Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of August 03, 2018 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of August 03, 2018
- An unauthorized $3k tuition charge appeared in my checking acct. I graduated 2.5 years ago. The school is attempting to limit their liability. Anything I can do?
- There is more than $40 billion in unclaimed money, sitting with US state governments. Do a free check to see if any of it is yours.
- I understand companies trade and sell people's personal debt like an asset. What's stop me from buying my own debt?
- Mom died, her landlord is billing me for her last 30 days rent. Can he do that?
- Am I financially stable enough to buy my first home?
- Homeless guy in Myanmar. Have 1k in hand. What to do?
- I just learned about CDs. Is this to good to be true?
- Second time an act of fraud was committed against me
- Please explain to me, like I'm a five-year-old, how pensions work (federal employee.)
- Parents gave me debt and ruined my credit
- 3 job offers in 1 week
- Want to invest or otherwise protect $10k for young relative; don't want guardian to access.
- Opting into Spouse’s Health Insurance Outside Open Enrollment
- Late bloomer. What's next?
- waiting til the next housing crash to buy?
- Binge spending.
- 250,000 settlement advice
- Save or pay off credit cards first with one income and 3 kids
- I got overpaid a lot on my paycheck
- My friend says I should keep a joint bank account through college so I they can easily add money to my account if I need it, is this true?
- Rolling over a 401k is the right thing to do... right?
- Advice on managing finances for someone who knows nothing about finance?
- Best credit card for college students?
- Tips to watch out for when renting with others?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of August 03, 2018 Posted: 03 Aug 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: 03 Aug 2018 10:15 AM PDT Hi everyone, I posted about this yesterday and didn't get too many responses, although luckily most of my financial issues have been resolved thanks to my mom's help. A short version of what happened: a 3k+ charge showed as pending in my checking account from my old university (edit to add: I didn't recognize at first that it was from my university and thought it was a random fraud as it didn't explicitly state the university name in the ACH debit description, and I graduated in 2016). I filed a fraud claim and my bank is in the process of investigating and closing my checking account. I called the university student accounts division and they have no record of that charge amount anywhere in their records for the past 2 weeks. The charge just appeared in my pending transactions overnight, and looked EXACTLY the same (same name, same origination ID, even the exact same dollar amount) of the tuition payments I made in Oct/Sept of 2015. I never used autopay to pay tuition and manually entered my account and routing numbers for each of the two semesters I paid tuition via e-check in 2015. I never ever authorized that they store my account/routing number. I'm wondering now about the repercussions of my account and routing number still being on the school's servers, and them debiting my checking account without any warning, authorization, nothing. I've spoken to the student accounts manager, but it seems the school is on lockdown mode to limit their liability, and they sent me back a very generic response. Is there anything I can do? I'm wondering if there was a security breach on their side and while I will be protected as my checking account is being closed, other students may be at risk also. The debit would have been cleared if I hadn't called the fraud department as it apparently raised no red flags. Edited to add: No one at the student accounts office is picking up the phone and I am not getting an email response either. Second Edit: I've just had a long conversation with the school's account manager and someone from their account processing department in the treasury office, and they were actually very kind. Apparently this has happened to many, many students in the past week and they are working hard to track down the error and prevent it from happening again. They've also offered to pay for any fees or anything I'll incur due to having my checking account shut down which is very kind of them. It unfortunately won't help that I can't access $6k of my own money (the $4k in my frozen checking account and the $2k direct deposit that bounced today) for the next two weeks, but they are doing what they can. Special thanks to u/ReallyGene for letting me know that ACH blocks exist!! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 09:13 AM PDT I'm always surprised by how few people know about this. When a business owes you money but can't send it to you, they may turn it over to the state. Each state holds onto that money and keeps a detailed list of who it belongs to. If some of it's yours, you can file a claim to get it back into your pocket. The money could be anything from eg.
The United States Government 🇺🇲 has a service set up to help assist you with any queries or claims here: https://www.usa.gov/unclaimed-money Edit: For Canadians 🇨🇦: https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/banking/unclaimed-balances.html Edit: If you live in Britain 🇬🇧: https://unclaimedassets.co.uk/trace-forgotten-funds Last edit: France 🇫🇷: Australia 🇦🇺: New Zealand 🇳🇿: http://www.ird.govt.nz/unclaimed-money/ Switzerland 🇨ðŸ‡: Edit again: Thank you to those who shared their successes with me. It's very heart warming 😊 Remember to get your family members and relatives to check too. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 11:31 AM PDT |
| Mom died, her landlord is billing me for her last 30 days rent. Can he do that? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 06:21 PM PDT She passed away June 16th. I asked multiple times and they said we had until July 17th to move everything out of her apartment at an independent care facility. They just informed me of this today. I could barely afford funeral and cremation costs and now they expect me to pay an additional $1600. I live in Utah. Does anyone know if I have to pay this? Thank you in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Am I financially stable enough to buy my first home? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:07 AM PDT Looking to buy my first home in the next 6 months or so. After lots of reading and research on this sub-reddit and other sources, I think that we are in a place where we are ready to buy, but I would like additional input. Our current finances.
*These are the only obligations, everything else in our budget is discretionary We will have 10k saved toward a home (outside of our emergency fund). We are looking to buy a home in the 175k-195k range in a relatively low cost of living area. I realize that this is not the cookie cutter way to buy a home (no debt, full 20% down) but for us the opportunity cost of continuing to rent is becoming less and less ideal. So I would love input as to whether, given our finances, we would be realistically able to afford a home of 175k-195k. Thank you so much in advanced! EDIT: Thank you to all for the helpful, informed responses. I just wanted to edit and clarify more clearly our finances for those that have asked. Monthly Take Home: ~$5500 after taxes (forgot to add in a side income we have originally) Current Rent: 916 Student Loans 25k, $460/month Car Loan: 10k, $282/month Credit Card Debt: $0 Tithing: $625/month Saving/Retirement ~$500/month Electric: ~$100/month Storage: $70/month Internet: $70/month Transportation: ~$175/month Car Insurance/Renters Insurance: $175/month Phone: $60/month Groceries: ~$420/month Dining Out: $300/month Pet Cost: ~$80/month Gym: $70/month The rest is in fact "discretionary spending" that can be rerouted and used as needed. [link] [comments]  |
| Homeless guy in Myanmar. Have 1k in hand. What to do? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 04:07 PM PDT So, I have like 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants. I have a backpack and a bag. I have a laptop. I borrowed the 1k from somebody with 3% monthly interest. (That amount is the market rate here. I'm not sure if there're organizations that loan out with a lower interest). I got a part time job that pays me $275 monthly. It costs me $8 a day for accommodation and $2 a day for food. I need to buy some clothes for going to work. What can I do with this 1k of borrowed money? [link] [comments]  |
| I just learned about CDs. Is this to good to be true? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 11:14 AM PDT So I have some money in a savings account just sitting there earning next to nothing. I had a conversation with a co worker who told me I could put it all in a CD for an agreed amount of time and get a guaranteed return that would be much higher than letting it sit in my savings. So basically it's free money? Is this accurate? And why wouldn't everyone do this? Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Second time an act of fraud was committed against me Posted: 03 Aug 2018 06:49 PM PDT Today I was called by Ticketmaster to verify that I had made a purchase of substantial size. The interesting fact (not the fraud part), now that I think about, is that I'm not sure how they got my number. Somehow someone got ahold of my credit card information sometime in the last three weeks, created a new Ticketmaster account and bought almost $900 worth of tickets to Beyonce's concert tonight. The charge happened sometime today and I was called at 2:57PM by Ticketmaster to confirm the purchase. The guy said I must call back by 4PM today, since the concert is tonight, to confirm or deny the charge. I was really worried this was a scam until I looked up the number and confirmed it was a legit call. Thankfully I was around to check my messages otherwise that could have been an even more lengthy process to go through. Now, I can eat this charge due to proper allocation to an emergency fund, but it is humbling to know how easily your information can be lifted. I just received this card in the last three weeks due to the plastic falling off the metal on the last card. In that time, I have only visited the local shops I frequent and three odd vendors (no online purchases/links established yet). This card is still in my possession, so I'm still not sure how they secured the number; as it wasn't out of my possession for more than a minute at most. I did learn today that I do not have a limit notification on my card and will be setting a $500 limit for future purchases. The last time something like this happened was around 18 years ago (or something like that) when someone lifted my eBay info and bought a cheap car. At the time everything was direct linked (minus bank account) so I lost everything in that account for weeks until PayPal finally returned it. TL;DR Someone, somehow got ahold of my credit card number to buy tickets to a show tonight, but the charge was prevented due to Ticketmaster's stellar team to validate the charge. Set credit notification limits/validations! edit: words [link] [comments]  |
| Please explain to me, like I'm a five-year-old, how pensions work (federal employee.) Posted: 03 Aug 2018 12:23 PM PDT I am a 25-year old with no dependents, and I have recently accepted a position with the federal government. We are a non-appropriated agency and we do not follow the GS pay system, so many aspects of federal employment do not apply to us. One that does, however, is FERS (pension system for federal workers.) Let me preface this by saying that I am very apprehensive about pension plans in general. Growing up, I lost my grandfather at age 59. Since he did not meet the minimum retirement age of 60 at the time he passed, instead of his projected benefit of about $14,000 per year, my grandmother to this day receives precisely $Jack Squat from his pension. So naturally, I put a lot of weight on my IRA and 401k for retirement having seen the darker side of pension plans. Since not many organizations outside the government use pensions anymore, I never really took the time to understand how they work. Right now, I am conducting retirement planning with the assumption that my investments alone must sustain my (future) family and myself in retirement, and that my pension simply won't be there. It hurts to make this assumption, but assuming that I die, decide to leave the organization, get fired, or are strategically RIF'ed, I think it's not a far-fetched assumption. Is this reasonable, or can realistically count on FERS as a source of retirement income? [link] [comments]  |
| Parents gave me debt and ruined my credit Posted: 03 Aug 2018 10:34 AM PDT I'm graduating college soon and have been apartment hunting in NYC. I was told the minimum credit for most renters should be around 680. I've never had any credit cards or loads, etc so I assumed I had no credit. I only recently decided to get my credit checked when I found out that my parents had actually opened 2 credit cards under my name with a total of $25,000 in debt. These accounts have been open for years now, and while they have apparently been making the minimum payments as of late, my credit score sits around 580.I don't want my parents to face any criminal charges but I do want to fix my credit.As of right now, I have a friend willing to sign as a guarantor for my apartment as my credit score doesn't make the requirements. However, I can't rely on my friend forever and would want to get my credit to at least 680 as soon as I can. My parents don't know that I've found this out and I'm trying to think of how to bring it up and how I could get them to give me all the accounts. Questions: My starting salary as a computer engineer will most likely give me enough money to pay off all the debt in 1-2 years. Would it be beneficially to pay off all the debt at once? I love my parents but they don't have any self control and I could very well see them using my identity to open more things in the future. Is there any way to stop them from stealing my identity in the future without taking legal action against them ? TL;DR: parents opened credit cards in my name and gave me $25k in debt. how do i fix this without sending anyone to jail and how do i prevent it from happening again. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 06:19 AM PDT So as the title says.. I have recently received 3 job offers in a relatively short span of time. I'm not sure where else to post this thread so I'm going with PF (its more of a life advice not so much financial). I am turning 25 soon and have my bachelors in chemical engineering and currently have about 75k in loans at decent interest rates. I will try to be as descriptive as possible without giving out too much info about the companies and what not. So basically I have 3 offers on the table: 1) Government job making explosives for grenades and Rocket propelled devices. Offer is a little under 70K a year with guaranteed raises at 1 and 2.5 years. Good pensions and retirement. Flexible hours. Will help pay for masters. Interesting work. Only issues I have is ill have to move and its not exactly my desired field. 2) Alternative energy company that uses waste to make energy. 61k/year + overtime potential. Will pay up to 5k/year towards masters. Sustainability is a field I would love to get into but this is a basic operators position where I would work rotating 12 hour shifts doing hard physical labor in a hazardous environment. Role was pitched to me as an incumbent role where I would learn the inns and outs of the plant through hands on experience where I would be quickly moved to engineering or management. Also, can live at home, rent free, with parents if I choose. 3) Pharmaceutical Serialization company. 72K after bonus. Basically I would travel around the US and potentially foreign soils to help install the equipment and software that serializes pharmaceuticals. Pros are I would get paid to travel (Job sites can be anywhere, typical job last 2 weeks to a few months) and hours are flexible with options to work from home. I can live at home if I choose (rent free). My only concern is the opportunity cost of not taking something more chem. eng. related to help further my career. This job is definitely an engineers role but more mechE or electrical engineering/project management. I feel like I'm trying to compare an apple to an orange to a pear... Basically do I take a job in my dream field at the ground level working my ass off in less than ideal conditions for 12 hours a day, do i take the job that lets me travel and meet cool people and see cool places or do i take a very stable job in a related field with great benefits? I appreciate any advice. Edit 1: I really appreciate the responses and I will try to answer as many as I can. #2 can mostly be ruled out at this point. Thank you for the feedback! [link] [comments]  |
| Want to invest or otherwise protect $10k for young relative; don't want guardian to access. Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:51 AM PDT (USA) I want to provide these funds for a very young relative, to be accessed only by that relative after turning 18 or 21, whatever makes sense. Wanted to invest in a 529 for educational expenses but the guardian wants to set up the account themselves and I would deposit the money into it, giving them control. I want these funds to be controlled by myself or another close family member and the guardian doesn't want to provide the needed information (birth certificate, SSN) for the 529. Any ideas for another way to provide and protect the money other than putting it in a savings account? For the record, I'm not 100% sure that the funds would be used in any inappropriate way but I don't want to leave that door open and risk damage to any relationships. Trying to eliminate any possibility of drama. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Opting into Spouse’s Health Insurance Outside Open Enrollment Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:24 PM PDT Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but I was wondering if you all might have an idea about my health insurance options if I leave my current job. My wife and I are on my current employer's health plan. The plan is pretty good and costs $0 per month for our family plan. We joined this plan as a couple when we got married. Open enrollment for my wife's plan is in June. If I quit my job and get a new job, will my wife and I be able to enroll in my wife's plan? I'm assuming that the plan at any new job I get will not be as good as my wife's. Her insurance plan has solid coverage and is very affordable, but it is obviously not as affordable as my current insurance. Any help would be much appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 12:59 PM PDT First post. I'm 31 yo. I have been trying to save, but I feel like I am working harder, not smarter. I have no investments, no house, but no major debt. I have paid off my car and loans. Gross salary: 43k Cash in bank: 51k Rent+utilities: 1150 a month My fiancee just started her first job and lives with me. Gross salary: 52k Cash in bank: 2k School debt: 90k She needs a new car and knows what she wants . It will cost 20k-25k. Goals: I want to invest. Help fiancee. I want to buy a house and start a family in 3-5 years. What is the best step by step solution to set up the future for this situation? Thanks. EDIT: She will be looking at a cheaper car from advice [link] [comments]  |
| waiting til the next housing crash to buy? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:31 AM PDT i've read reports about housing prices being ridiculously high right now and it being a bubble again, so I'd like to wait until the next housing crash and get a good home on the cheap. is this a viable strategy? obviously there is no way to know when it will happen, so I told the wife if it doesn't happen in 10 years, we'll give in and just buy then. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 06:02 PM PDT Anyone else occasionally binge spend for a few months at a time? Lately I've been spending probably every penny of my income, putting zero into savings. None of it was "absolutely necessary" but is more in the "nice to have" category. I already have substantial savings and live debt free except my house, so does it even matter? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 05:58 PM PDT I have received a check for close to 250,000$. That's great and all but I feel overwhelmed. I have no idea what to do with it except put it in a bank, but after that I'm clueless. Do you guys have any advice on how to make this money work, instead of me spending it or letting it sit in the bank. [link] [comments]  |
| Save or pay off credit cards first with one income and 3 kids Posted: 03 Aug 2018 02:04 PM PDT My husband passed away 5 years ago, and I'm trying to get back on my feet financially. I was a stay at home mom when he died, (we have four kids ages 21, 18, 13, and 6) and I made some questionable decisions with the little life insurance money we had, trying to get us through those first 3 years. (It was spent on 2 trips to Disneyland and many different activities and classes for the kids, to keep us busy through those first few years. The state of mind I was in was not great and I beat myself up about wasting the money every day but I digress....) I work part time and my kids get survivors social security. My oldest aged out of that 2 years ago (and is moved out of the house), and my second oldest just aged out also (but still lives at home). I'm applying for my own survivor's social security benefits and from what they told me at the social security office the monthly amount we receive should be the same. If I make more than $17k a year they start to take away my portion of our benefits, so until I start working full time at my job (which should happen within the next 3 years as two people are retiring) I don't want to work more hours somewhere else. When I get full time I will get full health benefits for me and my family + PERS...but right now I need to watch our income so we can stay on our state's free healthcare. My problem right now is trying to pay off my credit cards. I have zero savings and $14k credit card debt. Last year I refinanced my house and paid off $10k in credit card debt, paid off the loan on a small commercial building I own (from my late husband's business) and lowered my montly mortgage payment. Over the past 6 months I have gotten one of my credit cards (originally $2000) down to $900 and between ebaying and upping the monthly payments, will have that one completely paid off in September. That will leave me with 2 credit cards (one with a balance of $12,000 at 20.99% and one with a balance of $1000 at 26.49%). My plan is to pay off the $1000 one first (using the "extra" payments from the soon-to-be paid off card, and once that is paid off, tackle the $12k debt the same way). The commercial building is old and in really bad shape, so I can't rent it out. It is in a fairly desirable area in my small town and is a decent sized lot, but small businesses in my town are few and far between right now. There are a lot of empty buildings. My plan is to put it up for sale...right now it only costs me the property taxes which is $400/year but a friend of mine is paying me $75/mth to store some things there. The lot is assessed at $45k but I doubt I will be able to get that much out of it when I do sell it. I've been reading a lot of personal finance books, but so far I haven't found a good answer to my question. How do I save when I'm trying to pay off credit card debt? Should I be setting aside money before I pay off my credit cards? I've set aside money here and there but with 3 kids at home it always gets eaten up right away. Right now it's back to school supplies, fees, clothes etc. (though my parents do help me with that). But there's always birthdays, holidays, car & house repairs (I have to replace our furnace this fall). An aside: my 18 year old has a part time job and goes to school and buys his own things but I pay for his food and don't charge him rent and we have an agreement that I won't do that while he's getting good grades and working). Should I pay just the minimum on my two remaining cards until I get some savings built up (and if so, how much?), or pay the cards off first? Those are my only big expenses (my car is paid off). The cost of living in my area is fairly low and I'm able to keep costs down by cooking at home and not going anywhere. I literally have a 2 minute commute to work and can walk if needed. I do pay for Netflix and YouTube TV, Google music (and most recently HBO through Amazon Prime) because we are home ALL the time and I feel like we get our money's worth out of these things and it saves us money in the long run (we rarely go to the movies, and I exercise at home while listening to music or watching TV instead of having a gym membership). BTW my parents pay my Amazon Prime membership because they order things through my account all the time. (And yes, my $12k card is my Amazon Prime card.) Net Income $3350 $807 Mortgage $332 Credit card 1 (if I just pay the minimum) $29 Credit card 2 (if I just pay the minimum) $222 Electricity (averaged out through the power company, very high but power is used constantly with all of us) $300 Cell Phone (for all of us, and I still pay my 21 year old's bill) $72 Water $30 Garbage $53 Heat (gas furnace) $74 Car insurance $65 Cable/internet $35 YouTubeTV $14 Netflix $15 HBO (I know this probably has to go...It has a lot of my favorite shows :( $17 Google Music and Extra data Storage (lots of old photos and videos) $60 Counseling (I pay out of pocket for a counselor that has a sliding scale. Great counselor, this is a must for me) $800 groceries (which I'm sure I can cut back on if I'm more careful at the grocery store) $50 gas for the car If I sell my building I'll obviously pay everything off, but I can't count on that. My main question is how much to put away for savings and when (before or after or during the paying of the cards). Any suggestions would be great. [link] [comments]  |
| I got overpaid a lot on my paycheck Posted: 03 Aug 2018 08:00 PM PDT I work as a server and my paycheck should always be very low since I work for tips. My paycheck this week was 1100$ which is about 1000$ over what it should have been. It looks like the credit card tips that I receive every night was included in the check so I basically made double tips. My boss has been informed and he said he would contact payroll. What should I do? Can they request the money back? I assume they can't reverse the payment that's already gone through. Any advice helps thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2018 05:37 PM PDT I'm from a middle class family where my parents will help me with money through college. I was talking with a friend about making a bank account and I told them I was just going to wait until 18 (2 months away) to make my own instead of the hassle of going to the bank with my parents who both work and don't really have the time (especially since the bank usually closes at 5). I really trust and have a close relationship with my family so I know they wouldn't take money from me if we had a joint account. Is what my friend is saying true? I also had another question: My parents use a local credit union, which I could become a member of once I turn 18, but if I'm probably going to be moving away during college should I use a national bank instead? [link] [comments]  |
| Rolling over a 401k is the right thing to do... right? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 05:35 PM PDT My company was recently sold and thankfully I ended up with a company that offers 5% match! I'm setting up to put 7% in right now but just wanted to confirm... rolling my previous 401k only makes sense right? More money to play with the more money they can make me? [link] [comments]  |
| Advice on managing finances for someone who knows nothing about finance? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:46 PM PDT So I've always been terrible at managing my finances. I have never really been financially independent, and always received help from family. So honestly, I was a little spoiled. But I can't be like that anymore. I only ever had shitty jobs that barely paid anything when I was in my early 20s, and also did a shitty job at saving. I've taken out a number of student loans. For the first time in my life, I'll be making decent money with my first job as a nurse. However, I also have over $40k in student loan debt which I want to pay off ASAP. I want to learn to manage my money and be financially independent for once. Managing my finances gives me a lot of anxiety, and I'm afraid of running out of money all the time. I never feel in good control of my money and don't even know where to start. I find that I'm stingy and cut costs on some things here and there as a result. Yet I also spend a lot of money on other things. Any advice on where to even start? My new job offers discounts to financial services for $25/month with a minimum 6 month commitment. Is that something that would be helpful to me? [link] [comments]  |
| Best credit card for college students? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 02:47 PM PDT Many people recommend the discover student card but I would like to know more opinions. I am mostly looking to build my credit but bonuses would be nice. [link] [comments]  |
| Tips to watch out for when renting with others? Posted: 03 Aug 2018 07:29 PM PDT I'm moving to a new city and will likely look to rent with others since it is a high cost of living area. I'm a nice guy and sometimes I give people too much benefit of the doubt. I'm wondering - what are some things to look out for when renting with others? Some things that seem obvious is asking how the rent is split (for example if the rent is $3000 and they are asking you to pay $1500 they may just be hoping you think $1500 is a good price vs. asking you to pay only $1000 assuming all the bedrooms are equal, etc.) and setting out clear guidelines beforehand but what other things should I be on the lookout for? Is stuff like trying to get people to pay more than others common, etc.? [link] [comments]  |
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