• Breaking News

    Saturday, December 9, 2017

    Home Unlabelled Personal Finance Another driver hit my car. Their insurance won't pay or return my calls.

    Personal Finance Another driver hit my car. Their insurance won't pay or return my calls.

    December 09, 2017

    Personal Finance Another driver hit my car. Their insurance won't pay or return my calls.

    Another driver hit my car. Their insurance won't pay or return my calls.

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 06:27 AM PST

    As the title states, my parked car was hit by a guy backing out of his driveway at the end of September. Right after the accident, I called the police, got an accident report, and the other driver admitted fault. I submitted a claim with his insurance, got a letter stating my claim was in process...and I haven't been able to get anything else from them since. I have spoken to their higher ups, left hundreds of messages, and nothing happens. No updates, no one who answers will give me any information, nothing.

    I think I am at the point where I need to file with my insurance to get my car fixed, but I wanted to see if there are any other steps I can or should take. Is getting money from the other driver's shitty insurance company a lost cause? Will my insurance go after them? Do I get a lawyer involved?

    Thanks in advance everyone.

    UPDATE: Thanks for taking the time to give me advice everyone. I just filed with my insurance company to get this going.

    UPDATE: Great feedback, Reddit. Thanks for all taking time to reply. This was my first accident and I feel like I am now much more prepared to handle this. For others like me, go ahead and file with your own insurance, especially if the offending party's insurance is unresponsive. There is no good faith with these people, even with a straight forward accident with a police report. This should be illegal, but it isn't. My insurance has already scheduled repairs at the body shop of my choice and is going after the other party/company. I will check my rates but have been assured they won't go up as I wasn't at fault or even in the vehicle. Again, thanks everyone. You people are great.

    submitted by /u/AceOfBasePlates
    [link] [comments]

    Where to get regular personal finance tips & tricks to grow your knowledge on it? (instead of just questions answered)

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 05:46 AM PST

    Long time lurker here: and love the community! But when you've been here a while and don't have a specific question about how to make a budget or deal with a specific situation you want advice on then there is not much left regarding tips & tricks (besides the wikipedia) on personal finance. I think you're never really finished learning with this specific topic: times change, situations change, so keeping yourself informed is mandatory.

    Where do you get your daily/weekly/monthly tips & tricks to learn new things about personal finance? I just started to read some PF books on it too hoping I get some new insights besides coming here and a few other sites, but not nearly enough satisfied honestly..

    submitted by /u/iredditwereddit
    [link] [comments]

    What is everyone’s favorite personal finance podcast or just general finances podcast or digital channel to listen to? Got a long commute and want to make it somewhat worthwhile.

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 04:50 AM PST

    Can my dentist retroactively charge me like this? Can they then charge me a Finance Charge?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 03:45 PM PST

    This is in Oregon.

    In July of 2016, I found myself needing $480 worth of dental work. I didn't have that cash lying around, so I applied for a Care Credit card as the dental office does not allow payments.

    A few days after the procedures, the dental office called me and said that they had overcharged me $300 due to not understanding what my insurance would or would not cover and for what amounts. I was told they could could just apply that amount to my Care Credit balance, and I said sure. I paid off the remaining balance before interest could accrue and I thought that was the end of it. I have not used that card since then.

    Exactly a year later, I received a bill from the dental office for what I thought was a cleaning. I opened it up and found that I owed them $180. When I called and asked why, I was told that they had made a clerical error when they refunded me the $300, and that I was now responsible for the difference.

    This of course happened right as I was moving and my student loans came due. I explained that I am strapped and asked if they could take payments between $15-20. They asked if I could pay more because they don't want to drag this out, I told them I would try to pay more if I could. I was also told that since it was their error, I would not be charged for financing and if I made my payments, they would not send the bill to collections.

    I have been making payments monthly as we agreed upon. I recently got a paper bill regardless with a handwritten note that said, "Please pay $25 monthly as agreed upon."

    On December 4th I received another statement from the office. It was the amount plus a $2.28 finance charge.

    I will be calling them on Monday to inquire, but this has all been very frustrating. I am fine with paying what I owe, I do owe it after all. Do I have any leverage here? Should I just continue to make payments as I have been? Should I try to pay more and get this over with?

    submitted by /u/AlsingEye
    [link] [comments]

    Advice for getting debt under control for the new year

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 05:45 PM PST

    So this may be a long post, but I'm getting a bit worried that my credit card debt is spiralling out of control and I'd like some help on how to deal with it. Specifically how much to pay my card down each month and advice with some other money I'll be getting.

    Disclosure: 25(M), full time student, working part time, live with my parents but pay rent, don't drive.

    Monthly Income: * ~ $884 ($442 bi-weekly), (irregular schedule, around 20 hrs/week @ $13/hr, so salary fluctuates accordingly).

    Monthly Expenses (Items below are firm and in no way can be changed):

    • Rent: $500 ($250 bi-weekly)
    • Cell Phone: $100
    • Cigarettes : ~ $200 (I need one vice to keep me sane, don't judge me lol)
    • Grocery Money: $160 ($80 bi-weekly)
    • Gym Membership: $52.50
    • Transit: ~ $32
    • Amazon Prime: $10
    • Spotify: $10

    Debts:

    • AMEX: ~ $6000 (limit $6500, interest at 0% until May '18 I think, 19% or so after).
    • VISA: $0 (limit $1200)
    • PayPal: ~ $1700 (as they don't report to the credit bureaus, this is of least importance and I'll pay the minimum)

    Now my grandmother invested a couple of stocks under my name when I was younger, so I should be getting around $2000 by the spring. However, there is a condition that I must get permission from her on what I'll be using the money on before using it.

    tl;dr: How much money should I put down to pay my credit card each month to make a decent dent on my debt.

    Any further questions, please let me know. Thanks so much for the help everyone!!

    Forgot to mention this, but I've used my student loans to pay for rent for the semester and plan on doing that again in the spring.

    submitted by /u/habSF07
    [link] [comments]

    Froze credit but never got PINs in the mail

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 03:21 AM PST

    I froze my credit with all 5 bureaus a few months ago. I'm a college student and dorm away from home so my family saves my mail in a pile for when I occasionally go home. Equifax and Transunion both gave me my PINs immediately but have yet to hear from Experian, Innovis, and ChexSystems. I figured they may have been swamped with everyone calling them which was why they hadn't arrived in the mail. But obviously it's been a while and I just remembered the issue the other day. I've been trying to call all three but have had no luck getting through to an operator. I've heard that you have to mail in documents like your SSN and birth certificate if you lost your PIN (which is probably what I'll have to do) but is that really safe? Mail can get lost so I'm pretty hesitant. But I guess I'd have no other choice.

    submitted by /u/nightowlproblems
    [link] [comments]

    Large Bank fraudulently opened a credit card for my elderly incapacitated mother with Alzheimers. How should I handle it?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 10:10 AM PST

    I am the Power of Attorney, Trustee, and Social Security payee for my elderly mother who has Alzheimers. I have all of my personal accounts at BofA and so when I (reluctantly) took control over my mothers assets, I moved most of them from a small credit union in her little town to BofA just to make it easier.

    I opened a checking and investment account for her trust, and a Social Security Payee account. She has a traditioal broker led IRA, that I tried to move to BofA, but BofA rejected openning the new account with my power of attorney even though it specifically says that it is one of my duties.

    My mother is completely incapacitated by Alzhiemers.

    Fast forward to this week, I received a letter from BofA to my mother containing a new $25,000 personal american express credit card. I didn't apply for this card, and my mother can't speak, or write, or even sit up at this point so she didn't apply for it. I called BofA to cancel the card and find out what happened and they told me that since they didn't have a power attorney on file, that they couldn't give me any details. I of course explained the situation to the representitive. They said that since this is a personal account, my other accounts that I opened for her didn't give me access to info about the credit card. I asked to be transferred to their fraud department who told me the same thing. They told me to mail all of my original power of attorney paperwork to them and that once they process it, they would be able to speak with me about the account. I am nervous about sending them my mothers original documents (letter of incapacitation, and POA) since they are so important. Best case scenario these documents will be gone for a month plus.

    My mother doesn't havce any other personal accounts at BofA so it is baffling that they could make this leap to open a personal credit card for her. I would have hoped they could just look at the situation and see that there is no consent to open the account, but they won't do anything until I submit the POA paperwork to them for a second time. Should I be reporting this to the police? Are there any options open to me that I am missing?

    Thanks for your time.

    submitted by /u/DieselJoey
    [link] [comments]

    What is basically a 'beginner's guild to budgeting'?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 01:07 AM PST

    I am absolutely terrible at saving money, yet for the new years I want to make it a personal goal to save as much money as possible. I have no idea where to start because I can't just put stuff in a money box or something due to me immediately taking it back out.

    I usually am good at paying the necessary bills but cant seem to save for much else.

    submitted by /u/wellidisagree
    [link] [comments]

    US Should I put off paying into my 401k until I have my emergency fund established?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 05:19 AM PST

    I am 26 years old, married, and have a 9 month old son. I've been trying to do better money wise, and established an emergency fund over the last few months, but it has recently been wiped out. While driving to work our only car broke down and repairs totaled more than my savings.

    I have paid off the repair costs and am back up and running, but living without that fund makes me very uncomfortable. I pay into my 401k regularly as it's partially company matched. My question is, do you think I should stop paying into it until my emergency fund is back? I don't want to lose free money from the match, but I am scared that if anything else happens I won't be able to handle it financially.

    submitted by /u/MelodicHail
    [link] [comments]

    The old employee vs. independent contractor debate (Long post because I've done my research, but I still have questions and need advice)

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 06:19 AM PST

    My fiancee has been working at the same job for over three years, which is a "side hustle" where she works 2-5 hours a week depending on the week. This is not her main job, but she enjoys it, loves her clients, and it helps keep her sane. Additionally, though some people might think it's not worth acting on if it's merely a side hustle, she has friends that work here full-time and are in the same exact situation she is. Additionally, in a normal scenario my fiancee would be worried about retaliation, however she's considering leaving the business and I think she might as well correct all these issues on the way out; at the same time, I will admit that my dislike towards the business may be biasing me, which is part of the reason I'm asking for your opinions.

    For her first year with the company, she was paid (and taxed) as an independent contractor. Then the business owner sold the business, and the new owner paid her as an employee. Recently the original owner purchased the company back, and now she is being paid as an independent contractor again. Her job duties and her day-to-day activities have never changed. Obviously one of the business owners was wrong. Additionally, I think it may be important that she was considered an employee for two years.

    I have checked this IRS website (Understanding Employee vs. Contractor Designation), and I believe she's an employee. I was hoping r/PF could held me decide if she is an employee, and if so what to do.

    Without giving too many details, she teaches fitness classes at a gym in Louisiana. The following are all true:

    • She is told what her schedule will be for teaching classes, and does not pick her schedule/classes. If another teacher is sick or calls out, she can choose to teach that class as a substitute.

    • She is told what type of class she will teach (i.e., kickboxing). She is only told to teach classes that she's certified to teach, of course, but the business owner controls what type of class she teaches without my fiancee getting input into the types of classes she prefers to teach.

    • There is no official evaluation system; if people don't complain, the business owner just assumes things are good. That being said, the business owner will occasionally take my fiancee's classes "for fun" however I have a hard time believing she's not being evaluated in those scenarios.

    • My fiancee has received all of her training/certifications elsewhere, though the business does offer training and certifications and nearly all other teachers have received their certs from the business.

    • All of the equipment used in the classes is equipment purchased and owned by the business, and my fiancee doesn't need to purchase or provide any equipment.

    • She has no expenses, reimbursed or unreimbursed. Well, she has to purchase her own gym clothing and shoes, which she tax deducts, but no expenses explicitly for the business.

    • She has no opportunity for profit or loss.

    • She also teaches the same class at a different gym in the same city, so in a way she's competing with this business. The business owner has made it clear that she doesn't like this, but there are no explicit rules against it and most teachers teach at multiple gyms as a way of increasing their overall pay.

    • She is paid per the class, not per the hour. One class typically involves about 20 minutes of planning the class in advance, getting to the gym 10 minutes early to prepare the room, the 75 minute class time, and then about 10 minutes of hanging out afterward talking to students.

    • There is no contract, and she receives no benefits (health insurance, etc.).

    • This is considered a permanent relationship. We live in a town with a university, so the business owner re-evaluates the schedule every semester and may tell my fiancee that for the next four months she'll teach a different class or on a different day. Despite these changes, it is assumed that my fiancee will continue teaching at the gym without an end date.

    • The classes taught by my fiancee and other teachers are a core part of the business. Unlike some gyms that have floors of weights and cardio machines, this gym is exclusively three specially customized classrooms and a shop. If my fiancee and other teachers like her were not performing their services, the business would have nothing to offer customers.

    Thank you reading this far. If the business owner is correct and my fiancee is an independent contractor, I appreciate you telling me. If I'm correct and she's an employee, please direct me what to do.

    I have found IRS form SS-8 (Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding). Should she fill this out? We also have an IRS office in our city; is this the type of thing that she can just go in to the office and talk to them about?

    Additionally, at a state level, I found this Misclassified Employee Assessment from the Louisiana Workforce Commission, and based on the assessment (which clearly isn't binding) the website believes she is misclassified and encourages her to fill out a form on the Louisiana Workforce Commission Fraud Reporting page. Can she fill out the fraud form even if she doesn't know all the information and has to leave some of it blank?

    Finally, two last questions:

    1) Can I do any of these forms or processes for her, or does she have to do them herself?

    2) If my beliefs are correct, should she do these forms and processes on her own, or is she better off trying to get more of the teachers to all do the forms together?

    3) Does it matter whether she does the state or federal forms in a particular order, or at the same time?

    And finally, if applicable: 4) What exactly is the business owner cheating? Is she cheating my fiancee? Is the cheating the federal/state government? I think this is wrong, but I don't exactly understand what she's doing.

    Thank you very much!

    submitted by /u/ThrillingChase
    [link] [comments]

    Quadriplegic feeling like I will never be able to save money to live independently after college. Help!

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 12:24 PM PST

    I am currently a sophomore in college trying to figure out how I will ever live independently with private costs of $30,000 per year in Personal Care Attendant (PCA) help. I already receive all of the PCA help I can get. All substantial government benefits for disabled people are for the unemployed and stop once I start making money. If I get a job with a $42,000 salary, I'll still be at the poverty line. This summer I will lose money by taking an internship that pays $9,000. I am feeling very frustrated and hopeless. What can I do? Are there federal benefits I am unaware of?

    TL;DR: How do I live with annual costs of $30,000 in personal care?

    Edit: I'm in MA

    submitted by /u/izzybizzy123
    [link] [comments]

    Living in a high cost of living area on $33k/yr. Employer health insurance costs too much, but technically passes federal affordability. Am I boned?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 02:09 PM PST

    Working in the bay area, $33K salary. The cheapest insurance I can get from my employer is $150/mo, which technically passes federal affordability requirements.

    As I spend a significant amount of my money a month on rent/bills/food here, I really can't afford to tack on $150/mo - that would destroy the modest amount I'm able to save per month.

    But according to covered california's estimates, for my area I'd qualify for health insurance subsidies bringing me as low as $50/mo... which is much more affordable for me. The problem? This only applies if my employer doesn't offer health insurance under the federal affordability guidelines, which they technically do.

    Since I can't get subsidized health care through covered california, my only option appears to be through my employer.

    I'm 27, generally healthy. I think I'm better off spending yet another year without health insurance. Especially since I don't see myself staying another full year at my current employer, and might not even be living in the same state by the end of 2018.

    submitted by /u/Lycid
    [link] [comments]

    Financial aid department canceled ~$10,000 in FAFSA package that was previously applied to my balance. Now I owe the school, not the govt. and cannot enroll in classes nor get my diploma until I come up with 10g. Advice?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 04:34 PM PST

    In April of 2017, I submitted my FAFSA for the 2017-2018 financial aid year. During this process, I noticed that I was not given access the IRS Retrieval Tool to easily transfer my records, and knew this was going to cause me problems. I manually entered tax info (correctly), and my FAFSA was processed. 3 days later, I was informed I would need to do a FAFSA verification to determine everything was correct in my FAFSA. I had done this once before, and sort of knew the process. I knew I had to get on this because a request for verification temporarily puts a hold on your account at my school ...goodbye enrolling for those information systems courses :( I couldn't sign up for classes until it was done. Also when you are selected for verification, all of your financial aid gets canceled until you get cleared.

    The problem was that I needed verification for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 years. I have no idea why. Well, I got two emails (one about 16/17 and one about 17/18) ...but I didn't exactly realize I needed to do the verification for both years...it seemed like I was sent a redundant email. Anyway, I had to obtain a tax transcript from the IRS, which is easy to do online if you have a credit card, mortgage, or car loan. I had none of these things at the time. Since I couldn't do this online, it took 2 weeks to get the transcript. When I figured out I needed the one for the other year, another 2 weeks went by.

    Occupied with finals, I submitted my verification information on May 15, the Monday after the last week of the spring semester. And here's where it gets bad. According to my fin aid adviser: "Since we did not receive your Verification documentation by the end of the spring term, we will not be able to re-post your 16/17 loans. The last day to post those loans was Friday, and the loans can't originate after the semester is over."

    The 2016/2017 package was about 15 grand (grant + loans) I think, and the financial aid dept was somehow able to cancel all my federal loans. One question I have is how were they able to do this, since I was the one who's name is on the loans?!

    The financial aid adviser said the best course of action was to get a private student loan, then hope that I get a lot of money from FAFSA for the next year to pay back the private lender...

    On the plus side, I did receive all of my financial aid for fall 2017 and I got a refund, it wasn't automatically applied to the past-due balance.

    I felt completely betrayed by the school, and the worst part is that I'm a senior with only 7 credit hours left. Actually, the worst part is that my job is at the university and is my source of rent/utilities/etc and requires me to be enrolled at this university. No, it's not work-study but that is their policy. It's ok I guess because I don't want to work with the place that's screwed me over, but I wanted to keep this job until I got out. I can take classes elsewhere and transfer them, but wont get my degree until I pay them 10 grand. And, I don't have a full time job lined up that will allow me to pay that back anytime soon. Currently, I can put on my resume that I have completed my major (which is true), and in the future I can say I completed my degree, just I wont have a diploma.

    Of course it's very late to be posting this, but I've been so spiteful of the university (mainly because there was no notice that the verification had to be before spring semester ended) that I could not get myself to deal with this issue anymore. I just feel like there's got to be a way to reinstate those loans or that someone should be fired for not letting students know about the deadline or that something they did was illegal.

    List of issues:

    • I owe 10 grand to a university
    • I can't enroll in classes or receive an official transcript or my diploma
    • Since I can't enroll, the 7000 for next spring can't be used (no classes means no fed fin aid)
    • I must find a new job because I'm no longer enrolled

    I assume bad things will happen if I don't pay them, but I don't know when these things might occur. I'm currently working on getting a full-time job and I've signed up for classes at a nearby school, with the intention of paying off my debt eventually. Advice?

    submitted by /u/HankHill420
    [link] [comments]

    NJ: Fiance currently in ER. No health insurance until January. What do we do?!

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 12:17 PM PST

    Hi PF, My fiance's health insurance won't start until January 1. We are in the ER to rule out heart issues. They did a lot of tests already and want to admit him overnight for further observation. We are REALLY scared of the bill. Like terrified of the bill.

    What do we do? What should we expect? Is there anything that can be done seeing that his insurance starts in less than a month? We are terrified.

    EDIT: We have $8500 in savings but I don't think that will be enough.

    submitted by /u/Insipid_Pursuit
    [link] [comments]

    21 year old pre-med student - put money in high interest savings account or invest?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 06:57 PM PST

    So, I'm a 21 year old pre-med student with about 20k sitting in savings. At my current bank, I get 17 cents in interest each month, which I have come to understand is absolutely terrible. I've been thinking about taking maybe 10k of it and putting it into an online bank, which I'm seeing can have interest rates of over 1%. Or would it be better to invest this money in some other way? I'm afraid to do anything too risky since I'm not sure what kind of financial obstacles I may run into in medical school. However, I just recently opened up a Roth IRA and plan to put about $1000 in each year until I'm actually employed full-time, after which I'll max it out. Any advice?

    submitted by /u/Ctg7
    [link] [comments]

    How to calculate value of a rental/investment property

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 03:43 PM PST

    There's a building for sale in my town that houses 3 small apartments and some office space. It brings in approx. $3500 a month in rent from the existing tenants. Taxes are $5600 annually.

    It's a very old building, but I absolutely love the look and feel of it (and it seems to be in good shape to my layman's eyes). My chief concern is that the owner's asking $400k (its tax appraisal value is $230k), and the building's been for sale for at least 10 years. It would likely be very difficult to resell at anything close to that price, but the tenants seem very stable.

    I would offer much less than the $400k, but how does one calculate the value of a rental property in such a scenario?

    submitted by /u/Rogevious
    [link] [comments]

    Temporarily disabled and running out of savings - what to do now?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 11:55 AM PST

    Hi, PF. I've been a lurker for a long time and I've finally come needing your advice.

    A few months ago, at the end of September, my right hand went out of commission. I have a ganglion cyst (a huge one) compromising two of my hand tendons. At this point, I have very little lateral motion and cannot write or lift things.

    This was fine. As per taking the advice of personal finance, I saved up about 6 months worth of money, took my doctors advise and took time off work and am now waiting form my surgery on December 20th.

    My issue thus far is that I under budgeted slightly, my husband still works but money is starting to get uncomfortably tight and I won't be back to work until January 20th. At this point we're not eating out, not going anywhere, not buying anything, limiting ourselves to our home and video games and when our friends treat us to food because they're nice.

    So how can I help myself? I live in Illinois and we don't have temporary disability and I don't qualify for unemployment because I technically haven't been fired and my job doesn't offer medical leave. I honestly didn't expect it to take this long but I've made my bed and now I have to lie in it.

    I would appreciate any advice. Has this situation happened to you? How did you get through it.

    Note: My house is paid off until February, so I'm not in any danger of being late on anything, I'm just getting anxious as my bank account slowly draws closer to 0.

    My husband makes about 700 biweekly but it varies. Our expenses are:

    1. $530 mortgage + escrow
    2. $120 electric and gas
    3. $300 for food
    4. $50 for internet
    5. $60 for our phone plan
    6. $45 for water and sewage
    7. $15 for garbage
    8. $70 for lyft to get to doctors appointments
    9. $50 in doctor co-pays
    10. $90 for insurance per month (dental, eye care, and medical)

    Edit 2:

    Some things that reduced our budget: I had to get contacts this month (and I don't have backup glasses) I had a $120 copay with insurance. Husband did not make 700 biweekly for October and November, he made about 500. This month he is on track to make about 1700.

    submitted by /u/Brauhm
    [link] [comments]

    When I run my credit report, I can see things that are older than 7 years, and "fallen off" aka listed as "closed". Can potential lenders see this as well when they run my credit?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 12:55 PM PST

    I guess I was just under the impression that once it falls off, nobody can see it, and it no longer affects your score. Or is that incorrect? Is it the case that it no longer affects your score, but the actual credit items and delinquencies and all that are just like, visible forever?

    Just confused.

    thanks!

    submitted by /u/llilliiiliil
    [link] [comments]

    My brother has 2 kids and a wife and makes half of what I make.. How can I help him out?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 08:13 AM PST

    My brother and I took different paths in life which is totally fine but I feel really bad that I'm in a very comfortable situation and he's living paycheck to paycheck with 2 kids and a wife to support. We live in the same city and see each other very often and whenever we're with our parents he always has to ask to borrow money from my dad which he pays off after his paycheck comes in.

    For perspective, he makes $38k/yr and that's their only income as his wife struggles to find a job and take care of the kids.

    On the other hand, I'm currently making $80k/yr and have about $50k saved in my checking account. I also only spend $15k/yr to survive comfortably.. so all in all we're in vastly different situations and I feel really guilty about it. He's my older brother, and he's struggling financially.

    I want to help him out, but I'm not sure how. I also don't want to embarrass him or whatever.. Any ideas? How could I ease the weight off his shoulders?

    submitted by /u/LemonMYSnicket
    [link] [comments]

    Getting engaged. Fiancee has 102k in student debt. I'm a veteran in college. I need a plan.

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 07:13 AM PST

    Well, it's how it sounds. This isn't a surprise, I've known about her debt since about ten days into dating. We've been very upfront about our financial situations. She's a high school teacher who's teaching internationally right now, I'm former military and in my second year of college at a top-tier private school.

    We're getting engaged this summer when she's home, and probably doing a domestic partnership so that we have some form of legal standing in case of emergencies (we've run into this issue twice now). Wedding will wait until after I graduate. We'll be meeting with a CPA during the summer before signing any legal documentation, because taxes are going to be a bitch.

    RE: GI Bill... I'm on a full ride here. I'm waiting for the last two years of school/if I go straight to an MBA program/when I go to grad school. My monthly stipend would be about $900 a month here, and $1,500 a month where I want to get my MBA. That difference + full ride = not touching it.

    I have about 20k in student debt from community college, and my sights set on management consulting. My credit is not great, hers is absolutely brilliant. I have 4.5k in savings, she has 7k. I have $500 more in credit card debt than I have in savings, but just did a balance transfer to a 0% APR/1 year card with a lower overall interest rate, and am on track to pay that off within the year. We go over YNAB together with Google Hangouts, and there are no illusions about where we both are financially.

    I'd like to see her in a position to pay off her debt, she's currently paying half of her monthly salary to loans. She is torn between resigned to paying this forever, and wanting it gone. I know that when I graduate, I'll be on track to make more than her in a very short period of time.

    I'd like to see her pay these off. I also want to pay my debt off. My current thoughts on this:

    • 1) Work on paying my debt off, once it's gone, start saving that same amount with intent to pay on her loans eventually. Worst case scenario for our marriage, I have a large savings account.
    • 1a) She's told me she doesn't want my money. She refuses to let me put myself financially out of sorts for her in any way. I would have to save the money, and then tell her about it.
    • 2) Ask to divide household expenses by income and debts, so that she can continue to make payments on more than interest. We've discussed this, but are not sure how to best do this while I'm in school (she comes back my senior year).
    • 3) Miraculously have a windfall from a grandparent, which is more likely than the other option -- become rich on crypto (I have some crypto, I've held it for quite a while, but it'll take a miracle for it to become worth 120k after taxes haha).
    • 4) We also need to save for retirement. I have about 4k in a 401k and 5k in a ROTH IRA. She has a pension from teaching domestically, but currently isn't contributing to it because she's overseas.

    I also have to decide if I'm going straight from undergrad to an MBA program, or if I'm going to try and work for a year or two. My GI Bill will pay for most of MBA program at any one of the top business schools, plus the living stipend. If I get an associate's position at a consulting firm, I'm looking at a starting salary around 65k. If I get an MBA first (getting in to the top three without a firm sending you is almost impossible), that starting salary is up to around 140k. This is not including benefits and possible bonuses, etc.

    I make $11.75 an hour and work 10 hours a week. I've saved enough money to go on my first vacation ever this Christmas, and it's completely paid for. I started school with literally $5 to my name, and now have around $4,500. I get a monthly disability payment that covers my bills, I've paid down a lot of debt with that $11.75 an hour. Essentially my life is in a holding pattern, though, until summer internships roll around. I used most of my income last summer to pay off a loan and paid down two credit cards, I've since paid them off.

    So my question is, how and where do I start to make a plan? How do we make a plan?

    submitted by /u/redwingpanda
    [link] [comments]

    Didn't pay medical bill for $1200 because I was waiting for them to send it through insurance. Now a collection agency is after me.

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 12:58 PM PST

    I had a minor surgery in September 2016. It never went through insurance and many months later (January or February 2017) I got bills in the mail for $1200 for the surgery. I called the hospital and they said I needed to cal the insurance company. I called the insurance company and they just needed a tiny bit of information from me and that's why it didn't go through insurance first. I can't remember exactly what it was but it was my zip code or middle initial or something super small. I gave them the information they needed and they said that it could take up to 48 weeks for this to be processed.

     

    I thought great it will all get sorted and then I forgot about it until today when I checked my credit report and there is a collection agency on there for this medical bill of $1200 dollars. Will this effect my ability to get a loan for graduate school? My credit score dropped down to 608 with this.

     

    I understand I am mostly at fault here I don't need a lecture. I won't make this mistake again. I just need a plan of action on how to get the bill sent to insurance, how to get the collection agency off my back and credit report, and how to get this all sorted out ASAP. I tried to call places this weekend but I have to wait until Monday.

    submitted by /u/treebie
    [link] [comments]

    How does my father apply for disability?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 12:58 PM PST

    Hello r/personalfinance. I've recently taken it upon myself to attempt getting my parents finances in order as they are nearing the age of retirement. My dad kept up to date with their investments until about 10 years ago when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; at which point his focus understandably switched and their finances stagnated. I've spent the last month working with an investment firm and the question of my fathers eligibility for disability came up. Can you help?

    • Handicapped to a cane/wheelchair
    • He owns and runs a small nonprofit and takes $2,000 of income a month
    • How does taking disability effect his medicare benefits down the road?
    • 57 years old

    Is there anything he's missing out on? Thank you

    submitted by /u/BurnEyeSeeYouNurse
    [link] [comments]

    I started a Roth IRA When I wasn't supposed to. What are my options now?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 07:47 AM PST

    So I opened up a Roth IRA earlier this year. However, my earned income will be over the limit allowed for a roth IRA.

    What are my options right now? Cancel it out?

    I entered 5,000 dollars and ended up with a return of 18% (so about $1300)

    submitted by /u/MyPersonalAccount1
    [link] [comments]

    my workplace is changing management and i need to reapply, should i file for unemployment?

    Posted: 09 Dec 2017 07:10 PM PST

    so i work at a local thrift store in California that is is supposed to be closing for a week or more sometime this month to change management and everyone is going to have to reapply. would it be possibly for me to file for unemployment while they do the whole process and if im not hired back?

    i worked 5 days a week ranging from 8 hours to 6 hours depending on my shift. I've been working at it since February and its my first job. was a pretty basic minimum wage paying job so i would get around 800-900 after taxes a month. I'm 20 years old almost turning 21 in a month and my parents are out of town until new years. a lot is going through my mind right now especially with anxiety and i feel like I'm trapped right now. i know i shouldn't quit and run through the whole thing until they shut it down to make it easier for me but I'm really worried because of the whole family owned to a big company owning a small thrift store. the current manager really liked me and i would say my manager would agree I'm a pretty hard working person and shouldn't worry about it but not knowing how everything is going to go down I'm just trying to play ahead.

    i don't have much in my savings right now(under 200) since i was living paycheck to paycheck with bills until i got better at programming and tried to start there. not going to college or have a car(my work place is 10-15 minutes of walking distance, or 3 minutes driving if i got a ride).

    submitted by /u/leonelfreak
    [link] [comments]
    Read more
    at

    No comments:

    Post a Comment