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Kris-Fillip

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Buy or rent: 4 years here at least

Hey all, I am trying to figure out whether I should continue renting or buy a home. My fiancé and I are 24 and he is in gradschool for four more years. We have $60k in savings altogether. Our rent is currently around $1400 and we could technically afford to pay more. Should we continue renting or should we buy? Pros and cons of each option?

Not finance advice, but... Grad school can be stressful, no need to add the potential extra stress of a house on that as well. Save for a nice big down payment when you decide what to do after he is done with school.

Not worth it, you guys are young and once graduation happens there is probably chances or relocation. 4 years may not be long enough for you to cover closing costs, maybe PMI, property taxes, maintenance and the dreaded realtor fee when you have to sell... On top of that you guys are not married. Houses are not something you can just dump off when you want to leave, it ties up your finances.

personalfinance

Ivegotaquestion4you

t3_95cs4p

FunkadelicToaster

e3rou23

thisisredditsparta

e3sq7yu

Has anyone bought a manufactured home and is it worth it in the long term?

I've always kind of been bad at looking very far ahead, but I've been thinking about the future a lot. I'm a 19f, single with cats, and planning to stay childfree. I don't want to live in an apartment all my life but I don't think I'd want to own a house, as they're typically a bit bigger than what I'd need, and expensive. Right now I'm living with my mom, paying a bit of rent each month and buying my own food, ect for the most part. Some advice from people who might've been in a similar situation world be appreciated… I just feel having more of an idea of something to work towards will help me

They only make sense if you have your own developed land and you need to throw something cheap on it. Otherwise you’re at the mercy of your lot owner and they will typically increase your costs.

Lots of good responses here! I'll just add this...you have to think of a mobile home the way you think of a vehicle, instead of a house. Vehicles will eventually wear out and will lose value over it's life. A house will generally increase in value over time, as long as maintenance and repairs are kept up with.

personalfinance

raidragun

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sirlost33

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Dojustly

f3bchef

Is my math ($) right on fixer upper vs renting?

I am contemplating buying a house to live in for 2 years then FSBO sell, instead of renting a house for those 2 years. I would only do this if I can get the house at $15,000 or more (house on market 60 days so far) below asking. Cary NC region. BUY HOUSE at $200,000. Repaint exterior ($3000)-- it is an ugly as heck brown painted wood exterior; new flooring inside in a few rooms ($4000), redo kitchen cabinets and counter myself ($3000; I have done this before as well as flooring and windows); $3000 (a new window or two), $2000 misc. Market comparables (recent sales) are $230,000 to $260,000 (same year built, same square foot, same ranch style, same lot size, within a few blocks, same bedrooms and bathrooms). In two years I sell it for $260,000 after fixing it up with $15,000 in improvements, FSBO sale. The math seems to indicate it could be better to buy a house, if of course I get it below asking and if in two years I could sell it as described. $260,000 sale - $215,000 investment = $45,000 profit - $ 4,800 buyers agent commission = $40,200 - $ 3,200 closing fees when selling (estimate) = $37,000 - $ 4,000 two years of property taxes = $33,000 profit after two years owning and fixing up house RENTING HOUSE -$40,000 cost to rent over two years @ $1666 rent/month +$20,000 investment income over two years after taxes from $200,000 not spent on house = -$20,000 net cost to rent two years over two years home ownership

Are you sure you won’t run into some unforeseen issues that need fixed? Also, how do you know the house will sell for 260. With interest rates going up, the market could be very different in two yrs. could work if nothing major comes up, but that’s a big if. Looks like all in all it only comes out to about a 13,000 dollar difference IF everything goes as planned. Doesn’t seem like you have a lot of room for error.

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RealEstate

NomadJago

t3_8vi3sv

bluedecor

e1nhmjl

LocationBot

e1nhiq5

Better to rent or buy?

So me and my significant other live with family. We want our own place. We have a monthly gross income of 3600, with raises coming soon, and roughly 1400 in bills/debt such as student loans and medical Which some will drop off very soon We're looking at the area. And rentals that are decent range about 1500/m not including utilities. Where as housing mortgage we could have under 1000. Obviously if we buy we'd save up more before taking the plunge in case of emergency. In 2 months we can put back over 5000 for our nest egg. But we'd like to be out this summer/ before the end of fall. So personal finance. What would you suggest?

my significant other Easy one, don't buy a house together if you are not currently married. Period. Save money as if you were saving it for a down payment so when/if you get married then you will be more set.

Some of my thoughts How long have you been together? Are you engaged? Are your jobs stable? Is staying with the relatives NOT an option? How old are you? Some parents force their kids to stay at home until they are married. Why do you want to own a home? Do your financial goals match? (Early Retirement, kids, Big house, fancy car) Loan math: A $1K mortgage monthly payment will roughly be $250K. 20% of 250K = $50K How long will it take you to earn 50K? 3% of 250K =$7500 but now you would have to include pmi PMI: 1% rate: 208/pmi month do you already have 3-6 months prepayment Math Income =3600 Expense= 1400 Savings rate living at home= 2200/month (3600-1400) Savings rate renting for 1.5K= 700/month (3600-1400-1500) 3 - 6 Month prepayment / emergency fund= $1K/month x 6month =6K Cash needed: Deposit at 20% or 3%(+PMI) and add 6K Emergency fund. Math Applied: 50K or 20% Down payment would take you 23months (50K/2.2K) or 2 years Living at home 50K or 20% Down payment would take you 72months (50K/700) or about 6 years renting Some more thoughts Obviously you and your SO can afford to buy a home. But should you may be a different question. I personally would not put a down lower than 20% but I could see trading $208 in pmi/ month to leave right now. If it were me; I would stay at home as long as possible and milk free rent until I have a sizable DP that will give me flexibility. I would also not combine finances until we are engaged.

personalfinance

Lmoreh

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_golden

dftrejl

rREDdog

dftz34w

I have the opportunity to teach a Personal Finance class to people in their late teens and twenties. Looking for suggestions.

I've developed a reputation among my social circle as the guy to talk to when you need money advice. A couple of younger guys approached me to ask if I'd be willing to teach a personal finance primer over 5-6 weeks in the summer, to help the younger folks who are just getting started and know nothing about money. I'm planning to try and make this relevant and interesting to younger folks by covering topics that people in this age group will definitely come across in the next few years. So far I'm planning to cover: General Principles: (i.e. Debt = bad, Savings = good) Student loans, how to avoid and/or minimize them Credit (when/how to use it, how not to use it, understanding of things like billing cycle, how interest accumulates, not paying interest to build your credit score, etc) Auto financing (should I just lump this in under credit?) Retirement accounts (various types) Insurance (types you need, types you don't need) My personal money philosophy errs on the side of frugality and preparedness for the future, but I want the class to be fun too, not just a salty 30-something telling 20-somethings all the mistakes I made when I was their age. Unlike Dave Ramsey, whose primary goal is to help people fix their money mistakes, I want to help the younger generation avoid these mistakes in the first place.

Compound interest. People don't understand compounding well at all. Also, it cuts both ways, when in debt, the interest also compounds. I had a guy come to me not wanting to put money into his 401(k) plan. He was thinking $5K/year for 40 years is only $200K... I put together a simple spreadsheet for him while he sat there and watched that showed what he could have in 40 years if he invested $5K/year, even using conservative growth assumptions. He was sold.

Hello! I recently had the chance to work on a financial literacy program for youth 12-16 years old. One major concept I use is reflection, for instance: "is this item a want or a need?" "Do I actually have the money to buy this?" "Can I wait for this and turn it into a short/ medium/ long-term savings goal?" I also have some tools to find out what type of consumer they are, which will help you tailor your advice to their styles. You can find it online, it's called the Sproles-Kendall Consumer type inventory. It's a little dry though. I also encourage you to show different creative ways to build a budget, rather than just writing it down in a binder. As for fun and attention, case studies and examples are good ways to maintain interest (eg. ask them "how would you save money?" And write down their answers on a flip chart). This is especially important for teens since engaging them makes them feel more grown up. Perhaps get them some fake money and let them build their own budget in small teams. Anyhow, I know this is a lot of text and that I'm a little all over the place, but please don't hesitate to contact me for some handouts and tools that me and my colleagues built!

personalfinance

noble_neckbeard

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iaddandsubtract

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csg29z7

ValhallaAriane

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csgcrv5

I'm 33 never invested in 401k but have 30k in cash, where should I start?

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I have never invested. I earn 65k/year and have a side business earning 40k per year. I have 30k just sitting in 2 bank accounts. My job doesn't offer 401k matching until I turn 35 or have been there for 4 years. Should I start contributing? I'm a total noob when it comes to investing and always have been afraid of losing my money simply because I don't know where it's going. But I know 30k is way too much to just sit in a checking account. I don't really have time to actively monitor investments since I essentially work 2 fulltime jobs that keep me more than busy. I just want to make sure that my money has potential to grow without me having to do too much work.

Remember that a 401k is just an investment vehicle. It is not an investment and-and-of itself. Consider posting your investment options within the 401k and be sure to include the expense ratios. In short, yes, you should be investing in the 401k. You seem to have a healthy emergency savings fund. Now it's time to start setting yourself up for an adequate retirement by funding the 401k. Others will comment more on the opportunities afforded to you by having a side business - I do not know the specifics. Let me ask you this, though. Is it too much work to have a certain amount of money from your pay check (pre-tax) automatically redirected to your 401k where it is invested in a target retirement fund that doesn't require you to ever look at it or otherwise lift a finger? I dunno... seems pretty easy to me.

I would start living off that 30K and maxing out 401k until you have about 10K left then use the 10K as an emergency fund. Then resume contributing to 401k at a manageable level. EDIT: NOT sure why this is getting downvoted. I'm giving advice to basically take this 30K that is not in a tax advantaged account, and giving a path to transition this money into tax advantaged accounts. This is advice for a man who is 33 years old and admittedly has no retirement savings.

personalfinance

RacksOSnacks

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indirecteffect

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justthrowmeout

de9wv1s

My mother just passed away. What sorts of things does my father need to focus on that may not seem obvious?

I tried searching for a relevant post but wasn’t able to find what I needed right away, so sorry in advance if I’m asking a question for the billionth time. My mother just passed and I’m curious about what sorts of things my father should be focusing on that we may not be aware of. Does he need to close her credit card accounts? What things might he need a death certificate for outside the obvious like life insurance, etc.? Should he use her SSN to run a credit report on her to be sure what needs to be closed is closed? They’re residents of Wisconsin but Winter in Florida, which is where she passed, and he is 76, whereas she was 71 (if that info helps). Thanks for your patience and any insight you all may be able to give.

Get more copies of the death certificate than you think you may need. When my grandmother passed away, we needed far more copies than we initially expected and it delayed some things when we had to wait for more to be mailed.

I’m sorry for your loss. Have him start up a trust and add you (or a sibling?) to his accounts so you can help. A credit report would be good but if possibly try hiring a professional bookkeeper or similar to just go over the payments they have made for the last three years. Good luck to you and your family.

personalfinance

LookDaddyImASurfer

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mnkygrl94

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SnowflakesBeast

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New landlord question. Tenant refuses to give keys. Can I change locks?

Hi, I'm in MA, USA. I just bought a 4 family house, do not live there, house owned via an LLC that we created while purchasing the home. A tenant, who we are in the process of evicting (nonpayment, as well as a troublemaking, angry drinker...we have no interest in retaining him as a tenant, and he doesn't have the ability to pay even if we did), has refused since the closing (about 3 weeks ago now) has been very combative about entry of his unit. His bathroom is in need of a complete replacement, and we would like to show it to a couple contractors to get bids together etc. He's stated that he'll meet with me, while he's home, to let me take pictures and measurements, but that he is refusing to give me a key to the unit and he's stated that he'd be pretty aggressive/combative/hostile if I escalated the situation. I told him I need to change the locks, and again he's been very confrontational. Let me be very clear. I have no intention of trying to lock him out of his own apartment. I am following standard procedures for evicition. I am using a constable/court process for the eviction. I just want keys to this place so that I wouldn't have to break the door or window to get in in the event of an emergency (pipe leak, gas leak, etc etc). What do I do here? I spoke to a mass state trooper (friend), I called the local police, and then I called the police in the town I live in and got 3 completely different answers, ranging from, "It's a civil matter, we wouldn't get involved at all .... to ... that would be breaking and entering and you would be committing a crime"...... I'm not sure what the best course of action is here, hoping someone might share info/stories/experience. Thank you everyone.

If you are evicting, involve your lawyer. Don't change locks, don't do anything without checking with the lawyer first. Focus on getting the tenant out soon as you can with minimal cost and following all rules. Worry about renovations only after the unit is vacant. It may even be advisable to offer cash for keys.

Lawyer. See if you can get a restraining order against him. If he's threatening hostile actions against you and your property, it's time to stop being nice. I've had people who tossed bags of cement down the toilet because they were mad about being asked to pay the rent they agreed to on their lease. SEE A LAWYER. NOT THE POLICE.

RealEstate

MoveTheMetal

t3_2uzixh

comcry

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cod2yzh

cathline

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cod81e1

How am I supposed to establish credit if I can't even get a simple student credit card?

Hey guys, I am a 20 year old college student and am having a lot of trouble getting a credit card. I work part-time and make a decent hourly wage. I want to get a credit card so I can start building credit and stuff. I am not going to be reckless and use more money than I have. Anyways, I have already applied for a student credit card with a big bank and got denied. I also applied with the local credit union I'm with and also got denied. My parents won't cosign with me. Today I went to Best Buy since I've been thinking about buying an iPad for school and taking advantage of their 18 month interest free financing. I plan on paying it off within six months and putting like $200 down anyways. I got denied for that as well. I really want to apply for a Target credit card since I do a majority of my general shopping there anyways, or a credit card with the gas company I get gas from. But do you think I'll get denied for these too? If I do, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Just NOT ever have credit? Not be able to apply for loans in the future, or get a car or mortgage? I don't need a credit card because of not having money. I need a credit card to establish credit for my future. This is not a want, this is a necessity. And it's complete BS that I can't even get a student credit card. I'm a student. I work, I have income, I pay my insurance/bills, etc.

You might need to start with a secured card first to build some credit before getting approved for a real credit card. The way they work is you deposit money with the bank issuing a card in the amount of desired credit limit. bank then issues you credit card, holding your deposit as a collateral, as long as you have a card. If you use the card wisely (paying entire balance at the end of the month) after about 6 months you might be able to get approved for a regular credit card.

Sometimes if you apply too many times, and get denied your credit will be flagged and you will continue to be denied. Maybe wait 6 months before applying again. Also, a secure card might be your best bet.

personalfinance

acescracked7

t3_1kreg6

ed_lv

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cbruhm8

Confections

t1_cbrzk5j

cbrzk5j

IRA question

I am 28 (will be 29 in May) and I have yet to put any money into my IRA. I own a home with my wife. We have a 15 month old baby boy. I am a tile setter by trade, own my own business, and I make around 30-40k a year (this past year is an exception because my son was born and I took quite a bit of time off to be with my wife and newborn. I’m not sure if this is a realistic question to ask, but how much should I be putting into my IRA monthly? We are quite comfortable with what we spend and save at the moment, although we have been more calculated in the past. I want to save enough to have SOMETHING when I retire. My wife’s company matches her 401k generously, but as an independent contractor and business owner I am reliant on my own IRA. Any advice is sincerely appreciated. Thanks 🏻

The rule of thumb is 15% of your income. You can put up to $5500 into a Roth IRA. I doubt you want to lay tile when you're 67 so I suggest getting started today.

What I would suggest is to save as much as you can in IRA for 2017 right now (Limit is 5500). You have nearly a month to do so and get savings on the Taxes. For next year, you may want to go with a SEP IRA or Solo 401K depending on how much you make each year and how much you are able to save. If you are not looking to save more than 5-10 K a year, then IRA works for you.

personalfinance

Mdeezy89

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Plum12345

dvxrl6a

dheerajnagpal

dvyiu62

Buy Google stock on this dip?

Been looking for the right time to buy google stock. It's dropped around 8%. Is this a good time to enter? Should I wait a few days?

Remember, if the 1.7 billion dollar fine is excluded, Google's earnings improved approx. 26%. Not bad. And while their growth may be decelerating, other facets of their operating model are doing well, like click payments. I think it might be a buy.

i say its time to liquidate it &x200B 10 years in a bull run, high pe &x200B and its turning away customers. DUmp while you can at highs vs being the guy selling at the lows years later

stocks

Beermecaptain21

t3_bj5wot

DIY_Jules_Can

em5ni13

Libertymark

em5uj97

1099 Contractor

I'm being shifted to a 1099 Contractor status by my employer. Is there anything I need to know so I don't get screwed?

Here's some financial points where you will likely be losing out compared to being an employee. Try to put some monetary values on these so you have a good idea of how hard you are being screwed. no longer receiving medical benefits no longer getting matching 401k no longer receiving PTO no longer getting paid holidays no longer receiving 6.2 percent social security tax contribution no longer receiving 1.45 percent medicare tax contribution Beyond those things that have a direct financial impact, also keep these things in mind: You are no longer eligible for unemployment benefits if you are terminated or the company goes under You aren't covered by workers compensation insurance You aren't protected by many labor laws The max amount of untaxed income that you can contribute to your retirement plan decreases from something like $13,000 to $5,500 per year. (may not be exact numbers, but your tax liability will increase) You may be financially responsible for investments in tools and resources required to do your job. You'll have to file estimated taxes on a quarterly basis. Taxes will be more complicated - you might have to hire someone to help you. You'll have to take the time to find private health insurance. If you decide that you are not OK with your employer attempting to reclassify you, you may choose to remind or inform them of the following: Simply calling you an independent contractor does not make it so in the eyes of federal and state entities. Whether a worker is an employee is a legal question determined by the economic realities of the working relationship between the employer and the worker, not by job title or any agreement that the parties may make. If the IRS or other government agency determines that a hiring firm has unintentionally mis-classified an employee as an independent contractor, it can impose fines of $50 for each form that was not filed, 1.5% of the wages plus interest accruing daily, 40% of the FICA that the employee should have paid, and 100% of the FICA that the employer should have paid. A responsible person (including corporate officers and employees or members or employees of a partnership) with authority over the financial affairs of the business who willfully fails to collect and pay taxes may be held personally liable for the total amount of the uncollected tax up to 100% under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), as well as subjected to criminal prosecution. If the IRS suspects fraud or intentional misconduct in employee classifications (delibrately misclassifying to avoid taxes), the IRS may levy criminal penalties of $1,000 and/or 1 year in prison for failure to properly classify and withhold wages. If the IRS obtains a felony conviction against a person or company for “attempting to evade or defeat tax,” the fines are up to $100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation), or imprisonment not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution (I.R.C. §7201). A responsible person (including corporate officers and employees or members or employees of a partnership) with authority over the financial affairs of the business who willfully fails to collect and pay taxes may be held personally liable for the total amount of the uncollected tax up to 100% under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), as well as subjected to criminal prosecution. My employer tried to do this to me not too long ago. I wrote them a detailed email with all of these points and told them that I didn't want to be an IC, and that they probably didn't want to given the legal ramifications of mis-classifying me. I am still an employee. Useful links: NOLO- what to do if you are misclassified [Department of labor fact sheet]( Good luck!

Are you looking into buying a house anytime soon if you don't already have one? If so some mortgage companies frown heavily upon 1099 filing status and won't lend to you. Also make sure you set aside the proper amount for taxes if not a little more to CYA

personalfinance

dre157

t3_3wbl57

SolarWarrior

cxv07xx

StaffinFraktion

cxuxzbx

Employed by the state and chose 401k over pension...on a scale from 1-10 how big of a mistake was it?

Hi all, I am a 25yo who got a job working for the state and have just came across the 1 year mark. I didn’t know whether I was going to stay at my employer for more than 5 years (aka recent grad who didn’t know what they were doing), so I decided to opt for the 401k option instead of the pension. After loving my job and realizing how lucky I am to snag it, I am regretting my decision because I can see myself being here until I would be vested. 7% of my paycheck gets contributed to the 401k and my employer puts in 8%. I have $6,500 in my 401k currently, $2,000 in emergency fund, no debt and haven’t started a Roth IRA yet. I have the option to start a 403b and 457. I am struggling about where to prioritize my money. If I stick to my budget, I have $1,000 to put to savings/retirement fund every month and I expect that number to grow soon. Firstly, did I screw up majorly by passing on the pension option? And secondly, my current plan is to build 6 months of emergency savings, then open a Roth, then max out 401k (once I get the raise I am expecting soon) and then throwing money to index funds. Does this sound right or should I be doing something with the 403b and 457?

I don't think I would trust the pension. Plus the time may come when you want to leave this job and work in the private sector, the 401k money will come with you. 8% is a hell of a direct contribution. I think you made the right choice.

Your 401k is your money and barring a national catastrophe the money is yours. Pensions these days are nowhere near guaranteed income as most pensions have made a habit of grossly overestimating their returns and sending themselves into the red.

personalfinance

chiaradimarco

t3_a2t170

green12324

eb10l7w

FBX

eb0ydug

Jobs that pay you to work at home?

I need a car badly. Financially, I'm a mess. If I had a car, I could switch to float with the hospital I work for and make 5$ more an hour, along with as much overtime as I wanted. I'd get a second job within walking distance, but I'm already signing up for five shifts a week. I generally get put on call twice a week, leaving me with an average of 36 hours a week. I think an online, at home job I can work on days I'm on call is my best option. Tldr: any legitimate at home job's to bring in more income?

Convergys.com hires people to work from home as customer service reps for other companies like Sprint and Directv. You need a newer computer and decent internet. It's a real job, pays around $10 an hour. My wife did it for a year, a few years ago. They have part time shifts I believe.

Tldr: any legitimate at home job's to bring in more income? No. There are people that have jobs that move from IRL to have some or all of their job doable online. These people are using an existing skill set and employment contacts. If there was an online job i needed done, would I rather train you to do it, or hire a programmer to write me a program to do it 24/7 for a fraction of the price?

personalfinance

supershimadabro

t3_6bf022

rshacklef0rd

dhm4hjb

jdoe74

dhm3l67

Selling a used car - Should I fix the minor scratches, dents, and stained seats, or sell "as is"?

I have a 2009 Honda CRV with 90k miles on it. I thought it was worth maybe $2500. Today, through market research and the blue book, I'm finding out that it will sell for no less than 8k. It's an incredibly pleasant surprise. I just put brand new tires on it, and a brand new A/C compressor. The problem is that it has minor scratches, a minor dent, and stained seats due to years of use. Is it worth putting in the money and time to fix all of this to sell it at market value, or can I sell it "as is" for a discount? I'm thinking between 7-8k. I'm going to wax, clean, and vacuum the entire car obviously, but just don't want to deal with the other cosmetic issues. Is it worth fixing it up? Update I put it on Craigslist for a feeler of price. Within 5 hours I had 7 people interested. Today I met with the first person who came to test drive it and I sold it. I was going to do an interior detailing and fix the scratches, but he didn't care. Literally in 24 hours i sold it as is.

You can find scratch markers for a few dollars. I'd use one of those. Also, how minor is the dent? If it can be popped out, it may be worth it to invest in one of those "pops-a-dent" systems for ~$30. You can try scrubbing the seats really hard for the stains, those things happen though. Getting the car detailed might help and it only runs ~$100. All of those things put together probably saves you from having to shave ~$1000 off of the sales price.

Use your best call. Its a used car that is 7 years old. If people expect it to be flawless they shouldn't be looking at a used car. Since your vehicle could be sold for a better price and not just a couple grand you can spend a little bit to get it cleaned up nice. Spending $600 on tires is okay but not for cleaning. If the stain is very bad yes that will effect your price so see if you can maybe get your interior detailed/cleaned. Some dents can be pulled out or pushed out even. If its plastic you can usually carefully heat it and press out the dent (if its painted be careful not to ruin the paint.) Metal is a little trickier. With your scratches, if its a clear coat scratch you can usually buff or wax it and it will disappear. If its paint on your paint the same applies. But if its down to bare metal that would need to be touched up. Never use "as is." Everyone will see that differently from no warranty to needs some touch ups to this car is a lemon/will need major work done. My personal thoughts is it should have a few minor faults to it (scratch or a ding is okay, fender or hood needing replaced is not for $7k.) I'm more concerned with how the engines running and is the tranny shifting smoothly and ect.

personalfinance

adfjets

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rglaters0

d75hbu2

snake1152

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Nationwide Search Engine?

I’ve exhausted my patience trying to find a solution. I’m looking for a way to search real estate listings based on criteria but across the entire country. Every site I find I have to enter a zip code or state. I would like to be able to just search based on every criteria except location. Does something like this exist?

So this is the fun thing. The Multiple Listing service (MLS) are the Databases behind sites like red fin, Zillow. Etc. the thing is, each state has their own MLS (and large metropolitan regions like L.A. also have their own). So when you do A search it does a call to the MLS of that area to find results. It caches those results for you, so as you move around in the map it feels like it is all one thing, even though as you cross state borders or metros you are pulling from completely different databases. A nationwide search would result in queries to hundreds of databases. It would take several minutes to even get the results. To my recollection there are more than 700 MLSs in the US alone and each one has a subscription fee of about $20-$60 month (more for heavy users). So for national websites like Zillow, they are incentivized to limit search scopes. So hopefully that helps you understand that there is most likely not a solution that you are looking for. Now, with a 10 acre property. Have you looked at landandfarm.com? They seem to specialize in larger pieces of land.

So to meet your requirements of being within 45 min of an intentional airport, you could use a site like and then draw a custom selection on Zillow like what it generates for 45 min driving time from the airport. Then you can set your other filters on Zillow, and greatly narrow down available properties. You could additionally save each search, and get notifications.

RealEstate

joel20042002

t3_dv4xts

Calvinbob

f7at5pn

Kit-

f7bnx8z

[Investing] I'm 18 and I'd like to start investing but don't know how?

So I'm 18 and I have just over $6,000 in the bank and I'd like to start investing my money, but I don't really know how or what kind of decisions are good decisions. I'd like to learn but I'm very skeptical of people on YouTube and other platforms as these "investing gurus" promote quick money for not a lot of work and if something is too good to be true, it probably is. I've put about $700 in cryptocurrency, which is tanking right now, thanks coronavirus. Other than that, I have made no investments as I do not feel I have the knowledge to just throw money around and see what happens. Does anyone know where I can learn some basic or even more in-depth instruction on how to invest?

Crypto is a major gamble and could become valueless with a stroke of the governments pen. At your age you want safe long term compounding investments. I personally put all my money into VTSAX it’s a US whole market fund. Extremely diversified.

Plenty of online brokerages have YouTube videos of how to start off, what strategies you can learn and what to invest in such as ETFs, mutual funds, stock options, it's a whole world. Be very wary of those who say this is a sure thing. With online brokerages such as Td Ameritrade or Schwab I feel like that could be a great long term investment. Especially if you start a retirement account. Learn all the jargon before you try to invest, that's where people get screwed up. Simply don't invest in something you don't understand. Personally I'm a gambler so I trade options but since you have a decent capital, you should definitely invest.

personalfinance

austinwc0402

t3_ftuudz

prominusx

fm96pi3

dissapointeddaddy

fm9j77j

First time home-buyer, Bubble (?), concerns

I've been doing a ton of research on the housing market recently, especially in regards to the potential opportunity for a correction or crash, although I don't like that word. My fiance and I (23 y/o) are going to be getting married and moving out of our parents homes in the next 7-9 months, and we are both very concerned with whether or not we should rent or buy. I understand that a lot can happen in our time frame. We are really looking for advice on how to handle the current state of the market. I work in mortgages, so I've seen the rates go up rather quickly in the last year. Does anyone see them slowing down in the NEXT year? I know that nobody can time the market. I know that there's never a perfect time to buy a house. I know that we should buy when we feel "comfortable". The housing prices in our area (Baltimore/DC) seem unreasonably high though, and because we likely wont be able to put 20% down, we fear that we could end up underwater if the market tanks, or even simply corrects. Is anyone here in a similar situation? Has anyone been in this situation in the past that may have some words of advice? I know that there is not a right or wrong answer, just hoping for advice from those of you who may have seen this before.

I know that nobody can time the market. I know that there's never a perfect time to buy a house. I know that we should buy when we feel "comfortable". The housing prices in our area (Baltimore/DC) seem unreasonably high though, and because we likely wont be able to put 20% down, we fear that we could end up underwater if the market tanks, or even simply corrects. Since you know all this, logically, you're fine. The main thing is this: Are you buying because you're financially, mentally, and emotionally ready to purchase what is likely the most expensive thing you will own? Or are you doing it because it's, "The Next Step"? If you're still having concerns, rent. It gives you the freedom to not be completely tied down to a location. It gives you the freedom to not have to be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of a house. And it gives you the chance to see what the future of the real estate market will be in your area.

Buy if you're ready - the market isn't going to correct that much. Time on market has slowed but houses are still being bought with cash and above asking. If you're ready for a home - go for it. You could end up waiting because you think the market will crash and it will continue to go up and then crash back to where prices are now in 5 years. The market is just correcting from the bubble. Hopefully prices are plateuing but I don't think we'll see much of a decline. The market also tends to slow near the end of the year too so I won't be surprised to see a huge resurgence in like March

RealEstate

vax_mendetti

t3_a0ln6r

justathoughtfromme

eaik7jv

CornDawgy87

eaixqic

Is nearly no spending money practical?

I have been trying for some time to get out of debt but with purchasing and renovating a new home I've found myself 21k in credit card debt. I set a good budget that alloted $65 biweekly each for my husband and I for spending but then i realized we kept using credit cards once there was no cash like for things for the house or for our sons activites or family members birthdays. So I increase our spending budget to 820 a month. 130 bi weekly for individual spening and 300 a month for household spending but ive realized that if I added money to the $1300 a month allotment already established for my credit card and student loan debt that would cut down the time paying those debts from 50 months to 29 months...such a big difference. Do you think it is practical to put all extra money to paying debts or to live more practically while spending debts down more slowly. Also, we still have a good amount of things to buy for the house and i am tempted to putting it on credit and paying it down just to get it out of the way. We cant really wait w or 4 years for furniture (most of my cards are 0 apr for now) should i do this?? Our net income is at minimum $5528 a month we both have opprotunity for OT Mortgage, taxes, ins,pmi- $1068 Daycare- $560 Cell phones- $152 Electric- $60 Water, sewage- $20 Car insurance- $182 Internet and home security- $82 Groceries- $480- as low as we can get it Gas- $200 but sometimes go over Oil- $120 month put money no spent during summer in a saving to pay for winter usage Family spending- $300 My spending- $260 Husband spending- $260 $1300 to debt Total debt 56k

Please take this as constructive, albeit potentially harsh, criticism. I'm going to summarize your post: We bought a house before we had enough money and now we're in credit card debt because of renovations and other spending We really want to buy and spend even more, but we realize we have no money and lots of debt ...but our credit isn't complete shit yet, so debt providers are willing to give us 0% for some short period of time Our budget is a bit of vague mess We have PMI on our mortgage (low equity) From your post it's clear you know that spending on those credit cards is a bad idea. You're wrestling with wanting stuff NOW vs. continuing to dig the hole you're in deeper. Seriously, please, do not buy furniture and other household goods on credit cards. You can't afford it. Whatever you absolutely need either find hand me down stuff from family, or find used on craigslist. You are a classic Keeping Up With The Jones' case. You have lots of spending for your kid, yourselves, your pets, you're giving gifts, etc. Yet you've got a mountain of debt. Fix your budget, find a way to make it a surplus so that every month your debt numbers are going DOWN. The only reason your debt numbers should be going up, for any account, are for things you haven't budgeted for and are true emergencies.

"Do you think it is practical to put all extra money to paying debts or to live more practically?" I can't say yes fast enough, or emphatically enough. I've been financially hamstrung for years by a much smaller debt. Cut whatever, wherever you can. Now that's out of the way. Let me add this: if you try to go from $820 to $0, it's going to hurt, and you'll find yourself spending more than that, to make up for what you think you're missing. It would be better to knock a small amount off of each (family, husband, yourself) than try to go to nothing.

personalfinance

zitpopper07

t3_4pcr7m

hmbemis

d4jwb4r

Steve-C2

d4kbvd0

Plan to start a family next year... help me wrap my head around how our budget will change.

I learned so much from r/PF, this place really helped me learn what I need to do to pay off my CC debts, save for retirement, etc. I hope by this time next year I will be debt free (mortgage aside) with a nice emergency fund. My wife and I are planning to start a family next year. I need help understanding all the costs associated with raising a child would be ,specifically in the first few years so I can prepare for the added expenses that a new child brings. I'm aware that child care is usually one of the biggest recurring costs relating to children but luckily we are in a situation where we will not need 5 days of daycare a week without sacrificing work hours.

If you don't have to pay daycare it won't be too bad. To give you some perspective we spent the following in the first year of our kids life: Daycare = $26400 for 8 months of daycare Food = $750... little bit of formula and then around $20 a week on solids after 6 months Clothes = $200... lots of hand me downs Toys/Books = $100... lot of toys and hand me down Strollers/Car Seats/Pack & Plays/Cribs etc = $2000... could go way cheaper but a good stroller and car seat are important. Cribs and pack and plays family may try to give you probably aren't the safest from a SIDS standpoint in this day and age. Medical Care = $1000... couple of unnecessary urgent care visits and an ER visit Insurance increase + life insurance = $1000 So in short I would probably budget like 5k a year to be safe without daycare. Not nothing but also not that crazy.

if the delivery is fine, expect about $5000 in total expenses for a birth (before any insurance kicks in, the gross cost to deliver a baby is in the $5k range but insurance might cover most of this). assuming the baby's in good health with a SAHM/D, the biggest expenses in the first few years can be things like diapers and baby formula. so ask around to find other parents in your area who can give you a ballpark average for those expenses. after they graduate to solid food they can generally eat the same meals as you do (barring allergies), so that often brings down the food costs relative to formula and specialty foods. clothes can be expensive if you let them get costly and buy new cute costly outfits ever 3 months. you can get decent quality used baby clothes for a fraction of the price, so look into that. be careful with things like redecorating the baby's room. some such expenses are ok, but I've known people who went completely nuts and bought fancy, high-end stuff to show off on Instagram. if there's a difficult delivery or chronic health problem, all bets are off. that can get very costly.

personalfinance

thebeginingisnear

t3_8zc95y

StrugglingJob

e2houwf

harrison_wintergreen

e2hnbe4

Spend 10k emergency fund to wipe away student debt or save and finish loans in a year.

Should I use my entire 10k emergency fund to wipe away my remaining student loans or save my emergency fund and finish the loans in a year or so time?

It's such a short amount of time, the interest won't add up to much. I think you should keep the loans and pay them off. You could even do a combination by using like $5,000 on the loans and then paying them off and having a smaller emergency fund for six months.

If you took the 10k and put it in savings instead you basically lower your student loan interest rate by your interest % (ally bank 1.15%). Your rate seems low so it could be possible invest elsewhere and earn a return higher than your loan interest %, but that comes with risk. Also, depending on your income level you can deduct up to 2,500 in student loan interest per year so you are lowering the effective rate of your loan debt by saving money on taxes. It's always good to have an emergency fund and your rate is low so it's probably wise to hold onto the cash.

personalfinance

Blueman101

t3_6rhzn2

tahu300

dl59cyv

outhebo

dl5ae3p

Late 20's, Lots of Debt, High Income, Need Help

Let me start off by saying, I am probably in a better situation than most because of my income. However, due to poor decision making I find myself in quite a bit of debt. I am just looking for some tips/advice and possibly some encouragement. I want to get engaged next year but the thought of buying a ring and then trying to save for a wedding seems impossible. I am lucky to have a high paying job ($106k) and I can easily make ends meet. However, this debt is causing me stress and depression, so since the beginning of this month I am committing myself to ridding it as fast as I can. In March next year I will receive a bonus of about 14% of my salary, which I plan to use towards paying off the rest of my student loans. Thank you in advance for any help. Here is a breakdown (all things are per month): Bi-weekly Income: ~$2700 (after taxes). I am maxing out my HSA contribution and putting in 6% to my 401k. Rent: $1500/month (split rent in a big city, this can't change until May 2020) Life Insurance: $110 (this is in addition to the one provided by my company. It's the Cash Value life-insurance, which I cannot get rid of now, but my overall thoughts on it are its a fine, safe investment at least. Cell Phone: ~$60-70, depends on my data usage Car: $400 (company lease, insurance is free), This will be dropping to $275 in a month (got a cheaper car) Internet: $50 Gas: ~$40 Electric: ~$40 Gym: $80 (I value my personal health a lot and this gym is close to my office, so I want to keep this) Groceries: $300 (This is what I budget, but starting this month I am going to actually track what I spend. I actively have been making a priority to stick to this or less.) Spending Money: $400/month (this is just what I budget for buying lunch or going out to eat or anything) Now here is the debt I have: Student Loans: ~$11k at about 3.99% ($165/min per month, but I have been doing $215 and putting that $50 towards my lowest loan, which has about $500 left on it) Credit Card: $11k with 0% until Feb 2020 (about $120/month min) Personal Loan: $21650 with 11.55% interest / 14.30% APR (don't understand the difference) that I am paying the minimum $528/month with 54 payments left Edit: I miscalculated my bi-weekly income. Adjusted it. I also should mention I am doing 6% to my 401k since my company matches up to 6%.

First, 2k bi-weekly adds up to 52k per year. Where is the other 54k going? It cannot all be taxes and car payments. Second, the budget you listed is $2,600. Then if you're paying 215+120+528 that's another ~$860. So that means you have $550 unaccounted for. Where's that money going? Third, stop spending so much money on lunch/eating out. Fourth, what is the interest rate on the CC once Feb 2020 rolls around? Presumably in the neighborhood of 20%. You should not be too worried about the student loans at that interest rate. Your priority is to pay off the personal loan, then credit card (maybe you can do a balance transfer), then student loan after that. The good news is that you should be able to get out of this in less than two years if you are disciplined.

Honestly the amount of debt is not so bad considering your income. Your problem appears to be that you don't have a good grasp on where your money is going. Your monthly expenses (not included the car payment since that is deducted from your pay and factored into the $2700 income mentioned) are ~$3400, including the minimum debt payments. You have at least a couple thousand dollars per month that is not accounted for in your breakdown. Where is that money going? If you make a budget and stick to it, you can easily wipe out the CC balance before interest kicks in, then attack the personal loan. I would take the difference in car payments and put that toward your debt as well.

personalfinance

nrmate08

t3_bmjk4g

indestructible_deng

emx2iaf

jessherr15

emxah0u

Quit my job to start my own company, and I need some advice on what to do with my 401k

So, I decided to strike it out on my own, and I'm coming up on a deadline where I need to either remove my 401k from my employees plan, or leave it where it is with a $75 annual fee. I could eat the fee and give it another year, at which time, I can deal with it later when I've either succeeded in my own business or gotten another job, where I could possibly roll it into theirs, which as I understand it, may not be an option depending on a future employers plan. The 401k is currently with Voya, and I've heard a lot of good things about Vanguard (mostly from this sub). 75$ doesn't seem that much to me, however I'm not sure if that is the only fees that will be coming out, just the fee for leaving it with Voya. My personal rate of return for the year with Voya has been 5.77%, and my funds with them break down as follows: Type | Percent -- | -- Employee PreTax | 73.05% Employer Profit Sharing | 15.32% Roth | 11.63% I'm personally leaning towards just leaving it for now, and eating the fee. I'll be working with an accountant later for taxes anyway, and may end up consulting with him. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Why not move it into respective IRA's and not have the fee at all, not to mention a whole lot more choices to invest in vs the limited choices of a 401k

If you have more than $10k in that account, the hidden fees at Voya are much higher than the $75/year you can see. Voya fees are in the 1% to 2% range, where Vanguard and Fidelity offer funds closer to 0.10%. Let me assume you have $25,000 and put those in dollar terms: If you had $25,000 Voya is costing you $250-$500/year. The expense ratio is hidden, so you don't see this subtracted from your profits. If you had $25,000 at Vanguard split evenly between Total Stock Market (0.05%), Total International (0.12%), and Total Bond (0.06%) you'd be paying under $20/year. My guess is that transferring to Vanguard would save you $300/year ($75/yr you see + $250/yr you don't - $20/yr at Vanguard) assuming only 1% fees at Voya (I suspect it's higher - you can lookup specific funds to check). I'd recommend you reach out to Vanguard to have them arrange the transfer. In general mornginstar.com is a good third-party website if you want to look up expense ratios. You search for the fund name or ticker, and on morningstar's website click "Expense" tab.

personalfinance

GaidinTS

t3_561715

jhawki980

d8fetmx

rebalance_investor

d8fwozf

Buying a more expensive home with the intention of having roommates live with you

I live in an expensive area where the lowest you can pay for a single family or townhouse is in the 4-500k range and I only make about 90k as a tech worker just starting my career. I’m tired of living in apartments and renting in general, but 300k is probably the most I can afford on my current salary (which is projected to go up of course) so most houses are out of reach and I can only afford to buy condos currently. I’m pretty wary of buying a condo because of HOAs and really that I’m just tired of living in this style of dwelling. I was thinking of getting a house that costs more than what would normally be advisable and renting out a room or two to help cover things. How bad of an idea would this be? I’d be buying a 4-500k house on a 90k salary, although this probably won’t happen for another year or two since I have to save for a down payment and I’d like to think by then I’d be making in the low 6 figures. This is assuming I’d even get approved for a mortgage of course

You'd need a very high level of savings to provide sufficient float to see you through times with no tenants, or disputes with a tenant. If you don't buy a property that naturally divides into house+apartment, be prepared to have trouble filling the extra space at market rates for an apartment, market rates for a room run a lot less. Having a tenant is a lot different from having a roommate, you might say "ohh, their just roomies", but recognize you'll have legal responsibilities to them.

Have you ever been the one on the lease and had roommates? It's not necessarily as easy as you think, I wouldn't want to do it. What do you do when someone starts giving you sob stories instead of rent checks? What do you do if they're slobs and make your home life miserable? Also note that "professional tenant" sorts who have no shame about living without paying rent seek out small-time landlords who are easier to milk for longer. A whole lot can go wrong, especially renting to strangers and having to do it to make your mortgage. I totally can see that some people would be good at it, and not mind doing it, but I'd want some track record of dealing with roommates, rather than just diving in and having roommates for the first time with a mortgage 5 times my annual income on the line. Also mortgage companies are going to want your income/assets alone to be enough to cover the loan. You can't be relying on roommate income to push you up to a more expensive mortgage.

personalfinance

Bash1113

t3_8thf2g

5hout

e17h4ds

SanchoMandoval

e17hm80

Email received from TD Bank, can’t purchase e-series?

Hello, After reading: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School by Andrew Hallam A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel Unshakeable by Tony Robbins I’ve been ready to jump and finally invest in Index Funds and Bonds in a similar portfolio order: 30% in Canadian Bond Index 20% in Canadian Stock Index 25% in American Stock Index 25% in International Stock Index Just wish I’ve read these books, researched, and found an imterest in investments in my late teens/early 20s, but as a 31 year old, what to do...? Anyways, wife and I are Canadian expats living in the UAE and have a nest egg of 10 months combined salaries in the bank, just sitting there. Currently we’d like to use some of that money and monthly salaries to invest about USD 2,000 monthly on “something”. So I emailed TD Bank since in one of the above books and blogs, it’s mentioned that they have the least expensive bonds and index funds in the whole country. Around 0.4% for these e-series funds rather than 2%. But they’ve emailed me back and sent me the below email: You have indicated an interest in purchasing our E-Series Funds. Due to Rules and Regulations from the 'Mutual Fund Dealers Association' of Canada; we are prohibited from selling mutual funds to persons "outside of Canada" What’s another option now?

You would need to learn about investing in the UAE and follow those procedures. Canadian financial institutions cannot do business with people who live outside of Canada. Your citizenship status is irrelevant: all that matters is where you live.

If you're interested in low MER index funds look into Vangaurd and Blackrock ETFs. You still might be allowed to open an Questrade account and or other online brokerage and buy those instead.

personalfinance

kikipi

t3_8nzzji

DanLynch

dzznqi9

Avvv89

dzzsosd

My girlfriend's mom needs our lease agreement for voya 401k?

Hello reddit, Please explain if this sounds legit or not. Little back story, my girlfriend's mom has a gambling addiction and has taken loans from her 401k. After borrowing so much money from my girlfriend, she couldn't take it anymore so we decided to find a place together. Now we're leasing a townhome and her mom is asking for our least agreement which shows how much we agreed for rent. I don't want to give it up but her mom is saying it shouldn't hurt me when I file for taxes or anything. I'm 25 and I am not knowledgeable on this stuff. Please reddit, can you let me know if this is legit? I wouldn't think you would need any info like this for taking another 401k loan out. We asked for proof it's for voya but she's stating it's over the phone. Her mom keeps saying that my girlfriend is a beneficiary and something about hardhip. Please help me understand this, I don't want to do anything that will cause issues in the future. Thanks!

what is voya? there is no reason she should need your lease agreement or any other information from you so she can take a loan out on her 401k. i would put a lock down on your girlfriend's credit. it sounds like her mom could be trying to list her as a borrower for something.

If it were me, I would tell the mom that you don't understand how they could need that, and that you'll comply once you talk to someone from Voya. Suggest that you call them together, even. That way there's no privacy issues. When she refuses to do this, just keep saying that you don't understand and that the message must be getting garbled. I would just keep saying that. Once she accepts that you have put it on her to get the information, she may drop it.

personalfinance

OompaLumpia

t3_4wmtqf

wanderingdev

d688seg

HolmesToYourWatson

d68nsgx

What is your favorite Vanguard fund and why?

Hey reddit friends, I am looking to enter a Vanguard ETF fund but not sure what option would be best. I am 32 years old with money pretty well diversified in various stocks, 401K, and crypto. Now I'am looking for an ETF fund with higher returns (I would assume med- high risk) but consistent. What is your favorite fund and why? Also will I need to front an initial amount of money to enter a fund or can I just allocate funds from my paycheck to be automatically deposited into the fund? Thank you in advance.

VTI/VTSAX. Same fund in ETF and index fund form. For VTI, minimum purchase is 1 share, currently about $150. For VTSAX, minimum purchase is $3000 as it is an admiral share. For an auto deposit from your paycheck you probably want to go with VTSAX since you don't have to buy in increments of full shares, but you'll need at least 3k to open an admiral fund. You can always start with VTI or an investor class fund like one of their target retirement funds until your balance is 3k and then transfer it to an admiral fund.

Medium risk fund that is "consistent" aka less volatile with good history? If you aren't dead set on ETFs, I'm a fan of VWENX which is my single largest holding. It's the workhorse in my portfolio. I have also VTSAX, and while it does have better annualized returns since I started investing, I just like the Wellington Fund. Plus, I like the name.

personalfinance

russianserg

t3_cq0qjd

coletain

ewsye4t

maddumpies

ewsxhv5

Debt to a German company - should I pay it?

I used to subscribe to a magazine from a company in Munich, Germany. This year I decided I no longer wanted the magazine, so when I got the letter in the mail asking for payment for the next year I ignored it. Now I have a letter from a debt recovery firm (also a German company) asking for the payment, and an additional 90 euro fee. It seems absolutely ridiculous, in my past experience with US magazines not paying the subscription cancels your subscription. I was wondering, could this have any negative impact on my credit or financials? In the letter they say "If payment should not arrive on our accounts within the next three weeks we will have to enforce further proceedings which will incure additional costs." It sounds like an empty threat to me, but I wanted to see if anyone had any idea if this could backlash is a bad way. Thanks Also, I'm from the US.

In the Netherlands, and then I assume also in Germany, you have to cancel a subscription. You could have sent them an e-mail telling them that you wanted to cancel; and all this would not have happened. As long as you don't, they can send you a bill for their services.

Nope. When I was an exchange student there I bought an iPhone 3G with a 2 year contract. I ended up only staying for 18 months though, and left the country and stopped paying my phone bill because why the hell not. My roommate kept getting notices, that I was being summoned, blah blah blah. But guess what? It's been 6 years and they haven't done jack shit. I've gone back to visit and thought maybe they would get me at customs? Nope. Pretty sure it's been written off at this point.

personalfinance

[deleted]

t3_2gp99s

Voerendaalse

t1_cklmeeb

cklmeeb

sfryder08

t1_ckl9z0l

ckl9z0l

Morbid question involving retirement savings...

Hey PF. This is kind of a morbid question, but I am curious about what I should do. I'll start by laying out my current situation. I am 23 years old. I make roughly $48k per year (will probably go up by next year). I have $10k in my checking account and $15k in a savings account. I have close to $12k in student loans, with varying percentages from 4.35% to 5.35%. I have roughly $1000 left over every month after bills, food, entertainment, etc. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's more. I watch my money closely and keep a budget. For the last couple of years, I have been focused on paying off my higher interest student loans. So I have no retirement savings plans or investments. Now that I have a large savings, I am planning on dumping my extra income into the loans. If I do this, I can probably have them paid off within the next year. I am starting to wonder what I should do about long term savings. I read this board often, and most people say that a 401k is the way to go if your company matches. It's free money, right? Well, my company matches .25% for every dollar up to 8% of my pay. This sounds like a good deal, but here comes the morbid part... I am not entirely sure that I want to live very long after age 60. I've seen my relatives in their old age, and it's not pretty. Their spouses and friends are dead. They are sickly. They can barely remember anything. One lives in a retirement home, and pretty much just lays in bed all day watching T.V. because she can't walk. It just seems like a horrible way to live, and I think I would rather blow my brains out or jump off a cliff before getting to that stage. A 401k doesn't sound so great when I realize that if I don't live past age 60, the only way I can use any of the money is by taking a 10% early withdrawal hit plus the taxes... And from looking at the other savings options, they all have this same penalty. On the other hand, I know that I am young and that my views might change once I get older. So I still want some kind of retirement savings, I am just not sure which one is the best to choose given my views on old age. So PF, if you were reasonably certain that you weren't going to live past 65, how would you save and investment your money? Is the 401k still the best route? Thanks.

It's free money, right? The tax deferred growth is indeed free money versus a taxable account, whether you get a match or not. I am not entirely sure that I want to live very long after age 60 Hope I die before I get old That's because you're 23, and new to adulthood. You have no idea how you'll feel as you age about such matters, as you'll be a different person then. Statistically speaking there's a 99.9% chance you will indeed want to live to 60 when you're 59. If not, you've got ways to take the money out early, like a SEPP election.

Like most all personal finance questions, this answer is pretty easily solved with math. If I understand it correctly, the only taxes on an early 401k withdrawal is the 10% penalty on top of the income tax. You don't pay any capital gains on an early withdrawal. If you had it all in a taxable account instead, you'd be paying an extra 15% on any capital gains instead. Given that, there's some point where the taxes you'd pay in capital gains would outweigh the penalty. I used the assumption of a 7% growth, and a 25% income tax bracket, and the intersection point turns out to be around 16 years. If you're going to at least be working for 20 more years (noting that 60 for you is is 37 years away), then you'll better off with a 401k even with an early withdrawal. The early withdrawal penalty is not the death of your retirement account. It's only 10%. It's significant if you really want to have a nest egg to last well into old age, but it isn't the end of the world. And hey, if you hit 45, and realize you do want to live well into old age, well then you're already set either way. Note: My graph does not take into account your employer match, which is essentially free money and will significantly push 401ks from being the better option, into the insanely better option.

personalfinance

throwaway03055

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kurds_way

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Pzychotix

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Hit by an out of state rental car that fled the scene, but at least got the plate number. Should I bring it up to my insurance company or contact the rental agency directly for damages?

On my way home from work, at a red light, I was basically side-swiped by another car. Essentially, I was sitting at the end of a double left turn lane and a women was very adamant about getting in the lane next to me even at this red light, so much so that she popped the curb and proceeded to slowly scrape her vehicle against mine just so she could sit a car length's in front of me at the same red light. Dumbfounded and absolutely furious, I get out of my car, take a photo of her plate and car, and go to the driver side window demanding she pull over to exchange information. She insisted she "didn't touch my car" and the fresh scratches, dents, and streaks of red paint was not from her also now scratched red car. The light then turned green, and she drove off. I was beyond livid that someone could look me in the eye and lie to my face. I filed a police report immediately as a hit and run at the advice of my dad. The officer ran the plate but (of course) the car was a rental, which I suspected from the out of state plate. I've never been in an accident before so I have no clue how or if I should bring this up to my insurance. I'm concerned it could raise my rates and my deductible would probably cover most the damage if I was the one that had to pay out of pocket, so should I even bother contacting them? A friend told me to just contact the rental agency directly to see if they could sort it out, but I'm not sure if that's the best route. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Also curious if anyone has any advice about preventing a driver from fleeing the scene in the future (god forbid this happens again, though.) UPDATE: Thanks so much for the advice and insight. I'll be contacting my insurance agent tomorrow with my dad since I'm under his policy (and they have a pretty good relationship) and will file a claim. Really hoping they can track down this lovely lady and her rates go up for fleeing the scene. Drive safe, everyone!

Call your insurance company. They are very experienced at handling damages and you pay premium for their services, don't be afraid to use them. Just one claim where your not at fault won't raise your rates. I work in the insurance industry.

This isn't really a big mystery. This woman may actually get her license suspended or worse. The police will track her down, and if they don't, your insurance company sure will. Call up your insurance, they'll help you through this process.

personalfinance

camera-girl

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Czechia1

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Car Rental in FL Charging me 5x the Original Cost for Late Fee; Wasn't Late...

tl;dr Rented a car from Avis for a long weekend, a week later was charged 5x the agreed amount for a 10 day rental, Avis support won't help and the CC dispute didn't take. How can I get Avis to acknowledge their mistake? tl;sr Back in August I rented a car from Avis out of MCO, signed the form for $121, and when I was done I dropped off at the same location before noon. Full tank, no damage, right on time and left the keys on the dash (this is what they instructed me to do) - even confirmed with the desk that nothing else was needed. Bada bing bada boom. The following week I get a bill for $634! The bill claims I dropped it off 6 days later, missing fuel, tons of charges etc. So I emailed support, called support (they tell me to email again)....call again....long story short all emails I send are ignored, all calls are a loop of uninterested reps who always eventually tell me to email proof and the bill. I dispute with the bank and in the meantime pay the $121 I agreed for the rental. At this point, I think it's crazy Avis can instruct a customer that all they need to do is drop off the car in the lot, then fine the customer for not proving they did just that. But I agreed to email Avis what I have...essentially a plane ticket I departed on that day from MCO two hours after drop off, a charge from the gas station that day, a GPS tracking screenshot of my departing time, and the bill with the false charge. All emails; mercilessly ignored. Credit company comes back a month later and says I still owe the remaining $513 because Avis provided the following proof: The bill. How could a bank possibly think a copy of the bill I'm fighting is proof that I owe the bill I'm fighting? Baffled, I send the CC company a stuffed envelope of the same items I sent to Avis. Another month later (leading to today), I can see they charged me the $513 again on my account, and I know I can expect the same 'proof' in the mail soon... Am I wrong here? I feel that I did everything by their rules and am still being penalized for it. Avis can claim whatever they want without proof, and I just have to suck it up because I wasn't recording on a GoPro helmet the whole time. Even if I was I'm convinced they'd ignore me until I got too tired of arguing. Either way I have no idea how to fight a company that won't listen to me, and it's a lot of money for me to toss away because Avis' dishonesty in their billing - so I turn to you, Redditors or Reddit. Any advice? UPDATE: Problem was solved. I found that a few other people had success emailing executives at Avis and I found a few of their email addresses. I got a response from Larry De Shon's office pretty quickly apologizing with a refund and a $50 credit after I explained the 'lapse' or customer service across all fronts. Happy it got settled, but still completely unnecessary for a standard car rental.

Sounds like they didn't check the car in, sent it out with another customer and checked it in when they next person returned. It happens sometimes, usually someone at the station can confirm and remove charges. Message me the rental agreement, I'm a rental agent with avis and can take a look Saturday when I go back in. I can at least confirm my suspicions and get you some information to help resolve the situation. Have you not talked to the renting location? Customer service is fucking clueless and a pain in our ass. In the future, always get a receipt. The only time you should ever not get one is if you return at a location that has after hours drop.

I just had a problem with Enterprise at the Orlando airport. Reserved an intermediate, but when we got there asked about an upgrade. We decided not to go with the upgrade, and the agreement shows it as crossed out. Checked the bill this week and it was a hundred dollars too high. They had charged the upgrade anyway. Apparently the rep who showed us the car we were assigned to showed us a full sized car even though we reserved the intermediate. When I explained it to the rep on the phone, her response was that I should have reserved the right size to begin with. I finally convinced her that I took the car they said was what I reserved and if it was a full size it was their mistake, not mine. The rep was not very nice about it. One of the things I noted was the check-in attendant didn't have time to talk to me about anything. I suspect they try to scam people like this and hope they don't notice. I will probably go back to Hertz for airport rentals. They may be a little more expensive but I have never had an issue with them.

personalfinance

-needsmoredog

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Blackxsunshine

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azgli

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Homeowners -- how did you save for your down payment?

Hi /pf. 33m here. Between paying off debt, saving 18% of my net pay (+13% of gross), and an ongoing attempt to get an emergency fund off the ground, I can't fathom how people do these things AND pay ~$50k for a down payment on a house. How exactly did you do it? Did you slow up on your retirement contributions? Throw every bit of savings you did into the 'house' pot? Pay less than 20%? I'm trying to wrap my head around it and coming up short. Thanks for any replies.

Don't forget: A lot of people have invisible help from the bank of mom and dad. So if you look at a friend and think "they can't possibly make more money than me, so how the hell did they buy a house?" it's very possible that they had a leg up that you don't have. So work your butt off and find a side hustle and keep your expenses low and pay off debt and save as hard as you can--but also try not to compare yourself to other people because you just don't know what their circumstances are.

Lived in a 600 sq. ft. apartment and saved 30-40% of our money for five years. Got lucky with investments and then liquidated for a down payment. We drove old cars, didn't have internet or cable, pushed through a bout of unemployment and lived below our means. Now we have a giant house (triplex) and the rents of the other units pay most of the mortgage.

personalfinance

justafan49

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phillyclaire

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I'm a teenager and i want to make as much money as i can this summer. What should i do?

i'm ready to grind hard. I'm really not an expert in any field, but i can work with adobe softwares, namely Premiere and Photoshop and i have an interest in web development (pretty basic knowledge), and i'm open to other gigs and developing my skills. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Honest answer? I'd find a seasonal job that's willing to give you 32-40 hours a week. If you only want to work in the summer between semesters, by the time you've invested in your marketing and sales and gotten any clients, you'll have spent a good chunk of both change and time. I'd find a store that pays better than minimum wage and just try to get as many hours as you can. Maybe find two stores if you REALLY want to grind. Then use your free time to continue honing your computer skills so you'll be in a better position to market yourself as a skilled laborer in that field when a more appropriate time comes.

Maybe an unpopular opinion but find things people will pay you cash for and avoid paying taxes and pocket some real money. Nothings going to happen unless you’re ambitious and out there asking for work. But basically just start asking family and family friends what you can do for them to make some summer money. Eventually word will spread and you’ll have people coming to you. Some easy money ideas though Yard work Pressure washing Car washing Dog walking Repainting house numbers on curbs Doing grocery runs Painting Also I would hit up local businesses primarily ran by old people with terrible websites and make them an example and go show them what their website could be. Old business owners love young entrepreneurs.

personalfinance

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AlwaysTheNoob

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My significant other lost his job and I'm struggling to keep up with expenses.

My boyfriend and I have been together for almost a year and we've been living together for 7 months. We upgraded to a more expensive pad when I got my raise and he believed his job to be steady. Unfortunately, his job was lost about 3 months ago. We got a roommate, but I'm still paying off 2 credit cards and student loans on top of rent, utilities, cell phone bill, internet, gym membership, plus a few other minor regular expenses. My mother is helping us with groceries every week (bless her heart) and I take public transportation to work which my company pays for. I have some money tucked away, but I really don't want to pull from that stash. I have already emptied my regular savings account to pay for last months rent. I normally balance my monthly budget down to the last dollar, but I went a little crazy this month and splurged on eating out a few times, purchasing a couple books, and buying booze for myself, my boyfriend, and a friend who left for the military last weekend. Aside from this month, am I doing it right? Any advice? How would you reprioritize spending? How would you replenish your savings account? EDIT Some of you have asked about my boyfriend. 1) not collecting unemployment (pride issue, I think) 2) graphic / web designer 3) he will not just take "any" job 4) he might have a freelance job that should pay about $650 this month if it all pans out 5) no savings :( The numbers I make $14/hr at my full time job minus the Health insurance, 401k, and taxes. Rent minus the roommate's contribution is $945 Commute $281/mo (company reimburses the following month) = $0 Internet $25/mo - I need fast internet since I work from home 2 days a week Gym $30/mo Utilities $200-300/mo minus 1/3 of that (roommate pays) = $130-200 Gas (for the house) $20 Student Loans $82/mo Cell phone $100/mo Spotify $10/mo Credit card debt is about $3000 total Then, off course, any unexpected/typical expenses... gas for car, catfood, toothpaste, etc Hopefully I'm making sense. I'm a little flustered.

First and foremost, we need to get the cash flowing again. Your boyfriend needs to get a job and bring in some money if we're going to get over this. I don't care if he has to go flip burgers or shake a sign for minimum wage, it's a lot more than nothing. And if there's anything you can do, be it working double shifts or selling things you don't need, do it. As for replenishing your savings, the first thing you need to do is STICK TO THE BUDGET. If you don't do that, then it's going to take a very long time to get any money saved up. Once we get to this point, you need to scrape together a small emergency fund of $1,000 (which you may have already, I'm not sure how big your other stash is) and cut up the credit cards. Don't spend any money that you don't have and find ways to cut the spending. Eat at home, ditch the gym membership, re-read your old books, etc.

He needs to collect unemployment. He paid for it when he was working (that's why it is called unemployment insurance). Being irrational is not something to be proud of. If he feels that bad about it, donate an equivalent amount to charity after he gets back on his feet.

personalfinance

Chairmanmeyow

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Jamesbird0290

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noblepaladin

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c5u9vkk

Is a "credit booster loan" a good idea?

I'm 17 and just started my first job. I have no bills or anything to worry about, so I'm depositing all but $10 a week into savings. I'm wanting to build credit so I can get a decent rate on a loan when I turn 18 (to get a vehicle). So I was browsing my banks website and found that they offer a thing called a "credit booster loan" So I have no clue what this thing is. It offers up to 36 months and up to $1,000 with no collateral or anything. My question is, what is the deal with this sort of thing? How does it work and will I actually have access to the money? (I don't really care if I have access. I never buy anything besides food) Should I just do the small purchases on a credit card technique to build credit? Bonus question: Lets say i take out a small personal loan (lets say $500, to use a random number) for a 6 month term. Then I use that $500+interest to pay back the loan on the first payment, will I build credit or just waste my time?

You will build credit by taking out a loan, but you will also pay extra in interest and it's NEVER worth it. I mean NEVER. Do not EVER take out or hold on to debt just because it's building a credit history. Why do you need a car as soon as you turn 18? This is not a rhetorical question, I actually want to know your reasons so you can decide whether that's actually a good use for your money. You can build credit for free by just opening a credit card when you turn 18 and using it like a debit card. Only buy things you were already planning on buying (food, it seems) and pay off the entire bill the month the statement comes due. You won't pay a penny in interest and you'll build credit just as well as if you had opened some bullshit "credit booster" loan.

This is not a good idea, you do not need to pay for good credit. Apply for a regular credit card, or a student credit card if that applies, they are usually pretty easy to get. If they wont give you one, at the very worst, get a secured credit card. This is where you give them some amount, like $200, and then they give you a CC with a $200 limit. You then use it like any other CC, but since they have your $200, theres not really any risk for them. After a few months, (like 6) of you making on time payments, they will switch you to a regular CC and give you back the money.

personalfinance

IDontReadToS

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Ritchell

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Thoughts on $COST

I know I'm the 100th shit sipper to ask about this, but I like the sound my finger make when I press the keys. RSI shows some major undervaluing, and anyone who's ever gone to one know they're doing just fine. Is it time to buy those calls yet?

If it keeps falling, Warren buffets going to tell us in a month or two he bought like 5 billion worth of stock and it will go back up $50 a share, like what happened to Apple.

I wouldn't buy calls, at least not short term ones. I think COST will definitely rebound, but who knows how long it will take. I'm long some shares for now, just gonna hold them for as long as it takes.

wallstreetbets

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My mother is involved in some money issues with questionable legality. How can I convince her to stop?

Hello PF! My mother works for a small company that engages in pretty questionable practices. They will give incentives for customers to use cash on their purchases, which they then hide from the IRS. The company's owners have accumulated quite a hefty bit of side profit from this. They actually actively look to increase their "work costs" by writing checks in exchange for cash. I know all of this is of dubious legality, and they've actually already been busted once and fined a huge sum. The funny thing is that they actually make a ton of legit income too so even with the fine they are still very rich and continue doing exactly what they were before. I haven't really cared since they aren't really hurting anyone but themselves and they're willing to risk the punishments from the IRS. Also, they are legit nice people and the service the provide is legit, so it's not like all this "dirty money" is gotten through drugs or something, they just hide a portion of it from the government. However, my mother has recently been interested in buying a house. Since she is not only working for the owners but is also their close personal friend, they have offered to loan her the down payment (~150k down on a ~350k house) interest free. As I mentioned before, they are crazy rich so this is not a huge deal for them. My mother and I are both solidly middle class to upper middle class but 150k interest free is still great for my mom. The problem is: they are giving it to my mother in their illegal cash, so she is running around asking me and her close friends to deposit the money in small 5000$ lumps to avoid bank reports. I've never cared about the business avoiding tax on cash because the owners were willing to take the risk and they weren't hurting anyone else, but now I know this kind of shady banking can hurt me and/or my mom. The issue with my mom is, she doesn't really understand that this is a bad thing. Am I overreacting? She feels that its not a big deal and we wouldn't get caught, and even if we did we'd just pay a fine and move on. I don't know enough about the laws involved to give an argument more cogent than "it's bad" so can anyone here help me out? TLDR: mom wants to deposit large cash sum in small chunks to avoid banks reporting deposit. Cash is also dirty as in no tax was paid for it. How can i make a good argument to get through to her that this is a bad idea?

Is this a troll? There's nothing "questionable" here, it's all explicitly illegal. The fact your mother not only knows about the tax evasion, but is also taking part of it, leaves her as an accomplice subject to massive fines and even jail time.

IRS employee here: If more substantive convincing is necessary: IRS is one of the key agencies involved in money laundering investigations. Money laundering is a very complex crime involving intricate details, often involving numerous financial transactions and financial outlets throughout the world. Criminal Investigation has the financial investigators and expertise that is critical to “follow the money trail.” Criminal Investigation focuses on money laundering where the underlying conduct is a violation of the income tax laws or violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. According to the IRS, money laundering is the means by which criminals evade paying taxes on illegal income by concealing the source and the amount of profit. Money laundering is in effect tax evasion in progress. When no other crimes could be pinned to Al Capone, the Internal Revenue Service obtained a conviction for tax evasion. As the astonished Capone left the courthouse he said, "This is preposterous. You can't tax illegal income!" But the fact is income from whatever source derived (legal or illegal) is taxable income. Thank you for reading.

personalfinance

illegalmoneys

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rustyshakelford

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coayfje

taxmankeith

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Making $52,000 per year but after taxes and benefits I take home $33,000. Is this right?

For background, I am unmarried, have no dependents, and live in California. As the title states I make $52,000 before tax and take home $33,000 after taxes and benefits. I am 23. I have full benefits but feel I am overpaying for them. After tax I take home $38,500 and after benefits I take home $32,400. This is my first job out of college. Are these figures accurate?

25% before benefits in Cali sounds right for that tax bracket yeah. Sorry OP it appears super normal. If you're convinced it's wrong you may be too cautious on your withholdings (it'll come to you in a tax refund later if this is the case but you should try and balance the two out)

After tax I take home $38,500 and after benefits I take home $32,400. I'm not from the US so this doesn't make sense to me. Why are you paying for those benefits?

personalfinance

t35790643

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GNU_Yorker

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ryuzaki49

eyd0ovs

Dilemma: Sell house to bail out mother and house, and give up privacy, or continue to live as planned?

I'm 33, have my house fully paid off by wise choices (I think ). I live with my girlfriend, and have 2 rooms rented in my current house. While the income from the rooms isn't needed to pay my bills, extra money is always nice. My income after taxes, 401k, etc is 1200/2 wks (not including renters, 300/renter (Yes, I know it's cheap, I'm trying to help these guys get their finances together so they can save enough to move out)). Average monthly expenses are $1500 including gas, utilities, food, everything. The problem is my mother (I bet that's said a lot). She isn't happy in her second marriage, wants a divorce, but can't afford the house she's been in for the last 30 years (refinancing is why it's not paid off, and I'll be honest, she's always had a spending problem). She wants me to sell mine, payoff hers and move in. I don't make enough currently to handle a refi on her house, and afford to continue living at my house, which would be at least 1100/month. I've debated telling her to rent out rooms at her house to take care of the difference between what I can afford and her mortgage. I think that's the best solution, but she's not very accepting of that idea. is there something I haven't thought of that could resolve the issue?

It sounds like all you'd be doing is hurting yourself and enabling her if you did what she wanted. There are lots of ways to help her and it sounds like you're on the right track with the renting idea. You would be hurting yourself (short run, long run, all the runs) and her (in the long run) by bailing her out. Maybe it's time she finds a new house.

Your mother made a mess out of her own life. You may still want to help her out, and it will cost you some money, but I would not move in with her and throw away your own life. You could tell her to sell her house and look for a cheaper place to live. You might support her by paying her a monthly sum to help her with her rent / mortgage payment. Alternatively, have her figure this one out by herself, and just keep saving money for when she really needs your help (i.e. is too old to work and has run out of retirement funds / is sick and needs someone to pay the bill).

personalfinance

tbrowaway2014

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HolidayRaffle

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cmgskgi

Voerendaalse

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cmguexb

Other than rentals and lazy portfolios, what are some popular FIRE investment vehicles?

I've got two rental properties bringing in cash flow every month, and a lazy portfolio that I contribute to. My strategy is basically to invest a % of my income every month to my Vanguard ETFs, and additional savings go to a down payment on a new rental property. Other than that, are there any investment vehicles you folks like?

With your lazy portfolio, you probably own a few shares of thousands of different companies, plus bonds of a few more companies and governments. So it's different to find something else/something completely different. I also doubt that there's anything similarly cost-effective & relatively well-rewarding for the risk that you're taking. For example: I know of some people who have invested in ships - but I know of them because the ship didn't turn a profit and so they lost most of their investment.

Pretty much anything which (legally and ethically) generates money is fair game. Don't fall into the trap of "gotta have all the things" since either of your two strategies will suffice alone. No sense needlessly slowing progress to your FI/RE goal by over-diversification. ("De-worse-ification" as someone's put it ....)

financialindependence

mostlyemptyspace

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Voerendaalse

dajze95

sabbaticalia

damqm3k

(SWE) Selling guitar to international buyer though PayPal?

I've heard a lot about Paypal siding with the buyer, and lots of buyers scamming through refunding their money without returning the product. He did not mention that he doesn't live in Sweden nor that he'll pay with paypal until we've been exchanging emails for a few days. What should I do? Screenshot of his last email: Thanks a lot for any help.

Keyphrase which raises my hair: "we accan arrange for my transport agent to come for the pick up after you received your money" Other things of note: General "pushiness" of wording Spelling External advice (via Paypal): [Paypal - Avoid Common Scams]( specifically my carrier If you use the buyer's shipping account, they can easily contact the shipping company and reroute the order to another address. The buyer can then open up a complaint asking for a refund because they didn't receive their order. You aren't able to prove that the buyer received their order and you are out your product, the shipping costs and your money.

This all screams scam, but just as an FYI for future sales endeavors through paypal, paypal does have a great seller protection program. It requires that you do the shipping, upload proof of shipping/tracking number and have a signature upon delivery. If it does end up a scam you are completely covered by paypal for the amount of the sale. It has saved my business and myself a few times so far when fraudulent transaction holds/reversals come through but we have already shipped the item.

personalfinance

FixGMaul

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BobbySon123

dhmii5a

jewceb0x206

dhnc2hw

Tricky tax questions for a flight attendant

Hey guys this is my first post ever and my boyfriend said you might be able to help me. Here's my situation..... I am a flight attendant "living" in Florida. However, I work for Delta, and they are based out of Georgia and ATL is my base. Do I have to file a Georgia state tax return? Should I get someone in GA to do my taxes or in FL? I get per diem in different states and foreign cities I land in and it comes at different rates, should I go to a professional or file my tax return with turbo tax? FINAL QUESTION: a few weeks ago I contributed my max allotment for 2014 Roth IRA and I also have a company 401K, how will this affect things? Thanks for any tips!

Hey, just wanted to note that Delta sent out incorrect W2 to ~6000 of their employees, make sure you weren't effected, And if you were your new W2 should be in the mail to you now. *I work for Jackson Hewitt Corporate support, This is a main thing we have going on now because Delta teamed up with us to have this resolved for their employees for FREE at any store front.

I am a pilot. Live in PA, based in Ohio. The issue here is your "tax home". Your tax home is where you live since you do not have a single location where you do your work. So Florida. But -- make sure that everything shows Florida. Driver's license, voter registration, apartment lease, utility bills and so on. You don't want anything to show GA. Per diem is not only tax free, you can deduct 80% the difference between what Delta pays you and the federal per diem rate. This can be a substantial amount when dealing with international travel. There are several companies that can work these numbers for you, some of which can access airline scheduling systems to greatly simplify the record keeping. I would suggest asking some of the FOs who they use (Captains are probably in the AMT where this no longer works). NOTE: This involves special rules for transportation workers, so make sure that any tax preparer understands IRS publication 17 and its reference to workers "...subject to Department of Transportation hours of service limits...". I have used both Turbo Tax and TaxAct, and both of them dealt with the per diem deduction without any issues at the federal level. TaxAct created a problem on my PA state return, but that won't impact you in FL. Make sure that there is no question about where you live and don't get creative with deductions. These are the two areas that seem to get flight crews into tax trouble.

personalfinance

Kokokoko19

t3_300x8i

maxdps_

t1_cpo3b2z

cpo3b2z

D742

t1_cpocu0a

cpocu0a

Yearly lease is up and when my roommate and I contacted the office person to renew they said...

That after the first year, we didnt need to resign a lease. We could pay month to month, and if we ever were planning to move to just give them a heads up a month or two in advance. Should we be concerned? We are on good terms with everyone in the building, we pay our bills and rent, and we keep quiet. There's no reason to suspect anything from our point of view, but we thought it was weird they didn't want to renew a lease.

Most leases will go month to month at a higher rate and still require a 60 day notice. Just be sure you find how long the actual notice is before you find a new place. Nothing to be worried about, unless the rent goes up a ton after the lease is up.

Chances are they have it sold already at a higher premium. They could care less if you stay, in fact they need you out to make more money. I assume you are in the great ole US of America?

RealEstate

TravDabs

t3_brnrhq

bagodonuts602

eof7mig

KipperedSnack

eogklvg

Cannot find a decent fourplex for purchase in Charlotte NC, is building reasonable?

I am looking to build a fourplex in Charlotte. The goal being to live in one of the units and to cut my personal living expenses to zero. That’s the simple goal. I’m not looking to make a profit just to live free. What are your thoughts?

3 notes. You should view it as if you are paying rent (to yourself) on the 4th unit. That is the best way to analyze the financial viability. It's not free: there is cost in not renting it to someone else. Your housing will always cost something and the 4-plex as an asset has some fixed income potential. Think of it as if the 4-plex is a company with its own bank account, you pay from your account into the 4-plex's. If there aren't any 4-plexes around I would question the viability. Renters won't choose to live in a 4-plex if they have comparable single-family options around. It's always about price, somebody will live there at some price. But it will be difficult to forecast without many comps around. You may end up getting less rent than you expect. Be conservative in your $/sqft estimates. Building is harder than buying, much more work, more risk for maybe more reward - you either pay a premium to a builder to handle everything for you (maybe getting ripped off) or you do a lot of work (maybe fucking up). If you do the work well it can be lucrative, but look at it hourly, it's really another job.

This is why old people make fun of millennials and make fun of people that think like millennials ... i.e. live for free and think you can just jump into it.

RealEstate

deeznutzchrist

t3_804kl4

koggit

duswzes

4077

dutlaiu

Holy shit FB. Where’s the bottom?

Thought I bought at the dip and kept buying calls on the way down. God damn. This piece of shit is single-handedly ripping my portfolio a new asshole

I think FB is going to be content to trade sideways until the next earnings, but then again, I'm basing this off nothing more than my Zodiac Sign, and Mars being in Retrograde

Now that bottom posts are coming in, probably here. I just stocked up on a September 14th call. My butthole has recovered from previous excellent decisions, so going in on this one.

wallstreetbets

panoramicsummer

t3_9938q8

yomon1771

e4kjjt6

handypanda93

e4l6dkb

At what point do you guys sell after a profit?

i ask because i have a call that doesnt expire till OCT but im up 30%~. Got burned last time i was up a double but had 3-4 months left on the call and rode it out and it ended being under $80. Update Closed the position i had before the close and ended wit ha 38.77% profit in 22 days is to much of a gain to quickly for my taste and it looks like i made the correct call with the stock expected to open 2% lower this morning

Don't be greedy, 30% is a nice gain. I buy to hold so I don't really take profits unless I feel the company will perform poorly and I should exit the position as a result.

If I gave you $10,000 that you had to invest (not spend), would you add it to that investment at the current price, or do something else with it? I know it's a little trickier with options, but the concept still applies. Obviously, if you wouldn't add money to an investment, you should sell, and use the proceeds to do whatever you'd have done with my hypothetical $10k. With very few exceptions, I'd sell if I had a short-term 30% gain, but it all depends on what you expected. If you expected 50% when you bought and have no new information, hold out for 50%. If you expected 20% when you bought and have no new information, then you should have already sold, and you're just gambling. Which is fun, and fine if you're into that, but uses different decisioning.

investing

Sidewayzracer

t3_1c2c3e

mydoggeorge

t1_c9cbx5d

c9cbx5d

plexluthor

t1_c9cjwdi

c9cjwdi

Building Credit. To leave a balance or to not leave a balance?

So, I'm a soon-to-be college grad. I recently got a Cash Rewards card from BoA to build credit, because I want to be able to rent an apartment in the next couple of months. When I spoke to a rep at my BoA bank, she told me that in order to build credit, I should not pay the charges in full. She said that if I kept paying everything off in full, I wouldn't be able to build credit, which seemed oddly counterintuitive. This probably has something to do with the fact that BoA can collect interest if I leave a balance. So my question is, to build good credit, should I listen to this BoA rep and leave a little bit of a balance, or pay everything off in full?

should I listen to this BoA rep and leave a little bit of a balance, or pay everything off in full? The BoA rep is wrong. You should never keep a balance on a credit card that is accruing interest. You build credit even when paying off the balance in full every month.

A good measure on your credit score is the percentage of payments you've made on time. So racking in 12 on time payments per year on that card will be better for this indicator than paying off the balance in full the first month and only having this one payment. That said, you could buy one <$5 item per month and go home and make the online payment, getting your 12 payments in WITHOUT EVER PAYING INTEREST. Also, remember that carrying a balance on your card will negatively affect your utilization percentage (amount of total credit card debt/credit card debt available for use), so holding a balance can negatively affect your score. Don't listen to this lady.

personalfinance

ColorblindChameleon

t3_31w6cd

Cornmuffin87

t1_cq5io4n

cq5io4n

AncientRickles

t1_cq5sqmp

cq5sqmp

Weird 'tactic' from seller. How do I respond?

I've been working on negotiations on a house for the past week and it's been very stressful. My option period ends tomorrow if I don't extend it and I don't know what to do. Here's the situation: House was listed at $315,000. AFAIK, the family living there is waiting to sell the house before buying their next one. I offered $320,000 with lease-back and went under contract. Plumbing problems are discovered and estimated at $10,000. I ask for $8,500 for the plumbing fix. They have their own plumber inspect it and come to the same estimate. Their agent then responds saying that their lender is requiring that they sell the house at $315,000 (original list) for some reason. Basically they countered with $5,000. The seller's agent also says straight up that they messed up by listing the house at $315 because they originally thought they only needed $310,000. So if I walk, they are most likely going to encounter the same deal with the next buyer. In the end, this just reads to me as if the house I originally wanted to buy at $315,000 is going to end up costing me $325,000. I'm feeling conflicted. My offer is $90,000 over their original purchase price. What sort of situation are they in that they HAVE to sell the house at a specific price? Is this some sort of weird tactic by the sellers to shut down future asks? It feels unfair to me as I haven't even had the home inspection done yet and they are essentially saying that no matter what comes up in the inspection, they cannot lower the price anymore. I'm already in the hole ~$1k for the plumbing inspection + option fee; and the home inspection is another $300 that may discover additional issues.

The original purchase price has absolutely nothing to do with the current value. What is the house worth to you? If it's worth $325k then go ahead and buy it. If it's only worth $315-$320k then walk away. They are probably telling the truth about not being able to sell for less than $315k. That is most likely what they need to pay off the existing mortgage. Even if they are lying about the lender requiring that amount it doesn't matter. They are saying they will give you $5k towards repairs. Nothing more. The reason is irrelevant. Decide if that is acceptable to you and go from there.

Your $1000 is a fixed and sunk cost that was the price of doing business. You have to decide if 3,500 which is the difference between what you want to pay and they want to sell is enough of a difference to walk away. I would personally counter with something in the middle. Do you love the property enough or think it will be profitable to rent out using the appropriate formulas? If not, then walk, if yes, then agree. This is business.

RealEstate

b0unce

t3_4fkj7c

Pappy091

d29o77d

lsp2005

d2a85uq

Slightly Obsessed With Net Worth

This is a simple confession---I feel like at times (especially when stocks are rising or falling quickly), I tend to check our net worth too frequently. Reducing the frequency with which I check our net worth is a resolution for 2018. The bottom line is whether the number is going up or down not much will change our behavior moving forward. Anyone else ever notice this happening with them?

stocks have been rising quickly since 2009 with maybe a detour here and there in 2012 etc This is one of the longest bull markets ever. Don't get used to checking your net worth thinking this is normal. Your self-worth and moral worth has a human being has nothing to do with your net worth. There is no minimum amount of money required in order to live a good moral life so as long as you truly believe this and keep it in mind you will be protected from being excessively obsessed with net worth.

I actually want to step it up! I check networth pretty often, but I wasn't as good at checking my expenses on mint...I discovered that some expense areas were getting away from me! I plan to check it daily and ask in near real time for categories for things I don't know. Just the observation of expenses certainly helps keep expenses down.

financialindependence

azcactus480

t3_7kv52i

EGiNcholesteroL

drhgiha

CalcBros

drhwz8s

Prior employer screwed up EVERYONES w2's

I used to work for a company that was an entire asshole. I worked from 02/2017 until 07/17. I just got my w2 from them. They say that during this time, I made a grand total of $920. Yeah, no. I made about $400 a week before taxes, so that's bull. But, other employees who were there for only one or two months are being reported to have earned several thousand more than they did. One example had +5000 on his W2. Because this has happened to every employee that I know of here in this state, I'm pretty sure they also did the same to the others in the 40-50 other stores over the country, where they either massively under-reported or over-reported people's wages. What should we, the prior employees do? At this point, with this number of incorrect W2s, I am sure it's intentional as a final middle finger to the former employees. What can we do to ensure that we don't have any negative effects from this? The company is a former Cricket Wireless franchise, who operated under multiple different businesses (one of which is an LLC), and did their HR through Affinity HR. They're based in Vegas, I'm based in Washington State.

At this point, with this number of incorrect W2s, I am sure it's intentional as a final middle finger to the former employees. Which is more likely? That something got screwed up in the report sent to the accountants and a bunch of forms got messed up, or that a company intentionally messed up a bunch of forms in different individual ways for zero benefit to themselves and that will either result in huge trouble from the IRS or a bunch of extra paperwork? Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity (or an accounting mistake that maybe put the wrong employees with the wrong numbers). There are instructions for how to handle an incorrect W2 that you can follow at .

The company is a former Cricket Wireless franchise, who operated under multiple different businesses It's entirely possible you answered your own question. If I were you I would expect more W2s.

personalfinance

YukitoBurrito

t3_7sfood

freefrogs

dt4i40r

HEONTHETOILET

dt4s4cr

Hit a very expensive car. Owner asks for $2000 cash in 24h

I’m shaking right now so sorry if this doesn’t make total sense. I was driving to work today and my GPS stopped working in a residential neighborhood so I wanted to pullover on the side of the road to reset it. This is Seattle so roads are super narrow and cars are parked in front of houses. I tried to parallel park and I hit someone’s car. The owner was literally coming out of her house to the car and saw everything. She got really mad (honestly, I would be pissed too), started yelling and calling me all names in the book. She then called her husband from inside the house and he was even more pissed. They asked me for the insurance policy and said will call the cops asap. The thing is, I just managed to buy this used car (Honda Civic) and I already have two other previous claims on my insurance and my premiums are already super high. So I tried to explain this and try to figure out a way without making a claim on my insurance and the lady said, “sure, bring $2000 cash by tomorrow at noon, we’ll sign a paper and we won’t file the claim”. Obviously, I don’t have $2000 and I’m freaking out. They took pictures of my insurance, address, etc. and said they will call the cops at 12:01 tomorrow if I’m not in front of their house with $2000. Needless to say, I fee like I’m fucked. I either pay $2000 or have insurance go up by a lot. I know I’m an idiot but how to fix this? What are my options? Can I take out a loan or something? Thanks for the help.

Use your insurance, that is what it's for. And maybe it's time to stop driving for a little while. Or got back to driving school. Your rates are super high because you are a bad driver, as they should be.

Do you believe you did significantly more or less than 2k in damage? How much is your insurance deductible? If you have a high deductible($1,000+) and you are certain you did at least 2k in damages then your best bet is paying them cash with a signed agreement if at all possible. If you don't have 2k in the bank nor could you borrow 2k from family, then you will have to weigh how long it would take to pay back a cash advance on a credit card against the high interest. Otherwise if your deductible is low, you believe the damage is extremely minor, or if you have neither any savings nor any credit you need to call your insurance company and tell them about the accident. Ultimately your insurer may drop you when your term expires; and you already current insurance premiums could look cheap in retrospect. You might even need to upend your life and move so you can get rid of your car & insurance if you cannot afford them and rely on walking, biking, and public transit to get to work for a few years until the accidents drop off your record.

personalfinance

BadLuckTuesday

t3_8ouidz

chefddog

e0680xz

Nilpunk9

e068p08

19 years old, pretty depressed but i got one thing going: money. I need some advise how to grow from here.

I am a 19 year old male (European) and have around $25k to invest. The origin of this money is legal but I can no longer make any more the same way. What would your advise be to grow from here? Some more backgrond info: doing 2 bachelor degrees (1 in Business, 1 in law). No income (only 1000$ monthly, interest free student loans which i deposit into a savings account since ive already paid for uni tuition and books). Have no significant costs and have alot of free time. I do not come from a wealthy background, live together with my mom and little brother in public housing (no more contact with dad). Any tips about what I should do with the money?

If you are depressed, jump on that first. You might be going down a path you don’t like, and you could use that money to shift some things. This coming from someone who made $70k a year at 22, who was suicidal. Money is not everything, happiness is.

Nobody seems to have really answered your question. So i will. Here are some ways you can invest: Put it in a Bank CD - gaurenteed return Put it in an ETF (ex VTI, DIA, S&P500) - riskier, but will give you highest return in the longrun (generally) Purchase bonds - gaurenteed returns

personalfinance

JRNKNG

t3_7yrmrf

badassbliss

duirqd7

PurpleFanto

duj2xk2

Does anybody else HAVE to Micro Manage their Spouses Finances?

I know this is a questions for /r/relationships but I figure this is an older more mature crowd After a recent credit card spending spree and dipping into our living expenses account to buy lunch, I had to put my foot down and demand access to all my fiances accounts and hand over all her credit cards. I'm trying hard to restrain myself and not go from engaged to enraged. I really don't want to micro manage her like a little kid with an allowance but I feel like I have to now. This is after many talks about the importance of money and saving for our NEAR future dreams of a house and family. She'll straighten up for a month maybe 2 months and then go back to spending her entire paycheck. We've been together for 8 years and just got engaged over the summer. I've always had to lecture her about money but never felt I had the authority to control her money until after we got engaged. Does anybody else have to put their significant other on a financial leash to save themselves from their bad spending habits? Please save the comments about "leave now while you can!" and "break up with her." I already know money is the 1 reason for divorces, but I'm trying to prevent money breaking us apart before we're married.

Okay, a few things. In your situation I would advise a dual allowance type situation. You would have a joint account where both of your money goes and this is put towards savings, bills, entertainment, pretty much anything that the two of you will be paying for together. You also each have your own separate account where you each get a certain amount of money every week that is specifically yours. You have to leave her alone about her allowance. If she wants to blow it all in one shopping trip at the beginning of the week, that is her prerogative. If she does, you can't go buying her anything she asks for as it will only let her know that she can still have everything she wants because you'll be picking up the bill. Inversely you could both put an agreed upon amount of money in the joint account each week leaving yourselves with the entire rest of your paychecks to spend as you see fit. Once again, if you go this route you can't nag her about her spending habits as that will be her money to blow through if she chooses. In either of these situations I would definitely recommend that this person not have a credit card or access to any sort of line of credit. Secondly, just let it be known that marriage exasperates problems, not solves them, so this could get much worse after you get married. Really, I wouldn't get married until she has a year of proven fiscal responsibility under her belt. Money problems are no joke. Think of how you feel right now, but imagine feeling trapped in the situation as well. Don't think of prolonging the engagement as a punishment and try not to take her spending habits personally. Obviously she wasn't taught fiscal responsibility but from what I'm hearing from you, you don't want to marry someone you have to treat like a child. I would sit her down and say something along the lines of, "Babe, I love you and I'm so happy that we're getting married. Before we go forward with any of the wedding planning though, you have to prove to me that you can manage your money. I'll need you to...," and then outline exactly what it is you want her to do making it really clear for her to follow. Let her know that if she slips the countdown starts over again. Lastly, you might want to look into Debtors Anonymous which is a twelve step program for people who are in debt or can't control their spending habits. You need to think long and hard about this before you take the plunge. If she can't follow through with any of these things you two will have to have a conversation about if she is okay with you taking total control of the money, and you should really think about if you want to live like that. I've been there man, best of luck.

I was with my girlfriend for 3 years and constantly fighting the same battle with my family thinking i was a cheapskate when in reality I was the only one working towards the shared goal that we had. Eventually she dumped me and thats when I found out about all the secret debt she was in and had used my name for a few things. Still sorting that bullshit out.

personalfinance

deskjockey7

t3_1o7wmt

balancedinsanity

t1_ccpkp52

ccpkp52

samthunder

t1_ccpyomc

ccpyomc

(North Carolina)Home inspector found water heater in direct contact with soil. What needs to be considered?

Pictures of water heater: The water heater is functional but there is a lot of rust on the outside. Is this something that should be replaced by the seller? Also what if anything needs to be done about the water heater touching the soil? Separate issue is the wiring that seems like a quick fix to me the report said its not spliced properly. Is this something I should negotiate price on? Is it a big cost? should I have another more through inspection of the wiring because of it? Thanks for any help!

Ok I don't know how accurate this is but my husband tends to be knowledgeable about this kind of thing. His thoughts on the water heater is that the soil could cause corrosion on the base. He then launched into a cautionary tale about how corrosion on water heaters can cause them to blow up often shooting like a rocket right thru the roof. His advice was either get a water heater pan or a concrete slab from lowes / Home Depot. He also advised you may want to check the corrosion on the bottom of the heater when it is moved because there is a good chance the safest bet is to get a new one.

I would want the seller to bring it up to current code. In some areas you may need a permit for that work. In my area it doesn't IF you have a licensed contractor do the job. If you DIY it, you'll need a permit.

RealEstate

pedide

t3_53tr8z

Blueone24

d7waryx

wamazing

d7w4zq3