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    Sunday, December 10, 2017

    Personal Finance Are there any reasonable precautions that Equifax victims can take to avoid having their 2017 tax returns stolen?

    Personal Finance Are there any reasonable precautions that Equifax victims can take to avoid having their 2017 tax returns stolen?


    Are there any reasonable precautions that Equifax victims can take to avoid having their 2017 tax returns stolen?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 07:11 AM PST

    My understanding that it is very easy to steal tax returns if you have the SSN of the victim, and credit freezes obviously do not work on tax returns.

    It also appears as though no new measures have been added for identify verification since the equifax leak, so as best as I can tell 2018 is likely to be a whole new era of tax return fraud.

    Is there anything we can do?

    submitted by /u/Doctor_Anger
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    (UK) I'm a 16 year old boy who has absolutely no hobbies or actual interests in life and i'm scared that because of that i'm not going to be able to get a job.

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 06:55 AM PST

    It just feels so sudden but I've only recently realized how I need to be doing things like sports clubs or anything like that so I can have it written down as a reason to hire me and it feels kind of depressing.

    What can I do now that will help me the most in the future, i'm absolutely terrified of not finding any work and being stuck unable to find work or worse yet make other people pay for my inability to work in society. I live in a rural area but surprisingly I barely know anyone, so what could I do to make my future better?

    EDIT: I play video games with friends but that can't be put on a CV so the title was an exaggeration. But I still have no idea what to do in the future or what will happen. So what can I do now that i'll end up thanking my self for later?

    submitted by /u/Milo911119
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    Applied for Car Loan. Equifax shows my credit score is 0

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 06:47 AM PST

    So, I'm 30 years old and finally decided to take the plunge and buy a brand new car. I'm at the dealer, I signed all the paperwork and a few minutes later, the salesman tells me that my credit score is 0.

    Now I know for a fact that my credit score is ~710, but at that point I felt like someone whose card was declined and was pretending to be shocked even though they now the card is maxed out.

    I tell the guy that there must be some sort of mistake and a few minutes later he comes back with a report from Equifax saying that they do cannot locate my information and that what I provided was a potential scam.

    A few years ago, I had a legal name change but I made sure that my bank and all companies with which I have a line of credit updated their records, so I'm not sure if that's the problem.

    What do I do?

    submitted by /u/I_Bear
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    I have a bad habit of buying the best and most expensive products. How do I stop?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 06:13 PM PST

    it's not as simple as just "not buying the best/most expensive" For context, I've wanted to build a new desktop computer for a long time now. and now I'm in a position where I can. I feel like I absolutely must have the best otherwise I feel like it's a waste. blowing $4k out the window hurts. it prefer to just spend $2k but cutting back that much just feels cheap and incomplete.

    is anyone else like this? how can I change this?

    submitted by /u/Bloodwolv
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    Finally paid off 62k of debt... what now?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 04:29 PM PST

    Currently making 75k, and get a 10-15k bonus once a year. Every month I have between $1200 and $2000 worth of income that I used to put against my debt but now I have no idea where I should put it. I don't own a house, my net worth is $0. I have a stay at home wife and a daughter. Live in Dallas Texas.

    I periodically read this sub Reddit for advice, created this account for this inquiry.

    submitted by /u/Abracadavera5
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    New to US, what are the basic things i should lookout for in the first few months

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 07:23 AM PST

    I moved to the US 2 years ago on an L1B visa where i was still based in my home country (not US payroll) but spend 90% of my time in the US and change locations based on projects. I have an SSN and my employer covers all my expenses (I stay in corporate housing) when i'm in the US and my US taxes while i pay taxes back home.

    The situation will change in the next few months, where i will be switching to US payroll and will need to start paying for all my expenses and taxes. Since everything was paid for i have been putting off (lazy) a lot of basic stuff and now i am trying to understand how PF works in the US; i started applying to a driving license and need to open a bank account and start building a credit score etc...

    I am fortunate to have a good paying job and savings making me financially secure but i want to minimize cost as much as possible when i'm kick starting my life in the US

    What are some tips you suggest or unforeseen expenses that i should look out for in the beginning? ex: I've never had a US credit card or paid bills here so i am not sure what my credit score will be, which bank/CC do you guys recommend?

    Thanks

    submitted by /u/newUS123
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    Looking for a credible website to compare auto insurance rates

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 04:37 PM PST

    I can usually decipher when a site is not going to do me any good but it's difficult to figure out when it comes to this since this is my first time shopping for insurance on my own. Any links would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

    submitted by /u/russellp498
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    Medical bill gone to collections (USA)

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 05:33 AM PST

    In 2016 my wife hurt her ankle. We ended up in the ER late at night for an X-ray. The hospital that we went to is in my insurance network (BCBS-Florida). Unfortunately and unbeknownst to me, the radiologist that read my wife's X-ray was not.

    After paying my co-pay for the ER visit, I get a bill in the mail for the radiologist's fee. After numerous calls to BCBS, the radiologist's office, and the hospital I get nowhere. Pretty much they tell me to suck it up and pay the fee. I let the bill sit for a while in order for me to do some more research, but I ended up forgetting about it.

    Fast forward to last week, I start receiving calls and mail from a debt collector demanding payment on this bill. It's not a huge bill, in fact, I the amount is the least of my worries. The main issue that I have is how can a hospital that is in my network and has my insurance information not tell me ahead of time that the Dr. they have reading X-rays is not covered by my insurance and let me make a decision before receiving service.

    So, at this point, am I screwed and I just pay the bill before it hits my credit or is there another way to fight this?

    submitted by /u/e36m3guy
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    First steps for a college grad?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 02:41 PM PST

    Hi everyone,

    Long time lurker but this is my first post. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me. I am about to make a huge life change and don't have any mentors.

    So, here's the situation. I'm in my final year at a east-coast state school and have a standing offer to move to a large nearby city after graduation in a godsend offer from a company that I really liked. I've never been in the position to make important financial decisions, or really any decision of this scale. I will be the first one in my family to graduate college and thus, have no one to guide me on what to do with an adult paycheck or responsibilities. Fortunately, my parents were prepared for me to make it this far and have made college affordable through veteran benefits, in-state residency switches, and a bit of saving. They are a blessing in my life.

    I grew up in a medium-sized southern town (population: 30k) and have worked a laughable assortment of jobs nonstop since age 15, never making more than $12.50 an hour. Auntie Anne's, lifeguarding, data entry, dog sitting.. I've spread the board on minimum wage jobs haha.

    My job offer is six-months training, after which I can move to another office in a few different cities, which I'd very much like to do. I want to see the world. The important questions are thus:

    How do I prioritize paying student loans?

    What kind of lease do I sign, considering I'd like to move after 6 months?

    When do I buy a car? I'd like one, but realize it'd be wise to maybe hold off considering I'll be living in urban centers.

    How much do I save? And what do I invest in to preserve capital? I want to be financially secure first and foremost.

    My company has full benefits except for 401k matching. How do I compensate for this?

    Do I invest in an actual place when I get to my second city? Or keep renting?

    And finally, some figures for perspective. I will graduate with a BA in Economics and Russian (bulk-of-the-bell-curve GPA) in one semester and the job is in tech sales right after graduation,

    Things going for me:

    Offer Salary: $71k Full benefits (except for 401k sharing) and commission after training Signing bonus: $10k (do I invest this? Can I quit the jobs below) Main job at school: $1.5k / semester Freelance writing: $.5k / semester Bouncing: $.5k / semester No car or car payments A great emotional support system My youth

    Things going against me:

    $20k Student loans $1k credit card debt $1k personal debts Current .5k / month in rent and utilities I spend the rest of my semester income on food and necessities (have maybe $100 leftover a month) No savings at all Impending high rent in cities My parents transfer all personal costs at graduation and I will assume 100% of living expenses, all of which I don't think I'm aware of Potentially three different state tax codes to navigate

    Again, I humbly realize that I am in a fortunate situation with responsible parents who wanted me to go to college, and an offer that is almost more than anyone in my family has ever made. I'm happy, I would just like advice on how to keep going. To quote plankton, "I don't know, I never thought I'd get this far."

    submitted by /u/acj2cc
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    What is the best place to temporarily store nearly 1 million dollars?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 09:08 AM PST

    I am a wildfire victim from Northern California. My $500,000 home(owned free and clear) burned to the ground. I guess I got lucky with my insurance and they just paid me out to all the limits of my policy. Now I have nearly a million dollars sitting in my local bank account. From what I understand it is only insured up to 250,000.

    What are my options for storing this money in the meantime so that it is secure and can conservatively and safely make a little return. Options of nearly no risk to small risk.

    In the near future, 1-2 years i will likely need about $500,000 of it for the rebuild.

    submitted by /u/Nikoli707
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    Should I watch Jim Cramer?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 07:40 PM PST

    I've looked around this sub and found that not many of you are fans of Cramer's show Mad Money. I'm new to the stock market and I'm still trying to understand it all. It's like learning a foreign language with all the lingo involved.

    My father-in-law is a huge fan of Cramer, practically worships the guy. He keeps telling me I need to watch/listen to Cramer for good stock picks. I just think that would be a waste of my time for two reasons.

    1) As I said, it's all Greek to me right now. Telling someone to watch Cramer to learn stocks is like telling someone to learn Spanish only by watching Mexican Novellas. Gotta start with the basics first.

    2) Many of you seem to think the guy is a hack and I'm inclined to believe that.

    Now, I also read a few chapters of his Mad Money book before stopping. He does seem to have a lot of success. He is a millionaire after all, right? He has a TV show because he's so good at it, surely that's why, right?

    Can someone explain to me why exactly it is or isn't a good idea to listen to Cramer? Basically he talks about current stock trends and says what he thinks are good buys right now and what are bad buys. So once I'm more experienced, maybe I could learn stuff from him, or can I?

    Also what about listening to other big name investors like Warren Buffet? Should I listen to/ watch them? Or should I simply stick to doing all my own research as I slowly learn about the stock market?

    submitted by /u/CirUmeUela
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    Do You Pay Taxes in an Out of Court Settlement for a Life Insurance Policy?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 05:22 PM PST

    Hi, My father had a life insurance policy in the state of California and at the time of his death, they didn't want to pay. We had to hire lawyers and to make a long story short we won and now they have to pay. I read somewhere that you don't pay taxes when you get money from a life insurance policy, right? Does that still apply if you got the money from the same source but instead of it coming directly from the life insurance company (with no lawyers) you got the money from a settlement with lawyers? I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense, this is more confusing for me than it is for you. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

    submitted by /u/HowToSimply_
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    Does it sound like a good idea to buy my parents rental house?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 03:32 PM PST

    Some background info on me. I'm 24 years old. Graduated with a bachelors of science last summer with $30,800 in student loan debt that I haven't started paying off yet. I work two jobs and make roughly $32k-$35k a year. I have about $3,000 in credit card debt (working hard to pay that off before I even move out) and I have about $1,000 in savings. My girlfriend is 19, in college and makes like $15k-$20k a year. She has a $340 a month car payment.

    My parents own a rental home and after having several shady tenants over a 10+ year period who never live up to their word when they say they want to buy the house eventually, they said they'll sell me the house for $60,000. That's the price they paid for it well over a decade ago when they bought it since it was foreclosure.

    The house needs work done, that's for sure. The guy who's renting the house now tore out some of the walls, removed everything from the bathroom and the kitchen, so those rooms would need replaced completely. I guess he did it without my parents permission since he said he was going to buy the house eventually, but my parents said the guy has been living at his girlfriends house for the past year or so anyways and hasn't been doing any work back there for a long time. I noticed the other day that the roof of the garage is sagging, so that'll need work done to it as well. If I had to guess I'd say there's $20k-$40k worth of work that needs done.

    It's a fairly small house. Two bed/one bath, living room, family room and kitchen. No basement. My girlfriend and I never plan on having kids so I'm fine with it. I may even rent a room out to a friend of mine if i do it. It sits on 2+ acres of land and the house is all the way in the back by the woods, so you can't see it from the road which I like.

    I'm considering doing it once I save around $15,000 up but I'm not great with making smart financial decisions. I figured I'd ask you all to see if it sounds like a good idea. I don't really want to rent.

    submitted by /u/mjd126008
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    New job promotion. New state to live in. Are my finances reasonable?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 04:15 PM PST

    Hello.

    I recently received a promotion that will boost my salary to $75,000 a year with an estimated 10% bonus. I'm moving to a new state and just picked out an apartment and would like to see if there are any suggestions or feedback that I could get to improve my finances.. I've been out of college for a year and a half now and am living on my own.

    *I'm expecting to spend roughly $2250 on expenses monthly. I added together all my expected fixed rate bills and estimated my variable ones, so it may be lower or higher. This includes everything except unexpected purchases like car repair, entertainment, etc. My apartment is 1280 a month, and though it isn't the cheapest in the area and actually on the higher end, I like it a lot. I don't think I'm in a position that would make sense for me to buy a house yet.

    *I'll be getting $2884.62 every other week. I have 6% (max employer contributions, they give 3% for my 6%) deducted and sent to my 401k, so $2711.54 taxable biweekly. I don't have any other retirement savings set up yet but am hoping to open an IRA once things settle down.

    *I'll be living in Texas, so no state tax, but I expect my Biweekly check to be about $2029.59 after taxes. I used some rough rates, so the actual number will be a bit different.

    *50% is sent to a checking account for bills, 40% is sent to a checking account for spending, and 10% is sent to savings. Im thinking that I should maybe put more from spending into savings..

    *With this said, I looked at my yearly earnings, and expect to take home about $52-53k after tax, spend about $26-27k on expenses, which should net me about $26k a year. This is where I'm confused. I don't know of this is a good amount for what I'm earning or not. Obviously if I could live at home or rent a cheaper apartment I'd make more, but I don't want to rent forever. I don't know anyone in the area so I can't really get a roommate in time, plus I enjoy living alone.

    I lurk here quite often, so I wanted to see if I could get any of advice on if I'm doing this budgeting thing right, and maybe see what I could change. I'd much rather ask here instead of going to a financial advisor. I've seen the big flowchart everyone posts and have followed it somewhat. I saved up 6 month of expenses, and I think I can start investing a little bit, but will worry about that later. Thanks for any input!

    submitted by /u/Jero_The_Hero
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    Lost my job, going back to school on GI Bill soon, anything else I should do?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 03:21 PM PST

    Hey r/personalfinance. I lost my job a few weeks ago and I'm hoping you can help me see if there are any additional actions I should take to ensure my and my wife's stability. I'm 24 years old and living near Portland, Oregon.

    What happened: On November 28th, I slept through my alarm. Again. I've been having sleep problems and that was my final warning. On the 29th, I was terminated. I know it's my fault. My boss didn't want to let me go, said he'd give me a glowing reference if I sought another job, etc. but I had to be let go. I was told the company would not contest an unemployment insurance claim. I've filed and am taking the actions required by the unemployment office, waiting for the first cheque now.

    What I lost: $65k/year with medical, dental, vision, ESPP, 401k contributions, and a job I didn't really like but was good at and tolerated for the benefits.

    What financial obligations I have:

    • Mortgage, utilities, mobile phone, and auto insurance totaling about $2100.
    • One credit card with a balance of $9k.
    • Variable expenses like groceries and pet care for a five-year-old dachshund.

    What I have going for me:

    • Thanks to advice on this sub, I sold my Audi a few months ago and am now driving a paid-off 2002 Subaru.
    • I have (or had, more on that next) $2700 to cover my ass until I have some income.
    • Got about $33k total in retirement savings. No other investments right now.
    • I receive ~$660/mo as a disability payment from the VA.
    • I have a Post-9/11 GI Bill, been told I can get a kicker but I don't really understand it, and I've applied for vocational rehabilitation with the VA which I understand to be like a GI Bill for disabled vets without touching my GI Bill. The housing stipend for a full-time student where I am is $2123/mo. I'm registered for classes and school starts in about a month. I am almost halfway to an electrical engineering degree, and while the earnings potential is decent as an engineer, I don't think I'd be happy doing it. The best option to me right now seems to be to study finance/accounting because the earnings ceiling is high. My buddy lost his job eight years ago, went back to school for accounting, and now owns a million-dollar accounting firm, has a few expensive cars paid off, and a nice house almost paid off.
    • I've been doing voiceover work from my home studio more seriously lately and I've had a few hundred dollars trickle in from that work.
    • My wife works part-time and can cover all of her obligations (credit cards, student loans, etc.).

    What I'm worried about:

    • Some degenerate hacked into my wife's chequing account yesterday morning, transferred every single penny from my linked chequing account to hers and then transferred most of the money out of her account. The transaction is still pending, so it may not even post, but I'm still worried sick over it. I called our credit union, but since my account wasn't the one compromised, I can't do anything. My wife called the CU before I did, told them what's going on, and they ensured her her account is secure and the fraud will be reversed.
    • My family agreed to do a small Christmas even before I lost my job, but I've only bought one gift so far. I love them all very much and I know there are many ways to show them that without spending money, so I'll find a way to give to my family without putting myself in worse straits.
    • My job was providing health care for my wife and me, now I can receive care through the VA, but she's on her own since she works part time. We're planning to sign her up for Oregon Health Plan, but I heard it's the most basic of coverage. I don't know how much it costs.

    I have a plan, and it sounds feasible, but I'm still anxious, depressed, and sleeping terribly (worse than before) every day. Please take a look over it, poke any holes in my plan you can, and let me know where I can improve.

    Thanks in advance.

    edited to add credit card

    submitted by /u/z4x0r
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    I'm a mid-level manager at a department store and don't know how to advance my career.

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 11:56 AM PST

    Hey r/personalfinance, I have the opportunity at my current job to get college classes reimbursed by my employer if I decide to go for a business or marketing degree. I already spent 4 years in college going after a music education degree but due to some weird mental health issues, I had to drop out with $18,000 in loan debt (just finished the loan rehabilitation program and have monthly payments). Now that I'm on medication and have my feet back underneath me, I want to finish school. I don't necessarily want a business degree but it seems like these days any degree is better than no degree.

    I guess what I'm coming to r/personalfinance for is for help understanding how I can maintain a 40 hour/week job to keep my health insurance, pay my loans down, and balance classes at the same time. From my FAFSA, I qualify for a Pell Grant as well. I'm thinking about using the grant to pay for the classes and paying my loan debt down with my employer's reimbursement.

    Any advice would be amazing! Thanks!

    submitted by /u/SwitchToFour
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    401K Issues

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 06:11 PM PST

    Hi All and thanks in advance for the help. I happened to glance at my 401K tonight (it was set up just over a year ago by my business) and was kind of shocked to see that it has a -4.19% growth rate since its inception. It is being managed by this financial guy that is doing everyone at the clinic. I had a couple of other people check and apparently he did the same thing for everyone and basically we have all lost money in a market that is reasonably difficult to lose money in. If it means anything, the entire fund is put into something called American Funds 2050 TD through John Hancock

    I was going to increase my contribution this year but I am not allowing this guy to touch it. I really don't want to have to manage my own 401 K; I currently have two brokerage accounts, lending club, and some other investments that I spend time managing.

    Can I call John Hancock and get someone to help me invest this? Do any of you have any recommendations on moving forward or should I just manage this myself?

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/sab340
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    Graduating college early with no debt! Help me plan my future?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 07:43 PM PST

    Yeah, I have amazing wonderful parents who scrimped and saved so that this could happen. Plus, I had a big scholarship and worked by butt off to get out of there early to save my parents more. Because of this, my parents are going to continue to pay my rent and other expenses until June 1, 2018. I am one lucky duck. How do I make the most of the paid-for time until June, and what do I do after, to set myself on the best path?

    I've applied to grad school for the fall. If I get in, it's fully-funded, and while I'll have to live frugally, I should be able to live off of just that funding for 3 years. I'll just need to finance the move to school and securing a place to live before I start to get paid.

    If I don't get in (much more likely - I applied to difficult programs), I want to be able to afford to move to NYC. I know that's almost as expensive as it gets, but that's the goal.

    My lease is up in August, which leaves me with 3 months of rent and expenses to pay for on my own until either grad school or hopefully-NYC.

    Job situation: Paid internship in my field making $550/month About to start additional part-time job in my field making about $1,200/month Total monthly income: $1750/month

    Bank account balance starting in January: $3,200

    Debts: nothing of any kind!

    Expenses from January to June 1: Only leisure/misc expenses, parents covering all else. I could definitely limit myself to a $600 budget for the 6 months and be more than fine. I could also splurge and spend $1,200 in the 6 months, but I would never spend more than that.

    Expenses from June 1 to Aug 31: Rent: $730/month Utilities: usually $85/month Transportation: $120/month Total medical costs: $100/month (will still be on school insurance) Gym membership: $45/month Groceries: Here's one of my big questions. How much? Right now, with my parents reimbursing me, I spend about $200/month. That's with me not limiting myself in any way. I'm physically tiny and could eat just fine as low as $80/month, if I really planned and made some sacrifices. Leisure/misc: could spend $100/month. Could also stop going out as much and really cut down here, maybe to $40/month? (parents will be paying phone bill) One time expense: In August, I'll need to buy another year of daily contact lenses. It's pricey but super worth it in my opinion. $300.

    Total summer expenses, lowest and highest estimates: $3900 to $4440

    I will be leaving both jobs at the end of August, having made something like $11,500 total after taxes. So, with my current bank balance, minus both the high and low ends of what I could spend between June and August, I will end August with around $10,000.

    This is plenty to go to grad school with, but the idea of moving to NYC on this amount seems risky. Am I right on that? I would be splitting an apartment with a friend, and we've discussed trying to stick to a $1000-$1200/month budget for rent (yeah I know we're going to end up in an absolutely terrible apartment, but that's ok). I think I would get a job pretty quickly in New York, based on how easily I've gotten internships and work in college, and could do cashier type work if not. But is $10,000 enough to fall back on? (If something went horribly wrong, I would be able to move back in with my parents, which is another very lucky thing, I know.)

    However, I might also be able to add to the $10,000 before I move out of my current city. I'm looking into some creative smaller income streams. Or maybe a weekend minimum wage job (although that might get exhausting and ultimately make me more stressed than it's worth, as I'm working 40 hours/week + 10 hours/week commuting, and have never done a full-time schedule before).

    So basically, my questions here: How much should I spend on food in the summer? On fun/misc stuff for the full 7 months? Is $10,000 an okay savings to move to NYC with, if I don't get into grad school, or should I be more aggressive in pursuing additional income? How much is "enough" for that move, with a roommate, but without a for-sure job waiting there?

    Should I look into investing? Should I start saving for retirement? Should I do a bit of both, and how much?

    What should my future be??? Thank you!!!

    submitted by /u/distinguishablepen
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    Should I be investing money if I don't have a lot to invest?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 07:38 PM PST

    I make about $2,000/mo. On a strict budget (meaning, a month without special outings or extra expenses) I spend about $1,000/mo and can save the rest. I am saving up for particular things, so I would rather use "excess spending money" toward investing than take away from my savings account budgets.
    Is it worthwhile to invest $75-$100/mo? If so, how should I do this? If not, what is the minimum amount you would recommend and how would you then recommend that I invest it?

    Some info that may be useful:
    - 26 years old.
    - No debt.
    - I live in America.
    - I know nothing about investing and have no experience.
    - I am pretty good at disciplining myself when it comes to money.

    submitted by /u/Thaedora
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    Kicked out and need advice.

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 08:00 AM PST

    Long-winded, thank you to whomever has advice!!

    Six months ago, almost exactly, for reasons I could not control, I and another sibling were kicked out of our family's home. I am a 21 yr old college student and the repercussions of the past 6 months are these, I have a...

    *$5,000 school subsidized loan borrowed 3 months ago *$2,500 school unsubsidized (I am not paying the mo. interest accrued currently) borrowed 3 months ago **$6,400 Honda from the dealership, 23%APR due to no money down, age, and no credit score at the time, $180 mo. payments began 5 months ago

    I do have a semi-decent place to live, but my issue now is that due to the rigorous coursework I have and the nature of my job I am only taking in ~$600 a month and have expenses of at least $1,100 per month. I have just under $2,000 in my account now and need to get a private loan (because I can't get another loan through school until the end of August).

    Since getting the boot six months ago, I did pick up a credit card and the loans mentioned above so my credit score is now between 700-710. Those numbers from CreditKarma that shows Equifax and TransUnion.

    My account starts to go in the red by February, advice?

    submitted by /u/tatertotparkinglot
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    Need a reliable car with a couple months, but don’t want to borrow money to get it. Advice?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 05:01 AM PST

    Recently, my truck got stolen and gutted (Fuck you, Atlanta). Now, I'm looking at a new (to me) vehicle.

    I, personally, would prefer to pay cash and be done with it because I don't want to borrow money (already having debt related to school), but my parents are concerned that anything in my price range ($4-6k) isn't reliable enough for me drive out to CA when my job moves me out there early next year. They are also against me paying cash and draining my savings account on an old, high mileage vehicle that could, very soon after purchase, need a major repair or leave me stranded out in Bumfuck on my way out to CA.

    Based on the criteria my parents would like to see in a vehicle I buy, I'd be spending $12-15k (putting about $3-4K down and financing the rest).

    What are some of your opinions on how I should handle this situation?

    submitted by /u/WombatTears
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    Is an HSA contribution outside of my payroll taxed or handled differently for deductions?

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 05:34 PM PST

    It is the end of the year and I managed to pay off the rest of my student loans and have some extra money I would like to put into my HSA. If I make a contribution now with money that is has already been taxed how will the deduction be handled? Will it be different than money that was deducted from payroll.

    submitted by /u/Roharcyn1
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    Asking advice for investment/tax optimization

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 05:09 PM PST

    Hi,

    My wife and I have been successful in our careers and have made it to a situation that I find sort of odd. We earn over $200k as a family, have a house that is affordable, put 10+% into our 401K but are still getting hit hard with having to pay in on our taxes every year. Our W4 are set up with no dependents but have not added in extra withholding.

    My question is are there any other avenues we should be using to help optimize our tax situation. Not asking for tax avoidance but just want to make sure I have maximized all my options and pay what is fair. Our tax preparers have mentioned that we should avoid Roth 401k since our household income is high but I am skeptical.

    Thanks for any ideas.

    submitted by /u/Bplayer55
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    US - 15 year old wondering how best to invest $1500.

    Posted: 10 Dec 2017 06:38 PM PST

    I've had a job for a couple of months now and had around $1500 saved up before. I'm planning on keeping a couple hundred on hand in a savings account for payments for school trips / unexpected expenses, but how could I best invest $1500 to help with future financial security? I'm interested in something that would have high turnouts in the long run (potentially as far away as 30-50 years), and I just don't really know what would be by best bet. There doesn't seem to be any information available online of people around my age wanting to invest similar amounts for similar purposes. Thanks in advance for all the help, feel free to ask any questions for clarification.

    submitted by /u/twgecko02
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