Personal Finance TreasuryDirect.gov isn’t talked about enough |
- TreasuryDirect.gov isn’t talked about enough
- My boss offered me my first salary position and expects me to counter his offer. What do I counter with if I’m already satisfied with his offer?
- Why Credit Life on loans is almost ALWAYS a bad idea
- I have roughly 23k in student loans and currently have 15.7k in various stocks. Should I cash out of my stocks and pay off student loans?
- Its amazing how things have changed
- Primary Care Dr changed Insurance Group without notifying me, huge bill
- Is it okay to ask for a raise when I get a 3% raise each year?
- Parents want to buy house, seems like a bad idea. Any ideas on how to communicate this?
- How would you react to an insulting raise in wages?
- Divorcing, unemployed, facing bankruptcy, IRS liens, and foreclosure. Not sure what to do at this point. [US]
- Personal loans to get out of credit card debt
- New to banking as I’m not even 17 yet(living in Canada) and recently purchased a Pc for a couple hundred dollars. All went well until
- Trading in my Jeep Grand Cherokee. Should I expect to get more for it at a Dodge/Jeep dealership than a Ford/Chevy/Hyundai dealership?
- Extra ~$700 in the budget, not sure where to put it
- How do I make a cash deposit to my bank that doesn't have any locations in the state I moved to?
- I’m in need of advice. I’m getting my own checking account (against my mom’s wishes, so I have no one in person to ask this to) and need to figure out which type of account I should get. Any help would be appreciated.
- My company auto-enrolls AND auto-increases our 403(b) contributions
- Gold being used to get rid of US debt
- Estate Planning and Designating Beneficiaries
- Paying minimum every month on 0% APR credit cards for a large purchase? How does this work?
- I have $4500 to invest after realizing I was holding more than needed in my emergency fund. Would you recommend using it to max my Roth IRA contribution for 2018 (VTTSX - Target Retirement Date 2060) or using it to invest in another fund (I was thinking VTSAX)?
- My mom attempted suicide, she’s in a coma. She has xxxx debt and was in the middle of bankruptcy. She has life insurance and some money in her 401K. Please help me.
- Single mom looking for advice. $8500 worth of credit card debt - whats my best plan on attack?
- I'm doing pretty well financially now but am overwhelmed about financial future
TreasuryDirect.gov isn’t talked about enough Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:14 AM PDT I see a lot of discussions on where the best bank to park your cash is, who has the best interest rates etc. I rarely see anyone mention treasury direct as an option. It's the website to buy treasury securities from the US government directly. The website is easy to use and navigate, setting up an account takes 5 minutes, and links directly to your pre existing bank account. 4 week tbills are currently yielding over 2.4%, which is more than you can get pretty much anywhere else. For cash management purposes I would highly recommend checking it out, especially if you're saving for something like a house and can't take any risk. They offer automatic reinvestments for up to two years at a time than you can Vance whenever you want, and the website does a great job of explaining everything for you. If you're concerned about having your money locked up for 4 weeks at a time, you can split the money into 1/4s and buy the auction each week, set them to auto reinvest and if you end up needing the money stop the auto reinvestments and the cash will be deposited back into your bank account at the end of the term. There are no fees, and no minimums, All your money stays in your current bank and is withdrawn when you purchase a security. Proceeds from maturity are automatically sent back to your bank unless you reinvest. Plus it's the US government so you don't have to worry about who you're doing business with, or have to keep searching and switching banks to find the best rates. [link] [comments] |
Posted: 02 Apr 2019 03:34 PM PDT Title pretty much says it all. The restaurant that I work for is coming under new ownership at the end of this week, and the new owner is promoting me to the general manager position. This is my first job that will be paid salary, not hourly, and my boss told me he expects me to counter his first offer, so i can gain experience with how contract negotiations will work in the future. However, the raise I'll be getting is significant already, plus he has told me I'll be getting a week's worth of vacation per year (which is a week more than I have now), so it all sounds pretty great to me already! What else should I negotiate for? Is a week of vacation a normal amount? Any guidance is appreciated! Edit: Thank you so much for all of your advice and kind words! I did NOT expect this post to garner so much attention so I really appreciate it. I've got a good list of things started here but I'd like to know more about tuition reimbursement if anyone has any knowledge to offer on that. I'm 23, about to graduate college, staring down the barrel of $60,000 in student loans and counting. Are there any benefits to him tax-wise or anything if he were to make a contribution? Should I only ask for a small amount? I have no idea how that works so any advice regarding tuition reimbursement would be appreciated! [link] [comments] |
Why Credit Life on loans is almost ALWAYS a bad idea Posted: 03 Apr 2019 06:08 AM PDT So I work in car sales (yes bash me go ahead) BUT I wanted to share something. Recently we partnered with a credit union that provides pretty decent rates, actually very low rates. However they bundle credit life into all of their loans. Now the Credit Union has asked us to not talk customers out of it, however if a customer notices it/wants to decline it they will take it out. So let me tell you why buying credit life especially on a car loan is a bad idea. What is Credit Life Credit Life is an insurance policy on a loan that basically says if you die before you can pay it off, the loan will automatically be paid off and whoever is your next of kin can get the car. Sounds like a great idea right? What Does Credit Life Cost So I typically sell cars that have finance amounts of between $20,000 and $50,000. Credit life tends to run $800-$2,000 for the term of the loan (rough numbers) Why is it a bad idea? Its basically an expensive form of term life insurance. But worse, you see once the loan for the car is paid off you can no longer make a claim on the policy. Lets compare the cost to say a 10 yr no medical exam term life insurance policy for a 39 yr old for $50,000. Monthly that term life will come out to $979.20 (now you can get a lot more insurance for not a whole lot more money) So for $979.20 you can ensure if you die within the next 10 yrs your loved ones will get $50,000 in cash. Now with credit life, say on a $50,000 car not over 5 years you'd pay $2,000 in total (roughly) for the policy...BUT that $2,000 only covers the cost of whatever the balance of the car is worth, and once the car is paid off/sold/etc the policy basically goes away. So your paying double, for t he same coverage for half the amount of time...and say you live 3 years and then die and you owe say $20,000 on the car...ok well the insurance will pay off the $20,000 and your family gets to keep the car. But had you simply gone with term life for the same amount your family would still be getting $50k, also you would have paid 3 years of premiums not 10 yrs, so the cost would be even smaller. Do you see my point? Life insurance is important, but credit life is expensive. How to avoid Read your finance contract and look for credit life/credit disability it should be declined, its not uncommon for dealers/banks to simply "include" it in your payment. So the bank or dealer will go "Ok great we got you approved with $5k down for X% and your payment is XYZ" what they aren't telling you is that if you decline credit life your payment will be $20-$30 cheaper since the cost is rolled in. So remember always decline credit life. Is there ever a good time to buy credit life Not in my opinion, I'm a firm believer of life insurance and think we should all have it to cover expenses for after we pass. However credit life is very expensive for the little benefit it provides. In fact its a MASSIVE profit center. I had a bank VP once tell me the only reason they push for car loans so hard is because of the commission they make off of credit life. He could care less about the APR he earns on the car, he's much more excited about that immediate $400-$500 kick back from credit life. Also the VP likes it because if someone does buy credit life and they die...the bank gets their money. Sure you get the car, but the bank doesn't really want your car, they want your money. What should I do instead? Consult someone more knowledgeable then me, and purchase a good solid life insurance policy that will adaputely take care of your family and erase any debts you may owe when you pass What happens if I don't have life insurance or enough money to cover my car loan debt and I die plus I declined credit life and my family can't afford the car So when you die, assuming this car loan is just in your name the bank will approach your family and try and get them to take responsibility for the dead. At this point your family can say "no" of course payments will stop for the car, and the bank will repo the car. Your family will get to use the vehicle for a few months, until the repo man finally comes. At that point your car will be sold, if its sold for less then what you owe...the bank will sue you. But remember you are dead. So naturally you'll lose...because your dead. But remember you don't have any real assets and no life insurance? so the bank is up shit creek without a paddle. Your family is not responsible for the debt that you incurred. [link] [comments] |
Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:10 AM PDT A little deeper is that there are technically 4 student loans and two of those that comprise of about 12k of it have the higher interest rate at 6.2 percent. I have been toying with this idea for awhile but have always held off because I have slowly built my little portfolio and hate to see it go away but I think it is the smart choice. Just looking for opinions. Also this is not my 401k just a tdameritrade account that I have had since college. [link] [comments] |
Its amazing how things have changed Posted: 03 Apr 2019 06:00 PM PDT Maybe because I lived the life of a typical American. Paycheck to paycheck, driving expensive cars, going out a lot etc. It didn't seem like a big deal when we made more money than we were spending but we weren't saving either. Today my wife had a revelation. She has been onboard with our changes to a degree. We fought with her using the credit card a bit but we were able to keep it under control. She wasn't spending a ton and mostly stuff we could use/need but wasn't required. But overall we kept the extras to a few hundred a month. But her big realization was when I told her by year end, we will have over $1200/month each to do whatever we want. She looked at me like how. I said because of how hard we've been working. We will lower our bills to $3,000 a month, and with the $4500 left over, $900 into 2 roth IRAs. Adding $1,000/month to our savings (we will already have $12k in emergency). We are maxing 401k match and Roth IRA. I Don't see a need to go crazy, we will have 5M by age 65, why not live like no one else if we don't have debt (except the house). [link] [comments] |
Primary Care Dr changed Insurance Group without notifying me, huge bill Posted: 03 Apr 2019 08:17 AM PDT My primary care dr recently changed Insurance Groups and I was never notified. I went for a sick appt and was asked like always if anything changed with my insurance coverage etc, and they still didnt mention anything. So during the course of the visit they performed a rapid strep test and a rapid flu test, I then received a bill in the mail for 890 dollars. Do I have any recourse beyond just talking to the office staff, because Ive done that and their response was that its my job to know what everything will cost before I accept a test. That they dont negotiate and that they dont offer payment plans. [link] [comments] |
Is it okay to ask for a raise when I get a 3% raise each year? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 10:16 AM PDT The title says it all but here is some background. I work for a somewhat large company as a Security Managed File Transfer Engineer. Which basically means I set up business to business transmissions and send money, 401k and other benefit files. I accepted this position about 2.5 years ago with the starting salary of $50,000 and 2 weeks of vacation. Typically each year we are given a 2-3% raise. I'm right around 53,000 now After doing some more research on Glassdoor my estimated market value for my area is about $62,500. Knowing this information is it okay to ask for a raise closer to that value even though I receive a yearly raise? [link] [comments] |
Parents want to buy house, seems like a bad idea. Any ideas on how to communicate this? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 03:40 PM PDT Thanks for reading in advance! My parents are in their early 60s and want to buy a house when their lease is up in a few months. I want a sanity check that I'm not wrong for resisting, and some ideas about how to communicate my objections to them. My parents worked hard (immigrants with low-paying jobs for most of my life) to raise their kids in a pricey area with great public schools. It worked: we're all self-sufficient and doing what we want to be doing, more or less. They never learned to apply the basic knowledge and skills that everyone here seems familiar with to their finances. Predictably, their situation isn't great as a result: *no retirement accounts *25,000 in savings *40,000 in credit card debt *combined income ~100k/yr They want to buy a home in the $200-220k range. This seems batshit to me and I've told them so. The only non-emotional justification they offer is that their state offers considerable assistance for first time homebuyers, which does actually seem to be true relative to most places in the US. They're entitled to combined social security benefits of about $6000/mo if they retire in ~5 years. My objections are obvious: they have no retirement funds and plan to vaporize their savings to make a down payment, they're aiming for a 30 year mortgage which seems ludicrous at their age, they have high-interest credit card debt that they should pay off first, and without any other assets putting all of their money into a down payment on a home is risky. Not to mention the chance of health failing, their jobs disappearing, the economy stagnating/contracting, etc. They counter that by the time they retire, they'll have a comfortable income on which to pay off the mortgage. Until then, their income would indeed allow them to make mortgage payments, make their minimum payments on their credit cards, and have enough money to live based on their historical spending, which is minimal. Am I missing something here? Is relying on social security as absurd as it feels like to me? Any ideas on how to communicate my thoughts in an organized and compelling way? (I make every effort to be calm and kind when I talk to them). Pretend I was on their side for a second-- what would you tell me, a (hopefully obviously) reasonable person who's trying to see things objectively, about their decision? [link] [comments] |
How would you react to an insulting raise in wages? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 11:39 AM PDT First post here, not sure if this is the right sub but how would you react in my situation? I work a minimum wage job as a receptionist. I have been employed here for 3 years and every year we have received a nominal bonus for hitting targets at work. This year in lieu of bonuses they have restructured and are very happy to announce a 4p per hour increase in wages. This equates to about £5 per month. (For context wage has changed from £8.21 to £8.25 per hour) [link] [comments] |
Posted: 03 Apr 2019 06:45 PM PDT Long story short, combination of events lead to where I am now. It doesn't matter how I got here, the reality is here I am and I am trying to figure out what to do next.
Positives: when I am employed, I make decent 6 figure salary/rate and should not be unemployed for much longer. At worst, I should be able to find a job that pays at least 100K (~$50 hourly - that's my absolute minimum; max rate I ever billed - $100 hr) Unsecured bank loan: $23K (recently writen off, in collections)
Problem 1: Very high IRS/local tax debt left over from failed business (about 80K - joint debt)
Problem 2: Unemployed - currently facing default on multiple loans, 3 already are. Working with lender on some options for hardship, but I don't hold out much hope.
Problem 3: Getting divorced and as a result of problems above and unemployment, my credit is ruined - down from 710 to 504. Mortgage lateness is a big one
Problem 4: Other debt (CCs, personal/bank loans, late car payments, etc. - mostly joint)
Had some conversations with bankruptcy lawyers and based on what I was able to piece together and given everything going on, it seems my options are as follows:
Option A: Sell the house, work out settlement deals with creditors, pay off personal loans, offer remaining cash to IRS as "offer in compromise", leave with $0.
Option B: Settle/pay off debts, declare chapter 13 bankruptcy when I am back to working with the main intention to keep the house
So, the equity in the house is the only thing that has any value and if I don't act soon, that may be foreclosed on. Not to mention impending IRS lien.
Obviously, the most reasonable option would be to try and sell the house for as much as possible and try to get to $0 debt. However, I don't know what's going to happen with my living arrangements - several places I tried to rent turned me down due to bad credit. One was willing to rent out with 6 mo deposit (about $15K - which I don't have).
So, if I sell the house I may not have a place to live, since my credit is shattered. Am I being too optimistic that I can somehow manage this while keeping the house? What should I do? Thanks in advance for help. [link] [comments] |
Personal loans to get out of credit card debt Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:19 PM PDT I currently have around 20,000 in credit card debt and a fico score of 670. In credit karma it shows it my score as 615. When I look at pre-qualifyed loans on credit karma it gives me one for One Main financial for 17,000 19% interest 60months and around 460 a month. Has anyone had experience with one main financial? I feel like a personal loan is my only option to get out if debt. I'm spread thin with my paycheck as is and sometimes end up putting more on the credit cards just to get by. I got approved for one card to do a balance transfer for 0% interest that im using for 4500 of that debt, but don't think I'll get approved for cards with that offer. My credit took a hit when I had to get a car and the dealership ran it through 10 banks. Any recommendations for personal loans? [link] [comments] |
Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:05 PM PDT It was all going fine until I checked my bank 3 days later(I had just recovered from the flu) and noticed my bank account was at -130 instead of the 10 ish dollars it was planned to be sitting at. There were 2 Nsf return fees for 48 bucks and a withdrawal fee of 38 bucks. I have a youth account and didn't know what any of this meant without google. When I attempted to pay for the computer my card got declined twice but there was enough money and it was in my chequing account. Why did I get these fees and how can I get my moment back? [link] [comments] |
Posted: 03 Apr 2019 08:06 AM PDT It's a 2013 Grand Cherokee, fully loaded. It's starting to give me issues that aren't uncommon for this car. Fuel pump, water pump, etc. It's trying to bleed me dry. Planning on getting out of it before something really bad happens. I'd like to get a Ford Explorer, so trading it to a Ford dealership seems like my best option, unless Jeep will offer me more even if I'm not going to buy another Jeep. [link] [comments] |
Extra ~$700 in the budget, not sure where to put it Posted: 03 Apr 2019 06:12 PM PDT Hello, As the title says, I have a decent amount of money sitting around at the end of each month, and I am looking for guidance on what exactly to do with it. For background, I am 23, and working a great job (contractor) thats netting me about $4200 a month before taxes. After budgeting all expenses (food, insurance, rent, self-employment tax savings, etc.) I come out with around $1200 leftover. Of this money, I am saving $500 each month in a Roth IRA. My question is, what exactly should I do with this extra $700 I have? As a contractor, I do not have access to a company 401k, but I have thought a bit about making an individual 401k. I have $2500 in a high yield Ally account, and no debt to speak of, which puts me in a flexible spot going forward. I'd love any and all input! [link] [comments] |
How do I make a cash deposit to my bank that doesn't have any locations in the state I moved to? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:39 PM PDT I recently moved from Chicago to North Carolina. While I was in Chicago, I made an account with Chase Bank because they're all over the city and I needed an account for direct deposits from my job. I had no idea until today that there aren't any locations in North Carolina. Moving to North Carolina was kind of a sudden thing that I didn't expect to happen and I'm living with family, so I couldn't really plan for that when I made my Chase account in Chicago. What's the best way for me to make a cash deposit, if there is any way at all? Should I just close that account and move the money to a new bank? And if I did that, would I just be able to close my Chase account over the phone? [link] [comments] |
Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:32 PM PDT (Sorry in advance if I ramble a lot in this post; this is the first 100% independent financial decision I'll ever make in my life, so I'm super nervous.) I'm 18. For almost 4 years now, I've had a high school checking account from Chase, which is a joint account of sorts that my (somewhat helicopter-y) mom has access to. That account is all I've ever known, finance-wise. My debit card expires in a few months. I've mentioned to my mom several times the possibility of getting a new, separate account, since, y'know, I'm an adult who's trying to become independent from her, but she's all like "why would you want your own account? I think it's more convenient to have the joint account. That way I can transfer money to you whenever necessary." That's absolute bull; all the money in my account is money I made at my job. She doesn't transfer money to me, so this little amenity of the joint account is kind of worthless. Because her stated reason is so trivial, I'm suspicious of her actual motives for wanting a joint account, so I want out. In an ordinary situation I'd ask my dad for advice on getting a new account. He knows a lot about that stuff. But no doubt he'd tell my mom, so I'm turning to the Internet for advice. I think I want to get a Bank of America checking account, because I'll be going to college in a few months and the on-campus ATMs are Bank of America. If any of y'all think it's a big mistake to go through this bank, please let me know. Thanks. There are two checking account settings that interest me. One of them is Advantage Safe Balance Banking, described as "a good choice if you want to avoid overdraft fees and don't write checks." The other is Advantage Plus Banking, described as "A good choice if you use direct deposit and want a straightforward banking account." Both of these descriptions apply to me. Which option should I choose? Also, does anyone have any advice for gradually transferring my money to the new account without my mom noticing? Is this possible? Thank you all for any and all advice you might have. [link] [comments] |
My company auto-enrolls AND auto-increases our 403(b) contributions Posted: 03 Apr 2019 10:02 AM PDT And I think it's a great idea. (BTW, 403b is the same as a 401k, it's just that we're technically a non-profit so they have to classify it that way.) Apparently a lot of companies do this now. The way it works at my company is that, once a year, anyone who is contributing 0-4% is automatically increased to 5%, and anyone contributing 5-9% has their contribution automatically increased by 1%, up to 10%. Employees who do not want to participate have to fill out a form to opt out. A lot of the new employees around here are young and in their first job out of college. They always talk about how apprehensive they are about the whole process--some of them so much that they don't contribute at all because they are afraid they'll make the wrong choices. (For the record, I've been in the workforce for 15 years and have an IRA independent of my employer. My husband works in finance/investments and manages our accounts.) By auto-enrolling, it forces everyone to learn at least a little bit about how to manage/plan for retirement. That's all. [link] [comments] |
Gold being used to get rid of US debt Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:24 PM PDT My friend who is big into finance said he thinks that eventually the US markets will have a gold boom, everyone will buy gold until its super inflated, then crash: causing everyone to be forced to buy back the USD at a much lower rate similar to what happened with bitcoin [link] [comments] |
Estate Planning and Designating Beneficiaries Posted: 03 Apr 2019 07:21 PM PDT Everyone needs estate planning even if you don't have a lot of assets. Having a plan in place if you become disabled or incapacitated is invaluable. Who do you want your assets to go to? Put beneficiaries on assets. Do you want to avoid probate? If you have kids estate planning is even more necessary to discuss guardians for your kids, trusts if they are minors, and education funds. Do you have real estate? What about more than one property? What about in more than one state? You need to have a plan for these properties. Are you charitable? Designate which charities you want to support. This may be a church or a non profit. You may want to set up a scholarship fund or an amount earmarked for a cause. Make a legacy for yourself! We are all living longer and estate planning is a way to take control of your assets and determine who gets what assets when you pass away and designate a trusted person to care for you while you are alive. [link] [comments] |
Paying minimum every month on 0% APR credit cards for a large purchase? How does this work? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 05:41 PM PDT Can someone explain to me how this works? I just want some clarity before I send in an application. Say I open a new credit card that has 0% apr for 15 or 18 months and put $5,000 on it...and assume I will be able to pay it all off by the end of the term. If I pay AT LEAST the minimum requirement per month for the first few months:
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Posted: 03 Apr 2019 05:33 PM PDT I'm trying to decide what to do with the $4500. I feel like my options are:
I'm relatively new to investing. I'm currently 25, make about $55k/yr, contribute 6% to my 401k with a 4% match and an additional 4.2% to my Roth IRA, though I only recently opened the Roth. I currently rent and I don't see myself purchasing a house in the immediate future but not ruling it out for the mid-range future (5-8 years) I'm currently holding $12k in my emergency fund plus the additional $4500 that I plan on investing. I know the common /r/personalfinance advice is to max the IRA, but I want the money to be available for mid-range goals such as a house. I know that Roth money can be touched before retirement, but I would prefer that once the money is there, it stays in the retirement fund. Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments] |
Posted: 03 Apr 2019 12:00 PM PDT I'm alone in this, my family can help with some things but I'm the only child and have no idea where to start on anything. [link] [comments] |
Single mom looking for advice. $8500 worth of credit card debt - whats my best plan on attack? Posted: 03 Apr 2019 10:56 AM PDT Credit cards are medical bills and expenses incurred when unemployed. I had to move in with family in a rural area after separation and relied on cards to get by til I could move. Now have a steady job making 40k a year from home, and my own place. Things are still very tight being a single mom, and I want to get into a better/safer apartment soon which will need a better credit score. I'm at 650 right now. Should I consolidate the debt via a loan and repair my score? I would like to go back to paying my cards off every month too, but everyone tells me the interest on the loans are not worth it. I don't know what my other options are. [link] [comments] |
I'm doing pretty well financially now but am overwhelmed about financial future Posted: 03 Apr 2019 06:42 PM PDT Hey guys—I'm a 22F and I've taken a lot of measures to prepare for the future financially including: using YNAB, paying off student loans like no ones business, saving like no ones business, etc. I have made a significant dent in my savings and debt goals, but I think I'm losing steam and motivation. I'm sad that I can't live in a luxury apartment like some of my peers (I have a shoebox room in a house). I'm sad I can't buy the things I wanna buy because of my tight budget. I get stressed out when spending time with friends means going over my budget slightly. I can't travel to exotic locations. My job's hours are grinding me down. In addition, I have big dreams for my financial future but IDK if I'll ever get there... I want to pay off all my loans in the near-ish future. I want to have an amazingly cushy savings, max out my IRA, help pay off the college loans my parents took out, even buy my parents a home or help them pay off their mortgage one day. When I look at the money I have now and how I'm scrimping, I find it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel where I'll hit my financial goals and live the life I wanna live. I don't want to be pinching pennies for the rest of my days, but I guess that's just how it will have to be? Maybe I need a pep talk? Inspiration? Or just someone to see where I'm coming from? Any recommendations for positive motivation are welcome. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
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