Personal Finance Weekday Help Thread for the week of March 05, 2018 |
- Weekday Help Thread for the week of March 05, 2018
- I believe someone has set up a virtual intercept for my phone. I think they can receive and send texts from my number. $8.5K has been stolen from my bank account. Help!
- "I can't tell you that" the response I got when discussing a mortgage rate with a Quicken loans officer, when I asked "How are you paid?" is my question out of bounds?
- Highly satisfied at my current job, got retroactive offer from a place that turned me down, can i use that as leverage to get a raise at current location?
- My girlfriend got an unexpected pay raise that puts her over the max salary requirement... right in the middle of our home loan underwriting process. Will it mess us up?
- 59 year old Mom 40k credit card debt. Husband and I don’t agree on how she should proceed. Need advice
- Large discrepancy between employer-filed W-2s and what I actually was paid - not sure what to do now
- Father in law just passed and he owes the irs.
- If I will all my possessions to my family, will it increase their tax burden and taxable income the next year?
- Close on my house in 64 days, received large check from estranged father.
- Financial Date Night
- Girlfriend's company got phished and released everyone's W2s
- Expensive to switch from one brokerage firm to another?
- [30 M, US] Starting an emergency fund. Can you recommend the best place to park about $10k?
- My financial planner adventure
- Girlfriends boss floated the idea of a raise for extra responsibilities
- Books about finances
- massive regret quickly turning into full on panic
- Where to put inheritance for a 4 and 2 year old.
- Buy a house to tear it down and build new - how to finance? 203k?
- I paid off collection agency in full..
- Made very little money, but still owe taxes?
- First time house buyer, how low should i go against asking price.
- (US-NY) Need help! My elderly uncle just had his bank account cleaned out.
- Getting into Finances
| Weekday Help Thread for the week of March 05, 2018 Posted: 05 Mar 2018 05:09 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]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 09:13 AM PST First, about 6 months ago, $5.5K was taken out of my checking account via ACH. Chase refunded it and I closed out the account and spent a month reconnecting all of my finances that used that account. This just happened again with $3K from my new account. The first time it showed up as a PayPal payment and this time it showed up as a Venmo payment, but neither showed up on my PayPal or Venmo account. I believe someone somehow has access to my phone number? Is this possible? They can send and receive texts from my number I believe. There are a few reasons why: There was a few months where I would receive calls from numbers that were very similar to mine (the area code and first 3 digits were the same). I finally answered some of them, and they were usually the same, I would say hello, and the person on the line would be sound confused and say, "hello who is this?" I asked 2 of them how they got my number and one of them said they got a text from their son from this number and was calling back. Also, I just reset my Venmo and PayPal password again to be super secure, and when I went to get a verification code, it came from two different numbers, 86753 (which is legit because I've received all my notifications from that number), but another text came from 16466796281 with the verification code. I feel like this one is fake. I'm guessing they are brute forcing my password and using my phone number somehow to 2 step verify? My passwords are way better now than they were before and aren't brute forceable anymore. Has anyone heard of a scam like this? Is there a way to see if someone is using my number somehow? Is there anything else I can do? Thanks! EDIT: It sounds like from the comments the phone calls and the bank fraud are separate issues, although I am not fully convinced based on the timing. I believe my Chase login was compromised. I have changed passwords for Chase, Venmo, PayPal, Google and made them even more secure. I use LastPass for all of my logins. I am also getting a bunch of people saying SMS 2 factor authentication is awful. I'm going to use Google Authenticator where possible. I still have a hard time believing SMS is worse than email authentication. Any proof on that would be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 10:05 AM PST I asked about the current rates and likely rates I would get with my credit score at other lenders specifically Sofi, and what to do if I get quoted a better rate elsewhere if I can bring back documentation, can he beat it. He told me that he doesn't play that game. I then asked how are you paid and he said he can't tell me that. I had thought this is a very important question especially for financial advisors and whether they are fiduciary. I wanted to know whether he has any wiggle room in the rate and if he is incentivized to not give me the best rate. Was my question out of bounds? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 08:49 AM PST I graduated and I got hired in public sector in AZ for $44k per year. I've been here 6+ months. The only downfall is I'm away from my partner while she is in school in IL (3 more years). During my job hunt months ago, I was a second choice to a private firm in IL (40 minute from my partner). I ultimately didn't get offered the job. This weekend they emailed me and said the other person didn't work out and they regret not having choosing me in the first place. My instinct is to at least ask what they are offering & if it's more than my current place, I will ask my current place to match it? Other than that, they would need to offer $60k for me to actually here. I love everything about current job and location except being away from my partner but we are managing just fine. Is this the right way to think about things? Will my employer just laugh if I use this as leverage? Not sure what's kosher to do in the business world. Edit: thanks everyone. The consensus is that it might be tacky to bring it up - especially in public sector. I might drop it as an anecdote at my yearly review when a raise is generally offered. I'm still awaiting what the offer would be from the private firm though. I reviewed the hiring documents for my position and the pay scale is noted "39-52k" and I came in at 44k. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 11:11 AM PST Background on the mortgage: it is a 100% financing loan from Regions (not a USDA loan). The max salary to qualify for the loan was something like $55k, so she and I made too much money to be on the loan together. We put the mortgage in her name and I bought her auto loan from her at the bank's request. When we started on this, she made less than the $55k. She just got told that she is getting a 15% raise that will put her well over the maximum salary effective this payday (this Friday). Up until this point, everything has been going smoothly with the mortgage process. We close 3/19. Already done with the inspection, appraisal, survey, etc. Will the bank be able to see that she makes too much money to qualify the loan before we close? We are excited about her raise, obviously. She more than deserves it. But we are nervous this might torpedo the deal right before the finish. What should we do, if anything? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 04:59 AM PST My mother is 59 years old. She lost her husband to cancer 1 year ago. Prior to his death, she had been spending all her money on his cancer treatment and living off credit cards. My husband and I were unaware she was doing this. Here's her situation: -She lives in a nice, paid off trailer. It's a gorgeous upscale trailer park with retirees (not your typical trailer park). She pays close to 1k lot rent per month -She makes what I believe is 59k/year before taxes and insurance -22 credit cards totaling over 39k. Her payments total about $2200/ month Here's the disagreement my husband and I are having. I feel like it will take her years and years of payments to pay off these cards at the rate she is going. I feel like she should file for bankruptcy. Please don't judge. I am a firm believer in paying your debts. Her husband was on his death bed so this was how they were surviving. She was not being frivolous or irresponsible. It is what it is and she did what she did to prolong his life as much as possible My husband thinks she needs to sell her home, (she can maybe get 60k) pay off these Credit cards and buy a condo or town home. The area that she lives and works in is very expensive. Her mortgage would be about 1800or more per month. Condos here are not cheap. He is completely against a bankruptcy. He says she'll never be able to buy a home. I disagree. Can't she finance a home if she really needed to in 3-5 years after a bankruptcy? She's comfortable where she lives. Has never mentioned wanting to sell and buy something else (my husband invests in real estate so he's always going on about real estate being an excellent investment etc which he's not wrong about). She also lives 5 minutes from where she works. She would have to move at least 30 minutes out of her town to find something affordable. Any thoughts or advice? She is living paycheck to paycheck and she will be paying in these credit cards forever. Update: Thank you everyone! I am meeting with her next week to go over her options with her. So many excellent suggestions and ideas. Sorry I didn't respond to everyone. I did read everything and am overwhelmed with gratitude for the well thought out suggestions and encouragement for my mother. [link] [comments]  |
| Large discrepancy between employer-filed W-2s and what I actually was paid - not sure what to do now Posted: 05 Mar 2018 10:51 AM PST Small bit of context: while I worked for this company, I was paid three different ways. two of them were via HR/payroll systems. The other was through wire transfers. In addition, because of a very complicated situation, I don't have the ability to talk to anyone at this company. The issue: I didn't receive a 2017 W-2 from my now ex-employer. I called the IRS like one is supposed to do in this situation. The IRS was able to find W-2s filed for me by the employer. The only problem is, the amount that they filed for is significantly less than the amount that I made during the time I worked for them. It seems like only the amount that I received via the HR/payroll systems (which was relatively small) was reported and filed to the IRS. It seems like the amount that I received via wire transfers (in the magnitude of tens of thousands of dollars) wasn't reported to the IRS at all. I never received pay stubs while employed with this company. I'd appreciate any advice you may have on how to proceed and/or what do to in terms of filing my taxes. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Father in law just passed and he owes the irs. Posted: 05 Mar 2018 10:41 AM PST My wife was named personal representative for his estate. His bank account had about 350 in it, his mobile home is falling apart, he doesn't own the land it sits on, and about the only thing he has of any value is his truck (maybe 5-7k). The property manager told us they would give us 1k for the trailer. Digging through his papers it looks like he owes more than that to the irs. We figure the funeral expenses are about 5k which we will be primarily paying with credit cards for now, at least depending on the answers here. The state of Maine department of motor vehicles is saying we can apply to have the title moved Into our name, effectively making it ours. Does the irs have any way to come after us for any value the truck held as there are no other assets they can use to recover the back taxes? Should we not take ownership, sell it in his name, deposit the money to the estate account and possibly lose any extra money after the funeral is paid? This past week has been crazy trying to get things in order, any advice is much appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 08:39 AM PST Pretty straight forward question, big ticket items would only be a car and some electronics and about 3k in cash. Would they have to claim these on the following years taxes? Would the government include these items in their total household income when they file for medicaid? They're kinda on the edge of receiving medicaid and I wouldn't want it to push them over. [link] [comments]  |
| Close on my house in 64 days, received large check from estranged father. Posted: 05 Mar 2018 07:22 AM PST I am closing on my first home in 64 days and my estranged biological father has sent me a rather large check (first world problem; he did miss raising me, paying for braces, college, etc- so there's that). I cannot deposit this check into my account because it will prevent me from closing on the house unless I get "gift" paperwork filled out by him which likely isn't an option. I have considered signing the check over to my mother and she can give me the money back after closing, but would biodad be able to see that I signed the money to my mother? I cannot go to the bank that issued the check but I could cash the check at the bank where I have my account, but would biodad be able to see that I cashed the check rather than deposited it? I have already confirmed with my lender that depositing the check WOULD be a solid hiccup in the closing process. S.O.S. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 12:31 PM PST Hi PF, I was just sitting in a presentation my work had for some of the younger/newer employees and they had a gentleman come in who gave the presentation. Long story short he gave pretty much all the advice that PF gives out on the sidebar which I thought was great because I had already known a lot about savings/retirements, taxes, an emergency fund, debt, and so on. He did give out a piece of information that he does with his wife once a month and I wanted to know if anyone else has done something similar and how that worked out for you. He stated that every month they go out on what they call a "Financial Date", where they pick a restaurant go have a few beverages and a bite to eat and bring the previous months transactions on all accounts for an overview.
I thought this was a creative way to go over finances with your husband or wife and wanted to share the information and also hear if anyone has done this before and how it has benefited them. Thanks! Have a good day/evening! [link] [comments]  |
| Girlfriend's company got phished and released everyone's W2s Posted: 05 Mar 2018 10:01 AM PST US company. California if it matters. She has not filed her taxes yet and is worried that the phishers may try to file on her behalf and steal her refund.
[link] [comments]  |
| Expensive to switch from one brokerage firm to another? Posted: 05 Mar 2018 05:31 PM PST Hi all! I recently decided to move some assets I had at one brokerage firm to another. The new one just told me today that in receiving the portfolio, it came with a debt equal to about 1/3 of the total value of my portfolio. They didn't give me a breakdown of what that debt is for, just that it could be "unpaid maintenance fees, brokerage trades, or an account transfer." I'm totally blindsided and wondering - should I have expected costs this high in transferring my portfolio from one company to another? Thanks for your feedback! [link] [comments]  |
| [30 M, US] Starting an emergency fund. Can you recommend the best place to park about $10k? Posted: 05 Mar 2018 09:29 AM PST What should I look for in a bank beyond just having the highest APY? [link] [comments]  |
| My financial planner adventure Posted: 05 Mar 2018 10:43 AM PST I just (last year) found exactly what I was looking for in a financial planner. My wife and I both have 401ks we have contributed to consistently, IRA, Pension (former employer) Roth, taxable account. I have always been the money manager and made all of our investment decisions based on what I've learned over the years and tried to educate myself on. Some good and some bad decisions of course. We came to the point of wanting "a plan" for 6 more years of work before throttling back into something less stressful, and although our greatest single impact would be to just save more vs. discretionary spending, wife (the spender) wanted something more detailed than just my advice. I wanted to JUST get advice and a plan "fee only" except I refused to let anyone take over our accounts to manage it. I can do that just fine given appropriate guidance. First two meetings with "fee only" advisors came with the caveat that they wanted control over our accounts, with annual fees in excess of 1% total assets. Walked away from both. What was frustrating is that their websites were misleading and it was a waste of time. Kept searching and found a firm that was truly "fee only". Owner is a CFP, Fiduciary, and charges based on hours worked for analysis of assets/expenses/goals (you can mix services/needs to tailor to your situation) We went through that engagement for total cost of just under $2k for fully documented plan delivered in person (turned into a 2 hour meeting). I then implemented suggested changes into our portfolios (fund selections etc.). Our contract reviewed estate planning as well. I just had our 1 year check up (my choice) which cost just under $400. The point of this story is that I think there are many out there looking for a similar type of engagement. There are firms doing this, but just not enough of them based on my experience trying to find one. For me, I am very happy I put the extra effort in to find the kind of planner I was looking for. [link] [comments]  |
| Girlfriends boss floated the idea of a raise for extra responsibilities Posted: 05 Mar 2018 02:27 PM PST Hi all, About a month ago, girlfriend's boss asked if she could handle the company finances as well as her usual tasks and floated the idea of a raise. She accepted and it seems to have gone fine. Fast forward a month to now and she noted no change in pay and emailed the boss to inquire about it. Reply from the boss "I am unaware of a commitment to a pay raise. I am unhappy to think that you had understood some conversation otherwise." She realizes it would've been a good idea to get everything in writing at the time but that's in the past now. She feels like she has been tricked and used. We're looking for advice on how she should proceed with this. Thanks for your time. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 04:49 AM PST Hey everyone, I wanted to have some intakes on the best books about personal finances, especially for beginners and about investing. I heard a lot about the intelligent investor, but English is my second language and I heard that the book is pretty heavy language wise, so I would like to start with more accessible books. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| massive regret quickly turning into full on panic Posted: 05 Mar 2018 06:12 PM PST Hi, I made a really bad decision about a year ago to be a guarantor for someone I was seeing casually. She was so down and needed help and, in retrospect, probably took total advantage knowing I wouldn't say no. Anyway, in the last year we never moved past the casual part and she's been seeing other people while I've foolishly been paying her rent, bills. I know how INCREDIBLY DUMB I've been but she has some really well tested manipulation techniques. So now its a year later and I'm finally done. We're on good-ish terms. I really need to be done with the money thing and I fear that as guarantor she'll abuse that and i'll be seriously, financially tied to her for years. Her lease should be up soon / its possible she already signed a new one. Should i contact the LL's office and tell them I no longer can guarantee? I'm worried that this will cause drama AND i'll still be responsible. Right now, at least I don't have the drama. [link] [comments]  |
| Where to put inheritance for a 4 and 2 year old. Posted: 05 Mar 2018 06:59 PM PST My grandfather is dying and sadly very quickly. He had me grab his will and explained some of it to me, and it turns out my young children will get a substantial amount. I want to set up a savings account of sorts in their names and leave it for them when they turn 18. What are my options, as I truly don't know. [link] [comments]  |
| Buy a house to tear it down and build new - how to finance? 203k? Posted: 05 Mar 2018 04:37 PM PST Would a 203k loan be appropriate for buying a house, demolishing it, and building a brand new on? Is there some other way of financing such an operation w/o needing a ton of cash? My "regular" home buying budget is $850k. The cost to buy, tear down, and build anew is about ~$800k. In former case, I am pre-approved to a typical mortgage. In the latter case, despite being a lower bottom line, I don't know how I would finance it. Seems like it requires me to have a ton of cash on hand to pay the General Contractors ~425k to build the house. I don't have that kind of cash. Much of my wealth is in the equity I have in my current home. Any ideas? [link] [comments]  |
| I paid off collection agency in full.. Posted: 05 Mar 2018 06:37 PM PST I paid off a collection agency about a year ago for about 2k. It is currently the only derog on my credit report and I regret it due to not knowing that I could have negotiated to get it removed form my report (you live and learn...) In order to have it removed, should I contact the collection agency or original creditor.. any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Made very little money, but still owe taxes? Posted: 05 Mar 2018 07:55 AM PST Hey, I'm freaking out a little right now because I just finished entering my info into Taxact to do my taxes and it's coming up like I owe 400 dollars in taxes! I only made 24,000 in 2017 and my hours were recently reduced to the point where my monthly expenses are way bigger than my paycheck. I will be getting a way better job soon but at the moment I can't even afford 400 dollars. I have had to use all my savings so I can't fall back on that. I am a single 23 year old female who recently graduated college. So my situation is that I had 4 jobs last year. I never had any gaps between the jobs, some of them even overlapped but they were low paying and part time jobs. I only made 24,000 total and thought I'd get back some money since I made so little. However the problem is that one of my jobs was as a freelance medical interpreter. I was given a 1099 misc and it says I earned 1,300 dollars over the course of the year doing the interpreting. I think that's what threw my taxes off and made me owe money because taxes were never taken out of that money I made. But could it really throw my taxes off so much that now I owe so much money? [link] [comments]  |
| First time house buyer, how low should i go against asking price. Posted: 05 Mar 2018 04:51 PM PST First time house buyer here. I dont have any kids yet. It's me and my husband and two cats. While we are considering having a child that's all we would have. I love the neighborhood, and the house is very nice. They are asking $67000 for it, but it does need some work. Going for a better look Friday, but I can tell the drive way need to be repaved, some outside painting, you know small stuff, but it could add up. Any and I mean ANY advice welcome [link] [comments]  |
| (US-NY) Need help! My elderly uncle just had his bank account cleaned out. Posted: 05 Mar 2018 04:48 PM PST Using a throwaway for anonymity purposes. Here's the full story: My elderly great uncle, 80 yrs old, who is not of sound mind added a personal friend/caretaker to his checking account last November. My uncle suffers from either early onset Alzheimers, or some form of dementia - which can be backed up by his many doctors. Soon after this change, the caretaker withdrew over 100k from the account and never told my uncle. Within the last week, my uncle received his bank statement and saw the missing money. As instructed by my father, he went to the bank to see what had happened. The bank manager explained what he saw in the system, just as I had explained. My uncle has no memory of the events that led to adding someone as a joint account holder. I understand the pitfalls associated with a joint account and that there are virtually no protections against something like this from happening. At some point in the past, my great uncle also recognized this, as he wouldn't allow any of his family members to be listed on the account. However, this is very clearly a case of someone with a disability who is being taken advantage of. What is the best course of action moving forward here? Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2018 10:47 AM PST I am currently married and 27 years old with 1 son. I have now paid off both my vehicles, and I'd like to know where I should begin saving for retirement. I do use the Acorns app and save $10/day. I'm at around $800, but I'd like a real retirement set up as well. I also have about $1k in a separate account, Where should I begin learning? [link] [comments]  |
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