Personal Finance Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of February 21, 2022 |
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of February 21, 2022
- My grandparents have discovered that their identity has been stolen and their annuity containing their life savings has been fraudulently dispersed.
- While filing taxes, I was rejected because apparently someone else claimed my child. How do I find out who did?
- Boss asked me to compare my salary to others
- Here's a weird one. Owner financed mortgage. No interested. Payments based on the price of gold.
- I am stuck and I need help
- Endless loop of credit card debt
- Partners parents have offered help with a deposit (UK)
- I didn’t formally withdraw from college and now they want me to pay 12 grand for classes I never attended.
- I’m 29 and have no idea how to educate myself about finances
- Scared about buying a house, is my budget out of whack?
- Mother is showing signs of dementia and doesn't have her retirement figured out. What do I do?
- Can I just ask my rental agency to lower the rent renewal offer?
- Car dealership ripoff?
- Credit loans on insane APR and there is a war coming
- Is it worth moving out of state for a job?
- Tips to buying a car from a private seller.
- SSI sent me a notice of 'over payment' from when I was on disability 7/8 years ago, but I can't afford it.
- Grandma wants to sell her house to us but has had a reverse mortgage for years. Options to get out of it?
- Buying a house tomorrow. Am I out of my range?
- Unpaid tuition debt seems to have vanished.
- Emergency fund question
- Moving into my first solo-apartment! Please help me with my budget
- Parents paying for life insurance is it worth it?
- Bought My Dad a car....
- About to get first real adult job, what do I do with the money?
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of February 21, 2022 Posted: 21 Feb 2022 03:00 AM PST If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Feb 2022 07:28 AM PST Apologies if this post is against the rules in some way, I'm asking here because I'm not sure what should be done in a situation like this and I'm not sure where else to turn besides asking on Reddit. Recently my grandparents were made aware that their annuity containing over a quarter of a million dollars, which is most of their life savings, has been fraudulently dispersed. I'm completely lost on what steps would be best to take here or what the likely outcome from this happening will be. Is there any chance of recovering the funds and is there any form of protection against identity theft for something like an annuity or are my grandparents SOL in this situation? Is the bank or brokerage in any way responsible for giving this money to the wrong person? I'm basically completely lost on what to do in a situation like this and I'm definitely no expert on how finances work or are managed, but any help, advice, or suggestions would be a massive help. If anyone has any advice on who or what people should be contacted in a situation like this, what steps should be taken, what the best course of action here would be it would be extremely appreciated. If anyone has any questions or wants specifics on the situation for more details if that would help I can ask someone who might know more. Thanks Edit: Just to add for clarification, my grandparents have contacted the institution where the annuity was and it is dispersed, and they are already in contact with the police regarding the situation. I will definitely inform them to get a lawyer if they haven't already. Edit2: The financial advisor responsible for the annuity was unaware that it had been closed, and the accounts were apparently closed by his assistant without the financial advisor's knowledge. The annuity account was closed and transferred to another financial institution (Etrade) in an account under the name of my grandfather that was opened fraudulently and has now also been closed. Edit3: I've just asked and up until now the only people who were actually aware of the existence of the annuity at all were my grandparents and their estate attorney. Nobody in the family knew this annuity existed until now. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Feb 2022 07:19 PM PST While filing my taxes this year, I was rejected via TurboTax because someone else claimed my child. Both me and my Significant Other are at a complete loss on how to find out who. It's not on either forms. Can someone please point me to resources needed? Edit: we found the problem and are moving to fix it. Thanks for the help you guys offered. [link] [comments] |
| Boss asked me to compare my salary to others Posted: 21 Feb 2022 06:17 PM PST I was just handed a raise today however it's still less than the average in my county. I told my boss I wanted more money and he said to come back with salary pay from other companies. Every website I've visited states a higher salary than mine. However I don't know how to factor in my 3 years of experience. Salary.com was kind enough to show what my pay should be at 3 years but that's only one data point. Also how do I make the pdf I'm making look professional? I'm only including average pay, graph and website [link] [comments] |
| Here's a weird one. Owner financed mortgage. No interested. Payments based on the price of gold. Posted: 21 Feb 2022 09:18 PM PST I have the opportunity to buy a piece of property that I normally would not be be able to afford, except the owners are willing to owner finance it to me. They REALLY want to sell it to me. They don't want to go through banks. They're an older redneck hippy couple. They're offering to sell it to me at 9% below what the county taxes it at. They also don't want to charge interested, but they are worried about inflation, so they want to make the payments based on the price of gold (but paid in cash). For example, say I owed them $100,000k over 5 years and on the day the property sold the price of an ounce of gold was $2,000. Well, if the price of gold stayed static at $2000 then I'd owe $100,000/10/12 or $833.34/month. But what it really means is I owe them 50 ounces of gold over 10 years or 0.4167 ounces of gold/month. But all of this is paid in cash it's just the price that's based on gold. So if gold goes up I pay more, if gold goes down I pay less. It's a little wild but I'm pretty sure I'm all in. What do y'all think? No interest... price based on the price of gold. It's also a building I currently run a business out of and pay rent too... so there's that too. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Feb 2022 04:04 AM PST I basically live paycheck to paycheck making around 2k a month but recently quit my job because the employers were going to terminate me anyways so I took my paid leave days and just left. I don't make enough money to save. $1500 goes to ($700) rent, (500) food, (300) pets and transportation. The rest of the 500 I have no clue where it goes. Probably to my medication and random outings with my gf. My gf sometimes pays half so I can save. I have been trying to do other jobs or be self employed such as starting a business but I essentially need 30k to do anything: school for a new skill, advertisements, new business, trading stock. Can anyone suggest what to do? Should I take out a loan? [link] [comments] |
| Endless loop of credit card debt Posted: 22 Feb 2022 04:31 AM PST Hi everyone! I don't know what approach to take to pay my credit cards off and I've been stuck in this endless cycle for a couple years now. I will start by saying, I do budget but it's not uncommon for me to go over my budget or lose track and I know I should be a little better at that. I have 3 credit cards and one personal loan. I took out the personal loan to wipe my credit card debt, but didn't take a big enough loan for all of it and also wracked up new debt. My personal loan balance is $6500, my one credit card is $2500, my other is $1400, and one is at $700. I have a habit of making large payments to these cards, $500-1200 a month or even per pay period (bi-weekly). However, I then find myself short on actual money and charging my cards all over again. Obviously the solution would be to stop spending so much money!! But my issue is that I feel guilty if I have money sitting in my checking account because I know I have debt to pay off. I'll consistently make it to pay day w/ ~50.00 in my account, or even less. I feel unaccomplished making $100-200 payments on my credit cards. My main focus right now are my credit cards and then I'll turn my focus onto my personal loan and then eventually a savings. Any advice on what method to take to get rid of this credit card debt once and for all? [link] [comments] |
| Partners parents have offered help with a deposit (UK) Posted: 22 Feb 2022 02:22 AM PST How would this work? I know there are rules around gifting money and inheritance? Would we be heavily taxed or can they give us a lump sum towards our deposit? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Feb 2022 03:56 PM PST This is my first Reddit post so please be kind if I do/say something wrong. Right after I graduated high school, I went to private college in a small town an hour away. I finished the year, enrolled for the following year's fall semester, and moved back home for the summer. That summer, I decided that I didn't want to go back, because I had a lot going on in my life that made attending school way too stressful and I couldn't do it anymore. I wanted to pretend this never happened. I worked really, really hard to get into this school and I was ashamed that I couldn't handle it. I should've withdrawn formally for that semester I had enrolled for, but didn't. This is my fault I know and I take accountability for that, but I shouldn't have to/cannot pay for classes I never attended. Come two years later, I decided I wanted to go back to college in my home town. When it came time to apply, I couldn't get my transcripts sent over. I knew I owed money from the first year I attended college, so I paid that off (it was a few 100 dollars) and called the collections (since two years had passed, they had sold my debt). Collections told me I owed 12 grand, which I didn't understand, until I called my college registrar and they told me it was for the semester I enrolled for and didn't withdraw from. I didn't apply for financial aid or anything because I knew I wasn't coming back, so only my scholarships covered some of this charge and the 12 grand was what was left over. The office registrar was not helpful at all. They told me to write a letter of appeal, which I did, and they would send it to the dean, which they didn't. After many unanswered emails, I decided to call the dean directly. I explained my situation to him and he had no idea who I was or that this was even happening. He told me he was sorry I had to worry about this and that he would handle the situation. A few months go by and I hear nothing, so I call and call and call and eventually he gets back to me, and has forgotten everything. So I explain to him again, and he apologizes, and now a few weeks have gone by and I have heard nothing. This has been going on over the span of a year and a half and I don't know what to do anymore. I called a probono lawyer and she told me I need to talk to the dean or pay up to collections, all of which was very unhelpful advice. I'm only 21 and I'm way in over my head. I don't know what to do. I just want to be able to go back to school and get my life back on track but it seems impossible. How can I get myself out of this situation? [link] [comments] |
| I’m 29 and have no idea how to educate myself about finances Posted: 21 Feb 2022 09:19 PM PST Hey y'all, long time lurker here. My husband and I have a bunch of money in savings and are debt free (minus mortgage), but I don't know where to go from there. I've tried listening to/reading what are supposed to be entry level books on investing and finances, but I still just get overwhelmed with terminology and such. There's so much info out there it's hard to know who to trust and where to start. Can anyone recommend some solid BEGINNER resources? Maybe YouTuber channels or podcasts in addition to books? I'm also open to courses or financial advisors. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments] |
| Scared about buying a house, is my budget out of whack? Posted: 22 Feb 2022 03:43 AM PST Hey guys, I am in the process of buying a house (FTHB) and the financials are scaring me a little bit as I have never had to have a budget. In Ohio. Income: $4875 mo monthly pay after taxes Bills: $1370 mortgage, tax, insurance,hoa $550 utilities (including internet) $500 groceries $75 fuel $75 car insurance $330 health insurance After closing, I will have between 25-40k in cash. Is this aggressive? It feels like way too much. I also want to propose to my girlfriend which will also more than double our income [link] [comments] |
| Mother is showing signs of dementia and doesn't have her retirement figured out. What do I do? Posted: 21 Feb 2022 05:56 PM PST I'll start off by saying I'm seeking advice for my friend. He's (Ill call him Ray) 45M mother is nearing 70. She's been showing signs of dementia for the past year. Ray has been holding off on getting an evaluation because she has no assets or ways to finance her care and doesnt want to risk losing he and his wife's home. He lives comfortably but by no means has the finances for her care, either, and does the have space in his home for her to live there. She's been living with a friend for a long time now. Ray's father, her 5 away around 15 years ago. There was some inheritance there, but just enough for her to survive on. Just tonight, she was found in a church parking lot by police and she was very confused and didn't know what she was doing there. She's been sent to the hospital for evaluation. They can't go to the hospital due to covid regulations so are currently waiting to hear back. What can they possibly do to get their mom the care she needs? [link] [comments] |
| Can I just ask my rental agency to lower the rent renewal offer? Posted: 21 Feb 2022 05:54 AM PST I've been renting this house for about two years now, always making on time payments and whatnot, and rent keeps increasing. The latest renewal offer is about $100 over the original price to rent. It seems they're following market trends in the area because every house for rent around here is maybe $50 cheaper than our current renewal offer. Ironically, this house was originally a pretty great deal (it's in a very sketchy area). Anyways, I'm not wealthy, the rent is already about half my monthly income, I have student loan payments to make, and I'm planning on going to medical school where I'll likely be living off loans. What are my chances with messaging them asking to decrease rent? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Feb 2022 05:26 AM PST My wife has been looking at new cars. I know, I know - we usually buy used and run them into the ground. But last year I got a new job, we moved to a new state for the 5th time in 14 years, and she's been absolutely amazing about supporting my career ambitions. We're in a spot where we can afford to do it, and she's never had a brand new car before. Even when I offered essentially a blank check to pick out whatever she wants, she went with the Ford Edge. Marry someone who values practicality, kids. So anyway, on to the personal finance part. After talking about it quite a bit, we decided that we would lease. She found exactly the car she wanted, we went to the dealership last night. Sticker on the car was $44K. After doing some research online, I knew our trade should be worth $12K-$15K. They offered me $10K for the trade-in. Fine, I know they're trying to make money, and this isn't about that. They were honest about the dealer markup being $3k, just outright. That took the price up to $47K. I wasn't thrilled about that, but was willing to bite the bullet and overpay. Then they came out with the $X/month for 36 months, and I just couldn't make the math work. Like - mathematically, it just didn't balance. I made sure I understood the residual value, I asked about the money factor (and calculated it into interest rate), I confirmed the 'money down' credit for the trade in, I was off by about $5K. I just couldn't find it. The salesman gave way to the finance guy, to then the sales manager, to then the dealership general manager. They all assured me repeatedly that Ford sets the numbers, this math is correct. It's down to the penny correct, and that my math must be wrong. Finally, as they shuffled through their papers trying to get us to sign, I saw the breakdown numbers. They were financing $44k, with $0 down. I asked about that, and they said that's just how the lease works. Anyway, as best I understand it - they marked up the car by $3K, then wanted to take and additional $5K in straight profit for the dealership, and only log the deal at $44K. We walked, but the more I've thought about it - they were trying to just get $8K in profit on this deal (aside from whatever they'd get on the back end), right? They tried to sell me a $44K car for $52K? Or am I missing something here? Edit: I considered just buying it outright, but had a bad taste in my mouth last night. We're going to take a day or two to discuss, and if we don't get this car there will be plenty of others. Even if she has to wait a little bit. [link] [comments] |
| Credit loans on insane APR and there is a war coming Posted: 22 Feb 2022 04:55 AM PST Hello everyone! The thing is, that I live in Kiev, Ukraine and right now I have 9 credit loans for the total sum of 4000$. However, if you have seen the latest news, we have a war with Russia coming - so what should I do with those loans if I am planning to leave the country the moment the war starts? I have started collecting money but now I am very confused what to do next... [link] [comments] |
| Is it worth moving out of state for a job? Posted: 21 Feb 2022 06:45 PM PST For context, I am in my early 20s. I am about to graduate with my masters in May. I have a job offer in Philly for $50,000 and $40,000 for a job in my home state. Is the extra 10k worth the move? [link] [comments] |
| Tips to buying a car from a private seller. Posted: 22 Feb 2022 04:06 AM PST Hello, I am going to be looking at a 2008 Infiniti G35 auto with 137,000 miles for $8,000 later today. I was just curious to how things work when buying from a private seller since I am still new at buying cars. My main concern is when test driving the car. Normally at a dealer they would hold your I.D. when you go for a test drive. Is there something similar when asking to test drive a private sellers car? Do they go with me on the test drive? Do they hold half the cash to feel comfortable? Do they hold my I.D. or my drivers keys while I test drive the sellers car? My second concern is, do I bring all the money with me when I go see the car or should I only take half and if I like the car tell them I'll be back with the other half? And finally, how do I negotiate? I'm still new to negotiating and business talk. I am 19 years old still learning the ropes. I don't have $8,000. The seller did say the price is negotiable but no numbers have been spoken of. I only have $7,500 cash saved for a car! I would like to still have some extra cash left over for gas, and if the car might need any little fixing up. I want to offer $7,000, do I just say that and hope and pray they feel it's a reasonable price? I tried to Kelly Blue Book the price but they have no available statics because they have a lack of recorded sales for this car. The private seller has claimed to maintained the car well and has recently done the maintenance on it. The car looks great in the pictures, but those are only the pictures. I suppose after later today, only time will tell how good the car really runs. Is $8,000 already a good price for this car? How much should I negotiate? This is all if the car turns out to be good, and as well as learning things from my first private seller interaction. Things may not work out but at least I gained some knowledge and experience at how to buy a car. Thank you for your tips and advice I'm advance! Have a great day! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Feb 2022 11:03 PM PST It's the first notice I've received, and apparently I owe around 5,600. Apparently they 'over paid me' when I was on disability, which was cut off years ago. I was told when I was on disability that I was allowed to still work if I had to, as long as it didn't go over a certain amount of hours, of which I stayed under. I only got a job because the unemployment wasn't enough and I was supporting myself and my mom and our home. Though many times I couldn't go into work because of my disability, and would call out, or be let go. but this was only near the end, for the vast majority I just lived off of the benefits as I couldn't work. I'm currently unemployed and trying to find a job, but is there any way I can protest this or get some kind of debt forgiveness? I'm still getting help/therapy for the same reason I applied for disability insurance in the first place. And why did they wait years later to notify me? And how is it my fault they overpaid me to begin with (outside of the job I guess, but again, I was never working full-time or very much at all. I know they don't care about this shit, but what can I do to get this off my shoulders, if anything? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Feb 2022 06:23 PM PST Is it possible to get out of a reverse mortgage that's been going on for over 10 years. [link] [comments] |
| Buying a house tomorrow. Am I out of my range? Posted: 20 Feb 2022 06:57 PM PST My financial situation is... $155k salary plus 10% bonus. 70k savings 70k 401k. I bring home $8100 a month after taxes and 401k. No debt. No expenses. Car paid off. Single. House is $575k. 5% down. Payment will be $3100 a month which will leave me with $5k a month for everything else. Is that reasonable? Thank you. [link] [comments] |
| Unpaid tuition debt seems to have vanished. Posted: 21 Feb 2022 09:24 PM PST Hello everyone and thanks for the help in advance. Back in 2016 I was attending my second semester at a University in Oregon and didn't file my FAFSA in time and therefore had ~$10,000 owed to the school out of pocket. I didn't have the money to pay it so they eventually forwarded the debt to the Oregon Department of Revenue for collections. I set up a payment plan with them but the interest rate alone was $100 per month so paying it off that way just wasn't possible. I continued making payments monthly anyway until Covid hit. So my last payment was around March/April of 2020 and I haven't heard from the department of revenue about it at all. I owed slightly over $9,000 at that time. Last night I logged into my account with them and my balance now says $0. They did just take my state tax return and apply it to the account though so I'm a little confused as to why my balance would say $0 all of the sudden. Anyone have any idea as to what might be going on? I am planning on calling the DoR but wanted to see if anyone here had any input. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Feb 2022 05:28 AM PST How many months of expenses should your emergency fund be? Any other info I should know about emergency funds? [link] [comments] |
| Moving into my first solo-apartment! Please help me with my budget Posted: 21 Feb 2022 09:41 PM PST I (24M) would like help figuring out my budget and what I can afford for rent Im moving out of my current apartment at the end of next month (830/month, 2 roommates, free street parking) and want to live on my own. I live in down town Philadelphia. My after tax income per month is $4478. I'm getting my annual 15% bonus in September, which should be about $12K before taxes. My company already covers my cellphone and I get a 2% monthly contribution to a company 401K also comped by my company, and health insurance is fully covered as well. I have a monthly student loan payment of $865 (loan will be paid off mid 2027). Car insurance is $90/month. I contribute $160 per month split evenly between a ROTH IRA and 401K, which I know isn't a ton however I plan on increasing the contribution substantially when my loan is paid off. In addition to everything above, I budgeted out the following monthly expenses Food (cooking 80% of meals) : $280 Gas: $120 Subscriptions: $100 Bars and entertainment: $400 Savings: $500 Parking:$230 Would $1300/month be too expensive of an apartment lease to afford? Is projecting $100/month in utilities realistic if my lease covers heating/ac and water? Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Parents paying for life insurance is it worth it? Posted: 22 Feb 2022 05:12 AM PST I was talking to my Dad recently who is retired and gets payed a little over $7k a month from his pension. He mentioned that he is paying over $1500 a month into life insurance that my mom got him roped into. Apparently one of my mom's old co-workers/friends sold her a life insurance plan that covers my dad, my mom, and myself. I honestly don't know a whole lot about life insurance but that seems sorta ridiculous. I asked my dad if he can drop me at least to save some money considering I have free life insurance (1 x base salary at no cost) through my employer and also have SGLI. He said he's been wanting to drop the entire thing for ages but my mom gets incredibly defensive and stubborn about it. What seems like a reasonable amount 2 50 year olds should pay monthly in life insurance? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Feb 2022 06:35 PM PST Hey Reddit! Okay don't worry this isn't the typical 18yr old who's parents are asking him to cosign... I am 40 and very established. Enough so that buying my dad a new car wasn't a big deal. What I can't figure out is how to set this up so I don't get screwed by siblings if he dies or if he gets in an accident and insurance comes back on me. He lives in a neighboring state so I bought it in my name and registered it and have insurance in my name... But then gifted it to him (unofficially I guess by any recorded standard). The car now resides at his house in his state and he drives it daily. I know I need to get him added to insurance as it's been 6 months already. But do I have him go to his local DMV to license it in his state instead of mine? Do I have to add him to title at the DMV in my state? What in the heck do I do here to protect him and myself should he get in an accident or should he one day pass to avoid awkwardness with siblings? Are there factors I overlooked in this obviously very well thought out plan? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments] |
| About to get first real adult job, what do I do with the money? Posted: 22 Feb 2022 05:08 AM PST I'm going into hvac as a helper and will be making alright money for a 18 year old. Now I want to save and be smart with my money but how would I do this? Although I still want to buy myself a few things like a car and a computer , how can I invest this money wisely ? [link] [comments] |
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