Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of May 07, 2021 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of May 07, 2021
- I can no longer afford my car payments and I need to find a way to stop the bleeding.
- My dad (78) did not properly save for retirement. I (25) am his only child and realistically cannot afford to support him. What options do we have?
- A look back in favor of early career "job hopping"
- Apartment Complex Security Deposit Refund Bounced
- Will $11/hr get me by on $510 + utilities?
- Stock option grant is less than in offer letter
- ICU Stay and Insurance Claims
- Sometimes I feel like I’m financially ahead, other times I feel like I’m trashed. Rate my finances.
- Selling a car that's financed
- What is a decent rate?
- Getting scammed by an Amazon seller
- Helping Elderly Relatives
- Looking for advice on selling current home and buying next home.
- Do you still have to file taxes on stocks you made no gains?
- How do I look up if my father still owns shares in a company?
- Building credit score
- Sold land in California as resident. Moving to another state this year. What kind of taxes am i looking at?
- How much of my savings should/can I spend
- Retirement Percent vs Total Savings
- Non-deductible IRA v. SEP/SIMPLE/Solo 401k
- Unwittingly opened up a credit card at Macy’s. What next?
- Help! Need to find Financial advice that is not investing related. 85yr godmother wants to do reverse mortgage. I want to understand all options available for longevity.
- Trying to leave an abusive household. Will my current finances be good enough to survive or should I wait?
- How to Finance a car
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of May 07, 2021 Posted: 07 May 2021 02:00 PM 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]  |
| I can no longer afford my car payments and I need to find a way to stop the bleeding. Posted: 07 May 2021 03:00 PM PDT I am in Nevada. I owe $12,070.23 on the remaining principal balance through silver state credit union. The vehicle has only been used a total of roughly 2 weeks over the past 1.5 years. The registration is not up to date. What are my options and where should I start in order to lift this financial burden from my shoulders. Any advise is appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 06 May 2021 09:46 PM PDT Unfortunately my dad did not properly save for retirement — after an expensive divorce from my mom resulting in bankruptcy, he never has quite recovered financially. To this point, he has been able to get by on Social Security + doing miscellaneous jobs for short periods of time, but he has chronic back and knee pain that prohibit him from working on his feet for very long. He also unfortunately fell and broke his hip a few weeks ago. The unfortunate reality is that he is too old to continue working in the traditional sense and I don't know how he will be able to pay rent and afford his living expenses in the near future. I cannot afford to pay for his living expenses, so I am extremely stressed about what to do. What can be done for someone in this situation? Please do not criticize him — what's done is done and I am just looking for a way to move forward. [link] [comments]  |
| A look back in favor of early career "job hopping" Posted: 07 May 2021 10:18 AM PDT I had a neighbor ask yesterday how I got into my career and if it related to education etc and it really had me thinking about my career path. I'm not the most financially successful person on the planet and I certainly don't have all the answers, but really digging in an thinking about it made me proud of how far I've come. I just wanted to put this post together for anyone who is down on themselves for not getting into what they thought their career would be or those earning less than they think they are worth. A little background: I graduated from undergrad with a Sports Marketing degree in 2009 and because I never had great advice, I didn't have any internships on my resume and I couldn't get a job after graduation. I worked an hourly job for a year and went to grad school to get an MBA. After graduating in 2012 with an MBA, I once again was struggling to find a job in industries that I thought were higher earning (like oil & gas, etc), I took a job at a local chapter of a national nonprofit after a friend who already worked there introduced me to the VP. No real idea of the nonprofit industry, no intention of ending up there, but a job was a job. I accepted an offer that at the time I thought hurt my pride for $36,000. Here's where the next 8.5 years took me all through different sectors of the nonprofit industry (education, health, higher ed, research), entirely on accident.
Looking back I realized I never would have gotten real significant raises without moving jobs. Just 3 job changes over 8.5 years and tripled salary. Don't feel bad if you end up in an industry you didn't intend to be in, and don't be afraid to take a job you think is beneath you if you can see a path forward. I had always been told by my very old-school minded parents (who both worked for their same companies for 30+ years) that employers look down on resumes with too many jobs. Look out for yourself. [link] [comments]  |
| Apartment Complex Security Deposit Refund Bounced Posted: 07 May 2021 07:43 PM PDT We moved out of our apartment at the end of March. Three weeks later we received our security deposit refund which I deposited the same day as receipt. Three days later the check was returned as "Refer to Maker". Over the last two weeks I've spent time on the phone with the old apartment as well as the property management company. No one can tell me when I'll get a new check. Just that they have never heard of this happening before. I have no idea what to do at this point. I've been calling every other day and been unable to get an answer or even a return phone call. This is a few hundred dollars and the state of Colorado if anyone has experience or advice to offer. [link] [comments]  |
| Will $11/hr get me by on $510 + utilities? Posted: 07 May 2021 06:02 PM PDT In December I'm planning on sharing an apartment with a friend of mine. She asked me if I wanted to do it and I want to do it, when school starts I'm going to try to transfer to a Walmart to where I go to college at this upcoming Fall semester. I was told that the the split rent will be $510 + utilities. I'm going to save almost my entire paycheck though when I work at Walmart during the fall semester. I was just wondering if $11/hr would be good for $510 +utilities [link] [comments]  |
| Stock option grant is less than in offer letter Posted: 07 May 2021 06:09 AM PDT My offer letter states $15k in options. The agreement they sent says 1955 shares at 3.95 per share for a total of $7,722.25. I asked about it, here's the response:
This seems like it's not allowed. The fair market value of a share is determined by the 409a, no? Background: private company that is incorporated in Delaware. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 02:57 PM PDT Two Saturdays ago I suffered a major pulmonary embolism and went into cardiac arrest; this landed me in the ICU for a week and I will soon be hit with thousands of dollars in medical bills. If everything was in-network, I would be good to go as I have a generous out of pocket maximum of $3000 for in-network care that's already been partially used for regular doctor visits and prescriptions. However, I already see in my UHC claims profile that the first ambulance is partially out-of-network and therefore partially denied. I know a major piece of advice after receiving a bill from the hospital is to ask for it to be itemized, but I'm looking more for advice on how to challenge claims that are partially denied or totally denied. How can I make UHC cover more? Is there any wiggle room with health insurance? I'm trying to go back to school for which friends and family have given me money, and I don't want to jeopardize that opportunity and their generosity by getting buried in medical debt. Edit: I have hospital indemnity insurance which if approved will cover $150 per day of stay but I need literally every doctor who saw me to fill out paperwork and I don't know how to get the info on who saw me and when. [link] [comments]  |
| Sometimes I feel like I’m financially ahead, other times I feel like I’m trashed. Rate my finances. Posted: 07 May 2021 05:29 PM PDT Title says it all. 27F making $55k in a high-ish cost of living area (about an hour outside DC, town with a rural feel but the house prices are affected by proximity to the city). Health insurance, FSA, all that. I feel very blessed to be able to go to the doctor when I need and to overall live a pretty comfortable lifestyle, but sometimes feel like I'm not where I'm should be (mostly because of frivolous spending in my early 20s when I wasn't thinking about my future). I could use some validation and/or advice where it's due. Here's the breakdown: The Good: Income: $3050/month Own my own home with a $165k mortgage at 2.65% interest. This was a mental health decision more than a financial one - I HAD to get out of the basement apartment where I was living but apartments were so expensive and I was so miserable in the burbs that I decided to buy and become a commuter instead. Don't knock me too hard for this one because homeownership and living in the mountains has been the single best decision I've made in years. $28k 401-something retirement plan. Honestly retirement stuff confuses the hell out of me but I know it's there. Just opened a Roth with $200 last month. Yay! $7k emergency fund, I would like to get this up to $10k as quickly as possible to help myself feel more secure. Have a credit card that I'm starting to use more for the rewards but pay it off 95-100% in full each month. The Bad: $14k student loans and $10k car loan. I want to use an amended snowball method to pay these down - paying down in big chunks rather than throwing all my expendable income at them. I'll explain why in a bit. Monthly expenses total around $2500/month but can go higher occasionally for home maintenance or appointments. I allow myself around $150-$200 for gifts for others, home items, clothing etc (I'm still "nesting" and finding things I want/need for the house) and $100 for home improvement/maintenance. I generally save around $300-400 a month. My goals are to up my savings a bit to feel more secure, then pay off my loans in large chunks. I'm hesitant to throw all my extra income at loans every month because I still want to enjoy my life. For example, I would like to take a cruise with my parents in summer 2022 and I can't do that if every spare penny is going to loans. So reddit, what's the verdict? Are my finances and plans getting roasted or toasted? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 07:43 PM PDT Hi everyone, I'm trying to get a definitive answer about selling a car that is being financed. My question being: will selling the car negatively impact my credit? I bought a used car in December using an auto loan through my credit union. I put 6k down and financed the difference of 9k. I'm already down to 7800 on my loan since I've been making larger than the minimum payment. I've been throwing around the idea of selling it to buy a cheaper car since my commute has been drastically reduced. My insurance is 225 a month and my payments are 180. I've gotten an offer from shift for 13,700 (about 1800 less than what I paid.) I would replace the car with something worth ~5k with cheaper insurance. Would closing out the loan severely impact my credit or will it just show the loan as paid off? Is this a stupid decision? Thanks in advance. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 07:27 PM PDT Ok, this sounds dumb but y'all give really awesome answers. Up until this point, everytime I've bought a car, I was in a position of I need this today, take my money. I bought one car from a dealership ever, at the time got a 4.79% APR (doesn't sound great now) I have a 825 credit score according to Experian. (I didn't have that when I got the above loan) What rate should I expect for a 12-15k loan for a used vehicle? [link] [comments]  |
| Getting scammed by an Amazon seller Posted: 07 May 2021 08:50 AM PDT I ordered something fairly expensive from Amazon, but sold by a third-party seller. They shipped it via USPS and updated the order with the tracking number. A few days ago the item was marked as delivered, but it never showed up at my place. The tracking number has my city name but there is no way to look up the actual address it was shipped to. I also did not get a USPS delivery notification (which I do for every other package), so I am fairly certain that the seller did not actually send it to my address. I contacted Amazon who said that it was sold by a third party so they aren't responsible. I contacted the seller who said that they shipped it and pointed me to the tracking number. I asked for a full shipping receipt with my address on it, but they said they don't have any way of getting that. I'm pretty sure I am getting scammed here, but have no idea what to do in this situation. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 03:31 PM PDT My elderly aunt who lives in NJ called me today requesting my help. My uncle has Parkinson's and after a recent illness and stint at a rehab facility, his recovery has plateaued. The rehab facility wants to discharge him but his routine care is more than my aunt can handle so he needs to move to a long term care facility. Unfortunately, my aunt has been uninvolved in their finances because until the last year or so, my uncle has handled everything. Their only son died a few years ago. As far as I know, they own their home, collect SSI and he may have a pension. They have some investments. He is a veteran but not in combat. I plan to go up to NJ next week to help with emotional support if nothing else. What type of professional/organization could guide her through this minefield? I want to steer her in the right direction. [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for advice on selling current home and buying next home. Posted: 07 May 2021 04:38 PM PDT I bought my home in 2005 on my own before I was married (making $57,200.00/yr). I borrowed $90,000 for a home in South Texas with a 5.5% interest rate. My current principal balance is $39,941.41. The home currently appraises at approximately $245,000. Now I am married and our finances have significantly changed. My SO is 100% disabled veteran ($40,000/year benefit) and I work freelance from home making maybe $3000/year. Kids have moved out and the 2-story home is no longer welcoming to our aging bodies. Our monthly costs come to approximately $2414/month, this includes power/water/mortgage…everything except food and car fuel. We're looking to buy a single story home in smaller town and our credit is at a point where any small thing has a huge impact. So much has changed since buying our current home that I don't even know where to start anymore. Also, my SO has never owned a home. We are looking to move ASAP so any help is greatly appreciated. Please let me know if any further information is required from me. [link] [comments]  |
| Do you still have to file taxes on stocks you made no gains? Posted: 07 May 2021 12:05 PM PDT So I'm wondering if I still have to file taxes on stocks that I made no gains. For example, let's say I bought 1K in stocks and in two years I sell for a loss or break even. If I invested 1K and I get 1K back exactly - do I still have to pay taxes? [link] [comments]  |
| How do I look up if my father still owns shares in a company? Posted: 07 May 2021 10:28 AM PDT Hi everyone, hope I'm posting in right subreddit. So my dad (66) once purchased shares a company along with a friend of his sometime around the year 2000. When the Dotcom bubble burst, he thought that his shares were worthless and stashed his certificates somewhere in the house. He never sold them but also never invested in the stock market again thinking it was a sucker's game. In the years since, he lost his business, lost contact with said friend, and we had to relocate a number of times around when the Great Recession hit. We lost a number of personal documents and items along the way including the certificates. And to make matters worse, 5 years ago my dad suffered a stroke which effected his memory and had to relearn some of his cognitive skills. We recently heard that his friend had past away sometime ago and how he left a relatively comfortable life for his grandkids with the stocks he owned. That kind of reminded my dad that he still owns shares but cannot for the life of him remember in what. I still have the addresses of where we lived but searching in missingmoney.com and other such sites doesn't seem to have his information. I kind of feel like it might be a lost cause at this point but I also don't want to lose hope especially if the company he invested might of been brought out or merged. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 06:28 PM PDT I'm 23 years old and just out of college. I've never had any debt of any kind. I just opened a credit card for the first time, mainly to take advantage of cashback rewards that I don't get from my debit card. It's very small, only $200 maximum (I could've set it higher but figured it was good to learn on a smaller line). Like I said my main interest was to take advantage of cashback rewards. I know full well not to spend money I don't have, and my plan was to use the credit card the same as I would my debit card, pay off each purchase immediately, and never be charged any interest. But I figured it'd also be a good idea to look at the credit score side of things, and I read that having 1-30% credit utilization is better than 0%. The upper limit doesn't concern me - like I said my plan was to pay off each purchase immediately. What concerns me is the lower limit. In the plan I described above, I'd be at 0% nearly 100% of the time. I really don't understand the whole credit score thing, but what I'm trying to figure out is if 1% of my limit is $2, should I make sure to always leave a balance of $2 on the account to keep my credit score up? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 07:23 PM PDT As the title says, my partner and I sold some land we owned together in CA. The sale netted about $73K, and I make about $65K per year income. (That's before subtracting the cost of improvements I made over the years we owned it. Maybe $25K including the original purchase of the land.) We're moving to another state and are buying a house, and getting married. Clearly there's a lot of tax inplications there, but what taxes are owed to what state(s) and the federal government on this? [link] [comments]  |
| How much of my savings should/can I spend Posted: 07 May 2021 06:24 PM PDT I live in a major city and the price for an updated 2-3 bed condo is roughly $500k. Currently I have $130k in savings/investments (80% is invested) and $60k in 401k. I am 28 with no children/not yet married but plan to be in near future. First off is that price point too much for my current savings? Any advice on how much down payment I should put down? I am looking to keep a decent amount in cash for the next 5 years. I make roughly 110k a year. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Retirement Percent vs Total Savings Posted: 07 May 2021 03:34 PM PDT Hey everyone! Quick question. I hit my emergency fund goal. Right now I contribute 15% a month to my Roth for retirement. Other than my retirement I am investing about 7% a month in my brokerage account. I just have it investing in mutual funds (less work I do the better) and then about 10% a month towards travel funds. (yes this is high, but I value travel a lot). When people say if your saving 20-30% of your monthly income, does that include your retirement percent? Since I have hit my e-fund goal, should I bump my retirement/investment percent up? I'm saving in total about 32% a month (Albeit the travel funds aren't really savings since they will be consistently used) [link] [comments]  |
| Non-deductible IRA v. SEP/SIMPLE/Solo 401k Posted: 07 May 2021 06:20 PM PDT Hi, I'm wondering what the best investment vehicle would be given the following situation:
*Self-employed (might hire an employee next year) *Existing Roth IRA, contribution limits reached *I expect to earn more in the future than I do now so I am hoping to sock away as much as I can now (since I already have a Roth).
I really don't see any need to put away money I can't touch until I'm 65 when it is more valuable to me now. I have read that under a Solo401(k), one can make employee contributions as a Roth Solo401k, meaning the contributions are taxed now, while also making traditional tax-deferred contributions as an employer.
1) Given the above information, would the Solo401(k) be the best option here? If the contribution limits as an employee ($19,500) here are higher than what I could contribute in a non-deductible IRA, would it be better, then, go ahead with the solo 401k even if I don't plan to contribute as an employer?
As follow up questions:
2) Would opening a solo401(k) now prevent me from hiring employees in the future? 3) Would opening up a solo401(k) or any other plan(s) prevent me from a backdoor roth later?
Thanks... [link] [comments]  |
| Unwittingly opened up a credit card at Macy’s. What next? Posted: 07 May 2021 05:47 PM PDT Hi all - I was buying something at Macy's today and the cashier asked if I wanted to save 25% by opening up a Macy's card. I thought that meant becoming a member at Macy's or something - didn't realize it would end with me opening up a full blown credit card (I should've realized what I was doing when they asked how much I make in a year and what my monthly rent is). Apparently I now have a credit card that will be coming in the mail, along with a bill for my purchase today. I'm concerned about the impact, if any, this will have on my credit score. I already have a credit card and I really don't see why I should have another one. I will have no problem paying this bill off when it comes due, but what should I do after? Should I cancel it? Or will that hurt my credit score if I open up a card and cancel right away. If I cut it up after paying and pretend it doesn't exist will if affect me at all? If it doesn't hurt to have, should I just keep it for if I ever go back to Macy's? Any input is appreciated [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 01:49 PM PDT I'm trying to find a financial advisor for professional financial advise, that has nothing to do with investing. Which is not as easy to find. Any suggestions welcome, in the LA area if that helps. My situation is, my 85 year old godmother needs in home care a few days a week, her Long-Term Care policy has been used up. She lives off of social security and owns her home. She wants to do a reverse mortgage to pay for her ongoing care. I fear this will not be enough financially for her. I'd like to look into other types of loans, funding, etc. She is pretty set on doing this as one of the reverse mortgages will continue to pay her even if she's exceeded the equity in the home. Even still, I don't believe it will be enough as I expect her care needs to increase and I believe their could be other types of loans/options to use and preserve the house. I've also considered her selling the home and living with me, yet I'm concerned she will out live her money. I'm also looking into Medicaid and I understand they look extensively into financial history and often take any property after the recipient dies. And at best it's government assistance. Maintaining her dignity and level of comfort is so important to me. Preserving her last financial resource seems key. However, I don't know what all of her options are, what the best option would be, and how to proceed. I really need someone well versed in financial options, ideally for seniors. Where do I find this person (someone just tell me what to do.)? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 10:59 AM PDT Title. 21, trying to leave an emotionally abusive household. I currently have $10k in savings and still rising. My boyfriend and I are committed to moving in together (Almost 3yr relationship), and he will be contributing to rent/bills/food. I work in IT and take home about $3k every month. He works in phone sales but may move to another job before we leave. I work in SoCal (not planning to move to any big urban areas like LA). No debt. We both have cars w/insurance. My plan is to get a regular apartment/small house to rent if we can afford it ($1500 max rent budget). My bf and I have made a spreadsheet of our theoretical budget and finances. If say for example we had to go off of my finances alone, we should have enough to meet everything and with a little bit of spending money each week, but again my bf will be contributing so costs will be less. We only recently started building credit but our scores are both currently 692 (most likely to go up in a few weeks). Would this be good enough to move out relatively soon? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 May 2021 03:46 PM PDT So I am about to begin a new job in a few months and will be in need of a car. My job is in a "college" town where the cost of living is really low. As of right now my rent is about $800 including utilities. My new job will be paying $50k. I only work about a mile away from home but i will need a car for running errands as it is the most reliable way to get around. I was debating between two options either to buy a used car my budget was about $8k (looking to put 3-4K down) and finance the rest. Or (what everyone says not to do) lease a car. My rationale for leasing was that if I were to buy a used car I do not want to take the chances of something happening to the car that that would require me to have to sink more money into it (transmission) By leasing I could be assured that any repairs are covered. I am also not looking to own whatever car forever. I'm hoping to over the course of the next year or two to be able to save until I can purchase the car I would like to own going forward. I am still leaning towards owning, but maybe there is something I am not seeing or thinking about. All together this would be my first car purchase so any insights are helpful. [link] [comments]  |
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