Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of March 30, 2018 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of March 30, 2018
- "Maxing out your 401(k)" means contributing $18,500 per year, not just contributing enough to max out your company match.
- Starting today, I am debt free for the first time in over a year
- How to turn down a promotion? - Update #1
- Finally down to 4 figure debt!
- Garnished a year at six hundred dollars per paycheck.
- Wife Lost all Savings in IRS scam 30K
- Homeowner called and told me not to pay rent
- What's the smartest thing a 30 year old can do with $7,000? I've done so much research, I've confused myself and I'm scared to make a move.
- My mother's bills are more expensive than her income. She is reluctant to change, but unless I step in I fear she'll won't be able to keep up.
- SiriusXM owes me money and I don't know how to get it from them.
- Recruiter says I'm over-qualified and they don't pay well? Is this a negotiation tactic?
- Is it okay to let your children know howmuch money you make?
- My parents are trying to take out a loan in my name.
- Mom took and maxed credit account in my name...
- Is the grass greener?
- 30K in emergency funds. Keep in cash or invest?
- Extended auto warranties
- Question about liability for my son't medical bills
- 18 years old about to inherit around $20,000
- How do you take variability in monthly spending into account in your budget?
- Just switched my 401k to a Roth 401k was this the right move?
- Should I tell my parents how much I earn.
- I’ve been paying off a $22,000 debt for the last five years. Debt servicer has changed. Do I have any options?
- 401K: Traditional vs. Roth?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of March 30, 2018 Posted: 30 Mar 2018 02:06 PM PDT If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance discussions, questions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! For past threads, please search the Weekly Archive. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 09:00 AM PDT Unless your company arbitrarily limits your contributions or you are a highly compensated employee you are able to contribute $18,500 into your 401(k) plan. In order to max out you would need to contribute $18,500 into the plan of your own money. All that being said. contributing to your 401(k) at any percentage is a good thing but I think people get the wrong idea by saying they max out because they are contributing say 6% and "maxing out the employer match" [link] [comments]  |
| Starting today, I am debt free for the first time in over a year Posted: 30 Mar 2018 08:21 AM PDT So this is a very common point that I'm sure many in this sub know, but you should always treat your credit like debit. In other words don't spend money you don't have. It's too easy to dig yourself in a hole that's big enough to be serious. I first opened my account in February of last year and told myself I'd do this thing right. But then as my paychecks weren't timed right with my rent payments, I started using my credit to pay the rent. Under the assumption that I'd have the money to pay it off almost immediately. That should make sense, but I got very deep into debt because of this, and it's taken me until literally 20 minutes ago to get out of the hole. It's dangerously easy to get into significant debt. Please take me as an example! [link] [comments]  |
| How to turn down a promotion? - Update #1 Posted: 30 Mar 2018 05:18 AM PDT First post is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/80w33f/how_to_turn_down_a_promotion/ So I laid out my case to HR explaining that they were way undervaluing the amount of work they were asking me to do and asked if there was anything else they could do. My HR rep called me (I assume to avoid leaving a paper trail) and said she thought the offer was bullshit too and they would not take it if they were me. They said they would talk to the HR director about it and see what could happen. I was forwarded an email chain from my boss which included her, my boss' boss, and the HR rep all agreeing that I was right and this needed to be re-evaluated. Two weeks passed before they finished their analysis. No change. Apparently, their pay scales between my job and what they were trying to move me into were almost identical (based on their "market analysis), so they weren't going to change anything. My boss talked to them some more before they agreed to an increase of 3.5%, saying that was the absolute highest they would go. Still way lower than what I find reasonable. I asked my boss what their alternative was if I declined, and she told me there was none and we would just continue struggling as a department without any formal leadership. I work closely with the physicians associated with the department and consulted them with what they thought of it all. Only then did I find out that the medical director was the one behind the department restructure and told me he thought it was insulting they would offer me such low pay for how much work was expected. They went into a lot of details of exactly how unfair the deal I was being offered was, and said they didn't expect me to take anything short of a 20% increase. They told me they would be going to the HR director and all the way up to the CEO if need be because, as they phrased it, by them shortchanging me, they were not fulfilling their promise of providing the department with the resources needed to be functional. So, with this knowledge, I explained to my boss that I would not accept this offer and would like to return to performing the responsibilities as laid out in my job description, and asked that they not treat me as the interim supervisor anymore. I'm keeping an eye on the local market in case things go south, but I have been reassured by many people in management that they saw this deal as completely unfair and it would not be held against me if I declined. I'm not sure what will happen next, but will be sure to update the story further if need be. Regardless of all this, I still like my job here, so I would be perfectly happy if everything just went back to how it was and this ended up being the conclusion to my situation, but we shall see. TLDR: HR refused to budge on their pathetic offer. Management agrees I'm being taken advantage of and that it was probably in my best interest to decline, with some telling me they are going to fight to get me an offer that was not entirely insulting. I declined the offer and said I would no longer be doing the extra supervisor-related work. To be continued (maybe). [link] [comments]  |
| Finally down to 4 figure debt! Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:13 PM PDT I've been waiting for this moment since graduation. I've gone from $45,000 in student loans to $9952 and it feels like the first real milestone to being debt free! I don't typically like to talk about student loans with co-workers or even family but I feel comfortable sharing this on PF as I've read so many other inspirational stories along my journey. I plan to have an update for you guys when I reach the next major milestone of $0 [link] [comments]  |
| Garnished a year at six hundred dollars per paycheck. Posted: 30 Mar 2018 04:45 PM PDT After being garnished twelve hundred dollars a month foe a year and some months I am finally done paying the IRS off. I wasn't due to finish so early but they took the refund I would get this year and applied it to the balance owed. There is an extra six hundred dollars a paycheck and I am at the and of a road that I though would not end. [link] [comments]  |
| Wife Lost all Savings in IRS scam 30K Posted: 30 Mar 2018 11:41 AM PDT Hey all, First time posting on PF long time reader although, I never signed up. I'm posting this to see help for my wife in steps we need to take when someone scams you for all your life savings. She was a victim yesterday March 29 to the IRS scam. They pretended to be the IRS, Local Law Enforcement, even her own bank. They threatened her with jail time and arresting her if she did not meet any of the demands. She was not allowed to speak to anyone because it was "considered a crime to discuss federal investigation" I was not brought into the equation till after the fact of what had happened. She lost everything to a Bitcoin ATM where she deposited everything. All we have now is Chase Bank receipts from all her withdrawals and a big fat $0 in both the banking and savings. We cancelled all our credit cards, froze our bank account, called one of the 3 major credit bureaus, we are in the process of closing that bank account and opening up a different one. She is an emotional mess ATM and we are at a loss any help that any of you would recommend we will be grateful for. If there is a step we missed or if anyone has gone through something like this. Please share some insight we will be forever in your debt. Thank you fellow PF redditors. [link] [comments]  |
| Homeowner called and told me not to pay rent Posted: 30 Mar 2018 03:14 PM PDT So this morning I get a call from someone claiming to be the homeowner of the property I rent saying to not pay rent to the management company since he was unsatisfied with their lack of upkeep to the property. this seems like the wrong thing to do since tenant laws yada yada the lease stays with the house, but what could happen if the homeowner tries to collect a check after I've paid the management company , and what issues could we be running into, its only month 3 of a 12 month lease. on the flip side having things like the rest of the house updated to 3 prong outlets would be a blessing. tl:dr Homeowner calls says not to pay management company rent because he's unhappy. seems like a bad idea, what to do? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 02:35 PM PDT I finally made an account today after 8 months of researching and reading this sub because - although I'm grateful for the in-depth information available to me - I've become so overwhelmed by my options that I'm scared to make a move. I have had zero guidance as I have no family and have taken care of myself since high school. I've taught myself everything I know and it's been hard for me to reach where I am now. About me:
I have paid off my student loans and I have $11,000 sitting in a Wells Fargo Savings Account that I've been contributing to since I turned 15, it includes my emergency fund, and I think I should move a chunk of my savings to an account where I'll at least make some money from interest rates. I am so lost and overwhelmed by my options. I've done so much research and reading and I can't decide whether or not I should open my own IRA, invest in a CD or move my savings to a Money Market Account. Then more recently I started wondering if I should instead invest in bonds. I've talked to my financially savvy friends and each person is doing something different or had a lot more money to invest. I also spent weeks researching the stock market but the more I learn the more confused I become. I am approaching 30 and panicking about the fact I feel completely financially illiterate despite the amount of time I've spent researching and reading. I thought about hiring a financial adviser and have talked to a few who said they want to meet but I feel silly because I really only have $7,000 to move around after subtracting an emergency fund. I don't know if it's smart to pay someone to help me. I guess my question(s) are:
My goals:
I know there is a lot of advice out there and on /r/presonalfinance so I have waited months before posting to ask for help but I really need guidance. I've read about compound interest and I'm so eager to start investing but my fear of making the wrong decision has me paralyzed. Thank you in advance for any input. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 12:11 PM PDT Let me start by saying that I'm 19 and currently in University. I talked to my mom this morning and she just made a comment about her bills costing more than the money that she brings home. She has no savings, no retirement, no insurance (she is a contract worker so she receives no employer benefits). I think that I need to step in because I'm the only person in her life that she will even listen to, and I want to know everything that can/should be done before confronting her about it. She has a mortgage (possibly 2, she was very elusive when I asked) on a home that is far too big for her to be living in on her own, and she has a loan on a (at the time) brand new 2014 Nissan Rogue. If you have any advice, please let me know. Edit: I understand that her situation is no one's fault but her own, and I don't plan on letting it affect my schooling in any way. However this doesn't mean I can look the other way while she buries herself in debt and bills. [link] [comments]  |
| SiriusXM owes me money and I don't know how to get it from them. Posted: 30 Mar 2018 02:36 PM PDT In December, I participated in this SlickDeals offer. The offer is a free $50 Amazon gift card if you subscribe for 6-months to a SiriusXM streaming service. The only requirement was to purchase and activate your account by December 31, 2017 (which I did). After waiting a few weeks, I never received an email with instructions to redeem my gift card. I decided to message customer service on their website and they said they couldn't deal with this type of issue and asked me to call. I called and explained that I was waiting for my gift card and they told me they could see in my account that I met the requirements for the promotion and that there must have been some sort of error and apologized and that I should be receiving an email within 10-15 businesses days. I thought that was a little long but I said okay and patiently waited. After about 3 weeks, I never received anything and so I called again. Same exact story. "Sorry, you meet the requirements, I'm going to escalate this and we'll make sure you have the gift card. Please wait 10-15 business days." Nothing ever came. I call a third time and the exact same thing happened except this time I asked to speak with a manager. I ask her the same questions "Why can't you just send me an email with the gift card now?" I felt like I was in a loop. They tell me to wait 10-15 business days, I wait, never receive the email, and then call again. It's coming up to April and I'm not sure what to do. I know it's only $50 but at this point, it's on principle. I literally bought the service because of the promotion and then I never received the promotion. That's fraud isn't it? It's not like they're a startup scrambling around and too busy, SiriusXM is a large, publicly traded company that should have proper customer service. What should I do? [link] [comments]  |
| Recruiter says I'm over-qualified and they don't pay well? Is this a negotiation tactic? Posted: 30 Mar 2018 09:31 AM PDT Long story short. I applied to a job and got a message back saying how they loved my resume but they don't think I'd like to work for them. Their reasons being they don't pay well and that their job isn't difficult enough for my skill set. They are still keeping me in consideration though. Is this a negotiation tactic?? I really like the company, it's reputable etc. [link] [comments]  |
| Is it okay to let your children know howmuch money you make? Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:37 AM PDT Just need an opinion. I think they'll have a beter look at your income ans outcome, compare expenses and notice that you need to take care of money. [link] [comments]  |
| My parents are trying to take out a loan in my name. Posted: 30 Mar 2018 11:39 AM PDT Currently, I'm 19 years old and about to transfer to a university. My parents told me they're planning on buying another house for the purpose of renting it out on Airbnb. They want to put the loan under my name so they can get the first time buyer interest rate. My dad said that although the loan is under my name, he's going to make the payments himself. The house that they want to buy would also be under my name. I want to know if this is legal and if it will affect me in any way in the future. [link] [comments]  |
| Mom took and maxed credit account in my name... Posted: 30 Mar 2018 06:30 PM PDT I could really use some advice here. When I was 19 my mom took a credit card out with Cap One in my name and maxed it out for 750. She told me about that one and I paid it off. Just now, at 23, I have gone in to request a car loan and it turns out she took a second card out in my name (Chase), maxed it for $500 and never told me. This was years ago. Apparently it has passed through nearly every collections agency under the sun but whenever I ask her for help figuring out how to pay it off she gets defensive, insists that 'if you pay it off now, it will ding your credit report but if you ignore it it will fall off in a few years.' She repratedly insists 'trust me' and reminds me that she was a credit counselor for 8 years (in the eighties.) It's affecting my credit report now and I have no idea how to address it. I want to pay it off in secret but is there any credence to what she said? This is all extremely confusing and frustrating and I have no idea how to go about handling it [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 05:21 PM PDT Currently working as banker in a branch at Citi. $49k base, and last year another $30k in commission. 6% 401k match. Likely promotion within a year to a job with $70k base and additional commission. OFFER-- Chase Private Client RM, $45k base with (based on their descriptions and testimony from friends at Chase) much better commission than anything at Citi. 5% 401k match Chase would give me my licenses (though the promotion at Citi would do that too). In some ways this is a question of taking a promotion ASAP (at a different firm) vs waiting 3-9 months for a similar promotion to a role with a higher base at my current employer. [link] [comments]  |
| 30K in emergency funds. Keep in cash or invest? Posted: 30 Mar 2018 12:17 PM PDT The title says it all. I have about 30k in my emergency account earning 1.5% (Goldman). I hate seeing that balance just creating a cash drag. For those of us with 20k+ in emergency savings, what do you do with it? Do you just leave it in cash or do you use a low risk investment vehicle that can quickly be liquidated? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 07:52 PM PDT So I bought a 2016 dodge dart yesterday 38k miles for 11k and I got the extended warrenty for up to 100k miles and am skeptical if I really need it please someone advise me!!! [link] [comments]  |
| Question about liability for my son't medical bills Posted: 30 Mar 2018 02:34 PM PDT My son was in an accident in another state and ended up in the hospital for several weeks before he could come home. He is on my insurance policy so I made sure that the medical providers that treated him had the insurance information. I was warned by one that my son was liable for his own medical bills and that I should not pay anything myself as if I did then I could become liable for all of them. He's now at home and continues to require medical assistance (outpatient). Since his condition is no longer considered an emergency, getting him care requires that I guarantee to pay for it. My question is, if I do end up paying for copays or office visits, am I in affect accepting responsibility for all of his medical costs that the insurance company does not cover? Have I already screwed myself by accepting financial responsibility with one doctor? For a little more info, my son is a transient, he was in Louisiana when the accident occurred, and we live in Oregon. His current medical bill is close to $450,000. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| 18 years old about to inherit around $20,000 Posted: 30 Mar 2018 04:01 PM PDT Hello, I'm 18 years old and live in a pretty small town in Sweden and I'm about to inherit around $20,000-25,000 USD. I've never had money like this before and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to make this money grow? And what would be the best way to use the money? I'm finishing up culinary school in two months and after that I'm going to work at a restaurant nearby which is a done deal. I have absolutely $0 in debt and expenses at the moment and live with my parents. I was thinking of moving out when I'm happy with my job and in a good position to do so, and that's about it. [link] [comments]  |
| How do you take variability in monthly spending into account in your budget? Posted: 30 Mar 2018 12:31 PM PDT On average my expenses run about $1200/month. The median is about $1000. However, I have several months where I spent about $500 (thanks to no "extra" costs like medical, car, or repair expenses) and several months where I spent ~$3000 (usually due to a combination of factors such as emergency vet bills, emergency travel, and car repairs). The budgets I see posted here are so clean and precise and that's just not realistic for me. How much do your expenses vary and what do you do about it? EDIT: I realize that the standard advice is to estimate my expenses and average by month. Issues 1) it is almost impossible to get an accurate enough estimate to be useful and 2) Even if I could...what's the advantage over my current (lack of) system? [link] [comments]  |
| Just switched my 401k to a Roth 401k was this the right move? Posted: 30 Mar 2018 01:06 PM PDT I'm 32 and after years of having the standard (from my limited knowledge) 401k I recently switched to a Roth 401k. I contribute 6% with company match. Just wondering if this is the smart thing to do? Sucks this is all so confusing to me. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I tell my parents how much I earn. Posted: 30 Mar 2018 05:56 PM PDT I recently got a high paying job. My family is happy about it and as usual my parents are curious about my salary. I do want to tell my parents because I want them to be proud of me but the issue is that my father (who runs a business and earns way more money than I do) would then expect me to take care of some expenses even though he can comfortably manage to do so. Some of these expenses include my younger brothers tuition, rent etc. I feel like at this stage I need to be able to save and acquire assets that could generate more income going forward but telling them would just cause me to take up this financial burden that will kinda cripple me in the long run. This is not an easy thing to sit and talk about due to our culture. Edit: I don't live with my parents. Edit: I want to give back to my family. My motivation to work hard has actually been my family but I think it's too soon to expect me to take on such financial burdens. I just need a bit more time to save and invest then comfortably give back. The fact that my father can still cover those expenses is the only reason why I feel like I shouldn't tell them. Sorry for all these edits. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 12:18 PM PDT During my divorce, the ex rang up a $22k bill on a card, payments didn't happen, the account was closed, and the debt sold. Collection agency never served me, I ended up finding out about a default judgement when my bank account was frozen. I spoke to them and have been making $250 monthly payments since 2013. Debt is now under 7k. I've been upset for a while because I never saw the charges or had a chance to dispute or fight, and also thought that I should have been able to negotiate that downward. Just found out that my debt was sold from one law firm to another three months ago, but I haven't heard anything from the new agency yet.
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| Posted: 30 Mar 2018 03:51 PM PDT I understand the difference between these two but I am only 25 years old with no student loans nor kids to support and I currently live with my parents and pay the cell phone bill and gym membership on a monthly basis. Which would genuinely be better for me: Traditional or Roth? [link] [comments]  |
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