Personal Finance 30-Day Challenge #12: Get involved with charity! (December, 2018) |
- 30-Day Challenge #12: Get involved with charity! (December, 2018)
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of December 03, 2018
- P.S.A - Markets Closed Due to Presidential Death on 12/05
- Should I accept a job offer
- About to be a first-time homeowner. Best tips? Things you wish you knew as a first-time homeowner? Other important considerations?
- Questions about a beginner's credit card
- Bank increased my mortgage payments by $430. States my property tax went up. My taxes only increased about $100 a year. What do I do?
- I have 46000 in shares gifted from my father. I would like to take out 30k to pay off my debts and get a surgery. How do taxes work?
- Damage mitigation company commiting fraud after Hurricane; trying to bill for services not rendered
- Is it true that most people never pay off their mortgage and they either refinance or sell the house?
- Should I take new job offer?
- I’m 14 and going to be homeless.
- Is there any reason NOT to take out the longest loan you can?
- Buying company stock before company is potentially acquired in a few years?
- Take new job or wait for severance?
- Wallet was stolen which included my driver's license and Social Security Card. Need to make sure I've taken all precautions that I can.
- Want to live by myself in an apartment, feels like a stupid decision financially
- Work paid my wages last Friday week, money has left their account but not come into mine. Both banks implying onus is on the other. What can I do?
- Spending too much on little purchases
- Mother-in-law needs proof thst she makes over $12,500 a year for insurance but she works under the table for herself selling shellfish to bars.
- I’m 17 and looking for advice on personal finance.
- Could I possibly come out on top by trading in my truck for a fuel efficient vehicle?
- My debt card was canceled by my bank because of a security breach in their systems. Lots of my bills went unpaid and I incurred a few late fees.
- Confused about reporting sale of vacation home in Mexico - Capital Loss in US dollars - Capital Gain in Mexican Pesos
- Pay a third of a friends mortgage for a room?
- “Hey Siri, add a $75 dinner at Papadeaux’s to my calendar next Friday at 7pm.” Anyone know of any apps that track your money with your calendar?
| 30-Day Challenge #12: Get involved with charity! (December, 2018) Posted: 03 Dec 2018 05:07 AM PST 30-day challengesWe are pleased to continue our 30-day challenge series. Past challenges can be found here. This month's 30-day challenge is to Get involved with charity! As the end of the year approaches, there are many opportunities to extend oneself to be generous. The best advice is to "secure your own oxygen mask first" before helping others. The foundation of your generosity should be a solid financial footing for yourself. Until you have achieved this, you should be circumspect about monetary giving. Monetary donationsIf you have the means, consider monetary donations as these are the most efficient use of your charitable resources. Don't spend money to buy material goods that you intend to donate unless they are specifically requested by the charity itself. Cash donations allow for flexibility for the charity to get exactly what is needed at the right time in the right quantity at the right place to serve their mission. Make sure you are contributing to charities that are good stewards of your hard-earned dollars by checking Charity Navigator, Give Well, or another trusted source. If you do decide to donate cash, see if your employer matches contributions to extend the benefit. You may also consider donating to a charity that has assisted you or your loved ones in the past. Material donationsDecember is a great month in which to declutter your home, especially if you are participating in one of the many gift-giving holidays. Review your living space to determine what you can part with and how you can enjoy the reclaimed space. You can donate material goods to Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill industries, AmVets, and local options near you such as food pantries. Time donationsOf course with all the donations coming in at this time of year, many organizations will need volunteers to help with the influx. If you are unable to donate money or material goods, you can consider donating your time. You can use Volunteer Match or Catch a Fire to get you started. There may also be local soup kitchens, churches, schools, or other organizations that need assistance. Alternative donationsThere are other ways to be charitable if you don't have spare money, goods, or time. Here are some ideas:
TaxesQualified charitable contributions remain tax-deductible under the new tax law in the US, but realizing a reduction in taxes is more difficult because of the increase in the standard deduction. If this is a significant factor for you, you may want to consider more advanced tax reduction strategies such as donor advised funds, giving appreciated stock, or bunching your donations to meet the itemization threshold. Receiving charityIf you are in need this year, please consider being the good-faith recipient of a charity's assistance. Challenge success criteriaYou've successfully completed this challenge once you've done one of the following things:
[link] [comments]  |
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of December 03, 2018 Posted: 03 Dec 2018 03:07 AM PST If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! [link] [comments]  |
| P.S.A - Markets Closed Due to Presidential Death on 12/05 Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:40 AM PST Hello everyone, I am sure most of you already know this, but for any new investors or those needing to interact with their holdings/portfolios this week, just wanted a to give a heads up that the U.S. will be observing a national day of mourning for the passing of late president George H.W. Bush. Keep this in mind as Wednesday, Dec. 5th will be treated as a holiday, moving trade dates and delaying manual requests as most firms will likely allow large portions of their staff off that day. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 07:56 PM PST (US) I'm currently a VP at a smallish NY Investment Banking firm. My base is low 6 figures, but in this industry bonuses make a large % of comp. My total comp is around 350k. I've been in this position for 2 years and networking like crazy. I recently received a job office. Sr VP of one of the larger Barclays division. I really feel out of my depth. I only manage around 12 people currently. I like my job but I really like the money. The new job would have me relocating to London. The salary is 325 GBP. My main question is does this make financial sense? I'll be paying relocation costs out of pocket. I was planning to be in my current position for 5+ years, ideally eventually eyeing a Director/Board level position which would be significantly more than both my current salary + new salary combined. I feel like moving up in Barclays would be much more difficult than in my current position thus creating a lower "salary cap" Am I making any sense? My head is in the clouds right now as I wasn't expecting an offer like this. Appreciate any help. EDIT: I'm living in the US and legally working, but I'm not a citizen. Not sure how this impacts my tax obligations as citizens would have to pay tax in Britain correct? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:29 AM PST While I grew up in houses, I've been living in rented apartments since I moved out before college. I'm so excited but also nervous and know there's a lot of maintenance and responsibilities that I'm prepared to do. I was wondering what tips or knowledge /r/personalfinance had on the matter. What do you wish you knew when you bought your first home? What tips helped you out? PS obviously all the financials have been ironed out re: purchasing the house and everything but I'm open to read all advice (: [link] [comments]  |
| Questions about a beginner's credit card Posted: 03 Dec 2018 06:42 PM PST I received an offer for [Zorocard.com](http://zorocard.com) and it doesn't look too bad. I don't have much in the way of credit established yet (one phone bill, if that even counts) and I figure it's time to start using a credit card in order to work on my credit score. My question is how many secured cards should I use? I figure 2-3 for a year should build up a healthy credit score since I plan on only putting a couple of things each month on each card and paying it off immediately. Anyone have any personal experience with multiple secured cards? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:50 AM PST Please, if this isn't the right sub for this question re-direct me to a different one. I'm very frustrated. This increase went into effect last month. For last month I took the extra $430 out of savings, but savings won't last long if I keep doing that. This is a HUGE increase for me, and one that frankly I just can't afford to budget for. The bank is claiming that my property taxes have increased so my monthly payments are now increased to keep my escrow account up to date with the current tax rate. I looked into my taxes, and they have only gone up by a little under $100 a year. The bank has not provided any proof that the taxes have gone up by the over $5K a year they claim they went up by. My total property tax is less than $3K a year. How do I work this out with the bank? The bank is not local at all, so I can't just walk in and talk to them in person. EDIT: I just want to thank everyone who is helping me out here. I'm currently logged into my mortgage in another browsing tab, and reading through all my statements. I'm better understanding how the escrow account works now, but I'm still not 100% understanding how this happened. Since my original post I've learned that my escrow account is in the negative by roughly $700 (that's AFTER the payment I made last month). So I do get that part of this extra is trying to rebuild the escrow account up. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:37 AM PST To give some background of why I am stupid: I served in the military, where they handled my taxes for the most part. After getting out I was rated 100% disabled. My VA pay is not taxable, nor is my property. So I havent filed taxes in 6 years, and when I was the military people handled it. I make 48k a year in disability. How do I pay taxes once I get this money from the shares? I need 30k in pocket, how much should I take out? Edit: I have an appointment with a tax agency next week [link] [comments]  |
| Damage mitigation company commiting fraud after Hurricane; trying to bill for services not rendered Posted: 03 Dec 2018 06:29 PM PST Our house in NC was damaged as a result of Hurricane Florence (~14 September 2018). We had a large nationally known damage mitigation company come to the house in order to render assistance approximately three weeks after the storm. Without a complete itemization, the basic summary of what they did was tear out some wet sheet rock on the walls and ceilings, a bit of insulation, spray for mold, and run some dehumidifiers. Three men spent one work day doing the demolition and spraying for mold and the dehumidifiers were running for approximately four days. The company was to directly work with the insurance company for services rendered, making the settlement transparent to us. I found out this week that our desk insurance adjuster was "released" at some point and we now have a new adjuster assigned. Apparently the mitigation company had attempted to reach out via e-mail to our "released" adjuster and was never able to make contact. I also received a generic, un-itemized invoice today from the mitigation company for approximately $16,000. I was appalled and immediately called the company to ask for an itemized list of services rendered. When i received the itemized invoice, I noticed at least half of the things they were attempting to bill/charge for were never even rendered. It's not as if it were a mistake, theses are clearly things that never came close to happening. I haven't totaled it yet, but it's likely at least $8-10k. My guess is that the damage mitigation company planned to "work" directly with the insurance company and claim that they did all this work and pocket the money. It appears that they were trying to capitalize on the natural disaster and knew that insurance wouldn't ask too many questions (seeing as they're a known business). Clearly, because the mitigation company was never able to contact insurance, they simply billed me the invoice (albeit ~2 months late. Now i've got a $16,000 invoice on my counter in which the majority of things listed never even happened. My plan is to work with my new desk adjuster and the mitigation company and come to a solution without lawyers. My primary concern right now is the invoice being sent to a collection agency and me and my wife's credit taking a hit. I know it's a huge pain to reverse erroneous credit dings. Any help is much appreciated! TL;DR: House was damaged in hurricane. Damage mitigation company was unable to reach insurance adjuster and are trying to bill for multiple things that didn't happen (~$16,000). Requesting suggestions for next legal steps and advice on how to prevent a hit to credit score if company throws this bogus bill into collections. I've cross-posted to r/legaladvice as well [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:54 AM PST Is it true that most people never pay off their mortgage and they either refinance or sell the house? Is that a better option then paying it off fully? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 05:27 PM PST Hello PF, I have been working at the same company for 6 years and they have treated me good. But I have ran into a weird problem. A lot of colleagues have left over the years making me a "veteran" after only six years. I am tired of this role, everyone including my superiors and manager come to me when they have an issue. Even if it has nothing to do with my expertise. Since I understand how my company works, I give them past examples and good advice. This has turned into an environment where I am unofficially calling shots that I should have no authority over. I can never get my own work done because I am keeping my department afloat. I just got a job offer from another company at 85k. This is 15k more than my current base salary. This company has everything I want, and most importantly, I will be part of a team that does the same work as me. Nothing else, just what is in our job description. So what's the problem? It effectively doubles my commute to an hour and 10 minutes, one way. I told them I would decline based on distance alone, and came back with a 100k offer! Am I insane for turning this down? Or will the commute get to me eventually? Some advice please. Moving is out of the question for at least another year, as I don't want to sell my newly purchased house and get hit with a capital gains tax. [link] [comments]  |
| I’m 14 and going to be homeless. Posted: 03 Dec 2018 07:08 PM PST I don't know what to do. I'm currently living in a house that is foreclosing with my sister and mother, who is only able to raise us on $7/hour. Every time we try to get back on our feet, we lose all government assistance and third party programs that helped us to do so and go straight back to poverty. What can I do? Edit for Information: I live in the USA. [link] [comments]  |
| Is there any reason NOT to take out the longest loan you can? Posted: 03 Dec 2018 04:36 PM PST When considering a loan, I've always thought of length and interest rates as the two things you want to get as low as you can afford. However, I was talking to a friend the other day who said they always ask for the longest loan they can receive, assuming the interest rate is consistent. The logic being that it drives down the monthly payments so they have more cash that is liquid in the event they need it, while still paying what they would have with a lower term. For example, assume a $10,000 loan with 4.61% interest. At a 48-month term, my monthly payments would be $229. However, given the same rate on a 60-month term, then my payments would be $187/month. I could then make the $229 payments, but really only be on the hook for $187 in case anything unexpected happen. The logic seems really sound to me, so I'm wondering why this isn't conventional wisdom. What am I missing? Edit: I don't think I was clear enough above. The scenario I'm proposing is that, given the same interest rate with different terms, would it be financially wise to opt for the longer term, with the intention of paying the shorter one? Using the same numbers above, you would opt for the 60-month term but pay the $229 a month (rather than the $187 that is actually due) so that the loan is fully paid off in 48-months, which would be 12 months sooner than what the loan term was. This way you achieve the benefits of less interest accrued from the shorter term loan, but if some unexpected or unforseen life event were to occur, you would only be obligated to pay the smaller amount of $187. Sort of like a safety net for if shit hits the fan. Hopefully that clears things up. [link] [comments]  |
| Buying company stock before company is potentially acquired in a few years? Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:13 AM PST My buddy is asking me if he should buy 10k worth of stock in the private company he works. The company is "valued" at 100 million dollars, but I'm not sure if that is the company's market cap. (I am not knowledgeable in finance either) He is saying in a few years when they are acquired that he expects to get 7-8 times his investment. He has a lot of faith in the company and product, but wouldn't that mean the company would have to be bought for 700-800 million? What should he lookout for? Concerns? Thanks for your help. [link] [comments]  |
| Take new job or wait for severance? Posted: 03 Dec 2018 10:25 AM PST Which option is preferable? Looking for any advice/thoughts.
Other factors to consider: Current Job
Prospective Job
[link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 02:27 AM PST Thanks in advance. I've frozen my credit with all three credit bureaus. I've changed my credit card numbers. Filed a police report. I am going to the Social Security office and getting a new card issued. I did not change my banking information since there are security questions they would not be able to answer, and I know they ask them when you call. Still, it is very unnerving. What is the worst that can happen at this point if someone has my name, date of birth, address, and SSN? And what steps can I take to prevent them from happening? [link] [comments]  |
| Want to live by myself in an apartment, feels like a stupid decision financially Posted: 03 Dec 2018 03:31 PM PST TL;DR - I want to live by myself for a while which would easily more than double the rent and utilities I pay right now, but it would give me emotional and mental relief. Am I able to do this, or is it just stupid? One of my goals in life is to experience living by myself in an apartment for a year or so. I didn't get that "college" experience per say of living on my own since I lived at home during that period rent and expense free, thanks to my parents. However, I am currently moved out living in a rented house with 4 other roommates. One of my roommates is my sister and I feel the most comfortable living with her. My other roommates are fun to hang out with (in limited and select quantities) and I get along with them decently, but they kind of stress me out. I don't have a lot of common interests with them and when they try to talk to me/engage me on the things they like (but I have no interest in) it bores me and socially exhausts me. I'm highly introverted and the others are extroverted and tend to congregate in the common area, so I tend to feel like I'm confined to my room unless I need to go out to get/do something quick (but sometimes they'll rope me into an unwanted/boring conversation) or my sister is out there to act as a buffer. In May, my sister will be moving out to live with her boyfriend and I feel like I will slowly be driven insane in this house without her here. I feel like in order to achieve true peace, I'd like to move out around the same time and live by myself. The problem is that I feel like I have a pretty sweet deal on rent and utilities in my current living situation. I pay $407 on rent and split utilities 5 ways among the roomies. I would ideally like to live within the same city as my workplace (Tempe, AZ) and a good quality apartment in this city averages around $1.2K in rent. If I could, it'd be awesome to be at the same apartment complex as my sister, but it's obviously not an absolute requirement. One apartment complex that she had been looking at and that I also really like has 1 and 2 bedroom apartments for around $1,010 a month. At this complex I think only water and trash are included for utilities. I'm 23 years old and make around $72,000 a year so I think the 30% rule on rent is met should I choose to do this. But it feels kind of stupid to do so? I'm single right now so I don't have a burning desire to save for a house (though I do put away $250 a month for an eventual down payment), I'm putting away 15% of my paycheck into my 401k which is well above what my employer matches, I already have 3 months of salary (not expenses) saved as an emergency fund, I have an additional $12k+ in savings doing nothing though I plan to take a portion of it to max out contribution into an IRA next year, and the only debt I have is a $10K car loan. In spite of all of this, I feel like I might ruin myself financially if I choose to live by myself. I'd love to hear your opinions on this. Is the financial difference between living by myself versus my current living situation that substantial? And anecdotes from people who have lived by themselves are most welcome! The idea of chosen solitude with maybe a cat or two in the mix sounds like an absolute dream.. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 02:50 AM PST Apologies if the flair is wrong, closest I could see. I am subcontracted to a company at the moment. I have received two previous payments, which took three working days to transfer, and everything was fine. Last Friday week, the 23rd,another transfer was put in. However, by Wednesday, I received nothing. Today I still haven't received anything. Other lodgements have come through (I lodged a cheque in the mean time). Employer contacted their bank, confirmed money left account and hadn't come back. The bank say the only thing they can do is post out a proof of payment, no other options from their end. I contacted my bank and they said the only thing that can be done is the employer's bank put a trace on the money. Meanwhile my money is lost in digital space, and I'm pretty broke. Does anybody have advice on what actions to take here? I also have direct debits which will bounce and I'll be charged extra. Who is liable for those fees? I feel like it definitely shouldn't be me. [link] [comments]  |
| Spending too much on little purchases Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:24 AM PST Anyone else struggle with this? Wife and I are responsible with not purchasing big ticket items, but at least I feel as though we get killed with the little purchases such as takeout, random stuff for our kid, and not using coupons. We have credit card debt due to this. I plan to pay it off with my bonus/taxes but we will build more debt if we dont live within our means. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 09:54 AM PST I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but my mother-in-law is NEEDING medical insurance for some personal reasons and she's found a suitable provider. However, she catches and sells seafood to small restaurants and bars for her living. It's all cash based. It's not a licensed business as far as I know. There's no other source of income. How could she go about providing proof that she's making that amount a year so she gets this insurance? I had the idea of making the business legitimate. Getting a business license and naming it then using that. Would that work? Edit: thanks everyone for your input. I'll pass the information along. You all have been helpful. [link] [comments]  |
| I’m 17 and looking for advice on personal finance. Posted: 03 Dec 2018 06:49 PM PST Like the title said I'm 17. I am currently in high school as a junior, and have a job that gets me about $150 per week. Also I am being blessed with a completely free college. What are somethings I should do to get a head start on life. [link] [comments]  |
| Could I possibly come out on top by trading in my truck for a fuel efficient vehicle? Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:52 PM PST Okay, so I own an F150 that I got in July 2018. 2012 supercab fully loaded 4x4 5.0 with the Coyote v8. I got it for $20,400 out the door. I put down $10,400 and financed the rest at 7%. I'm not having money issues but I am wondering, could I possibly break even money wise if I trade it in for a more fuel efficient vehicle? The truck gets 15MPG on the high way for Christ's sake. I love it to death but I feel like I'm spending $50/week on gas and sometimes more. How does trading in a vehicle and such that you owe work? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 10:17 AM PST Not too long ago, my local credit union discovered a security breach/flaw in their systems. Then they discovered community wide credit card skimmers present in almost every corner store. So, they decided to immediately shut down anyones cards who pumped gas in those locations. I rarely used my debt card except for paying bills and pumping gas as the credit union has a discount at participating stores. The problem was, I didn't get the memo or find out until a week later when all my bills had late notices and I got a new card in the mail explaining that I was along the list of affected individuals who needed to change cards. So I had to go back and had to redo almost every autopay account with my new card information. Along the way, I discovered that I had about $120 in late fees from a few companies and services. I understand that $120 isn't much but it still hurts to see my money lost on something like that. Is there anyway to make my bank accountable for canceling my card without notice? I wasn't even notified the minute is was canceled and I didn't receive any phone call or email. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 05:04 PM PST I (US Citizen) purchased a vacation home in Mexico in 2008. Sales and Purchase prices for foreigners are generally listed and negotiated in US dollars, but legal documents have all values in Mexican Pesos. We purchased the condo for $238,000. At that time the exchange rate was 10.8 MN ($1). So our purchase price translated to 2,570,400 pesos. The condo was sold this year for $200,000. So we sold it at a loss. It's my understanding we have to report this sale of home on Schedule D, so we'll have documentation as to why a large sum of money was wired into our checking account. It will be a loss, but we'll not be able to deduct it as it is a vacation home. However at the time of sale, the exchange rate was 18.54 MN ($1), and so the sales price in pesos was: 3,708,000. In the eyes of the Mexican government, we *made* money and had to pay capital gains taxes to Mexico. Those taxes were withheld from the proceeds of the sale, 164,000 pesos ($8845 US Dollars) Can I claim a Foreign Tax Credit for the capital gains taxes that were withheld from my proceeds? It gets confusing on the tax forms because it looks like I paid foreign taxes on a capital loss……. [link] [comments]  |
| Pay a third of a friends mortgage for a room? Posted: 03 Dec 2018 08:41 PM PST Not sure this is the right place to post, also on mobile so excuse me for any errors. Long story short I've been planing on moving in with a good friend of mine and his wife, they recently bought a house. Western WA, so home prices are still fairly high. Their mortgage will be around $2200 a month. They should be closing on their home this week. Previously they told me 5-600 a month until they realized their mortgage would be so high. They're good friends and I want to live with them and they also want the help with me paying rent on their mortgage. But I was told $700 a month and paying a third of their mortgage seems a little much. Just looking for advice and opinions. I'm apprehensive about asking for lower rent because I do not want to put our friendship in jeopardy. Not sure what to do. Again, it seems a little unfair. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2018 06:23 PM PST I've seen budgeting "calendars," but they simply put your expenses on a calendar. In those apps, the calendar loses its appointment/meeting functionally. I want to plan my money WHILE I plan my time. I.e. add a dollar value to an event on my calendar (or to a task). Ideally it would automatically designate a spending category from context and summarize how much I've spent/have remaining. More examples of "Hey Siri" "...add $8 ground beef to my 'grocery' list" (this one is particularly helpful since I add items to my list as I see them missing from my pantry. "...add $25 custom T-shirt for mom to my 'gifts' list. "...add $75 golf at [xxxxxxxx] for Saturday morning Maybe this isn't the way to think about money, but I feel like it's how my brain thinks. [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Personal Finance. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment