Personal Finance Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of December 30, 2019 |
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of December 30, 2019
- Debit card stolen, PNC refuses to reimburse for unauthorized charges or provide the documentation used to make decision
- Called health insurance company before procedure to verify cost, bill arrived for 10x the quote and they won't give me a transcript of the call
- Mother is in 70k credit card debt. How Do I proceed?
- How much do you need to have saved up to retire "comfortably"?
- Chase credit card mysteriously paid off?
- My mom got laid off
- Parent bought a timeshare, cancelled it by deadline, now in Collections for $4500
- Credit Card Fraud
- Neighbor with three grandkids asking for rides often. Is there a service available to help her?
- 22 months ago I signed up for a whole life plan. I saw a financial advisor and his recommendation was to cancel the plan. It seems prudent that I cancel just looking to see what Reddit thinks.
- Turning 30 soon. How am I doing?
- Manufactured home in 55+ community?
- Girlfriend victim of check fraud, what to do now?
- I've heard Wells Fargo is sketchy to customers and to avoid banking with them. Can the same be said for working for them?
- Best financial advise is to pay your home off?
- Questions about taxes.
- What should I do with an old 401k?
- Any advice about negotiating when a custom ordered car came in wrong?
- Can I/Should I file a tax return if my parents claimed me as a dependent?
- What to do at 19 years old with all this cash I’ve amassed?
- Chase Bank call center told me I was approved for a payment program to tackle credit card, turns out the call center person lied.
- 23 year old looking to have a clear financial plan for 2020 and beyond. Looking for advice and opinions!
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of December 30, 2019 Posted: 30 Dec 2019 03:07 AM PST 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]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 10:19 AM PST in october, my debit card was stolen and used to make approx $650 in unauthorized charges. since then, ive disputed these charges 4 separate times. every time im denied and sent a generic letter that states that PNC believes these charges are valid, and that im entitled to the documentation used to make this decision. however, when i called today they say they will not release the documentation to me. i will be canceling my account after the new year, but what else can be done? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 12:37 PM PST Hi PF, title says it all pretty much. I have an EKG screening every 5 years for a heart condition I've had since birth. I called my health insurance company (Aetna, through my employer) the day before the procedure to ask how much it would cost if I went to my in-network provider, and I even gave them the name and address of the clinic. The rep looked it up and said it should cost only a couple hundred bucks. Well I got the bill a few weeks ago for $3617. I disputed the bill citing the conversation I had with a rep the day before the procedure, and they said they had the call with the rep on record but that there was nothing in there that validated my claim. I escalated to a "level 2 dispute", also denied. My question is, am I stuck with this huge bill now? Is it worth it to get a lawyer involved, and if so what can they do that I can't? Could they get a copy of the call transcript somehow? I wouldn't have done the screening if I knew it would cost this much, or I would have tried to find a different clinic or something. Any help is appreciated, thanks. Edit: Thank you for the replies so far, I can provide slightly more clarity here. The procedure was technically a "TTE with Doppler" according to the EOB. The EOB contains no further breakdown of costs. I have a high deductible plan and they are basically saying that I am responsible for the entire cost since my deductible wasn't reached for the year. I feel like if I could get a copy of the call transcript where they quote me a lower price I could win this, but I have no idea how to do that. Edit 2: I did have the procedure code when I called the insurance company. I called the hospital first to ask them for it so I could specifically get an accurate quote. [link] [comments]  |
| Mother is in 70k credit card debt. How Do I proceed? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 06:36 AM PST Hi Guys, My parents divorced a while back, and my mother doesnt have a job. I don't think she was great at managing her finances, but I never imagined it was this bad. Apprently over the past few years she amassed 70 thousand dollars in credit card debt. I moved out years ago so this doesnt really affect me. However, its my mom, so I desperately want to help her out of this situation. I know debt of this type can easily snowball. My family was pretty wealthy prior to the divorce, but for whatever reason she doesnt have access to the money yet. I think she recieves the money in paychecks. The biggest problem in my view is that she doesnt seem to cut her spending, and still spends like she is very wealthy despite being divorced. But she came to me asking for advice on what to do, and I think she is willing to change her habits. What advice can I give her to solve this crisis? How do I help her eliminate her debt when her income stream is relatively low? I know this is a heavy question to ask strangers on the internet, but at this point I am desperate for advice. All input is appreciated. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| How much do you need to have saved up to retire "comfortably"? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 01:49 PM PST Whether or not I'm doing enough to prepare for retirement is probably something I stress out about more than I should. I have my 401K. I have my pension. I have a Roth IRA. I've paid into Social Security. But even with all that, I still freak out a little when I see something like Mapped: How Much You Need To Retire Comfortably In Each State pop up on Facebook. Now I'm worried about defining what "living comfortably" means. Does that mean having all your bills paid? No mortgage? Being able to travel a certain amount? Not having to rely on food stamps? Yes, I'm sure I'm doing more than enough to make sure I have a roof over my head and I don't starve, but am I going to be "comfortable"? Don't know. UGH! [link] [comments]  |
| Chase credit card mysteriously paid off? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 09:25 AM PST So, I've got a Chase Freedom credit card as well as a regular debit card with them. I am part of Chase's private client service as well, for noting. I woke up this morning to a message that my credit payment had been processed. I had not processed any payment to my knowledge. So I go on to look and I had almost the majority of my credit card balance paid. Not the entire balance, just like, 90% of it. Usually, I do my fiance mobile-y so my payments say 'Thank you-mobile' but this time the payment says 'Thank you-branch'. I have no missing funds from my debit account or savings account. None of my "points" had been converted to pay off my card either. I have no idea where this payment came from. All it looks like is that the bank paid off my bill but that's unlikely to happen. Granted, they did accidentally give me the 150$ bonus points when I opened it, despite the fact I didn't meet minimum spending or recruit anyone into getting a card. So they've made mistakes before?? I'm nervous to call the bank and ask about this because if they did make a mistake, I kinda don't want them to figure it out, because having that paid off by someone who's not me is a major boon. But I'm not sure if this is some kinda scam tactic? What do you all think? Edit: Someone's response made me think of something: My grandma, who's the original private client (you have to be brought into the service by someone or have the money in savings yourself) and my mother were in the bank the other day, speaking to our rep to handle some things. We do often trade payments back and forth and our rep has transferred money from one account to the other before with only one of us present. The reason I didn't consider this was because it was a weird number (like, it ended with .91 cents) and I figured if they paid it, it'd be a whole number or something. But I'll give them an ask as well. Edit #2: All figured out, posted a reply. Thanks-again for those who responded! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 02:04 PM PST My(17M) mom got laid off from her company, and I would like some advice concerning how to save money. We just bought a house in texas last august, and have a sister going to Columbia University for college, which is very expensive. Currently, with all these additional bills to pay, we are very tight with money. Please, if there is any advice you are able to give, send it here. I am willing to provide additional information should it help give advice. [link] [comments]  |
| Parent bought a timeshare, cancelled it by deadline, now in Collections for $4500 Posted: 30 Dec 2019 07:23 AM PST Sometime last year, my mother went into a timeshare presentation while on vacation in Hawaii and signed up for it. She has a contract stating it was $4000+ dollars, it also says she could cancel the contract by mailing a cancellation letter or emailing the company by a certain date. She mailed out the letter, and also emailed the company 4 times requesting confirmation of the cancellation. She has never heard back from them, and thought it was cancelled. Anyways, last month, a collection account has shown up on her credit report for $4500. We've tried to dispute it with no success. Does anyone have any advice on what we can do? She's never used this product, never received any sort of bill or communication from them. All we have is copies of the cancellation letter we sent and the emails requesting cancellation [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 02:29 PM PST Checked my card online today and had two charges from a location that i traveled to (and made purchases at) about two weeks ago. Immediatly called the help number and they told me the transactions were entered manually so they suspended the card. Is it possible something went wrong at the location and they're just charging me late by manually inputting the number? I checked and had one transaction on my account from the place when i was there (so at least some part of it was working) but i'm not sure if i spent anything else (friend bought mostly everything and i venmo'd). Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Neighbor with three grandkids asking for rides often. Is there a service available to help her? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 04:31 PM PST She doesn't have a car or any money. The kids are 12, 10 and 5 years old. She's very nice but the kids have doctors appointments like twice a week and it's a huge burden to take her myself and pick her up when it's over. I'd love to teach her if there is any kind of help she can get. She's a little behind on the times (ie computers) so I would learn about it and help her sign up. Thanks! Edit: she doesn't have much extra money after rent and other expenses. Edit: USA, Nevada, Clark county [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 07:06 AM PST So I signed up for term, whole life, and disability. It was recommended I keep the term and disability insurance but the whole life was recommended that I cancel. Essentially it's a $500k policy that costs $10,000/year. I have paid $18,000 in already. I know I'm not going to retire with this policy but the more I think about it, I could better use $846 a month towards investments, addition to my house, etc. I have no real medical problems and take no meds. It is estimated that In 2048 is when the whole life would be equal to half the amount of money I put into it. I cannot collect any cash value til 2021 which would be $6,500 which I would spend $12,000 just to get to that point. My term policy is for $2.1 million. My job also provides a small life policy free of charge. Makes sense right? Cancel this and take the 18k loss (I know I shouldn't think of it that way but I feel conflicted about it) and move on? [link] [comments]  |
| Turning 30 soon. How am I doing? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 07:48 PM PST Hi all. Just wondering how I'm doing financially and if the PF community has any comments. Summary: Married, 1 kid <1yr, SO is similar age, currently not working but plan is to go back to work after kid is in school. $80k salary. USA. Debts:
Assets:
Monthly Budget:
Monthly Fixed Costs:
Monthly Variable Costs:
Monthly Savings:
[link] [comments]  |
| Manufactured home in 55+ community? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 12:34 PM PST I know, I know... manufactured homes get a bad rap. But I'm wondering if in this situation it makes sense. Both my parents are in their early-70's and don't have any retirement savings, which is scary! (It's a long story) My dad still works full-time making approx 40K a year and both are drawing social security. They are also trying to pay down 15-20K in credit card debt. They currently rent an apartment with garage for $1,400/month. They are most likely relocating out to Phoenix, AZ next May. My dad's job has an office out there so this will allow him to continue working a little while longer while being in a "retirement" city. They talked about wanting to buy a house or condo, but anything decent is going to over 200K. I don't think they should have a $1,500/mo mortgage at their ages and financial situation. My dad is probably only going to work 1-2 more years before going to part-time or stopping. Then the social security will be their only real source of income which with both combined is close to 3K a month. Apartments keep rising and almost on-par with a house payment! Anything decent here is $1100-1300/month too. I thought about suggesting they look at a 55+ mobile/manufactured home park. They can buy a nice renovated one for around $25-30K and pay the lot rent of $550-700/mo. They could easily pay the home off in a few years and only have to deal with the lot rent. Given their future income, this makes more sense to me. This isn't an investment - this is just a nice, decent roof over their head that won't cause them to go bankrupt and they can live out the rest of their days without a HUGE mortgage payment or ridiculous rising rents over their heads. Plus, being in a 55+ place, they can make friends around their age and take advantage of the amenities. Given this scenario, would it make sense to consider this option? [link] [comments]  |
| Girlfriend victim of check fraud, what to do now? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 03:41 PM PST We live in Minnesota and she banks with Pioneer Bank. Basically, she has a "friend" she thought she could trust. One day he asked her if she could cash a check for him. Trusting him, she said yes. He signed the check over to her for $2000 and they went and cashed it. The bank gave her $1000 cash and said the rest will be available the next day. Next day comes, the funds are there, so she withdrawals and gives to her "friend". Fast forward 2 weeks and the check gets reversed sending her account $2000 negative. She plans on meeting up with her "friend" to see what he plans on doing to fix this. I'm worried, that nothing will come of it and she(me) will have to pay the difference. What can we do? What should we do? Anyone to contact? Thank you in advance! Thank you all to have taken their irreplaceable time to help me with this issue. It is very much appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 02:01 PM PST The only reason I'm interested is because they appear to offer a tuition reimbursement program. I am an older student with not much savings for school. [link] [comments]  |
| Best financial advise is to pay your home off? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 04:32 PM PST Over the holiday break I had some conversations over finances with my brother-in-law that is pretty successful and pretty smart when it comes to finances. He mentioned that paying off your house as fast as you can is the best thing you can do. I wanted to hear your thoughts? I know "the best thing you can do" is probably a little strong. I guess I'm writing here because I also heard the counter argument that you should put that extra cash in to an investment account? Any who. Thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 05:28 PM PST Hey all, I started a part time job this year and so it'll be my first year on filing taxes. How should I do this? Where could I file it? I definitely made under 24k so I don't have to pay federal taxes, correct? It may be 12k but I still haven't made that much. Also, I have looked at TurboTax but it seems like Edit: I posted too early. Anyway... It seems like I have to pay in order to pay taxes on investments. I have a ROTH and two savings account. The money in both of these accounts go from paycheck so I'm assuming no extra taxes on that. But I'm pretty clueless about all this and tax law isn't very understandable so any help would be fine. Also, my employer is paying federal taxes off of my paycheck which I assume has to happen. I am from Indiana, if that helps in any way. [link] [comments]  |
| What should I do with an old 401k? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 06:48 PM PST The three options I think I have are to (1) leave it - there are no costs/fees associated with this, (2) roll it over into an IRA, or (3) roll it over into my new employer's 401k plan. I am mostly interested in #2 and #3 - are there significant benefits in doing one over the other? I vaguely remember reading something about setting myself up for a mega backdoor roth required that I have all funds in 401k's and not an IRA (I also may have read that wrong). Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Any advice about negotiating when a custom ordered car came in wrong? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 06:30 PM PST I'm wondering if we have any leverage to lower the price beyond just the difference in cost between the seats. We custom ordered a Land Rover Discovery, it is due to be at the dealership next week after a 5.5 month wait. The dealer called tonight and told us the seats are wrong, they put in lower grade leather than what we ordered. The price of the car is already at the dealership cost, we knew exactly what we wanted and the sales rep wanted to hit a quota for the month so it was an easy sale. So since it was bought at cost, is there no room to negotiate it lower? Edit - accidentally called it MSRP earlier [link] [comments]  |
| Can I/Should I file a tax return if my parents claimed me as a dependent? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 02:07 PM PST In 2019 I worked a part time job for a few months where I earned $5.8k in gross income before quitting since I had to leave for college. Although I've worked for the past few years, this is the first job I've had both as an 18 year old, and where I earned more than $1.5k. I also did a little Postmates work at the beginning of the year where I earned about $300, although I never paid taxes on that money. I've never filed before but since this seems like a more significant amount than the amount I normally make, and I'm now legally an adult, I'm wondering if this is something I should be considering. It is important to note that despite my age, I'm still technically a dependent because my mom claims me on her tax returns and I fill out the FAFSA as her dependent. I receive about $3500 in federal subsidized student loans each year. In October she lost her job, if that's important. I'm here because I'll admit that what little financial knowledge I do possess doesn't extend to taxes, and so I'm wondering if anyone can give me a breakdown of the pros and cons of filing a tax return in this situation along with their own thoughts so I can make a decision. I'd also really appreciate it if someone could explain if I'm in the clear on that $300 in Postmates earnings, since I read somewhere on the internet that it's below the amount that would require me to claim it as self-employed income. [link] [comments]  |
| What to do at 19 years old with all this cash I’ve amassed? Posted: 30 Dec 2019 04:17 PM PST Hello guys. I'll try to keep this short because I don't there's really that much to it. I'm 19 years old, and over the course of my life I've done various things to earn money from working odd cash jobs to making an onlyfans page to buying and selling cars. Anyways. At this point in my life I have less than a full year of college under my belt, and about 40,000$ in cash. As well as that, I have bought over 100 Litecoins and am holding onto them. The reason I'm posting is because I honestly just wanna invest my money, and try to become successful in life. The way I see it, at 19, I have a 40,000$ head start. I have no idea what to do, I've heard the terms index fund and things like that tossed around but I figured I'd post here and maybe find some guidance. Thanks guys. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 01:57 PM PST I spoke with a rep on the phone last month about closing my account and reducing the interest rate to tackle the debt from it. They told me I was approved for the program on the phone, that my account would be closed, and that I would get a 2% interest rate until it was paid off. I verbally agreed to everything that was asked, the program, the payments, etc. We had to do automated payments and set those up in order to start the program, and then we said our farewells and I felt a sense of relief. They told it takes a bit for the system to register it, so not to worry about any payment notification via email. Come today, I realized they put a huge ding on my credit for missed full payments, 2 to date, (the difference between my payments) plus huge fees. I called again today and spoke with a "manager" who instructed me they are going to initiate a call review and will get to me at the end of this week, or the beginning of next. I can only personally get a log by subpoena, but they told me if they promised me anything on the phone they would honor and also fix my credit score ding if they can verify everything from the phone recording. I went from a 680 to a 510. I don't have high hopes for this "phone review" and have no clue what to do next or how to recover from the large fees, partial payments missed, or the huge ding on my credit score. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Dec 2019 11:28 AM PST Hi everyone. I have been thinking a lot about my financial future and would like to get some opinions on my situation and plans. With the holidays over and a new year approaching, it is a good time to get a grip on this. I am a 23 year old male living at home still in the Philadelphia suburbs. I do not pay any sort of rent, my dad is covering all of this for now. It's just me and him in our house. I will make about $45,000 before taxes this year. I have $12,000 in the bank and about $22,000 of inheritance in a Vanguard account invested in index funds. I just opened a 401k last month and I put 6% in, job matches 1.5% max. As for debts, I owe about $8,000 left on my car and about $60,000 in student loans, both at around 4.5% interest. I have no credit card or other types of debt. My credit score is about 740 and I always pay my credit card off in full each month, I mainly have one for the rewards and to build credit. My car costs about $200 a month and my loan payments are about $500 a month. I spend $250 a month on groceries, $80 a month on various services (media, gym, etc.) that I use frequently, and about $100 on gas per month. So quick math tells you I spend a little more than $1100 a month on current expenses. My main goal for this year is to move out by fall. Once I move out, I will be on the hook for all living expenses, in addition to phone bill and car insurance which would be around $120 for those. I will have a roommate, and am thinking my living expenses are going to be roughly $900 after rent and utilities. I am afraid of the lack of money I will have. Admittedly, currently I spend a lot more than I should because I don't have to pay for a lot of expenses but I recognize I need to change that. I make enough to cover those monthly expenses I just listed but would be looking at like $200-400 roughly in "extra" money which isn't much at all. After reading all this, what would you do in my situation? I am thinking of putting $10k away in a savings account and calling that my emergency fund, and then sort of "starting over". My debts scare me a little, mainly my student loans. Do I just need to hardcore budget? Let me know what you think please. Also I can provide any extra info if I left something out or was too vague on something. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
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