• Breaking News

    Thursday, May 30, 2019

    Personal Finance HSA contribution limits increased to $3,550/$7,100 for 2020

    Personal Finance HSA contribution limits increased to $3,550/$7,100 for 2020


    HSA contribution limits increased to $3,550/$7,100 for 2020

    Posted: 30 May 2019 11:08 AM PDT

    $3,550 for individuals and $7,100 for families.

    https://www.irs.gov/irb/2019-22_IRB#REV-PROC-2019-25

    submitted by /u/ThreeLeggedTranny
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    If I have $500 to split between paying extra on a CC and food, and I only need $200 for food, does it make sense to put all $500 onto the card, and then use it for food purchases?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 08:08 AM PDT

    I feel like this is a stupid simple question but maybe I'm missing something.

    Edit: thanks for everyone's responses! I think I will try putting $500 on the card, and using it to spend a maximum of $200 on food, gaining some points and reducing interest (however small).

    submitted by /u/PM_ME_NEVER
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    40% on Rent. Is it really too much?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 09:15 AM PDT

    I make $85k and am saving 23% for retirement so my monthly take home is ~$4,200. Rent and utilities for an apartment I'm looking at come to $1,650 a month. That's 39% of my net income. With no debt and the ability to save an additional $1000 a month outside of retirement that rent should be fine right? My parents are telling me I'm spending way too much on rent, but this average to on the lower side for a 1 BR apartment here.

    submitted by /u/jodieg909
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    Chase credit cards are adding new forced arbitration clauses

    Posted: 30 May 2019 12:36 PM PDT

    Not sure if this is the right place to post, so let me know if this belongs somewhere else.

    I just received an email from Chase regarding my Chase Freedom credit card I've used responsibly for many years now. Nestled down in the updates to my account terms I noticed that they're adding a new forced arbitration clause into the terms for my account. This is a pretty significant change since, from my understanding, this means that any rights I currently have to litigate against them will now go through a third-party arbiter of their choosing, including class-action suits. They state that individuals have the right to reject this new clause only if they send a piece of mail in before August 9th of this year.

    I've learned a lot from this subreddit over the past few years and wanted to inform you all to check any new terms and conditions you've received. I believe the right to litigate against a corporation for improper activity is incredibly important, and I want to help ensure that no one has that right taken away from them.

    Best of luck!

    submitted by /u/TheSneakyGreek
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    Just found out I'm pregnant! I'm a huge planner, and want to make sure I have all bases covered

    Posted: 30 May 2019 02:42 PM PDT

    This next 9 months I plan to purge our house of anything we don't want/need, sell things on FB marketplace/clothing apps, etc. I have a day job as a legal assistant, and also have two self-employed jobs (Etsy shops) that bring in roughly $400-600 monthly income on a slow month. Christmas time boasts about $2500 ish, which is good for last minute savings because I am due end of January. We definitely don't live paycheck to paycheck but I've been so gung-ho about paying out debt off in recent months, that every bit goes towards that. People are telling me now I should shift into saving most of that for baby.

    Should we stockpile/ buy more of one thing in the beginning, or wait? When should we start stockpiling diapers, or should we at all? (I already coupon & do cash-back apps so I have that part of saving covered). Any tips or tricks or tools of the trade you can give? Any other advice you could give? Something non-traditional that helped you out?

    SO & I both have family that will help out with clothing, gifts, furniture, etc. but I would still like to be prepared as best as we can. I am big on thrifting and plan to thrift clothes or get them from consignment. Same thing with furniture & just fix it up. Our family is very crafty and artistic :)
    Also considering STD (short-term disability) as I work at a law office and don't have insurance/FMLA through them. Would this be a good idea? Have any recommendations if so? I am (about to be) on state insurance because of baby, and I believe baby will be covered at least a year or two after. But, I do not think it covers leave of absence due to pregnancy. I am hoping my job allows me to take a leave, albeit unpaid, and return still with my job/salary. But, we also live about 1.5hrs from the closest family member so even thinking about what to do with baby once it's born is a little nervewracking. I'm not sure I can quit my job, neither for my sanity or income purposes. I know I need to still plan ahead for that type of stuff, but for right now - my goal is to just have a healthy full-term baby.

    TL;DR - just found out I'm pregnant, due end of January 2020. Looking for any and all tips you care to share with how to best prepare for baby.

    Thank you for reading, it's much appreciated ♥

    submitted by /u/wubbalubbabubzy
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    Merging Finances w/ Fiancé

    Posted: 30 May 2019 11:15 AM PDT

    My fiancé and I are merging finances and we are trying to figure out the best course of action for opening a checking and savings account. We were advised to open a shared high yield savings account (i.e. Marcus by Goldman Sacs) and then a shared checking account (preferably at a credit union or Charles Schwab).

    We have about $35k total and are trying to figure out the following:

    1. How much should we keep in our checking account at any given time? *Keep in mind we are paying for a wedding this November.

    2. Should we open separate checking and savings accounts at different financial institutions or keep both at one?

    3. Where should we open each account for best benefits?

    4. Do we invest the savings in a low risk investment fund or just simply keep it in a high yielding savings account (2.25%)?

    Thanks in advance!

    submitted by /u/blees85
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    My mom signed me up for loan

    Posted: 30 May 2019 12:11 PM PDT

    Just for some background, I recently graduated high school and am starting college in the fall. I am still a minor, however. I won't turn 18 until late summer/early fall. I'm currently on my senior trip, which is 6,000 miles away from my parents. There is a five hour time difference between here and back home, so I am still asleep while my parents have been awake for hours.

    This morning I woke up to an email from a company called Sallie Mae telling me my username. Obviously I'm confused, so I text my mom. She said they are a private bank that sent her information in the mail about student loans. Okay, cool. Well I log in to see what it's all about, and it turns out that my mom has signed everything in my name for a $100,000 loan for the 2019-2020 school year. Well I don't need anywhere near this much, so I call her. She said that she only requested $10,000, but on my front page of the website it says, "Amount: $100,000"

    None of the documents she signed (in my name) specify how much I am getting or what the interest rate is. Is there a way to reverse this even though everything has already been signed?

    submitted by /u/ExtraterrestrialGain
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    I have $7 to my name and rent is due by the 5th. Can anyone please offer any short term ideas to come up with the rent money?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 01:58 PM PDT

    Details:

    • Rent amount: 1,200.00 ( nyc )

    • I have a freelance job (advertising) possibly starting on the 10th. It will last a few months and I'll be able to pay off whatever short term solution I or we can come up with.

    • Current occupation: Handyman for Task Rabbit and Handy. One reason I'm in this mess, besides not having any savings, is because I was told this freelance job was starting this week so I stopped taking on Handyman jobs. Which was a huge mistake. I also have my own private clients where I make most of my money but that work has slowed down.

    • Credit Score: 630 :(

    • I have credit card debt

    ( not sure what else to put here )

    Any help with ideas to get me through till I start this freelance job would greatly appreciated!

    I've never posted to this forum and made myself vulnerable like this so please be nice if possible.

    Edit: I just wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to offer up advice. I really appreciate it. I'm just going to tell my landlord I wont be able to pay till the end of the month and until this job starts just hustle as hard as I can so I can eat. Thanks again.

    submitted by /u/ur_wcws_mcm
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    Just a warning for those considering care credit. It's got some manipulative tactics if you go paperless.

    Posted: 30 May 2019 05:11 PM PDT

    The care credit site is built to fuck with you.

    At the start of this year my payment cycle was changed at my job. To allocate for this it meant what i'd usually pay my rent at the start of month for rent bills near the end.

    At that time I had a promotional purchase I was paying off.

    To deal with this I had A month i needed to do minimum payments for everything. so I could jump to the next payments as early as possible. In a surprise move our job gave that first payment earlier in the month than scheduled. I proceeded to pay all my bills and for most my credit. This was fine. Secretly, for care credit. It wasn't.

    Care credit's system is in an odd way. Their payment cycle is not 30 days. It is about 20... With unusual dead days beforehand.

    Example, my payment cycle this month is 05/05 - 05/28 Next month is 06/05- 06/28

    If I paid before 05/28 then pay again on 06/03 The 06/03 payment counts as an excess payment to the previous period. Not the next one.

    Get it?

    If I don't pay a second time before the 28th, I just got assessed a late fee despite paying on the 3rd within the month.

    They are counting on me thinking a specific pattern works when it doesn't. It creates a dead area to fall into the hole I did, and barely even realize it.

    I noted the amount was not going down as far as i felt it should be, but I kept paying. I was not looking at everything like I should have been to catch on. Sometimes I would get paid early. So I'd rush to my typical credit and bill payment habits with no knowledge i'd get a fee.

    Speaking of that fee, it is 30 dollars. A few dollars short of the default minimum payment. When you are assessed that fee they hide how much you are charged behind just enough clicks so a habitual web payer can apparently not even be aware of it.

    As of right now, because i was not keeping tabs. Despite paying at least once every month since the start. Nearly 150 dollars in late fees were assessed on me since I tried to get ahead of my bills.

    Fun part, company policy says they can only refund or wave a single late fee for once every year. They know what they are doing. They want you to not notice until it's too late.

    If you need emergency pet care or dental care. I implore you to literally use anything else. Plus if you got non 30 day billing cycles on your credit. It might be safer to pay that thing off systematically and close the account like I will do with care credit.

    Worst part, Thanks to these sneaky fees I will not be able to pay off my dental charge within the time frame I planned and the windfall of this for care credit will likely total about $300 after they assess interest on the total amount of the initial charge. Just like they planned from the start.

    I wanted to see if this has been happening before but it seems the site conveniently keeps pretty sparse records. It's strange but the sites "all statements" option only goes back to february and stops dead there. Which is interesting as I made my inital charge last august. Makes me wonder what else they hide from paperless customers.

    Just want to warn folks considering this option. Read the fine print and keep meticulous. I thought i was but it's taken me 5 months to catch on to this.

    Be safe out there.

    TLDR: Carecredit uses a wonky billing cycle and payment method to make sure those who pay at the first of the month on their credit get a nasty fee that can hide comfortably in their sneakily designed site meant to mislead their customers.

    submitted by /u/Shnazzyone
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    Can I afford a condo?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 07:42 PM PDT

    Hi everyone,

    I'm considering purchasing a condo in the next few months before my current lease ends (it ends at the end of August) and am curious to hear everyone's opinions on whether or not I can afford this condo. Below I've listed out some of the details about the property I am interested in as well as my current financial situation.

    Details about condo:

    - 2 bed / 1 bad, 760 sq ft, additional storage room outside of unit, 1 parking place, water & internet included in HOA, includes washer dryer, modern kitchen, nice hardwoods

    - List Price: $180,000

    - Down payment: $10,000

    - HOA payment: $259/mo

    - The mortgage banker I have been working been working with estimated the mortgage payment to $1,158 including $50/mo for insurance & $74/mo for PMI

    - Total Estimated Monthly Payment: $1,417

    Details about my finances:

    - 85k salary (take home monthly pay, after 401k deductions & health insurance, etc = $4,450) (I expect a 10-20k raise in September, but am not banking on this)

    - Essentially totally passive side-hustle that brings in around $300-500 a month in profit (didn't report this to bank, as I don't consider it entirely reliable) (have another thing that's starting to turn some small money as well, but it's negligible atm)

    - Almost 25 years old

    - No debt

    - 401k - 17k - I contribute $750 a month

    - Emergency Savings - 16.5k

    - Stocks - 5.3k

    - My current rent is $621

    - All other monthly expenses: ~$1,500

    - I use to keep a very detailed budget about my expenses but then I decided it wasn't worth it the hassle as I immediately move 1k from each paycheck into savings, which I have done every month since making this salary, so I can essentially save at least an additional 2k each month

    - I work from home, or travel for work so I don't have high commute / gasoline costs

    - I have a girlfriend, but we don't live together, wouldn't for atleast another year or two

    My Plan:

    I want to take the 5.3k from my stocks and an additional 5k from my expected 2k savings a month or from my emergency fund to fund the 10k downpayment depending on when I would make an offer. I want to try and avoid paying rent and the mortgage as much as possible, but I don't know how much longer the unit would last.

    Homes in my city are easily 400k+ for a small, outdated home and I really don't have any desire to lock my self up with half a million dollars in debt, not that I could afford that at the moment, and I like enjoy minimalism & apartment living so I don't want a giant house. So a 180k unit sounds like a good deal to me and it's in a very nice and urban area and maybe 15 minutes to the mountain biking trails as well which is a really big plus for me

    Please let me know your thoughts, I'm very interested in FIRE one day.

    submitted by /u/Buffett_Goes_OTM
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    Need some direction for investing/saving

    Posted: 30 May 2019 05:37 PM PDT

    Hi, I am new at this and feel like I could be doing better so would appreciate any insight from people more knowledgeable than me.

    88k salary secure job (Been working for a year and 9 months post college)

    25 Male/Single/No kids

    23k in 2% Savings Acct

    25k in 401k

    5 year 18k Car loan (340$ a month)

    No student loans or anything else

    I just wanted to know what I could do better to invest long term. I feel like I keep too much money sitting in my savings account (Way more than 3-6 month emergency fund) and should start lowering the amount I put into savings a month and start investing heavily into an index fund or something (through an IRA or a personal brokerage account).

    submitted by /u/sakp20
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    Need advice on what's next

    Posted: 30 May 2019 06:40 PM PDT

    Hello, I need advice on what's next.

    Profile:

    - 32 years old married (currently filing tax as single since my wife is still in the process of obtaining her permanent residence sponsorship).

    - Residence: NYC

    - Rent: $1, 000/month (I know, its a steal)

    - Liabilities, Debt: $0

    - Property: No

    I have maxed my:

    - Pre-tax 401(k) + Roth 401(k) = $19,000

    - HSA = $3,450

    - Roth IRA = $6,000

    - Emergency Fund ($2000 x 6 month) = $12,000

    What should I do next? I have several options:

    - Max Post-tax 401(k)

    - Save for getting a cheap apartment

    - Invest in taxable brokerage account

    My wife will come next year to finally stay together with me, and probably looking to have children in two or three years.

    submitted by /u/christiansakai
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    How to start off to gain assets?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 11:58 AM PDT

    So just started a career is September,I'm single and dept free.

    i finally started to budget after noticing i was spending to much on junk.

    i can save 1k a month if i follow the budget.

    my goal is to buy a duplex and live in one side and rent the other, than depending how it goes get more or get another house and then rent both sides of the duplex. but i realized after a bit of research that I'm going to need 20% down payment and so i would need around 60-80k saved up(only have around 10k atm) since the duplex around here are 400-600k .

    i don't mind living on a budget for a year or two but once i hit 30 I'd like to enjoy my life a bit (currently 25), and by my calculation it's gona take me 5-8years depending where i end up buying.

    so i was wondering if there is any other investments i could make in a more recent future to get to my goal in 1-2 years instead? If i don't do anything I'll only have maybe 30k ish.

    so as someone who just started, any recommendations on paths i should take?

    submitted by /u/zabi15
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    How do I break off with my financial advisor?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 04:36 PM PDT

    Background: I briefly worked in a financial advising office and was encouraged to open a few accounts with them. They assigned me to one of the advisors, who is quite old and now in poor health.

    I don't fancy keeping my accounts and would like to try to manage my IRA and investments independently.

    How do I go about breaking off with my advisor? Do I have to keep my accounts with the bank that currently serves as custodian?

    submitted by /u/maunderinsilico
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    Has anyone stopped budgeting because their budget has become part of who they are?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 03:23 PM PDT

    Had a budget for about 2 years. Minus pay increases and rent my lifestyle and expenses have stayed pretty much same. (I travel a lot more now but keep it low cost). In the past months I stopped budgeting and haven't seen an increase of spending. I feel that my budget has become apart of me. Anyone else like this?

    submitted by /u/alliso50
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    Someone posted about TreasuryDirect and I am bewildered...

    Posted: 30 May 2019 05:44 PM PDT

    Someone posted here about TreasuryDirect and doing 4-week treasury bills because he was going to buy a house at the end of the year and didn't want his money tied up for an extended amount of time. Sounded like a great idea to me, I was planning on buying my own place next year so I signed up to TreasuryDirect and tried out a 4-week bill at $5k. The bill was supposed to mature on the 28th but I got my money back on like the 25th, just the $5k I put in.... What did I do wrong here? I put in $5k, 4 weeks later I got $5k back.... I wasn't even expecting much but I got nothing back. Is this normal? How much should I put into a 4-week treasury bill to expect a return?

    submitted by /u/MegaDace
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    Recommendations for a safe at home

    Posted: 30 May 2019 07:55 PM PDT

    Hi everyone,

    This might be a bit off topic but I thought that out of all the subreddits I follow, this would be the one with the most people who would have a safe at home.

    My wife and I recently paid off $125k in debt last year. This included a fairly new SUV and a camper that we now have the titles for in hand. I feel like these should be in a safe and not just in my file cabinet. I have some other documents that I feel the same way about (SS cards, passports, etc).

    I'm having a bit of difficulty finding positive reviews for any safe online.

    Does anyone have a recommendation for a safe that's reasonably priced and seems solid? I'm looking for something medium to large in size so it's harder to just take it and under $500.

    Thanks in advance and sorry if this doesnt belong here.

    Edit: We have a good security system on the house. We're also worried about a fire rating.

    submitted by /u/andyjunq
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    Massive student debt (480k) from Dental school and dental residencies

    Posted: 30 May 2019 01:04 PM PDT

    I'm about to finish dental residency. Student loans are are $480,000. (Yes, I know it's absurd, but that's just how this damn field is). No real assets besides a paid off car. Wife is a practicing physician with no student debt.

    We're about to purchase a home for about 400k with about 100k down payment, so 300k mortgage at 3.5% (or whatever the going rate is these days).

    Should we prioritize paying down my student debt 480k at 7.6% or pay down the mortgage 300k at 3.5%?

    I like the idea of owning a home free and clear, but the 7.6% interest is crushing.

    Another question: my job I've signed for is as an independent contractor. I've getting the paperwork together for my LLC. My employer pays the LLC and the LLC pays me.

    How do I determine how much the LLC should pay me and how much should be kept in the LLC. Can the LLC make payments to my student debt on my behalf?

    The LLC stuff seems confusing and I feel like I should just get an accountant.

    submitted by /u/Ortodoncista
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    Is buying $200 worth of municipal bonds possible? If so, how does one do so?

    Posted: 30 May 2019 11:38 AM PDT

    I'm trying to use E-trade, and all the available bonds seem bundled as groups of at least five. Am I doing this wrong?

    *to clarify: I'm interested in buying a specific bond, not a bond ETF.

    submitted by /u/OneStandardMale
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    My monthly expenses cost more than I get paid in a month. I'm slowly drowning and I don't know what to do.

    Posted: 30 May 2019 07:37 PM PDT

    I'm a wreck at the moment.

    I'm 22, and I'm a full-time student and working a full-time job as a social worker.

    My bare minimum monthly expenses (rent, utilities, auto insurance, dental costs) are more than I currently make at my job. I haven't even factored in gas, groceries, or savings.

    My coworker bought me groceries last month because he noticed I wasn't having lunch. My client gave me an apple from his own lunch today because he noticed my lunch was a single apple. My mother bought me a fuckload of ramen and rice to keep me from going hungry.

    This is the best paying job I've had.

    I live with my roommate, and he's covers half of the bills home bills, but my personal financial life is going poorly.

    I don't live in a nice place by any means. Where I live, this city would be considered to be one of the ghettos.

    Any other job that I'm qualified for will pay less.

    If I commit insurance fraud (which was my immediate thought) I'll be able to drown a little less slowly, but I'm drowning nonetheless.

    I can't keep asking my single mother for financial help. I can't move out, I'd be ruining my roommate's financial security too.

    I'm looking for any advice that doesn't involve moving back in with my mom.

    The way I see it, I'm absolutely fucked and there's nothing I can do aside from asking for a significant pay raise (which is what I'm planning on doing, but I'm afraid of what happens if I'm denied.)

    Send help. Or death. Whichever comes first at this point.

    submitted by /u/mistah_legend
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    Brokerage Account Questions

    Posted: 30 May 2019 07:36 PM PDT

    Hello, I have been looking into brokerage accounts and I would like to ask how they work. I know it says you pay taxes on any Capitol gains throughout the year but my question is let's say you have 100k in stocks then you gain 6k at the end of the year now do you owe 10% or 600$ in federal taxes? I know the percentage you pay changes depending on long or short term and if you sell or not but am I on the right track with this? I guess I need a explain like I'm five on this one.

    submitted by /u/sledfan347
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    Need advice for opening a high yield saving account

    Posted: 30 May 2019 07:35 PM PDT

    So I was pretty stupid to not be more careful when opening the high yield saving account. I'm an F-1 student (not passing the SPT) and I opened an account with Marcus in February. I had accidentally checked the box asking about US person and Backup Withholding (Missing the first phase about US person and was only focused on Backup Withholding, totally on me). I just re-read again about this today and want to know what should I do in this situation. I'm thinking to close the account tomorrow to avoid more interested on June 1st (not sure if that will do it) Any advice would be appreciated.

    submitted by /u/throwaway-1289
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    Leaving the military in 5 years, need guidance on a smooth transition to civilian life.

    Posted: 30 May 2019 07:34 PM PDT

    Hello PF, I have been in the military for 8 years and last year committed to another 6. I would've left the military if I better prepared myself for a transition plus my wife got pregnant. I'm anticipating 3-4 months of unemployment after I leave.

    I have another 5 years committed and I want to get out, relocate, buy my dads house and pursue a different career/further my education.

    The area I would move to is a super low cost area and my dads house currently is valued at 150K. I would use a VA loan to purchase it.

    Currently, I have $4500 in a Roth IRA (slacked off in my early 20s) $4000 in savings and have $14000 in debt.

    I will continue to max out my IRA and plan on having zero debt by Feb 2020, after that I will be able to save approximately $1000-1200 per month, running me at about 50-60K separation time.

    Where can I put this money during this duration that will give me a high return in 5 years time for a comfy transition? Should I put this all in a med-high risk mutual fund brokerage? I feel like a HYSA would give me a low return. Is there anything else I can do to set my family up for success?

    submitted by /u/JrAtlas
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