Personal Finance Tax Thursday Thread for the week of February 08, 2018 |
- Tax Thursday Thread for the week of February 08, 2018
- In Defense of the 30 Year Mortgage (Because Children, and Other Financial Calamities)
- I am so thankful of this sub!
- Tmobile Users - Add Port out protection password to your line. Only takes a minute
- I got hired with the stipulation that I would be promoted in 6 months if I passed an eval. I passed and my 12 month review came in but no raise.
- Help. My parents think they are in the right to keep claiming me. 24 working full time
- Leaving college with a BA in Psychology, 50k in student debt, and a starting job salary of 30k/yr. (care manager) Did I just royally screw myself?
- Paid off the only debt I had. What is a "hard to screw up" way to build credit?
- Amazon Charge Back Claim - Claims We Owe Hundreds
- Company I have worked for the past 3 years changed me from a W-2 employee to a 1099 employee or "contractor" what does that mean for me?
- Probably Stupid Question about free life insurance offered by my credit unions... worth signing up for? (45M, no dependents)
- 40-yo / family of 5 / Yearly Income ~$38k / Need advice on job opportunity in order to avoid "benefits cliff"
- I’m looking to start planning for retirement and I’m not sure what would be the better option for a 20 year old in my situation. (Keep in mind I know nothing about investing)
- Alaska, mother died, no funds, what do?
- I am about to hire a friend to watch my daughter two days a week. I'd like to count this cost towards childcare tax credit but what should I know?
- Deferred Compensation/Roth/Pension Balance
- Identity Theft Escalating - Any Next Steps?
- MIL lives in house with us full time after my FIL went into a nursing home. How do I start the process to get her registered as a childcare provider so I can use my FlexSpending/HSA to pay her as she watches my kids all the time?
- After disputing a charge, was charged again for the same thing immediately after.
- Help! Paid under the table question about taxes!
- Cashed out an insurance policy and am going to need to pay taxes on it next year. What do I do with it?
- Unpaid Pre-Interview Work?
- Do you have a specific dream for when you retire of something that you can't do now?
- Sick student just informed I temporarily don't have health insurance. How do I pay for treatment?
- Short on cash? Don't knock local yard sale sites.
| Tax Thursday Thread for the week of February 08, 2018 Posted: 08 Feb 2018 05:07 AM PST Please read the PF tax wiki page to see if your question is answered there before posting.This weekly cross-sub thread will be posted through mid-April to give subscribers a chance to ask basic tax-related questions in a consolidated thread. We are also very lucky to have some folks from /r/accounting and /r/tax joining us here to help out. Since taxes can be a very complex topic, the main goal is to point people in the right direction, provide helpful information, and answer questions. (Please note that there is no protection under §7525 or attorney-client relationship when discussing matters in posts on a message board. Consult a reputable tax advisor in person if your situation demands it.) Make a top-level comment if you want to ask a tax-related question! If your question isn't answered here within a day or two, please start a new discussion. For all of the Tax Thursday threads from this year, check out the Weekly Archive. [link] [comments]  |
| In Defense of the 30 Year Mortgage (Because Children, and Other Financial Calamities) Posted: 08 Feb 2018 09:58 AM PST I'm about five years into a 30 year mortgage, three years into a daughter and one year into a son. A recent budget refresh led me to to revisit old choices. The fact that I took out a 30-year rather than 15-year mortgage five years ago was hugely important for reasons I didn't fully anticipate at the time. I'll get into it more, but the tl;dr is young couples should value flexibility as much as long-horizon economizing when making big-ticket commitments. Let it be said: the 15-year mortgage is almost always the better financial choice, if you are a money-bot. You may get a slightly lower interest rate. You obviously pay much less interest over the life of the loan. I'm not here to argue with any of that, because it is all true. And yet. The monthly P&I payment on a 15-year mortgage is 50-60% higher than that on a 30-year mortgage (assuming an interest rate in the neighborhood of 4%). For a $200k mortgage, that's a difference of about $500/month. And for many people, that 15-year window coincides with peak childbearing years. In the last three years I have been on maternity leave twice, for a total of 22 unpaid weeks (thanks, America!). My husband suffered an injury at work that left him on workman's comp for several months. Did you know that workman's comp only pays 2/3 of your wages? I do now! And dear god, daycare. I live in a relatively low COL part of the country, but I'm still spending nearly $2k/month so my children can go to the daycare with the big playground, good food, and nice teachers rather than the $1.2k/month daycare where they watch tv and bite each other. But this is a happy story of budgeting gone right. Although our emergency fund is almost depleted, it got us through three work interruptions. I recently decreased my workload to a 30-hour week, because that is a choice that makes sense for our priorities right now. It would not have been possible, however, to weather the last three years and enjoy this work/life balance with quality daycare, had I signed that 15-year mortgage. Our budget works, but just barely. That ~$500/month commitment would have forced me to either work more hours or sacrifice daycare quality. It's a choice I'm very glad not to make. Before kids, I paid extra towards principle, such that my 30-year mortgage is now more like a 28-year mortgage. I intend to do the same once daycare is over and I can comfortably work more hours. It's an option, but it's voluntary, and can be dialed up or down in concert with life's other demands. As a late-20s DINK, I could have built a totally rational case for the 15-year mortgage. Mid-30s me is very glad I didn't. YMMV, obviously. However I see an awful lot of advice here that seems more enamoured with spreadsheet satisfaction than the vagarities of life. Some of y'all may appreciate the lived counterpoint. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 05:35 PM PST I have been a major lurker of /r/personalfinance and want to give a huge thank you to everyone on this sub as I have learned so much about personal finance! Long story short 2016 was a major year for me. Extremely stressful and also life changing. I ended the year with my credit card nearly maxed at $12,495.74. Im happy to say that today I made my final, large, payment towards my card. Im sitting at $296 and will have that portion paid off come next Friday! The money that I have been putting towards my credit card will now go towards my student loan and I hope to have that closed out as soon as I possibly can. So thank you for having all of this information out there for people to learn! [link] [comments]  |
| Tmobile Users - Add Port out protection password to your line. Only takes a minute Posted: 08 Feb 2018 08:14 AM PST Not sure if this is the right place to post this but this can potentially impact you financially if you are a Tmobile user and don't call 611 to add an account password and port out protection to your line. Right now I'm going through the process of having all my credit cards cancelled, my checking account frozen and having to deal with the Chase Fraud department on a daily basis. So far they have been largely incompetent in their dealing with the matter with their weekend reps seeming a little clueless as to how to handle such cases to protect their customers. Without port out protection it is possible for your number to be ported by a hacker to another carrier. The scary thing is how many services you have tied to your cell phone including email, banking services, shopping services, etc. With your cell phone number your email can potentially be hacked with a text verification. With a combination of email / your cell phone number your banking information can all be reset. Imagine you spend a lot of time to have a safe password for your banking and email and change them on a regular basis and someone gets around all that by just porting out your number from your carrier. So if you are on Tmobile - think of a 6 digit minimum PIN number for your account password. Call 611 and ask to add Port Out Protection as well as an account password. Remember that password because it will be needed whenever you call Tmobile customer service or want to port your number out in the future. This only takes a minute and will save you a lot of hassle in the future. I believe ATT already has account passwords. I don't know anything about other carriers. What I learned from the experience and would do differently. I would not have wasted so much time calling Tmobile trying to get my number back. Definitely still call so that Tmobile is notified of the fraudulent port because they need to open a fraudulent port case which will get your number shut down. But I think I was waiting on hold with them for over 45 minutes for stupid things that were not necessary. I thought they could port the number back right away but it is a 24 hour process since Tmobile no longer owns the line. I would have instead spent more of my time to remove my cell phone number from all my email accounts being sure I had secondary ways of verifying my identity because you don't want to lock yourself out of your own email. Secondary ways can be another email account or your SO's cell phone number. I would have removed my cell phone from all my banking institutions right away and added secondary ways of identifying myself. Then I would triple check those accounts - some allow you to see where you are logged in from and at what times to be sure everything is legit. In Yahoo email you can sign out all accounts. Same with Gmail. Do that only if you have your secondary verification methods in place and see logins you do not recognize since you don't want to lock yourself out of your email account by accident. Current status - it took me 24 hours to get my cell phone number ported back from Verizon. All my Chase credit cards were cancelled and new ones sent out. My Chase checking account is frozen as they investigate a Chase Quickpay that was made during this time. I had to transfer additional money into my Chase since I would have been overdrawn because of that fraudulent Quickpay but since they froze my account from any outgoing transfers I realize that really did not matter and instead I should have changed my automatic payments to the other account. And now with the account frozen I can't get the money back and Chase won't unfreeze the account. TLDR - if are on Tmobile call 611 and add port out protection to your line to save yourself a lot of hassle. edit - here is Tmobile's FAQ on the matter with - https://t-mo.co/secure [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 06:52 PM PST Company wouldn't hire me as a senior because of my NDAs so we put a stipulation in for a 6 month review for a senior role as part of my offer. I made the cut for senior with flying colors and was promoted in 6 months. The pay bump wasn't what I was expecting or asked for, but I got my promotion. I'll take it. Another 6 months down the road I get my yearly review from the date of hire, again, passed with flying colors. I got almost the maximum score (they give % raises based on points earned). But they said they weren't going to give me the raise until 1 year after my promotion, as that is now my new yearly review raises. I get the company can do whatever they want and I should leave if I'm unhappy, but am I completely off my rocker for expecting a raise review from my 1 year of hire? Has anyone else been in this situation before? If so, how did you address it? My industry is very niche and is almost impossible to get another job without moving across the country again. I've already pitched my case to my Director who fought for it. He couldn't get them to budge. So I went to management directly and said my promotion was pre-negotiated for an evaluation and shouldn't have anything to do with a yearly review and all they said was you already got a big raise 6 months ago (which this reasoning makes me call BS on the next part) and sorry, policy. We have sub 100 employees and we're not a corporate type of company. [link] [comments]  |
| Help. My parents think they are in the right to keep claiming me. 24 working full time Posted: 08 Feb 2018 02:04 PM PST Hello; What are the rules when it comes to being a dependent under your parents??? My parents think they can claim me, and maybe they are right but I thought I could claim myself. I am 24, not a student with a full time job. Last year I made 35k. I DO live at home but I pay for all of my bills/costs (car, medical, insurance, grocery etc etc EXCEPT rent on the house). What are the rules? Can I claim myself? Can they still claim me? Edit: I ask because I've filled my taxes out as not a dependent and I'm afraid to hit submit in case this causes issues... Edit: issues (WITH THE IRS, not my parents!) my parents are totally FINE w this. Cheers Edit again: I think my situation is being misunderstood. There is no bad blood between my parents over this. It's purely to see who is correct LEGALLY. I think I'll try and stay out of this now [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 03:31 PM PST Part of me thinks yes, the other part no. Yes, you're fucked: I'll probably be lucky to reach the 50k/yr mark by age 35 at this rate. I'll be stuck living at my Dad's place for 3+ more years, with a job that, while it's a great place to work (and I enjoy what i'm doing), doesn't pay nearly enough for what my goals and aspirations are for the long term. There are entry level workers who are making 3x as much as i'm making. Maybe I should just go back for my Master's/phD and rack up another 50-70k in student debt, to see if it'll pay off in the long run? No, you'll be fine, just stick with it People have succeeded with Bachelor's degrees in obscure fields. I just need to put in the work. I can use my current job as leverage, and after one year of dedication to this position, I can move my way up to a more lucrative position. Perhaps I can pass the 50k/yr mark by age 32? By that time, perhaps I can begin investing in stocks/bonds and work out a long-term game with my money? Just live within my means and I can come out of this with long-term savings + happiness. Both sides of the argument seem plausible. Am I crazy for thinking these scenarios? Can anyone steer me in the right direction? [link] [comments]  |
| Paid off the only debt I had. What is a "hard to screw up" way to build credit? Posted: 08 Feb 2018 05:03 PM PST So I took the majority of my tax return and paid off my 4 year and 2 year outstanding medical debt today. It totaled up to about $500. The debt collector said she'd issue me a statement that I can use to dispute my Experian report and get the closed accounts to show as debt paid. I know this is a broad question, but what now? I guess I should start with a easy to manage low risk way to build my credit. I've heard the horror stories and do not want to dive deep into a credit card yet as idk if I can be responsible with it tbh. Any suggestions? -Jakes. [link] [comments]  |
| Amazon Charge Back Claim - Claims We Owe Hundreds Posted: 08 Feb 2018 08:12 AM PST My wife and I are having an issue with Amazon. She received an email from Amazon stating that her Prime account (Prime, Video, the whole shebang) was being shut down because dozens of purchases over the last year have been subject to charge backs. As I understand it, a charge back is when a buyer contacts the bank and tells the bank to hold funds for a given transaction. She has not initiated a charge back for any Amazon purchase, and after contacting the bank, the bank said they've never taken any action on an Amazon transaction either. In any case, Amazon sent a first email claiming we owed several hundred dollars for a set of transactions, sent a second email for other transactions they subsequently identified, and a third email claiming hundreds more. My wife spot checked the first set of transactions and determined they were legitimate purchases that we received. These are things large and small from an Amazon reader down to detergent and paper towels. However, we absolutely did not initiate any charge backs through our bank, nor have we contested or requested returns or refunds for any of those transactions through Amazon. Amazon did not provide enough information regarding the second set to confirm whether they were real, too--they simply provided the amounts for claimed unpaid orders and said, "We can charge any valid card registered to your account. To pay for these orders, reply to this email with the card type, the last two digits, and the expiration date." The strange thing is that a vast majority of my wife's Amazon purchases have posted to our bank account. Only a small subset of transactions have been flagged as charge backs. For its part, Amazon has been nonresponsive beyond these three emails and they won't explain how this happened, or why we're only learning of the issue about a year late and almost a thousand dollars in the hole. Obviously, the burden rests with us to check to make sure that we are charged for goods and services we receive. However, it rankles that Amazon failed to identify an issue for dozens of transactions, failed to notify us of the issue over the course of a year, have essentially accused us of fraud (even though our bank confirms that neither we nor they ever contested any of the transactions), summarily demanded payment immediate payment of hundreds of dollars in the aggregate, and took unilateral action against the account (which is only a couple of months into a year-long membership) without any notice. Has anyone dealt with or heard of this issue with Amazon and does anyone have advice on how to best approach their customer service in response? Edit: To confirm this was coming from Amazon, she called Amazon's possible customer service line directly-- Edit 2: After reading in the comments that the number she called is possibly a scam number, I did two things: I called the bank. Their fraud specialist said that he's familiar with this kind issue, though Amazon usually raises and resolves the issue with buyers within in a matter of hours or days, not months. He also confirmed that the bank had not received information regarding the transactions Amazon has put into dispute--these are purchases we were not originally charged for, but my wife says she ordered and received. Last, he put a hold on purchases from the subject card to be safe. Second, I reported the issue to Amazon's fraud reporting section on the actual site, through my own Amazon account. The representative called me and confirmed that my wife's account is subject to the hold. She said that she did not have more information but could fill out a report and an Amazon employee would call me back to provide a full accounting. That's where it stands now. Appreciate the responses from all. Edit 3: Amazon is supposed to call me back within 24 hours. Until then, I don't think we will get any more clarity about what happened. And maybe not even then. Provided this is real, it's a pretty lousy way for Amazon to handle things. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 08:25 AM PST So the company I have worked for, for 3 years now this year decided to make me a 1099 employee because "it worked better for them" what exactly does that mean for me. I do the same thing I am not contracting my services to them or I guess I am now. Just confused about it and not sure if I have to pay more in taxes now or what Edit: to be clear this is a part time job which I don't even do for the money mainly out of enjoyment. I am not getting fired even if I did it wouldn't be a problem [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 06:04 PM PST Well, maybe that's not exactly what I mean to ask, but basically I'm a member of several different credit unions (PenFed, Navy, Digital, local one, plus USAA bank). I frequently get that letter in the mail URGENTLY asking me to sign up for their free $1000 worth of life insurance. I have no dependents, so I typically just toss the letters in the trash. Got another one from PenFed today and it got me to thinking. What if I took them all up on their offers and ended up $5-6000 worth of free coverage? In the event of my demise, would all of them pay out? Or is there some sort of limitation in each contract? Do I have to have a beneficiary, or can it be paid out to my estate, say to pay off funeral expenses or other debts? Am I missing out on something or are these offers just legitimate scams that aren't worth fooling with? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 10:02 AM PST I lurk most of the time, but I could really use everyone's advice. As the title says, I'm 40-yo, I have a family of 5, and my current salary is ~$38k. (We also receive a decent tax return each year.) We receive gov't assistance mainly for health insurance -- my wife and I are covered through the Affordable Care Act for a very reasonable monthly premium, and my kids are covered under the state (KS). Just a side note, I would love to be able to stop receiving gov't assistance eventually. I'm meeting with a CEO Monday morning of another company to discuss a possible job opportunity, and I would like to be prepared in case salary is discussed. My main concern is that I want to have a minimum number in mind for me to even consider the job. My fear is the so-called "benefits cliff". I don't want to switch jobs for a $5k-$10k a year bump if all the increase is going to be eaten up by either health insurance and/or taxes (which I won't pretend to understand). We live very modest lives, and the most important thing to me is my family. At the end of the day, all I want to be able to say is that I was able to watch my kids grow up. So far, I've done that. However, I would LOVE to be able to provide a little bit more financial stability -- help with college, take my kids to Disney at least once before my oldest is out of the house, not continue to struggle & stress from paycheck to paycheck. Also, we haven't been able to put away hardly anything for retirement. (Which, I don't really plan on ever fully retiring.) Anyway, knowing my goals and the heart for my family, does anyone have any advice? Oh yeah, and if it helps, I know the new company would pay for all of my insurance, and a good portion of my kids. I'm just not sure whether they would include that number in the salary package. They also have a simple 401(k) with matching. Thanks in advance! EDIT 1: I haven't abandoned this thread :-) Just need to get some work done. I'll do my best to reply to some more comments tonight. Thanks all!! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 04:08 PM PST My advisor is suggesting I get a cash value life insurance policy (70 dollars a month) along with contributing an IRA Roth account (50 dollars a month). I already have a life insurance policy through my work and will have another through the national guard soon. Would it be smarter to contribute 120 dollars a month to the IRA Roth fund rather than opening another life insurance policy? [link] [comments]  |
| Alaska, mother died, no funds, what do? Posted: 08 Feb 2018 11:28 AM PST So the gist is this: My mother died yesterday evening at 5pm after a drawn out tribulation with liver cihrosis (for those at home who need a wake up call, please allow this to be it. You don't want what I saw.) She has no money to speak of, save for ~$190 in cash in her wallet, a storage locker that was several months behind on payments that I managed to gain access to after speaking with the rental company's owners filled with items from her last home after she was evicted, and whatever items she had at the last location she was staying at. The rest of her money went in to buying alcohol. The hospital she died at did (a Catholic Hospital, if I'm not mistaken, though I'm uncertain if that yields any difference) did not approach me about signing any paperwork or paying for any services after she died, but I didn't exactly linger after I went to see her one last time, so brevity may be the cause of that. I'm a little in over my head, and this is quite a lot to handle. I used whatever spare money I had to fly from home to be here in Alaska, so I don't have whatever funds would be necessary to manage the various aspects of this matter financially. How does this work? What do I do? If I don't pay for her disposal/burial/cremation, how does that work? Assuming cremation, will I still be able to receive her ashes? Am I able to seek any additional leniancy in this regard from the government or the hospital? I'm only here until the 13th of this month, so there's a very finite window of time to make sure that I do everything that I need to and that I do it right. Where do I go from here? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 06:46 AM PST If I count this as childcare, can I just keep receipts of what I give her and is that enough? Do I need to worry about withholding anything? I'm a bit tax naive, any suggestions or recommendations/links would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Deferred Compensation/Roth/Pension Balance Posted: 08 Feb 2018 03:23 PM PST Hello, I'm 25 years old and have been contributing to my retirement accounts for a couple of years now across multiple jobs. In the beginning I just contributed up to the employer match and left it at that since my income was much lower than it is now. Roughly a year ago I started a job in the public sector in Seattle at which I'm required to contribute 7.5% to a pension fund. Additionally, I'm offered a deferred compensation plan to which I currently contribute 15% tax-deferred and 5% to a Roth account. Recently I received a raise, and now my yearly salary is at about $80k. I have an emergency fund and no debts, so there is nothing except cost of living that my income goes to, excluding these retirement contributions. Because this is a deferred compensation plan, both my tax-deferred and Roth contributions both count towards the $18,500 annual limit. My retirement savings are at about $22k right now. My question is what should I consider when balancing pre-tax and post-tax contributions? Because of my recent raise, I want to contribute more but am unsure of how to distribute my contributions. Should I put more into the tax-deferred account, or with the new tax cuts, are Roth contributions now more suitable? Since I am also contributing to a pension, should I keep my current contributions the same and put that money into savings for a down payment for a house? I don't anticipate purchasing property for several years still, but having an ample down payment is something I worry about. Right now I have about $34k in my non-retirement accounts. Thanks for looking this over. Please let me know if there is any vital information I left out. [link] [comments]  |
| Identity Theft Escalating - Any Next Steps? Posted: 08 Feb 2018 03:23 PM PST My identity was compromised and someone attempted to use it earlier this year (social + DOB and name). I was able to stop them before they were successful, with all their efforts being focused on credit cards and personal lines of credit. My credit's frozen, I've filed an FTC repot, and a police report (they seemed uninterested, despite the address being used on the applications being in a different part of my major city). I feel like I've been doing all the right steps, frustrating as it's been. Things were quiet until today until I got 15+ emails saying my Capital One username had been accessed - apparently you can pull a username simply with the info they have on me, no secondary verification required. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from an unknown number claiming to be Amex and asking for me by name. They didn't give a name (weird) and said, "Are we talking to you right now?" I don't reply. "Are we typing with you asking for a new credit card?" "Uh no. What's your name and what department are you calling from?" They hang up. I immediately called Amex and they have no record of a call (surprise, surprise). I have two questions: first, I don't know if they had confirmed my phone number before and I'm concerned I just did that for them. Does this open up any potential new doors I need to watch out for? Secondly, this seems to be escalating and the police couldn't care less, so there's no deterrent for them to stop. Do you have any suggestions for what to do beyond what's in all the guides? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 08:00 AM PST |
| After disputing a charge, was charged again for the same thing immediately after. Posted: 08 Feb 2018 06:50 PM PST I go to a gym and used to take personal training. I told my trainer I was going on a break from December until January, and this was fine. On January, the gym gets back to me and tells me my trainer quit. They offer one free session with another trainer and I say, eh, fine, whatever Anyway, after the free session I basically just tell him I'll get back to him in February. Then I see on January 20th, my card is charged with $350 for training. I call the gym and they say they can't cancel it, despite me having not used it whatsoever. So I go to my bank, and dispute the charge. It _appears_ to go through completely fine after sending them the email chain. The next month, when my membership usually renews, they charge me for a membership AND training, again, so $410. What should I do? Would it look strange to dispute it _again_? [link] [comments]  |
| Help! Paid under the table question about taxes! Posted: 08 Feb 2018 06:26 PM PST Hello, posting on an old account for this: I am a 2nd year college student and over the summer I worked under the table delivering pizza for about 30 hours a week. I was paid only in cash, and over the summer made about $3,000 including tips. My employer did not receive my social, or any other information. I essentially walked in, gave him my phone number, and started working a few days later. Do I have to pay taxes on this income? I am not trying to get in trouble for not paying taxes, though I (stupidly) did not keep track of my money and deposited whatever was left over after spending into the bank at the end of the summer. I have not earned any income since, since I have been at school. As tax season approaches, I need to iron all of this out! Can anyone help me?? Also, semi-related, would it be unwise to put this position on a resume when applying to internships/future jobs if it was under the table and (as far as I know) completely off the books? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 04:51 PM PST I cashed out an insurance policy my grandfather paid for when I was born. I did it after the first of the year to defer taxes until 2019. I know approximately how much I will owe in taxes but I'm curious what I should do with it. Do I just put it in a savings account or should I invest it in something and save up to pay the taxes next year. I have a decent rainy day fund and plan on putting some of it in my Roth IRA. Some of it will be spent on an engagement ring for my girlfriend. Mainly I'm just curious what to do with the money I will owe in taxes. Any advice is appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Feb 2018 04:49 PM PST Does anyone else find this odd? I'm job searching in the urban planning / spatial analysis / public policy spheres. I am in third round interviews with a small, new-ish firm doing development projects across the U.S. I'm flying in to meet with them next week for the first in-person conversation. Today, I get an email with 'pre-work' requirements. Some of it was within the range of normal - a skills assessment test (took 45 minutes) + a write up response to their organizational values. Then, after signing their NDA, I was sent additional 'pre-work' -- a full report and analysis of their current SOW for a project they are developing + risk assessment for a developing implementation plan + several (8 full detailed questions) page write up on how to approach regulatory challenges they are facing. I feel kinda turned off about this - is this a red flag to how they will value my time and paid time if I am an employee? I understand wanting to assess the competencies of future employees, but what happened to hiring someone before you give them assignments (or god forbid, training them on the job)? Is this normal? What, if anything, would you say about this to assess their respect for me as an employee? [link] [comments]  |
| Do you have a specific dream for when you retire of something that you can't do now? Posted: 08 Feb 2018 05:19 AM PST I'm in a strange place this morning. We've made some good financial decisions over the past few years, meaning we're well set for paying off our house, sending our wee girl to college, retiring, etc. But I wonder, what do I actually want to do when I retire? I'm kind of coming up blank. I have some obscure dreams of travelling, sipping wine in Cinque Terre, or eating croissants in Paris, or doing something more adventurous like hiking to temples in Thailand or Vietnam. But I can do these things now. I mean, I have a remote job, and we could potentially live in a faraway place for a month and experience it all. I've done a lot of those things when younger, so what is it that I'm really saving all this money for? Maybe it's just the OPTION to stop working? Or maybe I just don't want a boss anymore? Again, not wanting a boss is something I could also work towards now, perhaps by setting up a consultancy or some more independent business. Anyhow, the amount we put towards investing every month will probably be the biggest expense we have long term. But it's hard to imagine what the hell I want to do decades from now. I was wondering, anyone out there have a more SPECIFIC dream of retirement? Do you ever feel this frustration? How do you counter it? PS - I suppose this is why 401Ks are great, because no matter what my whim today, that money will still automatically set aside before my temporary inclinations make me want to spend it on something else. [link] [comments]  |
| Sick student just informed I temporarily don't have health insurance. How do I pay for treatment? Posted: 08 Feb 2018 11:42 AM PST EDIT: The clinic I went to said they will rerun my insurance card if I call them when it is reinstated. Apparently billing usually takes several months anyway, so they aren't concerned about it. I'm a severe asthmatic and when I get a respiratory illness it tends to turn into pneumonia. I have had symptoms for the last week or so of what I thought was just a cold, but now appears to be the flu. On top of this I'm getting those tell tale signs of pneumonia where I can't walk more than a few feet without almost passing out because I can't breathe. Normally I would just go to the doctor, but my mom just informed me that due to a paperwork messup she and I no longer have medicaid as of February 1st. She thinks I'll have it back by March, but that's not helpful. I called my dad (divorced parents) and while he had health insurance for me at one point, that is no longer the case and can't be remedied until June. I live in a very rural midwest area with my grandparents since they have an extra bedroom and my littlest sisters didn't want to share a room any longer. I commute to a satellite campus of a community college, so there is no health center there. There is a surprisingly large hospital in the town about twenty minutes away and a number of affiliated doctors. My asthma medications come in a three months supply, so I have enough of those to last till the end of March. I know some hospitals let you negotiate prices and my grandma did work in intake for them before she retired. How would we go about this? Or is there some way we can make a payment plan? I'm really worried because I'm usually hospitalized for around 4 days with these symptoms and we can't afford that all at once. Thank you for any advice on how to pay for this! [link] [comments]  |
| Short on cash? Don't knock local yard sale sites. Posted: 07 Feb 2018 11:45 PM PST I've made a lot of extra cash by utilizing yard sale groups for items I don't need, things I rarely use, or items I just want to make a quick buck off of. People will buy anything. I've had a dozen people frantically messaging me for a $10 chalkboard I bought at Marshall's, and people willing to pay $5 for things I never use, and could probably purchase inexpensively at any home goods store. Yard sale sites can be a little less "skeevy" than Craigslist, and you can set rules for your transactions as well; I always list items as-is, cash transactions only, and generally meet up either at the local police station, or somewhere very public within 10 minutes of my home. It's been a great way to earn extra cash without doing much extra work! Especially as we enter "spring cleaning" season, consider going through all of your old junk, selling items you don't want or need, and adding an extra cushion to your debt payments, or savings account. [link] [comments]  |
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