Personal Finance Tax Thursday Thread for the week of February 07, 2019 |
- Tax Thursday Thread for the week of February 07, 2019
- I am 26 and am in a position to save heavily for retirement, but maxing out my retirement accounts seems to be too focused on retiring at 55+
- With Wells Fargo experiencing complete system failure, make sure you have more than one way to access money
- If you receive a tax refund, pay off your payday loans immediately
- Sellers are backing out at closing!
- Excellent visual aid for understanding marginal tax rates (which honestly most people don't understand)
- I’m 26, I work four jobs, I make 23k a year and I owe $1200 in taxes. I have to choose between paying my taxes or paying my health insurance.
- Vanguard Introduces Admiral Shares for its Total World Stock Index (VTWAX - 0.10 ER)
- 401k Matching Question
- Help with medical bills!
- How does one get a job in finance with a nontraditional major?
- Have you and your ex ever both claimed your kids as dependents on taxes?
- Possible SS scam?
- Should I be paying extra on my student loans
- Wells Fargo Website/App Down?
- Unemployed & homeless: How to best handle my debts?
- Paying to report rental history to repair credit, worth it?
- To buy or to invest
- Ripped check still accepted ?
- Owing Taxes, looking for advice to not have to owe next year.
- 20 years old with 5,000 in savings. What would you do?
- Help asking for a salary raise with a 4-day work-week (US)
- Advice for paying off credit card debt
- Investing in rental property before buying my own home?
- Would 6,000 buy me any perks on a new credit card?
| Tax Thursday Thread for the week of February 07, 2019 Posted: 07 Feb 2019 03:07 AM PST Please read the PF tax wiki page to see if your question is answered there before posting.This weekly cross-sub thread will be posted through mid-April to give subscribers a chance to ask basic tax-related questions in a consolidated thread. We are also very lucky to have some folks from /r/accounting and /r/tax joining us here to help out. Since taxes can be a very complex topic, the main goal is to point people in the right direction, provide helpful information, and answer questions. (Please note that there is no protection under §7525 or attorney-client relationship when discussing matters in posts on a message board. Consult a reputable tax advisor in person if your situation demands it.) Make a top-level comment if you want to ask a tax-related question! If you have not received your answer within 24 hours, please feel free to start a discussion. For all of the Tax Thursday threads from this year, check out the Weekly Archive. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 07:13 AM PST I have enough extra income every month to where I want to get a very focused and disciplined plan going on saving for retirement. I have hit this weird realization though: if I were to put every penny I had toward my IRA/401k, I could put in over 20k before I reached the contribution limits. If I understand these accounts correctly, I can't touch any of this money until around the age of 57. So here is my question: If I wanted to retire at the age of 45 (picked the age arbitrarily), what are some common ways people account for the "gap" between retirement and penalty-free retirement account withdrawals? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 02:41 PM PST Wells Fargo is experiencing total operational failure due to a fire suppression system going off in one of their main data centers in MN. The automatic failovers failed and so teams/employees are manually getting everything back up and running. All transactions are failing and no one has access to accounts (even internally). I feel like this is a good time to mention that things like this happen, no matter how big or small of a company, and that, much like investing, we shouldn't put all of our cash/banking/credit cards in one basket. [link] [comments]  |
| If you receive a tax refund, pay off your payday loans immediately Posted: 07 Feb 2019 12:52 PM PST Do NOT buy a new TV or take a trip. Pay off any payday loans you have. Get out of the cycle. "But it's only $45 fee every 2 weeks and I only have 3 of them." ... That's $135 going to NOTHING every 2 weeks. Nearly $3,250/year going to nothing. [link] [comments]  |
| Sellers are backing out at closing! Posted: 07 Feb 2019 03:44 AM PST My wife & I placed an offer on a $425,000 house in Texas a few month ago, the sellers accepted immediately & we signed a contract to buy the house. The closing date was determined as feb 7th (today) over 3 weeks ago. We spend over $1,000 on home inspections, lots of travel time to visit the property, and we have already bought some furniture that we are storing for when we move in. This has been one of the most frustrating experience's ever - but we had some hope this morning that it was finally about to be worth it because today was closing day! Then, just an hour or so ago, we get a call from our realtor. Apparently the sellers have a tax lein on the house & can't afford to pay it off at closing (which is required). Additionally, they may not even have the closing costs that go to the real estate company! We asked our realtor what this meant & what do we do next but we just got a lot of "this is a developing situation, we will keep you updated" Are we screwed? If so, this sucks & shouldn't be allowed to happen! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 11:19 AM PST I saw this yesterday at r/dataisbeautiful. It's an interactive web app that you can play with to see how federal tax brackets work. I think it's worth a look from folks who want to better understand how taxes work and not be fooled into thinking that the highest marginal tax rate is what you end up paying. I took a screenshot to show you. Just follow the dotted line to see what taxes you pay at a particular income level. Also, if you increase the proportion of income that comes from capital gains, you can see that you'll end up paying a much less tax. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 03:35 PM PST I have no idea how I owe this much. I owe $800 from last year because I messed up my withholdings, and now I owe an extra $500 this year for some reason. I have about $1600 in savings and I pay $1000 a month in rent. [link] [comments]  |
| Vanguard Introduces Admiral Shares for its Total World Stock Index (VTWAX - 0.10 ER) Posted: 07 Feb 2019 11:10 AM PST https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/VTWAX Also introduced Admiral Shares for 4 additional funds: - Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index (0.07 ER) - FTSE All World ex-US Small Cap Index (0.16 ER) - High Dividend Yield Index (0.08 ER) - FTSE Social Index (0.14 ER Edit: I love that one of you got so excited that you awarded me my first reddit gold! Thank you, kind stranger. I'll be sure to put in in all in VTWAX ;-) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 06:06 PM PST My company that I've been with for a few months just got a 401k and I had a question about matching, if they contribute 4% of my gross salary, is that 4% of the salary since the 401k went into effect (i.e. at the end of Feb) or is it 4% of my total annual salary? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 06:41 PM PST I recently moved to WA. Late last year, I went in for a pap smear at a new doctor, and I got abnormal test result. This is the 2nd time I got abnormal results (the first time came to be nothing) so I didn't worry too much. My PCP referred me to go to OB/GYN at the medical center for a follow-up test/biopsy to this abnormal pap. I went to see the OB/GYN office for the first time to get biopsy. I tried to ask my OB/GYN to see what they're doing and she told me they're taking samples of the abnormal cells for biopsy. An hour of torturous biopsy later, she was done, I did tell her I got abnormal pap result before and consented them to contact my old OB/GYN for these lab results. The following weeks, my OB/GYN called to tell me that there's nothing, that the cells were just inflamed. A month later, I got sacked with all these bills from the OB/GYN office and the lab, total to be $1k (after insurance "discount"). Since I have high deductible insurance plan, none of these biopsy were covered. I called my insurance and they said it's because these procedures aren't preventative. I called my OB/GYN to ask if they could code these as preventatives but they kept saying it's not preventative, that they're for diagnosis. Is there anything I can do to lower the bills? It's so ridiculous because my lab bill showed that they did 3 different tests, which I didn't know they did, each costs a few hundreds dollars. I just felt so helpless because I didn't get informed at all. I tried to ask for details during my appointment but the info felt vague. I wish there were some way for me to have an itemized consent. I asked my insurance rep what I can do in the future then, she said to ask for procedure codes and call them and ask on the spot, and that she had customers doing that. In the end I am glad I am fine, but the bills...rant... What advice do you have for me in the future?... [link] [comments]  |
| How does one get a job in finance with a nontraditional major? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 08:12 PM PST I graduated college in 2016 with a degree in Sociology. I graduated from the #1 public university in America, with a high GPA. Nevertheless, I have been unable to get an entre level job in finance. I live in Los Angeles, CA, and it is very upsetting that I am unemployed for so long. I have been paying my bills with the stock market. However, I know long term I can not continue to live off day trading and long term stock investments. Therefore, I want to get a job in finance. Does anybody have any tips on how I could get my first job in finance? [link] [comments]  |
| Have you and your ex ever both claimed your kids as dependents on taxes? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 07:05 AM PST Piggybacking on a post by Marginallycorrect in another thread, Has anyone every been in a situation where both you and your ex both claimed kids as a dependents on your taxes? If so, how was that resolved? I am divorced with three kids with 50.50 custody and residency, but I pay more for their care (about 15K more in 2018) and I claim all three kids on my taxes. Every year my ex threatens to claim them, saying it's not fair I claim them every year. Every year I say, it's not fair that you should get the tax benefits for the kids when I pay more for their care. Can you meet me in the middle with these expenses, and then we can split up the deductions? She always says no. But every year I wait to see what she will actually do. So has this every happened to anyone, and if so, how did the IRS resolve it? Edited to add: Thanks for the help! Okay here is what people have said. In the case of two parents both filing with the same kid as a dependent: [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 02:40 PM PST My wife just called me crying telling me that she thinks someone is going to steal her identity. She said they identified from the social security office and wanted to verify some information with her and they were able to tell her her name, birthday, previous addresses to which she verified. Then they asked if she would verify her social number with them and she gave that to them. I told her that she should freeze her credit with the three bureaus, what other things do we need to do at this time? [link] [comments]  |
| Should I be paying extra on my student loans Posted: 07 Feb 2019 06:24 PM PST Hey friends! Could use some help here. Got a new job back in October and once I got things situated back in December, I started focusing on trying to ditch my student loans as fast as possible. Now, I'm second guessing myself and wondering if I'm making the best choice. I'm on the graduated repayment program (minimum payments go up every two years) and I'm five years in. I've been making extra payments since I could (maybe about a year into it). New Salary: $85K; no bonus Marital Status: Single Age: 30 Car: 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Paid for) Car & Renters Insurance: $164/month Gas: Approx. $250/month Cell Phone: $115/month Utilities: Approx. $150/month Bank of America Credit Card: $450 balance; 15.29% interest CareCredit Balance: $325; 26.99% interest but 0% if paid off before November (been making bimonthly payments of $163) Rent: $735 Food: Varies, scary Student Loan Minimum Payment: $140/month Savings: $10K 401K: $6K; contribute 4% (employer match) Investment Accounts: $60K Credit Score: 798 I've paid about $300 a month on my student loans for a couple years and will occasionally toss some more at it if I get a windfall, like a bonus, taxes, etc. I started off at $38K and I'm down to $18.5K. January, I started making $900/month payments to try and ditch them in approximately two years. Interest rates vary on them from 3.4% to 6.8%. I have $600 left on my last 6.8% loan. Now, I guess my question is, am I making the correct choice? Or are there better things to do with my money. I wouldn't mind keeping the lower interest rate ones around for a while longer but I think the above 5% need to go. Also, my Jeep is getting older and will eventually need to be replaced, unfortunately. Also, I wish I could pay them with a credit card to get rewards but my servicer is Navient. Would like to buy a house at some point in the future but no real rush. I greatly appreciate the help! Let me know if you need more details about anything. Edit: Grammar [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 07:25 AM PST I have been having trouble accessing Wells Fargo through their app and website. 400 level error codes all over the place. Was still able to use an ATM this morning. Anyone else running into this, or know why it's happening? [link] [comments]  |
| Unemployed & homeless: How to best handle my debts? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 01:40 PM PST I'm a 59 year old veteran, single, never married, no children. I have a bachelor of business administration degree. I've been unemployed/underemployed for nearly 2 years. I've been homeless (staying in shelters, with friends & family, etc.) for a year. I've been on SNAP (food stamps) for months. I'm now working on getting a teaching position through Alternate Certification as a Social Studies and/or Technology Applications teacher, but haven't had success... yet! (I'm looking into ways of working for some income, and getting an apartment of my own again, but currently, I'm still broke. I have $12 to me name at the moment.) I had/have creditors calling me nearly every day, and they kept coming despite every single time telling them my situation. I've simply stopped answering their calls. Most all of those creditors have sold my debt off to collections companies, and obviously, my credit rating is pathetic. The way I see it, I have 3 options:
I'd like to know the group's thoughts, provided they're helpful and not hostile. [link] [comments]  |
| Paying to report rental history to repair credit, worth it? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 05:18 PM PST I have recently seen advertisements for companies that will report your rental history to credit agencies. They claim it's a good way to repair your credit score and charge monthly or a flat fee depending. I am working to repair my credit but am stalled at 655. I am only recently debt free and I have opened two secured credit cards. Don't know what else to do now. Has anyone used a service like this? Does it work? Pros/Cons? Thanks for the help. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 03:36 PM PST My wife is possibly coming into a lot of money through wills and trusts. She won't have access to it until next year but we are discussing what we should try and do with it. We have discussed saving for our kids education but not sure We thought that maybe we should spend it on buying a house outright and then investing the rest and any leftover maybe get a rental property after putting the money into funds and such. We will still be under the tax free inheritance limit. But not sure if buying our house and not having the tax break of the mortgage outweighs not having a mortgage payment. So confused and not really sure what to do. Currently our own financial situation is my wife is a housewife and I make enough for us to rent and we are saving up for our down payment on our own house. Zero student loans but have about $15k debt from being jobless for a while which I'm paying down ASAP. No kids yet, but want them so have already started putting money aside for that. Any help or insight would be great! Thanks so much in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Feb 2019 12:41 PM PST Hi. So my 401k check came in the mail and since I'm trying to do a roll-over I carelessly opened the letter and ripped about 1/10ths of the check completely. i still have both piece of it and since i have to mail it to Vanguard would they accept my check if i just taped it back together? [link] [comments]  |
| Owing Taxes, looking for advice to not have to owe next year. Posted: 07 Feb 2019 05:08 PM PST Hello PF! Some info: Married, In WA state and my wife and I are filing jointly. And both have claimed married and 1 on allowances. We almost have identical w-2's. We are literally within a $1,000 difference between the two of us. For not getting into too specific details we make about 25,000 each. When filing taxes through turbo tax(free version) putting in the first W-2 yields a positive return. Entering in both says that we owe $541. Just did a semi test and filing separately drops it down about $132. But still owing $409 When looking for answers turbo tax gives this answer: "The $541 you owe so far comes from the $2,574 of tax you're supposed to pay for the year, according to current tax rates, minus the $2,033 of tax you already paid." I did some looking around and found this thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2c5sp5/tax_withholding_versus_actual_tax_burden/ and a line at the end that sticks out to me at the end it says: "One thing that confuses a lot of people is when they get an outsized paycheck, whether due to a bonus or a payroll screwup in a previous pay period. The IRS doesn't know that it's a one-time thing, so withholding is usually calculated according to the tables you can find in IRS Publication 15. If this happens to you, you can submit a new W-4 any time you want to in order to adjust your withholding downward temporarily." My wife and I both work jobs where it is easy to pick up extra shifts and trade shifts. We both have times during the year where we will work more than the rest of the year. Giving us sometimes larger checks than normal. My wife sometimes gets lump sum bonuses. I dont. I'm not entirely sure this is the reason why we owe taxes but its just what sticks out to me. So just looking for advice. Do we need to claim more for our allowances? Should we looking to the IRS Publication 15? Lastly, just looking for clarification. The end of my W-2 does not say taxable Marital status. My wife's does. However, at work my W-4 does say married and claiming 1. Is it possible this did not go through? Is there a way to tell? or does it even matter? [link] [comments]  |
| 20 years old with 5,000 in savings. What would you do? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 06:46 AM PST I'll be twenty years old on Saturday and I have about five thousand dollars in savings from jobs, scholarship surpluses, etc. I really want to use this money as efficiently as possible and am aiming to be financially comfortable following graduation. How should I invest? Stocks, bonds, real estate, education, travel, what would you do? [link] [comments]  |
| Help asking for a salary raise with a 4-day work-week (US) Posted: 07 Feb 2019 09:55 AM PST A year ago I returned from maternity leave and my boss, the director of my department agreed to give me a 4-day work-week. My salary before I left was 80k, so I begin to take a salary of 64k while keeping all my same benefits and PTO. I am the only person at my medium sized company that has this "deal". A few months after I came back from leave under this new workweek, my boss left the company. I took on all of her workload and while her director-level has since been filled by a new employee, I still do most if not all of the day-to-day work that my previous boss did. I just don't have the title or the accountability at that level. I've worked at my company for a long time, 4.5 years, the company is about 7 years old. I've been doing the 4 days for a full year now and my work has not suffered. My question is, with the work that I do, I want to ask for a raise while still maintaining my 4-day work-week. What is the best way to do so? [link] [comments]  |
| Advice for paying off credit card debt Posted: 07 Feb 2019 08:51 PM PST I'm 23 and had a lengthy hospital stay (6 months) at 20. During that time and the following 2-3 months I racked up about 12k in credit card debt as I wasn't able to pay my bills otherwise. I realize now I could probably have explored other options considering the circumstances but here I am. I'm back on my feet these days, but struggling to pay that off. I'm not at risk of losing my home or car or anything, I just don't have the extra money to pay more than the minimums (which add up to nearly 1/3 of my monthly income). How can I tackle this debt without further hurting my credit score? [link] [comments]  |
| Investing in rental property before buying my own home? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 01:00 PM PST I've been saving for a while and have considered purchasing a rental property however I'm still renting right now. I've talked to a few people and get mixed responses on what I should do. Long term I've been planning on investing in rental property as a form of passive income for years. I'm a, recently graduated, lawyer so I know all the legal responsibilities and through scholarships have a negligible amount of other debts. Any advice is helpful thanks in advance!!! [link] [comments]  |
| Would 6,000 buy me any perks on a new credit card? Posted: 07 Feb 2019 04:43 PM PST I am signing up for a class that is $6,000. I have the money to pay for the full course now, but I would like to put it on a credit card with 0% interest that I could pay off within a year that I could receive some perks from. Would this work? Is there a good card that I could actually get a flight/ miles/ decent cash back on with that 6K? Or would this not be worth it? [link] [comments]  |
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