Personal Finance Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of April 05, 2021 |
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of April 05, 2021
- Is building a house this year worth it with how high construction material has risen?
- Would me quitting my job to go back to school put us in a bad financial spot?
- Dental bill went up $420 after prepay then insurance said procedure is not covered
- Can Apartment property ask me the details of my SS#?
- I sold a stock in my Roth IRA account. How soon I can buy back the shares at a lower price?
- [US][CA] Wife and I are filing jointly. Each made a little over 60k. She's a teacher, I'm employed full-time. No other sources of income. But we owe 6k?
- I'm 29 and I Never Feel Like It Is Enough
- I'm 30 years old and ready to invest.
- Any reason to wait if company announced acquirement?
- Bad Loan Officer
- Elder planning for aging mother
- Making a budget, am I missing anything?
- Medical bill reduced 50%
- Mortgages - Is it true I can apply to multiple lenders within 45 days?
- Refing a jumbo loan with a 52% DTI
- Saving for Child’s 529 Education - Advice Needed
- How much to spend on rent?
- PMI question if sale price is over appraisal
- Investing HSA funds
- Open Enrollment: EPO vs HDHP
- Question about underpayment tax penalty & withholding
- Tax implications of working as an Independent Contractor in Houston Texas
- $1000 Hospital Bill
- Questions regarding general savings/emergency money
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of April 05, 2021 Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:00 AM PDT If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! [link] [comments]  |
| Is building a house this year worth it with how high construction material has risen? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:20 PM PDT My husband and I want to build a house this year. This has been something we have been working toward for 4 years, and of course the year we are ready is when the cost for construction materials has skyrocketed. We have been talking with a builder who we really like. They will be ready to take building contracts for their new subdivision sometime in May, given that everything goes smoothly for them. The concern that we have is how incredibly expensive the houses are now compared to just two years ago! The model we are looking at is 1548 sq. ft. and the current cost for our area is $220/sq.ft. Two years ago this model was $298k, while today it would cost $340k. Our absolute maximum we would be comfortable to spend is $370k. That only leaves us $30k for any upgrades to the house, pay for any lot fees if we choose a bigger lot, and for room to roll closing costs into the loan if we don't have enough saved up. Is it worth it to build this year? Buying a house is just as crazy as building. Nothing in our area stays on the market for more than 24 hours before there is an above asking price offer on it. Should we wait another year for the market to go down? Or would it be worth building this year? We would be using a VA mortgage and we both have good credit. [link] [comments]  |
| Would me quitting my job to go back to school put us in a bad financial spot? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:10 AM PDT I want to go back to school to finish my Bachelors degree. I am 5 semesters away from completing my BA in Human Services. My husband fully supports me going back to school and wants me to quit my job in order to go back full time. Part of the reason that I would have to quit is that this degree requires intern hours in order to graduate and I would not be able to complete those while working 40+ hours a week. My husband makes 4 times my salary. I make $30,000 a year and the only benefit from my job is my retirement plan. Our health insurance is through my husband's job. However, I worry that taking away $30,000/year from our income will financially screw us. We just paid off over $20,000 of debt, and are working towards buying a house this year. We only have one car payment (his job provides transport for him so we don't need another). Edit: Thank you to everyone who has responded so far! There is a lot of amazing advice that is cementing all of the doubts I was having about this already. Some more info, getting a BA would earn me a pay increase at my job as I would qualify to complete more trainings. I work in finance and I am currently working on getting my insurance license. 2nd edit: As this seems relevant to many of the responses I am getting, I am 24 and have no children. [link] [comments]  |
| Dental bill went up $420 after prepay then insurance said procedure is not covered Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:47 PM PDT In February I went to Aspen Dental for a checkup. It had been a while so I expected some things to need attention. After the initial consult they put together an itemized estimate that was around $1900. I prepaid $750. The rest was supposed to be covered by insurance. Today I got a bill from them showing:
My first reaction is that I was given a bad faith estimate. Nothing has changed about my insurance so I see no reason for this code to suddenly appear as not covered. I called their billing line and left a message. Can this be right? Can they just change the price after I already prepaid my part and accepted service? [link] [comments]  |
| Can Apartment property ask me the details of my SS#? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:50 AM PDT So I gave my SS# in the application. They ran a credit check and everything came out fine. Today they hit me with a question " why was your SS# was issued in 2007?" I'm partially offended/worried why they asked me this. I rented in 4 different apartment complex, have never been asked this. I have nothing to hide, but I'm trying to find what my SS issue date have anything to do with application process? Is it something that they actually require or are they perhaps discriminating against me? [link] [comments]  |
| I sold a stock in my Roth IRA account. How soon I can buy back the shares at a lower price? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:55 AM PDT I sold some shares in my Roth IRA, which I've held for a long time. How soon can I buy the shares back at a lower price? Do I need to wait three days because of the "three-day settlement rule"? The account is a Roth IRA at Charles Schwab. Thanks so much! I don't want to get a fine or warning. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:54 PM PDT We both put either 0 or 1 on our W4. I don't understand why we owe. Before we were married I would always get a return with basically the same info. Any guidance is appreciated. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| I'm 29 and I Never Feel Like It Is Enough Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:05 PM PDT Right now, I am at a job where I get paid $25 dollars an hour. I place $420 a week into a stock VOO ETF for future growth. Along with that I place $125 a week into VTI for my Roth IRA. I started doing that last year in March. In total, I have $48,000 currently combined in both of those accounts. I have $57,000 in savings. I have $2,400 in another account for an emergency. $20,000 in debt for school loans, but Army will pay back $12,000 as long as I keep it for 3 years. It feels like this is taking forever and I'm too afraid to place it all into the market so fast. I was thinking about upping my total weekly contribution to $725 to speed things up. Thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| I'm 30 years old and ready to invest. Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:06 AM PDT It's not much, but I plan to invest $15,000 a year. I'm interested in a vanguard index fund but I'm not sure which type to go with. Any advice? I'm torn between Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX) or Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX). I'm by no means a professional or finance guru. I'm just trying to be smart with my money. TIA [link] [comments]  |
| Any reason to wait if company announced acquirement? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:22 AM PDT Hi, I'm holding stocks of a company that I used to work for. The company announced that it will be acquired by another company for $11 (just an example) per share. The market price went up today and the current price is $11.30. It sounds like the acquisition will take at least a few months. Does it matter if I sell it now or wait a few months if they are buying the common stock at $11 per share? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:01 PM PDT I posted this last week: Our realtor called today to tell is the loan officer was fired and most likely will lose her license. Apparently there were more issues than just ours. My question is this is there anything we can do? Can we sue the company? Are they responsible for her actions? They have offer us the 3.25 rate, saying they have to give us a credit to even get that rate. We are closing on 10 days so another lender isn't really an option at this point? [link] [comments]  |
| Elder planning for aging mother Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:22 AM PDT My mother, who is divorced and lives alone, will be 79 this year. Until the last year she has been quite healthy. However, she is beginning to show signs of memory issues and her doc has recommended an MRI which she's even having trouble scheduling on her own. I have not had any role in her finances or medical care to date, however I'm concerned about next moves should things go downhill quickly. What should I do to make sure I can help handle her affairs is the event she becomes unable to? I'm really in the dark here about even where to start. TIA. [link] [comments]  |
| Making a budget, am I missing anything? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:39 PM PDT FWIW I'm making a "fake" budget because this is for a school assignment and I don't actually have an income or expenses, but it's still a really good learning experience where I can learn how much stuff actually costs, how to structure a budget, etc. It's kind of funny because literally yesterday I decided to start learning more about PF so I can be independent in a year, and then I remember that I have this assignment due, so I can spend time learning about these things. Right now all I have is this: Super basic and all the numbers are approximations based on google searches, averages, and as far as the income it's an optimistic yet not too crazy estimate of $50,000 "take home" annual pay. I still need to figure out debt (which would be school loans for me), but is there other information I should also take into consideration? EDIT: here's what I have now [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:50 PM PDT I have HDHP insurance and had to pay the deductible last year and this year too. I called the hospital today because I needed to clear up questions about getting on a payment plan for the balance I owed and to remove a charge from a bill that was duplicated. I never thought of asking for financial assistance or for a reduced bill. The girl on the phone put me on hold and then came back to tell me that she had reduced my bill by 35% which is actually about 50%. I asked how she was able to do that and she said, "$7K is too much money to pay." I thought that bc I had insurance they wouldn't help me but for what seems out of the goodness of this reps heart she gave a discount. I am very thankful but also upset that the amount I owe the hospital is so arbitrary and to me it's further proof of the fuckery insurance companies and hostpitals do. So always ask for financial assistance or reduced bill even if you think won't qualify. [link] [comments]  |
| Mortgages - Is it true I can apply to multiple lenders within 45 days? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:56 PM PDT Like title states. Is it true you can have your credit ran multiple times in a 45 day span? I was not a fan of the rates I got from my lender today after applying Friday, can I apply to 2-3 more lenders no harm? [link] [comments]  |
| Refing a jumbo loan with a 52% DTI Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:04 PM PDT We're struggling with refinancing our primary residence. Our global DTI is around 52-53% and the banks will only entertain 43%. Are there any banks out there that can refi a jumbo loan with a higher DTI? Thanks in advance. Additional info: - Self-employed (own franchises) - Own 2 rentals - Have a ton of equity in all assets I own - I've taken as much depreciation as possible (and allowed) to reduce our tax burden) [link] [comments]  |
| Saving for Child’s 529 Education - Advice Needed Posted: 05 Apr 2021 01:30 PM PDT My child is currently 2 years old (technically 26 months). Currently have $2,100 saved in her 529 for college and now my husband and I are getting serious with saving goals after both of us received decent promotions and raises. We recently decided on $400/month contribution (and eventually hope to increase that once our home is paid off end of 2022). Is this a good contribution amount? For reference, we want to be able to pay for her entire college if possible, whether that is 4 years at a public or private school. And if private school wins, how much more will we need to contribute? Once house is paid off, we will have $3,000 extra to utilize every month. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:32 AM PDT Fresh college grad, I know 30% is usually the rule of thumb but I feel like it's kind of low for high cost of living cities. I'll be moving to Chicago and want to know if $1300 is too much to spend on rent(including utilities). Income: 62.5k or $3600/month net of tax. Other monthly fixed expenses: Student loans: $750 Phone: $150 Transportation: $100 Miscellaneous: $125 Only other expenses would be food and entertainment which I was thinking to budget about $500/month for. [link] [comments]  |
| PMI question if sale price is over appraisal Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:11 AM PDT I've been reading around online but I'm having a difficult time understanding how PMI would work in this situation. Let's say I agree to buy a house for $320k and it only appraises for $300k. Assuming we move forward with the $320k sales price, I am unclear how PMI might work. If I paid $60k down plus closing costs, would this mean I'm essentially taking out a $260k loan on a $300k house and the other $20k is just paid to the seller outside of the mortgage entirely? What I really would like to know is, in this situation, would I be stuck with PMI until the loan was paid down to $240k? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:25 AM PDT Can someone explain why I would want to pay medical expenses out of pocket when I have money put away in my HSA? I understand that the money in the HSA can be invested (which I do), but am unclear as to how these funds can be used later in life. My understanding is they are strictly to be used for medical expenses, and after 65 I can withdraw for nonmedical and just pay income tax on it. I put away a considerable amount into this account, and am concerned I'll have way more in medical funds than I ever need (silly, I know). But I could pull a James Garner from The Notebook and go from perfectly healthy to dead overnight. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:47 PM PDT I'm currently trying to decide between two plans during open enrollment. My employer added the EPO plan this year (I'm currently in the HDHP). I'm 24 years old, healthy male EPO- Combined Deductible and Out of Pocket max: 4K Premium: ~36 a month Copays: $25 for office visits, lab work, telemedicine, and outpatient mental health. $50 for urgent care Coinsurance: 100% after deductible Not eligible for HSA HDHP Deductible: $3375 Out of pocket max: $6000 Premium: ~$40 a month Coinsurance: 80% after deductible in network, 50% after deductible out of network Eligible for HSA with $500 yearly contribution from employer It seems like the EPO is a slam dunk choice but I don't want to miss out on having the HSA as an investment vehicle [link] [comments]  |
| Question about underpayment tax penalty & withholding Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:18 PM PDT So my understanding is if I pay >100% of last years taxes, or >90% of this years taxes, or my underpayment is <$1,000, I don't have to pay a penalty. In 2020 I had about $13,000 in investment income, which caused me to underpay by about $990 despite claiming 0 exemptions. In 2021 I already have about $16,000 in short term capital gains/dividends, and I have no idea how much it will be at the end of the year. If I don't sell anything it will probably be about $20,000 due to dividends, but it could be more or less if I sell. What complicates this further is I intend to switch from a Roth 401k to a traditional 401k due to my new employer supporting the mega backdoor roth. This means I probably won't hit the 100% of last year exemption To avoid penalties this year, it seems like I can either do estimated tax payments, or have my employer withhold more. My questions:
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| Tax implications of working as an Independent Contractor in Houston Texas Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:45 AM PDT So I was recently hired on as a Quality Assurance checker for patient records at a physical therapists office but was hired on as a independent contractor through an I9 and W9 employment contracts. I know that as such I'll have to pay my own taxes at the end of the year since I'll be getting paid with no taxes taken out. My question is how much should I be saving each paycheck for taxes? I've seen numbers ranging from 15.3% to 35% of my check going to taxes. I live in Texas so don't have state income tax to worry about and am slated to be making only $12/hour working only 40 hours a week. Would love to know how much I should be looking at paying so that I can put away the appropriate percentage each paycheck into a savings account that has limited withdrawals on it. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:45 PM PDT Hi Redditors, I received a $1000 hospital bill a few days ago and I wanted to know what the best to negotiate the bill was and where to begin as far as how much I should tell them I can pay. I have an FSA card that can cover a portion of the bill, but if I don't have to, I prefer not to use it all since we're still in April. Any advice would be appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Questions regarding general savings/emergency money Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:44 PM PDT
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