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17F Please help me. I was scammed of 500 dollars.

Please don't tell me I was dumb. I know I am and I've been kicking myself over about it for the past 2 days. If you looked at my previous thread, I cashed in a check for my friend because they were begging me to. They told me it was for bills and they didn't know who else to ask, and if they didn't get this cashed in they would get evicted. The check charged back. He changed his number or blocked me I suppose. I have a copy of the reciepts and pictures of the check. Is there anything I can do? I put it through an ATM. I don't know what to do right now. This was bill money. I'm a fulltime student and I'm already working fulltime and I fucked myself over so bad I don't know what to do

I doubt the police are going to do anything but go for the police report. They will try to talk you out of it but do it anyway. If nothing else it may cause him to be arrested at some point. Just call them and ask how to do it or go down there and ask for the paperwork. Bring a copy of the bounced check from the BofA website. You probably wouldn't need the screen shots. A check is an enforceable promise to pay. The texts don't really mean much in comparison. What you really want to do is take him to small claims court. Depending on where you are you may be able to sue him for three times the amount of the check, which you should do. When you win, and from what you've said I don't know how you could lose, you can attach his wages. That means when his employer gives him his paycheck, the employer will take money out and send it to the court which will then send it to you until the amount the court has ordered him to pay has been paid in full. You also want to ask, when you are filling out the court paperwork, for reimbursement of the bounced check charges, your costs to file the suit, have him served, and all your other costs to collect what he owes.

Unfortunately the police or courts won't do much. I've been in a similar situation. He didn't force you to cash it, you agreed to. Who was the check made out to and did he write anything on the memo? You can try telling his parents if they're the type of people who care. If you had cashed it at a check cashing place, they would go after the check holder. But since it was at your bank, they just take your money back and call it good.

personalfinance

imathrowaway18

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GarbageMe

d49jezv

work_login

d49fob2

My credit is poor, and I need $500 to move into my new place in 10 days..

How can I earn some money ($750 is ideal) in roughly 10 days? I know there's room for jokes here, but this move is insanely important to me. Any suggestions to raise money in a shorter time frame is very welcome.

I clean windows for a living, and with less than $50 in equipment (bucket, window mop, 18" squeegee, "10 squeegee, dawn dish soap, and cotton or paper towels) I can consistently earn $500 a week just going door to door. Bid at least $1 per window pane, and per screen. Unless you have a ladder only knock at single story houses. Especially with a deadline it's easy to have a good pitch. "Hi, I am cleaning windows in your neighborhood to earn the deposit for my new place" people are often really willing to help out.

How poor exactly? Do you have a job? Hate to say it, but with a 10 day time frame and needing $500, unless you have a LOT of stuff you can sell you’re probably going to have to borrow. Have you tried a subprime credit card company like Cap One? Only reason I’d recommend that is because you said it was “insanely important” to complete the move, otherwise I’d recommend waiting and saving up money. I was in a similar situation a few years back, and resorted to credit cards to make it happen. Not ideal by any means, but I had to move.

personalfinance

Kungfoohippy

t3_9ei9xq

tobizrg1991

e5pdrk2

stoutgnome

e5p5jn4

Condo for 3% Down, 34.4% of gross pay

As the title says, I have a condo under contract for 3% down and the mortgage payment would be 34.4% of my gross pay. It a significant portion of net due to my healthcare plan that I could foreseeably reduce in the coming years (I got the Cadillac plan this year and could therefore reduce without sacrificing the ability to go to the doctor). I have been looking for 2 years and this place is exactly what I want. It serves my purposes now and is also in a location that is easy to rent when I ultimately decide to rent it out. My hesitation is that I can’t seem to come to a firm conclusion as to whether a mortgage that costs that percentage of my gross pay is a wise choice or not. I live in a high COL area and I’m wondering if there are other people on this sub that have had a similar decision to make? (Decision being pay higher mortgage and gain equity or continue to rent in a high COL area and struggle to save enough for a down payment) what made you decide one way or the other?

I’m sorry but if you’ve been looking for two years and only have 3% down that’d be worrying to me. Where are you going to get the money for repairs if things break? Even new construction does not mean things won’t break. Let’s not forget there is no established HOA so they can always limit your rental ability down the road. That being said I don’t think it’s a terrible idea. If you can get a roommate to help you pay the mortgage it can work out well.

Property taxes? HOA/amenity fees? Potential repair costs? Mortgage payments aren’t the maximum you’re going to be paying; they’re the minimum. You need to be running the numbers with all of those things factored in, not just based on the basic payment itself.

personalfinance

luxor88

t3_f75o5v

alwayslookingout

fi9imwc

OtherPlayers

fi9ahuw

Help! My wife and I went from making less than $10K/yr to around $110K/yr.

In the last couple months, my wife and I went from making under $10,000/yr to making over $100K/yr. My wife recently earned her graduate degree and started her first job. I left an extremely low paying "dream job" in June and landed a "real job" that uses my degree and pays much better than my former job. My new job will provide a 100% match on 401K up to 6%, which I will be maxing out. We pay $775/month rent and owe $17,600 in student loans at 6.8% interest. We have no other loans, car payments, or credit card bills. Combined, we have about $12,000 in savings/checking accounts gaining less than 1% interest. We are in our 20's, have no children and would ideally like to live on less than one salary (<$50K). We will be renting for at least 1 year before looking at purchasing a town home or house. We are excited to finally have some money coming in and want to handle our finances the right way. I, personally, would like to begin investing some money given our age, but I am not exactly sure where to start. Any recommendations for a starting point for saving, investing, and paying off the loan?

Can I be the dude who says they're at a really good place? Pay off the debt, get yourself a year emergency fund, max everything out, save for a down payment on a home, and live like you did in grad school for exactly a year more. And AGGRESSIVELY save for a vacation. I'm saying snowball your student loan payments into a vacation fund once you're debt free. Get that money together and on the anniversary of your wife's graduation, take a big, luxurious vacation. Somewhere you've always wanted to go. You are young, you have no children, in a year you will have busted ass to get yourself in the perfect financial situation. Take a second to enjoy it.

Personally I would put off owning any property for at least two or three years. After you're done your current rental contract, rent in a nice place in a nice part of town (not too nice) and manage your finances accordingly. Once you've got some regularity/predictability to your income and you've got some serious 10-20 year financial planning ahead of you, then it would be prudent to invest in a home. You're going to want a lot of furniture and it won't be cheap, so if you wait to move into a house then you'll have a bit of nice furniture to take with you.

personalfinance

nOshikuru

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PAdogooder

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cc45cpa

ihsw

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cc4atfl

Inflation

I see a lot of people talk about inflation and hyperinflation from the FED drastically printing money to prop of the economy. Typically, no one yet has backed this up with core facts. While in absolute terms the FED is certainly printing huge sums of money, but relatively speaking, what is this as an increase in the supply dollars. Personally I think we will see an increase in inflation, but not to the extent of hyperinflation simply given the fact that demand wont go back to normal all of a sudden after the virus goes, I'm more for the belief that demand increases as a more gradual pace leading to a steady rise in inflation. Any thoughts?

Read navigating big debt crises. Ray Dalio has been wrong a lot the last few years but basically the intuition is simple; printing money to replace dried up credit won't spark increased inflation (at least to the degree that you seem to be hinting at). That said, reducing interest rates and keeping them there and the manner in which the FED is conducting QE could spell longer term issues within financial markets and fiat money in general; which in turn could lead to the increased value of things like gold, silver, palladium, copper, etc.

All you have to do is look at 2010 and 2011. It's not about right now it's about next year and the year after. If they get inflation somewhere around 1% during this crisis what do you think happens when everyone starts working again and driving and buying?

wallstreetbets

BigBoyoWonga

t3_fux271

WifeSwaps

fmf52wg

whalecheetah

fmfx4pl

Why buy bonds if I have a mortgage to pay off?

I'll start off by saying I understand how important it is not to be 100% in equities. Today I was evaluating my portfolio in which I have been aiming for 85% stock index funds and 15% bond index funds. Unfortunately my bonds have been under performing my expectations, so I started questioning why I have them. The way I see it, bonds are a low risk way to get a low return, and that I should only expect around 4-5% annually. This is then reduced to 3.5%-4.4% after taxes if I’m not in a taxable account. Paying extra on my mortgage on the other hand, gives me a guaranteed return of 4.375%, which is like a 5% before tax return. Given these data points, I can’t see why I would ever want to buy bonds until I own my home free and clear of I’m about to retire. TLDR: What are the downsides of investing 85% equity, 15% mortgage payment until pay off the mortgate/get within 10 years of retirement? (Compared to 85%/15% Stocks/Bonds)

Of course your bonds are under performing. Interest rates are going up and you hold the index. You can not assume you would get 4-5&37; returns pretax with high quality bonds. Long term interest rates are less than 4&37;. The one difference between the return of paying down debt and the return of investing is the time horizon. If you can build a portfolio of bonds they will continue to compound well after the mortgage is paid off. If you have the time horizon and the risk tolerance to have an all equity portfolio than I don't see the issue. Most people add bonds to a portfolio for the diversification benefits, not so much the rate of interest.

Your strategy is not bad. Here are some builds: Bonds have historically not returned as little as you might think. The historic return on bonds has been about 5% inflation adjusted (compared to 7% inflation adjusted for stocks). However, when comparing to mortgage interest, you should not use inflation adjusted (as mortgage interest an monthly mortgage payments are fixed in nominal) so you should use a historic nominal return on bonds of 8% to compare to your mortgage interest rate of 4.375%. Of course, bonds have not returned that much recently, and are unlikely to do so for a while if interest rates keep going up. Investing in home equity (which is what you are doing if you pay down your mortgage) also has the advantage of not being very correlated to the stock market, and, when it has been correlated, like in 2008, it has been less volatile. However, home equity is sometimes correlated to the stock market, and, unlike bonds, does not often display strong negative correlation when equities tank. Perhaps the most valuable thing about holding bonds in a portfolio is that when equities crash, bonds almost always soar, which allows them to mitigate many of the effects of a stock market far more powerfully than home equity ever has. However, your strategy is not bad. I would not replace all the bonds in a portfolio with home equity, but if you wanted to replace say 1/3 of your bond holding with 2x that pay down of your mortgage, I think that might be a fine strategy. Good luck.

personalfinance

BrandonHeinrich

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GrouchyPapaya

e0al3dw

mormengil

e0awiwu

How should a person handle the situation of having a close family member who is a financial disaster?

I have a sibling who is a financial disaster. She has been for over a decade. I'm pretty sure she learned it from the parents. The details aren't important, it's just the typical story where there is always something, she is always the victim, and the world seems out to get her. I love her and want to help. Financially I've tried to provide a little help here and there before but that's like throwing bricks into the Grand Canyon. Advice is met with defensively. I try to provide sympathy, however I suppose I'm not that good at it. How have others managed, or hopefully successfully assisted, a close family member who is always a financial victim?

"I'm sorry about currentfinancialmishap, I'd love to help you make up a budget." "I'm sorry, I'm not in a position to loan/give you money" "I offered my advice but since you don't like it we should probably discuss something else, have you seen aunt Edna lately" Repeat as needed.

Don't lend them money. Otherwise it's pretty much impossible to fix in my experience. Some people change sometimes, but rarely and at great personal difficulty. Most people just become better at being what they already are, and in your sister's case that's a financial disaster.

personalfinance

Waughmpwaughmp

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sofo07

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cp30le9

sevenStarsFall

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cp3brgx

Employer’s HR response to Mortgage Lender VOE is costing me the loan and $9,000.

I’ve been furloughed since January 2nd and will be until March 1st. This loan process has been ongoing since August 2019. In January I had talked to the head of HR regarding what the HR department would say when called and she said all they’re obligated to respond is yes or no and despite the fact that I’m furloughed, I’m still considered an employee, so their answer would be “yes” if asked if I was employed. HR went on to say that if asked specifically if I was furloughed they would respond honestly, but would not volunteer up that information unless specifically asked. I shared this information with the mortgage originator and they responded that all they would ask would be if I was still employed and nothing more so as long as my employer stuck to a simple yes or no answer, that’s all the underwriters would need to hear. We were cleared to close this upcoming Friday and the Mortgage Lender called to confirm employment and instead of simply responding “yes” to if I was still employed, the HR ASSISTANT responded that I was furloughed and gave dates. She didn’t even respond yes or no, just that I was furloughed. My work is seasonal so come March 1st I will be working again. My wife borrowed money from her retirement to help with the closing costs and we’ve paid off all of our credit cards off to get them what they needed with our debt to credit ratio. Now the loan is forfeit and we owe them $9000. I’ve called the head of HR twice and the HR assistant and neither have returned my phone call. Obviously nothing can be done or reversed. It is what it is. The HR assistant didn’t commit defamation or anything like that since it is true but did she overstep or break any laws by sharing this information being that it wasn’t company policy to share that I was furloughed? I’m in Upstate NY for what it’s worth.

Have you talked to your LO? There are guidelines for documenting seasonal employment. It's probably not the end of the world, just will require some more paperwork. You can't really make someone un-say something on a VOE, which is why it's best to structure loans in a way that when people tell the truth everything will still work. Why has your loan been ongoing since last august? What is your targeted closing date? My general instinct is that this is probably fixable if everything else is OK, but if you've been trying to get the loan clean for 5 months then there may be other issues.

I guess one concern is to find out if HR broke laws. That or figure out why you were in the position that required everyone to hide the truth from the ML.

RealEstate

simoja

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gracetw22

fhemor6

Jairlyn

fhfnytd

How do you justify stupid financial dreams to yourself?

I make good money, and /r/pf has helped me a lot in planning my budget post-college graduation. I have a 1 year emergency fund, max my 401k, make decent contributions toward my ROTH IRA, and have no outstanding debt besides my current car payment, which I'm about 2 years ahead on. After bills, I'm left with a decent chunk of change left over. Usually I just move it into a savings account I use to divert extra funds after bills are paid each month. The thing is, for the past couple months, I've been floating just shoving the extra cash into a new car fund. I love cars, and while I love what I drive now, I've been thinking of adjusting my financial goals to allow me to be in something more fun, but much more expensive, in 4-5 years. Something fast, something German. The thing is, I can't seem to shake the feeling of guilt that it'd be a horribly irresponsible to drop 40-50k on a depreciating asset, when I could use it to start an investment account, or something that doesn't lose 10% of it's value as soon as you sign the papers. I don't have any aspirations toward owning property, as after seeing what my parents pay each month just to maintain the family home, I'm pretty turned off to the prospect. I also know I never want kids, so there's really no point there. How do you get over the guilt of spending money on stupid things, even though you know you can responsibly afford them?

Economics is about balancing preferences. One thing I generally try to do is ask whether I prefer the purchase over the alternatives. Like "do I prefer a Tesla model S over retiring a couple of years sooner" could be a question. It sounds like you're in a position where the question isn't "do I prefer a new car or being able to eat" so that's a positive.

it is irresponsible. want to drive a fast car ? go to a racetrack, pay even 2000 dollars and drive a fast car at full speed. once you experience this, owning a german sports cars will go off. (worked for me after driving a GT3 and a huracan on a circuit).

personalfinance

Drauren

t3_cbqira

cballowe

ethjh0p

mhdy98

ethr9ou

Potentially buying a 4plex as owner-occupied

I"m about ready to buy my first 4-plex. as this is my first, i'm planning on just moving into one of the units and then it'd be owner-occupied (right?) My question is what happens if it's fully occupied? How many months does the bank give for it to become owner-occupied? do i have to kick someone out for that? Would it be better to wait for one that fits my requirements but is not at full occupancy or happens to be close to one of the tenants leases expiring? &x200B Thanks!

Your best bet is to make your purchase contingent upon on one unit being vacant at closing. Don’t close if the unit is not vacant, because if the tenant doesn’t move out on time it could cause you problems.

Owner occupant loans are different from investment loans. The bank is going to have a hard time believing a story in which you buy as an owner occupant when none of the units are unoccupied.

RealEstate

jeffyIsJeffy

t3_9texzg

Jaimeser

e8vtdop

KarMat

e8w3s01

15-yr vs 30-yr mortgage: how much does the flexibility or freedom mean to you guys?

Hey PF! I've been thinking about the 15-yr and 30-yr mortgage, as I'm currently looking into buying a home in the near future. While I've always had the idea of going for a 30-yr mortgage but budget for a 15-yr, my friend's perspective has always just been to go for the 15-yr to save money. So I did a little calculation on total interest paid, for a 1) 15-yr mortgage, 2) 30-yr mortgage, 3) 30-yr mortgage on a 15-yr mortgage payment, and 4) 30-yr mortgage on a 15 year plan. Because I live in LA, CA, these are the parameters I assumed: $550,000 home 20% down, so $440,000 down payment 30-yr interest rate: 3.42% 15-yr interest rate: 2.71% Here is what I found for each of the four scenarios: 1) monthly payment: $2977.57, total interest paid over 15 years: $95,962 2) monthly payment: $1956.20, total interest paid over 30 years: $264,232 3) if we paid $2955.57 monthly for a 30-yr mortgage, an extra $1021.37/month, total interest paid over course of loan is $131,995, paid off in 16 yrs 1 month 4) if we bumped the monthly payment to $3136.80 for a 30-yr mortgage, an extra $1021.37/month, total interest paid over course of loan will be $122,644, paid off in 15 yrs So roughly, in scenarios 3 and 4, we get the safety and flexibility of a 30-yr mortgage, pay both mortgages off in around 15-16 years, at a cost of an extra 27k-36k interest. Is it worth it for you guys? How do you guys put a value on flexibility? Or what influences you guys to make the decision between any of the 4 scenarios? I'm not trying to say any option is better than the other, as I believe everyone's situation is unique. Just wondering how each of you guys make up your minds and draw the line. If anyone is wondering, I used [bankrates]( mortgage calculator to do the calculations.

I think you mean "$440,000 mortgage." In theory, there's an option you want to consider, which is: 30 year loan, invest the difference. Compute the future value of $1000/month invested in a typical index fund. You should find that, after 15 years, you have the ability to pay off the mortgage with the investment account balance (including gains), while you have also benefited from additional flexibility beforehand in that you could use the money for other purposes if you need to.

If you're planning to pay it off in ~15 years anyway and you can "easily" make the 15 year mortgage payments, then go for the 15 year term. Since most of that interest is early in the loan when the balance is the highest, that interest rate difference means you'll save over $250 on interest in the first month. Assuming you are pretty secure in your finances (solid emergency fund), I'd take a guaranteed $250/month over flexibility I don't intend to use.

personalfinance

i_cant_do_this_

t3_518s3x

yes_its_him

d7a4ilj

Parkanzky

d7a5hnm

Buying used car via Craigslist; how do I know that I am not getting scammed?

I was looking at two cars that are pretty cheap via Craigslist. They sent me pictures of the vehicles and provided the amount of miles as well as other details. However, they are not in my area and both of them said that they were going to ship the cars to me because they are in the military and are both getting stationed elsewhere. They told me that they will be using eBay Payments/eBay Buyer Protection so that I can test the car out for a few days and get a full refund if I don't like it. This is my first time buying a used car and I want to make sure I am not getting scammed. Is it odd that the two people that I reach out to happen to be getting re-stationed for the military? They seem to be rushing the purchase since they are getting re-stationed soon. Also, is eBay Payments/eBay Buy protection legit?

ship the cars to me because they are in the military and are both getting stationed elsewhere. You're about to get screwed. I absolutely guarantee it. Take advice. If you can't drive it, get it checked, have a clean title handed to you, and pay the seller, all in person, in one location at one time, run away from the deal. They seem to be rushing the purchase since they are getting re-stationed soon. They're rushing because they want your money before you figure out that you're being scammed. Also, is eBay Payments/eBay Buy protection legit? Are you buying the car on ebay, or just the payment? If the car is listed on an ebay and you buy through ebay and pay through ebay and a major claim made in the ad is a lie, you might have some protection. If any of these aren't true, you have nothing.

Yeah, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't put more than $20 down on a car I've never touched. Since you don't know anything about cars, have a qualified mechanic you trust check out anything you want to buy. Know your state's lemon laws before you buy.

personalfinance

justan0therlurker

t3_6kg0a0

Edward_Morbius

djlpngj

houseofhamez

djlprwo

(US) Need advice on best way to manage $364,000 in student loan debt now that I have a job.

Hello, I just graduated from Dental School a few months ago and have been working for a few months now. I have 4 different loans which are as follows Private loans $116,000 at 5.00% $10,000 at 1.630% Federal Loans $63,000 at ~7.9% $174,000 at ~6.8% Now that I have been working for a while I estimated my monthly income to be around on average ~$8,500 after taxes which equals to around ~$104,000 a year. I have estimated my yearly expenses to be around $17,000 a year. Obviously I would like to pay them off a fast as possible. I've heard about loan consolidation but I don't know much about it. Would consolidation be a good route? I really don't know to much about finance and any help/ideas/direction would be much appreciated. thanks

~~Don't forget you have to pay taxes on that $104k, but~~ it's good that you are serious about paying it off as quickly as possible. Keep on living like you're a broke college student and plan on throwing at a minimum of $50k a year at it. Even at that rate, you're looking at over 7 years but you'll be much happier 10 years from now if you made the sacrifice instead of committing to pay on these loans for the next 30 years. Consolidation would only make sense if you can get a better net rate than what your current rates are. Look at how much interest you'll pay at your current rates (taking into account payoff dates)if you paid it all off in 7 years and what your total interest payments would be if you refinanced.

If you have a good relationship with your parents you could have them pay off your high interest loans then you can pay them back at a lower interest rate. They could raise the needed money through a reverse mortgage which is definitely lower interest rate than some of your loans.

personalfinance

anonymous_again

t3_3ktzm4

mb3581

cv0icaz

redditeyedoc

cv0ljlk

401k about to allow extra $29,000 post tax contribution.

Starting July 1st my company is allowing for $29,000 post tax contributions. They claim to offer inservice roll overs to Roth 401(k)s as well. I'm not yet sure if I can directly contribute to the Roth. I do not yet have a taxable account. Just a 401k thats a target data 2050 fund and a Roth IRA that is all VFIAX. I'm considering using I-Bonds as my bond share, and I'm open to an aggressive allocation. ~25-30 time horizon. Is there any reason not to max this space out before using a taxable account? What might I be overlooking? What other questions should I ask my plan provider? I have access to Fidelity target date funds @0.13%, FXAIX @0.03%, FSEVX @0.07% -- Bond PTTRX @0.43 & PHIYX @ 0.55%

Don't get too excited yet. Growth in after-tax 401(k) contributions is taxed at the ordinary income level. (Unless it is a Roth 401k). Compare that to a regular brokerage account which taxes growth at the much more advantageous capital gains rate. Edit: Sorry guys, forgot that if you make the after-tax contribution and then immediately roll it over to your Roth IRA then you're in the clear.

I think my company announced something similar, just not as specific as your email. I still need to put a call into HR to clarify about the in-service rollovers, since that's where the real moneymaker is.

financialindependence

PMSfishy

t3_390x48

xavier86

t1_crzj5fv

crzj5fv

fotoman

t1_crzjngb

crzjngb

Where to keep my emergency fund?

Is there a better place to keep my emergency fund that is liquid enough to be used in case of emergency (available to me almost right away in case of emergency) that is better than my 0.45% savings account?

You could build a bond ladder. I'm currently using inflation indexed I bonds. I buy a months worth of expenses every month and 1 year later they are available to cash. This works especially well if you already have an emergency fund as you could draw from that instead of locking money in for a year. Worth looking into as you will be losing money to inflation in a standard savings account.

Is there a better place to keep my emergency fund that is liquid enough to be used in case of emergency (available to me almost right away in case of emergency) that is better than my 0.45% savings account? Yes: a savings account that pays 0.9-1% interest. Anything else is most likely considered an investment and thus a horrible idea to use as an emergency fund.

personalfinance

mortez1

t3_q2gz9

pureliquidhw

t1_c3u6dpz

c3u6dpz

ksheehan1511

t1_c3ula4z

c3ula4z

PayPal Joins S&P 500 at $44B Valuation ($PYPLV)

PayPal's shares began trading today under ticker $PYPLV. Will an independent PayPal develop into a true peer to Visa and Mastercard which each trade at ~3.8x and ~2.4x PayPal's market cap respectively? I've always shied away from IPOs and spinoffs, does it make sense to watch from the sidelines at this valuation?

At first glance $PYPLV metrics look remarkable: 30x forecast earnings 16% long term growth forecast Wall Street price target of $48 v current $37. But versus $V and $MA, they really aren't extra-ordinary Name | Value | PE ratio| LT growth | Div Yield :--------|:--------:|:---------:|:---------:|:---------: [Mastercard]( | $109bn | 28x | 17% | 1% [Paypal]( | $45bn | 30x | 16% | 0% [Visa]( | $146bn | 27x | 16% | 1% Perhaps investors in $MA and $V will hedge their bets and sell a little to buy some $PYPLV?

It should be deeply embarrassing to PayPal that Venmo exists. They should be extremely worried about the mass migration of developers to Stripe. PayPal should have been one of the biggest banks in the world by now and they blew it.

investing

dwshorowitz

t3_3de2iw

shane_stockflare

t1_ct4gryk

ct4gryk

orockers

t1_ct4e6wo

ct4e6wo

I have a 24% rate on my 2010 Scion tC, need help!

So I have a 2010 Scion tC I owe around 8k-9k on it at 24% my payment is 380$. What should I do? Im so over payin so much for such an old car, any advice would be much appreciated!

Stop eating out. Stop going to bars. Cut out ALL unnecessary spending. Sell off any hobby stuff like guitar collection, PC gaming equipment, etc. I just clicked on your name, stop spending money on smoking. Sell off your stuff related to that, all of your nice fancy glass. Get a 2nd job in the evenings/weekends. Take ALL of this extra money, and start making extra payments to your loan with any extra money after eating and paying all other bills. In the meantime, get on Credit Karma. See why your score is so low. Do what you can to fix it. Make on-time payments, fix anything in collections, etc. etc. Really with $10,000 owed or less, you're better off just attacking this loan than refinancing. Try to pay this off ASAP. Take care of the car. Pay it off, and drive it another 10 years to recover from this mistake.

Do Lyft with it so it pays for itself over and over again like mine did. I got zero percent interest, but my Car paid for itself like 3 times over already. I paid it down from 24K brand new to 10K left while still paying myself with the money it made me, and setting something aside for Uncie Sam(Big brother).

personalfinance

SRSblack_

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agjios

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$10,000 investment in private startup from 10 years ago finally coming to conclusion. How to reinvest/shelter $300,000?

Long story short: 10 years ago I invested $10,000 in a private software company, 2000 shares at $5/share. There's talk that the company may either soon be issuing dividends (no amount stated), or buying back shares at $150/share. My questions: 1) What's the best strategy to dividends? Tax-wise, etc. How about if I re-invest my dividends into the company? Does this affect how much taxes I pay? 2) Best (legal) tax shelter if I sell my shares for cash? 3) What to do (investment/tax-wise) with that cash? 4) Anything else I'm not thinking of? FYI I am American, extremely low-income, live hand-to-mouth and have no savings or property. This was just dumb luck, but it was a long time in the coming! I don't need to buy myself anything if I get the cash; I'd rather put it into something smart so I can either have a secure nest egg, or have some supplemental income through dividends. Thanks in advance! EDIT Sincere thank yous to everyone who took the time to offer their input and advice here. Will make note of all that has been said, and, yes, seek out a professional financial adviser when the time comes.

1- No. If you have a long term capital gain, you have a long-term capital gain. Taxed at 15%. Even if you reinvest. 2- You can't avoid the US taxes on a non-sheltered investment in a US company as a 'regular person'. You CAN invest that money in tax sheltered accounts in the future, specifically retirement accounts (401k/403b and traditional/ROTH IRA) and college savings accounts (529) 3- Many things, in order: Set up your emergency fund. Do you have six months' expesnses in a no-risk checking account? Do that. Never know when you'll get hit by a bus. Or fired. Pay off high-interest debts. Do you have CC debt? Get rid of it. Put into your company 401k up to the matching limit. Start a ROTH IRA and put the full 5500 for both this year, AND last year (can do last year's until tax day). Put the full 18,000 in your 401k. Pay off low-interest debts (5-7%). Keep any mortgages. Refinance if your interest rate is more than 4.5% on a 30 year period; your refinance cost should be tiny but your monthly savings will be big. Invest in a cash investment portfolio that is not tax sheltered, or a 529 account if you have a kid you're sending to college (which IS tax sheltered) As for what to invest in, these ETFs: VOO (Vanguard S&P500 large cap fund) VO (Vanguard Mid-cap fund, basically the entire mid cap index) VTWO (Vanguard Russel 2000 fund, basically the entire small cap index) VXUS (Vanguard MSCI Non-US, basically the entire world stock market minus the US stock market). VTI (Vanguard total stock market--if you don't care to deal with rebalancing or any of the 'fun' stuff and just want a simple, easy to track investment, this is your winner. Thanks for mentioning it ) I am all stocks and 50% VOO, 20% VO, 10% VTWO, 20% VXUS. Toss in some bonds if you want lower risk.

If you cash in all 2000 shares, your basis is 10k now the 145x2000 is gonna be you actual long term gain, which is 290,000.00 Now if your married filing joint and you cash all of them in depending on your other income you can estimate about 50k in taxes due this is a very rough estimate, not taking into consideration any Federal withholding you have.

personalfinance

abodanza

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I_FUCK_UP_RECIPES

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DTRIK302

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cokeblr

How do you prepare for aging parents healthcare expense and retirement?

My parents (61M and 61F) are both unemployed. Recently, my mom is hit with a severe debilitating issues that needs assistance 24/7. My dad decided to quit his job and take care of her full time. They have a very small nest egg bit their medical bills and other expenses are adding up. They meant well, did honest hard work, yet they aren't fiscally savvy, mentally agile, and basically good in life in general. This of course, lead to me shouldering most of the work at a very young age. I have obtain medicaid for them, set up treatment plan, and took care of all insurance related matters. Adding to that, a year ago, their house burned down completely because my dad mis-wired a recessed light and caused an electrical fire. I then have to make arrangements for insurance, builder, and took care other legal stuff. Honestly, I am TIRED. Realistically, my aging parents situation is going to compound and they are quickly relying on me more and more. This past year with the house fire and mom's illness had taken a toll on my work as well. I had taken a 4 months of work off, spent thousands of dollars on transportation (flights/hotels/co-pays). Mentally, I am drained too because my mom keeps asking me "when am I going to get better to 100%?" And truthfully, it's never and she starts throwing a fit like a kid. I am only 28 years old and I am just starting my career. I am relatively fiscally responsible (no student loans, PhD in engineering, 401k, Roth IRA, high interest saving account etc). However, my savings for a house just got drained in the past year. I can't help but feel jealous of my friends talking about weddings (that I can never afford), moving to a new city (that I cannot experience due to caring for parents), and partying (that I don't have time for). Sorry, this turned into a rant. PFers, how do you prepare for your aging parents' retirement? It's also a cautionary tale for people with children: if you do not save enough for retirement, you become a liability that can hinder the next generation. If you love someone, take care of yourself first. Ninja

One important thing you can do is to not cosign anything or take any responsibility for any of their medical bills. If you do, you could be long term obligated to pay these debts. Be sure your parents also know this, to explain why you can't help them with those debts. Your parents will probably end up losing that small nest egg at some point. You may want to suggest to them that they use that money to enjoy themselves now, if possible, depending on how serious you mom's condition is. Once that is gone, they should consider bankruptcy. At their age, I don't think the ramifications of this would be as serious as someone younger. Also, they should probably look into financial assistance options (welfare, food stamps, etc). The ideal candidates for these programs are people like your parents who have worked hard, but are in a bad situation due to medical or other issues beyond their control.

I’m going to give you some advice that will become a seriously good financial win in the future. While your parents are still young enough and mobile, have any and all physical mobility and dental issues corrected NOW! Do not fall for “I’ll get my knee fixed later,” or, “my shoulder only bothers me when it’s humid out.” Get this dealt with NOW! I speak from experience that spans four direct and related elderly parents. What might be a slight annoyance today, quickly becomes an inability to shower, dress, toilet, or take care of themselves. Then their quality of life sucks, they lose independence and you’re looking at hiring nursing and basic life assistance because they can no longer climb stairs or wipe themselves because knees, hip, shoulders and ankles no longer work correctly. This is all totally avoidable! Both my parents ignored these issues, and as a result, the last 10 years of their lives’ were seriously compromised... while my brother and I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars keeping them safe and comfortable around the clock. If my mother dealt with her worsening arthritis and dental issues, she would have been independent for years longer than she was. My dad ignored his pre-diabetes and back problems. This caused him to require in house care YEARS before he would have if he’d taken care of it. They could have stayed in their house longer and ultimately saved YEARS of assisted living expenses. Now my wife is dealing with her mom, who is only 75. She has to be dressed and undressed every day because of shoulder and knee issues that could have been fixed so easily in her 60’s. Now she has zero independence and her adult children are burning through her (and their) money keeping her safe and comfortable. It was all avoidable!

personalfinance

catsuramen

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Canttakethewhyfromme

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Odd_craving

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College degree, in debt, low end job, and want out.

I have about 15k worth of debt, a temp job making 31k a year, and am living check by check. I have a bachelor's in business and have been actively looking for something in my field since May but no luck thus far. I've been thinking of going back to school for engineering but then I think to myself that I shouldn't be adding even more debt on my shoulders. I need some advice guys.

15k debt isnt bad. how long can you defer payments til? i think you can keep looking for a job, theres tons of business analytics jobs out there...any help from university career center?

This is more of a budgeting issue rather than a debt issue. I would list your monthly expenses, and reduce what you are spending to apply it to your loans.

personalfinance

RPinthemaking

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level100Weeb

ebatmtd

begginerfinancehelp

ebbaz8a

How do u autists dig your way out of losing thousands all the time?

Lol FDs long??!?!?!

Usually in those situations the best thing to do is to start trading more complicated option strategies. If you are losing buying simple calls and puts then it’s time to move up to the Iron Falcon ER Double Wide Diffusion strategy (with margin money to double it up and “accelerate” your trade.

After several yolo failures I’ll get lucky on one and be back to even before losing it again. Also when it sucks really bad I just sell IV crush earnings plays and those seem to be damn near free money.

wallstreetbets

NotToRedditty

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buildthewall757

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RollingD

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How to value a pension?

Throwaway account. I have worked for a local government entity (USA) for 23 years. I will receive a pension when I retire but recently have decided to look for new job in the private sector. Of course, no company in the private sector will have a pension so how do I go about placing value on the pension when negotiating salary? My yearly pension will increase $1200 for every year of service hereafter. If I quit today at 23 years of service my pension would be $27K per year. My current salary is 60K per year. Let me know if more information is needed. Thank you. Edit. Sorry for not being clear. What I am trying to figure out is the current yearly value. For example. Let say I am offered a job that pays 70K per year. That would be a lateral move if the current yearly value is $10K. Clear as mud?

Quick and dirty estimate, divide the annual amount by the rate you would be pulling from savings/retirement account for that income. In your example yearly income would be $27k assume 4% withdrawal rate, i would value that pension at $675k.

My yearly pension will increase $1200 for every year of service hereafter. So by the time that you retire, they need to have roughly $30k more set aside for you for every $1200 they will need to pay you per year. (A 4% withdrawal rate). However, because you will not have access to this money for a while, the current value is not $30k, but lower. If your retirement is still 20 years away, it would be more like $10k now, growing to $30k over the next 20 years because the money is invested. To calculate what the money would be worth currently, you could use a present value calculator. However, if your retirement still grows by $1200/year in the last year before you retire, for that year the value truly is $30k. So the number goes from roughly $10k now to $30k in the year before you plan to retire.

personalfinance

SevereMusician

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ToroTexan

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PetraLoseIt

ee2en7h

Is a P/E ratio of 15 and P/B ratio of 1.5 still a good benchmark?

As someone new to investing and following Buffet's approach to finding the intrinsic value of a stock, I feel a bit confused about his benchmarks given the current state of the market. For example looking at some of the major companies out there, almost none of them seem to meet the basic requirement of a PE ratio <= 15 and a PB ratio of <= 1.5. I know there are more factors to take into account and I can use a screener to meet my criteria, but these 2 are some of the fundamental ones which most companies don't meet. For the more experienced investors, do you use different benchmarks like the average on the s&p 500 or higher values to account for inflation and other things? I would like to hear what others have to say with regards to applying Buffet's approach in today's economy.

When looking at a company, you want to compare its PE to its close rivals. EA vs TTWO vs ATVI, for example. A PE ratio of 15 is good generally speaking, but PEs vary widely by sector. Bookmark this: Happy Investing!

Buffet is the same guy that invested in STORE Capital (STOR) and inspired by this post, I double-checked its P/E. It's at 39.00 as of this post. Perhaps that's his 'perfect world' criteria? Actually, I just noticed. There are some big name companies that are very close to 15. I'm seeing Apple and Exxon as far as very familiar companies.

stocks

torquemada90

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nanmart

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HarmoniousJ

egzjfgx

Will graduate medical school with ~ $275,000 in debt at age 27.

For starters, I read the side bar/wiki and noticed this piece of info: "Med school is worth the money no matter who pays". Ok, so please help me work through that. I begin medical school next fall and will carry over $25k in loans from undergrad while tacking on another $250k in medical school. I'll make between $50k and $75k for 3-6 years after graduation but will then earn ~ $350k after those first 3-6 years. Any clever suggestions for managing serious debt? Anyone smarter than me willing to work through a hypothetical payment schedule?

Despite the enormous income, if you can resist living in luxury as soon as you finish residency, and continue to live in the same conditions as you did during medical school/residency, you can eliminate that debt very quickly. Then spend the rest of your life being filthy rich. It's very possible. Play around with some debt repayment / loan calculators online. What specialty are you going into? Also, in your financial planning, don't forget your malpractice insurance (which I'm assuming will be high for a 350k specialty) and your debt accruing interest during your residency.

What's your plan for paying the loans while you're only making $50k to $75k? That's a big question. The bigger question: is this your calling? Medical school is fucking gruelling. So is residency. So is being a doctor. Emotionally, physically, the hours. You will watch a lot of people die. If you're only in it for the money, you won't make a very good doctor. You run the risk of dropping out of medical school with thousands in debt and no medical career ahead of you.

personalfinance

Takuta_Nanakia_Toka

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KimchiFitness

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helpwitheating

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Am I crazy to turn down $200k?

I quit my job about a month ago for a much better position (130k, hours, work/life, commute, great benefits) which I have not yet started. Throughout the month I was nagged by a recruiter to go to an interview for a Big4 which I rejected over and over and even cancelled last minute for one of the interviews. They didn't give up so I figured well why not I'll just make them reject me. However, they made an offer the same day, and I tried to ask for much more ( thinking they'll say no) and they still said yes. I've been really excited about my first signed offer all month, but with this in my lap it seems like I'd be crazy to turn it down. I don't know much about the work life, I didn't bother to ask since I thought I did poorly. Not sure what do, or how to approach either situation. I have this feeling that taking the Big4 offer will be short-lived, and I'm only guaranteed for a year of work (as told by the recruiter)whereas the other offer is indefinite. Can I somehow leverage this already made offer for an offer in the future?

I have worked in big 4 and know plenty of people who work in big 4 on the audit side. Hours are horrible. They regularly work 50 plus hour weeks and on weekends. During busy season Jan- April they work 60 plus hours a week. Make sure you ask about this if this is an important issue for you.

Since you previously posted in android dev I'm assuming you are taking about one of the big 4 in CS. Can you post which company it is? That would help. For example, FB WLB generally sucks unless you pick the right org in bootcamp. Amazon's is roughly the same or worse. Google's is generally good unless you pick one of the high pressure teams. Microsoft generally has very good WLB unless it's Azure. Also, you might've unintentionally lowballed yourself. $200k in the bay area (assuming this is the bay) is what people 1-2 years out of college make at FB & G. If you're still hesitating, do more research on the company bands and go back and (most likely) ask for more, assuming you're not right out of college. From what you said is this FB's rotational engineering program?

personalfinance

BucketOfMaple

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Aajmoney

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Disputed a debt and they did not repond in time

Virgina. I worked for a residential real estate company last summer. They kept charging me for these desk fees months after I left. So I sent in a polite letter disputing their debt claim after they sent me an invoice ( it said I needed to dispute the They did not respond within 30 days after I disputed it with an itemized list of charges. Under the fair debt collection act , do I no longer have to pay them and it is unlawful to try to collect this? Outside of the 30 day time frame I got an itemized bill with a total bill that they finally reduced because of my calling them months prior, today. Do I have to pay this? I'm from Virginia. These are for desk fees and it's the real estate agency trying to collect. They say I have 10 days to pay or they will put lawyers on me in this most recent letter I received. The bill is for 300$ of desk fees. I'm reluctant to pay it because I did not make a dime the 6 months I was there.

Well I think if they were charging you desk fees after you left than that’s already not a liability. Were you a Realtor? I don’t know how Realtors operate but I’ve never even heard of desk fees for a standard employee

Did you have some sort of lease or agreement to hold the desk for X period of time? Or to provide Y notice? If so, you may be responsible for the desk fees even after leaving.

personalfinance

jimmyeatflies

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Trickmantj

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Best Ways of Investing Stimulus Money

Ok Gurus, this one is for you. If one is able to stash this money away somewhere for growth, what are the best ways to invest the stimulus dollars we are allegedly about to receive from the government?

Don’t be greedy. Help your fellow people out who need it. Buy a family in need some groceries or something. Sorry, but this is not a time to be thinking about profits. This is a time we need to band together as a people and help each other out.

Greedily try and time the market and buy the dip. Then, when the market continues to plunge, and your small investment vanishes, wait for a friend or family member who is impacted by the crisis needs your help, and make a sorry excuse as to why you cant help them. Cheers!

FinancialPlanning

IBroughtWine

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Am I the only one concerned...

that the market is shooting past the Moon and going to Pluto? Should I just put all my money into some VIX Calls? I mean, come on... This market is insane. The money has to dry up eventually. This is not sustainable. Who else is waiting for the inevitable correction? As a primarily put options writer, this market scares the hell out of me. What scares me more is that it seems to be based on... Well... I wish I knew the answer...

I'm confused earnings season has been fantastic. Nvda just reported a massive beat and was punished to the turn of 2 billion market cap loss, not to mention the other 2.5 billion in valuation that was lost the previous day. I'll believe the bears when earnings start to slow down until then it's all just click bait.

No. This is feeling an awful lot like 2008... but instead of big banks, it's mostly with big tech companies. Honestly, it's not adding up to me. Most of the big gains are from a handful of big name companies that have been having big media stories with little revenue to back them up. Little growth, increase in spending, but decrease in margins? Yeah, definitely treading water.

stocks

KaeJS

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Buying a house - wise decision?

85k in savings, no debt (student loans and 2011 Civic paid off) Single, 140k income, ~15k bonus. Getting promoted but salary raise has not been disclosed yet and would not kick in until early next year. House is 427,500, ~9,000 property tax Approved for 15yr-fixed @ 4.125%. Will have to do PMI for a little bit because my savings are not enough for closing + 20% but I would pay down aggressively to get rid of it. Current rent in 1,600. Apartment complex - keep this in mind when I tell you that... My parents are moving shortly and anything I don't take from them (for free) will be sold in an estate sale. They have a mower, grill, beds, tons of (old, quality) Craftsman tools, furniture, ... big opportunity cost. I think I'm making a wise choice, but I fell in love with this house and want valdiation from someone without a personal connection to me that I'll be able to swing it (and that it's not unwise for some reason I haven't though of). Just got the inspection done and the house was more or less immaculate.

Looks ok financially...just be reasonably sure as a single person, your life won't change in some way over the next decade that would require a move. I fell in love with this house You know what they say in the boating world: The two best days of a boaters life are the day he buys the boat, and the day he sells the boat.

I just wouldn’t feel comfortable buying a home in this market. Financially you can afford it for sure. Just how much can you still put away each month after you buy the house? Make sure you don’t stretch yourself thin. A lot can change over the next few years.

personalfinance

HouseThrowaway13579

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greenpdl

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Hysteria113

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What would be property tax on 165mln property bought by Jeff Bezos?

Just read the article [Jeff Bezos buys a beverly hills property in a record 165m]( and it begs the question, what would property tax potentially be? Anyone has an idea?

After you deduct the square footage of the property that is being used as a "museum" that is only open a day a year, and including prorating the driveway for museum parking, probably $1.

Where I am the rate is in the neighborhood of $14 or $15 per $1000 of assessed value. Assessed value is generally significantly lower than market value, but let’s say the market 165M place assessed at 100M. (It would probably be more, but 100M is a round number.) In that system, the taxes would be around 1.4M to 1.5M a year. Edited to fix my egregious decimal point errors! LOL

RealEstate

JimboKeber

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TheUltimateSalesman

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1000thusername

fhhriil

An idea came to me to invest $1,000 or so in my Dads name to give to him on his 60th birthday, about 8 years from now. what would be the best way to invest it for the most growth in that time frame?

and how would I get it in his name? I don't know much, so please be specific with advice. I currently own some stocks/mutual bonds through fidelity, and a 401k through work, but I have no experience with other types of investing. Thank You!!!

Since it is a gift, forget about "best return." Instead, invest in a company or industry he is passionate about. For example, if he's into motorcycles, gift him some Harley Davidson stock. Technology savvy guy? Apple stock. Is he really into cutting his lawn? Buy him some John Deere stock. Does he like to travel? Then try Southwest Airlines or Royal Caribbean. Buying stock that is connected to his interests or lifestyle would really seem "from the heart."

You can hold onto it and then gift it to an account of his. I remember seeing something like that on Fidelity, so if you call in to your broker and ask, I bet they can point you in the right direction

investing

bethsiebs

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marfalump

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justin107d

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ctall4c

Just got married, filled out a new W4 with employer a couple weeks ago and just got my new paycheck. My net pay is up by $67 every pay period after filing as a couple. Is this good? Or will I owe taxes next year?

Hi everyone, My new wife and I are both salaried and combined make $62,000 per year. We have no state income tax. I get a gross check of $1153.85 every two weeks before taxes (we are salaried but paid every other week) it used to be after all taxes and FICA and Medicare I had $947 every two weeks However. I opened my check today and say my net pay is $1,014.62! I was thrilled at first, but then realized that seemed too high. I was deducted: $71.54 for FICA (normal) $50.96 for federal withholding (lower than normal) $16.73 for Medicare (normal) Is too little being withheld? Did I say something wrong on my taxes? I don't have my W4 in front of me, but I'm getting nearly 6% from taxes that I wasn't getting before

You most likely selected the "Married" designation instead of the "Married, but withhold at higher Single rate" on your W-4. If both partners in a marriage work, then it is usually better to avoid the "Married" designation as that assumes that only partner works.

You should use the W4 calculator: This will calculate your tax liability, take into account what you've already paid this year and give you instructions on how to update your W4 so that you don't overpay/underpay taxes in 2017. You'll want to do this again after you receive your first paycheck(s) in 2018.

personalfinance

DirkNowitzkisWife

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ElementPlanet

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jrthroway

dexnaw6

Severance pay for a job that I was actively recruited for.

A quick background - I picked up a 2nd job because I wanted to get a new car. The extra paycheck was being deposited into a separate bank account that would be strictly for car related purchases. My second job was some mindless work at a call center answering phones for $14/hr...so after ~20 hours of work per week, I would take home about $350 per biweekly paycheck. In the mean time, a friend of mine sent me a message that her company was looking to hire a head engineer. After speaking to the owner, they could not meet my full time salary demands, but we worked out a deal where they would pay me $32/hr to work from home ~20 hours per week. I agreed and immediately quit my call center job. The new company I started working for is a small startup that has been doing incredibly well since they started a year ago. With roughly 10 employees, they clear well over $1m in sales per year. Since the company was still small/new, they did not have all of the infrastructure in place yet, so there was no letter of employment, handbook, etc. Over the 5 months that I worked there, they would consistently try and convince me to quit my day job and take a pay cut to work for them full time and do the "start up thing". I told them how much I wanted, but they just couldn't do it. Recently, I got an email from the owner saying that the whole part time engineer thing was not enough and they needed a full time engineer...so they were eliminating my position. They paid me out for the rest of the month, which I was very grateful for. (I received notice about 1.5 weeks into the month and it was effective immediately). After being laid off, the owner contacted me again and wanted to set up a call to discuss a severance package. I have an appointment set up to speak with him shortly, but I have a feeling they are going to want me to sign a non-compete clause in return for a lump sum. I am currently looking for another second job at most of their competitors since I really enjoyed working in the industry and a lot of future legislation will make the industry boom exponentially...so I want to try and keep my foot in the door. My question is - since I only worked for the company for 5 months, what kind of severance package should I expect? It is really inconvenient that I now need to look for ANOTHER job to continue paying my car off. I left on really good terms with the company, but I was in charge of the design work for their pipeline of products, so I think they are worried i'm going to go to their competition and spill the beans.

Wow you honestly should expect no severance package, i am surprised you are going to even get anything for only 5 months , AND part time. good for you though!

Noncompetes are not enforceable in many states. And somewhat inappropriate after employing you for only 5 months. What is the nature of the work? Commodity work cannot be subjected to this. There needs to be some kind of competitive knowledge that gives you some advantage with another employer to even consider it. If they ask for a noncompete, tell them you need to have it in writing so a lawyer can review it. Or, suggest that you might be willing to sign a non-disclosure instead. A non-disclosure needs to spell out what knowledge or information you are not allowed to share or divulge with anyone else.

personalfinance

miketheboss

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MustBeBear

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swiller

d0nzovl

Been living paycheck to paycheck my entire life. 41 Years old and finally have a steady job. What are my retirement options?

I'm now making $33,600 before taxes are taken out. My rent is $750/month (plus about $100 in utilities/internet). I probably spend about $300ish a month on food. I've got 3 credit cards I'm not using, but trying to pay down (about $50/month each) and no other major loans. However, my car is 13 years old, and at some point it will have to be replaced. Is there anything in the world I can do at this point in my life to save for retirement? Thanks.

Absolutely. Anything is better than nothing - my parents started late on a limited income and while they (now at a retirement age) are not in a great position, they do have a modest nest egg and really followed through for the past 20 years in the little ways that they could. If you could save $350 a month you would have (on average market returns ignoring inflation) about $220k in todays dollars in 20 years. They key is to live within your means and avoid debt. You know the car is coming down the pipe so saving for that and doing it in cash. You don't need a payment or a large percentage of your net worth in an asset that goes down in value. You have approximately $2000 / mo after taxes. $850 - rent and utilities $300 - food $150 - CC That leaves about $700/mo so I would split that down the middle. $350 a month for retirement and $350 a month for a car. After a year you would have enough to get a better car (we're obviously buying used here but you can definitely upgrade with $4000). After you get the car, you should save up an emergency fund in cash of like $6000 so that unexpected expenses don't put you in debt or make you have to raid your retirement for a loss. Once you have an emergency fund and a newer car (in 2 years or so) put the extra cash into retirement and only lower it to save for specific things in cash.

Lots of people living in automobiles nowadays I'm soon to be one of them rent is your biggest expense by far. If I ever own a home it will be on cheap land in a tiny home (ie large convert she'd/barn). Live well within your means.

personalfinance

GibsonMaestro

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cray86

duga2c3

kboogie82

duhfcpn

Is adding my son as an authorized user on my cc's a way to build his credit?

When I was 18, no one had taught me about credit or how it worked. I destroyed my credit within a couple of years. I didn't start successfully working on rebuilding it until I was in my 30's (thanks to you guys helping along the way). I went from a sub 500 to hovering about 650-705 depending on my CC usage. No late payments in about 3 years. Try to pay down my just over $4k credit line every month and not carry a balance. Never been late on my car loan since I got it 2 years ago and try to pay a little extra each month. I learned how important all this was way too late in life and want to make sure my son is on the right track. &x200B My question is, my son just turned 18. But he's been an authorized user on 2 of my cc's for the last couple years. Credit Karma says he has a credit score of 717 (better than mine, lol) and shows my cc's on his account along with his student loan, but Experian's [freecreditscore.com]( says he has a 640 and no credit history. &x200B I was told adding him to my cc's would help build his credit. Apparently, I was mistaken? How is the best way to build up a good credit history for him? He's in college and I still help cover his expenses. He does have a small part-time job, but the only official thing in his name would be his student loans. Should he get a "student visa" from Capital One or Wells Fargo (our bank since 2003), or look into a secured credit card from Capital One, or a department store card like Target? What's the best way to get him on the right track and get him a solid credit history? &x200B UPDATE: He just got approved for his own card at WF with a $1000 limit. Now I just have to make sure he stays on top of it. &x200B Thanks

When i was 13 my father got a card in my name for me to build my credit, all i used it for was lunch stuff and he'd pay it each month. it definitely helped boost my credit score, but it backfired when i tried to buy a house at 20. none of the banks i tried would give me a mortgage loan because, to quote the guy at Wells Fargo, it was suspicious that someone my age had near perfect credit and no debt.

Not sure if this is what you’re looking for or if you’ll get this far into comments, but I was in the exact same situation as your son about a year ago. My credit union told me I wouldn’t be able to get a card with them, so I did my research on student credit cards and landed on Discover. They aren’t accepted everywhere (but work most places), have cards specifically for students so he would get approved, and have raised my limit from $500 to $5000 in a year with responsible use. Their customer service is great and everything was straight forward.

personalfinance

kaijusdad

t3_aqugsz

FullaLead

egipsf3

magalapuss

egj9bcf

I had a friend ask me, "why does income inequality matter?"

And to be honest, I can't think of a good answer. Can /r/Economics enlighten me?

You posted this in economics, but the reason is only partially economic. In a capitalist, society such as ours, wealth is power. Yet we're also supposedly a democratic republic. The problem is that when there is a massive income inequality (it's actually more of a wealth inequality - people like us assume that since we survive based on income that everyone else does, but the wealthy are not income dependent so they could have zero income and still be more powerful than you or I), there is intrinsically also a massive power inequality. This leads to a gradual change in the system from a democratic republic to a plutocracy. And when the vast majority of the wealth is concentrated in a tiny portion of the population like ours is, it's becomes a Plutarchy. And that is bad, because we're told it's a democratic republic when it no long is.

I made a case [here]( that income inequality isn't a good or a bad thing as long as it is an outcome of a series of mutually beneficial transactions. I used an example of a perfectly unequal society(where one man owns everything) and I showed how even in this society a man would be better off than in a society where there is some sort of forceful redistribution of wealth.

Economics

[deleted]

t3_l6xw7

cynoclast

t1_c2qaj8x

c2qaj8x

renegade_division

t1_c2qasey

c2qasey

What is the point of an "annual review" if no raises are ever given?

The company I work for gives "annual reviews" to employees, but it doesn't seem like anyone ever gets a raise. I know I haven't, despite always being given positive feedback on my performance. So what is the point? How does a pat on the back compensate for increasing costs of living?

I used to work for a rehab company that rhymes with Bestcare. I got my first review, and it was awful. Asked my boss if I was that bad of an employee and he said that they are encouraged by upper management to write bad reviews so they can justify not giving raises. A week later I noticed I had free reign of all the companies computer files as someone in IT didn't limit what I could see. Started looking at all the reviews, and to my surprise they did give all the regular employees bad reviews with no raises. Then I went and looked at management reviews and everyone of them had great reviews with 10-20% salary increases. This lead me to finding the job I plan on retiring from. I didn't tell anyone I found a new career and waited for all my background checks to be completed. Walked into my bosses office on the last day and told him all my tools were packed up and I was out of there I had a 9 a.m. tee time. When he asked where my notice was I handed him a copy of my review, and said "You gave me my notice 6 weeks ago". Golfed amazing that day and have an amazing career now.

I work for a big corporation doing tech support from home. I’m used to my family and maybe some friends looking down on me and saying “oh you work as tech support you need a better job” which would sometimes get under my skin. After reading this I’m glad I work for this company. We get 401k, health insurance with 90% coverage, discount on their products, discounted stock, yearly RSUs, quarterly/yearly performance bonuses, and every year for the last 3 years I’ve received 5%-6% raise.

personalfinance

E46M54

t3_8mabhg

StartingOver702

dzm6uw8

insp1red90

dznljv3

To buy vacant lot next door? What are our options?

My wife and I recently bought a house last July. We have a 30 year mortgage with 3.5% fixed. The previous owner also owns a vacant lot adjacent to our property. It is the exact same size as our lot, 4,800 sq ft. (.110 Acres). According to the county, both lots are valued at $26,400. The tax on the vacant lot last year was just shy of $500. We talked to the owner and he is willing to sell as there is relatively little use for the land for him now. Not sure if they could actually still build a house on there but he seemed very willing to work with us. Initially we looked at either taking out a personal loan from the bank or doing a land contract with the seller. If we did the land contract, we would have to pay a bit more in the long run. If we took out a personal loan and paid for the land up front, he would let it go for 20K. Is that a good deal? I know land doesn't really go down in value much often. We're just not sure if we're possibly paying too much or if there is something else that we should consider before taking out a loan. We'd really like to have the extra space to expand our driveway and have a bit more space for pets and/or kids to enjoy down the road.

Space is the ultimate luxury in the city, not so much square footage, but acreage. I'd do it if it's financially feasible. You could always build on it later. "Son, you see that mansion next door to us? I could have bought that lot for 20 thousand bucks back when I bought our house." "20 thousand! That lot's worth 10 times that now! Why didn't you by it Grandpa?" "They was asking too much!"

Is this merely an investment or would you consider using the lot? If it is an investment, I'd look more into how much other lots for sale are going for. Don't use the tax assessment as a indicator or market price. They fluctuate with the neighborhood average float and it can be wrong, both ways. "Space is the ultimate luxury" might not be the case where you live, but if a empty lot is hard to come by, I'd say probably get it. Also, in some cities is still possible to buy a lot with a house for less money than it would cost to buy a lot AND build a house. (Replacement cost is less than current price). If you would use, and it isn't a strain on your finances, go for it! Put a big pool and RV and enjoy life.

RealEstate

mgomps

t3_1axrlu

DTDTD

t1_c91pzmy

c91pzmy

rafamvc

t1_c91u70o

c91u70o

How often is too often?

We're on track to close June 30th. After 14 years in Europe I've been back in the US for nearly a year. Since moving back we've been renting, and while the townhouse we're renting is fine, my wife and I are really looking forward to moving. I feel a little bit like we're stalking the house. Since the inspection, nothing you wouldn't expect in a 30 year old home; we've been driving-by slowly, at least 3 times per week. Are we outside the norm?

Not outside the norm, but a word of advice: don't fall in love with a house until you've closed. Real estate rarely goes perfectly smoothly and - be it minor or major - you will likely still have to make some financial decisions. Having a objective viewpoint is important, or you may find yourself making concessions or decisions you wouldn't otherwise.

Ours was on a cul-de-sac and we still drove, walked, or ran by every day. It's just so exciting! I'm sure we were not inconspicuous at all. There also wasn't anyone living in the actual house, so hopefully that made it less creepy. Once we ate taco bell in the driveway.

RealEstate

AvocadoPanic

t3_4lrtju

underwriter1

d3pmu9d

scomperpotamus

d3qa16d

Max out 401K or Roth IRA?

All feedbacks are welcomed. I am currently 24 years old living in LCOL area. My current salary is 72k. My company matches up to 3% and I’m contributing 10% at the moment. I have automatic deposit set up for my Roth IRA as well. Currently 4550 invested for 2019 in Roth. Should I decrease my 401K contribution to max Roth IRA first? Or should I keep what I’m doing right now?

Assuming you're single, anything you make between $40k and $85k is taxed at 22% federal. Even with a standard deduction, you're solidly in the 22% bracket. So, anything you put in the 401k saves you 22% today. If you want to put it in the ROTH, you pay the 22% in taxes, and let it grow tax free. Let's pretend you do this for years, and retire to live off the 401k account, pulling out a similar $72k/yr. What would you pay in taxes? Not 22%. You'd get to take the standard deduction ($12k today), and then pay taxes on the rest. The first $10k at 10%. The next $30k at 12%. The last $20k at 22%. By my math that's $9k tax on $72k/yr, which is just 12.5%. In this pretend scenario where we ignore inflation and future tax law changes, you theoretically come ahead in % tax paid using the 401k over the ROTH. Now, you might have other sources of income, like SS kicking at some point that change this math a bit, pushing some of your 401k savings into higher tax brackets. If you have a low income today, paying 10% tax today and putting income into a ROTH is absolutely a no-brainer. But the standard guidance on here is usually blind to these nuances, particularly for those with higher incomes. I'm at the top of the married 24% bracket today, and I've been in the 28/32% marginal tax brackets under prior tax laws. I absolutely prefer the advantage of the immediate tax savings of a 401k over a ROTH.

Do you expect your salary to grow? If you do and you expect it to grow past the Roth-IRA phase out limit then I would suggest contributing as much as you can to Roth accounts while you can do it and while you are in a lower tax bracket. The argument for a Roth account doesn't just come down to tax free growth. A big part of the argument for it is that you can supplement your income in retirement with tax free withdrawals. So having both Roth and Traditional accounts is very beneficial.

personalfinance

jackpatron

t3_e5ufwt

JeffonFIRE

f9m1rmu

ThePandaRider

f9niu8l

Recently Retired at 70 after 39 years of 401K

This retirement savings outlook really changed over the years. I was lucky to get started in 1981 but I wasn't very smart in my investing or even in the fund maintenance as I borrowed from my account a few times and took a distribution to pay for kid's college and other things. So, at 70 I retire with about $1 million in my account and feel I have to be conservative with my investments. I figure conservative investments will bring in 5% a year (so far this year) which covers the RMD and also hedges against sharp turndown as my state-sponsored savings plan has a fixed fund option (3%) with which I can ride out any major downturns in the market. If younger, I'd follow the good advice given in other posts about contributing to the max, particularly if there are matching funds, and leaving the money in the accounts, with investing reevaluation as conditions warrant. I don't know how I compare with other baby boomers, but I'm glad to see younger folks doing so well.

OP as someone in medical, please take this time and enjoy your life with your loved ones. Please travel and do things with that money!! Too often, I see people your age, many older, and some younger who get diagnosed with a terminal disease and then bam, pass away suddenly. Didn't even get to enjoy the money they saved and invested. You may live to 100 who knows, or you may live 1 year and then have a terminal disease. You worked hard in your life, please enjoy this money!

" but I'm glad to see younger folks doing so well. " &x200B what are you talking about? The overwhelming vast majority of people under 40 have absolutely no savings for retirement. [ or even for emergencies. &x200B " The median, which represents the middle balance between the highs and lows, is just $24,800. " &x200B The majority of Americans have no savings and are currently buried under massive debt, will never be in a position to retire, and will have 0 federal support if we keep going the way we are going now.

personalfinance

Hard2Beeleve

t3_bcu74a

goldandsilver123

ekuiuzh

Dredly

ektj190

Hospital bill after baby says "NOT A BILL"

We have received two separate "bills" now from our hospital (one seems to reflect l&d and the other our hospital stay) and both note multiple times "NOT A BILL". What is this? There is no due date listed, but there are instructions on how to pay. Seems really weird and scammy. Our insurance isn't listed on either but the contractual allowance is. What's going on? This is obviously in America, where healthcare makes no sense.

That's probably not a bill. It's an "Explanation of Benefits" from your insurance company. It should show what they calculated your portion to be, but you can wait for an actual bill from the hospital (or call them if you feel like it's been a long time).

I sometimes get an eob from the hospital and insurance likely the hospital may have ment to send the eob you received from them to your insurance company and the insurance company eob is the usually the correct amount. It gets confusing and I have sometimes received five or six of these within a week. I would contact your insurance company and make sure they paid or are planning on paying their end of it. I could be wrong and am not an expert in any way but, that’s my best guess.

personalfinance

wellaways

t3_9nfzns

EWCM

e7m0zkj

thattimeofyearagain

e7mbmvq

I have saved up $1000. I want to purchase stock with that money, what would be a good one?

I have no experience in buying and selling stocks. Some useful information would include how would I go about buying one, if I should at all. I want a stock that has a small probability of "going under." Should I avoid certain stocks? Is there a better place to invest my money. I am not looking for a huge return, however in 5 or 10 years I would like to sell it, for a profit hopefully.

VT or VTI. These are ETFs, which trade like stocks, but can be comprised of many different stocks, bonds, and commodities. Buying VT is like buying 6000 stocks in companies from around the world, 50% of which are US. Buying VTI is like buying 4000 stocks in companies from the US. From your post it seems that you don't have a lot of money or experience, so I would avoid buying a single company stock.

Stay away from managed ETFs due to high expense ratios. The only ones I recommend are low fee index funds like SPY or VTI. Once you establish a position, keep SPY as 20 percent of your portfolio, as you start adding individual stocks to represent the other 80. I'd stay within five to ten positions for the total portfolio; that gives you the best balance of diversity, gains, and level of research/babysitting required. If you never wish to learn about stocks, then pick a Vanguard retirement fund and choose your target age. Keep in mind of those fees, however; you have to pay for the privilege.

StockMarket

BinaryPeach

t3_2b6d5m

en7ropy

t1_cj27vy2

cj27vy2

honeybadger1984

t1_cj285j9

cj285j9

So my bank account just had $7000 randomly deposited in it, seeking advice...

I'm not really sure how or why. There's no description attached to it. I feel like I should call my bank about it, but also really don't want to lose $7000. :p Is there any legal loop-hole I could use to make sure I keep this money? That'd be a real god-send, as a student with lots of debt. The weird thing is that it was deposited to a special spot in my bank account, not my normal savings or my normal checking. I have a separate share account that I use for like a tertiary savings, and that's where it ended up. My first though was that it was a mistake and that it's someone else's tax return, but there's no way it would have been aimed at that account. Proof:

I'll tell you a tale from my work. A wire transfer gone wrong and the incorrect recipient got 700,000 USD. He thought he'd be a smart ass and take it out and buy a car, pay off his mortgage, and blow through it before it could be collected. LAWYERS. Lots and lots of corporate lawyers. Guy no longer has a house, car, or any other assets after they collected and sold it off to recoup. Don't spend it. Someone WILL come looking for it after they follow the transactions trail.

Somewhat related to the OP but I hate the fact that banks are immune to any errors that favor them but if it happens in the consumer's favor then 'fuck 'em we want our money back'. Chase once stole nearly $1000 from me and it took over 3 weeks to finally get my money back. Luckily I check my online account at least once a day otherwise who knows how much longer it would've taken to get my money back.

personalfinance

JonasKuras

t3_swy0x

Sarthax

t1_c4hpoey

c4hpoey

The_Hegemon

t1_c4hqsdu

c4hqsdu

Girlfriend is pregnant, need financial advice, I'm clueless (19M)

Today, i found out my girlfriend is pregnant. I'm a 19 year old, trying to go through school, with no knowledge of finance, I've had jobs since i was 16, and am currently working 2 summer jobs. i have about $3,000 in my savings, most of which goes to school expenses. i have no student debt yet, (my parents covered 2 years of my tuition, and this will my my second year) but if i continue after this year, i will have to take out loans. we are trying to evaluate all of our options (abortion, adoption, keeping it) but i'm clueless. how much does raising a child cost? how much is the hospital bill for simply having the child? should i continue school, or should i drop out and look for a job? my degree is Illustration, as i want to become a tattoo artist/freelance illustrator so the degree itself might not actually help me find a job anyway. how does one apply for food stamps? what other government subsidies might i qualify for? I'm just confused, and lost, and could use any advice you have for me. WTF should i do?

Kids are expensive, so your least financially-crippling options are abortion or adoption. You're also 19. And not to be a fatalist, but the odds of you being with this person forever are pretty low (don't freak out over that fact; they're low for every 19-year-old). I'd try to maneuver the decision towards those two directions if I were you. But, if you end up going the difficult route, I'll offer you this bit of advice: if you choose to start a family, your life is effectively over. Every bit of your time and purpose in life needs to be for the sake of your family. What you want ceases to matter, because you effectively forfeited that when you decided to be a parent. So every decision you make will operate on the sole question of what is best for your family. Any aspirations you have will need to be put aside; your family must come first. Your shit job isn't going to cover it. The job you want will not cover it. You'll need to put those things out of your mind and start getting real. This will not be easy. I don't envy your decision. I've seen many friends crack under the pressure from this very situation. But I've also seen people flourish. Don't make this choice lightly.

Abortion is probably the best thing your gf can do in your situation. You guys can't afford a child right now. If abortion isn't an option, Finish college. Take out loans, but do it. Yes, you'll be in debt with a child. But if you have a degree, it will open up a lot more opportunity for you. For example, you can go overseas and teach English for a while - you can do it on ANY degree. You'll have enough to send money back home monthly for gf and child and still have a little to live on. Example: if you go to South Korea, you can make roughly $1900 a month, apartment is free with the job, you can live on $300 a month for very basic utilities and food, and you can send all the rest back home. Assuming you guys live in the midwest, you can afford a very small apartment for her and child. Downsides: Being really far away from the child, and you'll need a thousand to get there and get set up. Also, your life becomes about students, you'll have to grow up quick and put students and your child above your hopes and dreams...until you are financially more able to work towards your hopes and dreams in the future.

personalfinance

throwdatshit19

t3_2c3ana

RandianHero

t1_cjbi730

cjbi730

cacille

t1_cjbu8iz

cjbu8iz

Continue to pay house cleaner (who is not working)?

One POV - we love her, she does great work for us, we'd be screwed if she didn't clean for us, super sweet and kind, and expect to continue to have her help once this is all sorted out Second POW - it's a lot of money to have going out the door for nothing (\~12% of after-tax take-home pay per month), it might be reasonable to offer her half-pay (goodwill gesture but less onerous for us), etc. Would love thoughts

I feel like paying 12% of your monthly cash flow on a housekeeper is the real questionable decision here That’s slightly less expensive than my mortgage (yes I went and did the math)

I think you should first find out how much she is dependent on your salary. If this is the only money she has to survive on or if she does several jobs. In the second case, it may be better to pay her full as her other jobs might be defaulting right now and she will appreciate whatever money she can get. In the first case, discuss her finances with her and see what costs she can cut out and doesn't need. Now if she only needs 50% of her pay to survive then you can continue paying her 50% of the salary. This is a finance first advice. You are still doing good even when you are paying her a $1 for no work. If you can comfortably pay her the full amount then it's great but If you can find a middle ground where you can reward her previous work and still save some of your money then it's even better. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion

personalfinance

AffectionateDuck4

t3_g5pn1z

Werewolfdad

fo4rj8j

anutosu

fo6c5ph

Reporting my current salary to prospective employers

I work in a low-paying technical position. I’ve been looking at better-paying corporate positions. Most of the time I am able to leave the “current salary” field on applications blank. While completing an application today, I came across this question and it only allowed me to fill a radio button next to 10k ranges (ex. 40-50k, 50-60k). Beneath the instructions they had in parentheses: “Please provide your current salary range. Your current salary will be verified later.” Can a company actually verify your salary as they state? I researched on Glassdoor that this position with this company typically earns 60-70k. If I honestly reported that I earn 40-50k, will they use my current salary to lowball me if a job offer comes through?

Can a company actually verify your salary as they state? In most parts of the country, yes. will they use my current salary to lowball me if a job offer comes through? Most likely

yes they will, but most likely you will still be better off. not much you can do about it. where i live they couldn't verify your current salary as that sort of information is deemed private. however, it's not hard to figure out what a company pays for a certain position so. i wouldn't worry about it. honesty is always the best bet in the long run.

personalfinance

Bobcatluv

t3_8nt998

Arrch

dzy4myt

Struykert

dzy4nae

Advice on how to make the initial push to start buying real estate?

So a little background, im 28 still living with my parents. I have no expenses other than a credit card I use and pay every month and help with bill/utilities . During my childhood/teenage years, my parents made some very bad financial decisions which left us in a lot of debt for a very long time. Due to my experience i've been reluctant to get into it because of the financial risk but buying and renting property is something i've always wanted to do. I live in Massachusetts, currently work full time making $19/hr. I will be getting a certification over the winter which should bump my pay to around $21/hr. Also looking to find a part time to save up some extra money to start this up. I've been saving some money and by the end of this year I expect to have around $20,000. My plan right now it to buy a house/duplex, Find a few roommates/renters, while I live there for 1 year. at that point I would like to rent out the whole place and buy a 2nd property. I'm not worried about appreciation (should I be?) all I'm looking for is ANY positive cashflow or cashflow that breaks even to start paying off that property. How Exactly do I take the jump from owning 1 property to buying a 2nd one while having loans out on the first? Again, I'm an extreme newbie to this so ANY advice is appreciated. &x200B Thanks again guys, I'm not looking to make any hasty decisions, I'm just using this as another resource to help me learn.

House hacking is a great way to start out. Most people start with an FHA loan that requires only 3.5% down. You're correct about staying the home for 1 year and before you can move out. You can get around this if you get a job in a different city before the 1 year is up, or you have another legitimate excuse to move a significant distance away. The move from owning one house to buying the second can be a little tricky. Bank that use Fannie Mae to securitize the loan can count "projected" rental income from the first house, but its far less work if you already have a potential renter sign a lease and show the bank that lease.

Just know that the more popular house hacking becomes , The harder it is to find something that cash flows. You're putting almost no money down and have nothing saved for expenses when you start this at 3.5%. it is very very hard to impossible to find something that rents out for more than you're going to pay under those circumstances and anything but a very cheap area. If where you live is HCOL usually these things won't cash flow.

RealEstate

icanbreakthesetarget

t3_d0savf

gearity_jnc

ezcm3jk

nofishies

ezeiguj

Potential scam, looking for advice on how to handle this situation.

I decided to sell something on Craigslist for $85. _, sends me $1850. _ then asked me to cash this check, keep the $85 I asked for and give the rest to the delivery driver. This feels very suspicious to me, anyone have any insight on how to handle this? EDIT: thank you All for the advice

100% scam. Their check will look like it deposits fine, but will eventually bounce, at which point you will have your account debited for -$1850. If you took out $1775 and gave it to the driver, you are going to be the one holding the ball at the end of the day, in addition to not having actually gotten paid for your item. So, to answer your question. Don't deposit the check. If you haven't shipped the item yet, consider not doing that at all. Maybe contact the police?

Had the same thing happen to me a few years back. Anytime they ask you to cash a check and give them money back, it's a scam. Ended up having to talk to the FBI about the situation. If you're not sure, it's not worth it.

personalfinance

ChiefyGrande

t3_9ek8g2

NewlyMintedAdult

e5pktzx

molfo22

e5pyi4b

Thoughts on maxing out Roth IRA before 401k?

Hi all. 22m, first job, in HCOL area (DMV) making 78k. I have no debt and 25k in an emergency fund (I know it is too much). My monthly expenses fluctuate depending on if I travel for work, but a conservative estimate would be ~ 1.7k. I am contributing 6% to my 401k to get the company match and then plan on maxing out my Roth IRA and potentially contributing more to my 401k. My reasoning for this is a desire to have a high amount of liquid capital readily available for personal investment projects. Advice is appreciated. Thanks.

This is the preferred order of funding retirement accounts. 401k to get the match > max out IRA > put the rest in your 401k. IRA's generally have more options and lower fees so that's the reasoning. Obviously the employer match is the main priority though.

For those pointing out my error in saying contribution totals are combined across 401(k) and IRA, it was based on what I was told by a broker last week, however I now think he was talking only about my specific personal situation as my income level would preclude my IRA contributions from being tax deductible.

personalfinance

capaynus

t3_dmgx3d

Confirmation__Bias

f50es3k

PacoFuentes

f50ipbe

Pay off student loan or invest?

I recently came into some money and am trying to decide whether to pay off my student loan or invest. Loan balance is $9500, payments are $125/mo, and interest rate is only 1.6%. It seems logical to invest since even conservative returns over the 10 year repayment period would more than make up for the low interest, but there’s also the psychological benefit of being completely debt free for the first time in my life. (I paid off my credit cards and other debts first.)

Given your comment about being in your mid-30's, I say invest since you don't seem averse to carrying the debt. You've lost a lot of time in the market; this is your time to make that up. Your analysis is correct that your returns would more than make up for the interest you're going to pay on the loans. Even if you double down on investments later after foregoing them now to pay off the debt, your overall net worth will never catch up to where you could be if you invest now. Conversely, for anyone reading this in the same position but early-to-mid-20's, you'll have to do some soul-searching to find the correct answer. Mathematically, investing is always the right choice while your rate of return will be greater than your interest rate. However, there are other benefits to being debt-free that will make it worth it for some to put off investing for a short period in order to pay off the debt.

My advice- let it ride for 3-4 months. Hold the money in a savings account. Make only your minimum payment each month. Don't rush. You're probably young so this is a big decision. If you can get comfortable with carrying debt at 1.6% interest, then carry it.

FinancialPlanning

underwaterllama

t3_9k8z49

cford1080

e6xj6nf

SoberStPaulGuy

e6xbnmp

Pay Debt or Savings

Hi, I’ll try to keep this simple. I have about 75,000 in student loans. 30k is government at 4% and 40k is private loans at around 8%. I make 40,000. I know, this is a terrible income to debt ratio. I’m working on it. It sucks. I currently have 3,000 in Acorns investing, 3,000 in a Huntington savings account and 5,000 in checking. I’ve been looking to move to Ally banking because of the better savings account %. My question is, do I keep putting money into my savings/investing? I want to be able to buy a house/car in the next 5 years and I’ll obviously need a down payment on both of these. I realize the percentage I’m making from savings is less than the percentage I’m being charged for my loans. Is it worth saving money or should i dump every penny into paying off my debt first?

Keep in mind that getting a mortgage with a car loan and those student loans and low income will be very, very difficult. I'd ease up on the savings and pay towards the 8% loan for now. Save a bit towards a car if that's a need, not a want. And when you do buy a car, choose a reliable used model, don't go much further into debt. And move most of the checking/savings money to a high interest online savings account if they're not earning at least 2%

Debt first. Even if you have money in savings, that debt hangs over your head and ties your hands in future purchases (and you're getting charged the whole time.) The sooner you get it out of the way, the sooner you can get started building your net worth for real. Debt is the enemy.

personalfinance

noMoneyLottaDebt

t3_cdxv2t

Meghanshadow

etx03wv

Kimomaru

etxc4la

AMZN

How is amazon only down 18%? Good opporrunity to buy 'cheap' puts? I mean i know amazon is a big player and well diversified with AWS and its retail business and so on and so forth. But it should be hittet by an upcoming recession no less than other blue chip stocks.

I would be careful shorting this one. There are a lot of people, especially being stuck at home, that will be ordering from these guys. I view Amazon as an "essential" company in an environment like this, and in general, to the evolving retail world we live in. I wouldn't take the risk of shorting this one and being wrong. Google and Facebook are other one's I look at with the same "essential" quality, but shorting FB may be a better short term play as the stock is getting absolutely hammered. Good luck!

Amazon is a complicated buy right now because of the massive tech infrasctructure contract that it was the best/only good candidate for, that the Trump administration gave to Microsoft because Bezos owns Washington Post. That contract is currently under litigation. It's a solid company. It's just that losing that contract is a major blow for the future of the company. It's not down more than 18% because going social isolation is good for online shopping. But all things said, it's a risky/complicated long position for most investors right now.

stocks

QuadraDGoesReddit

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WestmontOG07

fkqmhds

rhetorical_twix

fkrc2ub

(Update) I posted about what I thought was my parents using credit in my name, it turns out its more convoluted.

I posted with a throwaway about how I checked my credit report and found that there were some negative marks that were dropping my score down quite a lot. I can't find that post or account now (sorry) but now I have an

According to this post from [Experian]( you have to simply call the card issuers and ask to be removed from the accounts as an authorized user. Then contact the credit bureaus and ask they remove that account from your report.

What's disturbing is how easy it is for anyone to be added as an authorized spender. My wife did that to me on one of her credit cards without telling me, thinking it was no big deal. Next thing I know, my credit sinks, and I have some strange credit card account on my report.

personalfinance

thethirtythirty

t3_3madi6

ElementPlanet

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