Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of March 05, 2021 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of March 05, 2021
- I Think Someone is Stealing Electricity From My Friend
- Wells Fargo withdrew someone else's mortgage from my account. My account is now over drawn.
- My Dad got a job offer, but it sounds sketchy to me
- I need some advice, my girlfriend just got scammed
- Hertz overcharged me, Credit card investigation found in my favor. Hertz sent the refuted amount to a collection agency.
- Buying a house for my mom
- My MIL got a check in the mail after she signed up for a secret shopper program
- How much of a pay cut would you accept for better work life balance?
- Should I sell my rental property to pay off my mortgage?
- Are Roth IRA contributions essentially "double-taxed?"
- 23, have been struggling to pay for college for the past four years now because my parents refuse to file FAFSA.
- Should I contribute to my Roth IRA for the previous year and max out my traditional IRA for the current year?
- So where do I keep my emergency fund and miscellaneous savings?
- Buying a house equal to your total savings
- I am being billed for inadequate mental health care NJ
- Best way to sell my car privately to buy another car privately?
- Do I need yo specifically ask for a mortgage loan estimate?
- Inherited IRA Question
- Should I use a HELOC to buy a home?
- Best strategy for existing large equity position in publicly-traded employer?
- Any Budget Calculators by % Income?
- Weighing long term outcomes of Roboadvisors' various pros & cons
- Is there a bottom line expectation to keep your HSA at in America?
- (US)(NV) Buyer of my Home is refusing to return all of my security deposit due to improper cleaning by House Cleaning service. How do I fight the cleaning service?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of March 05, 2021 Posted: 05 Mar 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]  |
| I Think Someone is Stealing Electricity From My Friend Posted: 05 Mar 2021 10:00 AM PST Hi all, posting on behalf of someone else because this is really bugging me and I want to help her. We're located in NYC, so this is happening with ConEd. Over the past 6 months, her electricity bills have absolutely skyrocketed (we're talking a 700% increase, currently $750 a month compared to ~$100 for the same month last year). She also had a roommate then and lives alone now which is very counterintuitive. We've had the landlord check the meter as it's locked in the basement and only he and ConEd can access it, but it shows that ConEd's readings are correct. The issue is that the meter says in the span of the past 2 weeks she used approximately 1500 kWh; for reference, I have a similar 2bd railroad apartment and similar electricity usage and I used 175 kWh across all of January. This is simply not possible. She hasn't been using the heat or AC at all so all usage is essentially the fridge, a TV, Wi-Fi, a laptop, and some Phillips Hue bulbs. She's been on countless calls with ConEd and has tried to drastically limit electricity consumption, but the meter keeps ticking up at a ridiculous pace. At this point, I suspect that someone else is hooked into her meter somehow and is siphoning electricity. ConEd doesn't seem interested in investigating and is only providing assistance with setting up payment plans etc. It's not an issue of being able to pay, but we both feel that something is wrong here and she shouldn't be on the hook for this. I've tried looking into finding an independent auditor or advocate who can inspect the system but have come up short-- we'd both really appreciate any guidance you can give. Thanks in advance! Edit: Thanks so much for all the helpful replies and DMs! My friend was able to get ConEd to schedule an inspection, although the next available date is a month from now. They're suspending payments until then and hopefully we can figure out what's going on (and hopefully she can get a credit for the excess over the past few months). [link] [comments]  |
| Wells Fargo withdrew someone else's mortgage from my account. My account is now over drawn. Posted: 04 Mar 2021 08:44 PM PST I just refinanced my mortgage. I checked my account and to my surprise my mortgage and someone else's was withdrawn. They withdrew in excess of $4k. They admitted the mistake but refused to immediately return the unauthorized transaction. They said it would take 10 business days to "refund" the transaction. I told them it isnt a return as it wasnt authorized. My account is now overdrawn, and my auto payments are bouncing now. They acted very smug and like it was something I should just accept. It is their fault, what actions can I take? I'm sure their terms probably attempt to remove most of my abilities. My bank locked the transaction, but it really doesnt help. I assume their is a limitation to what my bank will cover. Please help. [link] [comments]  |
| My Dad got a job offer, but it sounds sketchy to me Posted: 05 Mar 2021 05:36 PM PST So, my Dad has been struggling to find work for a year and finally got an offer, he told me about it and it sounded weird, but I didn't wanna be a downer and tell him before I checked. So the job consists of him getting packages to his home from some logistics company, then he will check the destinations and status and stuff (this part isn't clear) then he will deliver it to the next destination (UPS, Fedex etc etc). The pay makes sense, a decent monthly salary + commission per package. The part that doesn't sit well with me is: If a company is gonna deliver a package to his place, wouldn't they just rather deliver it to it's destination and cut him out? (I hate how this sounds mean to say for some reason). I am worried he is getting scammed or gonna end up mailing illicit substances. Anyone here that can ease my mind on this? [link] [comments]  |
| I need some advice, my girlfriend just got scammed Posted: 05 Mar 2021 02:47 PM PST So my girlfriend is very trusting and I'm now realizing a bit unaware of the scam landscape, she deposited. A check for 2500 and a check for 1500, they then had her send 1000 to a different account. I then found out about this and have had her cut ties, currently on hold with her bank which apparently is going to take about 30 minutes. Any advice on how to proceed here? It's pretty obvious that these checks are gonna bounce and she only has about $300 in her bank account that is actually her money. You think usaa would be able to help? Or do you guys have any advice? I'm trying to figure out exactly how screwed she is [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2021 12:25 PM PST I am not sure what to do and if I have any ground to stand on. My credit card originally paid hertz the full amount which was approx $130 over the agreed upon price. After I filled a complaint with my credit card purchase protection they refunded the amount in question. Hertz then sent me a letter cancelling my account and all points in their rewards program. I also received a collections letter. I received these after a delay. Texas mail was delayed in the recent storm and my roommate piled the mail where I didn't see it. It has passed the 30 days to challenge the debt in writing. My credit score just achieved a personal high point for me so I'm loathe to lose that. Do I just have to eat my pride and the $130? Anyone with any advice on what to do here would be appreciated. I read that it's better to deal with the original creditor, but want sure if Hertz bankruptcy would affect their ability to cancel the debt. Thank you in advance for your time and advice. In case it's necessary, the original charge: I rented a car for one week for approx $300 I changed the return date a few times and each time was quoted the price it would cost and given a new receipt with the new total. It was already what was discussed. The final change was quoted $20 additional for one additional day (plus taxes) but the additional charge ended up being $120 more plus tax. It was a one way journey so I was dealing with two different hertz storefronts, but still had the assumption that dealing with either hertz representative would give me a valid quote. When I spoke with the rep after the charge they said they didn't understand the additional charge, but couldn't change it from his store. I had to call corporate. They said they wouldn't do anything so I called my credit card. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2021 04:37 PM PST My mom purchased a mobile home in a mobile home park almost two years ago. It's as predatory as it gets. At the time I tried to prevent her from doing so, but she insisted because she "Owns" it. It's glorified renting. My annoyances aside what's done is done. The only issue is they keep jacking up the lot fee, unsurprisingly. She's paying around 1200 a month, started at 900. The shit hole place is way overpriced. She doesn't have the credit to get her own house that is not a predatory loan. If I buy a house for her she would be paying for all the costs like a renter would without the renter markup and credit check. So the only cost to me will be the down payment which I have. She also will be chipping in what she has which isn't much ~ 1000 but it makes her feel better. She feels immense guilt knowing I'm her retirement plan. My Concern: TAXES! what would this entail for me tax wise? I will eventually return to NYC and I would own a home in a different state (FL). Would this affect me renting in NYC? I.e. Prevent me from getting a studio? The houses I am looking at are under 200k, current front runner is 179k. Do I have to acknowledge that I rent it out? would that help or hurt me tax wise? This whole plan has perks. She'll have an affordable place that isn't trash. I'll have the peace of mind knowing she's not under a predatory loan, plus paying a lot fee. The house would be an investment for us. The area I am looking at is a fast growing neighborhood. A ton of homes are being bought and renovated for profit. Home prices are expected to grow in the area. So if I sell it down the line I won't be losing money. Both our industries are strong so not expected to be affected by the pandemic. [link] [comments]  |
| My MIL got a check in the mail after she signed up for a secret shopper program Posted: 05 Mar 2021 06:56 PM PST So as the title states, she recieved a cashiers check in the mail after signing up for a secret shopper program for 2500 bucks. In the letter with the check they want her to keep 500 as her payment, and then she has to go to walmart (apparently the place she signed up for) and she has to purchase a few specific real items (not gift cards or anything) from a yellow jacketed service agent. She is allowed to keep everything purchased, she just has to fill out this sheet on a website they gave her and fill out a questionnaire. It screams scam to me as I went to the website on her old shitty laptop and it looked pretty sketchy. Has anyone seen or heard of this? I don't know where the scam could be, maybe it comes in later. I Told her just don't cash the check so she at least doesn't get hit with any fees. It's not worth the risk, but also there is nowhere asking for anything back or any money back so I don't know how the scammer could make out with anything unless they are literally just trying to screw people into check bounce fees. [link] [comments]  |
| How much of a pay cut would you accept for better work life balance? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 01:36 PM PST Is there a percentage or amount you'd be willing to lose with a new job offering better benefits or work life balance? How much of a cut would you take to be happier? 23M I've been with my company 1.5 yrs making 100k/yr but all raises and company 401k matches halted. The position is project based and would require a move every 3-5 years. I've considered other jobs that would be a career pivot, but it would likely be 70k/yr. The other roles would have a better work life balance and offer faster career advancement opportunities, but should I wait until I find a job that isn't as drastic of a cut? It's a tough mental battle between waiting and making more money vs getting started in something that aligns with my skills and interests. I'm worried staying in my current role much longer will limit my ability to make a career pivot. I'd love to hear any opinions on that as well. Is there a certain amount of time spent in an industry before it becomes too hard to make a pivot? Not a complete change, but think design engineer to manufacturing engineer. Justifiable based on degree, but different enough that the question would be asked. My guess is I need to get out before 3 years in order to make that argument. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I sell my rental property to pay off my mortgage? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 08:08 AM PST I have a mortgage financed at 3.8% for the home I live in. I still owe $132,000 on the mortgage and I've only had it for about a year. My monthly payments are $1200. Then recently I inherited a rental property (probably worth about $150,000) that I am collecting $1200/monthly in rent for. I just had a significant decrease in income, so those $1200 monthly payments are pretty hard to make now. This drop in income is probably not temporary, at least not for a few years. I do have some saving to draw from and also my parents can help me out when I need it (but I would rather not need it, obviously). I am considering selling the rental property to pay off my current mortgage. Would this be a good or a bad idea? Edits: The rental property is paid off. I am taking in $1200 but some of that is going to taxes, insurance, maintenance (about $400 total). So I am really netting about $800. [link] [comments]  |
| Are Roth IRA contributions essentially "double-taxed?" Posted: 05 Mar 2021 06:10 PM PST So I am a W2 employee (who gets taxes taken out of every paycheck) and late last year I contributed 6K (already post-tax mind you) to a Roth IRA. I was doing my taxes online today and I owe roughly $2K to the IRS but I noticed that when I mention that I contributed 6K to a Roth IRA it now says I owe the IRS $2400. Is this normal? I thought I already paid tax on the 6K contribution since it is essentially post-tax money? Any guidance or clarification would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2021 10:12 AM PST Tl;DR: My parents refuse to fill out the FAFSA even though they don't know very much about it and I need to be able to pay for college. I recently turned 23 and for the past four years, I've been paying for school out of pocket with the wages I make from my part-time job since my parents have always found some reason to be unable to file the FAFSA with me. Up until now, I've been attending community college for four years since it was affordable and I could only afford to attend part-time without the help of financial aid. When my father was around, he rarely filed his taxes or held onto his tax returns. I couldn't ask my mother for assistance either because she wasn't working at the time. Fast forward to the present and my father is no longer in the picture and my mother owns her own business, however, now she's trying to get a mortgage on a home and refuses to provide me with her financial info because she believes that if she ends up co-signing a loan from the FAFSA it will affect her ability to get a mortgage, even though I've already told her that filing the FAFSA wouldn't necessarily lock us into a loan and that it's the only way for me to receive grants. She believes that I should just be applying for scholarships to get the money I need. I'm just wondering how I navigate this situation and what I could possibly do to afford school on my own or tell my mom to convince her to file. The reason I'm asking now is that I recently finished community college and am trying to transfer to a nearby four-year university but I won't be able to pay for it with my wages alone and I'm required to attend full-time, therefore paying full-time tuition. Edit: Thank you all for your replies. Unfortunately, after bringing up all of these points to my mother, she only doubled down on refusing to file and refusing to speak with my college's financial aid office. On the bright side, my grandparents said that they would try to help me as much as they can and I only need their help for about a year until I turn 24 and can file independently. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2021 04:43 PM PST Hi all, I am a new college grad trying to make the most of my new increase in income. I have enough sitting in savings to max out a Roth IRA for 2020, and to also max out a Traditional IRA for 2021. I would contribute the full amount in a lump sum since time on market is best. I have already filed my taxes for 2020 and don't want to mess with and amending them, which is why I was going to contribute to a Roth for the previous year. Is there anything I am overlooking with this plan? Any suggestions? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| So where do I keep my emergency fund and miscellaneous savings? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 02:33 PM PST I have a decent amount of cash saved up for an emergency fund which I just keep in my one checking account at the moment, since savings accounts essentially pay nil I figure why bother separating them. This worked fine for a while as I built up my fund to a comfortable amount, but now that I have more than what I planned for, it feels kind of wasteful to just have it sitting there. What kind of investment vehicles are good options for an emergency fund or extra cash that I don't need right now, but want to keep reasonably liquid (not going into retirement funds, may be used for something like a mortgage downpayment in 4-5 years)? T bills or bond funds? [link] [comments]  |
| Buying a house equal to your total savings Posted: 05 Mar 2021 05:01 PM PST Let's say you have 3 million in the bank. You want to buy a 3 million dollar house. It's a very HCOL area. You make enough to pay the housing costs and loan with your salary with 20% down but the total housing cost is more than 50% of your take home pay. You have a couple options 1. Don't buy the house 2. Put more down and make the numbers work with your take home pay 3. Pull from your investments here and there to cover when you're short but keep the money invested. I can imagine a lot of people in very high cost of living areas who are homebodies are in this situation. Do you just finance your home and keep your investments in the market and compete against the loan? What advice does this group have. My wife and I really want a home but obviously the price is a bit ridiculous. [link] [comments]  |
| I am being billed for inadequate mental health care NJ Posted: 05 Mar 2021 01:53 PM PST I am being billed almost a thousand dollars for three sessions with a therapist that provided no basic advice, and he made it clear he was just going through the motions and did not care about helping me. I was very discouraged since the start once I got a grasp on his attitude. I cancelled my appointments with him because it was not a good fit. The charges on the bill are listed as "Other Treatment" and the bill is coming from a well known healthcare network. I do not have the finances to afford this and I do not believe I owe them for inadequate health services. Is there anything I can do? My insurance also has not covered more than 5% of the cost. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Best way to sell my car privately to buy another car privately? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 11:15 AM PST To put it simply: My car- $24,000 Amount left on loan- $8,500 Car I'm going to buy- $36,000 What is the best way to coordinate selling my car and buying the other one? Should I just finance the majority of the new car, sell mine, then put the equity towards the new loan and refinance? Let me know if this is wrong sub. TIA [link] [comments]  |
| Do I need yo specifically ask for a mortgage loan estimate? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 06:03 PM PST I've gotten in touch with 3 lenders. Each has provided me with a pre-approval letter and estimated interest rate. I don't understand how I'm supposed to compare them without a detailed loan estimate. Aren't they supposed to provide one? Why does it seem like they're reluctant to give me one? Edit: Resolved [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2021 05:59 PM PST Question: My parent, under 70, died, leaving, among some other assets, approximately 420k in a 403b retirement account. This account has myself and sibling listed as beneficiaries. This sibling and I are also the only beneficiaries of the entire estate and I am the executor. Parent was a resident of a state with no estate tax. The estate will be well under what I think is the federal estate tax bracket of 11.7 million. I was given 3 options by the company holding the account for distribution.
But, is there a 4th option? If my sibling and I are the only beneficiaries of the retirement account, and the estate – could we disclaim the retirement account funds, and have them go to the deceased parents estate to be distributed as normal funds and not as an IRA? Would this somehow allow a tax/penalty free loophole? [link] [comments]  |
| Should I use a HELOC to buy a home? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 05:56 PM PST I currently own my old home outirght that is worth about 275k. It is a very small one in a very desirable area and we are looking to either build onto it or move. I've had several contractors come to about our options, the most recent saying I should just get a HELOC to fund our project. With all that we need done it would be nearly 250k, plus a place to live for a year while our house was worked on. Would it make sense to go ahead with a HELOC and just buy a larger home and then have TWO HOUSES?! Idk it seems like a better idea but it might not be so lay into me. [link] [comments]  |
| Best strategy for existing large equity position in publicly-traded employer? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 07:59 PM PST My employer went through a liquidity event in the last few months and that means my equity in the company is now worth about $1 million. This represents about 60% my wife's and my wealth. At the moment about 30% of it is in common stock acquired less than 1 year ago by exercising incentive stock options and the rest is in unexercised, vested ISOs. My cost basis/strike price is so low it's almost entirely capital gains. This is too much money to have in one position. My question is how to exit? If I just exit it all at once I'm going to have a huge tax bill. In particular, a quick exit means exercising my stock options all at once and will trigger a lot of AMT. I'd owe a lot more than I "should" given my normal annual compensation. Even though AMT can be taken as a credit against future taxes, it will take me years to recoup against my normal taxes and this represents a huge interest-free loan to the federal government, resulting in a huge loss in the time value of the money. My instinct is to sell the common stock immediately as soon as it's eligible for long-term capital gains tax and to exercise the options slowly over several years. But this obviously means extending the period over which I'm exposed to this undiversified position. [link] [comments]  |
| Any Budget Calculators by % Income? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 02:48 PM PST Hello PF! I am lucky to just this year cross the six figure threshold. My wife is three years out in obtaining her PhD, makes 28k in Grad school as a TA and it's unlikely she is going to be matching my salary after. We both want to keep our finances generally separate but I think we'd both benefit from a joint account to pay for things like light fixtures we're installing in the house, deck improvements, etc. Currently, I pay for most things (including mortgage,) and am completely happy to do so -- but she has felt guilty/bad about not contributing and it frustrates her. For a solution, I was wondering if there was an excel doc/easy way to distribute share of mortgage/bills and like a "contribution to home upkeep," or "date night," budget -- that way, despite me already knowing we're a team she can feel like she's contributing a fair share. Is it as simple as excel sum'ing bills by line item and then analyzing take home income by a percentage of combined income? Thoughts/suggestions? [link] [comments]  |
| Weighing long term outcomes of Roboadvisors' various pros & cons Posted: 05 Mar 2021 07:25 PM PST Hi all, I'm researching new robo-advisor investment options and I'm having trouble weighing the financial implications of certain pros and cons. For ex: how can I objectively see whether a .25% management fee that has tax harvesting options outweighs another with zero fees but no tax harvesting? Or one that requires a high percentage in cash allocation vs. low, but has limited ETF options? I currently have Wealthfront and am 25. I received a rather large windfall and so I stand to pay quite a lot in management fees with Wealthfront, which is why I'm exploring other options like Vanguard, Ellevest, Charles Schwab, SoFi as my main contenders. This would be money I don't need for at least 20 years, so I'm okay with high risk. When weighing pros and cons, is it entirely up to the individual what they value more or is there actually a way to see what brings you more money value? [link] [comments]  |
| Is there a bottom line expectation to keep your HSA at in America? Posted: 05 Mar 2021 02:14 PM PST I feel like such a dumbass, but I really don't know. So I just thought I'd ask cause no where in google does it give me proper data. I'm 27, Wife 29 and we have an HSA. We aren't going for kids just yet, probably in a year or two. What I'm wondering is if I'm doing enough for my HSA to prep us towards that or if just doing the PPO is a better option when we do go for kids? I'm also asking if there is a base line I should try for, because I would like to invest some of my HSA for that triple play benefit, but I'm also worried that I don't have enough for medical expenses as well. What are your thoughts on all of this? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Mar 2021 03:25 PM PST We closed on our house a couple of weeks ago. We stayed there almost a month while our second house was being constructed. Our agreement was to pay the buyer rent for the month we stayed after close. They also asked for a 1k deposit and a professional home clean done by March 1st. I got about 20+ pictures today with all the stuff the cleaning people didn't do. It was terrible. Like I mean, absolutely terrible. I paid 400 dollars for them too. Then, I guess one of the employees was trashing their employer to my mom. I had her stay behind while we were moving out. They were calling me all week apologizing for the drama the employees created The cleaning service offered to return and re-clean. The buyer told me they already had appointments for painters and people re doing the kitchen so they could not. I asked if we could work out some kind refund and the cleaning service stopped responding Buyer is trying to keep half of the deposit. Which at this point, I'm ok if the cleaning service refunds their bad service. What is the best way to handle this? [link] [comments]  |
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