Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 06, 2020 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 06, 2020
- IRS says they haven't received anything from my employer
- Trying to keep up with the money I make in TN
- Large medical expense? Put the money on a CC and then get HSA reimbursement. Tax free rewards points.
- After 8 years, I finally realized company loyalty does not benefit you
- Gift card fraud and Home Depot
- How does one earn enough alone at the beginning of their career to live somewhere AND simultaneously save enough money to eventually buy a house?
- Got rear-ended by an uninsured motorist. Should I give out her info to the insurance company?
- Saving for Retirement at 36
- Parents hated banks, ended up hoarding cash on hand, can’t do anything with it now without getting flagged.
- I earn $1,400 biweekly, should I buy a new car if it's a $300-400 monthly car payment?
- ACH transfer cancelled by receiving bank, money stuck in limbo
- Should I max out my 401k?
- Is it bad idea to buy a house? I'm a single guy, 29, and just moved to Texas for medical School, so I'll be living at this same area for at least 4 years.
- Advice for 18 yr old who feels he has been led astray
- Bank of America Rewards Program- An Analysis
- On unemployment: going freelance, heard unemployment might get extended. A couple questions
- I’m about to receive $73,000 from a house sale with no hope in buying again right now. Need help with what to do with this money.
- Evaluation of My Current Strategy
- Reward yourself
- Weird tax question
- Repaying a Signing Bonus
- Moving to central coast California area; Need advice for married couple wanting to save for retirement and purchase home
- Most tax efficient way to invest multiple sources of income?
- Resources Needed to Assist Mom on Disability
- Best way to get out of a moderate amount of debt?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 06, 2020 Posted: 06 Nov 2020 01:00 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]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IRS says they haven't received anything from my employer Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:34 AM PST IRS says they haven't received anything from my employer and my employer says they sent everything in and that they haven't been contacted by the irs. Now the irs is saying that I'm commiting fraud for falsely reporting how much was taking out for our (me and my wife since we worked together we filed together) federal. This is a big issue for me since I'm a dreamer and I could get deported if I get charged for fraud. Is there anything I could do? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trying to keep up with the money I make in TN Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:33 AM PST I work as a bartender at a locally owned restaurant that recently changed ownership. This is the new owners first restaurant. I make 7/hr plus tips. I haven't been the best about keeping up with what I make but I decided to start because many of my paychecks look exactly the same, regardless of how well I did with tips week to week. Last week I counted and recorded that I made 502 dollars in tips, but only saw 400 dollars for tips on my paycheck. I asked the owner why the discrepancy. He said that he keeps 10% to cover credit card fees. Ok, fine, I thought, but 20% of my tips were missing. He then told me that it's better for him and me of he only puts in 400 because we'll both end up paying more if he put in a bigger amount. The way he said it sounded like he knew what he was doing and I hate confrontation, so I shut up. But now I keep thinking about it, and the more I think about it, the less I understand. Does anyone know what he meant? Does anyone know what he is doing? I don't like feeling like I am being robbed. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:51 AM PST Make sure your HSA allows for reimbursements before doing this! If they do, put all your medical expenses on a rewards credit card and then get a reimbursement to pay off the full balance. You'll get the tax free effect of the HSA and get to keep the rewards points. As long as you don't hold the balance there won't be any interest assessed. Works great for large expenses like a broken bone or, if allowed, braces. Edit: I've since learned you can reimburse yourself at any time, so you should save your receipts and reimburse yourself years later after your funds have had a chance to grow tax free. Thanks u/iamtherussianspy and u/BikingEngineer for explaining. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After 8 years, I finally realized company loyalty does not benefit you Posted: 05 Nov 2020 03:00 PM PST I would have had my eight year anniversary at the end of this month, and really I wish I didn't feel I had to leave. However though, after all that time, three promotions, I finally looked elsewhere, and I found a raise that basically matched all the raises I made at my old company in eight years and through those promotions. It sucks, and I know I am not breaking new ground here, but I do wish companies would realize that rewarding employees for sticking it out isn't some horrendous concept. Also, I could understand, especially this year, if the company was struggling. They weren't though. In the third quarter are net revenue was the same as third quarter last year, all while telling all of us that there were not likely to be raises this year. They talked out of both sides of their mouth. In any case, I am sad to leave. I liked my coworkers and I had a great vacation package, but honestly, I could not pass up the money and I couldn't continue to take the constant slaps in the face when it came to pay and this extra money will make a huge difference in my life. Basically, screw company loyalty. It isn't worth it and only benefits your employer. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gift card fraud and Home Depot Posted: 06 Nov 2020 12:01 PM PST I bought $150 of gift cards from Home Depot (3 cards of $50 each) as a gift for my contractors who rebuilt my deck. I ordered the cards online via the Home Depot website on 8/3 (technically 12a on 8/4) in two orders: one for $50 and another for $100, the second order got processed around 9a on 8/4. Printed out the cards, put them in separate envelopes, and gave one to the contractor who did the final cleanup. When their boss came by at the end of the week, I gave him the other two to give to them. Fast forward to a month later, he calls me to tell me that two of the cards had a zero balance when his guys went to use them at the register. I call the gift card line to see if I can get a transaction history; that leads to three back and forth calls between Home Depot customer support and the gift card support. Ultimately they tell me I have to go into a store to get the history. I do that, and the store claims there's no such thing possible. I then call the gift card line in the parking lot, who tells me they don't know what they're talking about. Long story short, I get a manager who ultimately emails me the transaction history. Two of the cards were used around 5p with receipts from Georgia (I live in MA and so do the contractors) on 8/4, the day I bought them online. The fraud department in Home Depot confirmed that the transactions originated in Montana and New Jersey. They admitted this is clearly some kind of theft of the cards. Now, I'd understand if the contractors were dumb and say, entered the gift cards into some bogus website to check the balance, resulting in the theft, but I only gave ONE of the two cards that got stolen to a contractor at 4/5p on 8/4, yet the transactions occurred at 5:06p for two cards--one of which I still possessed. And all I did on my end between 12a and 9a was print them out. Fraud department refuses to do anything about it and said basically, "these are cash so it's not our responsibility if someone steals cash out of your pocket." Except the problem here is that the cash technically never GOT IN MY POCKET, as far as I can tell, to begin with. It's like they were stolen hours after being processed, before me or my contractors could have compromised the numbers. Has anyone had a similar experience? Is there a chance I could issue a chargeback thru my credit card for the stolen card balance? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 12:31 PM PST And by eventually, I mean preferably before their 30's. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Got rear-ended by an uninsured motorist. Should I give out her info to the insurance company? Posted: 06 Nov 2020 02:56 PM PST TLDR: Got rear-ended by an uninsured motorist. Should I give out her info to the insurance company? So I was in Dallas, as I was slowing down to get off the highway I was rear-ended by this lady. We parked and examined the damage, my rear bumper got some scratches and poped off on the right side with a quarter size dent on the side. Her car was already pretty messed up so I couldn't tell what are the new damages. She told me her insurance just ended and she didn't renew and wish to just cover the cost herself. I said I don't mind as long as you help me fix this (I didn't think it'll cost too much). But I still got her info (plant#, insurance details, phone#, address...) Came back home and got the estimates from two body shops and ended up costing ~$1200. I phoned her and she said that's a lot, so I told her I have an uninsured motorist coverage so maybe she can just pay for the deductible. My question is, I know if I put her info into the claim, my insurance company will eventually inform DMV and ask her to pay the repair fee, and raise her premium. (which we try to avoid, or maybe I shouldn't care..). Or should I file a hit and run, so her info stays out of the system and just let her pay for my deductible? Will this affect my premium? P.S. (no police report was filed) [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:02 AM PST Long story short. Corona hit my family pretty hard, and I had to leave my job teaching. I had to apply for a tax penalty reduction, take my retirement out and spend it in an emergency. I'm left with 5K, am now at a 12 an hour job (clearly not my final stop), and have a very small one man lawncare biz on the side. My car is paid off, bills are not a worry and I have an emergency fund of 6 months of bills. Where do I starts with saving my retirement? What do I do with the 5k I have left. Thank you so much. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 05 Nov 2020 02:08 PM PST Locked thread I guess due to bad advice. I'm in the US and I think it's around 150k. Give or take. I'll see if I can talk to a CPA about it. I have one for taxes. Thank you for the advice and if this gets unlocked I'll keep an eye out on new comments. Thank you everyone for the sound advice. —- Long story short, just found out after my dad passed away, that my mom is now sitting on a few hundred thousand in cash. Not millions or anything outrageous. Basically their retirement for low property taxes and food. They come from a country that has massive bank issues, so they always kept everything liquid. No I'm not happy. I could have bare minimum had it grow with inflation, if I knew. Now my mom is looking for help from me to resolve this, because they haven't worked in over a decade so it'll look like they were sitting on cash from some unmarked business or something. Is there a solution to this other than reporting it a second time and paying tax on it? Thank you. Just trying to figure this out without going nuts. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I earn $1,400 biweekly, should I buy a new car if it's a $300-400 monthly car payment? Posted: 06 Nov 2020 03:02 PM PST It's $50k/year but after tax and benefits it's about $1,450 every two weeks. I have no hobbies that cost money yet really, but my rent and utilities is about $1,350 a month so the leftover from that paycheck can cover my food/groceries until the next paycheck which I can pretty much do whatever with. I have a Toyota Camry that's paid off but I moved to another state last year and kind of procrastinated getting my car insurance policy in this state (illegal, I know) and that policy is expiring so I need to start a policy on my own instead of being on my dad's policy anyway. I will also need new tires soon and one of the wheels has a noise coming out of it when driving at low speed. So that's at least a $1,000 expense sometime soon. I'm looking at a RAV4 that's $27k; I want to ask for $24k, the Camry is at least $5k, I have a 700 even credit score (just got my first cc last year), and can maybe make a $10k down payment. Some calculators say that puts me at about $375/month for 48 months so with that entire second paycheck this seems pretty doable? Should I buy? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ACH transfer cancelled by receiving bank, money stuck in limbo Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:28 PM PST Last month I tried moving money from my Fidelity brokerage to a new Citi checking account. For some reason Citi cancelled the transaction, and was later told on the phone there was a hold on my account. They told me to contact Fidelity to get my funds back, but long conversations with both Fidelity and Citi have got me nowhere. Is there something else I can try besides being bounced between customer service departments? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:01 PM PST I just started a new job making 75k. My after tax income is 5k a month. After rent & expenses I have about 3k that I can save. Im 25 with 10k in cash and 30k in an IRA but 25k in student debt. I already decided it doesnt make sense for me to pay off that debt ASAP. They are federal loans at 3.9% and since theyre tax deductible the actual rate is lower and my monthly is $300. My company matches 6% and gives me $500 a year for my HSA so to max out all retirement accounts it would cost me $24,000 and then I can still save $1,000 a month. Should I do this? The only reason I would say no is because I am currently living at home and would want to save for a house and also might need to buy a car in the near future. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:16 PM PST If I find an apartment in my ideal area (near the university), I'd be paying about $1K a month. I'm thinking, I might as well put $1K a month to something I'll own for 4 years, and then rent it out or sell when I move out. I have excellent credit, but not much money saved (probably around $50K including 401K/IRA). [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Advice for 18 yr old who feels he has been led astray Posted: 06 Nov 2020 12:56 PM PST To the advice of my dad, I opened an account with TD Ameritrade to store money I have made from my recently acquired job. It is an individual brokerage account. I was led to believe that this was essentially a bank account, and that I do not in fact need one. However, I am having issues even figuring out how to spend the money I have deposited. It seems my only course of action is to get a TD Ameritrade visa as Ameritrade frequently suggests, however this seems to be messy. I have a suspicion that I do in fact need a bank account and that solely having a brokerage account is a poor move. Please let me know what is best to do next. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bank of America Rewards Program- An Analysis Posted: 06 Nov 2020 05:15 PM PST I know a lot of folks who have Bank of America, but either haven't heard of or don't really use their Preferred Rewards program. Which is sad, because it's literally the only reason I still stick it out with BoA. I did this analysis of how much cash back / savings I get to show a friend, and figured I'd share it here with y'all. What is Bank of America's Preferred Rewards program? It's a tiered rewards program, where you earn a variety of perks of various amounts depending on how many assets you have with BoA. You get cash back boosts, better loan interest rates, waived fees, a priority support phone number and more. What assumptions does this analysis make? This assumes you have $100,000 in assets with BoA; I know this seems like a lot, but I consolidated our family's IRAs and 529 college savings plans into Merrill, which is owned by BoA; I also moved money out of high-yield savings into BoA savings and closed my other brokerage accounts. (Edit: the first rewards tier starts at $20k in assets) I've altered some of the numbers for what my family spends each month and the values of our loans to be more generic and easier to work with. Obviously your spending will be different. We use the BoA Cash Rewards credit card for everything. You get 3% cash back on the category you choose (we went with online shopping, thanks Amazon), 2% on groceries and 1% on everything else. The Numbers
Explanations Cash Back Bonus: In addition to the 3% we get for online purchases, we get an additional 75% boost, effectively meaning we earn 5.25% cash back on most of our purchases. Cash Back Deals: A rotating variety of businesses will offer larger cash back deals, usually ranging from 5-10%. We try not to eat out often, but when we do, it's because there's a cash back deal. Cash Back Deal Milestones: If you redeem 4 of the cash back deals within a certain timeframe (~3 months), you get a $5 bonus. We can usually claim this bonus twice before it resets the clock, so we make $10 every couple months. Does this make sense for me? Everyone should run their own numbers, but after adding it all up, it was easily worth the time and effort to move our accounts over from Ally Bank, Schwab, etc, even with the lower savings interest rates or higher fund fees; this was the case even without having our loans through BoA. Wait a minute, do you work for Bank of America? Nope, I'm a programmer in the tech start-up world. I just see people ragging on BoA all the time in PF, so figured I'd explain why I still stick with them. I hope it helps at least one person start earning money they're missing out on. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| On unemployment: going freelance, heard unemployment might get extended. A couple questions Posted: 06 Nov 2020 02:03 PM PST Hey there. So the basics are: Was employed for almost 20 years as an animator. They went under during covid, and had to lay us off. Currently on unemployment, which runs out soon. But I heard it might get extended by as much as 20 weeks? My wife works and we have benefits through her employer I'm working on my new website and beefing up my portfolio in hopes of building a freelance career through some contacts and old employer still has some things coming up. QUESTIONS 1- I set up an LLC for my new freelance company. This is who my clients will pay, and I guess this LLC will pay me. I'm not sure how to "pay" myself from the LLC. Do I just take money out when I need it to live, or do I pay myself a set weekly amount? At first there will be nothing in there, and I'd like to build up some savings for new computers/software and such. 2 - If unemployment gets extended, but lets say I make $1500 on a project, and when filing for unemployment I say I worked this week and made $1500, do they just end my unemployment instantly, assuming I found a new job, even though I may not find another job for a month, or if I DO, I may not get paid for 2 months? Or do they keep me on, and just make up the difference in my old salary and new salary until my weeks run out? (They are paying like $740 a week). 3 - obviously, my initial freelance pay is going to be far less than my old salary for awhile and inconsistent . If unemployment gets extended 20 weeks, but I start making small, inconsistent amounts of money from my freelance, how do I report that? Do I report it only when my clients pay me at the end of the job (meaning, I might have a job that takes me 3 weeks. "Technically" I am working those 3 weeks, but not getting any money until it is done.) Also, does the the government consider me "getting paid" when the client pays my LLC, or when I take money from the LLC? 4- I'd love to be on unemployment during any weeks when I don't have work to help fill in the lean weeks, because I know building up a client base is going to take a long time, but I'm not sure if that's an option. Thanks for any advice [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 05 Nov 2020 05:44 AM PST I am closing on selling my house in upstate New York tomorrow which will net me a $73,000 profit. I'm currently living and working in Northern California with no hope of buying a house again for a year or two minimum. Can anyone give me ideas on what to do with this check tomorrow so I can put this money to work? Thanks!! Edit: Wow I didn't expect this outpouring of support. I've been working all day and haven't had much chance to get in here. I am going to read all these replies carefully and take some notes. Thanks again all! P.S. Many, many folks have mentioned capital gains taxes. I lived in the house for the last 4 years and it is the only residence I had and sold so no capital gains taxes. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Evaluation of My Current Strategy Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:35 PM PST Hi Reddit, I've (23 M) been considering my current position over and over again in my head and it seems to make sense, but I decided putting it to the test for strangers on the internet to evaluate it, Here are the major pointers:
So I guess what I'n really wondering is, if you were teleported into my shoes, would you be doing the same thing or doing something different? And why? I've also recently been thinking about going for a masters degree in data science. My company will reimburse me 10k a year for education and the company I work for is poised to make tremendous expanses in this space over the next decade (think big Pharma). The only thing is I really hated school when I went for my BS degree and have really enjoyed not having any responsibilities after work these days. However I recognize since I am only 23, now is the time to hustle and set myself up for success. is this a good plan? Is gong for a MS necessary or a good idea? Any other comments or questions? pls help or give me prospective people of reddit. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:16 AM PST Tl:Dr - set goals and reward yourself for reaching them. I recently reached a certain $ amount of assets to my name. And I rewarded myself with a nice something. I am a gamer, so it was a new gaming PC. It just so happened my old one was 5+ years old. And now every time I game, I remember how happy I was to hit that goal and the sacrifices I made to get there. This goal can be anything, 1 month paycheck in savings, zero cc debt, no more late payments on bills, $500 in savings. Anything. But the reward should also be respective to the goal. What good is money if you don't enjoy it from time to time. Money management is hard for a -lot- of people. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 05:45 PM PST Wife and I have been separated for a few months and she does not work. She is with our child who is 3. Moved out with family down the rode. I see my wife and child everyday. Wife just needed space and she has never said anything about divorce. Her license and most mail come to the house but of course all her amazon packages go to the house she is currently living. My question is should I file married but separated or jointly? Has anyone had a situation like this? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST I'm a new college grad and joined a company that had a signing bonus of 2k. However I have received a very competitive offer at another company and when leaving my contract states I'll pay back the bonus if it's within the first year. I was taxed for the bonus but I've kept 2k in my savings for if this happens. How does that work out paying it back? Do I pay them 2k then I get if back my loss in my tax return? Do I pay them the amount I actually received? Sorry if these are obvious questions, I've never been in this situation. Also for reference I'm in NY, USA. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Nov 2020 05:12 PM PST My wife and I (both aged 33) are moving to the Central Coast area of California in the next few months. She will make $300k/yr and I'm at $85k/yr. She has student loans of about $300k but will qualify for the public service loan forgiveness program in 6 years. I have $120k in student loans. We have ~$300k saved. We have a 4-month old and want to purchase a home in the next few years. What do we do in terms of saving for retirement (both have $0 saved, but her employer will match 100% up to $12000) and also saving for a home (ideally, we want our first home to be our 'forever' home)? Do we pay off my loans, average of 5% federal loans? What repayment plan should each of us be on? Should we file taxes separately or married joint to take advantage of paying as less as possible on her loans while tackling my loans? Do we contribute to my retirement (no 401k available), or save that money for our home? For the area, looks like we'll be in the $1.5M range for an average home. I don't know if I'm forgetting any information but will update accordingly. Thank you! Edit: Estimated expense: Rent $3,025.00 Cars $600 Insurance $325.00 Fuel $300.00 Phone $240.00 Internet $100.00 Daycare $1,000.00 Student Loans $3,283.09 Food $600.00 Heathcare $362.00 Electric $200.00 Water+Garbage $160.00 [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most tax efficient way to invest multiple sources of income? Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:23 PM PST Hi everyone, I currently work as a part time cashier (about $700-$800 per month, $5000 total gross by end of year) and I have a tutoring gig on Fiverr (about $1000-$1500 per month, $4500 total by end of year). I also have about $3500 separate non-income money that I just have from money saved up before I was 18. Currently I have a Roth IRA and I have a few questions and confusions about tax advantaged retirement accounts that I could take advantage of.
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| Resources Needed to Assist Mom on Disability Posted: 06 Nov 2020 05:09 PM PST Hello my favorite advice sub. I am trying to stay as anonymous as I can. Right now I am trying to assist my mother who is currently separated from my father. She currently has social security income, Medicare/Medicaid. My father and her over the course of their marriage have had as far as I can tell an insane and irresponsible saga of managing money. Their relationship is incredibly complicated. My mother has had a brain injury which means she can't care for herself alone (although she's mostly independent). My father is unemployed and unwell. There are a lot of complicated money things going on but right now I'm curious about property and figuring out a more reasonable place for my mom to live. They co-own a property that my dad is currently staying at and which my grandmother lives in permanently. My mom is in their home which she owns outright, her name is the only one on the deed. It was a gift from a family member who passed away. Mom wants to be on her own. She has no income other than what I mentioned above. The house is too big for her and is in complete disrepair. It's worth about $319,000 if it were move-in ready but I have no idea what it's actually worth. Maybe $250,000 right now. Mom is in early 60's. She has a pension from a job many many years ago but I don't think she's at the age yet where she can get that money, or maybe she's just got to that age. My goals: - have mom in a much smaller, cheaper apartment - sell the house and create some kind of trust for her, and have dad get his share so he can start a new life - avoid lawyers and overhead costs as much as possible My questions: - can people who receive SSDI buy a home/condo with the proceeds from another home? Or can they only rent? - can my parents do this separation without a formal divorce? What benefits would a divorce offer us? - I don't want to shit all over my dad and keep him set up since although he is not on disability himself he is struggling to stay employed. I want to be aware of issues that a divorce could pose for him as well. I really just don't know where to begin. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best way to get out of a moderate amount of debt? Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:17 PM PST So I've been unemployed due to the pandemic and my benefits ran out in July and I've run out of savings and am about $400 in immediate debt on top of monthly bills. I just barely got a job that's fairly low paying so I don't know how to attack the issue. Would a loan be best? I don't know where I could get one with my situation. [link] [comments]  |
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