Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 02, 2018 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 02, 2018
- Received a live check in the mail.
- Never accept the first offer you get and always appreciate your own value!
- I was told I would never get a raise again if I talked about my pay.
- (US) Should I choose an HDHP + HSA or PPO plan?
- Reason to not exceed 30% of your credit limit if you can immediately pay it off?
- 31 year old with aprox 275k in stocks looking to reenter the workforce after 3 years
- Ford lease
- How the heck do people afford houses and real estate in general?
- WSJ looks at how companies track you and your “lifetime customer value” to decide how to treat you
- Friends wife overdosed and is in a coma. Underprepared and has no guidance. Please help.
- HR field - Was hired above my pay rate, cut down until I "grew into the job", offered pennies upon revisiting compensation after completing several high-volume projects
- Need help determining how much is appropriate for a wedding gift for two extremely close friends.
- Roth IRA limits
- I may be moving to Canada but still working for a company in New York
- Can I ignore my elderly father’s debt?
- College Student with no Credit
- Can an employer change salary after I've signed the offer letter?
- Is there anyway to make absolutely sure nobody takes fake loans, credit cards, insurance etc or forges future mortgage agreements out in my name without telling me ala Wells Fargo?
- Caredit card debt help
- Have CC debt for the first time in a decade. Should I consolidate to a Balance Transfer CC?
- I need a new bank. Any suggestions?
- 19 Year Old, need finance advice
- Up to how much money is allowed to be transferred from China to a US bank account?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 02, 2018 Posted: 02 Nov 2018 02:05 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]  |
| Received a live check in the mail. Posted: 02 Nov 2018 05:59 PM PDT The check I received is clearly a predatory loan, for $939. It's from 1st Franklin Financial, and has terms on a separate sheet (35.93% APR!) I did a quick Google and found this is legal in my state (GA), and is common practice. Generally the recipient has a lower income, and accepts the terms of the loan by cashing the check. My question is, what happens if this was sent to the wrong person? Could they just cash this check in my name, signing me up for this terrible loan? It scares me to think live checks addressed to me are just floating around out there. [link] [comments]  |
| Never accept the first offer you get and always appreciate your own value! Posted: 02 Nov 2018 09:15 AM PDT Made a throwaway because I would hate for my co-workers to find out what I just negotiated. A company in Silicon Valley hired me for an internship last year. I had a fantastic time working for them, all of my co-workers were great, and the work was interesting. However, one thing all the full time staff was telling me was that the starting salary for this position and this team was ~$70K. I struggled with this because, as many people know, California and Silicon Valley in particular are very expensive places to live. I also had some previous experience under my belt and some expertise in some areas of the company which I believe made me more valuable to them. I got my first verbal offer from them shortly before leaving, and (as I expected) it was for the base of $70k. I explained to them that this was well below the standard for someone with my experience and the engineering degree that I would have upon graduation. They stated there was not much they could do with that, so I said I would get back to them but I was going to certainly explore other options. I applied to other jobs, some that I still have interviews scheduled for, and they began throwing around some preliminary offers of $90-100k. These other jobs are not necessarily exciting and I don't know much about the company culture or management. I decided to reach out to my manager from my previous job and explained to him I was very interested in seeing what an offer on paper would look like with my experience and education taken into account. He said he would get back to me. The first offer I received from HR was for $80k with a signing bonus! Already a decent jump from the first verbal offer I got. However, since I received the offer from HR, I wanted to see if I could negotiate the base again. I explained in detail my experience, what I thought I could bring to the table, other offers and also brought up the fact that relocation was not being considered. Today, they got back to me with an additional $5k on the base salary and a relocation bonus! Needless to say, I ecstatic! Many people coming out of school think that they can't ask for more or don't even think to ask. I was always told that you never accept the first offer and that surely worked out for me! I hope this pushes others out there to make sure you aren't selling yourself short of your full potential! TL;DR - Got a verbal offer from a company for $70k, shopped around for other offers between $90-100k. Went back to original company and wanted a written offer and gave evidence as to why I deserved more. Got written offer for $80k with sign on bonus. Pushed back and got another offer for $85k with sign on and relocation bonus. Today is a good day! [link] [comments]  |
| I was told I would never get a raise again if I talked about my pay. Posted: 02 Nov 2018 08:29 AM PDT This morning I get a text from my boss saying "I want to make it perfectly clear that if you tell one person what you make I will make sure you are never raise your pay again. There is a reason paychecks come sealed" I know I have every legal right to talk about my pay with anyone I please but this text has put a horrible taste in my mouth when it come to working for this company. Update So my boss called be on a separate work matter and after that he asked if I got his previous text I said I had. He stated that it's in our company hand book that talking about wages is ground for dismissal and I sited some (information confidentiality Act) I don't recall his exact wording say that this is why pay checks are in sealed envelops. Also he said that he knows that I'm not going anywhere or my girlfriend (we work togther) and he wants to protect those people that are loyal to him and doesn't want to answer questions regarding pay from other employees. This came about because someone over heard my girlfriend say that she made a dollar more an hour that I do (she was talking to me) it's running banter between the two of us. (She transferred from a different department in the company and her pay came with her. She had to transfer because the GM (my bosses boss) was eliminating her position to save money) I had to got to work today right after I got the text and don't want to be here today. Going to take the weekend and look up my options and what possible recourse I have as well as look for a new job ( loyalty should go both ways) [link] [comments]  |
| (US) Should I choose an HDHP + HSA or PPO plan? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 05:20 PM PDT I've done my research into whether I should pick an HDHP or PPO plan through this sub and others, but it seems that the most efficient course of action is to ask directly with my specific plan choices. Here goes nothing... Context: I have 3 specialist appointments for early next year, each relating to a separate chronic (but probably not incurable) issue. I don't know how many times I'll need to go back to them or what procedures they will provide for me. Other than the occasional cold or allergies, I'd like to think I'm relatively healthy (other than those issues of course). These are both plans provided by my workplace. HDHP + HSA:
PPO
Update: I'm sticking with the HDHP. So much logical support for it in the comments, it makes no sense to oppose it. [link] [comments]  |
| Reason to not exceed 30% of your credit limit if you can immediately pay it off? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 10:52 AM PDT Everything I have read about building good credit says to not exceed 30% of your limit. I have a $500 limit and a $300 purchase. I can pay it off immediately, else I wouldn't be making the purchase. Is there some reason I should just do it through debit rather than credit? I'm just trying to build credit. Is using the most of my tiny limit and paying it off immediately/quickly worse than utilizing <30% and making regular weekly/monthly payments to $0 balance based purely on statistical factors like credit utilization %? [link] [comments]  |
| 31 year old with aprox 275k in stocks looking to reenter the workforce after 3 years Posted: 02 Nov 2018 02:54 PM PDT I'm 31 years old and looking to reenter the workforce with a rather large gap in my resume thats a big concern for me. I had to take some time off from working for about 3 years because of depression and panic attacks (if I was the only one working I would feel trapped and have an anxiety attack). Fortunately for me I had a pretty sizable inheritance that has been able to sustain me (and even grow a bit even while relying on it to pay my expenses). Most importantly I got effective treatment for my depression and anxiety. I still struggle with both but it's not nearly as crippling as it used to be. My biggest concern is this sizable gap in my resume. I had odd jobs here and there (a pizza place that fired me the day before a necessary surgery, transcribing interviews for friends, the occasional babysitting gig) and I volunteered a bit but neither was for long enough to really put on my resume. How do I explain this gap? Is there anything I can do or say to make it have less of an impact? As far as skills go I have a handful of lapsed medical certifications (mostly related to CNA and in home caregiving) but I don't feel comfortable becoming a caregiver again. A medical assistant or a lab tech maybe, but caregiving contributed a lot to my anxiety. I also have some cooking and dishwashing skills from a job I had when I was 19 and was able to maintain through my in home caregiving gig (I was often making several meals for about 6 people everyday). As far as additional assets besides the stocks I have a car I bought in 2015 (2014 Ford Focus, 200 a month and about 8k left on it), I also own 40k in a pot farm (I'm in Washington state) as well as about 250 in interest payments from a 20k loan that I gave them that should be paid off in January. My biggest expenses are rent (500 a month), car payment (200 a month), therapy (160 a month), and internet (60 a month) Physical labor and stuff like dishwashing isn't beneath me, a dishwashing job actually sounds pretty perfect for me right now. I am pretty overweight (250 and 5'9) but over the past year I've made pretty good progress in getting fitter and losing weight (I'm down 15 pounds). Overall things are looking a lot better in my life but I still want to break even and maybe put some more money towards investments. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:32 PM PDT I leased a car for 3 years, 30,000 miles and my payments are through the roof assumingly because I was unemployed, didn't have a credit score and had my father co-sign on it. (Terrible idea by the way). I am now 2 years into the lease and I have a good credit score, made every payment on time, making good money with a job I love and there's no way i'll use the whole 30,000 miles. If i go to the dealership, can I remove my father's co-sign, put the lease in my name only AND get lower payments? I hear of friends and family paying wayyyy less for a lease than what I pay plus another dealership sent me mail offering my next lease for much cheaper as well. Since, my credit score and employment have improved along with my low mile usage I'm hoping to get lower monthly payments for the 1 year i have left on the lease and im just not too sure on how this stuff or refinancing works [link] [comments]  |
| How the heck do people afford houses and real estate in general? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:43 PM PDT I live in a medium cost of living area and am baffled by how people are able to get the 20% down payment together. I mean do people just put their life savings into the house? [link] [comments]  |
| WSJ looks at how companies track you and your “lifetime customer value” to decide how to treat you Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:19 PM PDT Article here. I can think of one time in particular where my issue with an airline was immediately escalated and I had a boatload if vouchers within 15 minutes of hitting send. They drastically miscalculated as I'm never flying them again. [link] [comments]  |
| Friends wife overdosed and is in a coma. Underprepared and has no guidance. Please help. Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:54 AM PDT Thank you in advance to anyone that takes time to read and respond. I've browsed this sub for years and am always surprised at the amount of good people that take time to help and advise others. I could really use some of the same love from this sub today. My friends wife tried committing suicide via overdose early this week. She had a stroke, is now in a coma, and has been in the ICU all week. She is unresponsive to reflex tests, and though they're still working through options, it doesn't look like she's going to make a recovery. My friend is a contractor. His wife did not work. While he takes home decent money, he doesn't have health insurance, life insurance, a will, etc. I'm not even sure he owns a credit card — he's a 'cash in a rubber band' kind of guy. He has very little friends or family. Emotional support aside, he doesn't have anyone to help guide and coach him through the financial and legal hurdles on the horizon. He's leaning on me to help him better understand his options legally and financially, what kind of resources are available through the hospital or the government, what he can do proactively, and what some of the next steps are should they decide to pull the plug on her life support. I'm sure there are more qualifying questions you'd all need to know to assess the situation better... but I haven't experienced anything like this, so I'm not sure what they are. Please ask anything and I'll get an answer. I appreciate any and all help guys. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2018 10:22 AM PDT TLDR - started at 43k, took a pay cut, then took a "raise" (compensation re-work, same net pay as the pay cut); also more so requesting advice/insight on approaching salary/compensation than specifically my finances, so feel free to save time now if that's not your cup of tea. So here's a more complete timeline with relevant info included. I (0-1 experience HR professional) was brought in around April at 43k and communicated beforehand that I thought the position looked more like a 50k 3-5year experience generalist, so we included a clause to rediscuss compensation in 6 months. Since then, as was made clear in my initial communications, going into May I was not up to par so we discussed and recompiled my package at $15/hour, communicated as "we'll rework your offer until you can grow into the original position". Since then I converted the company to paperless payroll, prepped and rolled out mobile apps for our systems, reworked the pre-employment process to ensure I could audit compliance in realtime, and traveled to perform compliance audits and fix/train where needed, while maintaining companywide onboarding practices as the only HR personnel. I returned from a trip after clocking 130 hours (biweekly) and requested the compensation discussion. My approach was that I've clearly grown into the position and so would like to start the discussion at 43k and see what room there is given how aggressively I've surpassed the job description. Their approach was that I'm making $15 hourly, and so the most they could justify was a 16% raise to ~17.50 which is "the most generous raise they've offered someone", which is intended to reflect exactly how much value I've brought to the company. It's also exempt salaried resulting in a net 0 increase. My main questions are if my approach was reasonable, and how best to go about having that kind of discussion? I'm also looking for advice on how much wiggle room companies have because that's been the biggest contributor to my uncertainty. My title and duties range from 35-55, but more reasonably 35-50 (the high earners tend to be fossils whose titles never changed). Did they offer me shit and hope to be able to explain it away to save money, or is it really not a possibility to make an offer outside of regular circumstances given that my circumstances were already irregular? It's been made clear to me from many angles that I'm widely appreciated for the tangible improvements felt in all aspects of the company, and so I'm extremely concerned as I definitely feel wanted, but I also feel I'm being gaslit into being happy that I started a job at 43k and am ending the year with massive achievements and a raise to 36k. [link] [comments]  |
| Need help determining how much is appropriate for a wedding gift for two extremely close friends. Posted: 02 Nov 2018 08:21 AM PDT I'm 28 now, single, and do well for myself financially. I have no debt. Not crazy rich like some people I see here, but after last month's cards are paid to $0, utilities, rent, food, retirement, fun, etc, I have 2k remaining in discretionary that I throw into a 1.9% ally bank savings account to run alongside equities, just in case. Two of my closest friends are marrying each other after nearly a decade, and I had friendships with them both prior to them dating. They both lived with me at various points in our lives and I'll be in the wedding next year. The tricky thing is, they don't do as well as I do financially and we rarely discuss it because the bride is drowning in student loans and works a min wage job, and the groom is keeping them afloat. They live together and sold a car to share one car together. I've picked her up from work time to time. I really do love them so much and without thinking I offered them help to pay for the wedding, and they said no (they are keeping it as small as they can, trying not to go over 10k). I'm debating quietly giving them a check in their wedding cards for $1,000 each, the amount that would usually go into the ally bank account each month. Is that amount normal for super close friends? I was reading online that $50-100 is normal for weddings but that feels like too little for these two. I genuinely want to give them this as they've been such great friends for so many years, but don't want them to view it as an insult or charity if my donation is 1/5th the cost of the entire wedding. What do? TLDR: Is a $2,000 gift at a wedding appropriate for close friends who are trying to keep the wedding small, don't make a lot of money + are in debt, and already declined my help paying for the wedding itself? Edit: Most people seem to agree it's too high and no more than $500. It's impossible to put a price on their friendship, so I definitely want to contribute a good amount but don't want them to feel like they owe me or god forbid decline the money. I may go the route of buying things off the registry as suggested. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:17 PM PDT Hello, My spouse and I will be making close to the Roth phase out limits, and depending on bonuses, may be over the limits. I'm used to making monthly contributions to.my Roth, but I'm worried about what happens if my income goes over. I don't want to face penalties. Should I try to make lump sum contributions for 2018 after I've filled my taxes? The reason for income uncertainty is that bonuses are variable for me. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| I may be moving to Canada but still working for a company in New York Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:17 PM PDT My wife may be getting a job in Ontario. I work from home and can work basically anywhere. I am a bit worried about taxes. From what I've been reading it mostly covers paying us and Canada taxes if you work in Canada but it looks like things might be exceptionally bad if you live in Canada but work in the US. I was hoping someone could give me a summary of how this would work and if I am about to pay some serious cash out to two governments. [link] [comments]  |
| Can I ignore my elderly father’s debt? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 05:51 AM PDT Location: Washington state I'm the power of attorney for my elderly father, who lives in an adult family home funded by state long term care funds. He keeps signing up for magazines, and then hides the bills, and he gets collections statements for a few hundred dollars a couple of times a year. I used to pay them off using his small amount of savings, but now that savings is gone. Can I just ignore the debt and let it pile up? Honestly, he'll be dead in a few years and it seems like it's not worth it to worry about these debts. I don't think there's a way for him to lose his long term care funding because of debt, but are there other bad outcomes of doing this that I'm not aware of? How can I stop him from accruing new debt? He does it secretly and denies any part in it when I talk to him about it. [link] [comments]  |
| College Student with no Credit Posted: 02 Nov 2018 07:33 PM PDT Hello everyone! I just turned 18 and I am looking at ways to establish credit now so that I don't have to worry about it later. I heard that getting a secured credit card is the best option for me right now. Any additional advice would be helpful. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Can an employer change salary after I've signed the offer letter? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 11:59 AM PDT So a couple of days ago, I was offered a new job. The salary was $45k. I accepted and signed immediately, as it's definitely a leap in pay from my current job. However, the next day, they called the accountant of my current employer and asked what my salary was. He asked me if I wanted to disclose it, but stupid me thought it was part of the background process and if I didn't disclose it, it'd look fishy. My question is that even though I signed the offer letter which stated a salary of $45k, are they able to change it now that they know what I make at my current position? I feel so stupid and am very worried. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2018 09:58 AM PDT Just listened to a series on WF and the stuff they pulled and it was infuriating and terrifying. I just have the one account(that I know of) at my credit union and a single credit card but I mean that's the issue. The people that got hit had all of this done too also had no idea. And for some reason reimbursement doesn't seem to happen in these situations in any sort of real way. Can a bank I don't even have an account with hit me? I mean they were legit changing contracts and forging signatures. Not really worried about the subprime/payday/baloon loans issue so much as the actual fraud they were doing. Edit: thanks for the talk everyone [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2018 06:28 PM PDT 6k in credit card debt. No source of income to pay it off. Applied for personal loans with services like SoFi, Marcus, Prosper and Upstart. I was denied for a loan of 10k. What are my options? [link] [comments]  |
| Have CC debt for the first time in a decade. Should I consolidate to a Balance Transfer CC? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 04:06 PM PDT I have CC Debt for the first time in over a decade, do to a move and emergencies all happening at once.. I can't pay it all off right away, but I can in about 5-6 months. It's not even a lot of debt, ~$6k. Should I bother applying for a CC that has 0 balance transfer fees and 0% interest on balance transfer for so many months? I guess its kind of a no brainer yes since it would save me a few hundred. Just double checking to make sure I'm not missing something. Do I just cancel the card after I pay it off? or just throw it away and never use it? Trying to make sure I avoid any silly mistakes. Looking at Discover It Balance Transfer Card. [link] [comments]  |
| I need a new bank. Any suggestions? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 09:23 AM PDT We're currently using chase and I'd like to switch to either a bank that's entirely online or just a different bank. Or convince me to stay with Chase! My main complaint is that their customer service isn't great. Also the remote online deposits don't always work. I've been trying to deposit a check for a week now and it still won't go through! I can always just take it to the bank, but we live 30 minuets from the nearest chase and I never think about taking the check with me when I go out. [link] [comments]  |
| 19 Year Old, need finance advice Posted: 02 Nov 2018 02:01 PM PDT Hey, guys! Pls give me any finance advice you think I might need based on my individual situation: I've listed any info I feel like helps! My main question is should I purchase a condo that I detailed towards the end of this, thanks in advance! Any home buying tips would be welcome! So a little background of me, I am 19 years old, currently a college student. I started making pretty decent money for my age by starting a business (about 60k a year) Let me give you guys my financial background. I have a fico between 680-740 depending on who you run it through. I have a crazy amount of inquiries (42) though that I am working getting removed (dealer shot out my credit to multiple banks I didn't ask for). I get rejected for cards that I would otherwise qualify for because of this. I have about 7 cards currently so I plan to not apply for anything until my 20th birthday (next september) when majority of my inquiries fall off as they were incurred around my 18th when i first bought my car. I have no late payments, delinquent account or derogatory marks. I own two cars, bought around my 18th, paid off my loan 3 years early, bought my second car 2 months ago. I have personal loans totaling $9400 that cost me about $550 a month & my second cars auto loan which costs me around $275 a month. I don't have to pay for school since I'm on a full ride but i pay about $2000 each semester bc I take extra classes to graduate early. I have one student loan of $3500. My car insurance is about $800 a month for both cars (no, i have no parents to put it under as they both have even worse rates) So everything comes around to $1500 in bills and probably another $1000 i give to family for their bills. I have between $1000-$1500 left to use/save. I used to save 25% of my income but I no longer can since I provide for family. I have a business opening in 3 months which would cause my income to double to 120k & I would then have $5000 free every month. I was interested in purchasing a condo in the next 6 months, but i'm not sure if i'm considered stable enough or if it's a good move financially. One of my friends (he's a bank manager) told me it reduces my buying power for when i want to buy a larger home when I plan to settle down in the next few years but as my businesses kick off, I believe I shall be exponentially making more. However, I am not 100% relying on that and don't want to max out my buying power. I want a house that's maybe 10% of my income annually in case I make less some months. But back to the condo: it's about $160,000 & I estimate the mortgage to run around $500 a month on a 30 year, w/5% interest. This figure is theoretically with 0% down. I have lines of credit with stores so I can furnish the place (est $7,500) Would this be a smart move? Any advice for me, financially? TL; DR: I make 60k/year, student currently. Would it be wise for me to get a condo that is currently 10% of my income & next year, merely 5% of my income? Edit: The first business is a daycare, the second is a chemical dependency clinic. As for school, I am going into medicine. I plan to become an orthopedic surgeon, so that's also something if it changes anything. [link] [comments]  |
| Up to how much money is allowed to be transferred from China to a US bank account? Posted: 02 Nov 2018 05:14 PM PDT My in laws want to know upto how much is allowed to be transferred without being taxed. I understand foreign gifts are not taxable income but I read that up to $100k and above that it must be reported to file 3520. Does that mean it just needs to be reported if the amount exceeds $100k but below that amount there is nothing we need to worry about? [link] [comments]  |
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