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IRS sent me a letter saying I'll be fined $695 if I don't have health coverage.

I claimed an exemption from health coverage when I filed my taxes in 2015. I was unemployed at the time and had no insurance. I have basic health coverage now that is in effect from 12/01/2016 through 11/30/2017. The letter says 'If you already have health coverage, you won't owe a penalty as long as you stay covered.' I assumed the insurance I have now counted as coverage but this letter has me worried. If I am insured, does the IRS automatically know? Do I have to register somewhere or submit some information?

You provide proof of coverage when you file your taxes. So the letter now means you'll get fined in 2018 when you file your 2017 taxes if you don't have a qualifying health plan. It sounds like you're going to be fine.

OP it isn't clear from your post whether you had health insurance coverage during Jan 2016 to Nov 2016. You mention getting an exemption for 2015, possibly based on your income being low. Whether you will have the $695 * 11/12 penalty or some other penalty amount will depend on whether you were uncovered during some months of 2016 and whether you qualify for an exemption in 2016. Provide a little more info if your question is about how to handle this on your 2016 taxes.

personalfinance

KojaSirober

t3_5oua48

theoriginalharbinger

dcm56ha

wijwijwij

dcmhtpt

Best advice for 19 yr old with no credit on financing a car for the first time?

I know. I don’t want to be in debt either. My best bet is to save for the car I want but I don’t have time for that. All previous cars I’ve had are all used bought straight out and stays alive for about 2 years. The car I have now is on its last limb and I have a job that drives a lot. Can’t I just find a dealership and put $500-$1000 down and try to negotiate a low monthly price? If so any good dealerships for that?

You will be able to get a loan, as long as you can prove income, with zero problem. But before you leave your home to go car shopping, I would first sit down and be honest with yourself. Physically write down a list of ONLY the things you absolutely NEED this car to do for you. Put it in your pocket and go car shopping. Test drive anything you want. And before you sit down with a dealer to talk financing, pull out that piece of paper, turn it over, and write down everything that car does that isn’t necessary for you. I bet you have an epiphany.

It appears you don't pick used cars well. Consider buying a 2000 model year or so Toyota Camry, take it to a reputable mechanic and have it inspected and then buy that car if it's low risk. You should be able to get a decent one for 3-5K. Well maintained Toyotas with 100K miles will likely last at least 200K miles or more. I know. We own three of them. It's also important to maintain your car. Not just take from it but keep it in good operating condition. Oil changes are the most important item to perform. If you put $500 or $1000 down at a dealership with "no credit" you will get financially reamed. Should you have to sell the car, it's likely you'll owe more on the loan than the value of the car. You will also have a very high interest rate.

personalfinance

bishthrowaway2001

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Bock44-

fiw0f5a

catdude142

fiw7ro2

I'm 18, homeless, nowhere to stay and I have $250 dollars in my bank account. What do I do

I feel lost. Me and my father got into an argument. We started yelling, he pushed me, I pushed back. I defended myself enough to get him off of me, ran downstairs and locked my door. Packed enough shit to get by for a few days. I have no food, water, or shelter. I have a job but I don't get paid until next Friday. I'm not sure how I'm going to get to and from work though. I have $250 readily available in my bank account, but that's it. Do I open a credit card? What on earth do I do? I ship out for the navy on January 30th. I just need help

Avoid a credit card, make it a super last resort. You don't want that baggage waiting for you when you come back. Contact a friend or family member, explain what happened, and ask if you can stay with them for a short while, (guest bed, sofa, floor). Offer to help them with a bag of groceries. Give it some time, do not wait too long, but try and see if your old man will at least meet with you to sit down and talk things out. As far as we all know, your dad does not want to stay angry at you, especially knowing you are planning on leaving the military in the next few months. Best of luck.

Best of luck, mate. I can't give you sound financial advice but I wanted to congratulate you. I also ran out of my home (on good terms with my parents still). It was a situation where I couldn't stay. I love them and know they love me but I still had to do it. It caused a riff between me and my sisters but tbh my relationship with my parents is better than before. I feel like they respect me and things seem less tense now that I've already taken it to an extreme (like what's the worst that can happen now?) The first night I foolishly paid for a motel room but I had a bit more savings than you did. I got by mainly bc I had an amazing s.o. who helped me make the transition emotionally (and talked to his parents so I could stay for a few weeks). It's been about 3 years and my life isn't perfect but I'm happy and proud. It was one of the hardest and most terrifying thing I have done. I felt so alone in that decision making process. Even to this day I think about it and I doubt my decision for a minute before realizing how much happier I am. Idk what your situation is exactly with the family but congratulations on making this step in your life. It couldn't have been easy and it takes balls. So. .. congrats! I'm happy for you that you got yourself out. Sorry about the current situation but it WILL get better.

personalfinance

Slimpete2017

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tacotaco92

djyo5j7

snkrim

dk0718s

How would I go about convincing my parents to help me start investing?

Hello. I am a first-generation 18 year old high school senior and have just started considering the idea of investing. I've heard online that it's never too late to do so and I'd like to start as soon as possible, especially since I'm 18 now. The problem that comes along though are my parents. Both my parents came from another country and have no clue what investing is or how to do it (just like me). I've seen a few apps like Robinhood and have been interested in signing up, but when it comes to sharing my own info (my SSC specifically), my parents go crazy. They don't want me to do that because they don't know what comes along with it and don't trust it. &x200B My father does have knowledge in personal finance but that's about it. He doesn't know about stocks or investing. My mother knows even less. I just started learning about some of this stuff but I'm really still very new to it. I'm taking a business extracurricular class at my high school and have started learning just the basics of personal finance and investing but I know that's just not enough. &x200B How would I go about convincing my parents to help me start investing? Or, better yet, where can I get information about doing so? My father and I are planning on applying for my first credit card at a bank via a CD loan because my bank doesn't offer any secure cards. I was thinking about asking the people at the bank for an explanation about investing when I'm with my father to help straighten things out a bit but that's all I can think of. &x200B Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Go make some money first so you learn the value of money before you start investing. While your earning that money read about finance as a hobby. Investing is good but the stock market can bite you in the ass if you think it’s all about getting rich quick. Be patient

If your parents know nothing about investing they won't be much help to you. Don't get their help it is going to be misinformation and bad advice. I usually recommend: as a first book on investing. I'd suggest M1 over Robinhood for a young person. OTOH if they trust banks Merrill Edge is Bank of America and Chase is JP Morgan Chase. Might reduce friction to get a brokerage account there. Many other banks do have brokerage arms. Not the best but might eliminate the friction. What bank do you use? You don't need to get a secure card from your bank BTW. There are first credit cards like Journey Student Rewards from Capital One.

investing

antzer1

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mrjinglesturd

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JeffB1517

fdte90s

Lending Club: Has anyone used Lending Club to invest? What has been your experience investing there? Success / Default Rates?

I want to diversify my portfolio into other venues besides stocks and real estate. Interested has anyone tried out the Lending Club? The return rates look attractive as most investments look from the outside. I would like to know your experiences? Average Rate of Return, Default Rates, any Tax issues, Success / Failure, etc

I put $1000 into it about 4 years ago, here is where I am today: Earlier this year I heard that the taxes are very complicated and so I decided to stop re-investing the money and I'll cash out when the last loan is finished. At that point I assume I'll have to deal with the tax issues. I don't really know but I figure screwing up the taxes on only $1000 can't be that big of a catastrophe.

I've had about 2500 in it for a couple of months. So far so good. No defaults yet, couple of people paying off early (a bad thing if you're the lender) and it seems to take a long time to fund some of the loans. This is definitely a high risk investment for me and is a small portion of my total portfolio. I fully expect to have defaults but I also expect the final return to be pretty good. Because this is supposed to be a high risk flyer I tend to concentrate in the "E" and "F" category. My low risk stuff goes elsewhere. I use an accountant for taxes, we'll see if he curses me out next spring....

investing

tkwit

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Job offer rescinded after making a counteroffer. I regret not taking the initial offer. I feel helpless.

Tuesday - I had an offer for $70K and it was lower than my expected salary range ($75-80K). So I respectfully countered and asked if it was possible to get $80K and if they can meet me in the middle. Friday - they rescinded the offer saying they can't give me $80K and that they feel uneasy about me taking a significant pay decrease (I currently make $95K). I was already expecting to get a pay cut by going into a different role so I don't understand why they couldn't just say they can't do $80K, and if I'm still willing to take the $70K (which I would've taken). But instead, they decided to drop me. I'm just very frustrated because we never discussed anything related to salary during the interviews. The director sent me an email after my first interview asking what my salary expectations were and I told her it was $75-80K, which she didn't respond to. She simply scheduled a final interview with me the day after. I'm getting laid off next week and I have done nothing but cry and regret over my decision to counteroffer. I should've just taken the initial offer. I feel hopeless. I've been submitting applications since yesterday and I don't feel confident. I should've listened to my cousin and taken the initial offer. I am feeling so much regret and I feel like my life is falling apart. &x200B What did I do wrong?

I worked in HR for 5 years and I've seen this exact situation come up several times. Companies that tend to do this do it because their compensation philosophy is to always pay wages that are under market. Once hired, they're unlikely to give significant pay increases and that pushes employees, who are assertive about compensation, to leave. Since it often takes 3 - 6 months of training to bring an employee up to speed, this is a significant loss to the company. By countering their offer, you may have indicated that you are likely to leave after a short period of employment due to low salary and they'd rather spend a little more time finding someone who is willing to settle for low pay for the long term. Unfortunately you may never know the exact reason for why the offer was rescinded but please believe me, you did nothing wrong and it was a bullet dodged as many have mentioned. You WILL work again. In my experience, prospective candidates (and women in particular) do not counteroffer enough. If you don't feel confident doing it, ask for a lesser amount like 3K - 5K instead of 10K (although 10K is not unreasonable). You will be much happier having asked than losing out on that money for the period of time you are with that company. Best of luck.

Hang in there. I know you're in a tough spot (and 20/20 hindsight just makes it worse) but don't give up and keep trying. Do you have any savings stored up in case you need to access it?

personalfinance

kindlypassive

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scarycute

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amplifiedrain

eh4f9yo

Student Loan Panic... PSLF and Accruing Interest

The basics: Graduated from law school last year, have a good job now making just about $63k working for the government. Have about $101,200 in student loan debt. Got the government job earlier this year, applied for PSLF program, was "accepted" - in that tentative way - loans were transferred to Fedloan Servicing. My income based repayment plan gives me a monthly payment of $350. Since my loans were transferred a month or so ago, I've been keeping an eye on the interest and called today to find out how much is accruing monthly. This is where the panic comes in. Interest is about $20 a DAY, around $600 a month. My monthly payments aren't even coming close to covering the ACCRUING interest, never mind starting in on the back owed interest. I am no where near convinced that the PSLF program will remain as is for another 9 years and 10 months. I'm terrified that I'm going to be making these monthly payments and after ten years, be on the hook for significantly more than I ever borrowed in the first place. Obviously if I start paying an extra $300 a month, that's going to seriously slow down my emergency fund savings (just getting off the ground) or any long term house down payment dreams. But the risk that I'll owe upwards of $120k ten years from now and no guarantee that program will be there is terrifying. tl/dr - Am I better off making my minimum monthly payments and trusting in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, or should I be paying at least as much interest that's accruing monthly, almost doubling my monthly payment? Thanks so much for any insight. Very terrible feeling after that realization. (Typed on phone, will likely edit for clarity later) **here's a link I found while researching this more

I think it just depends on your trust in the federal government. The less you want to depend on this program being around the more I would suggest you put more than the minimum toward your loans. But if you trust that it or the IBR forgiveness will stay in place then work on your other financial goals. You sound skeptical of the PSLF remaining and I personally agree. If I were you, I'd put more than the minimums towards my loans but I wouldn't prioritize it over building an emergency fund.

When you signed loan documents, PSLF was a part of the contract. If the government tries to get rid of it, they are breaking a contract and a hellacious class action suit will ensue. That's why even this pinheaded administration has not dared to try and elminate PSLF for people who are already in the program. I am on PSLF and I am not worried. But let's say the worst happens and it is done away with, then what? Another ten years on IBR and then you have forgiveness. not optimal, but it exists as an option. Your payment will probably never cover even the interest, if your law school loans are anything like mine. Mine grow every year. You have to do what you think is best, but if you think thatyou are going to proceed with paying those loans off, you need to get the highest paid job you can immediately and pay as much as you can. Staying on IBR and letting the loan get bigger and then going private is the worst possible way to handle your loans.

personalfinance

saltyfrenzy

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brightmoon208

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1TipsyCoachman

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I just turned 19 last month, and my dad is going to die

We found out my dad had terminal brain cancer when I was 18. I'm 19 now and my mom just had a talk with me telling me that when my dad dies, she will live with her aunt, and I will live with another aunt. I'm getting separated from my parents, but at least I'm not going to be homeless. I work a gig/job where I make 75$ a week and currently go to school (i get no financial aid except for BOG which is means my school is partially paid for). Is there anything I should know/do/be aware of from now on. I'm just really lost Edit 1: thank you for all the advice and replies, there are a lot of questions that I see are great on my notifications but get lost within the comments so I’ll give a little more details about me here. I’m currently going to community college and I’m studying Electrical Theory trying to get a certificate, I applied to the IBEW (an electricians union where you work/learn) and I hope I get in within the next year. Moreover onto the grieving part, I’ll try to talk to a counselor about my situation soon, and my dad has brain cancer for about 7 month, so ive done my grieving for a while now, but I can’t help it but feel sad everytime I see him sleeping in the couch in the living room. Anyways thank you for the advices and sweet comments Edit 2 : this isn’t at all related but something bizarre/superstitious. Last time when we received the news about my dad being diagnose with brain cancer, my car battery died at school, now that he’s back in the hospital awaiting his death, my car battery dies again, at school. Edit 3: my mom and I just had a talk on the phone, and briefly she told me that I will be staying with my aunt for a while, about 3-5 month until all the paperwork and stuff are completed, then she is going to find an apartment for me and her. For my dad, she told me the hospital is going to transfer him to some kind of home or living unit in USC, I’m not sure what’s still going on, but all I know is that we won’t be seeing him. I’m going to go visit him this afternoon and we’ll see from there. Last edit 4: My family will place my dad in a hospice/nursing home, and we will visit him frequently. He is home alone nearly everyday as everyone has work or school. So we will try to visit him everyday until he passes away peacefully. Me and my mom will try to find a cheap apartment as I’m still searching for a job as a material handler/helper in Los Angeles. Thank you everybody for your prayers/ advice/ tips. Good bye, pm if you are curious about anything else.

There isn’t really anything to do. But there’s a few things not to do: Do not start using drugs or drinking heavily. Do not gamble or try to escape from the grief with risky or unusual behaviors. Do not pay debts your father owes or respond to calls from debt collectors claiming you owe them money on his behalf. You don’t.

If you can, go on a short trip somewhere nice together. Somewhere you can go again one day when you want to remember. I know it’s hard, you can’t be sad all the time and some days you might feel numb. Don’t forget that right now he is still here. I know the meds can sometimes make it seem like he isn’t, but he is. I don’t know the rest of your family situation, I hope you all have a community to be a part of and support you through this. As others have said, some counseling help just to have someone to talk to and get a different perspective, many churches and community centers provide that free. Your studies might suffer a bit, just be honest and direct about your situation with your professors, it’s not an excuse, it’s just reality that things will be hard for awhile. God bless,

personalfinance

onyuchen

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RandomQuestion75321

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PrintersBroke

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Credit dip after paying off loans, how long does it last for?

Per the title I paid off my student loan and car note this January and am officially debt free (woot woot!). My score was 797 and it's been around 750 ever since. I assumed it would go down a little but just curious when it will go back up? Was hoping to finally eclipse the infamous 800 number and thought paying everything of would be a good step. I do have a couple CC on there but they are paid off monthly so is my total utilization too low perhaps?

Not to worry! Your score dipped because two accounts have been closed, which lowered the average age of your lines of credit/debt. Utilization for CC is only based on the statement balance (not whether or not you carried a balance over a billing cycle... Damn why won't this myth die?). And low utilization is better for your credit score since it indicates to potential lenders than you don't take on too much debt at one time. As for getting to 800... There's no need. Your credit is very good and will begin to climb as your CCs get older. You're debt free and in good shape.

What are your goals for your credit score and why does it matter? The only answer I can think or is home ownership or achieving a highly favorable auto loan (like 0% interest). For those sort of things 750 is equal to 800+, for those sort of things income matters more than score. With some finance companies (like Ford credit and AMEX) history with them might trump credit score. &x200B In short it doesn't matter, but I would expect that within 6 months you will be above 800 provided you open no new accounts between then and now.

personalfinance

killapanda5280

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NakedTactics

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Why should I have a credit card?

Hi there, I come from the UK but I figure the system is much the same elsewhere in the world. I'm a student and I've had a debit card for the past few years. I don't have a credit card because I've never seen the point but I've started reading this subreddit recently and everybody keeps on mentioning credit ratings etc... I was wondering whether anyone could tell me whether I should look into getting a credit card. I've never really needed one, I budget well and don't overspend, but I'm starting to wonder whether I'm missing out on something that will become apparent to me later on...

Let me preface that this is for the US, but the UK may be quite similar. As long as you dont change your spending habits, there is no fundamental difference (financially) You can earn a % as points/rewards (thus free money) Security, given the fact that anyone that steals your card can only charge you, and not have direct access to money in your bank account.

YMMV, but I've never had a credit card and never felt the need for one. I've just read too many stories of people ending up in drowning credit card debt despite coming from a strong financial setting. Credit cards work great for a small % of people, but the majority of us end up losing out on credit cards. Personally, the risk/reward isn't that great for me. (remember CC companies WANT you in debt) The caveat being, once you are on rock solid financial setting and the risk drops considerably, credit cards perks are great. My ex had her entire tuition paid by her parents on a credit card. They would charge the year up front on their Discover ($70K) pay it off 30 days later then use the points to fly to Europe.

personalfinance

Fooldimi

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wahhhhhh112233

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Tragic-Story

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cp1tvxh

Is 3200 too much monthly rent for 145k/year in Seattle?

My wife and are both 30 years old. I recently got a new job offer in Seattle for 116k base + 23k sign on plus about $3k vesting RSU in the first year and more RSU vesting / sign on renewal in subsequent years. In all, I should be bringing home $145,000 in the first year. I'm moving with my wife, and we're looking for a place that is not too small and not too run down. We found a great spot outside the city for $3200 / month. I've never paid so much for rent in my life, but I've also never made so much and haven't lived in a high cost of living area. It's difficult for me to figure out exactly what my budget will be since I don't know how much utilities, dining, entertainment and so forth will be in a new city with a generally higher cost of living. I've also never managed so much money before. My wife will not have a job (I owe her for school and will be supporting her for this transition). We have no debts and about $75k in savings (mixed into various IRA's / 401k and savings/checking), and 750+ credit. I've read that 30% is an outdated metric for rent to income ratio. 3200 is about 26% of 145k but closer to 30% after tax. It seems kind of outrageous to pay so much for rent but we're not ready to buy in an unfamiliar city. Will I be paying too much for rent? Or Is this normal for cities like Seattle?

That's certainly doable, as you've mentioned it's hard to know with unknown expenses but housing tends to be what makes high COL areas, high COL. The differences in eating out and entertainment tend to be fairly marginal in comparison. Housing is the easiest way to save money and the easiest way to spend money. Your home also has a fairly significant impact on your day to day happiness so it's very much the personal part of personal finance. Surely 3200 isn't the cheapest place in Seattle so look at the 2k places and evaluate if what you're getting at 3200 is worth it to you.

You're not making 145k/year. You're making 116k/yr....plan on 116k, because year two will bite you in the ass when you're 23k per year short from your math. The only thing you have is 116k, everything else can be taken away because the business is in a down time etc etc. Who told you 30% to 1/3 is out dated? That's like saying the second law of thermodynamics is outdated and doesn't work anymore... Sure it can be pushed higher or lower easily, and living with a higher ratio is possible, that doesn't make it a good idea.

personalfinance

PigDogIsMyCattleDog

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mikeyb89

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FormalChicken

di1whfh

PSA: Make a budget and use it before coming to r/personalfinance for help with your finances.

Lately I have noticed several posts like this. EDIT: I'm not saying "everyone must have a budget or there post should be deleted blah blah blah", I am saying that having a budget and knowing where your money goes will get you better advice than asking the same generic questions that pop up weekly. Besides, answers to those questions can be found in the sidebar and or by using the search tool. TL:DR Before posting to personalfinance for help, know where your money is going. We can't help you if you don't know where your money is going.

Great advice in theory, but I think most people come running to /r/personalfinance when they realize they are in over their heads and need some advice. The typical OP of the kinds of posts you linked don't know how to make a budget and rarely think about their personal finances. Even though it gets tedious to see the same posts over and over, I think it's important to give these people good advice and help them figure out a budget. I would bet that most people without budgets don't even realize where they could be cutting out the fat and need a wake-up call from people on this sub. I think it'd be better to promote using the search tool before posting and have a link in the sidebar to a simple how-to-budget site or post.

You know what's great about psa's on reddit? They get upvoted by sub regulars and circle jerked over and sit on the front page for about a day before they fall off, and it doesn't really do anything for the new people who come on afterwards. Ask the mods to add it to the sidebar or this is just masturbation.

personalfinance

h20falz

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devony

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StopThinkAct

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cay8qxf

Sallie Mae just took control of my direct loans and I would rather stay with myedaccount.com, what can I do?

I just received an email stating that my direct loans have been transfered to Sallie Mae. I have heard horror stories about them and have purposely avoided them throughout my education. I would much rather stay with the direct loan servicing through myedaccount.com. Can I refuse the transfer and continue to do business with my existing provider?

You don't own the loans, so they are free to sell it to whoever they want. Mortgages work the same way. Terms won't change so everything should stay the same except for where you send your monthly payment. FWIW, my student loans are serviced through Sallie Mae and I haven't had any problems with them.

This is a thing? They can transfer my federal loans to a private lender? That is horrible. I assume terms are still the same but I fear their shady tactics. Ugh now I'm nervous this will happen to me

personalfinance

bmwbiker1

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Azzyally

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carpe_meme

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How are 1% listing fees such as what Redfin offers sustainable?

Could someone explain how such a low fee is sustainable after factoring overhead and paying the agent? Is this a loss leader? What is the long term strategy? Even the concierge service of 2% which includes staging, painting, and a deep clean seems too good to be true.

I got my refi last month at ZERO cost, prime rate 3.625% with no fees whatsoever, that company apparently only makes money trying to sell you home protection/mortgage insurance plans after the fact ... basically a Facebook model, zero cost to the consumer. Maybe you should be asking how long until the service of a real estate agent is a completely free perk from a company marketing furniture, lawn care, pest control, or all of the above. My buyers agent collected a 5 figure check for what was 5 hours of work, he told me as much, nice guy, great agent, but the industry is filled with bloat and has been upheld by lobbying that may soon be overturned by more effective lobbying from companies like Redfin, facebook, and amazon. Think 1% is shabby? How does nothing sound ? That is where it's headed imo.

I don't think you don't get painting, staging and cleaning for free... they just make arrangements for you. I sold a house w/ Redfin a few years ago, they handled the staging arrangements but I paid the $2500 bill to the staging company. I'm sure cleaning/painting would have been the same... they have some list of providers that will do it, but you pay the providers. I have no problem w/ Redfin, I have used them to buy and sell. I think when average home prices are in the $500K range or higher it's insane to pay $15,000 to both sellers and buyers agents. I've sold 4 houses in my life, and bought 2 -- I can say w/o hesitation that none of the Realtors involved did even $5,000 worth of effort, let alone $10,000+. We're talking a dozen hours of effort at best, and I'm supposed to pay them $700-1000/hr for that? If anything the buyers agents deserve the lions share, they're the ones running around more often. IMO percentage based fees are disgusting at the valuations that many areas are at today. We should have flat fees based on effort, with percentage based bonuses tied to performance (lowering buy price, or raising sale price). Take a look at many of the listing descriptions you see out there -- poorly written, often incorrect, often terrible photos... Is this worth many thousands?

RealEstate

marko385

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PaintchipDoritos

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Hot_Region

e8k5k4h

Buying a house no longer feels achievable.

It has been a dream of mine to be a homeowner for several years. About 4 years ago I actively started saving and paying off debt to work towards making my dream a reality. I have successfully paid off all my debt (approx 20k) and want to buy a house but I don't feel like I can afford to buy a house anymore. Prices just keep skyrocketing in my area. My husband and I make about 70k/year combined and currently have about 25k saved up total. (So about 15k that could be spent on a house because I like to keep 10k in my emergency fund). We are trying to find a small house for under 160k but are having a really hard time finding ANYTHING within that budget. Old 800 square feet houses that five years ago sold for 80k are now selling for over 200k in my area. We have checked other areas and it's the same situation. The only houses under 160k are in sketchy and high crime areas and I'm just not comfortable with settling for that. I live in Ohio, I hear people talk about how affordable housing is in Ohio and I just don't get it. Unless all these people are living out in really rural areas with no internet, or living in the hood, or maybe I'm just missing something? It's not like I'm looking for a big house with granite countertops or anything lol. I should point out that we have not gotten a realtor yet, all the information we get is from websites like Zillow, Redfin, etc. I am just feeling hopeless and the longer I save up, all the money I save seems to get offset by the market prices increasing. At least it feels that way. Just looking for some advice. Would it be a good idea to get a realtor now to see what they think? Keep waiting and save more and hope prices stop going up? Thank you :) &x200B ETA: I'm going to add an edit to this post since a lot of the comments seem to be about us not making enough money. I am making 20/hr at my job and my husband makes 15/hr. He loves his job, he is living his dream by having the job he has and doing what he loves. Buying a house has never been his dream and isn't as much of a priority to him as it is to me. He is willing to buy a house with me but he isn't going to change careers. I however, before my current job, was making 9.50/hr and have worked very hard to get the job and pay that I currently have. I didn't think buying a 700 square foot house for under 160k would be impossible when I started saving up, but now I just don't know.

You guys make about $15/hr each. That's just not very much money. If you're in even a decent sized city in Ohio, 15/hr is unskilled labor rates. One or both of you are going to have to put more effort in to your career and dig out of the entry level wages or you're going to be living in apartments with other entry level wage workers. You don't have a finance problem, you have a career problem if you want to own a home.

What area of Ohio if you don’t mind me asking? We may be looking around Marysville in a few years and we’re wondering what the housing prices are like around there. Hopefully not what you describe, but I imagine they probably are.

personalfinance

llama_girl

t3_coyjus

benicebitch

ewm09ny

cdsfh

ewmacsq

[employment] no raise in 5 years. After a promotion, they only increased my pay by $1.00

I hope this is the right place for this - I've been with this company for years - since I was 17. When I asked for a raise (3 years after working for them) they said I was at the cap. 3 more years later, that cap hasn't gone up. They changed my position and I did it with the same pay for another 3 months until I got fed up. My boss asked for my behave and after a fight they gave me a dollar. I was advised to speak on behalf of myself and email the president as well as COO and CFO. What's the best way to go forward with this? The job is really great and way too convenient for my lifestyle. They easily accommodate so I don't really want to leave, but if they don't respond well that's probably what I have to do. what should I include in this email? I want to get it out tonight. I don't want to waste any more time. Edit to mention: the reason I say it's convenient is because I've been here so long and my boss is pretty accommodating. I don't plan on staying here forever I just need the income right now. I have bigger plans to return to school. But for the time being I don't want to work for crap money - I've applied other places as well but the drive just isn't worth it - this place is 10 min from my home. They make millions, it's obvious from his mansion in Newport Beach as well as his luxurious cars and clothing, so it's not that they don't have money. They just consider themselves "fiscally conservative". Another thing: I think I may have confused some of you, but I'm not fighting for $13 - that's what they gave me and I'm trying to get more than that because I don't do entry level stuff anymore

They make millions, it's obvious from his mansion in Newport Beach as well as his luxurious cars and clothing This is all irrelevant. Your boss's wealth =/= your job's value. You are worth $13 to them. Find a new place to work.

Find another job, if they're being that difficult about it it's probably not worth having. My old boss made approx 25 dollars an hour and I made 12 despite doing the same job, I asked for a 25 cent raise and was scoffed at. Promptly found another job that pays even more than what I was asking.

personalfinance

mayamy

t3_54otc9

jaurein

d8489vp

39to45

d83wk5k

Happiness while poor?

I'm saddled with debt and am putting almost all of my income toward it so I can be debt-free in three years. However, my lifestyle has been seriously cramped by this. How does one stay happy while maintaining relationships with friends, family, and a girlfriend without any money? Three years feels like a prison sentence (I'm 30).

Find stuff that is free to provide you with some "little luxuries". Those are what everybody misses, and then breaks their budget so they feel better. Libraries are fantastic, and have tons of stuff in addition to books. Mine will get pretty much anything I want, including entire seasons of any TV/cable series. Find parks, beaches, wildlife areas near you and go explore. You don't need a bike or a tent to go for a walk. Many parks have basketball courts, volleyball courts, BBQ areas, etc. Grab some friends, make it a pot lock BBQ day and go hang out one Sunday. Most local newspapers have some kind of "going on this week" activities column. Check it out for stuff that you might miss. Many museums have a free night/day for county residents. Bookstores and community colleges have a ton of lectures/ readings/ classes. Many are free or very low cost. Cultivate a cheap hobby with your girlfriend. Cooking and baking are great, just take it easy on the luxury ingredients. If you guys can find a physical activity you like that gets you out of the house (besides sex, obviously), go for it. Equipment can be found cheaply on craigslist. Research, save up small amounts and then get what you need. Canoe? Snorkel and fins? Snowshoes? Skates? Go volunteer to be crew at a sailing club (they always need someone to sit on the rail). Volunteering can be really fun to do with someone, and great for your mental health. Like animals? The nearest rescue needs you! Your local elementary school would kill for a male role model to come in and help out with their struggling reader program. Foodpantries and soup kitchens need help year round. Whatever you are into, there is a volunteer program that could use your hands. Lastly, take time to appreciate what you have. You are healthy. That is absolutely huge. While you may feel a bit bored or deprived from time to time, all that pales in comparison with how you would feel if you had some squirrely health issue. You have friends, family, and a girlfriend. Take time to talk to these people, and, more importantly, listen to them. It is probably the number one thing you can do to strengthen your relationships, and ultimately your happiness. Show them how much you appreciate their presence in your life, especially while you are slogging through a no-fun time. Bake them a loaf of bread and drop it off with a homemade card! Volunteer to babysit their kids for a night! By the time you are debt free, you will have discovered a lot about yourself and your community, had a ton of fun with your girlfriend and shared a lot of experiences, have a strong and nurturing social network, and will have been of assistance in the world. Great stuff.

OP, I highly recommend you watch the documentary called "Happy", to give yourself some perspective here. It doesn't take a lot of money to be happy, and there are plenty of people who make tons of money who aren't happy.

personalfinance

flaxuvr

t3_29kf16

[deleted]

t1_cilrr33

cilrr33

csguydn

t1_cim01t1

cim01t1

I've been denied financial aid for this semester, what are my options?

My GPA is .18 under the SAP and have been denied financial aid, I already have everything including my apt. with a signed lease. I can pay for the apartment with money from my job. But as for tuition, what are some alternatives? I need the money soon, as in before next week, and I can't count on my parents right now because of some extenuating circumstances. I need about 6K. Thanks for the help guys.

Private loans might be an option, but doubtful they can turn around from application to funding in less than one week. Call your school's financial aid office and explain your situation, see if there is anything they can do.

With a .18 GPA, I wouldn't give you financial aid either. You are wasting everyone's time. Pick up a trade or something You will never make it to graduation with grades like that. It's very hard to bring your GPA back up and you pretty much dug yourself into the deepest hole possible. I'm surprised you aren't on academic probation.

personalfinance

3rdresultongoogle

t3_3hqjvs

loopy212

cu9n0ea

WhySheHateMe

cua47a5

Is buying points always the right move?

We’re putting down 20% on a conventional loan and our mortgage rate is 4.99%. To buy down to 4.75% will cost us $2,100. The break even point will occur in 3.5 years. We plan to live in our first home (3000 sq ft, planning for kids in the future) for the next 5-7 years. We are able to and would like to make an extra $300-500/month to our minimum payment ($2,200). A friend said another way to keep interests low is to make two payments a month. Our lender does not charge for a fee for extra payments. If so, would we need to buy down the rate? What’s the smartest use of the $2,100 we have to spare?

3.5 years is a solid break-even, and you plan to be there for 5+ years, so I'd take it. Rant incoming... The two payments a month thing is marginal benefit for what you get, compared to paying a bit extra with each payment, or making a single double payment per year with your xmas bonus, etc. Trying to make more (or less) than one payment per statement cycle with each one being less than the minimum payment for the month incurs too great a risk (for me, anyways) that the high school dropout processing it for minimum wage will screw up and think you didn't pay the full amount in a given month, and put something incorrect in a computer that you will spend 50 hours on the phone with other high school dropouts, reading from a script, trying to fix. The reason everyone is hyped up on the idea is because there are 3rd party companies that charge to facilitate arbitraging it, TLDR being they obfuscate that you're just making a 13th payment each year because some Americans are dumb and think there are exactly 4 weeks in a month. Kind of like how everyone is hyped up about making LLCs because lawyers, that charge for the service, push it as a one-size-fits-all solution.

When looking at that break even point, it's worth giving an honest thought to whether you normally underestimate or overestimate the time things will take! If you expect to live there four years, but don't move for 15 years, it's worth taking. If you plan to live there for four years, but your hectic life means you could be forced to move in a couple years, then probably not. Have your normally taken longer or less time to do those major things like changing cars, jobs, moving house?

RealEstate

carlsjr09

t3_97l95b

aardy

e490qck

MsTerious1

e49k7rc

Has anyone here ever done a career break?

So I posted this on so travel but got told to post here as well for more nuanced opinions. So just got back from my first proper solo trip (other have been northern Ireland and around Europe for football where I met friends at the final just travelled solo) and as cliche as it is the 2.5 weeks made me realise that I missed out. I'm 31 next month and in a dead end job so I want to explore whilst I'm single and not tied to a mortgage. I'm considering going SEA and Oceania end of next year as hopefully I will have enough money saved by then and ideally I will get an Irish passport which allows me to get a whv. Just a bit iffy about it as I might not have the funds for it as atm my savings are for a house. Atm I have £2.5k debt on a credit card (interest free until November) and £7k in a help to buy isa. I earn £20k a year

you never have to take on a mortgage, ever. Don't feel you have to are you looking for a career break because you want to travel or because you hate your job/career? IMO you cannot afford to take a break. As it is you have 50% annual income in debt. Going on vacations in your situation is ill-advised. back to second bullet: maybe try and work on a more meaningful job or better paying career you will get more out of

My husband took a break for 18 months. We had some debt and we got some more during that time. Mentally, it was the best thing he ever did. Financially, it’s 10 years later and I feel like we are still paying for it but I’m not sorry.

personalfinance

kirkbywool

t3_e7cwya

AssaultOfTruth

f9yix5s

Pattystr

f9yp65h

Can I Do a Chargeback on my Credit Card if John Casablancas turns out to be a scam?

My girlfriend is interested in doing modeling. She recently submitted an application to John Casablancas in CT and got a call for an interview. She was really excited when she came home, but there were several things she was saying that was raising red flags to me. Here are some of the ones I remember: Interviewer was very high energy and excited. She got a tour of the building, during which the interviewer was talking as if my gf already worked there. Sounds similar to the "putting the product in their hands" approach of selling to me. She was accepted on the spot She was told she was perfect for the petite modeling. High excitement for how much potential she has. Only 24 models were being hired for the summer, she was 22! She got one of the last 3 spots! Earning potential was up to $400/hr and they are very busy! Interviewer seemed to be setting an unrealistic expectation to my gf. Finally.. There is a 13 week required modeling and acting course. It is $150/week. My gf paid a $450 signing fee before leaving the "interview." She will be required to pay for make-up and other such supplies directly from the agency. It all seems really fishy to me, but I don't want to assume it is a huge scam with no potential right of the bat. I don't want to break my gf down about it. So my personal finance question is: if she goes to a couple classes and we determine it is just a big scam. Can I do a chargeback on my Credit Card for the signing-fee and any weeks of classes we have already paid for? Thanks!

It's a scam. Sorry. Like the publishing world, the money is supposed to flow from them to you, not the other way around. If (IF) your girlfriend is model-beautiful, the process is to go to a reputable agency and sign up to be available for modeling. Possibly spend a few hundred dollars for professional photographs of herself. That's it. There's no other expenditure. Almost no one is model-beautiful. Unless people exclaim "You are literally the most beautiful person I've ever met!", unprompted, all the time, you aren't model-beautiful. These various schools exist to prey upon people; extract as much money as possible by holding out the dream of certain things. The dream is either achievable or not, depending upon what genes one inherited, but either way no school will help or hurt it.

Sounds like a scam sales job. All you have to do is sign up all your family and friends. Also pay us.... SCAM SCAM SCAM. No job you should ever have to pay anything. Just a rule of thumb, it's a scam or not worth your time if you have to pay for something from the SCAMMER, for earning money.

personalfinance

user-89007132

t3_37lr03

jellicle

t1_crnqa1b

crnqa1b

fluxburn

t1_cro2qel

cro2qel

Hertz says I owe $190 for scraping the rims, I don't remember hitting anything, what should I do?

Sorry if this is the wrong sub. I rent cars several times throughout the year and have always declined insurance because I figure my car insurance or credit card will cover it. I rented a car and upon returning it, they inspected for damage and found scrapes on the rims of the right side. I'm a US citizen but this is the UK, so that's the driver's side. I distinctly do not recall hitting anything on my right side and neither does my wife. Unfortunately, I never took pics before driving the car so I can't prove it wasn't me. And like an idiot, I didn't take pics afterwards. facepalm Should I go through my credit card/insurance to take care of the $188 damage or should I contest it? If the latter, what's a possibly successful way to contest it?

You can try contesting by asking them for the before photo’s to show it was your rental that caused the damage. Chances are all there will be is a form with no areas of the car highlighted (because either nobody looked or you really did kerb it). If they don’t fold on the first inquiry then you’ll need to eat it since you have no evidence.

I'm not too sure how Hertz does contracts and walkarounds on vehicles. At Enterprise we would have the multiple copies of the contract. You might be able to ask Hertz for the damage history or the past contracts to review any history. If it's marked on a past contract, you're free and clear. You can also ask to see if you can find a rim in a junkyard and offer to swap it out. But it's 188 bucks, so it's not as major as it could be. Putting it on your card will cause Hertz to charge you for the rim and then your CC will deal with the claim in time. Unsure on the time it will take b/c I've never been on that side of it with a customer or with my own personal business.

personalfinance

salawm

t3_959gw4

Bokbreath

e3r0jhz

Spazdout

e3rjrmd

24, 31k in student loan debt with no degree

I went to college straight from high school and couldn't afford it. My parents were bad with money and hadn't filed their taxes in years, so I couldn't fill out FAFSA and get aid. I didn't do too well in high school so I didn't even bother with scholarships. To be able to attend college I took out loans that were cosigned by my grandfather, who is now dead. I took out $31,698 in loans for my first year away at my dream college that stand today as follows: 18,273.19 @ 7.5% $184.26 a month payment 8,755.49 @ 9.5% $155.47 a month payment 2,681.39 @3.15% $34.27 a month payment 1,762.29 @ 6.55% $25.87% a month payment That's $31,472.36 total, paying $399.87 a month, which my mom takes care of. Last year she paid over 4k in interest alone. I have a job that pays $13/hr and I usually work 30 hours a week. After taxes it comes out to about $1,120 every month. I live with my parents and they pay for everything, my expenses are only my cell ($48.77/month) and Netflix ($9.99/month). I used to have around 3k in CC debt that I worked to pay off completely. My circumstances are that I only have 14 college credits; most of my credits at the "dream school" didn't transfer to the community college I attended after I came to my senses. My ambitions are to finish at the community college, transfer to a cheap state school, then go to graduate school for social work and get an LCSW. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do all of that realistically because I have a serious mental illness that's pulled me down a lot in the past. However I am able to work, while most of the people who have what I do aren't able to work, and I did have top marks in college. I'm not sure that I'd be able to handle the stress of working and going to school, I feel barely able to do one at a time and still manage to pull good grades/not get fired. I'm on Medicaid due to income level, so my ~$900 in meds/psychiatrist visits are covered completely. The cut off for this assistance is $23,400 year. My therapist suggested that since I never filled out FAFSA and payed higher as a result I should contact my old school or LegalZoom and see if they can retroactively reduce the total loan amount. I think that's crap advice but I figured I'd mention it anyway. What do I prioritize here? I want to pay down the highest interest rate loan first, or at least more aggressively than the others. I also want to go back to school but now seems like a bad time. I'm not happy with be saddled with debt, not even having an associate's, and depending on my parents who are getting older and don't have life insurance yet. What do I do? I will answer any questions you have for me.

Where is the other 1050$ per month of your income? Why is your mother paying your loan when you have more than 2x the minimum per month in excess cash?

Honestly there is no reason for you to realistically try to pay off you loans quicker. In fact make sure you are making the absolute minimum payment. The truth is that if you don't pay your loans back in full in the first, say 4 years, then the interest is already made and there is no longer benefit to pay off early besides eliminating a monthly payment. I would seriously try to consolidate those loans however , you avg apr is very high for student loans (which makes me think they are private )

personalfinance

the_queens_speech

t3_51o6ei

Ayresx

d7dmbc5

IAmNotARobot0010

d7dtknw

Currently living in an owned mobile home but lot rent keeps going up. Thinking about buying a house but no idea if this is even a good idea because I have some considerable debt.

I’m currently living in a 20yr old mobile home I bought outright in 2009. If it matters, I live in Michigan in the Grand Rapids area. Lot rent has skyrocketed since then and is going up again to $560 a month. I have a roommate that has zero plans on going anywhere and splits everything with me 50/50 on living expenses so she will move with me. Park only does some very poor plowing and garbage pickup; I do everything else. I am really thinking it’s time to get into a traditional home given the age of my double-wide, especially since the roof and deck are showing a lot of wear and I’m reluctant to sink more in. I’m also pissed because the quality of the park has gotten quite bad and I could excuse the high lot rent when the park was being maintained and had standards of who lived here. However, I am terrified at the prospect of a mortgage because my own parents lost my childhood home to foreclosure and that’s such a scary thing to put up as a risk if I bought a traditional home. I honestly have a good chunk of debt (20k, consolidated loan for debts from credit cards that were the result of both poor decisions and the end of a four year relationship where we shared everything and then suddenly I had to take over all of it). I also have a timeshare that is fully paid off (yeah I know, bad decision when I was younger, living in very different circumstances) that I don’t really want but don’t know what to do with. Currently also leasing a car and am on income-based student loan payments. Credit is low 700’s and I have a stable job but I’m not making much more than 35k a year. Is it a terrible idea to consider buying a small house to get away from lot rent and a clearly degrading mobile home? I have no idea where to even start looking into what my options are.

A house can be a good idea. But with a few things to watch out for: The house should be of good quality. I'm not talking about the kitchen or about the quality of the wallpaper, I'm talking about the structure of the house and the pipes and roof. Get a check done before you buy to make as sure as is possible that there aren't any hidden large repair bills right around the corner. The house shouldn't be too expensive. This has to do with number 4, the mortgage. If you're going to buy a house, buy as small and cheap as you can. (But watch out for number 1... )There's always the possibility to move to a bigger house later on when you're more financially settled. You should preferably have 20% of the house price as a downpayment, plus another $10k or so in a savings account to help you with buying costs and some small repair and maintenance. The mortgage should be completely doable for you. You've unfortunately witnessed in your youth what happens if you can't keep up with the mortgage payments. So the total mortgage should be so low that you can easily make the monthly payments, even if your current roommate would move out (or would otherwise not be able to help make the payments). Given your current situation, with debts and all, I would say that you're not ready yet to own a house. But perhaps over the next year you could work towards cleaning up your debts and starting a savings account? That way you will be more and more prepared with every month that passes. Hopefully the mobile home lasts you another year...

PS... consider renting a house (or a room) for a few years if you can get a good deal on the mobile home and if you're not ready yet to buy a full house. Renting can be a good thing, in your case it can be a good thing if it gives you time to pay off debt and prepare for buying a place.

personalfinance

jadey_lady

t3_bqesd2

PetraLoseIt

eo3tpr5

PetraLoseIt

eo4ogrs

Best place to store $10k emergency cash

Seems like a waste to leave it sitting in a savings account. Where should I keep it? CDs? Money market? Thx for help

This is the price you pay for peace of mind and having access to this money at a moment's notice. Anything with a higher yield would likely involve locking it away for a certain period of time (with potential penalties for early withdrawal) or putting it at the risk of market fluctuation. Park it in a high-yield savings account to minimize your loss of value to inflation and call it a day.

Do you have a credit card that you could use to pay for expenses needed at any absolute moment? If so then I would suggest opening an ally savings account or getting one of their 11 month no-penalty cds. You could use your cc to pay the immediate bill then transfer out what you need to pay off the cc.

personalfinance

closelurk

t3_5mosks

sublym0nal

dc57694

Fallen_browncoat

dc57f4f

How do you handle unreasonable inspection items?

Buyers seem to be getting more pushy with inspection items. I currently have a buyer wanting a new water heater despite the current water heater being only 5 years old and in great condition. They've already paid for the appraisal and an inspection but are threatening to drop the contract if they don't get it.

Since you are saying it's in great condition; what is their justification for wanting a new one? Put the ball back in their court, tell them you would be open to discussing a credit for a repair if there was an issue, but as it stands, the heater is in good working condition and still within operating life. EDIT: Also, if there is no condition issue, what the hell makes them think they can just back out if you don't provide a new water heater because they want one? Inspection issues will allow someone to back out, if there's no issue, they don't really have ground to stand on. You need your lawyer/agent to remind the buying party of that and that their earnest money is at risk.

You do that by selling your house "as is". Though that's usually the case in REO or shortsales. Tell your agent to dump this guy and move on to someone else (unless he's the only buyer), because you feel the buyer's party does not intend to deal in good faith from the 5 yr old water heater thing. Although I suggest you give the buyer's party an ultimatum to deal or leave it. You're left with the choice of dragging the sale out another month with a new buyer or settling with the current one. It helps to know how much loss in mortgage you'll pay, and how vindictive you are to decide whether or not to proceed with current buyer. This sort of thing is usually par course in the real estate market for non-shortsale and non-REO.

RealEstate

Kopman

t3_17dn9t

ChicagoAlex

t1_c84jg3h

c84jg3h

arcainic

t1_c84jg7y

c84jg7y

Mid year raise puts me above Roth IRA income limits, after I already invested

I made my Roth IRA contribution in January 2019 for the 2019 year, while my income was below $137k. In July, my income increased and now my AGI is going to be above the Roth limit. What happens now? Do I have to withdraw funds? Can I put them in a traditional IRA and rollover for 2019?

Your Roth IRA contribution limit is based on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income ([MAGI]( on your tax return, not your gross pay for the year. I'd do nothing until you prepare your tax return (but don't wait until last minute to do this!). You will then know whether your Roth IRA contribution is fully allowed, partially allowed, or completely disallowed. If it's fully allowed, nothing to do. If partially or completely disallowed, contact your Roth IRA administrator and provide them the dollar amount which must be recharacterized back out of the 2019 contribution.

Excess contribution removal should be the term you’d use to research this. I forget the specifics and any gains I believe are taxable and subject to a 10% penalty, but research using that term. Been a while since I’ve had to research this, but I used to answer phones for a big retail investment firm. Can’t confirm if this article is not out of date, but this appears right.

personalfinance

throwaway-l111ll

t3_edh7qf

HandyManPat

fbhvrac

civicmon

fbigtfk

Have you ever had a property that was said to be haunted?

Have you ever had an experience with a property where you experienced what you would call an unexplained ghostly phenomenon?

Yeah, moved into the first house I bought. The toilet seat would randomly slam at night. My roommates lived in the back room and said the sink turned on in the middle of the night twice, and my girlfriend heard her name come from the hallway in a strange voice. I asked my neighbor if she knew anything about ghosts and she asked why I wanted to know. She said she never told me because it never came up, but she had lived in the house a decade before (city is very family oriented with many people moving around the same couple blocks their entire life.). She said they heard the same stuff and that a guy had died in the house before they moved in. Still don’t really believe in “ghosts”, but yeah, there’s some weird stuff for you.

Boyfriend and I viewed a condo that had a recent death in it. The death was non violent. They had it staged with a rug and an air mattress in the master. If you flipped up the rug there was a big dark stain on the carpet. My boyfriend is sensitive to ghosts and bad vibes and he did not like it in there at all. The previous offer baked out because of the death disclosure. Condo we did but is absolutely not haunted thankfully!

RealEstate

sponkachognooblian

t3_a04n1e

[deleted]

eaeq2p9

godzillapanda

eaf21db

Am I an idiot for taking out a car loan?

So, after listening to Dave Ramsey and his chiding remarks towards auto loans, I was hoping for some guidance on car loans. Long story short, I've been driving beaters since I could drive and want something I can take on a road trip/weekend getaways (and not worry about it breaking down, have working AC, windows, etc.). Previously, I've been renting cars when I want to get up and go, but it limits me to a few trips here and there (and it feels like a huge waste). FWIW, I also bus and bike to work. I've got a credit union rate of 2.4%/48 mos and am looking at 2015+ Fit's ($12-14k range). I make around $47k, am in PSLF for $26k, and have an additional $5k private student loan that I'm chipping at, no CC debt. I'd like to buy a house in the near future and hope this isn't setting me back! TLDR; Dave Ramsey has me scared about car loans, am I leveraging my future for a new(er) car?

Honestly, Dave Ramsey is kind of a poor adviser UNLESS you are either in horrible debt, or have wicked spending issues. Sounds like you have neither. FWIW, if you can cut back and kill that student loan before buying another car you'd be golden. That being said, I don't think buying that fit is a bad idea.

Dave Ramsey's can come across harsh against loans, but that is because there is a better way. Many people get caught upside down on car loans since they can depreciate quickly. Throw in a financial crisis such as losing your job and you very quickly can find your car repoed. If you can afford the car payment, make the payment into your own account, and save it for a year or two. Then sell your beater, combine it with the cash and buy a nicer car. Never stop making the car payment into your account. Another year or two, sell the car and buy and even nicer car. At the end of 48 months you will have a newer nicer car than the 2015 Fit. Continue with your thinking of buying 3-4 year old cars. Cars can lose 15-20% of their value each year for the first 5 years.

personalfinance

medievalPanera

t3_8quagy

axmantim

e0m37vw

lancer360

e0m84gv

I have a really bad credit history. I have no friends or family with good credit to cosign with me. How do I rebuild credit?

I've tried applying for a secured credit card, a secured loan. Got rejected on both counts. I'm in the process of paying off some of my bad debt, but it will literally take me a decade before I can pay it all off. Is there any way to begin rebuilding my credit any time soon?

I've tried applying for a secured credit card [...] Got rejected on both counts. Really? You were rejected for a secured credit card? Generally the only reason they'll reject you is if you owe that institution money, or if you have a history of criminal fraud. Try Capital One, they have a "guaranteed acceptance" which will approve just about anyone except as said above.

If it will take you a decade to remove debt then don't waste money paying it. They will automatically be removed after 7 years, so buckle up and take the pain. Spend that money making sure NOTHING else negative goes on your report. If you have extra cash, focus on paying things you know you can take care of in the next 2 years. Hire a credit repair service and you might be able to get some of the items removed off of your report, enough to make it bad but not horrible. You pay them monthly and they send a verification request to every negative item each month. If recipients miss a response, the item gets removed. This works best on older items (4 years or older), they will be vigilant in responding to fresh debt. If you get 5 years in and find you have the money to pay off all the items, DON'T. At that point you are 2 years away from it being wiped from your credit record. Paying it RESETS the 7 year timer, where it would show as a delinquent account that was paid (which is not good).

personalfinance

kurtgodelisdead

t3_1ahsbm

exasperation

t1_c8xikfn

c8xikfn

[deleted]

t1_c8xsxs5

c8xsxs5

Thoughts on Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover"?

Hey guys so I was given this book by my parents when I graduated college and I'm wondering what's the general consensus on his book? I feel like the message is no debt+investments+time=millions. I feel like from his book I'll be retiring with like 10million+ when I'm 45. What are some of the pitfalls that this book doesn't cover? Is it really as simple as he makes it seem? Obviously life throws things at you that you don't expect, but it just seems too easy.

His observations about debt are mostly correct and if you should find yourself in debt up to your eyeballs, his prescriptions how to get out are excellent. His idea to shun all debt and never have a credit card or a credit score are a bit overboard. Perhaps appropriate for people who get in trouble with debt, like advice to alcoholics to abstain 100% from drinking, but they are awkward for most people and more work than needed if you are not a debt-a-holic. It makes it very hard (but not impossible) to rent a car or get a mortgage, but these things are not at all difficult if you use credit even minimally and responsibly. His advice about budgets and about budgets for couples are among the best there is. Absolutely take that to heart and stick with it for the long haul. It pays great dividends and is a process well worth doing right. His religious explanations are annoying and he sometimes gives advice to do things a particular way "because scripture says to" which is not at all helpful to people who want logical reasons. His advice is much more sound in the early stages of achieving financial independence than in the later stages. His investment advice is overly optimistic and anyone following it could do very poorly. When you get that far, go see bogleheads.org for better investment info.

Dave Ramsey is for people who are extremely financially ignorant (this is not a pejorative). If you are starting from 0 financial knowledge, and have poor money management skills then I would highly recommend him. Personally, I prefer using leverage, and the benefits of using credit cards are huge. Examples: 1) Rewards (e.g. 5% cash back on gas/groceries/drugstore, 3% back on amazon.com purchases, etc.)... these add up. Just make sure to pay in full every month and NEVER accrue an interest payment. In an average year I net over $1000 in rewards (amex has other nice stuff like discounted gift cards, so you can get e.g. $500 of lowe's gift cards for $475, for even more savings). 2) VERY easy to return things/get refunds (especially with Amex) via credit card dispute. 3) Free extended warranties on most things. 4) Easy tracking of all purchases. 5) Easy to maintain a long running revolving credit account, which is good for 'teh credits.' Really, as an adult, I feel that people should be able to handle paying a credit card in full every month. Also, by not holding any debt, your net worth is completely unsheltered from the ravages on inflation. Holding hard asset-backed debt such as real estate can provide protection from inflation (because inflation both increases the value of the underlying asset, and decreases the value of the debt). In the end, it really depends on what your financial goals are. I don't think you'll be retiring a millionaire by following his strategies, unless you are graduating from an Ivy League school and making $200k+/yr. On the other hand, you definitely won't go broke following his advice either!

personalfinance

eulers_oilers

t3_11eeyi

m_oldschool

t1_c6lr09n

c6lr09n

incogito_ergo

t1_c6lrji8

c6lrji8

Employer asked me to become public notary - Should I get paid for this?

Hi everyone, my employer (a non-profit homeless youth shelter in California) approached me and asked if i would be wiling to become a public notary to have someone in-house who could sign documents for them. They said they would pay for my training and certification expenses , but there was no mention of receiving pay for actually signing documents for them. My question is , should I expect to be paid for this service, or is it such a small task that it's reasonable to expect this to be a free service to my company. (again, keeping in mind that it's for a non-profit) If i do get paid for notarizing their docs, should it be at a discounted rate or normal price?

Since they are willing to pay for the training, I would not expect any additional pay. But here’s the fun part. Once you’re certified, you can make additional income outside of your job as a notary to the general public.

It's a small task and most states limit the fees a notary can charge anyway. If you're doing it for work purposes and they're paying for the testing, license, and upkeep I wouldn't bother charging the company. You can charge up to your state's maximum for freelance notarizing outside of work though. My mom used to make a decent amount of side money doing car title paperwork, property contracts, and probably some other stuff (1980s-early 2000s, not sure how things have changed since then).

personalfinance

garce818

t3_baoj89

-DarknessFalls-

ekd3hgy

who_needs_charisma

ekd3nwt

What options might I have to back out at the 11th hour if I get cold feet?

I know you’ve seen the hundreds of posts here talking about folks with cold feet, so I hate to bore you with another one, but unfortunately that’s what I’m going to do. After searching for a couple of years I finally went under contract on an investment property near a local beach. I live fairly close to this area, and have wanted to buy for some time. Unfortunately we happened to go under contract just before things started ramping up in craziness. We’ve received everything we would need for our clear to close, so I’m out of built in stop gaps that would allow me to back out. Obviously my biggest concern is that this property only makes sense with a rental market that’s interested in heading to the beach. In the off-season it happens to double as an academic rental which also looks like it could be in jeopardy. Anyway, given that background, if I come to the conclusion that I ultimately think this is a bad idea for obvious financial reasons is there anything I can do in this time of uncertainty short of walking away from my deposit and risking getting sued? I’m not saying I will ultimately make that decision since we have negotiated a fair price (pre pandemic), locked in a sold rate (sub 3.8), and secured >$15k back for repairs after closing which lessens my cash outlay, but of course the uncertainty is driving me mad. Thoughts on best path forward if I decide I need to back out?

I see a lot of fussing on the internet from people in beach communities complaining about people still traveling to their beach communities and that businesses will not close unless the people stop treating this like vacation. I do not know your reasons for wanting to terminate, but people will always want to go to the beach.

If you have released all the contingencies you can lose your deposit. If there is hardship some one lost his source of income after putting in the offer there may be a chance to get out.

RealEstate

Mosstastic_22

t3_fmzkpa

DHumphreys

fl6wawa

Vast_Cricket

fl77ih1

Thoughts on Tencent?

Does anyone hold shares of Tencent (TCEHY)? I am a big fan of supercell games. They are extremely profitable and curious what people thoughts are on this company as a long term investment?

Got a sizable holding of TCEHY. It's a solid hold in my opinion. WeChat is everywhere in China, they're branching into payments, have shitload of investments elsewhere. Seems like a cash making machine with no competition.

Fucking buy it. It will be the first company to a 2 billion market cap. They own half of China, they have a moat that is enormous. I can not recommend this company enough.

stocks

halfaskedjobs

t3_7xuhem

Koraboros

dubb0ot

Snight

dudjzam

Got offered a remote job, what do I need to be carefull about?

So as the title says, I got offered a remote job in the US, and I live in Canada. (That means I can work from home on my computer) Is there anything that I need to be really carefull about since it is a remote job? (Red flags and such) The job is being a remote payment processor

This is 100% a scam. One of three things is about to happen: They say you need to buy a "starter kit" with software you need to begin work. Once you pay for this, you'll never hear from them again. You'll be doing check forwarding. The "company" will send you a fake payment and ask you to send out payments of your own. You'll find out a week later that the initial check/wire you received was fraudulent, whereas the money you sent from your own account were legitimate transactions that you cannot recover. You're out however much money you sent from your own account. You'll be doing package forwarding. Essentially receiving and shipping packages to different people. This will look like a legitimate job for a while, as you will actually be paid, but what you're really doing is receiving goods purchased with stolen credit cards, and acting as the fall guy for when the police inevitably investigate who's receiving the stolen property. Best case scenario, you pay a ton to a lawyer to get you out of it. Worst case, the police don't care and charge you. No legitimate company hires payment processors out of the blue like this. Think of it like this, would you trust some random stranger in another country to manage your bank account because you met them on LinkedIn?

Unsure about the living in Canada piece: but otherwise Ensure you are not a contractor and also validate that your health insurance has proper coverage and in service centers near you

personalfinance

cadeau67

t3_arywxb

FourLeaf11

egqktxf

nogve

egqjfrk

What's the best credit card with a cash back reward?

Now that the Sallie Mae Mastercard is no longer offered, what is that best option for someone looking to maximize their cash back rewards? I currently use the Chase Freedom card but find that many of their rotating 5% cash back categories are pretty obscure.

Check out /r/churning. Cards to consider: Citi double cash back Capital One QuickSilver Bank of America cash rewards Chase Freedom Chase Freedom + Chase Sapphire

Really? I've earned over $800 (includes the promo $100) in the last 1.5 years on my Chase Freedom card, spending about $1000 or more a month. They have rotating categories for 5% every three months, and typically 10% back on Amazon around the holidays. It really adds up. Great card! No fee.

personalfinance

ch_f

t3_40yjst

the_cruel_world

cyy45mq

tloznerdo

cyy7dor

My company is offering to send me to Chicago for 2 days for training. I have never traveled for business before, how does this work?

*

1- Do I get Paid? Do I get paid for travel time? You get paid. You can check labor laws in your area to determine any additional travel pay (or talk to your HR team) 2- They are making flight arrangements, but I guess the hotel arrangements are up to me. Whats a reasonable price to pay per night? Should I book in advance? You should talk to your boss about this. Companies typically set a max price for hotels or they may have a relationship with a hotel chain. 3- Do I take taxis? I've never rode in a taxi. Do I Uber? Maybe taxis, maybe rent a car. Probably comes down to what is the best option and what your company policies are. 4- They said they can either provide me with an advance or I could pay for things like hotels, food, taxi's on a credit card and then submit an expense report for reimbursement. Is one better than the other? If you're able to pay off the credit card on your own (i.e., pay it off before they reimburse you if the bill is due), putting the money on a rewards type credit card can be a nice benefit to you. This only works if you can pay the card off in full & afford to wait to be reimbursed. Otherwise, don't do it. 5- What do I do in a strange city at night by myself? I am not a social person, but I refuse to stay in a hotel room the whole time. Walk around, explore the city, take in a show, try out some deep dish and weird hot dogs. The world is your oyster.

You get paid to go out of town where you have zero chance getting caught puttin in some over time with some outta town strange. And don't tell on yourself when you get home, everyone does it.

personalfinance

chickapotpie

t3_50nru6

phatstabley

d75i1gb

log289

d75yjhr

Strategies for undervalued growth stocks?

I've started dipping my toe in the water with stocks. After looking into it, I thought that undervalued growth would be a good place to start. So far I'm learning that patience is key with this class of stocks. I had been dollar-cost-averaging $NOK for a couple of months, got tired of low volatility and dumped most of it right before their earnings call - missed out on a ton of gains :/ I wanted to get thoughts on things I should look for with these kinds of stocks (I normally do light research into what the company does, what their recent history is, etc). But in terms of interpreting the financials, I'm usually feeling my way around. My screener below: Trailing P/E (LTM): 0 - 20 PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): < 1 and 1 to 2 EPS Growth (LTM): 25% to 50% and 50% to 100% and > 100% Price (End of Day):less than 30 Region: United States, Market Cap (Intraday): Large Cap and Mid Cap and Mega Cap

The whole point of value investing is to buy something and hold onto it until the market recognizes the value. Why did you sell? When you invest in a stock, take some notes explaining your thesis behind the investment. Write down exactly why you're buying and what you're expecting. The time to sell is when your thesis is no longer correct, not because you're getting frustrated by the market. What's happening in the market, like low volatility, is completely irrelevant to value investing - all you should care about is if the stock is undervalued compared to its peers. If it's still undervalued, why would you sell?

When bottom fishing for value, consider a 5 year commitment. Sir John Templeton would say 6 years. You have to give it time. It might not do anything for 3 or 4 years. May be underwater. Then after your patience is at an end, it triples in one year. This is value investing. But after 5 or 6 years, if it looks hopeless, maybe it's time to cut bait. Always, always, always remember, that the price going up or the price going down, or the price staying the same, is not by itself a reason to buy or sell.

stocks

Merlin8000

t3_7yezhe

signos_de_admiracion

dug86wc

rebelde_sin_causa

dugom8i

Do we even sell our puts tomorrow?

If tomorrow is even somewhat like premarket, puts will print. But will it rebound? It's inevitable it will throughout the week at some points, but I think there is still room for correction. $SPY could drop to 260 and we would still be fine. I'm , but I'm also looking for a bottom. For SPY that is.

I would take some tendies off the table when you can... if thing crashes hard like we’re all expecting then there’s going to be an inevitable bounce... you can get back in then... rinse and repeat

Could you sell puts on the same expiration as yours. But just way out of the money? I have some CZR 4/17 9P. Bought for .17. Last Friday went to .43. Last Friday the 7P traded for .23. I bet it jumps more tomorrow. I could make maybe twice my investment back. But I can still ride it down to $7 before I’m capped out. It’s what I am considering. That would be almost a 40 percent drop for CZR from 11 to 7 bucks by 4/17. Been wondering if this would be smart move.

wallstreetbets

knickerbockers_

t3_ffo60f

Neubtrino

fjzm809

crunchypens

fjzpjb1

I'm getting $50,000 in a year. I need to make this work for me for the rest of my life. I'm mentally disabled with psychosis. Not sure what to do.

I've read a lot of posts and everyone just seems to say "throw it in a fund and retire 10 years early". That doesn't exactly work for me, as I can't work a job. Too crazy. I'd like to figure out how to make an income off of this money. I was thinking dividend paying stocks might work ok. I don't need a lot of money, just enough. Can anyone point me in a direction here? REITs, or something? I hear REITs don't crash a lot. I don't know jack about the stock market, and if this is the way I should go I'd like to start learning.

I hate to be the debbie downer but its not realistic to live your entire life with 50k. That won't even buy a house, let alone enough stocks and bonds to provide a liveable income. There is no getting around this. don't spend this money on stocks if you don't know what you are doing. it sounds like this money is 'important' to you, and that kind of money is the last money you should be using to 'figure out' the stock market. I don't know man you handled yourself pretty well in this reddit post. there has to be something you can do that doesn't require interaction with people at least for the next few years while you build your nest egg. you have to get money somehow. investing is probably not an option for you; the risk is way too high and you're exactly the kind of person that wall street preys on.

I don't think it's possible to get enough reliable return from 50k to give you any sort of quality of life. If you invested in some safe dividend paying ETF you might be able to average 5% a year conservatively (averaged over the long term). But even that is just a few hundred a month. Not sure what else advice you can get here. Wish you the best though.

investing

Goodguyscumbag

t3_1nez9n

efvasvff

t1_cchzb2c

cchzb2c

shoulda_studied

t1_cci20kh

cci20kh

How do I spend my money correctly?

I’ve been trying to find a post that is asking the same questions that I’m going to ask but haven’t been able to find exactly what I’m looking for. Short back story.. my husband and I are both 29 with a 5 year old and 1 year old. We both have great jobs and we bring in $10,000+ per month. The problem is we continuously spend more than what we’re making. I’ve tried countless spreadsheets and apps that are supposed to help with personal finances. I can tell you where all of our money goes, I just can’t understand what I’m doing wrong to end each month without being able to save a penny (other than 401ks that are pulled out automatically every month). I’m the person in our relationship that handles our finances and pays our bills and I’m getting so frustrated with myself because I can’t figure out what I’m doing or not doing. So what I’m looking for is someone who can give me a non biased opinion of my financial situation and tell me where I’m spending idiotically or where my spending is normal. I’m not looking for a financial advisor that’s going to tell me how to invest my money because I want to get on the right track with day to day finances first. If anyone would be able to help me with that I would be forever grateful! And I have already read the David Ramsey books. It’s not that they didn’t help, I just need someone to tell me exactly what to do in my situation, not someone else’s or some nonrealistic situation. I’d be willing to pay someone for their help!

I’d probably suggest r/personalfinance as a better place to post. People will often post exactly like you have, but with actual details, and you’ll get plenty of input as to where to trim things Since you already know exactly what your outgoings are, you’re in a good spot. From there, separate things into levels of necessity from essential to frivolous. Commit to cutting the frivolous right down until you’re on top of things, without making life awful. See where you can reduce the essentials (cheaper grocery store, cell/internet plan change etc). Maximize payments to high interest debt to get that out of the way One thing I have found incredibly important for managing cash flow is ensuring the infrequent but expected items have money set aside. For example, our dogs get annual shots, check ups and so on. Cost is over $1000 so we put aside money every week so it’s there when May comes around. Same goes for irregular items such as major home maintenance. Put money aside to ensure you can replace the roof every X years as appropriate and won’t get a shock Feel free to DM me with details

Stop spending with a credit card. Get a few prepaid cards. If you qualify for NFCU they are the best in this since they have no fees. But if you don't qualify for NFCU get something like Bluebird or even Chase Liquid. It has fees but it's worth it. Have one card for restaurants, one for groceries etc. At least for the first few months - say if the restaurant card goes to zero balance, stop going to the restaurant and try cooking at home until the next reload (next paycheck/next month depending on how you do it). Once you get paid, after reloading the prepaid card for the budgeted expense put every remaining penny in a CD and forget about it. Chase and NFCU even offer a feature to hide specific accounts when you log into online banking or you can even establish multiple bank accounts with different banks for savings. Initially don't worry about the interest rate etc. As long as there's a way to put away the excess money you're saving 100% by not spending it. Best banks/CUs for savings: Ally, NFCU, Cap1 360, Marcus, Synchrony, PenFed, eetc there are unlimited options.

FinancialPlanning

ssnyd178

t3_7tobky

UkuCanuck

dte3raz

frkingking

dtef02q

$40k in student loans, $45k cash on hand. What is best strategy?

I graduated from college last year with about $45k in loans into a job paying roughly $80k/year. After the first year, I have about $45k in my checking account and have so far just been paying the monthly loan payment (down to $40k). I'm looking for advice on what my best strategy is going forward. My knee-jerk reaction is to just pay off all of my student loans. However, I am somewhat hesitant to do this due to the risk of being left with only a small safety net....while my employment situation seems fairly strong, my company is known for layoffs in Q4/Q1, and my division has been under preforming. My loans are broken up into several parts. Roughly: $20k @ 6.55% interest $8k@ 6.55% interest $4k @ 6.55% interest $6k@ 5.55% interest $3k@ 2.14% interest I think my goal should be to figure out the correct amount of cash for a safety net given my employment situation (say, $30k). The thing that sticks in my mind is that, by keeping a large safety fund, I'm, at worst, paying $2-3k extra in interest while completely mitigating my being laid-off risk. From there, obviously, aggressively paying down the higher interest loans is my plan. Alternatively, I know my money management skills and strategies are poor (e.g. $45k in a checking account). Is there something I should be doing with my safety net funds (say a 3m/6m CD @ marginally higher interest)? Would it be possible to obtain lower interest loans for my exact situation?

I would pay it all off now. Your 5k safety net should hold you for a while unless you truly expect to lose your job soon. With no debt payments think of how quickly you'll build back up your emergency fund anyway. Don't put your emergency fund into a CD. You need to be able to get at it quickly.

Http://unbury.me Since you worked for a year, probably had a posttax pay of about $65k and only used $20k of that for expenses (correct?) your emergency fund of 6 months should hold about $10k, which means you can pay off all loans except the one with 2.14% interest and part of the one with 5.5% interest.

personalfinance

sdfsdefawsfweafwearf

t3_126rf8

KrozFan

t1_c6smfgu

c6smfgu

Voerendaalse

t1_c6sp435

c6sp435

The Fed lowered rates by a quarter percentage point, should I re-finance my student loans?

Since the Fed lowered interest rates, is this the time to talk to financial institutions about a lowered interest rate on my student debt loans. I am not sure if what the Fed does help in the negotiating of lower interest rates. Just curious if anyone else has done this yet or started to pursue lower interest rates?

There’s no real downside to refinancing private loans at lower rates, so it’s always worth shopping around, regardless of what the Fed is doing. I would be careful about refinancing federal loans with private loans because you lose some options like public service forgiveness and income based repayment.

Unlike mortgages, student loan refinances don't come with any fees for doing so. If you can get a lower rate for similar years, go ham. When the rate gets reduced again down the road (when a recession finally does come), do the same thing. I checked not to long ago and can shave about 5 months off my schedule while keeping my payments the same.

personalfinance

xtianbovine

t3_d6e114

Econ0mist

f0s6kv7

MicroBadger_

f0sxldb

Fiancé and I are saving for a house. We have cash to pay off student loans. Should we?

My thinking is that the debt to income ratio is the most important thing, but that could be way off. She has $15k in student loan debt, and we share about $35k in auto loans. I honestly couldn't tell you the rate on the student loans. We make $115k/yr together and have about $40k in our savings accounts, plus I have about $35k in 401k and IRA. Should we just make a bulk payment on that student loan to get rid of it? Reasons not to do it include having a larger rainy day fund, and a better starting point for a down payment on a house. But I hear a lot about how debt-to-income ratio is important when getting a home loan, and I guess I'm not sure how critical that is. In the end, the balance sheet is the same (assets - liabilities are the same whether we pay loans off or not), we just are accruing less interest if we pay the student loans off now. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

I honestly couldn't tell you the rate on the student loans. That's fairly important information if you want a constructive answer. Please read the information found in the FAQ.

The most important thing about this scenario is how much house you're wanting. Related: how much is your expected down payment? When you buy a house, debt-to-income shouldn't be higher than about 30% (give or take). You're quite a bit higher than that. I'd probably want to see about $10,000 in debt paid off before applying for a mortgage. If your student loans are higher interest rates than the auto loans, I'd pay them down first (although to be honest, $35k may mean you want to downgrade your cars a little too...that's tolerable but not ideal). Vice versa if the car loans have a higher interest rate. All this is moot, however, if paying this stuff down doesn't leave you with 20% mortgage down payment. Given your income, I expect your market price to be around $250k, which means you'd need about $50k for the down payment. Long story short, I think you're a good $10,000 away from being ready to buy a home no matter what the details of your situation are.

personalfinance

Lord_Varys

t3_2sylra

aBoglehead

t1_cnu1t0c

cnu1t0c

somanytictoc

t1_cnu5iop

cnu5iop

People retiring on 300K??

I find this difficult to believe, unless they are making significant sacrifices or retiring abroad. Renting a room out of someones house, no cell phone, internet, car, etc. in the us seems like what a 1K a month lifestyle would be like. I'm not a big spender but still need about 2K a month in a paid off house in the greater Seattle area (600K invested not counting paid off house). That improves by a few hundred dollars if I relocate and don't pay the high taxes in Seattle (which are still cheaper than some areas of Texas....). Thing is, I have much more than that and it still feels tight, so I keep working. I really wonder how many people whore retire on a 300K nest egg are making huge sacrifices and eventually end up going back to work. It seems many people don't factor in one off expenses such as a root canal, new eyeglasses, that trip to see your dying father, your bike breaking down or being stolen, an ER visit, etc. This is especially true as you get older and have more ailments.

My house cost 68k for a brick 1400 sq foot. My ANNUAL property tax is $400. My monthly nut for everything is $1500. No state income tax either. You do know a lot of people live in lcol areas?

Such 'low' numbers seem to come up commonly in this forum. My best understanding is people have either have spending goals much more meager than my own, or they have life expectancies a lot lower than mine. That said, I would consider Seattle to be a high cost of living area.

financialindependence

RemoteDesktop

t3_70q7uo

inailedyoursister

dn55urb

reboog711

dn5doyx

Paying of 0 Interest student loan debt or save more?

I am lucky enough that one of my parents offered to pay off my student loan balance a couple of months ago and I now regularly make payments to them. We have not agreed on a payback period or monthly amount, but I want to continue to make regular payments, however I don’t know how aggressive I should be or if I’d be better off paying slightly less per month and putting the rest into savings with the intent of investing. It’s more of a unique (and lucky) situation than most, but I’m finding myself stuck mentally on this one! Thanks in advanced

It depends how much you want to take advantage of your parents. They're giving you an interest free loan, which behooves you to pay less now and let your money work for you.

If possible there are a few things that I would want to know first. 1.how much was the original student loan amount per month? 2.are you hurting for money with paying the student loan or are you doing fine? 3.Do you have match for 401k and are you at least contributing that much? Personally, if you aren't hurting for money and are contributing to 401k already I would pay the old student loan amount which will help pay it off sooner. You could also do a hybrid where you pay this or whatever the new monthly would be with 0% intrest. Take the extra savings and invest it then when that equals balance pay it off sooner.

personalfinance

kelseyhuds

t3_erd3mu

GSRJash

ff2wbyg

imking27

ff32yqo

Could I afford a house?

Hello PF, As you guys probably seen this countless times before, but Im very finance illiterate. My parents are the same way. They are both terrible with money. I need advice from this forum on how to best go about this situation. I've been debating on whether I should buy a house for my parents to live in. My parents are getting to an age where they need more stability and a better living situation. I thought about buying a house in tampa for them to live in. A house in tampa would be ideal as my sister would be close by to check in on them if they needed anything. I am in the military and most likely be going to overseas in the near future. My current financial situation looks like this: Bank: $2900 savings account $4891 checking account $8931 TSP Income $1162 every two weeks after taxes and TSP taken out $300 per month going to TSP/ automatic deposit Bills $250 car payment $250 student loans $181 car insurance $100-$200 for food No rent as I live in the barracks Debt $10591 car note $12461 student loans If i buy a house my parents are going split the mortgage with me down the middle. The utilities they and my sister will handle. If you're wondering why cant they buy the house if they have money/income. Like i said they are terrible with money, so their credit is in the gutter. They already have been rejected trying to get a loan. They would need my help securing a loan. The house will be under my name. I'm looking at a price range of $200000 to 240000. What I want to know is could I afford a house in this range? With and without my parents help. Lastly, I don't even know what questions I should be asking and the answers I should be looking for. If you could provide insight into this situation, I would greatly appreciate it.

You would have to qualify for the loan on just your income if you are the only one on the loan; they wouldn't count your parents' hypothecated future payments. Your income isn't that high and you have a lot of debt service, so it's not looking good at this point.

Why would you buy a house when you are still in the barracks? It only makes sense if you are receiving BAH and you plan to be in the area for the next 3+ years.

personalfinance

Iwantahouse111

t3_70gldu

yes_its_him

dn2y4kc

rcarter95

dn30jxk

Buying a house, renting the other rooms

Have any of you ever done this? Within 20 miles of where I'm searching there's around 170 apartments, only 30 of which are less than $1,000 a month, and none that are less than $700. Looking at houses in the area, there are plenty of 3 bedroom homes in the area where I could have a mortgage under $1000 (including taxes and everything else). I can comfortably afford the entire payment myself, so tenants leaving or not paying wouldn't break me. I figure even if i charge the absolute minimum $700 a month, between 2 tenants that's $1400 a month, after figuring in income tax around $1150, so my living expense would be totally covered. There's a lot of tax deductions I could use to help as well. I realize there are a lot of things I'd have to learn becoming a landlord, and there will also be upkeep and costs if large problems occur. I manage large commercial construction projects for a living, which would help mitigate that risk, and have a boss who owns several apartment complexes, so I could talk to him as well since he's done this several times over. He could also share documents his lawyers created that would help cover me as well? What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea?

I've been doing it for about 5 years. I've had some friends/relatives rent the room, but I've also used complete strangers. If you're pretty easy to get along with it can go fine. Here was my recruiting process. Post an add on Craigslist asking for basic information. (Age, gender, job status, relationship status, and planned length of stay.) Anyone who didn't answer all these was cut because I don't want to live with someone who either can't read or has something to hide. Meet up for coffee or drinks. Here you'll find out how well you get along and discuss some key topics. Hours? If one of you works graveyard and the other doesn't it can be rough. Relationship status? Is their SO gonna be coming over every day, how do you feel about that? Hobbies? If one of you likes to party 24/7 and the other wants to play Dota 24/7 things could conflict. If you feel like you get along with the person then go for it. Don't rush it though, I think I went through 15-20 applicants the first time and met with 5 or so before choosing my first roommate. I'd rather miss out on a months rent than be stuck living with someone I hate for a year. Over 5 years it's added almost 75k to my income so that's been nice!

Find working (older) grad students who are busy and working all of the time. International students as well (careful, some smoke like chimney). Avoid kids just out of high school.

personalfinance

AgOll

t3_7261j5

SardinesGivePower

dnfzj7d

[deleted]

dngyeru

A few questions about account security

I have some family problems and without going into a lot of detail would like to have an additional bank account that my parents/family do not know about. There are only a couple of banks in my small town. Question 1: Is it legal in the US to open a bank account under a false identity? Question 2: If that is illegal how can I have a stealthy separate account?

Banks legally can only give out account information to account holders, so if you're the sole owner only you can access it and get information about it. This is definitely a case where a POBox would come in handy.

When you open a bank account you will have to provide your social security number. Furthermore, if the bank pays you interest you will receive a 1099-INT for income tax purposes. You can open an account and go paperless, just make sure they never send you anything.

personalfinance

bankaway48

t3_2int0h

meowasaurus_rex

t1_cl3wi72

cl3wi72

aceshighsays

t1_cl49zao

cl49zao

Looking for advice for myself (30M) and my wife (30F)?

Hello Reddit - my wife and I recently entered our 30s and are building plans for the future. We'd love your input given our current financial situation: We currently live in San Francisco and purchased a 2BR condo here \~2 years ago (in a fantastic neighborhood). We put 20% down on the place and currently owe \~$545k with a rate of \~3.7%. We both work, but our jobs allow us to live anywhere on the West Coast. We have maxed out our IRAs and can no longer contribute to our ROTHs. We have \~$175k invested in equities/ETFs in the market. We have \~$150-200k currently sitting in cash. I work in Sales and made \~$230k last year. She is in consulting and made \~$165k last year. We have no debt other than our home mortgage. We are considering children in the near future, and see this as a ripe opportunity to move out of San Francisco. It's too expensive here and I don't believe it's a great place to raise kids. We're considering a move to Boise as we like it there and the airport allows us to go where we need to go for our jobs. Below are the key things we're debating and would love your input: If we move, should we sell our condo in San Francisco? I believe we could rent it and cover our mortgage with minimal positive monthly cash flow. It is strategically located 2 blocks to the beach, which we love. However, our parents live in Southern California near beaches. Long term, we'd likely visit them with our kids to go to the beach. I know we're sitting on a lot of cash, but that is because we foresee investments (potential new home, potential duplex/triplex) on the horizon. Is it ok to sit on this cash right now? Are there other areas we should be looking out for to invest our funds? Thanks in advance. &x200B &x200B

I would sell the condo before moving out of the area. It's a real hassle to manage rental properties remotely. I would consider moving to Washington to reduce your income tax. It's awfully popular for high income couples to live just across the state line from Oregon. No income tax in Washington combined with no sales tax in Oregon. Of course, you would still be paying California income tax as a nonresident on any money you earn while physically visiting California. But you would save on anything earned while remote. Another option would be to move to the north side of San Diego county, like Oceanside / Vista. Reasonable commute times to John Wayne airport. Much lower housing costs than SF. Another option would be Walnut / Diamond Bar area and commuting through Ontario airport.

If you're going to hold the cash (which seems reasonable), at least make sure you're getting paid to do so. Goldman Sachs Marcus or Ally Bank pay 2.0%+ on online savings. I also just opened a 12 month CD with Marcus at 2.75%. Most major banks pay 0.05% so you're leaving money on the table.

personalfinance

PigDogger88

t3_aicbhi

minorcommentmaker

eempgzz

Fantastic_Sea

eemqsz4

About to tell my wife it's time for a divorce. What's the wisest thing to work towards as an agreement on what to do with this 40k underwater house?

So after a couple years of flailing around trying to make things work, and a recent discovery of ongoing infidelity on her part, I am DONE. I have a feeling there won't be much in the way of disagreement on how to split up our debts or assets, with one exception. This house. Currently owe $185k on it, Zillow shows it valued at $145k. She doesn't make enough to sustain living here so I think it's be up to me whether I stay. To be honest, I don't want to be here too much longer, I've been thinking about going somewhere else for a while now. I need some advice on whether it's wiser to... just foreclose and walk away and we both take the credit rating hit sell the house and split what we'd owe the bank after that stay in the house and keep slugging away on my own, for however long Are there other options? I'm kind of a basket case with what's going on here and would really appreciate some insight on a best case scenario. Thank you!

A few more options: Talk to a real estate agent. Maybe it's worth more than $145k. Zillow can be wrong. Sell some of those assets to make up the difference. Rent it out. I wouldn't foreclose for $40k of debt, but I don't know what your income is. Also, I would talk with an attorney now.

A foreclosure will be a big hit on your FICO and could make future things more difficult. I'd avoid it if at all possible. I'd try to do a short sale if you are underwater. You'll owe money afterwards but not enough that it would bankrupt you (IMO) especially if you divided it between you. As some have indicated, Zillow is not necessarily accurate. Maybe you're not so bad off as you think. Start doing the stuff you can do inexpensively to make the house desirable for a sale - clean like its a surgical suite, take care of maintenance things, a new coat of paint, gardening for curb appeal, de-clutter (selling things could also bring in some money to help with things).

personalfinance

[deleted]

t3_2jp71e

dequeued

t1_clds447

clds447

Leejenn

t1_clem6uk

clem6uk

Should I Replace My Car?

In 2015 I bought a 2013 Hyundai Elantra, certified pre-owned with 40k miles for $11,900 at 2.6% interest. Car is approaching 71k miles and it keeps having things break on it. First the power window motor, next the USB port, CV joints, broken engine mounts twice, and now the engine is running rough as hell. I have not had good experiences with Hyundai dealerships honoring the warranty, and I'm getting the feeling I purchased a lemon because I'm a very gentle driver and stay on top of vehicle maintenance. I am considering taking the hit on trading it in for a tiny Toyota or Honda instead. I'm on the fence because in an estimated 1-2 years I will be purchasing a house jointly with my grandfather, though we haven't yet determined if he's going to be the sole name on the mortgage or if it will be both of us, we're still holding off on applying for mortgages due to dealing with other events. I know initiating a new loan hurts one's credit, and I feel very conflicted about this car. If my hunch is right and this car turns out to be a lemon, it's just going to get more and more expensive as time goes on. Finally, I'm not entirely convinced the whole buying a house thing will happen in a year and keep thinking it's going to be closer to the two-year mark. The Elantra is fully paid off, liability insurance is $186 for 6 months. I have almost nothing in my savings, every spare penny has been thrown at my current debt. I still owe $700 on a 6.75% credit card which I expect to have paid off in three weeks time. Transunion score: 764 Equifax score: 788 Thank you. P.S. If you have ever used Carvanna.com what was your experience like?

Multiple broken engine mounts and cracked CV joints would make me question how aggressively you drive this thing(or maybe the first owner drove it really hard). Since it only has 71k miles should be good for at least another ~50k+ miles with a bit of maintenance. Even if you have to spend a grand or two a year that is still cheaper than nearly any car payment you could make.

CV joints, broken engine mounts twice They would probably argue that these are wear items so not covered by warranty. I wouldn't expect these to fail so soon unless you drive crazy or the design isn't very reliable. I was also surprised to learn Hyundai's 100k/10 year warranty only applies to the original owner. First the power window motor, next the USB port Annoying, but not bad enough to justify another car on their own IMO. You are going to lose a lot from the transaction costs and from buying at dealer sale price but selling at trade-in value. I have almost nothing in my savings, every spare penny has been thrown at my current debt. I would argue against getting any other vehicle in the short term if you have 0 savings. Long term, I would aim to swap it for a Toyota/Honda if you want something more reliable.

personalfinance

mydogsmellsreallybad

t3_8cniyn

Nilpunk9

dxgc0so

jtunzi

dxgjix2

Impending tax bill

I am in somewhat of a unique situation and hoping someone can help. I recently got married to my lovely wife ~6 months ago. I am not a very showy or flashy person and would have preferred a small, cheap ceremony, but everyone knows how that one goes. The wedding was quite extravagant and ended up costing ~$300,000. The wedding ended up being amazing though the cost of the wedding was a point of contention for months leading up to it and remains a touchy subject. My wife comes from a well off family and paid for almost the entire wedding. My wife is extremely hands off about money and has no idea how much she has. When I’ve tried to inquire she doesn’t know how to even find out and her family is somewhat secretive about it. My father in law recently told us to be ready for a 10+k tax bill this year so I asked further and found out the wedding was financed by my wife selling off hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock. I had asked her whether we were spending her money or her parents money and she said her parents (she left out or didn’t know it was in her name). What freaked me out is when I asked her how much she sold said she didn’t know, but could be 2 or 300,000 of stock (@15% is 45k, almost half our combined salary) My in laws previously had encouraged my wife not to even tell me that she even had a trust fund/money in her name which wasn’t exactly difficult for me to get out of her. My FIL wants us to use his accountant to just take care of it, when I asked him how much his accountant would cost he said he’s not sure since he’s never asked. I trust my wife dearly, she has always let her father take care of all her finances, which I just feel extremely uncomfortable doing. Does anyone know the easiest way to predict capital gains tax? And whether any was withheld? Is there a form I can have her get from her financial advisor? I am obviously way over my head given the complexity and how in the dark I am about her financial situation. Thanks!

You spent 300K on a wedding when your combined income is 90K? Dude, you have bigger problems than a one-time tax bill. You and your wife need to get on the same page financially. If she came from a well-off family who gifted her a lot of what she has then you two need to make sure you don’t burn through all of it in a few years and then have to cut back your lifestyle dramatically. Money is the 1 cause of divorce. Don’t let it happen to you.

It’s an additional wedding cost. Ask your lady love nicely if she can sell more stock to cover this unexpected expense. Solve the immediate problem, but realize there is a bigger issue to tackle together. It’s half relationship half finance. Maybe you two can take a PF course together.

personalfinance

Thrwawyclueless

t3_7aiuvo

jasonlitka

dpae22c

sometimesanengineer

dpanhfq

What have you learned from your investing/trading mistakes?

We all make them so why not talk about it? I’m curious what you guys learned from your mistakes or missteps along the way. I’ve learned over the years that my gut isn’t always right and I have to allow for the fact that some picks won’t work out, so never put too many eggs in one basket lol. Some other missteps made me put rules in place, like only making moves on a specific weekday(which sucks if something happens lol). How about you guys? Feel free to get technical if it’s specific, I’m always down to learn something new!

Mainly a long term investor here. A mistake I repeatedly made early on was buying too much when opening a position. Then you’re stuck at that price and unable to adjust yourself based on the company’s progress and market conditions. Invest a little bit at a time. Let say you want to invest $10,000 into a company. Start a position with $3,000. That way if the market sells off you can buy more at a lower price, or if your shares appreciate over time you can buy more while maintaining a lower average price.

Take profits when you have it. Sure you can buy and hold but constantly seeing your gains wiped out over a period of time is not only devastating but is taking much valuable time of your life as well.

investing

luislovesmoney

t3_agt21d

maceman10006

ee8v2g6

rexmakesbeats

eec2yet