Personal Finance Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of May 04, 2020 |
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of May 04, 2020
- Someone's been filing for unemployment under my name and ssn and I cant get ahold of anyone to change it
- DIFU? Bought a $42k truck with $7k "finance fee" through Toyota Financial
- Landlord not returning security deposit
- My child is receiving state and federal tax refunds - without having a job
- Is this idea batshit crazy or financially sound?
- Digging myself out of the hole. Poor financial habits all my life with a prior bankruptcy.
- Annuity or Lump Sum - Cell Tower
- Small inheritance - Only Debt is my car loan and I already take advantage of tax free retirement accounts - Time to take the plunge into a taxable account?
- Is individual health insurance usually more expensive than employer-provided?
- Irresponsible Parent
- Think someone may be trying to VIN clone my motorcycle
- Should Roommates GF Contribute To Bills
- Seriously, What amount is enough for an emergency fund?
- Is it dumb to even think about refinancing a house I just bought 2 months ago to take advantage of lower rates?
- What is a good online high yield savings account or a high interest savings account ( or similar) to grow a 5 grand initial deposit ?
- Insurance Claim Denied, Hospital’s Fault
- Thousands of dollars in medical debt vanished from my credit reports
- My wife and I had a communication error and are now both on each other's insurance. Do I have any options?
- Buying a car with negative equity
- Child Savings Account
- What happens if someone tries to process a refund onto a credit card you have closed the account on?
- Credit repair agency that magically removes all debt. Possible?
- What do I need to budget for when living on my own?
- Specific Unemployment Questions (GA)
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of May 04, 2020 Posted: 04 May 2020 04:07 AM PDT 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: 04 May 2020 07:11 AM PDT I'm a 20yo college student attempting to file for unemployment in MI. I entered all my information into the unemployment website, and someone else popped up from my social security number. It looks like they were denied a claim in 2017. I have tried calling numerous unemployment lines and tried the online chat, but all say to come back at a later time as the lines are busy. I don't know if my identity has been stolen and if I can get this fixed in order to file. I have no idea where to even begin to get this taken care of. The unemployment site gives me their full name, address, and phone number so I know exactly who it is, but who do I go to? There is no fraudulent activity in my bank accounts as far as I know, but I'm concerned that I wont be able to file. I have had to use my ssn for job, school, and taxes all since 2017 so I also don't know how this never got brought up. Please help! UPDATE: I have completed my filing successfully and have changed all the MiWAM information to my own. The only information left from the other person is the actual name, as they have asked for legal proof that I have changed my name (I haven't). I plan to contact my bank as well as trans union for any information they can provide. I will also continue to harass the unemployment automated menu to try to speak to a human in order to get that name corrected. Thank you all, this has been extremely helpful! [link] [comments]  |
| DIFU? Bought a $42k truck with $7k "finance fee" through Toyota Financial Posted: 04 May 2020 04:09 PM PDT Spoke with a few dealerships, researched the optional parts for months before i landed on the configuration. No dealer had that config and my dealbreakers had to be built into the truck at the factory. One dealership tried to pressure me into a $500 deposit, another tried $700 for ordering. Then I talked to a larger Toyota dealership an hour away and they were not worried about a deposit to order from the factory. Went over my options and somehow a mistake was made, they ordered without a big dealbreaker which i found out about maybe 2 weeks later. I told them so, and the salesman was not concerned and didn't think he would have issues selling it to someone else, so we made a second order. This time it was correct so i went and signed. The sticker price was $800 less than the dealership that wanted a $500 deposit, so i signed for 4.5% interest $0 down and a 72 month loan. I looked at the paperwork a few days later and saw a ~$7000 finance charge. I guess i was too excited to drive away that i didn't look at the Toyota Financial paperwork very carefully. Is that normal? Did I screw up? [link] [comments]  |
| Landlord not returning security deposit Posted: 04 May 2020 12:57 PM PDT We renewed our lease (3 people) with a different 3rd person on the lease in December. Instead of the new person just paying the original roommate his share of the security deposit, we asked the landlord to return our original deposit and we would send in a new one. The landlord responded that they would send our deposit back as soon as they get the new one, which makes sense. The new deposit was received in February but the landlord has yet to send us back our old one. It's nearly impossible to get her to return calls/emails. What would the best course of action be to get the money back while avoiding small claims court? [link] [comments]  |
| My child is receiving state and federal tax refunds - without having a job Posted: 04 May 2020 07:32 AM PDT My child (19) who is a freshman in college, who has never worked "on the books" (and has only done work for family for cash here and there or babysitting for friends) received a $99 state tax refund check, and a few weeks later, a $13 federal tax refund check. The checks came to her name and home address. I mentioned this to my accountant, and he said it sounded like someone may be using her SSN to file taxes. He told us to go to the IRS site and pull tax transcripts for last 2 years. When we tried that, first you have to create an account. It asked us a few basic questions to verify identity. The first was how much her mortgage payment with xxxx bank was, we picked "none of the above" since she had no mortgage. The next two questions we could answer correctly, one was around her federal student loan for college. It let us proceed. It then asked us a few basic questions like name and DOB and SSN, but also asks for last year filed taxes (which she never did, of course, having no official income). The site then says unable to match/verify information. I tried to call the IRS, but they had a recording that said go screw, we're swamped. So we went online to the identity theft IRS site and filled out a form to submit the info, providing name and email. But I am not confident that will even be seen or addressed. Not sure what else to do. She initially deposited the $99 check after I said she could (since I know if that is recalled I can easily repay it). I thought it perhaps had to do with her student loans or something, but I doubt that is the case. [link] [comments]  |
| Is this idea batshit crazy or financially sound? Posted: 04 May 2020 05:17 PM PDT So I'm interning this summer for an investment bank and I'm very fortunate in that its still on. It might be remote. If it is remote I'm seriously considering renting an Air BnB for a month somewhere I've always wanted to live while I work remotely rather than stay with my parents. The pay is good and I'd only stay for a month out of a ten week internship. This however would make the difference between saving 11000 in the bank for my future over the summer or probably 7500-8000 in the bank if I had to guess. I will have 15k in student loans when I graduate. This idea occurred to me today and I'm genuinely tempted. 15k doesn't seem like a lot in student loans but its more money than I have so I'm hesitant to spend this kind of money at all due to that and the fact that its not a great time to go anywhere. Is this financially sound? Edit: I greatly appreciate all the input from people and after briefly weighing the pros and cons I've come up with the perfect compromise. I'll stay with my parents this summer and if I get the full time offer to ensure a source of income in this economy I'll absolutely do that during winter break next year. I'll avoid the winter snow for a bit, have an ensured way to pay off debt, and most stuff should be reopened by then. Win win win [link] [comments]  |
| Digging myself out of the hole. Poor financial habits all my life with a prior bankruptcy. Posted: 04 May 2020 02:09 PM PDT I'm a 35 year old grocery worker making $35000 a year(before taxes). Have wife and two small kids. No savings or investments. Rent house and have a paid for 2010 Kia Sportage. I'm a failure at finances. Everytime I try to change I fail. We continually waste money and take extravagant vacations. Not sure how to turn this around. This is the debt I have: Student Loans(Mix of Sub and Non-Sub): $11838 My HSBC: $2475 Wife HSBC: $2500 Torrid: $3000 Ollo: $1574 Mission Lane: $1076 CapitalOne: $716 It feels hopeless. [link] [comments]  |
| Annuity or Lump Sum - Cell Tower Posted: 04 May 2020 06:52 PM PDT I know someone who is trying to decide whether to take an annuity or a lump sum for letting a company put a cell tower on their land. The terms are: 5 year terms, with 5 year renewals over 50 years. Monthly rent is $700/month ($8400/year). Or they could take a lump sum from the company of $90000. The $90000 is roughly $400,000 discounted over 50 years at 3%. One thing to note - they retain the control of the land - except the plot used for cell tower. I was thinking about telling them they could take the annuity and sell the rights to the payments to an annuity company, but I was wondering - would an annuity company even touch this given its only for 5 years at a time? The cell tower company could take the tower down after say, 10 or so years, if they wanted. I was hoping they could get a larger lump sum payment by going this route (they are elderly). Or would a lump sum be best? Either way the $90,000 is only the initial offer and they could potential negotiate upwards to $150,000. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 May 2020 01:54 PM PDT I just received a $30K inheritance. My only debt is a $22,000 car loan with 4 years left at 2.9%. I am 32, Married, with one child. I already contribute 10% of my income to my work's 401K where they match 5%. I contribute $6K, and already have met this years limit, to a Roth IRA every year. I contribute $5K to a 529 plan for my son yearly to take advantage of our state's tax credit (20% up to $1000 back). I have an emergency fund that exceeds 6 months of my current salary. My plan was to:
I know the car loan interest isn't a lot but the mental 'win' of paying it off and having no debt would be significant to me I think. Also it would be nice not having to 'see' the car payment and knowing I can free that monthly income up for other things. Like funding the investment account or paying for term life insurance which I also haven't gotten for myself yet. - Any recommendations on that front? Another reason I wanted to pay off the car is I know by doing so I can save myself a guaranteed 2.9% interest over the next 4 years on that loan amount. With the market the way it has been during the pandemic I don't know that I'm comfortable investing the greater sum right now. I realize the potential for growth on the upswing but things could go south fast too. I realize this could be said for anytime with the market but I'm not comfortable right now. Any thoughts on my plan and any recommendations? [link] [comments]  |
| Is individual health insurance usually more expensive than employer-provided? Posted: 04 May 2020 06:03 PM PDT The health insurance I get through my employer costs about $1100/month total. Of that, I pay about $300 and the employer pays $800. It's very good insurance (by the standards of modern America, at least); the annual deductible is about $300 and copays for everything are very small. (And this plan covers my whole family.) When I search for individual insurance policies on the companies of websites that offer them, I can't find anything with nearly as good coverage around the $1100 price point. I'd have to pay about twice that to get coverage comparable to what I get now. Is this because premiums for employer-sponsored plans are just cheaper? I can see the insurance companies offering lower prices to employers who buy in large volume. Or maybe insurance companies think people without health coverage through a job are higher risk. Or maybe I am just not looking hard enough for individual health plans. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 May 2020 05:21 PM PDT One of my parents has been "irresponsible". 1) Identity theft: Has opened accounts without my consent or knowledge, which have resulted in collections. I found out by looking into my credit report and she has admitted to it. 2) Divulging my personal information: Has divulged my information to others which are apparently using my info to collect social security income. I received a notice from the dept of treasury about treasury offset program saying "my payment has been applied to delinquent debt (which I have no clue about), under who I owe it says social security (address is NY), and I have never lived nor worked there. She said she knows the person and that they are "in deep shit" (her exact words). Is this notice legit, and how could this happen? I told her that identity theft is a crime, but all she has to say about it is "sorry". These are not all negative experiences that she has caused. What can I do about this situation (she won't help)? I filed this out but I don't know how to fully resolve the situation. https://identitytheft.gov/ and froze credit but idk what else. I'm worried about taxes and pre-employment background checks as well (due to this)? Can it affect me in that sense? I am expecting to start work in a few months (as long as the background check is cleared and virus allows). [link] [comments]  |
| Think someone may be trying to VIN clone my motorcycle Posted: 04 May 2020 04:47 PM PDT I am trying to sell my motorcycle. I recently had a guy come to my house (using what I now am positive is a pseudonym) and look at the bike. He looked at the bike in great detail and seemed like an interested buyer. He called me later and offered to buy it if we do the transaction at my bank (to which I agreed) and then he ghosted me. Some of his questions were extremely specific about the features of the bike. The same type of questions which insurance companies ask when you setup a policy. He doesn't have title or my SSN, but he's got all the details of my bike and my name/address. I think he's trying to put my info onto a stolen bike of the same model. Nothing unusual on my credit reports. Is there a way to see if someone tried to take an auto policy out in my name? Or if that VIN gets put on a stolen bike? [link] [comments]  |
| Should Roommates GF Contribute To Bills Posted: 04 May 2020 07:34 PM PDT Apologize if this is the incorrect sub. Me and my roommate who also happens to be my best friend and barber moved into a place last year around late June. We split every bill entirely in half. If I remember correctly, last October/November he began dating his current GF. In a short time (by Christmas time) she was staying at our place every week for at least 3-4 entire days. I first brought it up to my roommate sometime after the holidays, I remember telling him that 3 days was fine but that she was almost staying for an entire week. I should bring up that when I do bring it up with him I never do it in an angry/negative way. So the few times that I did bring it up to him or we spoke about it, he claims she entirely and on her own shows up (which I know is bs). So whatever I deal with it for a few more months. At this point they both do not have jobs, her job was closed due to the pandemic and my roommate actually left his job prior to the pandemic. With my roommate being a barber he still receives income as he has a good amount of people he still has come over for haircuts (receives $30-$40 for each haircut). Fast forward to April and for context, I began letting a friend spend the night twice a week (last week and week before, total 4-5 days). A few days ago I wake up and find a new puppy, he had spoken to me about it before so I had no issue. Sometime that day she says that they were raising it together. I admit at this point I felt extremely frustrated since it seemed that she was convinced she was now permanently living with us and she didn't have the manners to feel some shame of not paying a cent for where she has been living. I should also add that by this point she is here 28-30 days a month. The next day is rent day so I decide to bring it up to him again. I also should add that the times before this I had asked for him to have her stay at home more often not to have her contribute. So I text him with this. (Friend that has been staying recently, name is hidden). Our lease is ending in a couple months and was looking for advice on the situation. Thank you for taking the time to read. Edit: Should add that immediately after the texts were exchanged, I sent him the rent money. Have not really spoken much since. [link] [comments]  |
| Seriously, What amount is enough for an emergency fund? Posted: 04 May 2020 07:24 PM PDT I go back and forth from saving to paying on debt way too much and need to focus. I want the community consensus on what amount I should save in a liquid savings account before paying on my only debt which is school debt (~65k=21k fed + 44k private). [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 May 2020 05:47 PM PDT Two months ago I bought a house for $600K. 20 year mortgage at 3.5%. Thought it was an OK deal. Now rates have gone down to about 3.1 - 3.3%. I'm wondering if I should try to refinance. I know there's closing costs involved, and I'd have to stay in this house for a while to break even. So, all in all, seems like a dumb idea. But, just in case someone has been in a similar situation and has any words of wisdom to share. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 May 2020 05:46 PM PDT Me and my fiancé have saved up around 5k to put down for our first house. We have a little over 5k saved up , and I want to put it into a savings account that will grow its interest rather quickly as we are adding more funds while we are looking for a property. Any one have any experience with these or any advice ? [link] [comments]  |
| Insurance Claim Denied, Hospital’s Fault Posted: 04 May 2020 07:02 PM PDT First time posting to Reddit, looking for a little bit of advice... My wife and I welcomed our second child, a baby boy, into our lives in October 2019. Similar to when we had our first, we just keep on waiting for the bills to stop coming in the mail. One particular bill for approximately $6000 before any insurance is applied kept coming back denied from wife's health provider, Aetna. This was not a surprise because prior to our son's birth and at the hospital we confirmed to billing staff our less-common billing situation. My wife was 26 at the time and still covered under her parent's plan so she had her own health insurance. As for me and the kids, including our newborn, we were covered under my employer's United Healthcare plan. No matter how many times we had explained this, the hospital kept getting it wrong. Every time my wife would receive a claim denial notice in the mail, she would call the hospital, notify them of the error and request that they run the bill against the correct insurance instead. While this worked for other bills, this $6k bill was submitted incorrectly at least twice. By the third attempt to the correct insurer, United, it is now May 4th and we've been notified it is being denied for a "timely filing" reason. My wife has called to complain to the hospital as we fear that we might be on the hook for the full amount although both she and the baby were insured at the time. On top of that, we couldn't have been more proactive with communicating our insurance coverage and calling to correct each claim submitted to the wrong insurer. At this point, our info is being passed to a "Disputes" department and we won't hear back for another 3 business days. Really worried that we're going to have to fork out the full $6k, any advice? tl;dr Hospital messed up insurance billing and I might be responsible for the full amount of a relatively large bill. [link] [comments]  |
| Thousands of dollars in medical debt vanished from my credit reports Posted: 04 May 2020 01:41 PM PDT I checked my credit score today and noticed that within a few days $7,000+ of medical debt had disappeared from my credit reports. The accounts that disappeared came from four different debt collection agencies, but I noticed that the debt was all from the same health care system. This is significant because this is most of my medical debt. Now, of course I'm suspicious because some of these were not close to hitting the 7 year mark and this feels too good to be true. What is going on? What should I expect to happen? I hope they aren't playing with my heart because this medical debt was due to unexpected circumstances and has truly been devastating, but I'm trying not to be too hopeful. All advice is welcomed and appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 May 2020 12:48 PM PDT My wife started a new job in February. We were both on my insurance prior to this. Unimportant details aside, she added the two of us to her medical insurance only, and we're both on all of mine still. (Medical, dental, vision, etc). We're now paying the premiums for both of us, on both plans. In a perfect world, I'd stay on my company's medical plan, she'd be on her company's, and we'd both be on the rest offered by my company. She just got all her medication issues resolved, and I finally got a medication approved my my provider after being denied several times. I called HR, and she said she's unable to remove my wife since it's >30 days after the qualifying event. Are there any other options aside from sucking it up and paying 2x the premiums until open enrollment next year? [link] [comments]  |
| Buying a car with negative equity Posted: 04 May 2020 02:20 PM PDT I've been on my own financially for a bit now so this is new to me. My current car has a KBB value of about 4K. I owe 6k on it. I have the money to say pay the difference of 2k if the dealership was to give me 4K. Would I still need to make a decent down payment on the new car? It's about 24K. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 04 May 2020 09:41 AM PDT Do you have a savings account you've set up for your children that you would recommend? My kid is only a few months old, and we've received cash gifts from relatives. We need somewhere to put them until he's old enough to use them! [link] [comments]  |
| What happens if someone tries to process a refund onto a credit card you have closed the account on? Posted: 04 May 2020 03:15 PM PDT Will the credit card company send you a check or simply reject the transaction? What happens if the account is still open but you reported it stolen so you have a new card number? [link] [comments]  |
| Credit repair agency that magically removes all debt. Possible? Posted: 04 May 2020 08:43 AM PDT So my fiancé and I had a discussion where he basically told me that he tried a credit repair agency. He states that a friend of his (trustworthy one that both of us know well) removed all of his debt 20k+ with only having to pay the repair agency $300, and that his friend has done this twice is his lifetime and never had any repercussions, and so he compelled him to try it. My fiancé tried it and apparently removed several thousand in credit card debt, and also a loan of about 8,000. He said this does mean that the card and the loans are totally wiped from his record, so the negative effect is that it seems as if he has no credit at all. I don't understand how this could be possible that all that debt was removed with no payments. He states he doesn't know the complete process, but knows that right now, all of his cards are gone. Anyone have any insight? [link] [comments]  |
| What do I need to budget for when living on my own? Posted: 04 May 2020 07:56 PM PDT I am trying to figure out what all I need to account for so I can afford to move out and live on my own. So far I have: Car Payment - $394 Car Insurence - $125 Cell Phone - $115 Rent - $850 Investments (IRA) - $10 (I would like to scale this up) Other - $125 Household Supplies/Food - $350(?) Student Loans - $150(?) Background: I am 23 working part-time (30hr/week) as an IT helpdesk analyst at $11/hr. I am working on my B.S for IT (Late start in school/life due to reasons). Obviously I can not move out for the hours and pay I am making now, but I would like to move out soon and I am trying to figure out what I am up against. It is my understanding that electricity/water is usually included in the rental fee? What else do I need to account for in my monthly expenses? Will I need to carry rental insurance? What are some good resources I can check out on preparing to live on my own? I made a spreadsheet in Excel trying to calculate this (I had some other expenses such as credit card that I didn't include here because I will have that paid off by the time I move out) and in order to have more than $300 leftover at the end of each month, I will be needing to make around $25/hr. I live in a low cost of living area, in a county with a depressed economy. There is a city about 40 minutes away that I can commute to but I don't see myself making $25/hr there with little job experience. My dad, who works in construction and is 60, makes around $25/hr. I don't understand how I need to make starting out what he makes with decades of experience. Either I am missing something or I am royally screwed lol. Anyways, any advice and links to good resources are much appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Specific Unemployment Questions (GA) Posted: 04 May 2020 07:56 PM PDT So I have received a couple weeks of UI due to COVID and had a couple questions regarding it. I have not received the last 3 weeks of UI yet, will I eventually get that money and its just delayed or have I been "cut-off" and stopped receiving benefits? Another one, I may have the opportunity to go back into work, if so who do I notify to stop receiving benefits and if I receive cash during my work what do I do with it? One last one, say I do go back into work and I finally get the money from these past 3 weeks I've been unemployed, do I get to keep that money since it is for the weeks where I was not working? I am happy to answer any questions if needed and will be here ready to reply, thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Personal Finance. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment