need to take this job is $63K" They will say all sorts of nice things to you to try to get you to join them, part of this is that they want you and part of this is that it makes it harder for you to negotiate. In the end, don't let the niceness weaken your bargaining position. EDIT3: I hate doing this many edits but it is important. Re-reading your comment, your friend with an ASSOCIATES degree was making 60k. You should be asking for $70k and settle for less if need be, but certainly not less than $60k. You have a bachelors degree WITH some work experience, you should be making more than them. EDIT4: You don't think I can leave you without one more edit! This is now my top upvoted post of all time; thankfully replacing my post about cockroaches eating off peoples eyelashes! Also thank again to a certain redditor (not sure if they want to remain nameless) for the GOLD! Also, I hope that OP gives us an update though I doubt it at this point!

You need to keep in mind the CEO, admitted to poor judgement in hiring a friend, she now wants you to bail her out, and she wants you to do it at your expense. It's at your expense because she's expecting that you'll low ball yourself on your salary requirements. Right now she's got two strikes against her, this could be a pattern of what it's like to work at her company. Don't let the CEO push you around. When she asks you for what you want tell her, "I know what I am prepared to accept, since you called me and asked me to come back what is your offer?" If she gets upset and pushes back, maybe accusing you of being unprepared or unprofessional say, "I came into the first series of interviews in good faith, you admitted to making a hire based on nepotism, now you've asked me back, and I came back again in good faith, but it seems that you are no unprepared to hire me, because you can't make me an offer"

personalfinance

newjobthrowaway145

t3_50cwos

PedroDaGr8

d7306ec

Daddyisababy

d748f2m

A fraudulent $10,000 personal loan was successfully taken out in my name and under my social

I received an email from credit karma alerting me that I have a new account and my credit score had dropped significantly. When I logged into my account I found that a $10,000 personal loan was taken out in my name and my score had dropped by about 20 points. I know I have to freeze my credit as well as call and dispute the loan, but how do I ensure this doesn’t happen again?

Here it comes. Fucking Equifax. Freeze your credit. Stop anyone from taking a loan out in your name. EDIT: Quite a few people have asked me how to freeze credit. See [this link]( for instructions. Others have a fundamental misunderstanding about what a credit freeze actually is: What exactly is a credit freeze? A credit freeze allows you to seal your credit reports and use a personal identification number (PIN) that only you know and can use to temporarily “thaw” your credit when legitimate applications for credit and services need to be processed. The added layer of security means that thieves can’t establish new credit in your name even if they are able to obtain your personal information. Freezing your credit files has no impact whatsoever on your existing lines of credit, such as credit cards. You can continue to use them as you regularly would even when your credit is frozen.

Lifelock. It really should be provided by your insurance company but it’s not on their radar. Today it’s entirely necessary to have some form of protection against this, and reactionary isn’t good, you need preventative. If I apply for a loan or a card or make any change to my profile I get a text alert and can shut it down right there. It’s not cheap, but if $20 a month prevents me from losing tens of thousands then the answer is obvious here.

personalfinance

ChristyCanyonsCanyon

t3_7m7i7l

Please_Dont_Trigger

drs304e

CoyoteDown

drsukmx

Credit card debt for the first time. Pay it off at once by withdrawing from IRA, or pay it down over several months?

For the past 2 years I lived on a tight budget building up my 401k, IRA, and an emergency fund. But my spending went beyond the budget this past holiday season. Now I have $2.8K in credit card debt for the first time in my life. I have done napkin math on two different options. Can you help me pick which way to go? (They both suck, but still…) Withdraw from Roth IRA With emergency fund almost gone, my retirement savings is the only place where I can find the money to get rid of the debt once and for all. According to an online calculator, I have to withdraw $4,800 to net $2,800 after withholding tax and penalty ([screenshot]( The price is high, but it’s a viable option. Would you do it? If I were to withdraw, should it be from the 401k or the IRA? 401k ($6K) and IRA ($11K): My page: 27 Gross income: 43K/year Pay down over several months By haulting 401k and IRA contribution, and aggressively shaving off my spending, I can scramble $900 a month. With a 19.99% APY, I might be able to pay it all off in 4 months. In 1 month, $2,800 debt will become $2,847 In 2 months, $2,894 In 3 months, $2,942 In 4 months, $2,991 I don’t like this option because it’ll deprive me of all personal spending, and completely erase my ability to respond to an emergency. If some unexpected events such like car accidents or illness were to happen, I may fall into even worse debt. I want to be free of the debt ASAP although I have to bear the penalty. Is it a stupid idea?

From a purely mathematical point of view, by withdrawing from your retirement fund, you are turning a $2800 debt into effectively a $4800 debt considering taxes and penalties, which is a higher interest rate than on your credit card. So paying it off over 4 months makes more sense financially. Plus, take the suffering you will get from not having any spending money as a reminder not to do this again next year!

I would move the balance. 20 percent is stupid. Go get a lending club loan at 7 percent. Pay it off gradually how you want. Or pay the fee to move it to a 0 percent card. Rotating debt is not your enemy, but high interest rates are.

personalfinance

under45over55

t3_41j309

doctorgonzo

cz2p6m4

Bluemoo25

cz3h0bd

Canada Cannabis Industry a Stock Boom or Blow?

So we are all aware of Canada legalizing cannabis recreationally, nationwide, on October the 17th of this year. I myself have taken my time to invest in a few different equities/ETF's to tap into the market. Many people believe this to be a perfect area to invest in due to the industries expected growth of 25+ billion by 2020, while others think it is "over hyped" and will only be a fail (stock wise). Thoughts???

While I won’t pretend to know what the stock prices will do I will say that marijuana is here to stay. Polls indicate much more acceptance worldwide than ever before. Even if you buy at today’s prices if you hold long enough I’m positive you’ll see gains. Assuming you spread your risk out among the producers with most IP rights and production capacity that is.

Well, weed is already very cheap and easy to access in legal states. Persons with no prior experience can grow it themselves in about 3-4 months. There are already ton of dispensaries where you can try bunch of different strains and talk to the growers and such. For example, last year Oregon produced more weed than they could sell. I don’t believe the Big Weed companies can really survive in this environment because there is not much of an incentive to buy from them. Local dispensaries can still compete with them in terms of price and quality because big companies will have higher costs of running the business. Besides, people are picky with their weed, if they can afford couple extra bucks they will go with the locally produced high quality weed rather than the mass produced shitty weed.

stocks

thesaucemessiah

t3_9n60xq

Kiichol

e7jx5xg

moe_z

e7k6gbq

Late start to my 401k. Is doubling my contribution to catch up a bad idea?

Started my first full time job at 24 and nobody told me about the benefits of contributing to a 401k. Fast forward, I’m now 27 and only started contributing 10% of my income 15 months into my employment at age 26. I am looking to make up for those missed contributions and think it’s possible in my current situation. Grossing $4416 Net $2520 Rent $825 Electric $50 Cable $75 Groceries $300 In order to catch up, i believe i will have to double my current contribution from 10% to 20% and contribute around $880 instead of $420 the next 15 months. The reason I believe I can do this is because I currently have $40,000 in my savings. I am a compulsive saver and live well below my means. Is this a bad idea, or should i just tell myself better late than never?

You are limited to contributing $18,500 per year in a 401k. Do what you can to hit that number and you will be fine. Also consider contributing $5,500 to a Roth IRA if you have the available money.

You can contribute the money to a Roth IRA right now though, it might be a better idea. $6900 is the total amount you're looking to add to retirement savings. Since you have $40k in savings you can take the $6900 and put $5500 for 2017, and the other $1400 for 2018. And just be done with it.

personalfinance

TempleU12

t3_7np6ji

plasmastic

ds3fsqg

cardinal_cs

ds3u5d3

Paid In full

My wife and I have been planning on buying a home for the past four years, we finally got the ball rolling and applied for pre approval with a mortgage lender. Heres the kicker, about five years ago my wife had some issues with shitty roommates and ended up with two bills in collections. She never paid them and I always figured statue of limitations would run up before it was ever an issue. Unfortunately we are trying to buy a home in Texas and its a joint family state. Basically our plan to just rely on my 800 credit score wont work. The mortgage lender informs us that we are pre-approved but will have to show proof of handling the creditor issue before we close on a home. No biggie, I really rather not deal with creditors and its money we weren't planning on having to spend but no big deal. So I contact the first creditor, they say my wife owes about $100 more than we expected. Once again no biggie, I pay it and they send us a paid in full letter, life goes on. I move on to the second collections agency, they immediately seem shady. They tell us we owe basically double what we expected, this isnt too terrible though I kind of expected half as much. I negotiate about 20% off with the collector if I pay it right then and they agree. I ask about a paid in full letter and they say once I pay them they will e-mail me a receipt immediately and the letter within the hour. About what the other company said. I pay the bill, give them my email, ask them to repeat it back, thank them for taking my hard earned money and hang up the phone. I check my email, no receipt, I wait an hour, no letter. I repeat this process for the next four hours, sleep like shit and repeat the process today. Now Im super stressed out and I start googling. Turns out I (supposedly) could of just created an account with Trans union and disputed the claims and had them removed from my wifes credit report. For free. And it also turns out you should NEVER give money to a creditor without something in writing first, which is something I probably should of known. So now Im sitting here, super stressed out, and wondering if I just ruined my families chances of buying a house this year, and if I started whats going to be a long drawn out process with this second collections agency to get everything taken care of. Oh, and also just gave away more than a thousand of my families dollars. I would love some advice, but Im really stressed out and wouldnt just mind some thoughts on the matter. Thanks for reading. Also, I live in a different time zone then the agency, but will be calling them this evening. At this point Im fully expecting to just be strung along by them and never actually receiving the letter.

You'll still want to dispute the collections with all three major reporting agencies. Have your wife get all three reports from and follow the process to dispute all the collections. Paying off a debt just leaves the collection in her credit history in a 'Paid/Closed' state. That's better than 'Unpaid/Open', but still not great. You want to get it removed altogether so it doesn't hurt her credit. From your story, it sounds like the second creditor may be trying to pull a scam where they claim you only paid part of the debt. Keep harassing them for a receipt. Look into the 'Fair Debt Act' I think it's called. You likely have the grounds to sue them in federal court if they don't give you a receipt in writing within... 5 days I believe it is; however, for the small amount of money involved it may not be worth it.

Been there done this. Lenders usually require all collections paid. Once the debt is paid, the lenders will be ok with it. The paid off debt will remain on your record for up to 7 years in which is usually falls off about the 6th year.

personalfinance

slaghole

t3_43zcpa

Caustical

czm5q54

oSnapMillerTime

czmlbhu

Keeping a pool worth it?

Hello everyone, I’m looking for some opinions. I purchased a property off market at way below market value recently. The property came with an 18’x36’ in ground pool that wasn’t in the best shape. I managed to get the pool up and running successfully but it’s definitely near the end of the vinyls life span. Now I have two options: 1) Re-Do the vinyl and all of the accessories. This would cost me roughly $8K 2) Have the pool professionally filled in and regraded. Roughly $2K but I would be done with all the maintenance that has come with maintaining a pool. Just looking for opinions on the options and how each would effect the resale value of the property. Thanks.

My neighbor was trying to sell his house, which had a pool. It was on the market for well over a year. I kept thinking the biggest negative was the in-ground pool. FWIW, my neighborhood doesn't have a lot of homes with pools. Anyway... they finally filled it in and build a patio. House sold in a matter of weeks. New owners who bought it installed an above-ground pool on the newly created patio.

Whatever you do, look up the potential effects. I've heard horror stories of people draining their pools before a storm and then them floating out of the ground because of the extra water in the ground. MD has had a very wet year, and stuff like that could easily b a risk.

RealEstate

cgrez33

t3_cb09ax

25orSix2Four

etcefnq

justhatcrazygurl

etcfqmv

Pregnant and in the temporary job market... what should I be looking for/ where would I have the best chance?

Hey, personalfinance! So my fiance and I found out that I was pregnant 3 months in to my 6 month police academy. I obviously had a career planned, and kids were never part of my vision for the future, but we obviously slipped up and now we are excited to be having a little girl in April. I graduated my academy in October, and I have been actively looking for seasonal/temporary or part time employment since. I'm struggling with the idea of not telling prospective employers that I'm pregnant during the interview, because I feel it's deceitful to hide that. Some people have suggested not telling them until after I get the job, but it just feels wrong, and at this point it's already obvious anyway. My first question is; Do I tell prospective employers from the beginning that I'm pregnant, or do I wait until I've gotten the job? Secondly, I don't want something long term. I plan on pursuing my career as soon as possible after I recover from the birth of our daughter. I don't want to enter into a position where the company would benefit from someone who could cater to them long term, when I have no intention of staying very long. I guess my second question is; what type of job do I have the best chance of getting as an obviously pregnant woman? The only thing I can rule out is food service because my only reoccurring symptom has been food aversions, and the sight/smell of some things makes me sick. Thank you in advance, and if there is a better place for me to post this I won't be offended if you skipped advice and directed me there.

When I worked for Babies R US they constantly hired pregnant women. Some who were very late in their pregnancy. Pregnant women are able to give advice and help out other mothers in the store. Some even worked the registry desk if they were having trouble standing for long hours.

Absolutely would not disclose any personal circumstances unless I had to. After about two jobs I realized that employers are only going to look out for themselves, not "do the right thing." You are therefore entirely justified in declining to volunteer information that would lead to your being discriminated against. Are you qualified to substitute teach? Nanny? Call centers?

personalfinance

ArmariBella

t3_2pduzq

luminosity_

t1_cmvwjvf

cmvwjvf

ameliorates

t1_cmw4ddc

cmw4ddc

Best method for paying off student loans

My boyfriend and I are trying to put together the best plan to pay down his loans. After having paid off the loan with the lowest balance (& highest interest rate!) I want to reevaluate his method to get rid of them fast and save the most money. I know that the Avalanche method is best for this and used unbury.me to calculate the savings (a great tool for anyone with debt. Highly recommend it!). I've put together a [spreadsheet]( to convince him of my payment plan but I hit a snag when I realized that I couldn't incorporate adding the additional money from the paid off loans to the remaining balances for the current plan he's using: currently paying an extra $5 towards 2 of his loans, and splitting the extra amount between 2 bundled loans with the higher balances and rates. I'm fairly certain that using the textbook avalanche method will be our best option but I want to convince him of this by showing him savings and payoff dates. Can someone lead me to a site or help me with the calculations to see our actual savings if we stay on our current path? If anyone has any other helpful comments I am all ears. I want to remove this burden from his shoulders as fast as possible. If there's any helpful info I may have missed in the spreadsheet I am happy to share it. Thank you!

just put in your current loans + minimum payments into unbury.us and don't add anything, that will be basically the baseline with no additional payments, then you can compare to the plan you're trying to sell him on so he can see the difference

Ready for Zero is a great website that may be helpful. It lets you adjust payment amounts to show the total amount paid over time, how much sooner you'll pay off your loans, etc.

personalfinance

ginger27

t3_2q6qbt

aznanimedude

t1_cn3cxsj

cn3cxsj

zamarie

t1_cn3p9p2

cn3p9p2

CVS at the bottom?

It looks like CVS may be as far down as it's gonna go? Maybe a good time to buy in? It's at a 5 year low...

[I dunno, man.]( This merger thing raises a lot of questions from both sides of the fence. I bet the stock would jump 20% overnight if they held a press conference and said their receipts were no longer going to be 3 miles long, tho. Jeez, those things.

I think this is where options are at their best. Call options expiring in a month are $1.08 per share, so if you think the stock will go above $60.58, buy those, anything past that point is profit x100 shares per contract.

stocks

123poopy

t3_awjhkj

Thresh99

ehmxm6k

Abominati0n

eho6ano

Tips for touring houses? About to start and would appreciate advice on things you've seen, things you'd wish you'd seen on your walk-throughs.

As the title says. Tips, advice, ettiquette, things you ought to do etiquette be damned, things you wish you'd known ahead of time, things you learned 4 months in. anything helps.

Remember that your goal is to rule out properties as quickly as possible. The minute you see a rule-breaker, leave! If that means you pull up and immediately tell the agent to drive on, so be it. Never see a property for the first time at night. Wear sunscreen and sensible shoes. Go in every room. Make sure you walk around the exterior of the house. Take notes on the MLS sheet (you'll be seeing a bunch of properties and it's easy for them to blur together). Bring a tape measure and a flashlight, and be sure to use them where necessary. Never fall in love with a property you don't own. Buying a home is a business transaction, not a romance novel. And as ginger pointed out, do look up. Good luck!

Don't see a property with the owners there! My husband and I looked at a property with our agent. I'll admit it, there was a 90% chance we weren't going to buy it, but it was huge and had a huge yard and had been on the market for over a year and it was just down the road from us. We had to see it. The elderly couple who lived there were not only at home (I guess, where would they go?), but the man followed us all over the house giving us a long-winded history of everything and pointing out many of the flaws! No wonder the house didn't sell. Even if the situation isn't like this one, having the owners at home makes everything awkward.

RealEstate

Rocksteady2R

t3_387mj0

ShortWoman

t1_crt09vt

crt09vt

waywithwords

t1_crtnbpy

crtnbpy

"Facebook is full of old people"... bears do realize that's a massive Asset and not a negative right?

Seriously what other internet company has this demographic on lockdown? Hundreds of millions of them. Snapchat has pretty much 0 Twitter has pretty much 0 Google+ lol okay I for the life of me can't figure out why this is considered a digg It's one of facebook's most awe inspiring achievements and competitive advantage

I for the life of me can't figure out why this is considered a digg It's one of facebook's most awe inspiring achievements and competitive advantage Then you must not be thinking all that much. First off, I think you're misconstruing the argument a bit. It's not that having old people on lockdown is a negative. That's not a bad thing, and I strongly doubt any investor thinks this is "bad". But it's the lack of young people coming into the platform that is worrisome. First off, Facebook is a social media company that needs to grow its userbase in order to keep growing their revenues. Userbase growth will generally come from the younger crowd - not the older generation, so the fact that younger people are avoiding or even leaving the platform is a red flag for future growth. Second, advertisers tend to be obsessed with millenials and younger generations. The general gist here is that advertisers and brands try to target younger demographics since winning brand loyalty at a younger age can buy long-term loyalty as that audience ages. By and large, older people are more set in their ways and less likely to change from their currently-existing brand loyalties. It's not that they can't be influenced, but to an advertiser, the $ value of winning influence over millenials vs. boomers is huge. Finally, older generations tend to follow younger generations when it comes to technology trends. With younger people leaving facebook, that may entail a future of older generations also starting to leave facebook. It's all about what is probably going to happen in the future as opposed to simply looking at what is happening right now.

What happens when the old people die and the young folks don't replace them? Look at this in the long term. If Facebook can't attract young demographics, how will they survive 20-25 years from now?

investing

wesred

t3_8cogy4

cbus20122

dxghi7o

skilliard7

dxh8pvv

I have no emergency fund. Do I stop 401K contributions until I have 3 months saved?

First off, thanks for reading. I'm hoping for some objective opinions on my situation. I'm 27 and take home $2100/month. My expenses are around $1800/month. I've been throwing everything I can at fixing some mistakes I made while I was a naive and irresponsible student (paying off credit cards, collections accounts and back-taxes). But now I have no savings. I've been contributing 6% to my employers 401k plan and have about $1k in there currently. There is no employer match currently. Given my age, and the state of the world economy right now, I prefer to think that I'm buying stocks at a discount. The problem is that I now have almost nothing in any other form of savings. I have no other assets. My emergency fund would currently cover half of a month's living expenses. It would take me almost a year and a half to build a 3 month emergency fund at my current rate of saving $300/month. Do I temporarily stop my 401k contribution and divert these funds to my emergency savings fund? Again, I get no employer match. All I'm missing out on is the speculative gain, and the tax break.

Eliminate all unnecessary expenditures. If you don't have to spend the money (to keep yourself fed, keep a roof over your head, or keep your credit score safe), then stop. That means the 401k, and ANY other non-essential spending. Make minimum payments on all debt. Once you've eliminated all unnecessary expenditures, look at your cash flow again. It ought to be more than $300 a month. If it isn't, post a budget for us in this thread so we can look at it. Take the cash-flow nozzle and point it into your emergency fund. You want three months of expenses, minimum. Otherwise things can snowball out of control and put you in a terrible hurt. Once three months of expenses is taken care of, move on to your smallest debt. It could be a credit card or something else. Whatever it is, eliminate it as quickly as possible. Rinse and repeat, moving up the chain from small debts to large debts until you're done. THEN worry about saving for a home/retirement plan/whatever else.

I don't think 6% is enough to be contributing to your 401K in the first place -- match or no match. I think you should try and find ways to trim your expenses a little and use those savings for your emergency fund.

personalfinance

MoneybagsMcThrowaway

t3_ma35o

Deradius

t1_c2zbc0s

c2zbc0s

jcm267

t1_c2zajax

c2zajax

Am I Ready to Buy a Condo?

31 years old living in the North Shore of Boston. I live at home with my family. Only lived with a friend for 6 months in an apt and then moved back home so I’ve lived with my family my whole life basically. I’m looking for a 2 bedroom condo that’s $200,000 or under. I want 2 bedrooms so I have the option to have a roomate in the future. No plans to ever have a partner so I will be a single income household. Currently making 46k/year. I get a 3% raise, 10% cash bonus (could be a lower percent but the max is 10 and I usually get that) along with around 4-5k of stock a year. The stock vests at 25% a year and I’ve been here long enough that I have stock from the last 4 years always vesting so I basically make another 4-5k in stock yearly that I can sell immediately (minus taxes). I put 10% into my 401k (company matches 5% of that 10%). Saved: 40k downpayment. 7k closing costs. 10k emergency fund. 3k for moving expenses + furniture. It’s important to me that I can afford the condo without having a roomate and I think I’m there. I’d prefer a house but houses under $200k in this area are for house flippers. I see other posts asking for this type of advice so I figured I’d see what people think because I want to start looking for a place next month. Thoughts?

You're technically in ok shape, but finding a 2BR for under $200k within any reasonable distance of Boston is going to be tricky. That's fixer-upper territory, in which case your emergency fund and such are going to be insufficient the first time you run into a serious issue.

You'll want to have more in your "reserve" as the lender's put it. Depending on the price and monthly mortgage payment, you'll feel a lot better having 10-12 months of payments in cash. For reference, we put 10% down on 693k home and had 47 in reserves. PMI was only $88 a month so we went that route as opposed to waiting for us to have more savings. Looks like you're in good shape. Also, keep in mind that you may want to be in that place for 5-7 years before it'll be profitable to sell when you factor in closing costs. If you see yourself changing jobs or moving before that mark, you'll want to determine if that's a good route to go.

personalfinance

mythrowaway151515

t3_fh0in2

dan_marchand

fk804fe

FNSlick

fk8h1re

Is it bad to "over-pay" on my credit card?

Usually when I pay my credit card, say there is an $85 balance, I'll just pay $100 and then end up with a -$15 balance. Sometimes I have a negative balance on my card for a while. Is this a bad thing for my credit? The reason I do this is my because my bank's app doesn't update in real time with purchases so I usually have some pending purchases that would add to the debt. I figure paying some extra now means I'll be about even when the app catches up.

Not a bad thing, but there's not much of a point to it. If they offered interest on your $-15 balance, that would be awesome, but they don't. If you have Autopay, just set your card to "pay statement balance in full" and you won't accrue interest. [Here is a Credit Myth that made it to the Wiki](

It doesn't hurt but doesn't gain anything for your credit. If you use it as cover some spending charge it's fine too. Whenever the bank statement is posted, that amount is the amount you owe for that month and that's it. Those pending charges will be in your next month statement. A negative $15 balance will temporary increase your limit by $15 until you spend that amount and your limit will go back down to your actual limit. It doesn't take off how much your cash reward in next month, because your reward is base on what you spend and the extra $15 is what you pay the bank. So you will get it back either way no harm to credit, it just put that $15 in your credit card in stead of you having $15 in your checking. I have a credit card that I don't use much, I once accident paid the balance twice ( I paid and I forgot about it and I paid it again next two day, when the first payment was still in pending), I got a negative balance on my card, I barely use that card so the negative balance was on there for 3 months, the bank issued me a check for it and clear out that negative balance.

personalfinance

A_Bag_Full_of_Poops

t3_5eb1t1

zonination

daazu6e

laughed_zues

dabcirp

You buy a put and the company shuts down

Suppose a stock is trading at $10 and you buy a $12 put one year out. Within a month, the company declares bankruptcy and shuts down. What happens to your put?

(If the stock is frozen, and you dont own the position) You let it expire and cut your losses. If you exercise, you get assigned a short position that you can't fill and have to pay your brokerage "hard to borrow" fees until they can fill you, which can be a VERY long time. DO NOT TRY TO EXERCISE A PUT ON A FROZEN STOCK.

As Weszles comment states the question is not very realistic, companies don't 'go bankrupt' overnight. In the timeline of culminating the process - filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 - months and even quarters = overnight. What do I mean? The situation you sketch out above is unlikely to happen. You'll have plenty of warning signs to exit at a healthy profit and outstanding risk adjusted return before the company even comes close to filing. If you're in a short position with the stock at $10, absent an outlier scenario I'll address at the end, the market is not pricing in deep distress yet. The company may be flashing warning signs - stock off substantially (75%), credit facilities trimmed and renegotiated, senior management turnover, CDS rates skyrocketing, maybe even a going concern opinion. But at $10 a share you're not near the door of bankruptcy yet until you see the signs above and... Default under credit facilities and having them actually pulled. Massively ballooning payables followed by shutdown of vendor credit. Near predatory borrowing either by rate or structure (funky small denomination, highly dilutive converts privately placed). Massive contraction of receivables and PPE expenditures as the company attempts to source cash from anywhere regardless of impact on operations. Inability to deliver on key contracts/products because it can't meet inventory financing or payroll needs. Wildly negative working capital. Bottom line is this....if you are short at 10 as the company goes through the death throes above the stock will drift to, say, 3 before the company actually files. Take your massive return and exit. There is no point in hanging around for the last bits of potential max profit especially since that last piece will take much longer to realize, if at all. If the company has already gone through all of the above it will have already had a massive share price decline, say from 350 to 10. If that's the case I wouldn't get involved...all the juice is already gone, the easy money was made. Move on. Remember, even a 'bankrupt' company can have a share price above zero. Hope that helps.

options

wisconsinmad

t3_cle5mg

ziggityzee1391

evve48c

ndlsmmr

evwf45a

[25M] How Does Buying a House Factor into FI?

I'm 25M, as of today I have 100k saved up in cash for a down payment. However, I also have startup stocks which I estimate will be worth between 262k-392k by the time I'm 28. By that time I should have another 120k saved up in cash. So let's say I'll be sitting on 300k+100k+120k = 520k at 28. I don't think I'll FIRE until about 40. I'll spit out some numbers in a bit. Having this large of a nest egg by that age makes me wonder if it would be better to perma-rent and just pour money into investments, or if I should actually straight out buy a house. EDIT Although I called these startup stocks, these are real live stocks that I can sell on the open market this week for ~155k. I'm just optimistic for growth considering my company is actually making money. EDIT2 Some have suggested I liquidate my stocks as I have something like >50% of my networth in one company. I would certainly never invest this much in a single stock, in fact I never go out and buy single stocks. In this case though I got my full asking salary + 10% of that salary in these stocks, so I'm happy to ride the rollercoaster/play the casino/let the fat lady finish singing. But remember kids, never buy solo stocks. I'm just lucky that a year later I not only still have a job, but also a decent shot at making good $$$.

This is another one Buying real estate depends on the city. Each one has a vastly different market. You need to figure out the exact numbers currently and compare them. From there, you can pseudo predict the future, but conventional logic is home prices match inflation normally -- beyond that, you are betting. There are ways to skew toward buying a house (mainly through renting out other rooms, and putting in sweat equity to do improvements that increase the value). I have a feeling if you buy a 3 bed room and rent out the 2 other rooms to people you can trust, that is your best option. PS everything I have heard on here, is I estimate will be worth between 262k-392k by the time I'm 28. Does not mean anything until you have cash in pocket.

At 25, there's a lot most 25 year olds still trying to figure out in life. Unless you are dead certain you plan to live in that area for about 7-10 years, I'd probably stay a renter. You could end up having an SO, wanting to move, etc. I'd only really buy if it was a killer deal and you could be sure to rent it (and know a good property manager).

financialindependence

independence_man

t3_4h844u

ARealRocketScientist

d2o8b4z

grapplingotaku

d2okfjs

I'm divorcing soon with no money and a ton of debt. How can I file for bankruptcy in Mississippi without an attorney?

I have a job ($11 an HR) plus VA disability, but it's not really enough to climb out of the hold the divorce is leaving me in. Can I file bankruptcy on my own? If so, could someone point me to a educational resource? Everything I find on Google leads me to various attorneys, and I can't really afford one, hence the DIY desire. Thanks y'all.

If you qualify for VA disability are there any VA resources open to you? I do not know if you have the requisite percentage of disability but they might be able to help point you in the right direction.

All, No bankruptcy memes please (i.e. especially The Office). No, you aren't the first to think posting this would be funny. The reason you don't see it yet is because our AutoModerator is very good and smart, and we've already removed the comments. We don't want more than a quarter of the comments here to be silly jokes - please focus on helping out OP. Thanks!

personalfinance

NegroMedic

t3_91r4r4

sportamous

e301y5b

Mrme487

e309804

What is the ideal way to buy a house (short of paying for it in cash).

The wife and I are finally on our feet and are making about $100,000 yr combined income. I've browsed this sub and everyone has specific questions but I am in no rush to get a house. People have talked about 20% down, FHA loans, HUD housing, foreclosures, etc. We are currently living with my parents and paying 0 rent. Our student loans will be paid off in about 6 months. I have friends who are in trades...specifically an electrician, a landscape architect, and a couple "jack of all trade" type of guys...which sort of makes me want to get in on a foreclosure while the market is down and fix it up. I also don't want to save up for too long where the housing market goes back up and my savings rise slower than the market. Any advice is appreciated. I've also read about tax liens where you pay someone's property tax and they have to pay that back with interest, and if they don't you get their house or something like that. Anyway,I'm basically asking that in this current market if you had $100,000 income and friends with trade skills (or even if you didn't) what would be the best or your preferred method of purchasing a house. Thanks!

Don't just think "house or cash." Get some of that money in the stock market! If you're young, you have plenty of time to ride the highs and lows. If you've got a large amount of cash in a savings account, you're throwing money away.

Well, what's ideal for YOU? A good way of building wealth is to put 20% down on a house, finance the rest, live in it for a year or two. Then do the same in another place or a for a bigger house in your neighborhood, and make someone else pay you the amount of the mortgage and then some for your first house. Rinse, repeat. If you're only looking to buy, live and sell then put as little down as possible, use your cash to upgrade the house (kitchens and baths usually have over a 100% ROI, meaning you get that money back and then some), and take your profits with you and roll them into a new house to avoid cap gains tax. Things like PMI, cap gains tax and realtor fees serve only to take money out of your pocket.

personalfinance

TadpolesIsAWinner

t3_170z9z

porkpie-hat

t1_c816pn2

c816pn2

eyesfrickinlasered

t1_c8182dj

c8182dj

Any stocks to buy before E3

Are there any stocks anyone are looking at before all the video game companies announce their big titles for the year?

I work in the video game industry, and I would generally advise against investing in the video game industry as a whole unless you're investing in a hardware manufacturer (MS/Sony/Nintendo) or distributor, of which I'm not sure any are public that are not just generic retailers. Maybe if there were some sort of ETF I'd consider it because the industry is strong, but the industry is super hard to accurately price individual developers off of because they have large costs and large development cycles based off a public perception dice roll. It's like betting on early stage small pharma companies except the success is based off how the public is feeling on any given day instead of science. There are way better things to invest in that will have bigger returns and more predictability. tldr; If you invest in something video game related, invest in something that tracks with the whole industry doing well, not an individual game doing well.

I think it would be worthwhile for anyone interested in making a play on E3 to see how the GAMR ETF has done following the past few E3s. I think there's pretty reasonable evidence that E3 is priced in.

stocks

lildicksenpai

t3_8plq28

way2lazy2care

e0c8y3u

surelyourejoking888

e0d5jjj

Moving to Denver area in a month, is my friend giving me a good deal?

My friend owns a house in Lakewood and it has two rooms he rents out. He would be charging me $750 for rent with all utilities included. I've seen two-bedrooms for about $500 a person but a lot of those don't include electricity or Internet. Is this a good deal my friend is offering?

It would depend on what part of Lakewood, where you will be working or plan to work and where these $500 options are. $750 all utilities included doesn't sound terrible for the Denver metro area but without more information it's hard to say. I currently live about 15 mins north of Denver.

When I was renting out one of the rooms in my house in Centennial, I was setting price at $650-$700 all utilities included, and I always had plenty of bites at that price point.

personalfinance

BitchYoure22

t3_7kel0l

elementality22

drdnyaq

kevin2357

dre406l

Am I getting ripped off by my bank or am I not understanding my car loan?

So I put down a pretty significant amount on my car loan, and financed the rest ($3,633). It's a 36 month loan with payments at $113 (12% interest). So I'm 4 months into my loan currently, and pay $150 towards my loan every month (hoping paying a little more would make any difference at all). What I'm confused about, is I've made 4 payments of $150 towards my loan, and my bank is saying my balance is still $3,550. Am I just horrible at math or what is going on with these numbers?

12% interest!? Yikes! That's insane. Do you have terrible credit? My credit union gave me a car loan at 2.99% for one car. A dealer gave me 2.49% for a different car. If you have the means, just pay it off. That being said, something seems off in the numbers but I can't do the math right now. Get an amortization schedule from the bank.

Make sure you are applying your additional payments to the principle and not just another payment on the loan . Only a certain amount of your payment is being applied to the loan total while the majoirty of it is being applied to the interest. You may need to have the bank go back and reapply the payments accordingly if thats what happened.

personalfinance

Watchmesink

t3_3p0in9

a300zx4pak

cw22ayu

lantoine2008

cw2ne5r

What’s the best way to save for a house?

My starting salary at age 22 will likely be around 60k/year. The area I want to live in with my future family is quite expensive, though; even a cheap 20% down payment is around 120,000. I wouldn’t be buying until my 30s at the earliest, though. Would the best way to save for this house be to deposit a few hundred dollars a month into a high-yield savings account? I ask because that’s what I thought of first, but I thought there might be an option I missed (e.g. an index fund) because I’m not that knowledgeable about finances. I already live pretty frugally (no drinking, smoking, expensive restaurants or vacations, I see maybe 2 movies in the theater a year, etc).

If houses are 600k, step 1 in your strategy should be to make more than 60k. Like, double. Focus on growing your earning potential rapidly. That will be the fastest way into a house without it being a crushing obligation.

Open a Roth IRA, like today. Max it out each year. You can invest in an ETF and your money grows tax free. After 5 years you can withdrawal up to 10k in gains tax free for your first house. Once you have a 6 month emergency fund saved (in a saving account or cd). Start buying into the market at regular even interval (dollar cost averaging). When you increase your pay don't like life style creep happen. I was in the same boat as you took me 10 years but we finally got a house in the bay are, bought a new car cash and still having a 12 month e-fund. Just save and invest wisely. As you get closer to actually buying pull out of the market and buy in less risky investment vehicle.

personalfinance

QuestToTheStars

t3_fw359f

cosmicosmo4

fmmc0ar

eh_meh1

fmmrqxm

I think I might be retarded?

Everyone in here is always posting about how you’d have to be retarded not to make money in this market, but I keep losing money on what I considered to be unfortunate trades, because I might be retarded. Most notably it was PCG, lost half my money when the entire state of California caught on fire, and I sold the exact second they announced they may file for bankruptcy. Most recently was Disney, beat all expectations, somehow went down. But I’m holding long term because I refuse to lose money again. What am I missing that you guys all seem to know? Would be open to any advice whatsoever, but please don’t just name stocks to invest in, unless you can also provide the reasoning. Much appreciated

Disney might modestly go up next week. If the pandemic situation gets serious though, we'll have lows before we have highs. But yeah if I were you and in the red with DIS, I'd also just wait. It's not a penny stock, or a meme or fad stock, it's a solid company. What am I missing that you guys all seem to know? Eh I've made some of the same mistakes you've made, so I dunno what I know, but my working thesis is that: First time when I heard "buy on weakness and sell on strength" it really didn't get through my thick skull. You gotta buy when there's a panic selloff, and sell when everyone is patting each other on the backs that stonks only go up. Patience. When there's a sharp move up or down in the stock, it's always an overreaction first. If the movement is down, it'll recover (unless something fundamentally horrible happened, like accounting fraud and their entire ER is bullshit), if it's up, it'll fall a little (like after positive ER). Trade accordingly. Don't panic sell on a drop. WAIT. And sell when it recovers. Of course for this to work you need to know the dip is not fundamental and long-term. I buy companies on a long-term uptrend, when they have a short term dip. Then wait for recovery. Or if you invest long-term, pick companies not bothered by mostly anything, like Microsoft. Virus? China? Fuck if they care. Microsoft is on a roll. Steady subscription revenue, cloud services. I'm not saying invest in Microsoft, but basically play it safe. One YouTuber likes to say "trade like a spoiled brat. Don't just buy anything, be extremely picky and very spoiled, buy only the best stocks on the safest entry points". And I mean, he's right. What level you bought Disney at? I mean it's not like they're going bankrupt. The company is doing great. But it's seeing a bit of uncertainty right now around their parks business due to the virus, and Disney+ is a lot of air right now due to trial and short-term subscribers (although I think it'll do well by end of year). Apple might drop on next ER (logistics, company is fine) so after ER might be a good entry point, that's another solid company, but I'd be a bit cautious next 2-3 months. Anyway I've started just naming random stocks. I don't know shit. But have patience and prefer repeated small wins, over risky big wins. Small repeated wins get to the finish line. Case in point, buying before ER and selling after is risky. But you know what's safe? Buying DIS few weeks before ER, selling 1-2 days BEFORE ER, when it peaks. This way it doesn't matter that the ER is. You trade expectations, not results.

Did you do research on pcg? They came out of bankruptcy before, so you think about what everyone else is thinking, i.e. that investors will think that they will come out of bankruptcy again, which is what is most likely going to happen. So when they dipped it was a perfect opportunity for you to yolo 10k and turn it into a million. Keep in mind that this is also a utility which are generally safe bets. Also think about the legalities and hurdles that it would take to pry this company away from investors and into the shit show of the other plans you read about. They are not going out of business and not into the hands of other independent counties when they already have a system in place. Plus this isn't a case of outright internal fraud or something. When you're a company this large things are going to happen and people are going to die and they will be sued.

wallstreetbets

AlphaNosebleed

t3_f0io4c

LogicUpgrade

fgucrn6

CleanFoodHandler

fguubk3

Two Months Into FIRE

I've decided to continue the monthly updates for now because they help me mentally sort things out, provided that the are still seen as relevant to the subreddit. Two months into retirement at 38 with a planned 3% SWR on a starting value of 1,025,772. That works out to 2564/month, or 2064/month with $6000 yearly in lump expenses. (2k vacation, 1k property tax, 500 professional license tax, 500 christmas, 500 car insurance summer, 500 car insurance winter, 1k unexpected) This month's spending was $2640 (up from $2352), including $500 from the yearly column for "summer car insurance." So we're 3% over budget for the month, but 3% under for the year. We brought in $1127 thru my wife's job (which she likes and would do for free) and some old book royalties of mine. Our withdrawal was $1513 this month, which is effectively a 1.74% pro-rated SWR (1.46% pro-rated SWR average this year). The portfolio appreciated again this month from 1,039,471 to 1,056,090 (a 1.60% increase), which dropped back down to a new total of (drum-roll) 1,054,577 after paying the bills (2.8% increase in two months, after expenses). If the year-end value is higher than the starting value, I might recalculate a new 3% SWR value and go forward from there since 3% is in historically safe territory. Or I might reset the clock at the end of the year and set aside everything over one million as a separate fund to draw from without guilt, while maintaining a 3% 30k withdrawal goal. Spending was a lot higher this month, and I can't really see a good reason, but I'm not too concerned given that I don't have enough data yet and that the market is doing well. I don't budget per se, just monitor. Accomplishments for the month include more reading (especially paleontology and astronomy), more housework, more yardwork, more cooking, more running (now up to 25 mpw with a goal of a 1:25 HM in Oct and 3:00 FM in Dec), more weightlifting, completing the vast majority of my CE requirements for my profession, faster Rubik's cube solves, seeking out volunteer opportunities, learning to play the taishokoto, continued daily journal, visiting old places from my childhood that I had not seen in thirty years, first ever river kayaking, first ever barbecue as the grillmaster, doing my first painting (the startup supplies for this were expensive now that I think about it), and planning upcoming vacations. On the downside, I played way too much Diablo 3. I again only spent about 5-10 minutes on the subreddit this month due to a lack of interest. I'm too busy with life. I have noticed that my stress levels are way down. A friend of mine said the sense of dread from my face was now gone.

I for one find your posts both topical and informative. Sorry if you have already done so and I missed it, but would you mind sharing your asset allocation? Best regards

Thank you for taking the time to write and update after fireing. It's very motivating and interesting to read, because of the details you put into it. Congratulations on making being in a new part of your life! Enjoy the crap out of it!

financialindependence

jasonlong1212

t3_6qwp5d

SingleMaltSkeptic

dl0q41v

henrikc3

dl22e4g

Volatility & Correlation....

Why should I pay attention to volatility and correlation if I have a 40 year + investment horizon?

I've found that a modestly leveraged stock and bond portfolio has higher expected return with lower risk than an unlevered 100% stock portfolio due to the diversification benefits from the correlations of stock and bond returns but this is an advanced concept.

Trailing stops. Assuming you aren't going to index fund your way to Shangri-La. You also have to keep in mind that we're currently in a high probability circuit breaker environment. That is to say, there's an automatic "breather" put in at -20% on any given day. Accordingly, your trailing stop should never be 20% or lower (it simply won't be executed because trading will have been halted). If you're building your own index fund, things get interesting when you consider how you would bias your trailing stops for each stock (and, in point of fact, one of the ways index funds make money is by knowing how to bias these stops).

investing

SheikhOfWallStreet

t3_3s80it

GottlobFrege

cwuz8ao

[deleted]

cwv0kda

AMD: Buy or Sell?

I have a few shares of AMD around the average price of $11.25 right now. They just dropped under $10 for the first time in almost a year. Should I buy more AMD right now and ride out this tech dip, or sell it off and cut my losses? Thanks!

I made a post yesterday explaining that AMD was in a bear market. Needs to regain the 50 week moving average to be considered a buy again. Looks to be headed to a test of its 9.50 area. This is where fundamental analysis is key. If your DD says AMD is undervalued, then hold. If you bought it because others bought it then sell.

I say Buy, with the crypto craze going on, its hard to find their GPU's at retail price. The whole reason it drop last earning is because they though this quarter would be light on profit.

stocks

travjune0610

t3_7hi7sx

ATribeCalledM

dqr5prx

Baronvonsemenslinger

dqr7swy

Is it better to invest or go to $0 net worth?

I was setting and looking up my new year's resolution and decided to answer the following question: should I try to even my interest and debt or simply max out tax advantaged retirement accounts? Here are some information on my overall situation. I have been contributing to IRA since last year, and I can max out all of my tax advantaged retirement plans which will generate 6% compound interest on average. I currently have $16K in a Schwab 401k account, and the company provides me with 6% match. In addition, I have $57k student loan left at 6% interest, with a minimum payment of $600/month which I can afford at this moment. Again, these are the two options for my 2016 new year's resolution? If I have to make one choice, how should I prioritize the two options? Is there any possibility where I can pursue the both options, namely, maxing out all my tax advantaged retirement plans and clearing my debt simultaneously?

The 6% match is a much better than 6% return, so you want to keep doing that. Paying off the student debt is a guaranteed 6% return on your investment, whereas the 6% expected in the IRA is not. As you describe it, you have a negative net worth today. Net worth is assets - liabilities. Adding $10K in savings or paying down $50K in debt will have the same impact to your net worth.

Make a simple calculation and see just how costly debt is. Next to each amount, write down the interest rate. Multiply 12, and that's how much each loan is costing you per year. If you feel like save/invest, pull out your notepad again and write down the total amount of cash in question, and multiply it by the rate of return that you could get on the money.

personalfinance

elevengraduated

t3_40b00t

yes_its_him

cyst725

musicdirt399

cystmjp

Inherited $50K - What should I do?

(Posting this in reference for my buddy, who is in the room as I type) To make a long stort short ... I inherited $50,000 from my family's estate, and I'm not completely sure what to do with this extra money. I'm currently employed In the Portland area, making a modest wage, and with no outstanding loans or debts (beyond student loans). I live very frugally, staying rent-free with a relative and just covering basic bills (gas, food, internet). I'm throwing as much money as I can into my RothIRA at work, often meeting the maximum matching amount. My initial thought was to just put this extra money into my IRA for retirement, but I feel like there are better options out there for me for investing long-term. What's the best long-term investment for my situation to make my money work for me? Edit1: As some of you pointed out, I meant to say Roth 401(k) through employer, not separate Roth IRA. Is there a big difference between these two? I mean, If I have a Roth 401(k) through my employer, is there a need for a Roth IRA? Edit2: Thanks for the advice everyone! It sounds like the best thing I could do is pay off those student loans first. The argument on risk tolerance makes sense: paying off a certain negative return does seem better than netting a possible positive return. Edit3: Clarification on "inheritance" ... long-story short, I don't owe taxes on it. I believe it was technically a "monetary gift", for which I do not need to report on my taxes as income (according to the person who gave it to me, who knows a lot more about tax code than I do).

into my RothIRA at work Assuming you mean Roth 401k. You wouldn't have a Roth IRA through your employer. Check the sidebar link -----> "I Have $[X] ... What Do I Do With It?!"

I would NOT pay off student loans. If you invest and earn more than the loans accrue in interest you're making money. Interest on student loans is so so small.

personalfinance

Blarglephish

t3_18njnw

NothingKing

t1_c8gbxd4

c8gbxd4

nyran20

t1_c8ggbp9

c8ggbp9

Someone offered me a property for my car.

Put my car in CL (yes.. scams galore) and while my car isn't a Maybach it is a relatively rare BMW (less than 2000 made). So I get a whole bunch of people contacting me and what not but someone offered a property for trade. This said property isn't all that great. No paved road and it's all wooded. It's off Lake Livingston Texas... Like one road away. If this is an actual legit offer, what should I ask about it? I don't think there's an HOA there so that's one less thing to deal with but what else is there about a property I should know of? First time getting an offer and never owned a home. Thanks for any help and if if anyone has gotten a scam like this, how does it work?

Write back; "Sorry, cash only, no trades". The land is probably worth half of what your car is worth, the seller has been trying to unload it for years, and he's just trying to trick you into a really bad trade. Say no and you're all done with that guy. If you want to buy land later on, then go ahead and look at all the thousands of places for sale. It will be vastly easier to find something good that way.

Usually rare cars will have sites/forums dedicated specifically to those cars for repair advice and selling/buying. You really should try to sell the car there, especially as those people will be more likely to recognize the actual worth of the car.

personalfinance

oooooooopieceofcandy

t3_53g30b

Clem_

d7ssx2u

Computermaster

d7t3w6d

What is the opposite of a share buyback?

Share buybacks were one of the main factors driving up the stock market over the past few years. This was mainly because of low interest rates. Going forward, if interest rates rise and companies need capital, might they need to ISSUE stock to raise capital? Basically, the opposite of a share buyback. Wouldn't this dilute existing shareholders and drive prices back down?

Share buybacks were one of the main factors driving up the stock market over the past few years. That is nonsense. This was mainly because of low interest rates. Share buybacks are mainly caused by low interest rates. For many years, low interest rates were the main thing driving up the stock market. I don't think the later is still true (the former is certainly still true). But even while both are true, that doesn't imply the causality you imagine. companies need capital, might they need to ISSUE stock to raise capital? Yes, some companies issue stock to raise capital. Usually that is more influenced by how credit worthy the business is, rather than by interest rates. When interest rates are too high for companies' growth plans, they are more likely to delay growth, rather than fund growth with additional stock. But if a company is not credit worth enough for loans, they are likely to issue stock for growth. Wouldn't this dilute existing shareholders Yes. drive prices back down? Not necessarily. In theory the company issuing new stock had a sufficiently important need for additional cash, that a lower share of the business with that cash is worth more than a higher share of the business without that cash. So in theory the price should not go down as a result of issuing more stock. In practice, management's choice to issue new stock wakes up existing stock holders to the fact that the company's lack of cash (and lack of credit worthiness) was serious. So the stock goes down, not from the fundamental impact of the dilution, but because of the information discovery it triggered. &x200B

You got it, kinda. It’s uncommon for big companies to do this but some smaller ones have to to raise capital. Shopify is known to do this so that they can maintain a certain amount of cash on hand, the stock dipped after they did it the last time but not for long because it’s Shopify lol. Big companies that have a good amount of cash wouldn’t have to do this, they can use credit among other things. I think this tactic is more for rapidly growing companies that need capital, not as a tactic to raise money for companies that are mature.

investing

Capitalism30

t3_ahyqhl

jsf67

eejjbk9

luislovesmoney

eejgh5a

Should I switch from a big bank to a credit union?

My bank account was hacked and now I have to open an entirely new account with the same bank (one of the big 4). I've been talking to my parents and they told me to switch to a local credit union but I have a few questions/concerns, though. Do credit unions have good mobile apps? I deposit a lot of checks through my phone but I'm not sure if most credit unions support this. I also plan on moving in a few months. If I were to join a local credit union and move (out of state), do I have to switch banks again?

Do credit unions have good mobile apps? I deposit a lot of checks through my phone but I'm not sure if most credit unions support this. Depends on the credit union. I also plan on moving in a few months. If I were to join a local credit union and move (out of state), do I have to switch banks again? Depends on the credit union. Credit unions are not inherently better or more secure than banks, and vice versa. You should make your decision based on the banking services you need and go with the option that offers them for the lowest cost.

The big banks aren't in all locations across the country, either. No BofA, Wells Fargo or Citibank anywhere near where I live in Indiana for example My CU has mobile deposits and the app works fine... they are a little anal on the check deposits though, get a lot rejected

personalfinance

simplybrain

t3_3nuqof

aBoglehead

cvrdmj8

jaymz668

cvrew4t

How do 529s provide for college expenses?

I have a pile of cash to put aside for my daughter for college (~11,000). She is 5, I know I should’ve put it in an account a long time ago, but alas here we are. My question is, I never see any warnings about 529s losing value. My daughter will need this money in 13 years, which isn’t a ton of time in market. But neither is 18 years if I were to have put it away awhile ago. So why is this? What happens to our kids if there is a downturn when they’re 16/17? Is there a “safer investment” within the 529?

TL;DR: 529s can lose value. There's nothing safer about a 529 compared to any other investment vehicle - it's simply tax-advantaged. When I opened one for my kid when he was born, the automated mix was something like 50% stock and the rest bonds and I can only assume it would start moving more towards bonds as he gets older.

A 529 is a vehicle, just like a 401k. You can select investments within the vehicle with different levels of risk. You also can have a 529 in a state different than the one you live in, should you like another state's policies.

personalfinance

AllUNsaregone

t3_e8esgp

SpicyFriedCat

fabawc7

92Lean

fabcwx5