Personal Finance Your Equifax credit score is NOT necessarily the score Equifax is giving lenders |
- Your Equifax credit score is NOT necessarily the score Equifax is giving lenders
- Emergency Fund Strikes Again
- Careful with Bank of America Auto-Pay, it is very misleading and can lead to interest charges
- My friend wants me to sign to be the second person if he doesn't pay his loan. Can that hurt my credit?
- Don't for forget to check our CC for an extended warranty!
- My brother and I (both in our 30s) inherited our dad's house this year. We're planning to keep it, rent it out for a few years, and he wants to live there after medical residency. We could use some advice.
- My Mother-in-law used a website to order a birth certificate, what should I advise?
- Don't neglect calling your credit cards and asking for a interest decrease!
- Apply to a supervisor position that I am unqualified for?
- Does anyone have an ELI5 of starting a Roth IRA?
- Car was stolen, had my checkbook
- New Fed employee. First open enrollment, so many choices/decisions.
- Is my 401k enough for retirement?
- Investment vs Rental Property
- Doctor's office charged co-pay for vaccination only
- Just opened a Charles Schwab account, but confused
- Bf got a great job offer. We need advice on moving from SC to Chicago.
- My housekeeper cut her hand on some broken glass in my trash can. Not major but needed some stitches. If she files a claim against my homeowner's insurance, does that affect me in any way?
- I’m between $500-600 short on rent this month. What is my best option for a loan service? Please advise me on my best course of action to avoid eviction.
- A few questions from someone with no credit history
- Scam Alert - Chinese Voicemail about DHL Shipment (old scam restarting again)
- Schwab acquired TD Ameritrade
- At Job for short time but got a substantially higher offer elsewhere
| Your Equifax credit score is NOT necessarily the score Equifax is giving lenders Posted: 26 Nov 2019 05:58 AM PST I keep on top of my credit score pretty closely. I check CreditKarma at least once a month, and validate it by logging into MyEquifax to see the score offered there. I just applied for a new car loan, and - despite my published Equifax score of 780 - was surprised to be offered a rate lower than the rate reserved for "excellent" credit. When I asked the lender about this, they said my score was 670. I called Equifax to find out why they were vending a different credit score to the lender than to me. Evidently (and maybe I'm just late to understand this), there is no such thing as a "credit score". The score published by Equifax is their own model (which closely mirrors FICO), but every lender can define their own scoring model. This means that there's effectively an infinite number of models and no visibility into how you can increase your score against them. This is a rigged game, and carefully monitoring/grooming your credit does not necessarily result in a better score. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 10:44 AM PST Hi Everyone, I know these get put up pretty often, but wanted to share my experience with how an E fund helped us out. Financial Background: my wife and I bring in about 95K/year, we own a house, dog, 2 kids (8 and 5). We bought our house about 5 years ago and live in the midwest. 2 cars both paid off very recently, and about $2500 in cc debt. Story: We live quite comfortably with our income, but when we bought the house I was adament about an E fund. It took a while to get my then fiancee on board with the E fund, but we agreed to save. We had about $3000 left in savings after we moved in and I was looking to have at least a years worth of house payments in the E fund, or roughly $10K. We got the account to that number and then worked towards saving for some house projects. The E fund pretty much stayed at $10K for the last few years. I'm sure we could have made money from it by investing, but the comfort of having that liquidity at hand was great. November 2019: we just had our furnace heat exchanger go out...the part was still under warranty but the labor and another piece that needed replacing will cost about $750. (New furnace installed would have been 2200) Window regulator on family SUV breaks...$384 Someone broke our taillight on the same SUV...$70 to replace it myself Needed tires for the SUV...600 for tires on tirerack and about another $200 for install and alignment. Total for November....about $2000 This was the first time we had to dig into the E fund and it felt great not worrying about how we would pay for all this in one go. I started reading personal finance when we bought our house and just wanted to say thank you to everyone. My wife now sees exactly why we had that money saved for so long. The peace of mind the E fund brought is great. [link] [comments]  |
| Careful with Bank of America Auto-Pay, it is very misleading and can lead to interest charges Posted: 26 Nov 2019 11:20 AM PST I set up autopay around July of this year intending to pay the statement in full each month. I recently noticed a charge named 'INTEREST CHARGED ON PURCHASES", which I had no reason to suspect on my card. Luckily I still go in and pay additional amounts on the card every once in a while to keep my card usage low. I just spent an hour on the phone with them trying to determine why I am being charged interest. For their autopay system there are a few parameters: Pay from: <Bank Account Here> Pay: (Select one) <Amount Due, Minimum Amount Due, Account Balance, Fixed Amount> Deliver By: (Select One) <Due Date, Before the Due Date, Earliest Delivery Date> From what I've been told after speaking to both the person who received my call and a manager, "Amount Due" and "Minimum Amount Due" are the same. I was under the impression "Amount Due" would be the Full Amount on the Statement. Apparently "Account Balance" is the full amount on the statement, but not actually the full amount of your current balance. So by paying the 'Amount Due' at the Earliest Delivery date, I apparently only made the minimum payments each month instead of the full amount due, causing interest to be charged. Luckily I barely use the card and interest amounts ended up minimal. If you have a BoA CC, make sure payments are set to "Account Balance", and not "Amount Due"! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:40 PM PST My friennd had some credit card issues sonhis credit score is not so good. He wants to get a loan from some company that gives loans to people with bad credit. He wants me to sign my name so that if he doesn't pay I have to deal with it Now I'm very confident that he will pay everything on time every month. Can that still affect my credit score or credit reputation ? Just the fact of taking this loan. Btw I only have one credit card as of now and I always pay on time. [link] [comments]  |
| Don't for forget to check our CC for an extended warranty! Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:52 PM PST I bought a fitbit for my wife about 1.5 yrs ago. Fast forward to this month and the battery is lasting less than a day. I looked into battery replacement but its a sealed unit, dang. I resigned myself to buying a new fitness tracker for my wife for Christmas when I remember something about Citi offering an extended warranty. It took about five minutes of googling to find the process, another five to fill out the form, a week to process, and BOOM I'm getting a $170 credit to my account to replace the fitbit. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 03:06 PM PST The mortgage is fully paid off and the house is worth a little over $1M. The fiscal assets of our dad's estate are enough to cover the sizable estate taxes, so we don't have to worry about an immediate financial burden. My brother is a doctor with about 4 years left in his medical residency out of state. He hopes to get a job in town and move back into the house after that point. Here are a few of the questions I have: What kind of arrangements do we need to make in order to split rent between us? He is out of state and I live 10 minutes from the house in question. Should I set up a new bank account for the two of us? Does it make sense for me to suggest that we split the rent in a way that compensates me for the time I have spent and will continue to spend as the primary property manager? If so, what is a reasonable rate? We're donating a lot of smaller possessions (kitchen items, books, housewares, and clothes). Is it necessary to get tax receipts from the organizations we donate to? Is there anything you experts think I'm missing, or general advice? [link] [comments]  |
| My Mother-in-law used a website to order a birth certificate, what should I advise? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 03:37 PM PST Hey all, My mother-in-law seems to think I'm tech savvy when it comes to the internet, which I would say is a stretch lol. So, my Father-in-law's brother just moved in with them and needed his birth certificate and without my knowledge, they used a website called "http://yourvitalrecords.com/". As far as I can see. This company just charges you extra to order your birth certificate, but it doesn't appear to be a scam or anything. What do you you guys think? I don't want them getting fucked over cause I'm exhausted and missing something, does this seem legit? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Don't neglect calling your credit cards and asking for a interest decrease! Posted: 26 Nov 2019 12:05 PM PST I am struggling with some CC debt right now. I called all 4 of my credit card companies a few months ago, told them I was considering a 0% apr transfer card and asked if they could reduce the interest rate (using Ramit Sethi's script). 1 card gave me a flat no. 2 cards cut my rate by 8% for my current balance and future purchases 1 card gave me 3 months 0% on my current balance with the option to extend if I continued making payments. All it took was about 30 minutes on the phone total and I will save a good chunk of money. Incidentally, the card that said flat "no" is the first one I paid off, now they get to make nothing off of me instead of something, if they had reduced my rate :) [link] [comments]  |
| Apply to a supervisor position that I am unqualified for? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:31 PM PST Okay so a supervisory position opened up in my office, and I don't meet the minimum years experience in the qualifications listed for the job posting. How would it be seen if I applied anyway? All I am familiar with is military. When I was in the military all eligible soldiers were expected to go to promotion board, regardless of whether they had a chance in hell. It was seen as a learning experience regardless of outcome, and showed dedication to the team. I know I won't be selected after such a short time in my position, but I want to show my leadership that I am dedicated to my role and willing to accept the kind of criticism unique to the interview process so I can learn and then work on the areas I fell short compared to my colleagues. So that next time I might meet those expectations. Is this not the same case in the civilian professional world? Will I be seen as wasting their time? [link] [comments]  |
| Does anyone have an ELI5 of starting a Roth IRA? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:16 AM PST Sorry if this question seems very obvious, I'm very new to investing and I want to make sure I do everything correctly. My plans are to start a retirement fund and I'd like the option to retire early if possible. After some research, I think that Vanguard might be the best choice. Fidelity and Schwab are pretty close but most people seem to lean towards Vanguard. So what is the next step? Do I just go on their site and make an account? How do I send the money? What happens once my money is in the account, do I have to select a fund? [link] [comments]  |
| Car was stolen, had my checkbook Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:12 PM PST Apologize for the format as I am on mobile and it's my first time posting this. My car got stolen today and I have contacted the appropriate people necessary, and all there is left to do is wait to see if they find my car or I get paid for my car. Just a little bit ago I was trying to go through all the things I had in my car to be able to give the insurance company so I could potentially be reimbursed. That's when I realized I had ONE check left in my checkbook that I just put in there so I could pay rent on Friday. This obviously has my routing and account number . I know I need to contact the bank right away , but my question is I get direct deposit from my work and I'm supposed to be paid Friday. If I had to cancel my account tomorrow, how can I assure I will get my paycheck money and be able to pay my bills (which almost all are linked to my account number versus card number) without being late on my bills? Anyone deal with this before Sorry if this is a rambling mess, I've had quite an unfortunate day!!! Thanks redditors!! [link] [comments]  |
| New Fed employee. First open enrollment, so many choices/decisions. Posted: 26 Nov 2019 05:52 PM PST I got hired on with the VA March 31. I gave a hiring manager my Schedule A letter and got hired on as a GS-4 immediately. I have SSDI but getting into the government, I can make more money, have good benefits and it wont affect my health the way my teaching career did. (Been looking to move up to GS 7-9 hopefully soon but any movement up is good) Currently my SSDI Is currently about $1200. But between the 9 month trial work period and the 3 month grace period it will end I make 14.54 an hour. Currently I have $1,000 a month taken out of my paycheck and put into the TSP (roughly my SSDI check) and will drop that contribution to 5% [max match] around March 2020 Im looking at medical insurance (I can pay out of pocket for Medicare until 2027) but have the option of adding Civilian insurance through work in place of or in addition to Medicare) I have the option for Life Insurance, disability insurance too- and its all just mind boggling. Prior to this, I wasnt terribly concerned about short term disability. Felt like the odds of me dying were higher that being incapacitated long term and if I died I had money that was able to be spent on final expenses. Getting a little older now (almost 39) and found somebody who could very well be my person. So now I'm thinking I should probably have things like life insurance, disability insurance etc and the earlier I buy them the cheaper they are. I feel a little overwhelmed with it all. Looking at OPM's healthcare options now. Any advice? [link] [comments]  |
| Is my 401k enough for retirement? Posted: 26 Nov 2019 11:47 AM PST I feel embarrassed asking this because I'm a financial analyst and a CPA, but I'm just not confident in myself right now. I started a new job and currently contribute 6% of my gross pay to a Roth. My company matches me dollar-for-dollar up to my 6% match. Additionally, every quarter they automatically contribute an additional 1% of my quarterly gross pay to my Roth and we get an extra deposit at the end of the year based on company performance, typically around 3-5%. I'm 25 and I'm making 63k a year right now. I'm hoping that will start to accelerate in a year or two as I get promoted. I am paying a $1200/month mortgage right now. Do I need to worry about putting more back per month or am I safe for right now? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:57 PM PST Another windfall question here. I'm coming into about $175k, post-tax. I am a 30 y/o living in a high cost of living area, with an income of about $55k/yr. I have a 401k that I am a little behind on, because I didn't actually start investing in it until my late 20's. I'm currently investing 10% of my income, with plans to increase as my pay increases. No real debt to speak of, I own my car outright and don't use many credit cards. I do have one CC with about $4k on it, which is one of the cards that is 0% interest until you miss a payment. I'm easily making the payments on it, so not too worried about that one. I have a healthy emergency fund. So what to do with this new money? I want to make sure I make the right choices here. Option 1: Buy a rental property. I don't know where I will be living in the next 5-10 years, so it doesn't make sense to buy a primary residence right now. I have a rent controlled apartment well under market value currently, that I will stay in until I decide to move. I may consider buying a house in maybe 5 years, but I'm still unsure. Option 2: Investment portfolio. I'm too much of a noob to trust myself with vanguard, ally or any other self-directed investment accounts. I have a referal for an investment manager with Merrill Lynch that comes well recommended. Option 3: Something else I haven't thought of? Try to educate myself and re-consider vanguard? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Doctor's office charged co-pay for vaccination only Posted: 26 Nov 2019 02:13 PM PST I got my first Gardasil vaccination shot today. I had to pick up the vaccine at the pharmacy and bing it to my doctor's office so they can administer it. They still charnged me a $30 copay (for a regular visit) even though the PA administered the vaccine and it took less than 5 minutes. I will have to come back for 2 more doses and the office will charge me for a visit again. Is this standard procedure? [link] [comments]  |
| Just opened a Charles Schwab account, but confused Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:50 PM PST Heard great reviews about this bank. I also found out there's a $100 bonus using a referral, so I opened one today. I opened a brokerage account, but had a couple questions.
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| Bf got a great job offer. We need advice on moving from SC to Chicago. Posted: 26 Nov 2019 07:34 AM PST Repost because my original was removed: My (26f) boyfriend (28m) and I live in Charleston, SC and we love it here. My boyfriend got a great job offer for a company 30 minutes outside of Chicago and we are really conflicted. This would be our first big move together. We have been nitpicking through every detail for weeks and want to make sure we're not missing something. Realistically, we need to make a decision by the end of this week. Current Situation Jobs: I make $55k a year in a non-clinical hospital job. This is my first job and I have been here for 1.5 years. The job is stagnant and I feel like my brain is slowly rotting away working here. My bf makes $83k a year in a "senior" job he likes but does not see any upward mobility there. He has been there for 2.5 years. He is already at the higher end of the pay scale for similar jobs in the area. Home: My bf owns our home. He purchased it 3 years ago for $256,000. The mortgage is $1600. I pay $600, he pays $1,000 and we split utilities evenly. We live in a 3 bed 2.5 bath with a large yard for our dogs. Everything else: We have a great friend group, family relatively close by, Charleston is beautiful. We have enough money to enjoy life and not worry about much. We just both feel stuck in our jobs and have been looking for a change of pace. Chicago Jobs: I do not have a job lined up. I have been applying for the past week or two, but it takes time. I applied to a position at the same company as bf's offer and he asked them to look at my application. This is my only lead right now. I have no problem picking up a side hustle waiting tables, bartending, etc., in Chicago until I can land a job. I'm planning to stay in my job in Charleston until our house sells. During that time I would be applying to jobs like a crazy person. Bf was offered $105k and a "global management" title. The job would be up to 50% travel. The company is much bigger, he sees opportunities for growth there, and the management experience would be great. Home: We want to list the house for $270,000. We're thinking of renting in Chicago for a year to feel out the different neighborhoods. Houses are a lot more expensive than in SC and a downpayment would be difficult right away. In the meantime, the house in SC has to sell. The market is hot here, but what if it doesn't sell within a few months? We're really worried that the $1600 mortgage plus ~$2000 rent will absolutely drain us until I get a job. We're also worried we will be considered "house poor" if we make the move to Chicago, even once I have a job. The new job will pay for full relocation and cover costs related to selling the SC house. Everything else: We don't know anyone in Chicago, but I am very social and think I can meet new people easily. Chicago sounds like a big adventure and would get us out of our stagnant job rut. Would we have enough money left over every month to enjoy the city? Or are we going to stretch ourselves thin just to say we live in Chicago? TLDR: Do we take the gamble and move from Charleston, SC to Chicago? Pros: new opportunities, more money, a big adventure. Cons: 50% travel, much higher cost of living, no job for one of us. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 04:42 PM PST Like, if she files a claim for the ER bill to get stitches, would that cause my premium to increase like an auto claim, or does it work differently with homeowner's insurance? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 06:09 PM PST Four months ago I lost my job due to medical reasons and being unable to return to work. I tried filing for unemployment but was denied. The good news is that today I was offered a position that I start next Monday and I'll be making $21/hr, 50 hours per week. The bad news is, I don't have any way to make money right now and I am going to be between $500-600 short on rent this month. My credit isn't great and I don't even know where to begin to try and get an immediate loan for rent. Do you have any recommendations on what type of agency or service to contact for a same day loan? I am planning on going in or applying early tomorrow morning as most places will be closed on Thanksgiving. I know some places have crazy high APRs, but if I should be able to pay off an entire loan within a month. Thank you all for your advice, I'm completely lost for who I should turn to for a loan [link] [comments]  |
| A few questions from someone with no credit history Posted: 26 Nov 2019 08:00 PM PST So bare with me through this, I don't know all of the correct wordage when talking on this subject. I am a 23 Y.O. with no credit history mostly because I have avoided it quite heavily for years, personal and family reasons. I have a few questions regarding the subject that I have found kind of difficult to find good answers for (and I trust other Redditors more than almost anyone else on this subject), I also may ask more questions too anyone who responds in the comments so I can get a slightly better grasp on how a few things work. I do have an understanding of some basics (different types of credit and how they affect your score), but overall I am a novice at best. I have tried applying for a couple of cards before, but have not been accepted. First question: Around what number would my score be at if I got a credit card and kept up on it perfectly for 6 months (under 30% and never late)? I understand the answer probably couldn't be specific an educated guess would be very appreciated. Second question: What kind of credit score would YOU personally aim to have before buying a home? Third question: What cards would you suggest using as a first card that are easy to get accepted for please be specific to the card, my primary use of the card would only be building credit so I wouldn't be using it for spending power. Fourth question: Is there any apps or anything like that that can "cycle" a bill through your checking automatically so that you can do as little as possible in the way of managing a card while still building your credit (just to prevent any possible late payments) Last question: how do you get rental payments phone and other things to show up on your credit report I honestly would appreciate this to be a bit of a conversation if possible since it means I can get as much advice as possible. [link] [comments]  |
| Scam Alert - Chinese Voicemail about DHL Shipment (old scam restarting again) Posted: 26 Nov 2019 03:01 PM PST TL;DR: If you aren't Chinese speaking people, don't worry about it. But if you are... 2016 scam targeting Chinese speaking people who live in United States is restarting again. They will tell you the package you shipped is held up by Chinese Maritime Customs Service. The package contains a few passports, including yours. Obviously you would deny and panic. Then they pretend to be helpful and transfer you to the Interpol in China. The (fake) interpol officer will Email you his/her badge as proof. They will ask you to conduct a teleconference interview. Next they will send you a fake indictment. DA will reach out to you and ask for money wire transfer as proof, etc. Here is what my detail story from last week... There is a funny part in the end - how the scammer asking my help to rewrite their script. Have you gotten any weird Chinese voicemail lately? As soon as you pick up, the voicemail starts blah blah blah... something about DHL, blah blah blah. If you are a non-Chinese language speaker, you may just hang up. Yet, to the Chinese speaking people, be cautious!! It is a scam. The voicemail tells you - the package you shipped via DHL has been delayed. Press "1" to connect to DHL staff. Once you press "1" - a China-Chinese accent staff will talk to you. He/she will explain to you there is package you sent has been held by Shanghai Maritime Customs Service. Inside the package, they found 5 passports including one with your name on it. Then the staff will ask for your phone number and your name. They will have your resident address (thanks, whoever leaks our information.) to gain your trust. If you never heard of this scam before, you may be in panic mode, since it is involving the passports. You may think some human-traffic or smuggle cartels stole your identity. The staff will spend enormous amount of time to validate your information and comfort you. Then he will pretend to be extra helpful to transfer you to Interpol, since you are out of country and may not have the phone number. Once you are transferred, the (fake) Interpol officer will re-validate your information, such as name, phone, and address. She/he will pretend to be caring and professional. Then the officer will explain to you there has been some illegal ID-thief activity targeting Chinese US citizens living in America. To cover your rear, you can choice to conduct a teleconference interview. (like how you would report a crime in real life.) Then the officer will send you an Email with her/his police ID badge as a standard procedure. ------ here is where I stopped and spotted their scam. ------ I checked the badge the Interpol officer sent. I noticed the photo of her in uniform looks like photoshop in. Also, her badge says "Police" 公安 vs. "Interpol" åœ‹éš›åˆ‘è¦ Then I noticed the Email she uses is "name.interpol@ outlook.com" How the heck would Interpol use outlook.com vs. .gov.cn????? So I looked up online, and sure enough - scam. The officer called me back with the teleconference inquiry. I told her frankly - please stop calling me as I have spotted her scam. Her script is already reported online everywhere. They need to change the script. She pretended for awhile, then she asked me how should the script be re-written. I told her if I had known, I wouldn't be working 8 to 5 and hanged up on her. If I had fallen the scam, next a DA will contact me and explain my passport is used in some crime. It is an ongoing investigation. To prove my identity, the DA would have asked me to wire (probably) small amount of money to the designated account. Then they would have made some excuse about not receiving it, and asked you to wire more. The scam may sound old and non-sense to you. But consider this: 1) there hasn't been scam targeting specific race or language speaker from aboard (not counting Nigeria prince), and 2) some elder women or men who don't understand English and America justice system well, they would panic and follow the directions to avoid any trouble. So, thank you for reading this far. Please tell your family - when you get Chinese DHL voicemail scam, just hang up. (Or press "1". And tell the scammer operator your idea about the new script.) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 11:45 AM PST I recently opened an account with TD Ameritrade but I haven't done anything with it yet. Now that they're being acquired and it'll be finalized in the second half of 2020, should I use Schwab instead of TD? Does it even matter? [link] [comments]  |
| At Job for short time but got a substantially higher offer elsewhere Posted: 26 Nov 2019 07:42 PM PST I am currently working at a smaller company headquartered in the town I am going to college. I don't graduate for another couple of weeks but I have been working part time as a software engineer and am making about $12/hr for part time with the agreement to be paid a salary of $50k/yr when I go full time. I have only been working here a couple of months however today I received an offer for $65k/yr working as a civilian for the Air Force with a target pay grade of at least $73k/yr after 5 years. This is on top of being offered a $14k relocation incentive. The Air Force offer is conditional on working for the DoD for at least 4 years. Some more information about me:
I would also be relocating about 1.5 hours north of where I am to a city with a similar cost of living. I have never been in a situation like this where I have to make these decisions. Ultimately I know the money is important but is there anybody who can speak to their experience as a civilian working for the DoD? I would like to know if that has opened up any other career opportunities after your service ended. I also don't want to burn my bridges at my company by just leaving so soon after starting. I want to bring it up to my boss that I have another offer to give them an opportunity to match the rate offered by the Air Force. I know it's unlikely to be getting a $15k bump in pay despite not even being fully out of school and a junior dev but I want to at least try. [link] [comments]  |
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