Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of January 03, 2020 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of January 03, 2020
- TEMPLATE: Student Loans Payoff! Here's the worksheet I used to pay off my loans in 3 years. In about 60 minutes, you can have a plan for 2020.
- Tactics for maximizing yearly raise and renegotiating benefits. Direct team member just gave notice leaving me as the only person in my role for the foreseeable future and doubling my workload.
- Equifax says they have received eight + inquiries for my credit file. I have not applied for any credit in over two years. (CO, US)
- Chart: Saved 50% of my income in 2019!
- Have a 401k at my currently job. Leaving it soon to become a contractor. What do I do with the 401K? How can I keep adding money to a 401K as a contractor?
- My mom got a credit card in my name.
- Expatriating, advice needed re: small 401k balance
- How the hell do I use my credit card
- I picked up my AMEX Blue cash Preferred Card in the mail today. I downloaded the app to confirm receipt and saw I had charges in 3 different states and 2 countries.
- Someone tried to hack my Wish account
- Company Recinded Job Offer After Negotiating . Thoughts?
- Condo vs. House.
- 401K disappeared from Charles Schwab
- Best personal finance app, Mint vs NerdWallet?
- Have ~50k in savings, what to do with it?
- What are some legitimate debt settlement companies?
- Recurring "Adobe Photography Plan" Charge Will not go away
- Take $20k Pay Cut For Dream Job?
- I claimed 0 exemptions and still owe money apparently?
- How to Move out
- Sold my old house and the new mortgage int rate is 4.25 - is my money best served by paying down the principal or investing?
- Getting a mortgage at a New bank? Good or bad idea?
- Rate my 2020 Financial Plan
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of January 03, 2020 Posted: 03 Jan 2020 01:05 PM 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: 03 Jan 2020 10:59 AM PST In 2016, I realized I'd been paying off my student loans for years with almost nothing to show for it - my principal balance was more or less the same. My student loans were just a black hole, a money pit that never ever changed. I felt like I was going crazy, so I took advice from this subreddit as well as other sites and sat down to create a worksheet. By the time I was done, I knew what I'd be paying in my next bill, and I had a clear understanding of how my payments would truly make a dent in my loans. I felt like I finally had a handle on my loans and a clear, concrete plan for the future. Within 3 years, my student loans were paid off completely. There's no magic trick, and if you're a loyal reader of this subreddit you probably won't learn anything new. It wasn't about that - it was about taking these ideas (the snowball method, applying different amounts to different loans, etc) and actually applying them to myself and my own loans. Sometimes all the information in this subreddit can be overwhelming, and you just want someone to tell you what to do. I could understand the idea of a 'snowball' approach well enough, but it was very different to see a big fat $0 projection in my own spreadsheet, for my own loans! Hopefully this worksheet can help cut down on the noise. I didn't do things perfectly! It was more important for me to chase the psychological high of paying off a loan than it was to pay the least amount in interest. In year 2, I totally missed my goal. All of that is reflected in the template. And of course, your loans are different from mine. You might have a higher balance or less money to put towards your loans or both. I am not trying to pretend as though everyone can pay off their loans in 3 years. What everyone can do is get more insight into where their payments are going, and understand how strategic changes in your monthly payments can have big results at the end of the year. It's worth noting that when I first created this payment plan, my monthly payments were $317.91 per month. My monthly payments never really went above 2x that original number. The only windfalls I received were a tax refund and one or two occasions where I gave myself an extra loan payment because I was soooo close to paying off a loan. It was more about getting myself used to paying about $600 per month - and making fast progress - instead of paying $300 per month and making almost no progress. Now I've created a template version of my worksheet that you can use! Just make a copy of the document for yourself, begin filling in year 1 with your own loan details, and you can figure out what you're paying this month. 3 things to remember:
Please let me know if you have questions! :) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 04:57 AM PST I genuinely love the company I work for. They treat us well, the benefits are decent, and they're pretty good about maintaining work/life balance. That said, they underpay their employees (at least those whose salary I know) by about 15%-25% compared to the rest of the market. People stay because of the work environment, ease of commute, and overall company stability. I found out my direct coworker is leaving. It's just him and I that do what we do, and what we do is essential to the company's day to day functioning and profit. This means that for the foreseeable future, I'll be picking up as much of his workload as possible. It could take months to hire someone else, and I'll likely be responsible for much of their training once we do. Annual reviews are coming up in a few weeks. How do I best negotiate a larger than normal salary increase given the situation. My preference would be market rate salary, the option to work from home a few days a month, and perhaps an increased HOA match if that's more palatable than a hefty salary increase. I'm used to renegotiating my salary, but this is new territory for me. I don't want to come off as taking advantage of the company being between and a rock and a hard place, but I also want to maximize this opportunity and be fairly compensated for what's going to be a challenging few months of extra workload and training. Anyone have any tips or guidance? Anyone done this successfully? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 03:42 PM PST Just received this letter from Equifax, but I haven't applied for any new lines of credit in over two years. I went to the wiki here in the sub and read the section about identity theft. Per the wiki, I triple checked my credit cards and checks -- none seem to be missing. I checked all bank and credit card accounts and I don't see any suspicious activity. I then opened a credit karma account and nothing jumps out at me. Credit karma is showing my credit score is above 750 with no hard inquiries and no new accounts for both Transunion and Equifax. I'm not really sure what this letter is about. Here is the back of the mailer. Is it a scam? Edit: Everyone agrees this is likely a scam. I'm going to check annualcreditreport in about a month just in case. Thanks for the help y'all! [link] [comments]  |
| Chart: Saved 50% of my income in 2019! Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:53 PM PST I include debt repayment as savings. $3k away from debt free, this sub has been incredibly helpful! Can't seem to embed the chart here [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:25 AM PST The title says it all. I'm leaving my current job that has a 401K and I have a bit of money in it. I'm going to be a contractor for a company that doesn't offer a 401K. How do I go about moving the 401K so that I can keep adding to it on my own? Edit: I would deeply like to thank everyone here for all the help and knowledge you guys have shared with me. [link] [comments]  |
| My mom got a credit card in my name. Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:00 PM PST Two years ago, when i was 18, my mom got a credit card in my name. We previously talked about getting one but i didn't want one because I didn't have a job. My mom got a Wells Fargo College Card in my name. I'm still unsure of how she got because you have to prove you're in school but had none of that information and I wasn't present. She kept the card from August to October and bought a tv and more stuff. It was about $300. Everyone knew, my bestfriend and my sister and no one told me. She said she did it because i was "talking about her". She finally gave me the card and she told me to keep it and she'd pay it for me so i did because I didn't want her to go to jail. The card is now at $1,300 majority is interest fees and late fees. At this point I don't know what to do. My credit score is a 466. I'm 20 I'm trying to start a business but I can't because I can't get any credit. She's been doing this since I was 12. There was Xfinity in my name then At&t and DirecTV. She forced me to get the last two because I had just turned 18 and was still in high school and she gave me my ssn and she told me if I didn't give her my ssn she was going to put me out. I had no where to go because i had to graduate. So I gave it to her. I have all the proof of her threats and everything. What can I do about the credit card since I basically kept it and used it too under belief of her paying for it? I've tried disputing the AT&T and DirecTV but they always come back. At this point I'm at my wits end and my credit is jacked because I was trying to be a sweet kid and not send her to jail. [link] [comments]  |
| Expatriating, advice needed re: small 401k balance Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:16 PM PST Hi and Happy New Year all! My husband and myself (a dual US/EU citizen) are planning to move back to Europe for my job later this year with no plans to return to the United States, at least not anytime soon. At the moment, my husband is involuntarily unemployed so I'm concerned about the amount of funds we'll have to be able to relocate ourselves and a small amount of shipped belongings. There is a chance we'll get some kind of relocation allocation for the move, but I'm not betting on it and I'm trying to plan accordingly. I currently have enough saved to cover the first few months in our new place and to get our cats and ourselves over there via plane, but I don't currently have enough to get our essential belongings shipped over (about 2,300 per our latest estimate). I happened to check my 401k balance from my most recent job (I haven't had it long) and if I withdrew the balance it would be enough to cover that amount plus a little extra. Does anyone have advice as to whether this is an intelligent or totally awful decision, considering our soon to be 'expat' status? It doesn't look like I'll be able to roll over the 401k to any of the EU companies vetting me at the moment, but I don't have a job in hand yet so I can't say for sure. Any advice is welcomed! [link] [comments]  |
| How the hell do I use my credit card Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:55 PM PST A bit about myself, I'm a full time student part time worker making basically minimum wage in Canada so around 14$. I got my first credit card today and truthfully don't know how to really use it. The main purpose I got it is because my parents are no longer going to pay for my phone bill and the company I want to sign up with requires a credit card. Other than that I don't know how to use it responsibly to build up my credit, any tips or help would be greatly appreciated, also if this isn't the correct sub the ask this my apologies. Thanks everyone for your quick responses and useful information [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 04:40 PM PST I've already disputed the transactions and asked to launch a fraud investigation. My question is how does this happen? This was within 2 days of me applying and getting the card. The customer service rep continuously reassured me "we have the best anti theft and fraud prevention services" yet this managed to happen? [link] [comments]  |
| Someone tried to hack my Wish account Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:17 PM PST Someone got into my Wish account and spent 205$ on items. Luckily I cancelled it in time and contacted Wish. I have the person's address from the order, can I do anything about this? [link] [comments]  |
| Company Recinded Job Offer After Negotiating . Thoughts? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:30 PM PST I was recently offered a job from a company. The salary was posted in the job description. In the interview, the owner asked me what I wanted in terms of salary but because this was just the interview stage, I just said I was fine with the posted salary. I went on to receive a job offer in the amount posted in the job description. Because I have always read that you should always negotiate, I explained that my market value was roughly 10K higher than the posted salary (based on my experience and going rates in my city for my type of work) and asked whether there was any wiggle room in terms of salary (impying even a 1 to 2K increase). I was told no and politely said that's fine. I then asked if there was any flexibility in terms of working from home (specifically two days per week). I was told that would be fine. Keep in mind that I was very polite and professional during this entire conversation and we left (or so I thought) on a good note. I then signed the contract and received an email back welcoming me to the team. The next day, however, the owner said that after our discussion, he would be withdrawing the job offer. I spoke with him on the phone and he had mentioned that they are looking for a candidate with a "team" mindset and that I shouldn't have asked for a higher salary before working even a single day. Everything I have ever learned is that you should always negotiate your salary. It seems to me that this employer has never had anyone negotiate before and was put off by it. Did I ask for too much? I will now be afraid to negotiate in the future for fear that the job offer might just be taken away. What are your thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:06 AM PST Morning folks, I'm a long time lurker first time poster here. I hope this topic is ok. I got divorced this year and am renting a somewhat expensive condo ($1800/mo). I was going to rent one more year, and then buy, but did the math and in my market (Detroit metro) it would make sense to buy at 5-10% down (I can afford this) and then pay extra. The question is - at the $250-275k pride range, I can get an extremely nice condo - HOA is an extra cost, or a small house that needs repairs or updates. The market is very hot - condos don't sell as quickly, but houses are gone in 3-5 business days. Which option makes more sense? I'm relatively new to the home buying stuff, so I'd love to hear from you folks. Thanks! Edit #1: thanks so much for the helpful insights. The HOA in the areas I'm looking at is $200-250 per month. I have rented for a lot of years, and am not excited about grass and lawn. Lol. I love house projects just not landscaping. [link] [comments]  |
| 401K disappeared from Charles Schwab Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:59 PM PST I have roughly $26,000 in a former employer 401K retirement account that was 100% vested. I check this account almost daily, and noticed yesterday that my account balance was almost 50% gone. Looked at my transaction history and noticed two funds out of the account were zeroed out with the description "Conversion Sale" listed and nothing else. This morning the remaining balance is gone, and the account is no longer listed when I log in under account summary. I called Schwab yesterday in a panic and they didn't know what was going on. They're going to do additional research and get back to me early next week. Has anyone had this happen? [link] [comments]  |
| Best personal finance app, Mint vs NerdWallet? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 02:53 PM PST Which app or site is better at keeping track of all your accounts, purchases, bills, and budget? Or is there a better app or site to keep track of all your accounts, and whatnot? [link] [comments]  |
| Have ~50k in savings, what to do with it? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:39 PM PST I graduated from college with a full-ride scholarship. I worked for about 5 years while living with my parents. Moved to a new city for a new job that pays me 80k/year, which is a huge upgrade from my old job. My job pays for my retirement via a pension system, so I feel 401k isn't really needed. I lived in an apartment for three months and realized how much it sucks, so I bought a house with a 240k mortgage. I am currently enrolled in an MBA program with a full-ride scholarship (yes, again) while working full-time. I have 80k in savings. I currently have 15k invested in a CD at 3.0% and the rest in a money market savings account. The only debt I have is a car loan with 0% interest ($200/month payment) and my 240k mortgage @ 3.99% What should I do with my extra cash? Keep it in the savings or should I invest? Or pay off the mortgage? Please help. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| What are some legitimate debt settlement companies? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:15 PM PST For the sake of discussion, let's assume this is the best option for me - what are some reputable debt settlement companies? I know the business model is legitimate, but some companies seem very shady. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Recurring "Adobe Photography Plan" Charge Will not go away Posted: 03 Jan 2020 08:05 PM PST So for the past 8 months or so, I have been getting a monthly charge under the name "Adobe Photogphy Pl" for $10.88. I have called customer support and given them every email available, as well as given them details of my credit card and they claim that they don't see any charges from their end. I have even cancelled my card, got refunded the money by my bank and gotten a new card, only for this card to get charged once again. This is very frustrating, does anyone know what I can do to get this to stop? [link] [comments]  |
| Take $20k Pay Cut For Dream Job? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 07:56 PM PST I'm at a loss and don't really have anyone in my life who can help me deliberate.
I really enjoy my job, the people are great, the work is interesting, work/life balance is good. However my DREAM company, who I interned for in college have asked me to interview for a role at their workplace. It is a non-profit, it would be a manager level job After taxes and health/dental insurance it would be
My aunt won't let me live with her forever, and i dont want to (though, we are super close) so my rent will jump to $1250 ish/month including utilities. If I get the job my heart says to take it and that it'll all work out, however I would love some insight from other perspectives on whether this would be feasible [link] [comments]  |
| I claimed 0 exemptions and still owe money apparently? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 04:57 AM PST I sent my latest pay stubs to my accountant as a checkup to see if I'm on track with my taxes. Last year my exemptions were messed up and I owed 2000 to fed and 1000 to state. So I fixed my exemptions and I checked up on July and there were no issues. I check again and once again being told 2000 fed and 1000 state I will owe. I feel extremely defeated and frustrated with this system that I can't just have the correct amount taken out. I don't understand it and I just want to avoid this. I sell insurance and made about $43k salary and $47k commissions. I made more the second half of the year. I also made about $25k more than I did last year. Can someone please explain to me what to do? I am so tired of trying my best to avoid owing and then being told I'm going to owe.click here to see how latest commission check tax is calculated I get paid bi weekly salary and monthly commission checks. payroll says commission is taxed monthly and bi monthly for salary Payroll uses ADP to calculate these things and looks like I may have to contact them directly to address this. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:11 PM PST I(20M) have been living in a mentally abusive household and have been saving money from my seasonal job but its almost up and I probably will not stay. I was planning on moving to a cheaper state and will have enough to pay for all the expenses and to pay my rent for three months after. Im planning on moving to Eugene, OR but what if i never find a job? Is there any way i can keep surviving? Is there any quick job finds that actually last? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 02:49 PM PST Sold my house. I now have 100k. What do? Plop it into my mortgage or invest? I bought a new house and sold my old house. I was able to put 20% down on the new house out of savings. (Purchase price for the new house was $335,000) Now that the old house has sold, I have a surplus of about 100-110k when all the dust has settled. facts:
Out of the 100k, I've had about 50k in savings as an emergency fund for years. It's helped a massive amount and I don't want to lose that however I'm gaining almost zero interest on that money. Main question here is, what's the best use of that money? Plunk it into my new mortgage? Invest? If so, where? Is maxing out my IRA for my wife and I best bet here? [link] [comments]  |
| Getting a mortgage at a New bank? Good or bad idea? Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:49 PM PST I'm looking to buy my first condo this summer and wells fargo offers $15,000 first time buyer assistance to cook county residents, I do not have an account with wells fargo, would it make me less likely to be prequalified or approved for a loan if I open an account solely to take out a loan? Should I skip the opportunity and go with the bank Ive been using since I was a kid? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2020 12:51 PM PST BG: I turn 46 this year. Divorced/single, just me and my dog. Daughter is graduated from college, has a job, has an apartment, has a car, has zero college debt. I kept the house in the divorce via refi and live in a bubble city where value have risen and expect to live in the house another two years before moving out and putting it on the rental market. I fully expect the market here to support that but the fallback plan is "okay, I don't move - I live here still." TL;DR: Fund 2019 IRA-->Roth with $6,000 in January. Payroll deductions to fully fund 401k (my only tax deferred vehicle - I'm above the Roth AND IRA cutoffs). Pay off last remaining debt other than mortgage in Q1 (remains of simple interest personal loan @ 10.85%). Between salary, bonus and tax return, fully fund emergency fund to 6 months of expenses. Likely done with ALL of this by June, then have the rest of the year to figure out how to invest/accelerate investing next. Current Numbers:
Projected Plan/Events
Essentially, this is my plan through the first half of the year. Thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
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