Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of October 05, 2018 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of October 05, 2018
- The cost of a speeding ticket is actually much higher than the fine itself
- I am a student with a full-ride to medical school and a savings account ($50K). Should I take out loans?
- I “stress spend” and I don’t know how to stop myself...
- 18 in high school, no job, unstable housing, need advice
- need advice on whether a retired man should finance a house or wait til he receives his TSP lump sum to pay for it
- Parents pay Mortgage. My name is on title. What happens if parents die?
- Charged over $500 by Sprint on my debit card on an account that is not mine and a charge I never authorized.
- Where to find <3% APR for used auto loan
- Remember to do your due diligence - lots of misguided advice online in personal finance
- Found $10k cash a month ago and turned it in, police gave it back to me in full and I have no idea what to do with it. (Pictures attached)
- I bought a car 2 months ago. A lady driving distracted totaled it last week and insurance just wrote a cheque for much less than I still owed. Since I was not offered gap insurance during purchase I now have $10,000 in negative equity.
- App for tracking credit card rewards
- Faced $98,000 in medical bills 2 years ago as a college freshman straight out of the military and couldn’t afford to pay it, so I didn’t. Any advice before I file?
- Withdrawing inherited IRA in combat zone.
- Made my first big step (setting paycheck contributions to max out HSA!) yesterday, ready to take step two (max out an IRA)...
- Wanting to earn a little extra money each month. Would delivering pizzas a couple days out of the month be worth it?
- Is maxing a 401K enough?
- Financial Check-Up: Sharing my process, looking for a little validation, and asking a few questions.
- Tried selling my house FSBO to a gentlemen, and couldnt reach an agreement. Now he wants to take me up on my offer two days after i signed a listing agreement with a realtor. (FL)
- Got a bunch of credit cards, didn’t apply for any!
- Difference between High Deductible Plan and PPO2 before deductible is met?
- Odd Financial Aid Verification Question?
- Employer hands me a personal check for paychecks
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of October 05, 2018 Posted: 05 Oct 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]  |
| The cost of a speeding ticket is actually much higher than the fine itself Posted: 05 Oct 2018 08:31 AM PDT My GF had one speeding ticket last year. It made her insurance rate go up by $29/month for 3 years. This means that a single speeding ticket cost $1,044 MORE than the fine itself. I never intentionally speed, but I had no idea that the cost of a single ticket could be so high. If more people were aware of this, there would be much less speeding and people could avoid these needless extra costs. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 01:31 PM PDT Hey r/personalfinace!! So I am a long time lurker, bu first time poster! As the title says, I was fortunate to have been given a full ride to medical school to pursue an MD plus a Masters!! Tuition which is about $52K/year is all paid for all four years!! The only thing I have to worry about is paying for rent which is $750 per month and a for food. Now the thing is I have saved up around $50K from my previous job during my gap year! The school offered me a loan of a max of $10K per year for a total of $40K by the end of the four years. The interest accumulates by my third year of residency which is when I start making payments. Now my question is, should I use my savings for rent and food, or should I max out on those private loans to keep my savings as an emergency fund? Another thing is that I am in a long distance relationship where my girlfriend is in graduate school on the other coast of the United States and we want to see each other once a month. So we will be flying often. Now should I use my savings for those flights or should I take out a credit card? My concerns about spending money stem from growing up really poor, my parents barely finished middle and high school, and I have never taken out loans or had credit cards. So I am kind of scared to use up my savings, but at the same time to take out loans. Any insight is greatly appreciated! TLDR: Medical student with a full-ride. Should I use up my savings account of $50K to fly across the country and to pay for rent/food? Or take out a loan? [link] [comments]  |
| I “stress spend” and I don’t know how to stop myself... Posted: 05 Oct 2018 05:01 PM PDT Hi PF! The title is pretty self explanatory. I've been under a lot of stress lately and I tend to use shopping as my coping mechanism which I know is real bad, I wish I would workout instead. Within this last week I spent a total of about $1k in stuff I needed like groceries and new bedsheets but also on stuff I didn't need like new clothes and shoes. I'm so disgusted in myself that I did this, but I just don't know how to manage my money more so manage my "stress spending." I'm planing to return all nonessential items tomorrow, but I need advice on how not to "stress spend" again. I really would like to develop a strict budgeting plan for myself, so I can hold myself more accountable and manage my money better. Also any and all advice about how not stress spend would obviously be greatly appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| 18 in high school, no job, unstable housing, need advice Posted: 05 Oct 2018 03:23 PM PDT I am a 18 yr old in CA where rent is skyrocketing, I currently live with my mother but I feel unsafe and unwelcome in my current housing environment. I am job searching but I have only $50 in my name right now and $200 in a high school debit account linked with my mothers. (its my money just linked accounts) I need to plan a way to be able to move in the months to come. I have somebody willing to roommate with me if I find a room so that should help with rent but I have no idea how to start building credit, budget, save money, anything. For the past 17 years my mother received food stamps for me. I have been told I can try and keep them for one more year (on account of a deadbeat father) since I still attend high school is this true? If so is there anyway I can guarantee my mother does not have access to those benefits? Are there any benefits I am unaware of that I might qualify for, I am very low income. I have no idea where to start and I need advice, anything helps, thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 06:59 PM PDT hello all, i'll try to be short & to the point. my father just recently retired , has no savings & is waiting til he turns 59 to collect a TSP lump sum if about 230k to buy a house. he is 55 now. he currently owns no house & is paying a $600 car bill towards an auto loan. he collects $3000 a month from retirement. now he is planning to buy a house ASAP using a VA loan & plans to pay the mortgage along with the other bills until he turns 59 to finally pay the house off at once with the TSP money. the house price range they are seeking is ~220k. i am seeking some advice on whether it would be better for him to rent an apartment for a few years & wait til he receives the lump sum of his TSP loan & buy a house with cash on hand (so he can maybe get a higher value house at a lower price since he won't have to finance) , or whether it is a good idea to go ahead with the VA loan & pay all that interest & not get the best deal since he'd have to finance rather than pay the home off cash. can anyone help me or point me in the right direction to what might be the better option? i am worried he will struggle greatly paying a ~$1500 mortgage (i assume it'd be in this ballpark for a 220k home) & the other bills as opposed to a cheap apartment rent bill. any advice would be GREATLY appreciated thank you. edit: a few minor details added. [link] [comments]  |
| Parents pay Mortgage. My name is on title. What happens if parents die? Posted: 05 Oct 2018 08:55 AM PDT My father helped me purchase a house by putting a lot of money down. He called it a pre-inheritance. My name is not on the mortgage, but I give that money to my father to pay the monthly bill. I pay the other bills, utilities, etc. When we closed on the house my name was put on the title. So, I'm on the title but not the mortgage. If my parents were to unexpectedly pass away how would the situation unfold? I have the means to continue paying the mortgage, but purchasing the home from the bank could be tough to afford. Any information, advice, or suggestions on how to manage this would be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 06:28 PM PDT First post here so I will make this as quick as possible and try to not muddy it up to bad. About 10 months ago, my former roommate was nice enough to get me a phone through Sprint. The entire account was in his name...at the time my credit was not good enough to secure a line with Sprint without a big deposit. I had paid him cash for the phone payment every month and my portion of the bill for 6 months. However, he had a family emergency and had to go home about 10 months ago. Our cell bill was due so he paid a portion of the bill online and then I paid the remainder through Sprints website undet his account as a one time payment of like $50. Fast forward 4 months, he moves out and decides to move to a different state. The new area doesnt have good Sprint service. I do a transfer of billing responsibilities and take the phone I was leasing and get my own account and keep Sprint. He leaves Sprint and goes to Tmobile. I am a happy new Sprint customer. Pay my bill on time through autopay for the last 5 months hoping to better my credit. No problems. Then yesterday I check my online banking after paying my rent. I should have a positive balance of a few bucks which I do but all the sudden my available balance is negative 500. I was shocked so I called and report my card as lost or stolen to stop any further transactions. After digging, my bank discovers that a charge for my entire available balance down to the penny has been taken by Sprint. Immediately I know it's not my Sprint bill. My bill is not due until today. Come to find out my exroomates Sprint account has been charged off and my debit card was charged to cover his contract remains for his phone that he didnt take care. Is this legal? How can Sprint charge a card that was only authorized for a one time payment 10 months ago? What can I do? Thanks for any advice or direction. I am broke and have Bill's of my own to pay and this has me upset to the max. [link] [comments]  |
| Where to find <3% APR for used auto loan Posted: 05 Oct 2018 07:14 PM PDT I'm purchasing a 2016 car soon and this will be my first time financing for a car. I have a 755 credit score and good paying job, but all the advertised rates I see online for used cars seem to be over 3% APR. I see threads where people are talking about 1.99% APR on here. Is this not possible to find at this time? Can anyone point me to a good credit union where I can at least hopefully find a semi-low APR? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Remember to do your due diligence - lots of misguided advice online in personal finance Posted: 05 Oct 2018 03:19 PM PDT Came across the following buzzfeed video today where the woman claims that you should pay off short term loans over long term loans if the interest rates are the same to save interest. This is not true, mathematically it codes to matter which one you pay off first (though make sure you're hitting the minimums to avoid additional penalties!) https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=3m24s&v=OsvD1Ohvx44&feature=youtu.be Just thought I'd share this as a friendly reminder to people that here on the internet you should take the advice of strangers with a grain of salt and do your own research. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 03:45 PM PDT This happened a few months back, I found it and turned it in and never expected to get it back. Yesterday I got a call and went down there and they gave it to me in an envelope and I had to sign a piece of paper saying I took it. No idea what to do with it, spend it or invest or just put it in a savings account. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 03:01 PM PDT I am 21 years old. I don't have any savings and was dependent on the vehicle to make money. I was not approved for another loan without a co signer and that is not an option for me. What can I do? [link] [comments]  |
| App for tracking credit card rewards Posted: 05 Oct 2018 11:37 AM PDT Help me PF So for the past 5 years I have been using an app called Wallaby to help keep track of which card to use in certain situations. This is the same backend software that powered (now defunct) creditcards.com app and currently powers the TPG To Go app that does the same thing. Over the summer Wallaby discontinued their app and referred their users to TPG To Go. However, that app's credit recommendations have not been updated for the new quarter and looks like it is no longer supported as well due to losing backend support from Wallaby. Customer support has not responding to me for either app for months. Birch seems to be the closest thing, but crashes before opening on iOS 12 and also seems to no longer be supported based on inactive Twitter and app updates. I am dying here without an app to tell me when to use what card. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 03:22 PM PDT So this is pretty straight forward, I appreciate those who choose to give me advice and read this. It means the world to me. I was honorably discharged from the Military 2 years ago when I was 21 and still fairly stupid and clueless. The national healthcare sign-up deadline passed shortly before I was discharged from the army so I decided to roll the dice and wait until next year to apply. Unfortunately 6 months after being discharged while I was a freshman in college I had an emergency gallbladder removal with implications during my recovery, I ended up staying at the hospital for 10 days in pretty intense pain. A couple of weeks later after I started to feel better (with plastic tubes sticking out of my stomach) I got the hospital bill and panicked. Altogether the 10 day stay costed nearly $100,000 in hospital bills. I was making $1200 a month from the GI bill and I still am. I went to talk to the billing department and turned in proof of my income, later the rep told me that I was ineligible with financial assistance. The monthly payment plan that they gave me was over $900 a month. I just couldn't afford to pay it. As a 21 year old with an already frugal budget and <$1000 in savings I freaked out and just ended up not paying and dodging the phone calls from the collectors out of fear that I would have to file for bankruptcy which will mean that they will take my Jeep away that I needed to drive to get to school. There may have been more options out there but as a 21 year old just out of the military with no one I let fear get the best of me. I stayed in the same apartment building because I was scared that my credit score got so bad that there was no way I would have been able to get another apartment without paying a deposit I couldn't afford and would have to go homeless. This bill has been the bane of my life because of my fear of losing what little I have. A month ago I got a letter from the hospital that told me that they are keeping my tax return and that I have until December to contact them about my pending fees, some of which have been already sold to collecting agencies. I'm planning to travel to the hospitals billing department next week to speak to them. I still make about $1,300 a month with $600 monthly rent as well and utilities and internet+ phone. I'm still a full time student. Is bankruptcy my only option at this point? My car is my only form of transportation for school and I live in a small city where public transport isn't an option. Most of this is caused by my own ignorance and fears I understand, any advice on this would mean so much. [link] [comments]  |
| Withdrawing inherited IRA in combat zone. Posted: 05 Oct 2018 04:43 PM PDT I am currently in a combat zone and would like to make a withdrawal from my inherited IRA. Would I still have to pay federal and state taxes on the amount withdrawn? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 09:42 AM PDT I originally posted this on /r/financialindependence, but thought I would xpost it here as well. Hi all! In the last three weeks or so I've begun learning a lot about investing and financial planning. This week is the first week I feel like I'm really getting it, and it feels good! Now that I'm coming to some understanding of what I want, I went ahead and started making changes. I raised my HSA contributions to have it max out. It'll be a lot of deductions for the rest of 2018 ($680 per paycheck) but it turns out to be only a bit above what I was saving already (50% of my paycheck was going into a taxable brokerage account before, now it's going toward my HSA). My next step is to open my first IRA. Some would say to do a 401k first, but I don't get any company matching, and I couldn't come to any reason to do a 401k before an IRA, so I felt like I just had to make a decision and I've gone ahead and decided that I'll focus on maxing out my IRA before thinking of greater contributions to 401k (currently contributing 5% to 401k because I dunno that seems like a good amount for now). If anyone has anything to say regarding choosing to max an IRA over a 401k, please feel free to say so! To max out my IRA I will be transferring funds from my taxable brokerage account over in a lump sum. I currently hold about $20k in my brokerage account. $5,500 soon for 2018 IRA, $5,500 January for 2019 IRA, will leave me with roughly $10,000 left in my brokerage account, which I plan to turn into a three fund portfolio. I will be transferring companies (currently with Franklin Templeton, which has a high ER). People talk a lot about VTSAX here, and I plan on going with that or its equivalent at another company (it seems like Fidelity is actually the cheapest company to go with, so I see no reason to go with anyone else. PLEASE if you have some thoughts about Vanguard vs. Fidelity, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR TWO CENTS as the only meaningful factor for comparison I've found so far is expense ratios.) Ok, so now that I've decided to max out my IRA, I've been doing so much research about which is better for FIRE goals, traditional or roth. I've seen a lot of sources/people saying "go traditional!" and a lot of sources/people saying "go roth!" and I'm so unsure and unconvinced of there being a true advantage of one over the other that I feel I'm at the point of just deciding with a coin flip. The purpose of this post is to have one last effort to come to an educated decision of one over the other. If after this post there is no clear "winner" my plan will be to max a Traditional IRA for 2018 and a Roth IRA for 2019. Factors to consider: I currently make $50k, which some have told me puts me at 12% tax (I still don't understand how to figure out tax brackets) and because of that I should do a Roth because 12% is the lowest tax bracket, and there is at least a chance of me being in a higher tax bracket when I retire (at this point in my research I still have no idea what to expect to want in retirement income or the tax bracket it will put me in). Others have said go Traditional because it will lower my overall taxable income, and that there are ways to get your money out of Traditional IRA into a Roth IRA tax free (it seemed this plan involved starting FIRE at an incredibly low income to get a 0% tax bracket, not sure how feasible this is). SO! PF community! Consider this your opportunity to influence the first steps of a soon-to-be smart and dedicated money saver! If you think you have a reason as to why I should go Roth or Traditional, with Vanguard or Fidelity, now is your chance to say so! I'd love to learn something that makes me confidently choose one over the other, but if not I'll feel fine just making a decision for the sake of getting going on my first ever IRA. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 11:26 AM PDT Hi. First time posting here, if it doesn't fit or there is a better sub please let me know. I'm currently the only source of income for a family of 4. I have a full time job as a carpenter but with the holidays coming up I'm trying to think of ways to earn a couple hundred extra dollars every month that isn't too physically demanding. I recently bought a dependable car and have been considering maybe delivering pizzas or something a couple Saturdays a month. Can anyone offer any insight as to about how much realistically, in Colorado, I might be able to make doing something like that and pros and cons? Or another suggestion work wise that I could look in to that's cohesive to what I'm looking for? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 07:18 PM PDT Let's say I retire in 32 years with a maxed 401K, is that enough? I get that my question is subjective. The result is, if YOU only had a maxed 401K after 32 years, would that be enough? Edit: I make $110K/yr before bonuses, incentives, matching, etc. [link] [comments]  |
| Financial Check-Up: Sharing my process, looking for a little validation, and asking a few questions. Posted: 05 Oct 2018 09:24 AM PDT I've been planning this post for a while. There is a lot I want to include, but I'm going to do my best to make it succinct and structured. Where I started: My next step was to create a structure that I could follow to track all my student loan payments, since that's where a lot of my money goes. I made a spreadsheet that listed the loan, the minimum payment, and the day of the month that it was due. That way I could pay them in order (Before this, sometimes I would arbitrarily pay a loan due at the end of the month and then have no money for the one that was due the next week). This was the beginning of my financial reawakening. Gradually, I added to the spreadsheet other expenses that were routine and predictable. Internet payment, utilities, etc. Then I added amounts and dates for things that auto-pay (like Netflix and Spotify) so I could plan and account for those too. Then later I added columns that represented months, so that I could check off payments as I made them, go down the list over the course of the month, and then move to the next month. By this point, I was now making all my student loan payments on time, and my credit score was slowly going up. It was tremendously satisfying and motivating. Next I filled out a new direct deposit form at work and diverted 10% of my pay to my neglected savings account. Time went on. Where I am now: I'm saving $500 a month automatically, in addition to my modest 401k and HSA contributions. I'm doing my best to follow the wiki's prime directive. The figures in the linked spreadsheet are factual. As you can see, I don't really have much of a cushion. Literally 99% of my income is accounted for. Granted a fair amount of it is discretionary spending, but I've hit a ceiling and can't really grow from here. I'm trying to continually optimize to give myself some wiggle room. You can see on the graph on the cover page where I decided to cut costs as much as possible (with the exception of Shopping, where I bought a new bike for exercise and transportation). I cut $600 of discretionary spending from August to September. I check my credit score every week on CreditKarma, and my scores per CK are now 687 and 659. Not great, but getting better. My shoddy payment history is the only thing holding me down. All my accounts are in good standing, I have no derogatory remarks, <15% credit utilization, and a good long age of credit history. I just have to wait for the late payments to come off over time. Looking forward: . My girlfriend and I are moving in together around January, at which point a lot of my expenses (like rent) will be cut by roughly half. I'm looking forward to re-optimizing my life when that point comes. She has said she's going to supplement my loan payments a bit when we live together too, so that's just lovely. I really, really want to refinance my student loans. I'd be happy if my monthly payment came down a bit, but I really want a lower interest rate, and only one monthly payment. I think my score needs to be higher before I have a reasonable shot of that happening. I'm going to scale up my 401k contribution as my income and budget allows, and I'm going to keep throwing a bit of money into my HSA every paycheck. I'm still new at my company, and won't be eligible for an employer match until next year (which is why that area is grayed out on the spreadsheet). Questions:
There's lots of information here. I'm happy to answer questions about my spreadsheet, my history, my goals, etc. Thanks for reading! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Oct 2018 02:03 PM PDT This is my first time selling a home, and I was negotiating with my current room mate about selling to him. We were a little bit far apart, so I decided to sign a listing agreement with a realtor. Now, 2 days later, my room mate has agreed to the price I wanted to sell to him for. Can I explain this to the realtor and get out of my agreement, or will I be on the hook for paying commission even though they have not done anything? [link] [comments]  |
| Got a bunch of credit cards, didn’t apply for any! Posted: 05 Oct 2018 02:30 PM PDT Looks like I'm the victim of identity theft. Hooray! Three cards arrived today which I never applied for. The person applied using my real SSN and address. I'm in the process of filing a fraud claim with each card, I'm going to call each credit bureau and file a claim, put a freeze on my account, pull my credit to see if there's any cards still out there, and file a police report. Have I missed anything? Edit: So I was able to place a freeze with TransUnion no problem, Experian would only let me "unfreeze" my credit, and Equifax didn't give me the freeze option at all (though I did place a fraud alert because why not). Does placing a freeze with one agency cover all of them? [link] [comments]  |
| Difference between High Deductible Plan and PPO2 before deductible is met? Posted: 05 Oct 2018 05:53 PM PDT Have a relatively healthy family and I never hit the deductible (usually). But my kids are getting more active and I'm concerned about an accident (broken bone, concussions, etc). So I'm thinking about moving to the middle PPO plan. The difference in premium is $2000 per year. The difference in deductible is $500 (which does t make sense to me). Unless the office visit cost is treated differently (ie less out of pocket cost for basic care) it doesn't make any sense to pay $2k more for a $500 drop in deductible. With my HDHP plan I pay the discount rate (coinsurance) how does the copay work? Would I be better off just putting the extra $2k into my HSA and paying the lower premium? [link] [comments]  |
| Odd Financial Aid Verification Question? Posted: 05 Oct 2018 07:55 PM PDT After having to verify my fafsa information with my mother's 2016 tax transcript for community college, I was sent a verification task to "Please provide a detailed explanation as to how your family supported themselves on such a low income in 2016." I've searched online for advice about similar verification questions with no luck. Is there anything I need to know about what they're looking for in this question? I'm just so worried I might mess up and lose the aid because I really can't afford even the costs of books that I'm paying for school. I'm not sure what to say: "It was hard, we were poor, but we survived?" I also moved out in 2016 but fafsa still considers me a dependent. Any help is appreciated, thank you all so much. [link] [comments]  |
| Employer hands me a personal check for paychecks Posted: 05 Oct 2018 09:17 AM PDT As the title states, there is no payroll. He told me he goes through his bank to figure out all my taxes and takes them out of my net pay. This seems really unprofessional and I have had him print out everything detailing what's going where (taxes) but it makes me question it. Is this okay? It's just me, him, and a coworker in a very small medical office. [link] [comments]  |
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