Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of February 26, 2021 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of February 26, 2021
- Think Twice Before Moving Into Your Rental To Avoid Taxes
- Truebill has their negotiation reps call and impersonate you to your bill companies!
- Homeowners Insurance Dropping Us
- The company I work for got sold and I will be receiving high equity as income. Are there any steps I can take to minimizing my tax burden?
- I made a basic budgeting spreadsheet. Free to use.
- Fidelity Fraud Team asking for Proof of Address - Accidentally used PO Box address
- First car accident. Declared not at fault by my insurance and given money for my car that was totalled, other party is delaring not at fault as well. What will happen?
- 39 and Just Got My First Credit Card Ever.. By Accident. Good or Bad?
- I just gave a recruiter the last 4 of my SSN and DOB, did I mess up?
- I quit my company last week, can I contribute and max out my HSA?
- Received an email from IdentityTheft.gov saying "Thank you for reporting identity theft to the FTC" which I have not...
- Grocery vs Eating / Ordering Out Expenses for the last 5 years
- (USA) I'm a cosigner on a loan. If I refinance the loan only under my name, will it hurt the other person's credit to not be on it anymore?
- Feeling overwhelmed by mounting debt
- Payoff Car Loan or Pay down Student Loans?
- TRS - Teacher Retirement (Texas)
- New Job, New Salary ... same perpetual treading of water.
- What do with previous employers 401K?
- Need advice on whether to refinance or stay put
- Help me fire my "wealth" manager
- (US) Small medical labwork bill accidentally unpaid was sent to collections. How do I repair my credit score?
- When can/should I cancel gap insurance?
- Do I have enough to build a house?
- Leasing a vehicle. Yes or No?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of February 26, 2021 Posted: 26 Feb 2021 09:00 AM PST If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! [link] [comments]  |
| Think Twice Before Moving Into Your Rental To Avoid Taxes Posted: 26 Feb 2021 04:52 AM PST
I am sharing this because 2 out of 5 year rule has slightly changed but ppl may not be aware of the change. [link] [comments]  |
| Truebill has their negotiation reps call and impersonate you to your bill companies! Posted: 26 Feb 2021 04:36 PM PST So I had truebill for a while but because I do 99% of my own bill negotiation I forgot all about it, until today customer service at Verizon told me that someone called saying THEY WERE ME, and asked how much my bill was and if there were any specific discounts available. The customer service rep thought it was odd and tried to verify their identity and the person lied about my husband just stepping out and not having access to a computer or whatever to verify their identity. Then they must've hung up on the rep. THANKFULLY the rep called me back and told me all of this so we reported it as fraud because negotiating on my behalf is one thing, but calling and LYING that you are me, is a whole other level of icky I'm not paying anyone to do. I haven't seen anyone else have this experience so I thought I would share. I immediately deleted my account with them. Honestly, if that customer service rep hadn't thought something was fishy I would've never known that's how they do their "negotiations" with your billers. Also the reason I am very positive that it was Truebill is because while I was on the phone with the customer service rep, I received one of those emails talking about how it appears that I have the lowest rate available at Verizon right now...*eye roll* I mean that's hella creepy right??? And yes, I know we give them our acct numbers and info and whatnot to negotiate but I was always under the assumption that they were letting the companies know they were an authorized third party. Like what's stopping one of their negotiators from literally ordering tons of stuff on my account and me having no way of verifying that it WASN'T me? Idk that was just too weird for me so Truebill is getting an F- from me. Plus for anyone who is just getting the service or contemplating it still, i have had it over 2-3 years now and they've only ever "saved" me money once. And instead of actually getting me a year's worth of savings like they said, they only got a month's promotion. Yet they swiftly took 40% of what was the supposed ANNUAL savings amount. 100 TRASH. [link] [comments]  |
| Homeowners Insurance Dropping Us Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:08 AM PST Our homeowners insurance is dropping us because of too many water related claims in 2 years of ownership. The first was for pre-existing mold discovered during a kitchen remodel that likely resulted from a faulty upstairs bathroom remodel by the previous owner (bathroom was fixed before we purchased but the water damage had been done). That claim was denied because it pre-dated our policy. The second claim was a basement flood due to a faulty sump pump (replaced with new primary and battery back up sump pumps), and third was a basement flood due to epic rain-induced blockage of our waste water line (sump now exits on corner of our property rather than into the waste water line). Insurance paid out for damage from first and second claims, and we've paid out of pocket to remedy both issues. Any advice for convincing our insurance not to dump us? Is providing evidence of remedial measures a waste of time? And any tips for finding a new provider given this development? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2021 05:23 PM PST I own options in a company that sold and I'll be receiving around 1 million dollars as ordinary income. I live in Northern California. What steps can I take to minimize the income tax I pay? Can I create a business to get huge loss to offset the gain? [link] [comments]  |
| I made a basic budgeting spreadsheet. Free to use. Posted: 26 Feb 2021 08:55 PM PST Hi guys, my hobby is creating spreadsheets and I decided to make a basic budgeting one for the fun of it. What it does It allows you to enter your own income and expense categories, assign a expected/budget value to them. You can then track them over a period of time. I set it up as basic as possible, so the expected income and expense budgets are static and not categorized into months, but for learning about budgets and not being overwhelmed with spreadsheet tabs I think it does a good job. Links Let me know what you all think! (Especially if there are any massive oversights that I've overlooked) [link] [comments]  |
| Fidelity Fraud Team asking for Proof of Address - Accidentally used PO Box address Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:13 PM PST My Fidelity account is locked and has $7000 in there so I'm doing my best to unlock my account. Fidelity asked for my identity, bank statements, and proof of address. My PO Box has a physical address attached to it, so I've been using my PO Box physical address for everything since I just live with a friend and pay them cash every month. Usually when companies ask for my proof of address, my bank statement or car insurance with suffice. I've faxed that over to Fidelity and they verified my identity and bank statements but they said they strictly need a gas/electric/rent bill for proof of address and for me to confirm my account and to unlock it. I don't know what to do, and I'm wondering if I should just tell them straight up that I accidentally used my PO Box physical address as my address, but I don't want them to close my account and take my money. I'm not going to do anything illegal as well like forging a bill as it could get me in legal trouble. My current plan is to wait until I get a new address where I actually pay the bills, then go to a local Fidelity office to show them I changed my address with the corresponding bills to back it up. It might be a few months to a year from now until I'll have a place of my own though. Also, because of covid and the current stock situation now, it might be best to lay low for now. Is it even legal for them to keep my money indefinitely? Does anyone else have the same experience or advice? Please help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2021 01:47 PM PST I apologize if this is the wrong sub for this kind of stuff so please bare with me. This is also my first accident so I don't know what to expect. My situation kind of sucks. I was making a left turn on a GREEN ARROW and got hit by a driver on the opposite side. No witnesses. The police didn't even know who was at fault. This whole thing is making me second question myself because at the light I remember thinking "wow green arrow? That was fast". I'm very frustrated. My car was totalled and I bought a new car and my insurance has declared me as not at fault. A few weeks ago they said that they declared me not at fault because the other party's insurance was having a very hard time contacting the other party (something about his phone number not being correct and the fact that he never made a claim the day of accident). I am also seeking medical care because I was injured. Because of my injuries, I was told to contact the other persons insurance. I did that today and they told me they needed a statement from me because the other party is claiming not at fault. I was confused because I thought this was dealt with? What will happen from here? I called my insurance and they told me I don't have to worry because I'm not at fault but then why is the other party declaring they're not at fault as well? [link] [comments]  |
| 39 and Just Got My First Credit Card Ever.. By Accident. Good or Bad? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:50 PM PST Hi! So, all my adult life my credit has been bad enough to make sure I never got approved for a credit card. Fine by me. Once in a while I'd fill out an application to try to get whatever reward was being offered to sign up for the card. but never was approved for one. Today I was on Amazon & they had a good offer to apply for their card so I applied, ready to say at least I tried, but NO. I'd gotten approved? I've never had a credit card. I don't know how they work. It'd be nice to borrow $20 from it as necessary, pay it back when I get paid, rinse and repeat, with no cost to me. Is this possible? To borrow money for nothing? Thanks! EDIT: Thanks so much for all your help! I truly appreciate all of the constructive comments, and am grateful that everyone was so patient & kind! [link] [comments]  |
| I just gave a recruiter the last 4 of my SSN and DOB, did I mess up? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 12:28 PM PST I have been job searching for a while and I was contacted by a recruiter on Linkedin about a job available in my area. We talked on the phone a little about the role and then they got me excited by telling me about the next steps in the process, such as getting an interview. At the end of the call they told me in order to get me into their system they needed by DOB and last 4 of my SSN, which I gave them. Immediately after hanging up I realized this might have been a mistake and I might have given away to much personal information, should I be worried or take any steps to protect myself? [link] [comments]  |
| I quit my company last week, can I contribute and max out my HSA? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:15 PM PST I quit my company last week and was contributing to my HSA and am $2k away from the max. My new employer does not have a high deductible health health plan. Can I still contribute and max out my account? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2021 04:18 PM PST Any idea what this means since it seems to come from a legit source? [link] [comments]  |
| Grocery vs Eating / Ordering Out Expenses for the last 5 years Posted: 26 Feb 2021 03:27 PM PST I have been tracking all expenses for the past decade, the last 5 years is when the family grew to the current size of 6. Other than housing, our biggest expense is by far food cost. We don't have a budget for it, but the monthly spending is always roughly the within +/- $150 or so every month. We mostly meal prep during the week and eat out on the weekend (not a rule, just whenever we are up for it). I always thought if we don't eat out at all, we would save tons of money. What actually ended up happening during the pandemic was we tried to cook more variety of food and try to use better ingredients and the cost ended up being about the same! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2021 12:41 PM PST I am trying to refinance this loan because the other person is not responsible about payments, and they're not going to be approved to take over the loan themselves. [link] [comments]  |
| Feeling overwhelmed by mounting debt Posted: 26 Feb 2021 09:09 AM PST Hello, first time here and posting on mobile, sorry in advance for any formatting issues. My wife and I (mid 20s) have been together for almost six years, and in that time we've accumulated $62,000 in credit card debt and loans. The monthly payments on these debts accounts for over half of our expenses. We fortunately own our home and have a roommate to help with mortgage and utility expenses, but we're still barely breaking even. After all bills are paid we normally have approximately $600 each pay period for groceries, gas, food for our pets and other various expenses. My wife recently purchased a new car due to hers dying, and mine is getting up in age. I'm concerned that if we need to add another car payment to our debt that it'll finally put us at a breaking point. We're looking to meet with a financial advisor, and I fully don't trust any debt settlement company to handle things responsibly. I've floated the idea of chapter 13 bankruptcy, but that would obviously come as a really solid hit to our credit. Help? Any advice would be immensely appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Payoff Car Loan or Pay down Student Loans? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:15 AM PST We've been working hard to pay down debt over the last few years to where currently we have only our mortgage, student loans and a small balance remaining on an auto loan. I recently received a bonus from work and now that our emergency savings is built up I'd like to put this bonus towards either our student loans or remaining car loan. Unfortunately the total bonus is not enough to cover our full remaining student loan balance but would be able to cut the balance down by nearly 80%, while it could pay off the car loan and leave a couple hundred dollars left that I could put towards the student loan. The interest on the student loan is about 5% while the car is 2.5%. The monthly payments are nearly identical. My instinct is to try to pay off the higher interest account with student loans but I'm fighting the urge to go for the moral victory in paying off the car loan 2 years early. Which should I focus on right now? [link] [comments]  |
| TRS - Teacher Retirement (Texas) Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:04 PM PST Looking for some advice. I have 7 years of service with TRS. I have $31,002 in that account. I have been contemplating with rolling over that money into a Fidelity or Empower account that I have. I worked in research at a university, I'm not a teacher. I am in healthcare and I will retire in healthcare (I love my job). So there is little to no chance that I'll go back into TRS. I'm sometimes get this wild hair that my money would be better suited elsewhere. Thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| New Job, New Salary ... same perpetual treading of water. Posted: 26 Feb 2021 07:26 PM PST So, I could use words of encouragement and perhaps a suggestion or two at the moment. Just signed an offer sheet that bumped my pay from $34,000 annually to $57,480 (both pre-tax). I've been trying to put together a five year financial plan and am realizing that I'm just not going to hit the goals I'm shooting for. I met the love of my life two years ago and want to propose this summer ($1000 for a ring goal). Then there's saving for the wedding ($8000 goal due in 14 months-ish). I have no family help to pay for that. May be compromising on that price tag, I imagine. I have a leased vehicle that's coming due in October that I'm budgeting roughly $2,000 on between mileage overages, repairs and fees. Then that leaves me needing to budget for the next vehicle in order to get to my new job 30 miles away. Lastly, saving for the gold-standard 20% down on a home with a due date of roughly 2-years out. Oh yeah ... I'm 33 and she's 35. Kids are in our near future as well. $60,000 in student loans return to accumulating interest in September. Still trying to populate emergency funds and retirement savings too. Travel? Not likely. On the one hand, it's helpful to have it all laid out (even if imperfectly). On the other hand, it's discouraging to see that my goals aren't really realistic. I imagine the major compromises are in the ring, wedding costs, and the home downpayment. I really don't want to go back into more debt with another lease when my vehicle comes due, but I don't see myself saving enough for a purchase at that point. Is it just going to take a while to dig out of this hole? [link] [comments]  |
| What do with previous employers 401K? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 12:59 PM PST So long story short, I got laid off in September and I was enrolled in the company's 401K plan. Currently it's sitting at about $5,500. When I got my new current job I enrolled into their 401K plan. I'm 22 and am currently trying to get my financial situation to a point where I afford a house. I'd be buying it with my soon to be fiancé who is a mechanical engineer. I'm at a lost of what to do with that 401K from my old job. Should I withdraw it, take the 10% hit and save that money for a house while saving in my current 401k?? Should I roll it over to my new one or just keep it in the account's it's currently in? I've also considered using it as a emergency fund as I have about $2500 as a emergency fund. I'm lost at what to do. [link] [comments]  |
| Need advice on whether to refinance or stay put Posted: 26 Feb 2021 02:51 PM PST State- Arkansas House Value when bought- 174500 Would it make sense to get a lower interest rate with this setup? [link] [comments]  |
| Help me fire my "wealth" manager Posted: 26 Feb 2021 12:54 PM PST Hey hive mind. How's it going. Some years ago a family member passed away. Their assets (read: house) were liquidated and distributed to the heirs. My part was placed into a trust until I turned 40. Yes, forty years of age. In the meantime another family member (dad) was responsible for managing this money. Dad is fairly hands off with investing and managing money and so he used a "wealth" management firm to manage this money. When the trust dissolved I was too busy to figure this out and signed paperwork to keep the money invested with this firm. I believe my father has all or most of his finances managed by this firm and thus the fee structure maybe made sense. But when you consider my part on its own it doesn't. Also I am underwhelmed with the firm. They don't seem to be doing enough for what they charge. I am normally a huge fan of low-cost index funds. I have a vaguely "boglehead" 3-fund approach for my other investments. It is mostly set-and-forget. I rebalance 2-4 times a year. I am not an avid trader. Also most of my savings is in tax shelters (IRAs, etc). I am not used to dealing with capital gains taxes. This firm has my inheritance invested in more than a dozen individual stocks and some corporate bonds and what looks like a CD ladder. Some of the stocks have been held for over a decade and have some size-able gains. How do I go about efficiently transitioning these funds from the active and expensive management to a cheaper, more set-and-forget, hands off DIY approach? My plan:
Am I on the right track here? Anything I need to be looking out for here? Thanks for reading.. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2021 06:34 PM PST So basically this blood work lab was mailing my bill to my old apartment that I moved out of and I never knew I owed them anything since I paid a bill already up front at the time (apparently there was still more balance left to pay). Last week I got a call from a collections agency saying the bill was sent to collections. I did not understand so I said I'll contact the lab and get back to them. I checked my credit score and it had shot down 125 points due to this. After calling the lab I found out I still owed $200. I paid it immediately and they said they'll contact the collections agency and retract the collections account. My question is now that I've done this, will my -125 score be undone in a matter of time once everything is processed, or do I still have to call all the credit agencies and dispute everything? [link] [comments]  |
| When can/should I cancel gap insurance? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 12:17 PM PST Bought a used car (previously leased by someone else) a few years ago, and I included gap insurance. I now owe less on it than its worth. Is this the right time to cancel the gap insurance, get the refund, and apply it to my payments? Or is there some other reason to keep it on? [link] [comments]  |
| Do I have enough to build a house? Posted: 26 Feb 2021 11:42 AM PST House+lot would be 200k, closing would be 4k. I would have 18k to put down, 3k float, 800 credit, no debt. 52k gross income. No idea what generally is expected finance-wise for building a house vs buying a house. Just wondering if I'm in the ballpark. Wanting to avoid the 3% down plans, as I am getting a fairly large promotion and raise (52k to 90k) at the end of the year when my senior position retires. Planning on hammering the mortgage down asap to get out of PMI [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 26 Feb 2021 03:42 PM PST My SO mentioned something the other day about wanting to lease a vehicle but I'm against the idea. First off, we are saving for a house and we both currently have working vehicles, granted his isn't in the best condition. Both owned outright, so only paying for insurance each month. Second, I was always told leasing is a terrible idea. You are pouring money into a vehicle and (from my understanding) still have to cover all the maintenance costs. I see zero benefit to leasing unless the dealership is covering the maintenance for free. I was always raised with the mentality of you buy a vehicle and keep it until it gets run into the ground. My family only got rid of vehicles when they literally broke beyond repair or just became too costly to fix anymore. Every family vehicle we had growing up was kept for 10+ years. So I just wanted know, do I have the wrong idea/mindset about leasing? Does it ever make more sense to lease than buy? Pros/cons? Thanks for any advice. [link] [comments]  |
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