Personal Finance Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of March 08, 2021 |
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of March 08, 2021
- Chase is holding my money hostage.
- I received a check in the mail from a loan business
- Am I understanding Roth IRAs correctly?
- Loan Officer trying to change our interest rate after we signed off on the 'locked in' rate
- Why do some states have seemingly asinine tax brackets?
- Show me the money
- Mom died without will or anything documented. How do I find retirement funds?
- What happens if someone loses the ability to control their money?
- Car hit by university maintenance while I was parked
- Husband got job offer I’m worried is a scam
- How much should I have in savings before moving out on my own?
- $6k better in IRA or Tues a house down payment
- Roth IRA hands off
- 2021 Child Tax Credit -- should I delay filing 2020?
- Stuck in a toxic job while expecting a baby
- Am I eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit if I qualified as a dependent in 2020, but no one claimed me as one?
- Advice on potential Housing Purchase
- Old medical debt that was dealt with 6 years ago suddenly showed up on credit report.
- Inherited 45k, want to invest for retirement, but I know nothing about investing
- Limits on monetary gifts from abroad
- Do I just "get more money" filing Married jointly?
- Just got a temperary (6 month) position and need reliable transit. Should I lease, buy used, or uber?
- Is Locking a Rate on a Pre-Approved Mortgage Loan Possible Right Now?
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of March 08, 2021 Posted: 08 Mar 2021 03:00 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]  |
| Chase is holding my money hostage. Posted: 08 Mar 2021 05:19 PM PST Today I woke up to a text message and email from Chase saying that my phone number was removed from my account, which I did not approve. I thought that was weird so I tried logging into my Chase app but could not login and got a message that my account was frozen. I called the number to get to the bottom of this and the person on the phone told me that because I reside in California but collect unemployment in Minnesota they flagged my account because they thought that was suspicious. I'm a flight attendant who is based in Minnesota and commute from California where I live. I'm not the only person who does this there are thousands of flight attendants and pilots who do this, as well as truck drivers. I have been collecting MNUI since April 2020 with no issue until now, a year later. Anyways I was told to take two forms of ID and proof that I am the recipient of unemployment from Minnesota. So I gathered my documents and went to my nearest Chase which did not have any available bankers to help me and I was advised to set up an appointment through the app. I told them that I could not login because I was frozen out of my account and they informed me that I should call the branches to see which ones had availability. They did not attempt to help me make an appointment even though they knew I did not have access to my account. I was finally able to get an appointment with a different branch and when I got there with all my documents (2 gov issues IDs, a letter from MN UI, and my 1099G form from MN with my name, address, SSN, and MN Dept of Employment Services address on there) I was informed by the corporate person on the phone with the banker that the only acceptable document would be a form that I received last year detailing my benefits amount. Well of course I don't have that document with me anymore as it was from a year ago, and I had no issue collecting UI for a year. Also, why wouldn't the 1099G suffice? And why is it so suspicious that I am receiving unemployment benefits from a state I don't reside in? I cannot be the only flight attendant in the country who commutes to work. The person on the corporate fraud line told me that they won't let me access my funds, or even close my account and withdraw my funds unless I can supply that one specific document because apparently all my other proof does not satisfy them. I had to call MN UI offices to request that one specific form and even that person on the line was talking about how ridiculous Chase was being. How do they have the right to withhold all my money from me like this? Even after all the proof I provided? The UI office said they will send me the letter again ASAP but it can only be sent thru snail mail and I have to wait a couple of days to receive it. So now my account is frozen for however long it will take for me to receive that letter and I am furious because I did nothing wrong and Chase is being so unreasonable. I spent my whole day off trying to get this sorted. Do they have a right to do this?? Should I change my bank after this is sorted? [link] [comments]  |
| I received a check in the mail from a loan business Posted: 08 Mar 2021 05:54 PM PST They gave me $1,460 at a 88.47% APR! Totaling $2,319 after it was paid off. When I saw it was a check I ripped it up but saw the apr that was high. So i stitched it back up to see if i was going crazy and realized how much it was. I can't believe someone would take that deal. Here's a photo https://i.imgur.com/4LQAmE1.jpg [link] [comments]  |
| Am I understanding Roth IRAs correctly? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 01:57 PM PST As far as I understand, assuming I'm below the relevant income threshold, I can open a Roth IRA and contribute after-tax dollars to it, up to $6000 per year. There are then no taxes on the investment earnings/dividends so long as I keep them for at least 5 years and don't withdraw until age 59 1/2. But the original contributions can be withdrawn at any time. Is that all accurate? Because that sounds like a lot of benefits with not a lot of downside. It sounds like the money would be pretty much as accessible as it would be in a regular taxable investment account, except that earnings are held for retirement in exchange for tax free growth. Assuming I'm already contributing enough to my 401(k) to max out the employer match, and assuming I don't qualify for tax deductions for contributions to a traditional IRA, is there any downside to a Roth IRA as compared to additional contributions to a Roth 401(k)? [link] [comments]  |
| Loan Officer trying to change our interest rate after we signed off on the 'locked in' rate Posted: 08 Mar 2021 05:29 PM PST Hello all- We are about two weeks into closing. We signed off on everything including our rate of 3.25 (no points). Today she called me and told me that underwriting found out the underestimated our income and we don't qualify for the program she had us under that gave us 3.25, and our rate would not be 3.5, unless we wanted to to pay for points. She said it was 'her mistake' and 'my bad' multiple times. I told her she needed to match what she originally told us and what we signed off for at 3.25. She said she would ask but at the most they MIGHT do is 3.375, and told us 'its just the cost of going out to dinner a month, it doesn't make much of a difference'. If she messed up, can't her company eat the cost? She made a mistake, admitted to it, and now I'm paying more? I spoke with my real estate agent and she said we can switch lenders, I'm going to talk with my credit union tomorrow. Are we screwed, or can we hold her to the 3.25 that was on the paperwork we signed? [link] [comments]  |
| Why do some states have seemingly asinine tax brackets? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 06:47 PM PST For example Missouri, Georgia, Montana, Iowa, etc. I'm talking about lots of brackets with small differences and for very little income. Let's look at Missouri:
What the hell is the point of this? Do we need to have such an elaborate tax schedule for people that make between $12,500 and $21,084 for between $0 and a whopping $279 of taxes? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Mar 2021 04:29 PM PST I've been seeking employment for several months and most of the job postings do not include the salary. We all work to get paid and most of us have a minimum dollar amount that we'll work for given our experience and work history. Why is it so hard to get this information? [link] [comments]  |
| Mom died without will or anything documented. How do I find retirement funds? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 02:41 PM PST My mom passed suddenly and I am now in charge of finances and am so overwhelmed. Where do I even start tracking down retirement funds etc to make sure all are accounted for? She did not have life insurance. She had not worked for a few months due to sudden severe illness and prior to that had worked for a few places in different states throughout her life. Trying to track down any retirement funds and not sure if I need to just call employers individually or if better way to do it? [link] [comments]  |
| What happens if someone loses the ability to control their money? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 06:28 PM PST For example, if they were old and couldn't think clearly, or if they got into an accident and got into a coma, etc. What happens to that person, if they don't have family who can access their money? I thought of this because I don't know if I want kids. And I don't know what I'm going to do in old age. What if I get dementia and can't do my own banking? How would I ensure that my money actually gets spent on me if I'm in a hospital or care home? I know I'm overthinking because I'm still young, but this is something that crossed my mind. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Car hit by university maintenance while I was parked Posted: 08 Mar 2021 06:01 AM PST Hi PF. Two days ago while I was parked in my schools parking lot to go to lab for a couple of hours, a maintenance worker struck my car and severely damaged the front bumper. Fortunately, he called the police and they filed an official report and he admitted fault. I was given a copy of the damage report but his insurance information is simply titled as "self insured" so I have no idea how to get through to his insurance to file a claim. I have tried contacting the guy who hit me (his name/number was on the crash report) and I have gotten nothing. I already called my insurance and they told me I have the option to go through his insurance myself and not involve them at all, or pay them $$$ to do all the work for me. I would prefer to save money and handle this away from my insurance. Would the police officer have more information on the insurance information? Should I call his employer (it was their car he was driving)? [link] [comments]  |
| Husband got job offer I’m worried is a scam Posted: 08 Mar 2021 06:46 PM PST Hello I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this. My husband applied for a job last month, it was advertised on LinkedIn and he applied directly through the company website. The job is out of state as we are planning to move there. It is a legit company with tons of info about them online. He was contacted within a few days by HR, had a phone interview and then he had a second longer interview the next week with a manager. After that they invited him to the next step which was to do a business presentation to a few staff members which he did on Microsoft Teams. This was done on video chat and he was able to see everyone and talk to them, all were American. He also has looked at all these people's profiles on LinkedIn. After the presentation he had another interview with a different manager and they offered him the job some days after with an official offer letter. He went to do a pre-employment drug screening and sent info for a background check. Everything seems legit... but very early this morning he got an email from someone with a foreign name, with the company name as their email, with a list of attachments to fill out which look normal. However in the email they also asked for "a copy of his passport and a cancelled cheque." which doesn't make any sense as a job never needs this information. My husband is from out of the country, but still weird, why would they need his passport? They also shouldn't need a cancelled check. the person had no signature in her email and there were several misspellings/poor grammar. BIG red flag. The form for filling out bank details for pay also looked super sketchy to me. It of course asks for routing and account numbers but also asks for a swift code. I've never had a job ask for this, it makes no sense. I've told him not to submit any of this information until he calls and speaks with HR tomorrow. Now something important to note is that the original, smaller company did originate in South Africa, so they do have some employees who work there. It's possible this person just has poor English and that would also explain her spelling of "cheque." Everything else up until this point has been normal but I'm just getting nervous. Does anyone think this may be a very very elaborate scheme? [link] [comments]  |
| How much should I have in savings before moving out on my own? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 07:47 PM PST I'm a 23 year old male currently living in sober transitional housing. I make 14/hr which comes out to a little over 2k a month. I'm lucky to have the support of a loving parent who covers my car insurance, health insurance and phone bill. This really only leaves me with gas, food and rent as my expenses. I pay $450 right now for rent at the sober home(my dad pays the other half, lucky I know). I think I am ready for the next step of moving out of the transitional housing to renting a room for 630$, bills included, that I have found. My only question is how much should I have in savings in order to make this step. I want to have some safety net in place so I'm not paycheck to paycheck. I currently have $1,000 in savings right now. Any advice would be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| $6k better in IRA or Tues a house down payment Posted: 08 Mar 2021 02:02 PM PST I am 37 years old with a spouse and two twin seven year olds. Combined income is about $75k. My only retirement fund is about $50k in my 401k that I contribute 6% to (employer matches 60%). Spouse has nothing for retirement. This is not enough and it's worrying me a lot working a lousy job and never being able to retire. Anyway, my family needs more room for sanity and our future. I have $6k that I was going to put in an IRA. My wife and I decided to put our stimulus and tax refund in an account for a house down payment. I also plan to put my bonus in there. Would it make more sense to get my IRA going, or focus more on the house? Also, how much savings can I expect by reaching the 20% down goal? Edit: If it's relevant, I do have 6 months of expenses saved up. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Mar 2021 06:35 PM PST I'm sure many people have already asked this question. I'm planning on starting my Roth IRA account. I want a hands off account where an auto investment will invest by itself. Can you please suggest where should I open my account to get maximum profit with less management/cost. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| 2021 Child Tax Credit -- should I delay filing 2020? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 02:40 PM PST Hey all, We find ourselves in the (enviable, I'll admit it) situation of being right on the threshold for the phaseout of both the 2021 recovery payments and child tax credit as passed by the Senate on Saturday, and assumably to be passed by the House and signed into law this week, unless disaster strikes. We intentionally delayed filing our 2020 taxes while this was being hammered out, and our patience is going to be rewarded; while our AGI in 2019 was eligible for the full amount, our 2020 AGI would have completely cut us off from payments (just over $160,000 joint). The child tax credit has a broader phaseout. The text of the law is to have a monthly payout of half the credit over the last half of the year, using the same method of "use 2020 data if available, else 2019, no repayment of overpayment required". I understand there are a lot of unknowns here, especially around timing and when exactly they would be looking at the data for the purpose of calculating the payments, but I'll ask anyway for the experts out there -- would it makes sense to file for an extension and wait until October to file our 2020 returns? Are there any potential downfalls to doing that? Conversely -- since we don't owe, would it be beneficial to delay filing even longer since we would not be penalized? We are owed around $1k in refund for 2020 which I understand would be delayed by filing late, so just trying to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze here. (and to head off the horde of angry PMs -- yes, I understand that I'm exploiting a loophole here and that maybe I'm not the #1 intended recipient of this money, but frankly I'm happy to pay any tax I'm legally required to pay and will do so without complaint, but I'm also not going to pass up funds I'm legally entitled to. Would you?) Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Stuck in a toxic job while expecting a baby Posted: 08 Mar 2021 02:15 PM PST Hello, using a throwaway account since my other account has a bunch of followers and is known within several communities. The good news is, my husband and I are expecting our first child later this summer. We're thrilled and can't wait to be parents. We're lucky to have super supportive families, and both of our jobs will give us about 3 months off for paid new parent leave. However, my current job, aside from the upcoming paid leave, is kind of a nightmare. My team and I are woefully overworked and understaffed. I'm averaging 50-60 hour weeks at a marketing agency, in what's essentially an associate position. I'm not entry level, but I'm not a manager. I sometimes feel like I'm too good at what I do because lots of teams and projects are tapping into me for support, and I routinely get high marks from performance reviews. My mangers know about my over-utilization, and have assured me they're looking to provide me with additional support by brining in a new hire to work parallel to me. I've been hearing this since October though, and we still haven't so much as interviewed someone else. Having that person would help a ton, not to mention how important they'll be once I leave for 3 months later this year. But if it weren't for our upcoming kid, I'd have left this place by now. My colleagues and supervisors are nice and mean well, but resource management sucks. Everyone is underwater and one new hire isn't going to pave the way for a better work life balance - which is all I really want, especially considering my growing family. Alas, we work in the United States where many employers won't offer paid leave to someone who's worked less than a year. I'm trying to assess my options, for my mental health any my future as a new parent, but I'm nervous that all I can do is wait till I'm on new parent leave, and then start looking for a new position after that. Maybe it's as "simple" as that, but thought I'd seek additional advice in case I have options that I'm not considering. Any advice or insight would be welcome. Thanks for reading :) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Mar 2021 05:13 PM PST I'm 18 years old, so I qualify as a dependent, and my dad claimed me as one in his 2019 filing. I, nor he received any stimulus on my behalf since the first two stimuli did not cover dependents over the age of 16. This year, I'll be filing myself, will I be eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit for the first two stimuli, as well as this one if my dad doesn't claim me as a dependent in his 2020 filing? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Advice on potential Housing Purchase Posted: 08 Mar 2021 06:48 PM PST Hey there everyone looking for advice on whether or not to go through with a housing purchase. I currently live in Atlanta, GA working as a software developer making 80,000 a year with no other debt. I have about 50,000 in savings not counting what I have in my 401k (which I choose to ignore other then managing investments). I found a home I like a lot for about 300,000 a year which I would put a 10 percent down payment on. I currently pay about 1600 a month in rent for a 2 bedroom apartment alone. The payment information for the home looks like the following Monthly Take Home Pay - $4500 300,000 with a mortgage rate of 2.6% Principle/Interest = 1081 Property Tax = 290 Home Insurance = 75 HOA = 430 (High but covers all utilities/basic cable, only utility not covered is internet) Mortgage Insurance = 60 Total = $1936 In addition I would have a roommate after the purchase I have lived with before and would be paying be $700 in rent plus splitting the utility costs with me for a total of about $900 a month. The townhome is a 3br/2.5 bath and heavily renovated, the inspection came back with no issues. Any advice anyone could give would be appreciated and can provide more details as needed! [link] [comments]  |
| Old medical debt that was dealt with 6 years ago suddenly showed up on credit report. Posted: 08 Mar 2021 08:17 PM PST About 6 years ago I went to the ER after getting sick with a flu like virus, at the time I young, wasn't working and was living with my parents, I qualified for 100% financial assistance from the hospital and they told me everything was good at the time... Fast forward to now, 3 collections (2 ER visits and a XRAY from my stay while I was sick) from the hospital went to collections. each opened up in Nov 2020. which is a HUGE surprise because I NEVER received a notice that I owed anything in 6 years. I already called the hospital and they told me that I got 100% financial assistance that should have covered everything and the final amount I owed was indeed 0, she said sometimes the message gets muddled from Physician to billing and so she game me a number for Billing, which then gave me a number for Pendrick collections, which gave me the number for the agency that has my collection on my credit report, smoothing sailing so far.... Until I called the collections agency, they didn't care for anything I said at all, I told them there was a mistake and the debt was already paid and he said they needed proof that everything was paid...which I tried to give to him (lady at the hospital said to give them my patient # and they can give a quick call to confirm) , but it was like he stuck fingers in his ears and was saying "LALALALALALALA!" rinse and repeat like 10 times and said that their policy is they can't talk to the hospital to check EVER. (which I know is a absolute lie.) So where do I go from here? all this debt collection stuff is new to me and i'm scared i'll never get rid of this off my report which until recently have been trying to build. Seeing my newly built up score plummet like a rock is very disheartening. TLDR. Got sick, Hospital say things are paid, 6 years later collections say they are owed money. [link] [comments]  |
| Inherited 45k, want to invest for retirement, but I know nothing about investing Posted: 08 Mar 2021 03:24 PM PST Pretty much just the title. I'm 26, and inherited money from my grandfather. I just want to put it somewhere and not have to think about it. [link] [comments]  |
| Limits on monetary gifts from abroad Posted: 08 Mar 2021 01:52 PM PST I am a naturalised US citizen, my child is born here. I have a relative (not US citizen, living in my home country, single) who wishes to gift my child a sizeable sum- low 6 figures. We are trying to figure out the best way to do that, and especially the limit they could give yearly. Ideally, they'd like to give a lump sum and be done with it, to reduce their own tax burden. But different IRS pages seem to say different things; I have read anything from limits of $15'000 yearly for gifts over $75'000 or $100'000, or even no limit if used for medical or educational expenses. [link] [comments]  |
| Do I just "get more money" filing Married jointly? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 10:43 AM PST I am getting married in April and am wondering how I should do my filing status. I understand if I file married-jointly the tax brackets change. My soon to be wife is in school and currently has no income. Would I change the filing status as soon as we get married and I just get more money in the remaining paychecks? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 08 Mar 2021 11:19 AM PST I just got hired to a full time $20/hour position in New Jersey. It's only 13 miles from me but taking the bus does not look possible ( google maps says it's a 20 minute drive but almost three hours by bus) I have a drivers license so I'm looking into options for a car. I have never shopped for a car before and don't really know the first place to start. Can you lease a car for 6 months? How do I find a safe way to get a used car? Would it just be cheaper to spend $40/day to uber to and from work? I'm in Newark and the Job is in East Hanover [link] [comments]  |
| Is Locking a Rate on a Pre-Approved Mortgage Loan Possible Right Now? Posted: 08 Mar 2021 10:55 AM PST Exactly as the title says, I spoke with a loan officer about getting pre-approved in the near future so I could lock in a rate more than anything. Their response was very curt that they cannot lock rates for pre-approvals on 1st year mortgages. I don't know why, I just thought I had seen/heard of the ability to lock a rate in for 30, 60, and sometimes even 90 days. Is that only after you have applied for the mortgage with a specific house in mind? Or has it changed since it's apparent that rates may be going up in the near future? Any help, is appreciated, thank you! [link] [comments]  |
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