Personal Finance Am I crazy or is it totally not worth buying a used car in this market? |
- Am I crazy or is it totally not worth buying a used car in this market?
- Which broker to use as a US citizen abroad?
- About to buy our rental house but landlord just texts "maybe another time" purchase agreement has been signed.
- Returning to work after a year accruing debt and hoarding cash like a troll
- We recently found out we are finally pregnant after years of trying! But we are just about to start a cross-country move and this changes everything?
- 10 year savings goal - best way to grow money?
- Capital One Members - Does anyone else receive an alert message freezing their accounts after they transfer money?
- Dublin: Rent until buy dream home VS buy, save for dream home, rent/sell 1st property
- Person cashed a check with both of our names on it - alone
- Is it worth relocating at the cost of a significant paycut?
- 30-Day Challenge #8: Cook more often! (August, 2021)
- How to make those nifty budget charts?
- What do you do with your 3-6 month savings?
- 401k Pre-Tax or 401k Roth?
- We want to try using our credit card’s travel cancelation benefit because Travelocity refuses our refund request. We don’t want to go because it’s Florida. Could this work? Any tips?
- Forced 401k with new employer?
- About to become homeless because nowhere and no one will rent to me
- Buying a home in another state.
- Should I put all of my investment capital into a Roth?
- Purchasing a new/user Subaru via trade in
- Should I finish paying my debt before working on emergency fund savings?
- Which credit card should I pay off first.. higher balance with low interest or low interest higher balance ?
- Mortgage transfer
- Why are there super cheap Amazon gift cards?
- Money from Patreon and Taxes
| Am I crazy or is it totally not worth buying a used car in this market? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:03 PM PDT I've been trying to find a reasonable deal on a car for nearly 2 months now. I've been told to never buy a new car because of the depreciation, but this used car market is completely absurd and prices don't seem to be trending downwards AT ALL. Here's what I'm looking at: 2017 Hyundai Elantra SE. 32k miles at carmax: $16,999 (maybe slightly over priced compared to other used car lots but not by very much) Brand new 2021 Hyundai Elantra with 0 miles at a local dealer: $20,500 So for $3,500 I can get a brand new car instead of a used one with a bunch of miles on it. $3,500 is a lot of money, but that's also a lot of wear and tear that's already been put on that car. edit: The new dealer has a CPO 2018 Elantra with only 15k miles for 16k. That seems a lot better of a deal than what carmax is offering but still only 5k off a brand new one. [link] [comments]  |
| Which broker to use as a US citizen abroad? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 04:27 AM PDT I'm looking to get started with investing but I seem to be blocked from a lot of services due to my citizenship and residence combination. I'm a US citizen but I live in Germany. A lot of US based brokers require that you reside in the US in order to open an account with them, and while I do have a mailing address in the US I don't reside there. German based brokers often do not wish to deal with the overhead and tax implications of dealing with US citizens because of the US government's invasive reporting requirements. Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Robinhood, and Trade Republic all seem to have problems. Has anyone here dealt with this problem before and have any tips on where to get started? I do have bank accounts in both countries but I'm not able to directly visit branches for either bank. Edit: I'm a student about to start my first job and can only invest a few thousands dollars at the moment. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:31 PM PDT We have been renting for 10 years and finally in a good place financially. Our landlord was shot and killed a few years ago. He always said when we were ready that he would sell us the house. Unlike his other tenants we have treated this house as our own since day one and have remodeled every room in the house. We had his approval everytime. He said he would sell it at a very fair price. After he was killed his wife took over. She said she would sell us the house for $80,000. It was appraised at $165,000. Could be the reason she wants to back out. Her daughter is the one that is telling her not too. Says she wants to keep things as they have been. (With us just renting) supposedly they have been fighting about it and so our landlord texts us that they have been fighting and doesn't want to sell. Maybe some other time. I have no idea what is going to happen now. We were trying to buy so we could get away from the problems of that family. Just a matter of time before something else happens. Hopefully they have a change of heart because this went from being a very happy time to a very scary time with not knowing what will or can happen. [link] [comments]  |
| Returning to work after a year accruing debt and hoarding cash like a troll Posted: 01 Aug 2021 03:51 PM PDT
I'm trying to decide the best way to manage this transition. I assume I should pay off the credit cards in full before the APR kicks in. Is there any benefit to seeing if I can get another 0% APR card and transfer some of the debt there and pay it off over time? Paying them off in full would leave me with around $20K cash, which I could keep as a rainy day fund (covers 4-5 months of expenses). Or I could also pay back a third of the 401K money so I don't pay taxes on it this year, and have $15K in the rainy day fund. Beyond my retirement funds (around $125K) I don't have other investments or major assets. Appreciate any opinions. Thank you. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 04:12 PM PDT Hi gang, I've got 2 conflicting forces at play in life right now. First and most important, me and my wife have been trying to conceive for 3 years, unsuccessfully. We've been doing IVF for the last 8 months, and extremely recently she got her first positive, and is meeting all the doctors goalposts for the first 5 weeks of pregnancy! We are both beyond happy at this. On the other hand, we live in Austin TX and have been trying to get new jobs to make the move to a costal Carolina city for the past 3 years. Of course after 3 years of striking out at job applications, just 2 weeks ago I was called for an interview at a dream job, and it looks like I'm going to be offered this super cool job in our dream city with a start date within the next month! It's not a huge pay raise from what I make now, but it's not a lower rate either. It's in my Masters field. We need both our incomes to make ends meet here in Austin. Although the sale of our house would float us for a while in NC without her having a job, she would need one within a a year or so for us to make it work. Right now my wife and I are both employed in Austin with decent jobs, we both have our Masters degrees, the student loans to go along with it, and are insured through our employers (she would get 2 months paid leave after giving birth). Despite all this, my wife is saying she is 100% on board to leave behind the current job, sell house, and go out there! She might be 2-3 months behind me to facilitate selling the house and wrapping up her current job, but she is a wonder-woman type and she's up for it. Her job is not remote and not able to be remote moving forward. We've owned our house in Austin for about 6 years so there's quite a bit of equity built up for when we sell. But on the other hand, we'd be moving out there with only one income, one source of insurance, no paid maternity leave, student loans are about to come back online in September from the covid payment suspension, and would need to use a decent chunk of that money to attempt to buy a new house in this crazy market. And although my wife is super skilled and resourceful, I know it would be tough for her to find a job in a new (smaller) city while pregnant or with a newborn. We are torn between staying in Austin, nesting, and just making a go of it here, vs. selling our house, "starting over," and moving to Carolina to be near the beach. I feel like I know the "right" move is to stay put with our jobs, insurance, house, and have this baby and look to move sometime in the future. But many friends and family reminded us it's only harder to move once you have kids too! And as I just found out, jobs are hard to come by in the coastal city we're looking at. Has anybody here ever had to deal with a situation like this? Where you're stuck between staying where you are, vs. doing a move and changing things up while pregnant? tl;dr: wife is finally pregnant after 3 years of trying. I finally got a job offer out-of-state after 3 years of trying. Better to stay put vs. moving right now? Any viewpoints are welcome. [link] [comments]  |
| 10 year savings goal - best way to grow money? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:03 PM PDT My 16 yo has an autoimmune disease that comes with high monthly costs. We got their diagnosis in Sept 2019 and I've since started an additional savings account for them. The goal is to handover at least $25k on their 26th birthday (when they would come off my health insurance). This will be to help cover medical expenses or jump start their nest egg. Currently have 8k saved and in a savings account. I know there are smarter things I could be doing to grow this money. Do you all have any suggestions for places to start? Thank you for the guidance! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:28 PM PDT I receive an alert nearly every time I transfer a substantial amount of money, even between two existing Capital One accounts I own. The message is the following: "Your funds are currently not available for withdrawal. Please call us at 1-888-464-0727." Does anyone else notice a similar message on their accounts and if so, what is causing it? I can't access any of the money in my accounts, and apparently it can't be resolved until a weekday! [link] [comments]  |
| Dublin: Rent until buy dream home VS buy, save for dream home, rent/sell 1st property Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:14 AM PDT Hi. Are there any links to articles or websites that could advise on the financial impact between the two scenarios below. I.e. does either have greater financial validity. Any advice for first time buyer in Dublin who wants to live on good public transport routes would be great.
First property price limit €350k 'Dream home' property price limit €650k Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Person cashed a check with both of our names on it - alone Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:52 PM PDT My ex-roommate proved herself to be very untrustworthy and problematic, which is why I didn't want to renew our lease together. When I put in our 30 day notice, the deposit check was to be sent to my new address. I let them know many times the address it should be sent out to. My ex-roommate even texted me asking if I got the deposit back after almost a month, to which I hadn't. So I never got it, and it turned out that my ex-roommate lied about changing the address to her parents'. I found that out by calling the leasing office after I confronted her, to which she said either her parents or her boyfriend probably changed it. She said she honestly didn't know that the address was going to her place this whole time. So I called the leasing office to ask them why they would let people who are not on the lease change the deposit address, and they completely outed her by emailing us both screenshots of her text where she had them change it. Ex-roommate is a narcissist, so she would of course blame everyone but herself until she is outed like that. In the end, she claimed it was a "crazy month" and "adulting is hard" and "honestly just forgot." Of course I was super upset and unwilling to trust her with our check. She had it for a week before I found out about this. When I called the leasing office to ask if we could have split checks and cancel the first one, they assured me that both of our names were on the check, and she would not be able to cash the check without us both being present. They would not split the check, and the only other way would be if we both agreed to have the check be named out to only one of us. Well fast forward a week later, she venmos me what presumably is exactly half of my deposit. Apparently she had no trouble cashing the check without me. Does anyone know how she was able to do that? If it turns out that she signed my name illegally to be able to cash it, then I am not okay with that, deposit or not. Would there be anything I can do about this? I am NOT okay with the bank cashing a check with my name on it without my signature, regardless if I got the money venmoed. [link] [comments]  |
| Is it worth relocating at the cost of a significant paycut? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 04:13 PM PDT Hi PersonalFinance, This may or may not be better suited to a different subreddit, but I've been trying to figure out whether it is worth relocating to another part of the country that I might enjoy more at the cost of a significant blow to my career. For the last decade (I'm in my early 30s), I have been living in a fairly remote (think Alaska) city of around 30k surrounded by nature, wildlife, trees and great career options. The town is big enough to have most big box stores but where you might have 9-10 options for a store in a larger city, here you may have 1. When I moved here, I absolutely loved this place - and still do to an extent - but I also miss city life, endless good restaurants, shows, people, etc. Now, what I would be leaving behind is a great career that I have spent the last decade building and an unbeatable quality of life that is harder to find in much of the rest of the country. I work in a senior management role in government making $140,000 with the likelihood of going up to $160,000 in the next few years and a ceiling of just under $200,000 (indexed) within the next ten years. I have 7 weeks off per year minimum, not including paid sick leave which is a few more weeks that I never use (not sure how much). There is also a full pension, indexed to inflation worth about $110,000 per year upon retirement. I also own my own home on an acreage valued at around $650,000 with $200,000 remaining on the mortgage and a second rental property valued at around $350,000 with $220,000 on that mortgage. I have about $300,000 in savings and investments in the bank and no debts beyond my mortgages. My career field is in no way unique, however, similar positions elsewhere in the country pay between $80,000 and $90,000 max with limited upward potential, significantly less time off (2-3 weeks?), much less job security and less affordable housing in many parts of the country. I'm wondering whether it's possible to power through this feeling of boredom and make use of my paid time off to scratch my city itch for the significant career benefits I enjoy. Or is it worth pulling the plug knowing that I'll delay retirement by up to a decade, have less financial freedom, etc. just to enjoy city life and all its offerings again? Has anyone else been in this position? What did you do? Do you have any regrets? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| 30-Day Challenge #8: Cook more often! (August, 2021) Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:00 AM PDT 30-day challengesWe are pleased to continue our 30-day challenge series. Past challenges can be found here. This month's 30-day challenge is to Cook more often! Two of the biggest budget-killers we see in this subreddit are lots of "wasted" money on eating out and spending too much on groceries. While everyone's situation is different, we want to highlight some steps to help you get started:
Challenge success criteriaYou've successfully completed this challenge once you've done one or more of the following things:
[link] [comments]  |
| How to make those nifty budget charts? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:46 PM PDT My last post was removed due to being too short. I want to know the specific app/software to make those cool looking budget charts that have break away streams (the ones you see on reddit all the time). Thanks in advance for your help! [link] [comments]  |
| What do you do with your 3-6 month savings? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:17 PM PDT I have currently 30k in cash that I am trying to decide if I should keep as cash or put it in a slow growing, low risk index fund. I want to have access to it as it contains emergency and 3 - 6 months of living if needed, but I also don't want it to just sit there losing money. What is the best option? I looked at high yield savings, but nothing is coming close to touching inflation so I don't see that as a good option. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:50 PM PDT I'm 27 years old and I've been working for 5 years (with the same company) and have been contributing to a 401k pre tax plan every paycheck. In 2018 I started a Roth IRA account and have been maxing it out since. The 401k is a target retirement fund and the Roth contributions are going towards a total market index fund. I have had this assumption in my head that these two retirement accounts working both ways (one pre tax, the other post tax), will put me in the best position in terms of wealth come retirement since I don't know how much I'll be making at retirement age. Kind of like hedging a bet. I recently found out that I am able to contribute to my 401k with Roth contributions while still contributing to a Roth IRA. This has made me ask the question if I should change how I'm investing in my 401k but I believe there may be tax pros and cons to both sides depending on where I end up in retirement. Am I on the right path with this "hedge" of retirement accounts or can I see more wealth in retirement with a Roth 401k. I currently make 100k a year and max out both accounts and also have a brokerage account which I invest $1000 a month. I believe I will be able to make 200k a year if I stay in the same industry for the rest of my career (assume 25 years) without much ambition. With that said I do have ambition to start my own business in the future which could dramatically change my income in the future if and when I play my cards right. TLDR: I'm looking for advice or how contribute to a 401k. Pretax or Roth. What will result in the most wealth long term and is there any way of knowing for sure since taxes change over time? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:17 PM PDT Our two young boys are obviously unvaccinated so we can't afford the risk. Back in March when we booked our trip, things were looking rosy, with vaccinations going at the pace of supply. I remember specifically the website saying in big bold lettering "book with confidence, free cancellation" or some such. Alas, Travelocity customer service, the airline, and the hotel itself all are dead ends, even though our trip is a month from now. Can we try using the credit card benefits? We never did anything like this before so I'm unsure what to expect. Are we covered? The card is Chase Freedom Unlimited but I don't quite understand what is or isn't covered and their travel related page is short and doesn't seem to address the issue specifically… it basically tells you to work it out with the travel provider? I can't find anything in the Ultimate Rewards sheet either. We'll try calling the general customer service; how should we present our story to have the best shot at getting [at least some of] our money back? [link] [comments]  |
| Forced 401k with new employer? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:41 PM PDT I got a new job and I found out they require me to submit 15% of my wages to a 401k plan. They match this I think. Anyways, I'm not a US citizen (here on a non-immigrant work visa) and do not plan to stay here long term so in the past, I have changed the suggested contribution on fidelity to 0%. The employer here told me that's not an option but I still have to call fidelity to check. Is this allowed? Or is there any way to get out of it? Also if I do have to contribute, can I withdraw all that money from the account when I leave the US in 2 years, is that easy to do? I understand I will have to pay tax on it, but is that a relatively straightforward process? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| About to become homeless because nowhere and no one will rent to me Posted: 01 Aug 2021 07:26 PM PDT For opening context, I got tossed out of my family's place a couple of months ago because I was let go from my job at the time. My family was incredibly abusive and would threaten me, hit me and verbally/psychologically abuse me on a consistent basis. I had an incredibly large savings cushion to fall back on, so I took the opportunity to go ahead and leave my hometown and couch crash with friends in San Diego. The problem at this juncture is that the friends I'm staying with can't keep me up forever, and I've not had any luck finding a job or place to rent. I've got until the end of the week to find a place to stay, but no matter how many Craigslist ads I go through or how many people looking for roommates I try to get in contact with, nowhere and nobody will let me rent. Part of the problem stems from the fact I have no credit score. (I've always paid cash for everything and I've never used a credit card before. Yes, I'm understanding the consequences of that NOW, but I can't even consider opening a line of credit until I'm back on my feet again with a job and a home.) I still have a large savings at my disposal to where I can pay a deposit+3 months rent down on move-in and still have enough for my own expenses for quite a while, but nowhere wants to take me because I'm between jobs regardless of my ability to pay for myself. I'm at a complete loss here. I've got until this weekend before I lose everything and I'm about to mentally crack. What am I supposed to do when I have the money to pay the rent, but nobody wants to take it? [link] [comments]  |
| Buying a home in another state. Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:55 PM PDT How difficult is it to get a mortgage approved to buy a house in a state you don't current live or work in? I could easily get another job in the new state, will I need this job offer as part of the mortgage process? Will none of this matter and it's no harder than buying in-state? I will easily pick up a job, so I'd rather move into my own place off the bat, and not have to move twice by first renting an apartment and then buying the house later. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I put all of my investment capital into a Roth? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 12:59 PM PDT Hello, I am 22 year old student and am trying to set myself up for a sound financial future. I currently have 8,000 in a RobinHood account and have recurring investments into the S&P ($9 daily). Initially, I planned to continue this recurring investment of $9 forever and just increase the daily investment as I make more money. However, today I opened up a Roth IRA through fidelity and set a monthly recurring investment of $300/month. My question is whether I should instead allocate all of my investment capital into the Roth(eliminate the daily Robin Hood investments)? This would essentially bring me closer to the annual $6,000 maximum. --- Background: I don't make a lot of money at all (still in university), but I have a decent amount saved up ($110k) [link] [comments]  |
| Purchasing a new/user Subaru via trade in Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:42 PM PDT For context, spouse and I are looking to purchase a new/used crosstrek for a few reasons. Cut down from 2 to 1 car for insurance/gas purposes, and lifestyle/work which require an AWD vehicle. We each have credit scores over 770, her DTI is around 20, mine around 35-40(professional school loans). We're looking to trade in my car, current value according to Edmunds/KBB between 10-14K as is, hers between 6-8K. We're trying to trade in both, and hopefully only have to finance/pay around 5K. Is there any tips/tricks to use(I.e. end of month/year) to help negotiate down MSRP and avoid financing more than we're comfortable with? Edit: misspelled crosstrek [link] [comments]  |
| Should I finish paying my debt before working on emergency fund savings? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:48 PM PDT This morning, I had about $8k in credit card debt and $2k in my savings. I received a 6.5k lump sum, and decided to buy a PS5, pay $3500 against my debt, and save the rest. Did I do well? Now I'm wondering should I actually pay more against my credit card debt (now $4500 at 15% APR) instead of saving this few thousand? For some time, I have been budgeting $500 each month to pay this debt, which am planning to continue, but is it better to just eliminate the debt asap by using more of the savings? I'm pretty excited about the end of my credit card payments and having a positive net worth being in sight since I'm down from 20k debt while I was living paycheck-to-paycheck as a grad student, but am still unsure if I should be agressive now or keep being patient. By my understanding, they will only get about $500 more interest out of me if I just stick to the plan? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 07:49 PM PDT Alright so I have 3 credit cards, looking to cut down to 1 after I've paid them off. I get so overwhelmed with needing to pay 3 off, I don't know where to begin. I've applied for a LOC in hopes of transferring all balances to that. Due to covid and being laid off most of the year I've struggled. However I now have a stable decent paying job at a bank. My goal is to put $1000 a month towards my debt. Credit card 1 balance - @ 19.99% = 1500 Credit 2 @ 19.99% =3500 Credit 3 @ 11.99% =4000 [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 01:45 PM PDT Hey y'all. Not sure what to do here. We got a letter from our mortgage company saying our mortgage was transferred to PHH mortgage services. It says our new servicer will start accepting payments on 8/1 and gave a new loan number. This is the only communication we have received. We keep trying to create an account and it says our Loan Number isn't found in their records. What can we do? Given it's a Sunday, would it hurt us to wait til tomorrow and call them (again)? Would that be considered a late payment and effect our credit? [link] [comments]  |
| Why are there super cheap Amazon gift cards? Posted: 01 Aug 2021 07:39 PM PDT It's like 20-30% off I don't get how Are they stealing peoples credit cards or something? Does anyone use anything similar? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2021 07:37 PM PDT Hey, guys! So, this is my first time posting here. Let me know if this question is suited for this subreddit or not. Background: I'm a writer who's posted a couple short stories online, as well as some audio scripts that several people have voiced now. In addition to that, I'm a college student who's going into his second year of university. Given the above, I have been thinking of making money off my writing for some time now. And as you can tell by the title of this post, I'm thinking of opening a Patreon. With that said, what's the process that goes into opening a Patreon account as a creator? First, I open the account. Second, I assume I connect it with my bank account and start receiving money. When do I start paying taxes? Will I start receiving letters with the appropriate documents necessary to start paying taxes on my money I received from Patreon? Also, I'm thinking of setting up only one tier for now, which would be one for donations. I've never paid taxes before, and have never held a job. By the way, I live in California. [link] [comments]  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Personal Finance. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
No comments:
Post a Comment