Personal Finance 30-Day Challenge #4: Update your resume, get an internship, keep your wardrobe updated, or ask for a raise! (April, 2019) |
- 30-Day Challenge #4: Update your resume, get an internship, keep your wardrobe updated, or ask for a raise! (April, 2019)
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of April 08, 2019
- Got $65 in dental fees waived just by calling.
- If you're working on your taxes, don't forget to search for unclaimed property
- 22 years old and I have $10,000 in the bank. I thought I'd feel better about the future after saving but I'm even more uncertain. Need advice.
- Should I lie about my pay rate when I go into my interview so I can get a better pay?
- Beware of insurance up-sells. Your credit card may offer purchase protections
- Are my wife and I better off compromising on a home we can afford now, or paying rent for two years until we can afford the home we really want.
- Best Bank to Switch To?
- Received 2018 1099R for funds I never got back
- I have alot of work to do.
- Ex wives student loan nightmare
- what is the point of a checking account compared to a high yield savings account?
- [Roth IRA Early Withdrawal Question] Say you put in the max 6k for a year, immediately lost 1k in the market, then gained 2k the next year without adding any more funds. Could you still withdraw 6k without a penalty still despite technically earning 2k?
- 457 plan questions, please help!
- Amazon account was hacked, how do we resolve this?
- Just opened up Vanguard Roth IRA, what to invest in?
- Student charged $14k on stolen Google Cloud Credentials
- My work is stealing from the staff.
- Received a debt collection call for a bill I never received
- In 2018, was dependent with no income. In 2019, I am an independent contractor. Do I need to file estimated taxes?
- Should I pay an old debt that's over 10 years old if I can?
- Discount at work- 20% vs 75% but counted towards income.
- Grandmother left me as a beneficiary
- Graduating in a month with $140K in student loan debt. Looking for reassurance/advice.
- Stupid Question, But did I claim myself?
| Posted: 02 Apr 2019 06:06 AM PDT 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 Update your resume, get an internship, keep your wardrobe updated, or ask for a raise. You've successfully completed this challenge once you've completed any one of these steps. Why is this important?A 40-hour work week will take up about 24% of the 168 hours you have available in the week. If you're getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep, 36% of your day is spent at work. This is why it's important to have a job that provides you with both income and personal happiness. Even if you're gainfully employed and not thinking of jumping ship, you might still want to consider dressing for success, keeping your resume up-to-date, or even asking for a raise. 1. If you're a student who is free this summer and haven't done so already: get yourself an internship!Taking an internship or co-op while you're an undergrad is by far one of the most effective career boosters out there, and can still benefit you even if it's unpaid. It allows you to network, get real world experience, get professional feedback, and other important things. So if you haven't done so, consider building your resume with intern experience, especially if you're free this summer. Speaking of resumes... 2. Keep your resume up-to-date and constantly seek feedbackEven if you're not jumping ship, optimizing your resume and keeping it up to date is still important. Here are some good resources for resume building:
If you have a professional profile (like LinkedIn, professional societies, or trade societies), make sure you update that too! And one final thing: Don't forget to polish up your interview skills if you're going to go job hunting. 3. Remember to dress for successIn the workplace, you should keep your hair neat (facial hair included!), your clothes should properly fit, and your outfit should be clean. Appearances and first impressions matter, and one source states "41 percent of employers said that people who dress better or more professionally tend to be promoted." (Source) If you are out interviewing, make sure your suit or outfit is appropriate for the interview. There is also /r/femalefashionadvice and /r/malefashionadvice to help you on your way. 4. Consider the best time to ask for a raise or promotionRemember to do your research on this one before acting on it. A lot of raises are dependent on company policy, timing, negotiation skills, negotiation tactics, and several other things. Here are some good sources on asking for a raise:
Related Subreddits:[link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of April 08, 2019 Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:08 AM 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 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]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Got $65 in dental fees waived just by calling. Posted: 08 Apr 2019 06:18 AM PDT I received a bill from my dentist several months after my last appointment for $65. I called them and they said they were for x-ray fees which my insurance didn't cover because it hadn't been enough time since my previous x-ray. I explained that I'd never requested an x-ray or been asked when my last one was, I was simply told that I needed an x-ray. Long story short, they ended up waiving the fee. It's always worth calling about unexpected fees! Edit: To clarify, this was a completely unnecessary x-ray as I'd just had one six months ago and wasn't experiencing any dental issues. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If you're working on your taxes, don't forget to search for unclaimed property Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:06 PM PDT Select your state, then follow the instructions. I had $11 sitting with a cancelled credit card woohoo! [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:57 PM PDT I'm uncertain about what to do with it. I'd like to vacation but it would eat into my savings. I know I should probably keep saving before doing anything drastic with it, but I'm getting antsy and would like to invest or use it in a way that gives me long term security before I have fun and do what I want to do. My parents taught me nothing about money management except for how to spend it and I need some advice from some outside sources! I appreciate any help. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Should I lie about my pay rate when I go into my interview so I can get a better pay? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 07:34 PM PDT I'm currently a phlebotomist at a hospital and I get paid 13.27. I've been looking for other places to work and I finally got a call back from another hospital. When I go to my interview should I lie and say I get paid 14.75 so then can hopefully offer me 15 or more? Will the person who will be interviewing me call my current manager and ask how much I'm getting paid? I'm nervous [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beware of insurance up-sells. Your credit card may offer purchase protections Posted: 08 Apr 2019 05:39 PM PDT I was debating purchasing travel insurance for some upcoming international flights in case I missed a flight, got sick etc... American Airlines offered a package for $287 which seemed high, but I thought it could be worth protecting such an expensive purchase. Turns out my air miles credit card offers a similar benefit at no cost (other than the annual fee). They also offer free insurance for travel accidents, baggage delay/lost baggage, and rental cars. I saved $287+ by charging my flights to the credit card. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 06:34 AM PDT I currently make $35 an hour (with benifits) in LA area. My wife and I just had a baby, so she stays at home and takes care of him. We are planning to have more kids and are outgrowing our 2 bedroom 800 sq ft condo that we rent for $2000 a month. I'm in an apprenticeship program and am set so make $55 an hour by the end of 2021. Right now we have worked it out that we could comfortably afford to pay ~$2500 a month towards a mortgage (we've been pre-aproved for more but dont want to make payments that big). That price doesnt get you much in LA so we would have to compromise a lot on the house we buy (no yard or RV parking, really close to neighbors, less bedrooms than we want, or an area we dont like). However, in 2 years we figure we could comfortably afford a home that we dont have to compramise on. The issue isn't whether I'm patient enough to wait for the better home. What I would like to know is if financially it makes more since to buy a smaller home and sell it in 5ish years to upgrade to a bigger one, or continue paying rent for 2 more years and then buy. Additional information: we are 24 years old. We have two paid off vehicles and 0 dept. we have about $100k in a fund from my parents to help us make a down payment at any time. We would like to buy just outside of the border of LA county (eastvale/chino hills/chino/ontario/corona). We like the place we rent no, but our family is outgrowing it. My benefits include for medical, dental, vision, and 401k. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 05:06 PM PDT I used to live in Atlanta, GA a few years ago and have been using Fidelity Bank, but it's becoming increasingly harder since I moved to Nashville, TN 3 years ago and have been looking to switch since I need to make cash deposits. I'd love to have no fees if possible for a checking account and a small minimum. Any suggestions for Nashville? I tried Chime but wasn't accepted? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Received 2018 1099R for funds I never got back Posted: 08 Apr 2019 05:28 PM PDT I worked for a company and contributed to their 401K. After I quit, I rolled over the 401K to ETRADE. Sometime later, I received a noticed that the company failed the IRS 401k audit and thus they send out a 1099R form for the amount they should have refunded to me. However, no check was sent out since the money was rolled over to ETRADE. Now, the company is asking ETRADE to refund the money to me without reporting to the IRS. The team at ETRADE says that they cannot refund money from a retirement account without notifying IRS. So, my company reported to the IRS that I got money back (via 1099R/2018(code 8) but did not send me a check and when ETRADE sends me a check they will report that to the IRS as well so I will wind up paying taxes twice on the same refund as it's going to appear that I got money back from my company and ETRADE. Can anyone recommend how to go about resolving this conundrum? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 08:21 AM PDT I decided in January to get sober. I've working hard to maintain sobriety and mental health. I have a new job and I want to start fixing my finances. I've destroyed my credit. My score is in the low 500s, I'm around 25k in debt. I have a general idea of what to do; save $2000, pay of my debts from lowest to highest, and when I can open a new line of credit to be used responsibly. My question is have any of you been in my situation? I'm 30 and trying not feel hopeless but I've a long way to go. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ex wives student loan nightmare Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:01 PM PDT Hey everyone, for the most part im happily divorced for going on 3 years now. But there is a dark cloud on the horizon. I cosigned my ex wife's sallie mae loan when we were still together (just one of my many bad decisions). Well for some time now she has been paying 25 dollars every other month on these loans. Which were originally 20k at 11% they are at 30k now and she has shown no sign of being an adult and paying her bills. Is there ANY way i can escape this doom she is forming for me? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| what is the point of a checking account compared to a high yield savings account? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 05:07 PM PDT as far as i can tell the only difference is withdrawal limit? but realistically, u can just pay bills through the account and it wont count as withdrawal, including credit card bills [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 07:17 PM PDT Also, would fees (such as ones paid to invest) reduce the amount you can withdraw penalty free if you needed to? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 457 plan questions, please help! Posted: 08 Apr 2019 05:00 PM PDT I work for a city municipality and am exempt from social security contributions. Due to this, I have a required 9.5% contribution that I make to the Louisiana Municipal Retirement System from my paycheck. I have the option to enroll in a deferred comp plan that goes into a 457 (Roth or Traditional). The plan uses BlackRock Target Date funds ranging from 2020-2060. I would likely be in the 2055 or 2060 plan. All plans have 10 year averages of 9-13% return. ER is 0.15. So, I have a few questions.
[link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amazon account was hacked, how do we resolve this? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 08:29 PM PDT Our Amazon account was hacked by a third party that bought a flatscreen using a bad check. Now Amazon has shut down the account and blames us for the check. We're worried about any potential credit problems that might follow. We've been trying to go through Amazon customer service for hours now with no success. What should we do? Please help us! [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Just opened up Vanguard Roth IRA, what to invest in? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 03:05 PM PDT Hey all. I am a 33 year old male and I just opened up a Roth IRA w/ Vanguard. I put in the max for 2018. I originally thought I would just be putting all of it into the S&P 500 but now that I see all these options, I am a little confused. I'm not concerned about volatility, this is a long term strategy so I should be 100% in the stock market right? Also, when I type in S&P 500 it brings up multiple different ones, not to mention, I could not even find it on the list of funds that could be chosen from, I had to type it in. One other question as well. I also opened an account for my wife, should I be in the same funds on both accounts? Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Student charged $14k on stolen Google Cloud Credentials Posted: 08 Apr 2019 05:31 PM PDT Hi, In 2017, I made a Google Cloud Account to use Google Maps API for a Computer Science student group project and put my debit card in. I naively put a $5 account notification in, thinking it was a cap. This project was defunct after 2017 and I should have just closed the Cloud account. All was fine up until January 2019 when the Google Cloud Credentials were somehow stolen and over the course of two days on Google Maps API, racked up enough API calls to generate over $14k invoice. I disabled the Google Cloud Account a day after I noticed an email from Google Cloud. Google Cloud did try to use debit card to deduct from checking account, but I don't leave thousands sitting around in it, so charge was declined. I talked to Google Cloud Billing and they have not been helpful, telling me to contact my bank. Today, I got a scary email from a collections agency demanding I login to my Google Cloud account and pay the bill! I suppose this means the charge hasn't been written off yet since they want me to login to Google directly. I know I did not make these API calls -- if you looked at the call volume history, there was nothing for well over a year, until those two days in 2019, it started going crazy (and the project is not running on any server or being used in any way). I suspect a group member might have accidentally leaked the credentials. I know AWS has waived costs like this in the past, but Google is not known for customer support. I should have been more proactive in setting up a cap. Appreciate any advice or Google contacts to talk to an actual human. Should I see if Google is willing to actually verify these unauthorized calls or just lower the bill? I'm willing to eat a few grand just to make this headache go away. Thanks for reading. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| My work is stealing from the staff. Posted: 08 Apr 2019 02:33 PM PDT I work in a breakfast/lunch diner as a server part time. New owners took over 6 months ago and it hasn't been the smoothest of transitions. Since they took over things are getting worst and as of the past month 3 of our strongest kitchen staff have quit. The workplace is a complete disaster. They hired new staff but nothing is clicking. People are waiting upwards of an hour for there food which should generally take 15 mins (30 at worst). This has been going on for roughly 3 weeks. The owner has since been working in the kitchen and helping along but he actually makes things worst back there. Now here's where it get bad. As a server we tip out the kitchen 4% of our gross sales which I'm completely fine with. But as I found out on Sunday talking with a kitchen employee who's been working there for years, he said they haven't been getting tipped out for 4 weeks because "we are not doing a good enough job" Every server tips out $40-50 bucks a shift and there's generally 4-5 servers on every day. No kitchen staff is getting there tips but the servers continue to tip out! I feel so bad for the ppl in the kitchen as there trying really hard but there's just no rhythm and it all stems from the owner. Is this legal what there doing by keeping the tip out? What should I do? I mentioned this to another waitress 30 mins ago and she lost her mind. Now I'm even more angry about it as I'm a guy who normally shrugs things off. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Received a debt collection call for a bill I never received Posted: 08 Apr 2019 06:10 PM PDT So, basically last year in July I ended up in the hospital with two ambulance rides. After my hospitalization, I paid every single bill that my insurance didn't cover -- anything that I saw in my mail, I paid it. However, the past few months, I have been receiving a lot of blocked calls from various phone numbers. If they weren't blocked, I just ignored the calls 'cus I figured if they had something to say, they would leave me a voicemail. A few weeks ago, I picked up a non-blocked call, and a debt collector introduced themselves. As soon as I heard the words "debt collector" leave their mouth, I panicked and hung up on them. I proceeded to get an automated text message from a medical provider that said that I needed to pay for a CT scan that wasn't covered by my insurance (at the time, there was no insurance info provided, so I entered the info and left it at that). I paid it and thought that would be the end of it. However, these calls persisted and today I just answered another unblocked call with a debt collector introducing themselves in a very thick accent. They said that I was in collections because I never paid a $2,000+ bill for the second ambulance ride. They did verify the details of the ambulance ride, so it seemed legit. However, I told them that I paid every bill that I received in the mail and was never notified of this amount. I never received an invoice for the amount of $2,000~. The lady seemed stumped and attempted to transfer me to her supervisor but nothing came out of that. I just told her that I needed proof of the invoice because I never received anything. She even told me they sent out another notice in March, which I did not receive. Of course, when she tries to verify my mailing address, turns out they have the wrong mailing address... So, is there anything that I need to be careful of here? The debt collector didn't say from what company they were calling from and didn't really leave any specific instructions about paying it back. Only that they would send me a letter through mail (did not feel comfortable providing a debt collector my e-mail address). While they did have the accurate details of the ambulance ride, I do think it's weird that my credit hasn't tanked despite being sent to collections (still at 760s). I never received any phone calls from the hospital or anyone, and if they did, shouldn't they have left me a voicemail? Will there be any consequences despite never receiving the bill in the first place? I do have an emergency fund and $2k won't really hurt me that much, but I'm super fcking annoyed that I thought everything from that hospital trip was finally done and over with, but nope, here's some more bills and it's not even my fault for being in debt! TL;DR: Thought I paid all my bills for hospital trip last year, received debt collection call for a bill I never received. Turns out, they were sending it to the wrong address. Am I screwed? EDIT: fixing for format, first time posting on a PC and not mobile. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Apr 2019 06:03 PM PDT I didn't have any earned income in 2018. My parents filed me as a dependent for 2018 and gave me around $12K over the course of the year. In 2019, I got a job as an independent contractor. I know that independent contractors need to file estimated taxes on a quarterly basis. Considering that I was a dependent in 2018, do I need to file any estimated taxes for my 2019 earnings? If not, when would I file the taxes for my 2019 income? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Should I pay an old debt that's over 10 years old if I can? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:41 PM PDT I think I've got an old debt that's probably more than 10 years old now. Pretty sure the original debt was around $400 but likely more now to debt collectors. If I have the means to pay this now, should I? Seems like this doesn't go away and will just keep coming up. I'm in california so the statute of limitations is 4 years, but just saying the wrong thing on the phone can extend it. I've got near perfect credit but now I'm getting a threat that they will garnish my wages. I think they may have also sent a private investigator to my home before (there was some suspicious guy taking pictures). [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discount at work- 20% vs 75% but counted towards income. Posted: 08 Apr 2019 07:24 PM PDT I racked up $1000 bill at my job (veterinary center). They are offering either to cover 20% of the bill with no tax obligation or 75% but the discount amount will count towards my taxable yearly income. What's the better deal? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grandmother left me as a beneficiary Posted: 08 Apr 2019 07:06 PM PDT My grandmother died on March 30. She left me as a beneficiary on her life insurance for $50,000. I am in debt $25,000. What would the smartest thing be to do with the other half? I'm a single mom with an 8 year old daughter if that matters. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Graduating in a month with $140K in student loan debt. Looking for reassurance/advice. Posted: 08 Apr 2019 04:43 AM PDT I am a senior studying Mechanical Engineering at Boston University, and in about 5 weeks I will be graduating with what feels like an overwhelming amount of debt. While I am confident in my abilities as a student, I do not yet have a job lined up. I plan to live at home (rent free) for as long as possible, immediately following graduation. I am trying to be as real about this as possible. I have been refering to r/personalfinance and r/StudentLoans for guidance, but right now I feel defeated. I'm not looking for pity, and I take ownership of the fact that I alone put myself in this situation. I just hope that you guys will be able to look at my gameplan and be able to tell me that everything will be okay. Here's a breakdown of my loans as they stand today:
I will be moving back home to East Tennessee, where the average base salary for an entry-level mechanical engineer is around $70k. From my experience looking at salaries on various job postings, I believe that my actual salary will be more around $60k. I still need to get a job though... My resume is decent, and my GPA is a 3.66, so I'm not freaking out about that just yet. My credit score is 760-770, and I have been establishing credit over the past 4 years. I'm hoping that this will help me as I look for private loan consolidation options. In terms of expected living expenses, I haven't really figured out a good estimate, but I will be keeping these as low as possible. No going out, cooking at home as much as possible, shopping at thrift stores etc. As mentioned before, I plan to live at home, where I my rent will be paid in chores more or less. I do not have any other outstanding loans or consistent payments (i.e. car payment). My mom has planned her whole life to help me pay for college, but at this stage in her life I do not know how much of a contribution she will be able to make. She is a single mother and works as a high school teacher. I have nothing but respect for what she does, but it's just a fact that there's not a lot of money to be made teaching. We also have some money (I'm not sure the exact amount) in a college fund, and I have about 6k in savings. I think that the first order of business is to consolidate my private loans at a more favorable interest rate. I am also planning to absolutely pay off the interest on my federal loans before it capitalizes. I also still need to figure out which payment plan to use for the federal loans. I'm confused by how PAYE and other income-based plans work if I still don't have a job by the time the grace period ends. I guess the questions I have can be summed up as the following:
Thank you for reading this. I think that last year is when I really started to feel as though my choice of school was a mistake, given my experiences reading material on this sub. The weight of my decision has suddenly become the only thing that I can think about, and I partially wrote this post as a way to compartmentalize how I'm feeling. I already regret not having gone somewhere in-state, where I could have avoided loans altogether. Hindsight really is a bitch. EDIT: Formatting is hard. Table should work now. EDIT2: Formatting is really hard. Bulletted list works too. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stupid Question, But did I claim myself? Posted: 08 Apr 2019 06:40 PM PDT Hello intelligent and hopefully kind people of personal finance, I have a bit of a problem. I am a regrettably naive 20 year old, live at home college student, and I'm 90% sure that I did not claim myself (not sure if the right terminology) on my W-4 for my former part time restaurant job. I made just over 3000 if that matters. My mother is filing taxes for us and was planning on claiming me as a dependent. However when she asked me to show that I hadn't claimed myself as a dependent for work, she said she needed proof. Now before she asked for proof, I was 100 percent sure that I said I wasn't going to claim myself, but now there is a tiny bit of doubt. I don't have a copy of my original W-4, which now I see is something I probably should. There was an online portal for paychecks that I think had that information, but it seems as if I'm no longer able to access that account since I no longer work there (I just worked there over the summer.) I do have the paper receipts of all my paychecks from working there, but I'm not sure what it is that would or wouldn't be there if I didn't claim myself. So I am hoping that someone could direct me to what to look for on the paycheck receipts/ how I would find out for certain if I claimed myself? Thank you [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