Personal Finance Weekday Help Thread for the week of January 01, 2018 |
- Weekday Help Thread for the week of January 01, 2018
- Minimum wage just raised to $14, how can I bring up a relevent raise to my pay?
- Helluva way to start off a new year: I paid off all of my credit card debt from my stupider years.
- I just saved myself $130/month!
- Equifax Now Allows All Consumers To Lock & Unlock Their Credit Report For Free.
- Received a job offer, can't tell if it is legitimate.
- Warning for Books A Million shoppers (X-Post from R/Books)
- Double check your Uber/Lyft charges from New Years
- [Insurance] Today should be a happy day, but honestly I'm just pissed. Advice Needed.
- YNAB is giving students a year-long free trial
- Life is like war, Money is like bullets
- My dad unexpectedly passed away. Need help...
- Friendly reminder that the max 401k contribution for 2018 is $18,500 (+$500 from last year)
- My carefully selected and managed portfolio gained 20.2% last year, very close to the overall market return. Should I have just put it all in an index fund?
- Suddenly have $2k in cryptocurrency; no idea how to sell -- help!
- Just paid off 80k in student loan debt lump sum about 5 months ago. How does this affect my tax return with respect to a 1098-E? I'm located in Portland, Oregon.
- Upped my 401k contribution!!
- What to do with saved money
- Pay off student loan or save for emergency fund?
- Scammed by Enterprise Car Rental
- Is continuing education worth it?
- In the coming weeks I'm sure we will be seeing a lot of questions about filing your taxes and other tax related questions. My question is, would it be better for most people to use a simple filing website like turbo tax or should we spend the extra money to have an actual person do our taxes?
- Late start to my 401k. Is doubling my contribution to catch up a bad idea?
- Upgraded phones on Sprint using a BOGO deal on phones but now they're saying the offer wasn't legitimate.
- Made poor car insurance choices, now I don't have enough coverage
| Weekday Help Thread for the week of January 01, 2018 Posted: 01 Jan 2018 05:10 AM PST If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.While we never remove posts just because a question is answered in the wiki, this thread is a low-key place to ask any question no matter how "moronic" you think it might be. Make a top-level comment if you want to ask a question! Also, please don't downvote "moronic" questions! If you have not received your answer within 24 hours, you can feel free to start a discussion. A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! For past help threads, please search the Weekly Archive. [link] [comments]  |
| Minimum wage just raised to $14, how can I bring up a relevent raise to my pay? Posted: 02 Jan 2018 06:30 AM PST The wordings a bit rough, but essentially minimum wage just went from $11.40 to $14 (In Ontario, Canada). I have a job as an Analyst in a lab, and my starting pay was $14 (before the wage went up). After 3 months, it was automatically going to be re-negotiated to $14.50 (which will be sometime this month), but now i'm wondering if I can try for something that reflects the current minimum. How can I go about bringing this up to my boss? How would I even word it, or argue for it? Edit: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for sharing your advice! I can't believe this exploaded the way it did, but I honestly appreciate each and every comment. To do a mini update, here's my plan of action : Nothing! Not in a bad sense however! I recognize this is in inopportune time for such a talk, and that my value as a worker does not necessarily reflect upon what others around me make. Rather, its a reflection of what I bring to the table, and should be compensated accordingly. Now, this beind said, staying in this job isn't my long term goals. I'll let the dust settle, garner as much experiance as I can in this field, and polish up the ol'resume to start finding a career that suits my needs and pays me the good monies. Its known where I work that you have to fight for every cent, which isn't really my forte, nor do I wish to do so. I'll work my way up to the next level of Analyst (Intermediate requires 2-3 years exp), and cast my net out in search of greener lands (heres looking at you big pharma), but damn if I won't be sending out resumes all the while. Again, thank you all for the advice! I really appreciate it, and wish y'all a happy new year! Please accept a photo of my cat, Her Ladyship, Nori, as an appeasment for the fact that I can't get around to replying to everyone : https://imgur.com/gallery/8wh4h [link] [comments]  |
| Helluva way to start off a new year: I paid off all of my credit card debt from my stupider years. Posted: 02 Jan 2018 02:01 PM PST I finally paid off the last maxed out card debt I had been carrying from my dumber, less financially responsible years yesterday. The only card we have now is a Sapphire Reserve we pay in full every month. It ain't FI/RE, but it's a helluva lot closer to financial independence than I used to be. This is a milestone I didn't think I'd reach for years. Thanks for the support and guidance, y'all. [link] [comments]  |
| I just saved myself $130/month! Posted: 02 Jan 2018 12:41 PM PST Happy New Year /r/personalfinance! 32/F/fully employed here. I decided to save myself $130/month by changing two things. For my car insurance, I went from paying $102/month with Progressive to paying $70/month with Geico for the same exact coverage. Additionally, I decided to quit a monthly yoga studio membership for $99/month for an at-home, free yoga practice (thanks, Youtube)! With the extra cash, I will be paying down one of my two credit cards (the other one I pay off in full each month). Hopefully, I will have that paid off by June! On a side note, I'm also excited to pay off a debt consolidation loan this September. I have been paying off this $20,000 loan for the past four years. The end is in sight and honestly, I never thought I would get to his point. Here's to a debt-free 2018! [link] [comments]  |
| Equifax Now Allows All Consumers To Lock & Unlock Their Credit Report For Free. Posted: 02 Jan 2018 11:00 AM PST Equifax has recently added the ability to Lock & Unlock your credit report for free using their TrustedID Premier service. After verifying my SSN, I can confirm it is working and am now able to monitor my equifax credit report and lock/unlock my credit report.
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| Received a job offer, can't tell if it is legitimate. Posted: 02 Jan 2018 09:10 AM PST Hello everyone. I apologize if this isn't the place for this, but I am just looking for some guidance, and I always see great people on this sub. So I have been applying like crazy for jobs in the Orlando, FL area. I have been using sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, as well as individual sites for companies. Last week, I applied for a Data Entry position on Indeed for a decent sized company (will remain nameless for now). The job fits well within my resume, as I have worked as a medical office coordinator as well as a research specialist, so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that I garner interest from them. Here is where the "too good to be true" part comes in. It is a work-from-home position. Completely flexible as to what hours and how many hours you work. The pay seems quite high to me, as I've been low-middle class my whole life. Training pay is $24/hour, and bumps up to $28/hour after training is complete. And, after sending in my application and getting a response to set up an interview time, they give me an info letter about the job that says they will send me a MacBook (complete with software I will need to work with) and a printer to complete the job, at no cost to me whatsoever. I know, seems pretty awesome. I am rightfully suspicious. Like I said, I have applied for a ton of jobs recently, and a bunch of them have proved to be not reputable or not what they seem on the outside after a quick Google search or reading some reviews on GlassDoor. However, I do as much research as I can think of on this position. I looked into the company itself, and it is a real, publicly traded company. I looked into the person who sent me the email originally, and found her on the company's website as well as LinkedIn, both showing the position she claims to have. I looked into the position itself, and found nothing. I have found reviews of the company and various jobs within it, but nothing specific about a Data Entry position from home. Reviews for the company as a whole were generally favorable, though. Cautiously, I set up an interview time. No private information was given at all, beyond what is included in my resume. She informs me that we will be conducting the interview through Google Hangouts. Nothing too fishy yet. The day of the interview comes, and I log onto Gmail to go in the interview. I am expecting a video conference call, so I am dressed to impress. The interview was at 11am, and I was signed in and ready to go at 10:45am. She did not come to the interview until about 11:50am, where she apologized for the delay. No reason given. She then informs me that the entirety of the interview will be a typing/chat interview, as I will be doing a lot of typing in the position and they need to evaluate my skills. I guess this is fair, but this is rather unconventional in my experience. But, like I said, nothing too fishy so far, so I participate. All the questions were standard interview questions really, nothing too out of the ordinary. I am able to ask her questions after, and she answers them to the best of her ability. During this portion, she informed me that this work-from-home position is brand new, as they have expanded their software as their company has grown. After the interview concludes, she asks for something to verify my identity and my address, but nothing more. I send her a scan of my driver's license. Felt a little strange about it, but I did not provide anything that I felt they could steal my identity from. Today, I received an offer letter from the HR department, congratulating me on being hired. All I had to do was sign the letter (which outlined pay and the benefits package) and send it back. I did so. We will see what happens next. To break it down, here are the pros and cons: Pros: job flexibility, work from home, pay is great. If this was a scam of some kind, I cannot figure out the endgame, or why they would wait so long to pull the trigger (this process has taken about a week now). The company and employees check out, and I verified their address on the letter with their headquarters. All legit. Cons: This process seems really strange to me. I did not talk to anyone via phone or video at all. The pay and job perks seem to good to be true. Their emails contain some (not a ton, but noticeable) typos. I'm really at a loss for if this is a legitimate job. Am I crazy to think it is? Am I crazy to think it isn't? I'll be happy to answer questions or clarify on anything that I can. TL;DR: I got a job offer from a company that is basically too good to be true, they haven't asked for any private info yet, the application/interview process is strange, and I cannot tell if they are for real or not. EDIT: Called their customer service line, was able to get a direct line to HR. Spoke with an HR rep, and he informed me that this was, in fact a scam. Thank you so much for the sound advice everyone. Back to the job hunt I go. [link] [comments]  |
| Warning for Books A Million shoppers (X-Post from R/Books) Posted: 02 Jan 2018 10:15 AM PST A few months ago I went Christmas shopping at Books A Million (BAM.) At checkout they offered a free trial magazine subscription to a selection of magazines. I ask if I have to do anything to cancel when it ends. They say no. I then say "That makes sense, it's not like they have my credit card info right?" The employee replies "Right." So I sign up and enjoy the free magazines. Today I check my bank account for something and find a $16 charge from one of the magazines. I immediately call and cancel all subscriptions and my membership to BAM. TL/DR Books A Million gives out your credit card info to 3rd parties without asking you. Don't sign up for "Free" anything from them. Also, is there a more appropriate subreddit to put this? I can't think of any. Just thought to warn my fellow book fans. Mainly upset about them sharing my card info without permission. [link] [comments]  |
| Double check your Uber/Lyft charges from New Years Posted: 02 Jan 2018 01:38 PM PST When I requested my Lyft, the price was about $30 on NYE with the app estimate. However, when the charge went through this morning, it was for over $60. I contacted customer support and they remedied the issue immediately, but still double check yours as well - I think the surge pricing charged wasn't accurate with the estimate. [link] [comments]  |
| [Insurance] Today should be a happy day, but honestly I'm just pissed. Advice Needed. Posted: 02 Jan 2018 10:49 AM PST Long story incoming, I'm at a total loss for how to handle this, and any insight from people who have been through the ringer of US healthcare would be deeply appreciated right now. A week and a half ago, our two-year old son bit into a clothes hanger and punctured his bottom gum. It didn't appear too bad at the time, didn't really bleed or anything. So we googled mouth wound care and kept a close eye on it for the next couple days as it continued to improve day after day. Then on Christmas Eve, he woke up with a huge swollen spot on his neck. So we took him to urgent care that we knew was in network and had him checked out. They were concerned about the neck abscess growing rapidly and potentially causing breathing issues so they sent us to the ER at the only local Children's Hospital and told us it was in-network for our insurance (Blue Cross). After a couple hours in the ER, we discovered it was not in fact in network. But the ER doctors were equally concerned and stressed that he needed pediatric ENT surgery to drain the abscess before it caused any respiratory issues. So despite their best efforts to work with us to find an alternative facility that would be in-network, on Christmas Eve we didn't have any other options. This was the only hospital in the area with pediatric ENT surgeons. Tried to call our insurance upfront to get it approved, and they were, of course, closed for the holiday. Tried calling every number on their website, and finally left a message that was never responded to. So that ended up being an ER visit, ultrasound which discovered the abscess, surgery, and a 4-day hospital stay since the infection had reached his bloodstream. I've been unable to get a clear answer from insurance about if they'll make an exception given the circumstances, the best I've got is that they're discussing with the hospital to determine if the surgery was necessary or not. Then to add insult to injury, we just had our second son on New Years Day. And our insurance from last year is discontinuing personal plans in 2018, so our only other option has a premium that's nearly double (from $500 - $900) and the cost of delivery doubles as well from $3K to $6.5K. And our deductible resets because we had a baby 14 hours too late. Based on other stories around here, we're fully expecting that ER visit, surgery, and 4-day stay to be anywhere from $50K - $500K. Then another $6.5K for our delivery visit. What are our options here? Bankruptcy? A lifetime of debt for us and our kids? Desperately want some hope. And for goodness sakes, let's get single payer in the US, eh? This is ridiculous. [link] [comments]  |
| YNAB is giving students a year-long free trial Posted: 02 Jan 2018 06:37 PM PST Not sure if this is widely known because I found out today by my dad's coworker. Just thought I'd share it here in case a student like me has been wanting to use it but was turned off by the price. It didn't ask me for any proof of being a student, but I did use my student email so I'm sure it bases it off of that. It also didn't ask me for any credit card info at all. I just googled "YNAB student trial" and it came up. [link] [comments]  |
| Life is like war, Money is like bullets Posted: 02 Jan 2018 03:21 PM PST Along time ago someone posted this on a web forum, and it is a good quote to keep in mind. Trouble can strike at anytime and sometimes it strikes multiple times at once. Washing machine breaks, car battery dies, dog needs to go to the vet. Maybe your friends and family can help but we all know that has a limit. You have to face the cold hard truth that the only person you can count on is yourself. Also think about this as you waste those limited lifesaving "bullets" when you spend $5-10 a day on unnecessary things like eating out, that pack of cigarettes, or overpriced cup of coffee. Just $5 a day is $150 a month, that's $900 in 6 months. I think we are all guilty of indulging in unnecessary pleasures, myself included. We must keep in mind such things are a treat, and making it a habit will eat up money fast. That very money might be what saves you when the chaos of life throws some trouble your way. I just wanted to share this for the new year as I've calculated how much I've been wasting on those daily stops at the gas station on the way home and I want to change this. Best of luck to everyone with your financial goals this year. [link] [comments]  |
| My dad unexpectedly passed away. Need help... Posted: 02 Jan 2018 10:04 AM PST Hi Reddit, My dad unexpectedly passed away a few weeks ago and we've been left trying to figure out what to do next. My mom and I have been struggling with finances, as he earned 80% of their income. His employment was a bit complicated, he was a consultant/physician so to my belief he was mostly self-employed and/or contracted by various hospitals and clinics. We currently have 2 houses with extremely high monthly payments and a diminishing bank account (my mom will likely take some time off of work). We've cancelled flights, gym memberships, hotels, car lease, etc but trying to figure out what else we're missing. My dad was good with money, but we're not sure how to find his 401, social security benefits, retirement funds, etc etc. He was also a duel citizen with USA/Canada so we're wondering if he has benefits in CA as well. I'm rambling, but we're lost and I'm turning to reddit for some sort of help or direction. I just don't know where to begin or how else to help my Mom. Any advice is incredibly appreciated. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Friendly reminder that the max 401k contribution for 2018 is $18,500 (+$500 from last year) Posted: 02 Jan 2018 05:35 PM PST I haven't seen any posts about this yet on here so figured I would give everyone the friendly reminder especially if you are like me and have it setup as a deduction from your paycheck for a specific amount which now needs to be increased. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2018 04:47 PM PST I'm 32, single w/no kids, and the modest mortgage I took out on my home 3 years ago is my only real debt. My combined investments ended 2017 at about $112,000, the large majority of which are in ETFs with costs in the 0.20-0.60% range. I have 75% in domestic equity (split among large/mid/small and value/growth), 10% bond fund, 10% international, and 5% tech sector (ticker FDN). While I feel a market correction or recession is bound to occur at some point, I am content with my allocation. I am old enough to have successfully stayed the course through 2008, and young enough to stay the course should it happen again. As the title said, my 2017 returns are quite close to the overall markets'. I realize part of that is because my portfolio's composition does mirror the broader market, so similar returns should be expected. But I'm trying to figure out what the benefit is to me of my current allocation versus a portfolio that's much heavier on low-cost index funds. I'm not seeking to make a rash decision such as selling my funds off now and moving to index fund ETFs, particularly because I'd have to claim a large chunk of capital gains. I'm more in the mindset of considering that option should a market correction occur, where I could move monies around with little tax consequence. Is it worth it to keep the diversity I have? [link] [comments]  |
| Suddenly have $2k in cryptocurrency; no idea how to sell -- help! Posted: 02 Jan 2018 01:36 PM PST When I was in college I would do things on MTURK and for a while when Stellar was launching I got paid in Lumens. With the recent price spike, I've gone from roughly $20 in lumens to $2,000. I don't really care to see how high this spike goes, as an extra $2k right now would go a long way in paying off my credit card debt and starting off 2018 on a really great foot. How do I go about selling this for USD? I've been looking at exchanges but it's all greek to me and I don't want to get scammed! Also, if you had a random but small windfall like this, would you pay off debt, pay off most of debt and invest some, or what? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2018 02:15 PM PST 80k Private Student Loan paid off lump sum. Trying to get a sense of the tax implications here. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2018 04:29 PM PST Hello all! Thanks to this sub I've been getting more responsible with money! Previously I've contributed 6% to my traditional 401k to get the employer match. Today, I made the decision to up that to 10% and split 50/50 between my traditional and a Roth! Yay :) thank you all! My situation isn't perfect, but I'm happy that I made this decision! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2018 06:24 PM PST I have about $6000 saved up from working that I haven't touched. I've been really tempted to blow it all on stupid shit but know I shouldn't. Should I keep saving up for when I move out? Invest? Not sure where to start. For reference, I'm 20 living at home and going to college, so pretty much all of my expenses are being paid for by parents. [link] [comments]  |
| Pay off student loan or save for emergency fund? Posted: 02 Jan 2018 02:48 PM PST I am going to sell my car which has between $8-10k in equity. With this money, should I pay off my student loans or save it for an emergency fund? I currently have two student loans for a total of $6,022 with interest rates of 3.4% and 4.3%. I do not have any emergency funds saved up. I would appreciate some help in this decision. Thanks r/personalfinance! Edit: my current monthly student loan payment is $45 and the term lasts about another 7-8 years. [link] [comments]  |
| Scammed by Enterprise Car Rental Posted: 02 Jan 2018 07:10 PM PST I had to rent a car since I was rear ended by someone with no insurance. My insurer, Geico, tells me to get to Enterprise and give them my policy # since I will get a reduced rate. The lady at the desk tries to add additional damage insurance to my rental rate and I refused it. She tells me that this is required per Geico and I cannot refuse the additional insurance or else the rate would be significantly higher. I believed her. At the end of the rental period, I find out from my adjuster that this was complete BS. The employee is now claiming she never said this and the manager won't help. Any ideas what I can do to get my money back or am I just screwed? [link] [comments]  |
| Is continuing education worth it? Posted: 02 Jan 2018 05:53 PM PST Hello all! I hope this is the right place to post. I'm currently 26 and an Executive Assistant to the CEO of a small plastics and chemicals company. I mainly do administrative, logistics, and commercial support. I also have a B.S. in Advertising & Mass Communications and worked as a Marketing Coordinator before this job. I'm enjoying my job and the field I'm working in and have been looking into continuing education and looking into applying for project coordinator roles in the future and would like to get into the project management aspect. I looked into Rice University's project management continuing education courses and I'm interested, but I'm worried continuing education will have no real effect on advancing my career and will be money down the drain. Can anyone shed some light on this subject for me please? [Edit: I love my job, but there's no upward mobility or chance of a raise] [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2018 11:34 AM PST Mine and my wife's will be fairly straight forward. Income, mortgage and college. We don't have anything else really off the wall and we don't have kids. we have always used turbo tax and i'm just curious if I would "find" more deductions having a professional go through everything or if I should just keep doing It like I always do? [link] [comments]  |
| Late start to my 401k. Is doubling my contribution to catch up a bad idea? Posted: 02 Jan 2018 12:35 PM PST Started my first full time job at 24 and nobody told me about the benefits of contributing to a 401k. Fast forward, I'm now 27 and only started contributing 10% of my income 15 months into my employment at age 26. I am looking to make up for those missed contributions and think it's possible in my current situation. Grossing $4416 Net $2520 Rent $825 Electric $50 Cable $75 Groceries $300 In order to catch up, i believe i will have to double my current contribution from 10% to 20% and contribute around $880 instead of $420 the next 15 months. The reason I believe I can do this is because I currently have $40,000 in my savings. I am a compulsive saver and live well below my means. Is this a bad idea, or should i just tell myself better late than never? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Jan 2018 07:24 AM PST A few months back my family all upgraded our phones together at a Sprint store location and used a deal they were promoting at the time of buy a Samsung Galaxy 8s and get a Samsung Edge 7 for free. We bought two SG 8s (on lease) to get two free SE 7 but we're still paying for the allegedly free phones months after with no resolution despite having called customer service numerous times. When finally after months of asking, one of their reps told me that the deal was only for people adding new lines, not for upgrading. Meaning, we weren't and aren't qualified for the deal we had thought we upgraded with. I've been back to the original Sprint store that sold us the deal and they said they couldn't do anything but submit a complaint to their manager who might or might not resolve our issue. So basically TLDR, the store sold us a deal that we were ineligible for because one of their sales rep didn't understand the promos completely. Now my question is, is there any governmental agency I can also put a complaint into to help expedite the process? Something like the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but more appropriate for my situation with Sprint? [link] [comments]  |
| Made poor car insurance choices, now I don't have enough coverage Posted: 02 Jan 2018 06:25 PM PST Hello. I recently got into a car accident that was completely my fault and the car from the other party seems to be totaled (according to the police, the insurance company has not called anything yet). I have esurance liability only and they only cover 25,000 for property damage, but the car that was wrecked is a brand new 2018 Honda Odyssey. They also needed an Uber to a far away destination and even get a rental car since they were out of town. I'm freaking out about how I'm going to pay for the rest since I just started my job and have no rainy day funds. My personal car repair costs are around 10,000 and I can't even afford that so I'm just going to tow it to my house and leave it there. For now I'm going to bike to work since Ubering everyday is too expensive. Any advice would be helpful, I appreciate anyone who takes there time to reply. [link] [comments]  |
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