Personal Finance Weekday Help Thread for the week of July 09, 2018 |
- Weekday Help Thread for the week of July 09, 2018
- My mom just informed me she's paying $100 a month to a company for a car that was repossessed back in 2010?
- Bank "lost" CDs
- Was this salary negotiation strange?
- Finance car with $20k at 10.04%
- Running out of food, car broke down, owe mechanic.
- Selling a house a 2 months after buying it
- Welcoming suggestions about financing Graduate School
- Wife and I are struggling to reel in our spending via a budget app. What's the next step? Any tips or mindset shift suggestions?
- $2000 every six months for insurance?
- (CAN) I'm 17 and was given 10K from grandpas insurance. What do I do with it?
- Buying a car “in cash” from CarMax
- Starting a Roth IRA at 50
- Signed for a car at dealership after being pre approved but they just called me and said the lender “made changes” and they want me to resign.
- I haven't filed my taxes since 2012. I need help.
- Teenager kind of worried about taxes
- Tips for newlyweds?
- Should I pay off my public student loan debt or save up for my first house?
- How to use money out of an HSA
- Is it normal for companies in the U.S. to count things like mileage, and expense reimbursements as part of your income?
- Any way I can make faster progress on my debt?
- New Father Looking to Improve Financial State
- "Re-Donation" Tax Deduction Idea - Is this ridiculous?
- Spouse accidentally enrolled in employee health insurance while he is covered by my mine for less, can we cancel?
- Just took a job in California and live in nevada
| Weekday Help Thread for the week of July 09, 2018 Posted: 09 Jul 2018 06:08 AM PDT 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: 09 Jul 2018 09:50 AM PDT She mentioned it to me this morning and said that she doesn't remember who's taking the money out, but she said right after it got taken away she got a phone call from some place saying she would go to jail if she didn't pay so apparently she been paying a$100 a month for 8 years. This sounds so fishy and was wondering has anybody heard of something like this before? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 05:51 AM PDT My mom bought some CDs for my kids several years ago at National City. She held on to the paperwork for several years, then gave me the paperwork a couple years ago. I saw that the CDs were marked to reinvest at maturity. I wasn't a member of National City and didn't realize that they had been bought out or merged with PNC at some point. Since the CDs were marked to reinvest, I just held on to them. Flash forward to last week. I was getting some finances in order and decided to see about cashing the CDs in and moving them to a better investment for our girls such as a 529. I see that National City is now PNC. I take the CDs in, but they have no record of the account numbers. The CDs are in my mom's name, so she has to take it from there. She is currently getting bounced between our local PNC branch and their online call center. Her last communication was with a manger that said the money is probably "just gone" and that they purge records from time to time. Their advice was to work though a state webpage (Michigan) for lost or unclaimed money. Any advice? I have the original signed documents with the deposit amounts, terms, and account numbers. TL;DR Have documentation for 7-year old CDs. Original bank merged with PNC, who now says the money is "just gone". Update: Thanks for all the suggestions! The money is not listed in state or federal unclaimed property sites. After a long meeting with the bank manager there are no records of anything - even that my mom ever had an account. They escalated the issue to some sort of investigation department and seem to be taking things seriously. I'll post if/when there are other developments. My new word for the day: escheatment. [link] [comments]  |
| Was this salary negotiation strange? Posted: 09 Jul 2018 07:15 PM PDT This was my first salary negotiation, and it felt strange to me. Here is what happened: I received a job offer (via email) that was well below the salary I was expecting for this kind of position, based on Glassdoor and published data for the industry, etc. The CEO indicated in the email that if I accepted, they would show me the benefits. This was the first strange thing about the offer. My reply to the offer was to thank them for the opportunity. I asked them if the salary was flexible and if so, if they could come closer to the salaries indicated for the industry. I also said I would be more comfortable talking about the salary if I could see the benefits package. The company replied within 5 minutes of me sending my reply, telling me I was asking too much for someone of my experience and told me to come back when I had more experience. They shut down the offer. To me, this response seemed very hot-headed and quite red flag-y. I thought I used very respectful language. I thought it was normal to ask about salary flexibility and that it was abnormal for them to expect me to accept before I could know my benefits. Is there something I was missing? Perhaps I should have asked about salary flexibility and then waited for a reply before suggesting another salary? Thanks in advance. EDIT: added detail [link] [comments]  |
| Finance car with $20k at 10.04% Posted: 09 Jul 2018 11:49 AM PDT Car dealer said they can knock off $3k if I buy it with finance. With cash, they can only take off around $1k so I bought the preowned with financing. I'm in NY and they said there is no penalty of early payments. I have enough cash to pay off $20k so I'm not worried about the 10.04%. However the finance guy at the car dealer was telling me that I should not pay off everything in one go. Although I've 760+ credit score, I've only been in this country for under 2 years. I have nothing on finance nor do I have anything under my name which is why that I have a very bad rate. He propose that I leave around $500 or less and pay it off in 1 year. 10.04% is incredibly high but if it's only $500, I don't mind. What do PF suggests? edit: I already bought it with finance. I'm just debating whether I should pay off all 20k in one go or leave around $500 and build up my credit? edit2: Most people suggest to pay it all off so I've just paid it all off in one go. I guess keeping the remaining balance at $500 would not help me get a better deal on the next loan for when I need it. [link] [comments]  |
| Running out of food, car broke down, owe mechanic. Posted: 09 Jul 2018 04:53 PM PDT Looking for an opportunity, advice, or a direction to go in. I recently lost my job at a major tech company. Jobs aren't widely available out here in Bakersfield, California. Knowing I would be enduring some hardship, I sold most of what I own, and moved out of my rented house and bought a very inexpensive RV to live in, I do work on the property and stay for nearly nothing. I am skilled when it comes to technology, so I printed some business cards, made a website and I've kept my head above water doing computer repair, virus removal, etc. I thought what better time to attempt to start a business? I'm in my late twenties, single, no kids, I knew it would be a struggle, I'm willing to go through it, I spend half my time advertising and leaving business cards at other businesses. Unfortunately now I've hit quite a bit of a snag. I don't have much family to turn to, the ones I have around aren't able to help me. My car's fuel pump failed, shop put in a new one, but at this point I've completely run out of funds. I have a few jobs coming up but not enough to pay the mechanic, I still owe him $500. Haven't told him I can't pay, told them I would be by within a few days to pick it up. At this point I have about $80 to my name. I've owed on electricity for two months, it's probably getting shut off soon. I canceled my internet and downgraded my phone plan, I've sold what little I have left, but I can't bring myself to sell my guitar which is the last thing of value I can really get rid of. It's a very special instrument to me. I've been extremely frugal, I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs. I eat rice, beans, and tuna twice a day to keep myself going, and have just ran out after stretching last week's food budget. I can't lose any more weight. I don't want to apply for government benefits because other people need them more than I do, not to mention it would probably take a few weeks to go through the process, and I desperately need some sort of help now. I am physically fit, if someone knows of anything in town I can do to earn some cash I WILL do it, even if it means digging a ditch. I just don't know what else to do or who to turn to. I've obviously made some mistakes to have ended up this way, but I'm really trying here. One good thing is I'm not in debt, I paid off my credit cards and canceled them which looking back was stupid.. because they sure would have saved me in this case. But at the time I was excited to get out of debt and did not want to go back into it. Any advice is deeply appreciated. Thank you so much for taking the time. And thank you to those that have replied thus far. It means a lot to me, it really does. I wasn't even expecting a reply. As an update, I have an appointment at a temp agency, and I have a list of places to call to volunteer at in exchange for a meal. It's a start. [link] [comments]  |
| Selling a house a 2 months after buying it Posted: 09 Jul 2018 11:16 AM PDT My wife received a dream job offer in a different city, unfortunately we just bought a house 2 months ago.... considering moving, but seems like a bad idea, what are some things we should consider before selling? The house value should be the same as when we bought it the houses in our area sell really fast. Not expecting to make any money off of it though. Loan was 300k, 10% down. If we sell the house for about same price as we bought it and use that money to pay the principle will we still owe the interest? Will selling so soon after purchase negatively impact our credit? [link] [comments]  |
| Welcoming suggestions about financing Graduate School Posted: 09 Jul 2018 03:59 PM PDT Hi PF! I'm excited to say that I was recently accepted into an MBA program and am now looking for advice on how to finance it. First off, I should mention that while I do have undergraduate loans remaining, over the last two years I've manged to knock them down to about $10k (all around 4% IR) by paying $1k/mo. I plan on continuing this until they are all paid in full. The program I plan to attend will cost around $70k to graduate. The company I work for has a reimbursement program available that will award $10k/year with some pretty standard stipulations. Unfortunately, this amount is paid directly to me which will be taxed and have a buying power of around ~$6k/year. I plan to spread the degree over 4 years to maximize the company contribution therefore netting approximately $25k which leaves $45k to be paid by me. What are some good options for me to pursue for taking care of these loans? As some final notes, I MUST pay the tuition fees up front every semester and they will be reimbursed at the end granted I have good enough grades. Quick math tells me $70k/12 "semesters" = ~$6k I need to put up every semester. I assume I have the option for graduate PLUS loans which are around 6.5% interest so I don't want to rack up a huge principal. Should I use some cash to help finance the program while I'm in school? Should I simply keep taking out loans? Fortunately I do live with my parents which frees up some cash and make around $60k/year. Happy to hear all advice! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 06:42 PM PDT EDIT: looks like were definitely going to give the envelope system a try! Hi everyone, I'm hoping I can get some additional thoughts on how we can make a budget and stick to it. We've been using GoodBudget for about a year, and are pretty good about using it at the point of purchase (I'd say we capture 90% of all purchases), but ultimately we break out monthly expenditure goal more often than note. The one thing we are very good about is saving for retirement. I currently make approximately $90K gross, and put away 12% pre/6% post, see a ~6% company match, and last year we began putting away $5500 yearly in a traditional IRA. In addition, we own two cars that are paid off (a 2015 Honda Fit and a 2003 Ford Focus). All of that said, like many we struggle keeping to our monthly goal. We're not out buying TVs or lavish vacations, but burn through small amounts of cash here and there that really add up. I'm not sure if we should continue to use GoodBudget or possibly dive in to something like Mint--although it may be more than we need. Does anyone have any suggestions on simple changes or rules we could put in place to better adhere to our budget? Here's a few things we've come up with: - (2) major grocery shopping trips a month - (1) alcohol trip per month; when the well runs dry it stays that way - get agreement from both of us for purchases in excess of $100 (still thinking this one through) Any other simple suggestions or things we may not be thinking about that could help? Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| $2000 every six months for insurance? Posted: 09 Jul 2018 01:01 PM PDT Hey! I'm married and 20 years old, and I drive a 2015 jetta. I currently pay 2000 dollars every six months for full coverage insurance, this seems high, but is it really? No accidents on my report, and I live in florida. Any advice to spare? [link] [comments]  |
| (CAN) I'm 17 and was given 10K from grandpas insurance. What do I do with it? Posted: 09 Jul 2018 07:28 PM PDT So my grandpa recently passed away and in his will he left me and the rest of his grandchildren each 10 thousand dollars, with the rest going to my grandma. I only ever work during summers, making around 1K and I know my parents have an RESP set up for me which is around ~40K. I'm extremely tempted to go and spend a little bit (20%) on frivolous things - furniture, computer parts, etc. However, I've heard too many stories of people saying "Ugh I was given (X amount) as a teenager and I wish I just invested it, saved it, etc". So what should I do with this inheritance? Edit: as the title states I'm in Canada [link] [comments]  |
| Buying a car “in cash” from CarMax Posted: 09 Jul 2018 07:08 PM PDT I'm a first time buyer and I'm looking to buy a car in cash from CarMax. I got the all-in price and was planning on bringing a cashier's check to the dealership. I was wondering if A. they even do this and B. who the check should be made out to? Thanks for the help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 02:31 PM PDT Hello, so I'm 20 years old and just opened my Roth IRA after starting an internship. I told my mother, who was never into investing money into stocks or anything, about it and she wants to start as well. Being a little over 50 years old, is it worth starting a Roth IRA? Or is just leaving money in a savings account a better option? If starting a Roth IRA is a better choice, what mutual fund should I put her money into? I'm with Fidelity right now in the 2060 Index Fund, but I looked at the 2030 Fund for her and the ER seems a tad high for what it is offering. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 05:29 PM PDT I purchased a car at a Fourth of July sale and came pre approved from my bank. I signed for the car at 7.7% apr and that was it. Today I got a call from the dealership said they said only one lender would take my loan (I'm a first time buyer but my credit and income is solid) and they wanted 14.8% for it but the dealership was willing to take more off the total cost. The monthly cost still went up and I just want to make the smart move even if it means bringing the car back. It sounds really shady and it's not what I signed nor wanted. It's a 2014 Ford Focus and I originally financed $12800 @ 7.7% but they lowered it to $11200 @14.8% [link] [comments]  |
| I haven't filed my taxes since 2012. I need help. Posted: 09 Jul 2018 01:52 PM PDT Im 26, young and stupid, I know... now thats out of the way. Started by not being able to file in april 2013 because of missing w2, which I ignored and forgot about, because as a friend told me at the time "you dont have to worry about it, because they owe you, so its not a big deal." Boy was that bad advice. Well the next year i took in my w2 to file for my return and was told I couldnt file that year until the previous years had been filed. Fast foward to now, and this situation has basically compounded every year and snowballed into me basically needing to request all my w2s from the last 5 fiscal years and getting help filing before this years tax season comes up and I screw myself once again. My question here would be is there a better way to go about this than just requesting 8 w2s at $50 a pop from the irs and taking that to H&R Block? [link] [comments]  |
| Teenager kind of worried about taxes Posted: 09 Jul 2018 02:28 PM PDT I'm 18 and starting to make my own money in a few different ways, and I'm kind of stressed out because even the tax wiki seems kind of complicated, especially for my situation. First off, I'm starting a full time job this week for the rest of the summer at a yogurt shop, interviewing for an additional part time job as a kennel assistant for a local veterinarian on top of that. These jobs are in California, where I currently live, but once the fall begins I go to college in Massachusetts, where I plan to find another part time job at my school. I assume that my taxes are taken out of my pay, but I'm not sure what forms to file and whether my employer gives them to me or I find them myself. In addition to that, my boyfriend and I are starting our own online shop via shopify. We plan to get registered as an LLC in a few months once we begin making a profit. Our plan for that was to just take all money that our business makes and invest it right back into our company, so we don't have to worry about paying taxes on any income until the next tax season, where we would start paying ourselves and record how much we make. I'm not sure how good an idea that is though? I also do some side hustles on my own. I'm a secret shopper on The Source and do some small jobs transcribing things, completing surveys, etc. I just started a record of all the tasks I complete and how much money they bring on Excel. So far it's only like 30 bucks (started these jobs a week ago). I've heard that if it gets to be over 400, that's when I start paying, but I'm not sure how true that is or how much I should be setting aside in what I'm making for taxes. Any help with all this is appreciated, thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 07:32 PM PDT Anyone have any tips or tools for newlyweds wanting to start out right? Would love to know about tools or sample spreadsheets or budgeting tools to come together with an idea of how our finances are individually to build a plan together. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Should I pay off my public student loan debt or save up for my first house? Posted: 09 Jul 2018 12:27 PM PDT The past 2 years I have been paying off my private student loan debt ($65k) and have successfully done so. I am now moving out of my parents house and will be renting for 1 year. My plan was always to rent for 1 year and save up for a house during this time but now I'm questioning whether I should pay off my public student loan debt instead. Public Loans: $16k, fixed interest rates 3.7%-4.4%, minimum payment $200 I've always only paid the minimum on my public loans as my private student loan interest rates were much higher (6.75%). During these first 2 years working I've put aside 15% of my income into my 401k. My thought process is over a 10-15 year period my 401k should return greater than the interest on my public student loans. Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent. If needed I can add my budget. EDIT: Fixed interest rates [link] [comments]  |
| How to use money out of an HSA Posted: 09 Jul 2018 06:57 AM PDT Apologies, this is a pretty basic question but I was hoping to get some advice before I use my HSA funds: I am getting a couple cavities filled later this week and was planning on using my HSA debit card to pay for them. I know that the cavities are a qualifying medical expense and that I should keep the receipt from my dental visit- but how do I report to the IRS that I used this money and that it should not be taxed? I'd imagine that I need to send the receipt but there's no way that the government is collecting every receipt from every HSA purchase. Logically, I think that I'd just report the purchase on my 2019 tax filing and retain the receipt forever in case the government ever audits me. Is there anything else I need to do/know before using these funds? Thanks for the help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 04:33 PM PDT I went to my boss regarding my pay earlier today. I told him that someone with my skillset and experience should be making 40-45k base salary a year before taxes. To get to a base pay of 40k, I would need to be making about $21 an hour for my 40 hours a week. His reply was you already make about 40k. I was very confused by that. To my knowledge working 160 hours a month for an entire year at $18 an hour will only make you $34,560 before taxes. That's well over $5000 a year off from 40K a year. After looking through my pay info it appears that they count things like mileage reimbursement, and expense reimbursement as part of base pay, along with several other things that shouldn't be in the base pay category. All of these extra things make what I'm making look much higher than what I actually make, but most of it is the company paying me back on mileage, and out of pocket costs for various things, then there is a bonus that varies in amounts of $60 to $160 depending on how good a tech I am that month. The part I worry about the most is that I may be getting taxes on an income that is showing several thousand dollars higher than what it actually is due to the fact that it looks like expense reimbursements, and mileage are being added as part of my taxable income. So here's my questions.
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| Any way I can make faster progress on my debt? Posted: 09 Jul 2018 07:04 PM PDT I'm in the initial stages of trying to conquer some nasty debt that's been hanging over my head, and I was wondering if I have any other options for winding it down more quickly. I've got about $6K in CC debt at ~24%, and about $32K in student loans at 3-6%. The CC is especially hurting me, as the interest is so freaking high. I'm putting every spare penny I have into the CC debt first, but after my minimum payment, there's not much left over in my budget. I'm looking right now for extra sources of income as well. I initially looked into getting an additional CC with a good balance transfer promo, but my credit score (608) is way too low for anything decent. I'm now looking over debt consolidation loans, but everything I've found has an insane interest rate, and they just seem sleazy. I'm at a point where I have steady income, and I'm trustworthy and responsible with my finances. Are there any options for someone like me out there, or do I just have to grind it out? [link] [comments]  |
| New Father Looking to Improve Financial State Posted: 09 Jul 2018 02:24 PM PDT Hey PF, I've been reading this sub on and off for years now, and I've been looking for situations like mine for a while. I find posts that are similar to mine, but I don't always know if all the information applies to me. I may be in for a job change, so I feel like this is the perfect time to get some advice, so here it goes. I'm 25, I have an 8 month old son, and an SO. I work in tech, and make a little less than 80k a year. I have a 401k that I contribute to, that gets a 50% match (up to $4000 a year I think). If I remember correctly, I contribute about 11% of my check to my 401k. I also contribute $200 a month to a Roth IRA (Betterment...). I have a high deductible health plan, and contribute about the equivalent of my deductible each year (I can look it up if people really need the number). Those are my current investments, and the decisions were all made before I read the PF side bar. I also have a $1,200 emergency fund that I'm trying to build higher, but it's slow. As far as debt goes, I pay off my credit cards in full each month, and I have a car payment. The loan has a rather high interest rate, that I can't remember off the top of my head (Once again, I forget exact numbers, but I can look them up). It has been almost a year since I started that loan, and I'm planning on refinancing to get a better interest rate. We rent an apartment really far from my work because it's more affordable than living in the city. I currently pay 1600ish for a 3 bedroom. That same price might get me a studio near the city. It's a 2 hour commute each way though. My SO is a stay at home mom, and I'm not looking to change that. It has been a decision we discussed, and found works the best for us. Now that you know my life story, here's my question. How can I make this work better for me? After reading the side bar a few times, I get the feeling that I've been putting money in the right places, but not at ideal times. A major concern of mine, is not understanding how taxes work. If I start making major changes to my investment accounts, what is going to happen during tax season? Does not understanding how all this works set me up for failure? My goal is to retire early, and set my family up for success. I have no idea if I'm on the right track. Anyway thanks for taking the time to read. Let me know what you think. If more details are needed, I'll update the post. (This is a throw away for privacy reasons...) Edit: A Word [link] [comments]  |
| "Re-Donation" Tax Deduction Idea - Is this ridiculous? Posted: 09 Jul 2018 11:00 AM PDT I saw a video on YouTube about a guy who does reselling, where he buys pallets of product returns from Amazon, and in that particular video he bought a bunch of pallets for $85 each. They all had a ton of stuff inside, which seemed like he'd have no problem selling on ebay for profit. But what if I didn't want to sell it on ebay, but rather making a "tax deduction profit" by unpacking everything, loading it up, and taking it to a donation place where they could give a receipt for everything. Then you could just keep track of the retail value of each thing, then deduct amount, which would be much more than what you'd pay for the pallet. Is this a crazy idea? Obviously you could sell the stuff yourself, but you could argue this would take way less time if you're busy. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2018 04:07 PM PDT My spouse got a new job. He was previously covered by my employee health insurance plan while working part time. We were under the impression that my insurance would not cover him as a non dependent. I did not confirm this. He enrolled and we've realized that he will have a big paycheck deduction for the plan while before my employer was covering spousal insurance for free. Is it possible to cancel his insurance or are we stuck paying for it the entire year? [link] [comments]  |
| Just took a job in California and live in nevada Posted: 09 Jul 2018 06:44 PM PDT I took a job at a mine that is just over the border in California. I currently reside in las vegas and own a home here. I was just informed I have to pay California income tax (Nevada doesn't have an income tax). I was told there is a way to recoup most of the money back through some kind of "commuter relief". I dont know if that is the correct term, but I was wondering if there are any tax relief for myself. Also side question. If Nevada did have an income tax would I have to pay both state income taxes? [link] [comments]  |
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