Personal Finance Weekday Help Thread for the week of November 05, 2018 |
- Weekday Help Thread for the week of November 05, 2018
- The CFP Board is expanding fiduciary duty for CFPs and some companies are not happy about it
- Need advice. I’m 18 and inherited 75k.
- Debris fell off the back of a car and hit the underside of my car. Car broke down and now I have $9k repair cost
- How is it possible to save for a house?
- My dad passed away in July and we've already reported it to social security, but new credit cards are constantly being opened and wracking up a lot of debt. How do I stop this?
- Is $500 a month enough into a 403b? 33 years old.
- Equifax refuses to believe collection account has been illegally re-aged.
- Is taking a pay cut worth it for a less stressful job?
- What are some In demand online courses or certifications?
- Homeless and need money before payday, what are my best options?
- My Budget Spreadsheet Template
- My wife is a nurse who asked for a pay raise. Company offered way less than what was requested. The doctor she works for offered to personally make up the difference in pay.
- Buying Engagement Ring, Want CC that I can get Intro Bonus On W Purchase
- It is Open Benefits season in the US, what has been a noticeable change in your benefits good or bad?
- HDHP vs PPO insurance - Advice for an avid saver?
- Can someone ELI5 a HSA and why I would want to use one?
- Hospital still has not sent a ~$3k bill more than one year after the procedure was performed.
- For past two years, IRS has asked for more money
- I feel like I'm financially drowning. Temp job, temp living situation, broken down car, the whole works. How can I make some extra money every month?
- Dental visit reimbursed by FSA but wife used HSA to pay bill???
- A 2nd Checking Account?
- Always bought car insurance direct, but now an independent agent is offering a substantial discount for higher coverage. What should I be aware of?
- in the hospital for several days, how does this impact my health insurance and financial situation?
| Weekday Help Thread for the week of November 05, 2018 Posted: 05 Nov 2018 03:07 AM PST If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.While we never remove posts just because a question is answered in the wiki, this thread is a low-key place to ask any question no matter how "moronic" you think it might be. Make a top-level comment if you want to ask a question! Also, please don't downvote "moronic" questions! If you have not received your answer within 24 hours, you can feel free to start a discussion. A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! For past help threads, please search the Weekly Archive. [link] [comments]  |
| The CFP Board is expanding fiduciary duty for CFPs and some companies are not happy about it Posted: 05 Nov 2018 07:51 AM PST What's Happening with Certified Financial Planners?Beginning in October 2019, all CFPs will be required to act in the best interests of their clients at all times when providing financial advice. While many CFPs already operate this way, CFPs are currently only required to act as a fiduciary when helping clients with financial planning. The OppositionThis is a very good thing for investors working with CFPs and probably a good thing for investors in general, but what really struck me is the list of companies responding in opposition to the new rule. Technically, these companies only wanted to delay or limit the scope of the rule, but don't kid yourself, they did not want this to happen. And it's a virtual "who's who" of financial firms milking customers for money:
This one is a little murkier, but there was also a letter from Financial Services Institute (FSI). They also opposed the DOL fiduciary rule. Current employers of their board members include:
And who sponsors FSI? There's a long list of horrible investment companies, but I'll just list out the top two sponsorship levels:
I was a little surprised to see Fidelity listed as supporting this organization. I've long said I don't 100% trust Fidelity (especially their financial advisors) to be looking out for individuals, but this is seriously bad company to keep. But wait, there's more! The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) wrote an opposing letter too. Board members come from such companies as:
And I don't want to leave anyone out here. Another letter urging delay came from The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). I'm not going to list out all of the life insurance companies that peddle life insurance as an investment, but the ACLI Board Chair is the Transamerica President & CEO Mark Mullin. Transamerica is the parent of World Financial Group. SupportingIn contrast, NAPFA (an association of fee-only financial advisors) wrote a letter of support. There were also a slew of individual CFPs writing letters in response to the proposal. I'm not going to try to summarize those given the sheer number of letters, but I did read a few letters in support of the new fiduciary standard (nowhere near a scientific sample, though). What Does This Mean for You?A lot of people here recommend learning enough about investing so you can manage your own investments, but if you find yourself in a complex situation and in need of professional help, read the wiki article on financial advisors first. You also don't need to wait until October 2019 to get trustworthy advice. Many CFPs are members of NAPFA which already requires their members to always act in the best interests of their clients. And be wary of financial companies that are actively working against your interests. TL;DR: Wells Fargo Advisors, Edward Jones, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, and Fidelity (?!) [link] [comments]  |
| Need advice. I’m 18 and inherited 75k. Posted: 05 Nov 2018 09:12 AM PST About a year ago I had a relative pass away and I inherited 75k. Since then, the money has just sat in a savings account as myself and my mom are unsure about the right steps to take. From this post I am basically just wanting some advice on what to do in terms of investing and how to go about doing that. Currently I am a full time student with college costs covered(academic scholarship)/no debt and do not need the money to cover any current expenses. Update: I don't plan to touch any of the money for at least 10 years but want the flexibility of being able to take a portion and possibly using it for something such as a house down payment. Is this smart and what would be the best thing to do to grow the money until that point? Is getting a financial adviser the best option? And would I just invest it with them and not worry or do anything with it until I needed it? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 05:29 PM PST I was driving home and was about 150 miles outside of my city and on the highway. There were cars around me and something, I wish I could tell you what it was, fell off the truck in front of me and hit the underside of my car which made an incredibly loud noise. Not long after that I started losing power and my engine started making a clacking sound. I pulled over and had to get a trailer to tow my car the rest of the way. I took it into the mechanic and they are telling me it is 9K in repairs, new engine and turbo charger, and I still owe 6k+ on the auto loan. What can I do? I've asked other mechanics and they are saying the same thing. Is this something my insurance covers? I have progressive and my car is a 2008 Mazda CX-7 Edit spelling and it was a truck not a car. [link] [comments]  |
| How is it possible to save for a house? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 09:36 AM PST I'm an engineer, I make $63k per year. I'm 26 and I recently paid off my car and have no student loan debt, or debt of any kind to anyone. I'm still a few thousand off from having my $10k emergency fund set up, and I'm trying to follow Dave Ramsey's baby steps. I would like to buy a house but I just don't see how it is possible. If I can manage to save $500 per month, which would be about 10% of my income, that's only $6k a year in savings. If i'm going by good advice (Dave Ramsey) to get a house that has a payment of 25% of your income on a 15 year mortgage, then I can only afford about a $200k house, and I need at least $40k down payment to avoid PMI. That would take me about 7 years to save up enough down payment. This just seems completely unrealistic. Am I missing something other than you just have to put less money down and eat the PMI? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 07:51 PM PST As if coping with my dad's death isn't enough, in the past few months my mom has constantly had to deal with newly opened credit cards in his name with large amounts of credit used. She's had to contact all the different accounts and tell them that my dad passed away and they've been getting cleared one by one, but more keep coming. It's a huge hassle and I don't know how to stop it from happening. If we've already reported his death to social security, how is anyone even able to open new lines of credit under his name? Some of the credit card collectors are threatening to recoup the money from my mom's home. How do I make this stop? [link] [comments]  |
| Is $500 a month enough into a 403b? 33 years old. Posted: 05 Nov 2018 03:32 PM PST My spouse and I both work in education and bring in about $7,000 a month combined after taxes. We each put in $500 in a 403b each month, $1000 combined. On top of this we are able to put about $1,000 a month into a general savings account. We're both in our early 30s and would likely be retiring around age 60. Is this enough for a comfortable retirement? [link] [comments]  |
| Equifax refuses to believe collection account has been illegally re-aged. Posted: 05 Nov 2018 11:56 AM PST So I've had an ongoing dispute through Equifax about a wrong date of first delinquency from a dentists bill from 2011. They collection agency is reporting the date as January 2017. I opened a dispute with Equifax with a cover letter and supporting documentation that included account history from the dentists that showed a collection write off in 2011 for the exact amount on the collection account. I also sent them a portion of my Transunion account that show original date of first delinquency in November 2011. They keep coming back to me and telling me date is reported as accurate. What else should I do? At this point I think I need to get a lawyer involved. I though about calling the collection agency directly but I don't think that would be a good idea. [link] [comments]  |
| Is taking a pay cut worth it for a less stressful job? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 11:45 AM PST I currently make $71K and I've been looking into a job that would pay <$60K. The lower paying job would be 40 hours a week, much more relaxed company, and less technical work than I have now, which is part of what stresses me out about my current job. I currently work at least 45 hours a week on average, which I know isn't crazy by any means, but the work is fast-paced and really hasn't felt like a great fit for any of the 20 months I've been here. Has anyone else had an experience with taking a fairly significant pay cut to go to a more satisfying job? Do you regret it? *Edit: I really appreciate all the responses, it's so helpful to get all these perspectives! I think one thing I should clarify is that the new position seems like it would be a better fit for my skill set, so that's part of why I'm drawn to it. Hearing all of your stories about how good it can feel to move to a better-suited job, I decided I want to at least pursue the interview process for this new job because I can afford the pay decrease and I want to get more perspective on what I do and don't like. Thank you all! [link] [comments]  |
| What are some In demand online courses or certifications? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 07:07 PM PST I'm currently working as a junior estimator st an hvac company but I'm looking for a change. What are some good online courses in or outside of the construction industry [link] [comments]  |
| Homeless and need money before payday, what are my best options? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 04:38 PM PST So I'm a homeless guy living in Japan, but I recently found a job and started working this month. The problem is that Mac withholds the first paycheck, so I won't be getting paid until the end of this month, and I only have 3000 yen left. I need 5500 for my storage locker (not as important as I can pay the late fee) and about 4500 yen for food. What are the best options for me? Should I get a loan? And from where? I don't have family or friends to ask for help or I would have already. Don't have anything valuable to sell either. Don't qualify for /r/borrow either. [link] [comments]  |
| My Budget Spreadsheet Template Posted: 05 Nov 2018 07:23 PM PST https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ogd5kR_nYb-Ixup3hgs-7RZZ4LZNNMAYzXkUdFT7v-8 I didn't want to have a random app reading my bank statement, so I decided to go a more manual route to track my budget. I don't do tracking for monthly expenses like groceries and eating out, I generally just let the balance in the account control my behavior. For longer term planning, I had trouble understanding what I had saved up for. In the end I wanted something like a bunch of little accounts that I could say I had saved up for X, Y and Z. I could borrow from each of these accounts, but I would know when I was ready for a car repair or clothing purchase with purposeful funds saved. My bank didn't have a feature to allow me to have more accounts for free so I created this spreadsheet. The first sheet is a pretty basic setup for defining a budget, it lets you enter numbers for what things cost based on the units you want to think in them ( care registration is $150 a year, but gas is $15 a week, etc.). It has a concept of marking expenses as fixed or variable, so you can turn a "penny pinching" knob to scale all your variable expenses when you need to. The second sheet manages all of these little savings accounts, keeping track of how much in your overall savings account is devoted to a given cause, based on your weekly calculated budget for that thing and a calculation for the number of pay periods you have had since you started tracking. Thought people might find this useful so I wanted to share. Happy to take feedback! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 06:51 PM PST My wife is a nurse in a specialty clinic. She primarily works with one specific doctor. The two of them have a great working relationship. (More on that later) Her job has recently gotten more stressful due to some serious staffing issues and generally incompetent management. The manager was replaced and the clinic is working on getting new staff but can't get any new hires to stay because they don't pay well and the clinic is a stressful work environment. A few weeks ago my wife decided she'd had enough and started looking for work elsewhere. She met with her doctor to ask if she could put her down as a reference. The doctor desperately doesnt want to lose my wife and has been working with the manager on getting a pay raise and better hours for my wife to convince her to stay. The manager has been great and overall really helpful and genuinely seems invested in keeping my wife as an employee. HR handles all matters related to pay at this company and while they were willing to give my wife a raise, it was barely over 10% what she had asked for. They haven't given her any other raise in the 2 years she's been working here other than an annual cost of living adjustment. The manager and doctor agree that HR's offer is far too low and they are searching for anything else to either convince HR to offer more, or to incentivize my wife to stay. Today, my wife talked 1 on 1 with the doctor and the doctor mentioned that she would be willing to cut a check to my wife so she can get the full amount she's wanting for her raise. My wife is pretty sure the manager knew the doctor was planning on making this offer. My questions are: how would this work exactly? Are there any ethical reasons to not accept this offer? How do taxes come into play or would this have to be done under the table. [link] [comments]  |
| Buying Engagement Ring, Want CC that I can get Intro Bonus On W Purchase Posted: 05 Nov 2018 07:38 PM PST Buying an engagement ring in the next month, gonna spend around 7K on it when all is said and done. I wanted to try and be financially smart when making a big purchase and find a credit card that I could easily hit the intro requirement for money, instead of just putting it on a card i already have. So, looking for suggestions preferably without an annual fee. CCs i have right now: jetblue barclays card AMEX cash Discover IT Chase Freedom Amazon Prime VISA Ty in advance [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:01 PM PST It is that time when we have to make decisions for next year, what has your company changed this year that is good or bad or just new? [link] [comments]  |
| HDHP vs PPO insurance - Advice for an avid saver? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 06:24 PM PST Hi, I'm starting a job soon which lets me choose between a high-deductible plan or a preferred provider organization plan. I don't have a lot of details on the specifics of the different plans, other than they are offered by Cigna. As a moderately healthy 33 year old, is one of these two options clearly the better answer? From what I can gather, the PPO is the most expensive type of health insurance you can get, whereas HDHP is the cheapest, if you don't use it, and an HMO (which is what I currently have) is somewhere in the middle. Thanks in advance if you have any immediate input! [link] [comments]  |
| Can someone ELI5 a HSA and why I would want to use one? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 09:38 AM PST I have this option through work and read through the description, but I'm not clear on why I would want to use one. Is it just to use pre-tax dollars? [link] [comments]  |
| Hospital still has not sent a ~$3k bill more than one year after the procedure was performed. Posted: 05 Nov 2018 10:06 AM PST I was wondering if anyone has dealt with this problem before. I had a procedure done in September of 2017 and knew that I would be on the hook for a portion of the bill. More than one year later, I still have not received the bill. I was sent paperwork that showed what I should expect the bill to be, called ~6 months ago to confirm the bill was on their books, the works. They said they were still trying to figure something out with insurance. Obviously, I'm not excited to rid myself of several thousand dollars, but I don't want my credit to take a hit if they suddenly decide I'm delinquent. My main concern is that I moved since I gave them my billing info. Should I just update that info and continue to wait? Push them to get it sent out? Thankful for any advice! [link] [comments]  |
| For past two years, IRS has asked for more money Posted: 05 Nov 2018 05:34 PM PST For the past two years, after filing taxes the IRS has come back to ask for more money, usually around $2,000 or $3,000 dollars. It seems the discrepancy comes in the form of income from securities - I show $0 on my return and the IRS shows $16,000? I have not received any income from securities, however my dad and I have a joint Wells Fargo account that I guess has securities in it? In addition, it's my dad's CPA who is filing my taxes so I feel like he wouldn't be overlooking this? My thought is that my dad could be withdrawing money, but since the account has my name the IRS thinks it's me withdrawing it. If the securities just stay within the trading account are they still taxable or only when withdrawn? Please let me know what other information I need to provide/what questions I need to ask my dad to get to the bottom of this as I can't keep dealing with these unexpected charges on income that I'm not seeing. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:11 PM PST I'll try to keep this short and break it down into key bullet points. Basically my wife and I have been living in a dilapidated house owned by my family, they legally can't charge us rent because of the condition of the house but we have all the other standard bills, just not rent. Bills usually come out to around $700-750/month not counting food, but occasionally I have to pay for blood tests as well to make sure my meds aren't having any weird side effects, each test is usually around $400, maybe 3-4 times a year. We cannot afford rent in this area even with roommates, when we move out we're going to need to move to another state. Luckily for us one of our good friends is an apartment real estate agent in a state we'd like to move to, and has offered to find us a place and waive the fees typically associated with such a service. I make approximately $600/week and am three months into a five month contract that will likely not be renewed. It's supposed to end around Christmas. Prior to this I was making $320/week, which is the average around here. My wife is disabled and cannot hold a job or drive a car. We've looked into getting her work from home and haven't had much luck. It would have to be 100% from home and require little to no technical aptitude or overhead, and jobs like that are hard to find. My family wants us out of this house by late January/early February because they're trying to sell the house. Our friend has said this timeline works for him, but I'm just trying to make sure it works for me financially. He said I should budget around $3500, I'm thinking I should budget $4k because he's more frugal and less practical. I have about $1500 in savings and $6500 in credit card debt from a medical emergency last year that forced me out of the job I had at the time. I have been slowly trying to pay this off since I got this new job, but lately I've been switching to building savings instead, to try to save up for this move. I also have about $6000 in a Roth IRA, not that that's relevant to this situation. Because $6500 is such a high percentage of my credit line, my Vantage score is in the gutter. Before the emergency I was around 760, now I'm around 640. Is there anything I can do asap to get some more money? Also, should I consider taking a personal loan at a credit union to try to pay off this debt and get myself a lower interest rate? [link] [comments]  |
| Dental visit reimbursed by FSA but wife used HSA to pay bill??? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 06:17 PM PST My wife and I were reviewing bills and realized that we were reimbursed by our limited-purpose FSA for a dental visit but we paid the bill with HSA funds. Although this seems like an outstanding use of funds it seems like it was probably against the rules. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 06:07 PM PST I'm trying to find a method where I can store some cash on the side for emergencies and mishappens without starting a student savings account. Is starting a 2nd checking account the best idea, or is there a better viable option? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Nov 2018 07:17 PM PST I've always bought car insurance direct through company websites. Every 3-6 months I shop around and see if I can cut more on my insurance, and have moved companies several times. Today, I decided to give an independent adjuster a few minutes of my time and was surprised to receive a quote nearly 30% less than any offer I've ever seen shopping around myself. I double checked that this included any infractions (2 points from 2.5 years ago), asked about the full coverage amounts, verified the deductibles, etc. and I couldn't find anything wrong with the over-the-phone quote itself. For much more property coverage and less deductibles, I was quoted a cheaper price. Granted, I'm going from $980/6mo. to the more average $650/6mo., but for a mid 20's guy with a historically not-so-spotless record I've been used to paying the higher amount (in fact used to be much higher). Am I missing something obvious (other than perhaps the timing is perfectly when my infractions drop off)? Is there anything specific I should be on the lookout for here? How can I verify directly with the company that this is legitimate? Is there an easy explanation for why an independent adjuster can quote me not even 10-15%, but 30% lower than I'd have expected? [link] [comments]  |
| in the hospital for several days, how does this impact my health insurance and financial situation? Posted: 05 Nov 2018 08:51 PM PST I was unvoluntarily placed in a hospital for several days and could not leave without the consent of a doctor. I had no voice in the matter (apparently you lose rights as a person...) although after two-three days I was more than well equipped and mindful enough to go home, but of course that did not happen. Honestly I didn't know what to do, it's not like they were cops, I wasn't "detained" yet I couldn't leave? It was ridiculous, getting a lawyer crossed my mind... I was given little to no information to assist me in a financial/medical regard. This must be a huge cash grab for the hospital... I have no previous experience with hospitals or anything of the sort. I imagine this is thousands and thousands of dollars and for what it's worth I'm just a young person in college, not working currently, nor in the greatest financial situation either. My credit was pristine, near 800 and I feel it's all going to go to hell now. I don't know what to do. How do I prepare for the future, what kind of monthly costs am I looking at minimally? Any information would be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
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