Personal Finance Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 26, 2021 |
- Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 26, 2021
- Bank Teller Contacted Me Via Facebook Messenger and Asked for Money.
- Landlord saying I missed a rent payment last year. Bank can provide an image of the autopay rent check, but no proof that it was cashed.
- Missing my first pay check…. It’s been two weeks and HR has still not resolved this
- Is my dad giving me bad financial advice?
- Two ~10 yr olds inheriting their dad's pension. How to best put this money away in the most tax efficient manner for them?
- Is joining the army for a 4 year gig worth it?
- Front-loading retirement?
- 19yo, needing guidance how to pay for college and housing
- Doing too much for retirement?
- Mom (53) has not saved for retirement - How to begin?
- How to Survive Next Two Years
- Parents sold me a car for $50, if I sell it what happens?
- Medical bills stacking up while in medical school
- I'm a 37 Year Old First Time Homeowner What Do I Need to Know?
- Debits hitting my bank at peculiar times.
- Hoarder Mom had a stroke
- Grandparent has incurred credit card debt with no intention to repay
- My job is cutting my hours in half after my surgery
- Single or Multiple 529 accounts?
- Is there any way to get out of a car loan?
- Who should I hire? I, a Massachusetts resident F, 73, low income, sold my undeveloped Arizona property purchased in 1975 — now what? I don’t know what to do with the money.
- Payroll dispute NYC salary.
- Anyone take advantage of ‘free’ money for opening checking accounts on a constant basis?
- Is there any reason not to have your credit reports perpetually frozen?
| Weekend Discussion and Victory Thread for the week of November 26, 2021 Posted: 26 Nov 2021 01:00 PM 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] |
| Bank Teller Contacted Me Via Facebook Messenger and Asked for Money. Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:08 PM PST I deposited a sum of money this past Wednesday. I asked the bank teller to write down the account balance on the deposit receipt. I don't keep what I would consider to be an exorbitant amount of money in that account but it does have about 6 months worth of living expenses and all of my standard checking and savings accounts are with this institution. Later that evening, I received a message request on Facebook from the bank teller asking for money. It was a long story about how he was trying to marry his fiancé and a bunch of other nonsense. I didn't respond and tried to forget about it, but It's been bothering me for the past two days. I know it's inappropriate, but if it were just that, I could get over it. Does this person have access to my accounts? Should I be moving my assets? This feels like a breach of trust between me and the financial institution. I'm a way, I feel like my privacy has been violated. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:52 AM PST NY - since earlier this year my landlord has been claiming that I didn't pay my rent for one of the months in 2020. I have rent auto-payment set up through my bank (Chase). So far, I've spoken to 4 people at Chase, and thus far they've only been able to provide me with an image of the check that they say was sent. They're saying they can't provide proof of when, where, or even if it was deposited, other than the fact that the funds were not returned to my account, which would have happened had the check not been cashed after 90 days. I sent the check image to my landlord, who says they have no record of that check. I don't know what my next steps are. As far as I'm concerned, I paid this rent like I have every other month, so it's not like I'm just going to cut another check for the same amount because my landlord said so. What else can I do, or who else can I speak to, to resolve this? [link] [comments] |
| Missing my first pay check…. It’s been two weeks and HR has still not resolved this Posted: 25 Nov 2021 11:51 PM PST I got rehired at a job and started working as a RN on October 25. I was expecting my first paycheck to be direct deposited on November 12. Of course, being a new hire again, I can understand delays with first paychecks, but I was able to see on our employee portal that a pay stub was generated. There was no money in my account however. Once I investigated further it appears that they (payroll?) entered my checking account number incorrectly. It was off by one number, but thankfully not a real account, so the bank just reversed the transaction because it was clearly an error. I have been calling, emailing, (and honestly just annoying) in any way I can the HR department about this issue and even emailed my union rep for the hospital. It seems like every time I reach out to them a different person answers the phone and we get nowhere. So, as of now I still have not received my funds and have not received any solution or expected resolution and said paycheck is almost 2 weeks overdue and still in limbo. Luckily my significant other has been able to cover my expenses. But,
TLDR: I'm 2 weeks overdue for my first paycheck due to a payroll error in entering my account number and want to know if there is more I can do that I'm not already [link] [comments] |
| Is my dad giving me bad financial advice? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 09:49 AM PST My dad says I should keep my 401K contribution between 2-4% despite my company matching half up to 6%. He says since I just started the new job and I'm only 24 making $52K annually, that it's best I take the extra money now to add to my savings (only $1,500) and student loan payments ($15K left) rather than have it sit in a retirement account. I can push it up to 6% any time. All my friends, including my cousin who works in HR, say this is dumb. My dad however is generally great with money and also consulted his financial advisor, so I'm not sure who to believe. Help! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:23 AM PST In Illinois. My 2 step-children (each around 10 yrs old) lost their dad recently. There was no will, no 401k, no life insurance, no savings and essentially no assets. Recently, we've been made aware he had a moderate pension payout amount and his two minor children were the sole beneficiaries. I'm really confused on what the options are with this money, their tax consequences, and which approach might be best for the children that will have zero need for this money till they finish college. Again, the children wouldn't need a penny of this till they finish college... and the plan would look something like them just using this money for a down payment on a house a couple years after college or whatever they choose. So this money will sit for ~15 years... and we (their mom... and I'm just helping give direction) feel it might as well try to grow in some index fund/ETF. Our simple goal is to get this money in a brokerage account with the best overall tax efficiency possible assuming it won't be withdrawn for 15+ years. Their mom and I hate the idea of the government effectively saying "sorry little children that your dad killed himself.... now we want some of that money that is coming your way." If taxes are unavoidable on this money then, again, we're at least looking for what's the most tax efficient way to store/invest this money away for 15 years. I see this as we have 3 options (of course their mom would have to be the guardian of whatever brokerage account we land on since they're so young): 1) "Cash it out" and put all of it into their own plain ol' individual brokerage account for them. I assume this means the $40k would be taxed now** (not sure actually)??? And any capital gains on the balance 15 years later would be taxed at the withdrawal. ** If it matters, I'm almost certain this pension accumulation was automatic (company paid) and wasn't contributed to by the father... so I assume that similar to company provided life insurance, it gets taxed?? But then I think the first $50k of employer provided life insurance doesn't get taxed.... so maybe this $40k of pension payout doesn't either?? Ugh. 2) Roll it into an inherited Roth IRA account. This is what we'd like to do if possible. I'm a big Roth IRA fan in general and I assume this is the most tax friendly approach???... so if that's an option I'm trying to understand tax consequences both now... and tax consequences 15 yrs later at withdrawal of the original amount plus any capital gains (I assume this $40k each needs to be taxed sometime, but maybe not???!!! **). I think any earnings would get the 10% penalty on withdraw in 15 years (minus a $10k first time homebuyer exception). But besides the 10% early withdrawal hit on the earnings... are there more taxes on the original $40k?? I found this paragraph in IRS Publication 575 (2020), Pension and Annuity Income:
That paragraph makes it maybe sound like I can effectively get this $40k into an inherited Roth IRA and this $40k would never be taxed??!! (Sounds too good to be true). I'll also say that what to do with this money after college will be their decision, but if there is anyway 100% of this payout can stay in a Roth IRA until they retire (literally grow for 50+ years), I would strongly encourage them to do so. But, again, I'm not sure it's possible to get this payout into a Roth (and if so, does that money get taxed first??) and how long it can stay there. 3) Roll it into an inherited IRA (non-Roth). Again, unclear on what gets taxed when. My confused mind wants to simplify this option as "zero taxes now, full taxes plus 10% hit on the entire balance (minus maybe $10k for homebuyer exception) in 15 years when it's all withdrawn".... but I could be way wrong with that conclusion. If I somehow had to choose this option, I'd look into doing a Roth IRA conversion anyway, if possible. I'd only choose this, if option 2 wasn't an option. I also think there is something about the SECURE act where inherited IRA distributions must be withdrawn within 10 years. But I also think there is an exception for a minor that was a child of the deceased... and I THINK they get 10 years AFTER they turn 18 (so it must be withdrawn by the time they are 28.... which is the plan anyway.) [link] [comments] |
| Is joining the army for a 4 year gig worth it? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 02:18 AM PST Here's my situation, I'm 19, live with my grandmother, work at fedex as a package handler, worked several dead end jobs and I just can't seem to find something worth putting my time into that sets me up for a good future. I could probably go to college in Alabama but idk how much that would cost and to me financing an education just isn't worth it when you consider how expensive college is vs the pay of the job you aren't guaranteed to get. There is a possibility I could still go for free but I don't know all the details and nobody really knows what they want to do until their late 20s early 30s anyway. I have a good attitude, would describe my intelligence as average to maybe above average, Im in pretty good physical condition, and I'm used to moving around a lot as I was a military brat. I just need some good solid advice on what I should do. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2021 03:15 PM PST Some quick math says that if we keep maxing some retirement accounts for a few more years we'll be on track for about $1.7MM/2.3MM/3MM @ 5/6/7% average returns over the next 30 years. We'll have to do some projections but $1.7MM might be enough for us. Anyone front load retirement accounts to some point and then stop contributing decades before retirement? What was your number and expected balance at age 65? SWR? [link] [comments] |
| 19yo, needing guidance how to pay for college and housing Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:52 PM PST I am in the US, and my parents are incredibly controlling and mentally abusive. For the last year and a half I have been in an incredibly restrictive program at an out of state university, so I have made efforts to transfer back to a university in my home state lately to pursue other educational paths. I returned home for thanksgiving a week ago, but left to stay with my older brother (who is in graduate education right now) who had also cut off my parents to a large degree due to their abusive behavior, but they have threatened to prevent him and I both from receiving even the income info necessary for filling out his FAFSA if I do not return home. I do not want to burden my older brother more than I already have by staying with him, so to me it seems my only options are to go home or crash on a friends' couch or go to a youth homeless shelter at least until I can get a job and a place to stay before I try to enroll in community college in the next semester. I would appreciate any guidance with how to handle these issues, and where I should look for help. [link] [comments] |
| Doing too much for retirement? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 02:42 PM PST Hey PF, Kind of simple post. 29m making 100K. I mentally can't stop myself from investing more and more into my long term future and I'm trying to convince myself that I'm fine where I'm at. Just can't mentally dial it back. Currently automatically put 5% into my work pension fund, 9% into my 457b with a 3.5% match by my employer, as well at $250 a paycheck into my Roth IRA to get the $6k max for the past three years. As well as putting money here and there into both Bitcoin and Ethereum (not much) basically DCA'ing. Am I doing too much? How do I convince myself to dial back if I am doing too much. Very hard to change a percentage from 9 back to 8 or 7 or 6. Hard to stop trying to max the Roth IRA once I've been steadily maxing it. Looking for any and all advice. Thank you. [link] [comments] |
| Mom (53) has not saved for retirement - How to begin? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 03:01 PM PST Hello all, I'm coming out of college and have been learning how to properly save for retirement. I'm planning on following the 'boglehead' approach and know that time is on my side. Yesterday I had a conversion with my mother and found out that she has no funds allocated for retirement. She is a single mother who raised two kids and I want to make sure she can live comfortably once retired. The following is information on my mother's financial state:
From what I understand she essentially has nothing in terms of assets other than the savings, I'm worried that there isn't enough time for her to accumulate a large enough nest egg to live comfortably in retirement. We sat down and opened a Roth IRA account yesterday and I tried my best to explain the benefits of contributing money to it. She was completely open to it but questioned how much this will help her given how late in her life it is in terms of saving for retirement. My main question to you all is what should the asset allocation look like? I'm going to be responsible for managing her Roth IRA portfolio and I don't want to put whatever savings she has now at risk. Planning on doing a lot of research myself and consulting a financial advisor to validate my findings. If anyone could help me make the correct decisions I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:29 PM PST I'm a single mom of two kids (with almost no financial support from ex; I'm battling trying to get that now, but there are obstacles) and a full-time grad student. I also have a FT day job as a preschool teacher, but it doesn't pay much; I can expect to earn about $33,000 from it next year. Until a few weeks ago, I had a second, PT job that I earned about $15,000 from per year. I may go back to that job soon. So, my expected salary for 2022 is about $48,000 at most. I believe I can expect about $10,000 in tax refunds for the 2021 year. Rent for 2022, if I'm fortunate enough to be able to stay in my current apartment, will be $17,376. Daycare will be $11,440, unless I manage to get my kids into a cheaper childcare solution (doubtful). Other major expected expenses include: $800 for all utilities; about $1,080 for car insurance; $4,200 for health insurance; $450 for phone (but I might cancel it soon); $900 for Internet (the cheapest plan I can find in my area); and $2500 for food (bare minimum). I've had to be extremely frugal and I try hard not to spend money on absolutely anything else. My problem is that if I have a second job, then essentially I'm working about 75 - 80 hours per week (counting the commute) on top of parenting and grad school. It's extremely hard to complete my assignments, much less have any time to review and really learn the material well. Not to mention that my kids get the short end of the stick and I barely have any time for them. I won't be able to graduate until December 2023 at the earliest, May 2024 at the latest. I certainly wish I could find a better paying day job or move to a cheaper area now, but neither of those are very feasible options at the moment for various reasons... I'm going to apply for assistance, but I'm worried about if I don't qualify. I *think* I still could get up to $8,000 in Grad PLUS loans to cover living expenses for this academic year and maybe again in the following year, but I'm worried that would screw me over later trying to repay. All I want is to keep a roof over my kids' heads, feed them, and provide for all our most bare minimum needs... I've accepted that life is going to suck until I graduate and probably even after that, but I just need to figure out how to survive the next two years. Do I suck it up and keep working my second job, even if I'm so exhausted I can barely stay awake driving home from it? Will I be able to survive if I end up with like $60,000 in student loans, knowing that I'll only make about $70,000 - $75,000 in the first year of my intended career? [link] [comments] |
| Parents sold me a car for $50, if I sell it what happens? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 05:41 PM PST My parents sold me a car for $50 in CA (they were unable to gift it to me because of the car being owned by their business) but I am now in another state and the car is no longer registered in the other state. My question is if I sell the car for $5,000 will I have to pay capital gains taxes on the $4,950 in profit? Are there any clever ways around this? [link] [comments] |
| Medical bills stacking up while in medical school Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:57 PM PST I'm taking out crazy student loans for medical school. No income. Recently have had some medical stuff going on that requires me to go to the doctor at least twice a month. I know I have the ability to get financial assistance for hospital bills, but no such option exists for doctors appointments as far as I'm aware. I've called to ask and they just suggested a payment plan, which isn't super helpful seeing as I won't have an additional income for the next 3.5 years. My school health insurance is shit & my bills are nearing $3,000 already. I don't know what to do. My thought is to just let them go to collections as I can't really afford to buy a house or anything important for at least 7-8 more years anyway so I'm not incredibly concerned about my credit. Is this stupid? Any suggestions?? [link] [comments] |
| I'm a 37 Year Old First Time Homeowner What Do I Need to Know? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 02:31 PM PST Some added Context, I'm self-employed, high income ($100K+ after taxes), have no problem putting money away for retirement and I'm in a good place relative to my age. Single, no kids but I do care for my younger siblings. What do I need to know? Should I focus on paying down my mortgage before 45? Should I focus on investing? Should I consider buying a rental in the next few years? What should be my "next chess move"? [link] [comments] |
| Debits hitting my bank at peculiar times. Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:06 PM PST It seems like my bank purposely decides to run debits in an order designed to cause me multiple overdraft charges. The snowball effect gets ugly, I swear it's by design. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2021 10:42 PM PST TLDR: My estranged mom, almost 65, had a stroke and is also a hoarder living in an uninhabitable home. Cannot afford assisted living facility or in-home care. Also cannot afford to make home livable again. Apologies if this isn't easy to follow. My mother had a stroke last night and is currently in the hospital. I haven't seen her in over a year, but I went to visit her. Upon seeing her, she isn't in great shape and the medical bills are definitely something she cannot pay for. Learning more, I found out she doesn't have any water or heat in her house. She also has an animal hoarding problem. This has caused many issues between her & I, resulting in me distancing myself from her. After seeing her tonight, she asked for money to get the furnace, water, and floors fixed. I cannot reasonably just let her live in that type of situation, despite our rough past, but I also cannot afford to pay for it. I also considered her going into a facility, but she is in a lot of debt and does not have assets to use as collateral. I'm just feeling very lost. Right now, I'm overwhelmed… with the medical debt she cannot pay for, finding out her house isn't even livable, and the stress of not knowing if she will recover from this stroke. Just everything. If you guys have experienced a situation with hoarding, stroke recovery, estranged parents who are living pay check to pay check, or just any advice- I'd love to hear it. Thanks for reading. [link] [comments] |
| Grandparent has incurred credit card debt with no intention to repay Posted: 25 Nov 2021 01:06 PM PST A grandparent of mine started running out of funds about a year ago, they are in their 90s and unmarried. They took out a couple of credit cards and spent on them (nothing lavish, food, electricity, etc...) knowing they wouldn't be able to pay them off. They currently make the minimum payments, so nothing has hit collections yet, and they don't have enough money to pay these off even if they wanted to. They are in the middle stage of dementia. It seems increasingly likely they will pass sooner than later, but it's also possible they linger. So, I am curious if this is something I need to worry about, both for their sake, and selfishly, for my own. I am not signed on any of the debt, but I also know debt collectors will sometimes hassle family. [link] [comments] |
| My job is cutting my hours in half after my surgery Posted: 26 Nov 2021 11:31 AM PST I recently got a surgery that my job knew about prior, along with the recovery it'd bring. I'm not able to lift/pull/push more than 10lb for the next six weeks. They cut my hours from 32 a week to 15 a week. I was barely getting by with rent, utilities, and other bills when I had 32 hours. Luckily I left my apartment recently and am staying at a family members house. I'm trying to leave by January but with the lack of income I know it's almost impossible. I'll be making $700 a month before taxes, most apartments here are more than that. If any of you have suggestions or resources that would be unbelievably helpful. Thank you :-) [link] [comments] |
| Single or Multiple 529 accounts? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 05:02 PM PST I have a one year old, and my wife and I plan on having one or two more kids. A few years ago I had opened a Vanguard Nevada 529 in my own name, with myself as the beneficiary. I understand that I'm able to change the owner or beneficiary later. I think my current 5289 is "fully funded" now, for one kid. Should I open separate 529s now, or continue contributing to my current 529 and roll out partial balances later on? To me, funding one single account seems easiest. Then when the kids are ~10 years old and I want to start shifting their asset allocation, I'll open separate accounts in their name and roll out partial balances. I think this would also give flexibility to hold those accounts in their grandparents name, reducing FASFA liability. Is there anything I'm missing here? It seems like the best approach to me, but I don't hear others using the same approach often? [link] [comments] |
| Is there any way to get out of a car loan? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:03 AM PST I have a 6 year car loan. I'm 2 yrs 2 mo in. I asked the dealer ship and they said I have to pay the rest of what is owed on my car if i want to "sell it back to them". This is my first loan and i don't know what im doing. I'm thinking of getting rid of my car because I might be moving to guam and i don't want to bring it with me. Either that or I'm about to buy a used van and live out of it to travel and work for a bit. If i can't get out of the car loan are there other options? Or could i sell my car privately and use the money to pay off the rest of the loan? Update: i got offered $7000 more than what i owe!!! I got offered 19,600 and I owe 12,500!! Thank you so much everyone for helping me. I had no idea it was that simple and the market was this good rn! So my next move is buy a used van to travel this should help :) [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:32 AM PST Who should I hire? I, a Massachusetts resident F, 73, low income, sold my undeveloped Arizona property purchased in 1975 — now what? I don't know what to do with the money. I've got the land in escrow with the closing expected to be in December, 2021. I want to give some funds ($15K allowed?) to my two adult children (New Hampshire, Maryland) but with some safety brakes put on spending and set aside funds for them after I die. I think I want a trust; where would I look for one? I don't know if I need to see an accountant, a tax person, a lawyer, or a financial planner. Please point me in the direction of the right specialist(s). Please suggest some questions I should start off with to those professionals. [I was asked to crosspost here from r/legaladvice] [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2021 07:35 PM PST How much should I be making weekly on a 52k salary in NYC after taxes? My current pay is $667 a week but that doesnt seem right. I know there is a federal, state and city tax. It's not a 401k job. If anyone in anyone in finance could tell me I would appreciate it. [link] [comments] |
| Anyone take advantage of ‘free’ money for opening checking accounts on a constant basis? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 08:42 PM PST If so what are the down falls, or things to look out for? I need to open a side checking account for eBay. I'm seeing everyone is giving out anywhere from $100 to $1,500 if you keep X amount of money in your account for X amount of days. What's stopping me from going to every bank and opening one, then closing it out and keeping the money on a yearly basis, or whenever the time frame resets? [link] [comments] |
| Is there any reason not to have your credit reports perpetually frozen? Posted: 26 Nov 2021 04:00 PM PST Isn't that an easy and very safe way to keep yourself safe from scams. You can just do temporary lifts for a few days when needed. Why not just freeze all your credit pulls with the 3 agencies? [link] [comments] |
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