Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of October 16, 2020 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of October 16, 2020
- Company matches 529 contributions up to $1k, but I don't have kids yet. Is this something I should contribute to?
- My sister is looking at a credit union that supposedly offers 2.9% APY on a checking account. What's the catch?
- Is this letter wrong? Previous employer asking for 401(k) contributions back
- Is refinancing student loans too often a "thing"?
- Medical Bill 2 years later
- Is buying a studio/1-bedroom condo a bad idea?
- National debt relief
- Next steps or next financial goals after maxing out tax sheltered accounts
- Stuck paying medical bill from when I was 18!
- Why do 401k rollovers still require a physical check?
- I'm stuck with the worst financial mistake I ever made and Noone knows how to help me.
- Open Enrollment Question: Am I maximizing tax savings accounts through work benefits?
- Taxi Medallion - father
- JustWorks says I am not entitled to the funds on my Commuter Benefits card because I was laid off and they switched carriers before my 90 grace period ended - is there anything I can do
- What to do with 20k
- Investing for great-grandchildren
- Title signed over from parent, insurance paid for rest of year, what do I need to do?
- Investment Help for Beginner
- How much car can I afford?
- Have 0 idea about investing, and suddenly got a lump sum of money dumped on me due to a family member passing away. What the hell do I do with it to invest properly?
- Teacher: should i transfer my 403b into roth ira?
- Where should I get my first debit card?
- Timing - lien discharge prior to sale?
- 18 year old checking my budget and overall spot
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of October 16, 2020 Posted: 16 Oct 2020 02:49 PM 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: 16 Oct 2020 09:10 AM PDT Hi all, I'm joining a new company that matches up to $1k annually for 529 contributions. I don't have kids or niblings yet, and I would love to be in a position to help out. I am maxing my 401k/Roth and am saving, etc, so distribution of savings isn't really a concern. I have some questions that I've tried to search on here and with Google but am still confused...
Thank you in advance, would greatly appreciate any clarity. EDIT: To clarify -- I'm maxing my other tax advantaged accounts. The $1k contribution is money I have sitting around. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 11:57 AM PDT The place is called NavyArmy and based in S. Texas. The offer is called Liberty Checking. I think that is a huge rate for a checking account. My savings accounts are struggling to get to 0.6 or 0.7% Is this possible? I know CUs can afford better rates, but it sounds too good. https://www.navyarmyccu.com/rates/deposit-rates/ [link] [comments]  |
| Is this letter wrong? Previous employer asking for 401(k) contributions back Posted: 16 Oct 2020 02:10 PM PDT I am looking for some help with a letter I received today from a previous employer: I am a federal contractor, and my previous contract company lost their re-bid in February of last year (2019). This company was the most incompetent I've ever seen, from sending paystubs to the wrong people, losing our insurance paperwork TWICE, forgetting to renew our security clearances, etc. They were awful, and I don't really trust a single thing they say. I received the letter linked above in the mail today, along with a few (most?) of my colleagues who were on the same contract. They say they accidentally contributed too much to our 401(k), and we need to return this, or we will have to pay a 6% tax each year we don't remove it. I looked all over the IRS website, and the only place I see "6% excise tax" is if you contribute too much to an IRA. First off, it doesn't say anything about 401(k)s, but even if it did, how could a company over-fund it? I know the total yearly limit is somewhere around $56k, but we were no where close to that limit. Second, the letter mentions they increased the employer match to make the overpayment less bad, but I believe their percent match is completely discretionary to them, right? The IRS doesn't care if they match 4%, 4.5%, or 10%, as long as they are under the limit. Third, at the very end of the contract, the company made a Roth contribution to our 401(k) plan. This was super unusual, since all the rest was normal pre-tax. Since they are such fuck ups, we all just kinda rolled with it (and I rolled mine into my Roth IRA). I was maxing out my Roth IRA that year, so I had to change my contributions to make sure I did not go over the Roth limit, but as a Roth 401(k) contribution I'm not sure that even mattered. The point is, throughout the course of 2019, my Roth contributions did not exceed $6,000, my 401(k) contributions did not exceed $19,000, and the combined 401(k) was nowhere near $56,000. Lastly, if this were somehow related to the Roth contribution, the amounts don't match. The letter is asking me to return $75.07, but the contribution was $169.23. As stated in the beginning, this company is a complete joke, who did almost literally nothing right. I feel like this is either another mistake on their part, or they are trying to recoup money from a mistake that is entirely their own problem. Any insight or things I am missing would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Is refinancing student loans too often a "thing"? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:57 PM PDT I refinanced about $80k worth of student debt in winter/spring of 2018, at a 6.5% rate over 20 years. Rates have dropped and it appears I can halve my previous rate and save myself $200/month. Is there any reason I shouldn't refinance again? Other than having a hard inquiry on my CR, is there some penalty I'm overlooking? Yes, I understand I will be lengthening my term by going with a 20 year loan again, but saving a bit on interest. OR does it make more sense to refi at the lower rate but lessen the term to 10 or 15 years and save some money overall with an even further reduced interest rate, but with similar or slightly high monthly payment than my current one? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:37 PM PDT So I just received a medial bill for a visit that I had 2 years ago. The bill states that I am uninsured, which is not true, and I was insured at the time of that appointment as well. I have changed insurances since that appointment (was on my parents insurance at the time) as well as my name has changed could that have caused some issue? Is this bill something I can legally be on the hook for 2 years after the fact? This is all super confusing and their financial office is not open for another 2 days for me to call them. Has anyone had something like this happen to them? [link] [comments]  |
| Is buying a studio/1-bedroom condo a bad idea? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 05:36 PM PDT So I'm ready to buy property. I could afford a house in the suburbs but I don't want to. I like condos and apartments. Is buying a studio or 1br with a low HOA actually a bad idea? I live in Philadelphia. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 05:29 PM PDT Hello, so my dad is 64 years old with a total debt amount of roughly ~80k and an income of 70k and he was on the phone with National Debt relief and they offered that he couldn't get a loan because his income to debt ratio was at the 90% tile. They offered him a program of 53 months and month payments of 1,060 and that would amount to 56k. My dad was skeptical so we decided to pause the application. What should my dad do? Should he continue this or find a non profit debt relief program? Are there any good non profit debt relief programs that work well with Wells Fargo and discover? [link] [comments]  |
| Next steps or next financial goals after maxing out tax sheltered accounts Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:58 PM PDT I was just curious as to what financial goals people set their sights on after maxing their tfsa and rrsp. I've started a plain old savings account for a house down payment. Have also started a USD account (this was before covid when I was going to conferences in the states) basically as a way to get spending money instead of always paying conversion fees every time I was heading down there. Do many start investing in unregistered accounts? [link] [comments]  |
| Stuck paying medical bill from when I was 18! Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:53 PM PDT Hey all, The short version is I had my tonsils removed at 18. We had insurance and my parents were supposed to cover the rest. I am 23 now and am trying to get my first apartment. I just found out that this bill is on my account and is for $1600! What options do I have? I just got my first credit report and its POOR because of this. I have exceptional history with everything else. Can I get the bill moved to my parents account? Can I try to get the old insurance to pay it? I heard that even if I pay it off in full it will still be negatively on my credit. What is my best move here? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Why do 401k rollovers still require a physical check? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 05:12 PM PDT I was trying to figure out how to rollover the money from my previous employer's 401k to my new employer's and was shocked that they send a physical check with the amount to my home which I then send to my new employer's 401k administrator. I have a high 5 figure 401k in that account and I know I would be on edge until I get the check. I can imagine the stress for people with 6 or 7 figure 401ks. Why in 2020 is there still not an option to do direct deposit for a 401k rollover? Is it to deter people from moving money from the original source so they can keep making management fees? Edit: I haven't started the rollover process yet. I'm probably just going to leave the money there. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm stuck with the worst financial mistake I ever made and Noone knows how to help me. Posted: 16 Oct 2020 06:58 AM PDT *Thank you everyone for your advice! I will hopefully beable to repair the cylinder myself. Once I get it moving then I will worry about the P0302 code. * After a severe auto accident, I got myself a new car in September of 2019. It was a 2004 Jeep Liberty, I picked it because I was out of other options. It cost me $3,500. I took out a used car loan from my credit union and was ready to make it work. Then, 2020 rolled around, and like many other people I was laid off. After visiting a mechanic I was told my car needed a large amount of work, (new brakes, new spark plugs and such). After sinking almost $2,000, I got it back from the mechanic with a check engine light. I scanned it and found it going into engine failure (code P0302) . At this point, I planned to continue my job search and drive it till it can't drive no more. Well, that didn't happen. I parked it one day and the Ignition Lock Cylinder (the part that starts the car when you turn the key) completely broke, leaving me without a car for months. Edit:: I've called several business that offer repairs on the part on site, they all started to ghost me. I wish I was joking, they all just stopped communicating with me for no reason. Without a reliable vehicle I won't beable to commute to any possible job as most places I find are not local and require reliable transportation. My question is, should I sink more money into trying to repair this already dying car or should I just cut my losses and scrap it? I also wanta say I know I messed up on this, my family has already laid into me about my dumb decision making but they have absolutely no advice on how to help me. My mother wants me to spend more to fix it and use it till engine failure claims it. I just want it gone and to nurse my loan. So I'm trying to figure out, is it financially worth it to repair it or should I scrap it? Tldr: My lemon of a "new" car is trying to kill itself. Nobody is steering me in the right direction. Hoping to get good advice here. Edit: I have about $2,500 left on my loan. Most jobs are not close enough to walk to and the area I'm currently in is not very safe, alot of robberies and gun violence. The car currently does not move and won't start. I'll hire a tow truck to move it, I'm just worried of spending more money on it. I'm currently ordering a replacement Ignition lock part and will attempt to fix it myself. But still open to advice or suggestions. [link] [comments]  |
| Open Enrollment Question: Am I maximizing tax savings accounts through work benefits? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 06:02 PM PDT Thoughts on my plan below?? Since my employer switched to an HDHP with a HSA me and my wife have used my insurance. Now we have a child so I was thinking of this option moving forward. I keep the HDHP/HSA and enroll myself and my son. That way I can maximize the $7,200 annually into that HSA. Then have my wife enroll through her employer with a "single" lower deductible plan. I am saving about $230 a month from dropper her from my HDHP ($120 cheaper premium and $100 surcharge I wouldn't have to pay) so I have that $230 available for her to spend on her own premium. She used the doctor much more than myself and my son, and we are trying to have another child so I'd expect her medical needs to remain high. I'd also explore a Flex Savings Account to put away some money for her deductible. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:03 PM PDT Hi folks, I have a lot of questions around my father's taxi medallion (nyc). Basically, he's gotten to the point where he can no longer pay the mortgage on his medallion. He has no income other than social security and owns no property (he and my mother sold their home last year and moved in with me). The medallion is only in my father's name, not my mother's. This medallion was being leased out by a broker in nyc. Since the pandemic hit, however, they stopped making payments to their medallion owners since they cannot afford to. Therefore, my father no longer had enough income to pay the mortgage on the medallion. So now, he is finally in a position where, he can't afford the payments. What are his options? He wants to just default on the loan, but I'm concerned about what that means for my mother or even me. He's currently leasing a car, can he purchase it? If he does, could the bank take the car? He is one of the many, many medallion owners who have gone belly-up since the car-sharing apps came into town and it has gotten even worse since the pandemic. He purchased this medallion back in the 70s, so he was not a newcomer, he just got screwed and knows he should have gotten out a long time ago. But, he thought this would be his retirement. He obviously doesn't want me to make payments or have my mother make payments. He wants to just rid himself of this even if it means his credit goes in the tank. He's in his 70s and to him, it just doesn't' matter anymore. He just doesn't want it to affect anyone else. Can anyone shed some light on what his options might be? Bankruptcy? I told him he needs to call the bank/credit union that owns the loan and explain to them what the situation is. Perhaps when the pandemic has passed, the broker may be able to pay their medallion owners again and we would be okay, but right now he's SOL. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 02:49 PM PDT Sorry, I'm not sure where else to post this so hopefully this is acceptable. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I was laid off from my job on 6/15/2020. Like many other people, due to COVID I had a decent amount (~$500) left over on my WageWorks account (commuter benefits). I specifically called WageWorks the week I was laid off to check in on how much time I would have to spend my remaining balance and they stated that JustWorks gives 90 days to use the funds. The JustWorks website also stated the same. On 8/6/2020 JustWorks withdrew the remainder of my balance out of my commuter card. They did this because they were switching commuter benefit carriers. No notice was given. The withdrawn balance is suppose to go into the new carrier however my balance did not end up going anywhere besides being held in limbo since I could not open an account with the new carrier due to the fact that I was no longer an employee at the company. Since it was a pre-taxed contribution, I am not eligible for a check refund which I did not expect to receive anyway. However, I did expect to have the full 90 days to use up the remainder of my balance. It turns out whatever unused funds left go directly back into the pockets of the employer which is JustWorks. Their customer service department is telling me that they have exhausted every option to help all those effected by this but at the end of the day, our remaining balance is lost to us and unfortunately they have to keep the money for themselves. It feels like a massive conflict of interest that JustWorks would make a true effort to attempt to help me or anyone affected get access to our left over commuter funds since they get to keep whatever we can't use. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 07:23 PM PDT Simple question, seemingly a million answers. Got divorced, paid debts, and with leaving 4k on hand for monthly bills, i have 20k that i want to invest somewhere. I do realize that this is a relatively basic question. I have done some research on my own and sometimes find it hard to tell whats a real article or whats an ad. Im not accustomed to having such an amount on hand so I before making any moves, i wanna see what the sharp minds and tongues of reddit have to say :) thanks!! [link] [comments]  |
| Investing for great-grandchildren Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:35 PM PDT Recently, my father passed away and I am the executor of his will. His will was written about 7yrs ago, and hadn't been updated in the interim. And there was no provision made for his 3 great-grandchildren, who range from 18mths to 4yrs. After the funeral costs have been covered there will be a small sum of money left over(£1500ish), my sisters and I know that he would've wanted to give them something. Would it be worth getting my nephew to open up an ISA or something for each of his three children, so that in 15 or so years' time they each have some money available to go towards their education, a car, house deposit or whatever? [link] [comments]  |
| Title signed over from parent, insurance paid for rest of year, what do I need to do? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 07:20 PM PDT I just got my car signed over to me from my parents. We have insurance on it, and we pay for it in 9 months (as in, we pay the cost of a year in 9 months, so the last few of the year there are no payments due). Do I need to get insurance for this car still? What is my best course of action? Ultimately, I am getting rid of this car in the next few weeks, so I'm not sure the best course of action overall even. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 02:07 PM PDT Hi - I am a 27 year old seeking some advice on how to wisely invest my savings for the future. I am debt free and I have 3 months worth of expenses sitting in a savings account. I currently live in a relatively expensive city with high rent and I donate to a couple charities on a monthly basis so my expenses represent about 80% of my income each month. I contribute 5% to my employer's 401K plan (they match 5%), so I'm trying to decide what to do with the remaining 15%. I am considering putting away 10% each month in a savings account and putting the last 5% in a Roth IRA or some other index account or ETF. I'm not sure if it makes sense to have a 401K AND a Roth account, or if this percentage breakdown between retirement and savings is the optimal way to go. I am very new to all this stuff so any input helps, thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 06:56 PM PDT I'd love some advice figuring out how much car I can afford. It's my first time buying and I'm pretty overwhelmed. I'm looking for a small/compact SUV... Monthly Average monthly expenses: $2900 I've saved up $5000 for a down payment, have good credit, and am aiming for a 48-month loan. At first, I thought I could afford a $500/mo payment, but after factoring in insurance, gas, and parking, I'm not so sure. Help appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 16 Oct 2020 04:08 PM PDT I'm still kinda in shock, I genuinely don't know what to do other than just have it sit in my bank savings; and I don't have any income due to being disabled with epilepsy. I'm scared that I'm going to let this opportunity go to waste and I'll end up regretting it for the rest of my life, especially with the situation I'm already in; I want to make sure that I'm as informed as possible before making a decision on how to invest in all of this. Thank you very much! [link] [comments]  |
| Teacher: should i transfer my 403b into roth ira? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 06:13 PM PDT 3 years ago when I got hired I set up a 403b with valic rep at my school. Im happy I did it as I wouldnt have done any investing otherwise. But looking into it now i dont see any reason to use this 403b instead of a roth IRA. My employer offers no matching. Im 27 and there about 10k in the account. I also have a 7% pension, I cant contribute more to that. If i should transfer this into a roth ira how should I go about doing it? [link] [comments]  |
| Where should I get my first debit card? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:59 PM PDT I'm 24 and have never had complete control of/responsibility for my own finances until recently. (No, I wasn't a rich kid and no I'm not a bum.) It's also the first time in my life I'm getting a steady paycheck. I have a bank account with DOCFCU and I want to get a debit card. (Previously, I got by doing odd jobs like baby/pet/house-sitting, secretarial work, etc and paying for everything with cash. My personal expenses are close to zero as I am lucky enough that my parents provide me with a room and groceries. My laptop was a very generous graduation gift, and I only buy new clothes every 5+ years.) Back to the topic at hand: would it be better for me to get a debit card with DOCFCU or somewhere else? Would it be possible to get it somewhere else given that I do not have a credit score? My personal expenses are still very low. Lower even, given that I'm not exactly going out for coffee with friends much these days. I make $14.00 an hour as a teacher's assistant, work 35 hours a week, and am paid every two weeks. If that makes a difference. (I know my level of financial knowledge is abysmal. I've been doing research to try to fix that. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. And don't worry, I won't be taking any wooden nickels. I always consider my source.) [link] [comments]  |
| Timing - lien discharge prior to sale? Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:42 PM PDT We are buying a home for $900k and hoped to close in two weeks, but today we learned the seller has several liens against the property, including a $350k mortgage, $40k in past due property taxes, $130k in IRS liens, $28k in state income tax liens, $56k in outstanding court judgments. It's over $600,000 in liens, or $250,000 if you exclude the mortgage. Assuming the seller needs the sales proceeds to settle their debts, how does this work? Would they have to apply to have the lien discharged at sale and have the proceeds directed to the lien holder? I'm really concerned that all this is going to take a while a blow our close date. We are waiting to put our house on the market until after we close and move, and I'm getting worried that we're going to be pushed out to an unfavorable time for real estate, thus making our sale difficult and causing us to carry two mortgages for longer than we originally planned. [link] [comments]  |
| 18 year old checking my budget and overall spot Posted: 16 Oct 2020 03:24 PM PDT Hello i am 18 years old i graduated in the summer and i just want to go over my budget and plan and make sure it makes sense. Income from main Job 2000 gross a month taxes 400 roth 401K 400 Net 1200 Doordash net 500 a month Expenses insurance 100 food/fun 100 gas 100 Gym membership 40 MISC 50 i have 500 in my Roth 401K right now and i don't see any cons of putting it in there because i can take out the contributions penalty free correct? and if i do not need the money then i can keep it there for retirement. Roth IRA 13-15K not sure where its at market wise saving 10K car 2006 acura Tl 138K miles worth 3500-4500 private sale so i am looking to go to college in the spring and i am thinking of a business management degree because i believe i want to manage stores/ go corporate. This degree would be good for that right. [link] [comments]  |
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