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Human: I've been trying to consider every possibility (including living out of a van) to determine what my best financial decision could be regarding my future living situation. I'm currently in the military and saving up a small amount of money. I project that in about 6 months when I’m ready to buy I should have about 18k in savings and zero debt. Once I'm out of the military I have two years in school before finishing my BSEE. My income while attending school full time (tuition free) will be roughly $1500/mo tax free, plus unemployment until I can find a job bartending or something. I would plan on living there for about 3 years. My thinking is that I can find a 3 bedroom home for around 140k really close to the university, and rent the other rooms out for ~$400/mo during the school year. When including appropriate property taxes and home insurance costs the mortgage payment comes to roughly $750/mo (according to Zillow,) meaning I can rent both extra rooms and have the mortgage completely covered. Of course I might need to tighten my belt occasionally during the summer months or while I’m waiting to find roommates. I’m also naive enough to have no idea how much I should expect to spend on home repairs. Two bedroom apartments in the area are going for at least $850/mo, and three bedrooms are a little hard to come by. I used the Rent vs Buy calculator in the sidebar and it tells me that I could go either way, but I’m not even sure that I’m using it correctly. I would be securing a loan through the VA and putting 0% down which I know is really taboo around here, but it seems like the math is working out in my favor. Living for free half the time is a lot better than living for $425/mo in an apartment… I’m sure there’s a lot that I’m not thinking of. I’m hoping that you personal finance gurus can give me some solid advice.

Please very seriously consider your motivations for buying a house, and the consequences of having roommates in a college town. Renting is often disparaged as "throwing money away" but considering the quality of most homes on the market today you are way better off not being married to a single property unless you find one you give a shit about. Also, you're going to school, you're probably going to be making a lot more in the future and you're not going to want to keep paying off a house you have no intention of living in and have to repair and rent out yourself or pay someone else to do so for you. "Living for free" isn't living for free when you're obligating yourself (in theory, permanently) to this area, to this property, and this debt. It'd be a different deal if you had a stable income/career already but student years are notoriously difficult.

Wait...so you want to buy a 3 bedroom and rent out the other two room? Why not rent a 2 bedroom with another person so that you pay half of the $850/month? If you paid $425/month in rent you would pretty much never even be able to break even on a home purchase...too much interest, home maintenance, etc... If you only plan on living there 3 years, do yourself a huge favor and forget about buying a house.

Human: I'm probably in the wrong subreddit, but I have nowhere else to go with this. I'm another victim of student loans. I could never call it "financial aid." The only thing it is aiding me with is stress and depression. I'm 19, trying to go to a school that charges 10k for an 8 hour, 5 days a week, 4 1/2month course. Being the all-knowing 19 year old that I am, I tried to go about getting financial aid by myself, not knowing anything about finances. Since this school is full time, I told my employer that i'd only like to work on sundays, therefore, i'm using the 1k that I have in my savings to pay my car payment and insurance while I go to school for those 4 months. The problem is, is that I have no idea how i'm going to pay off all of these loans after school. I went to a community college before this for about 3 months, and am already in debt 3k from that with nothing to show. Today is my second day of school, and was supposed to have 3.3k grand up front yesterday. They awarded me with money taken off the total tuition (that i'll still have to pay) so it's now 6730.00. Frankly, I don't really know what's going on because I'm trying to take out loans from everywhere and it's all confusing. **TL;DR:** should I talk to the financial advisor at my school today to discuss options for dropping out to prepare better because of my finances?

Please do not refer to yourself as a victim of student loans. No one's a victim.

You're in a pickle, dick

Human: Hi all, sorry if this is a repost, I couldn't find anything on it in the search. I'm just starting my first 401k with my employer, and I was prepared to start trying to contribute according to the model most people have espoused here: contribute an amount equal to the max your employer will match, then start putting your investments elsewhere. At least I think that's right? My employer doesn't have a max percentage they match, but they only match 15% of any contribution. So I can contribute $100 and they'll put in $15, or I can put in $1,000 and they'll put in $150. I'm not sure if I like this or not, but it definitely confuses my plan a bit. I don't see how there could be a "target number" to contribute, but maybe I'm missing something. Should I skip this 401k and try to contribute to an IRA instead? Or take advantage of the matching they do offer and just pick a number I'm comfortable with? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

The reason people say to max out your employer match is because it's typically a far greater return on your money than you'll get anywhere else. For example, you could put $1,000 in a bank account earning 1% interest. A year later you'll have about $1,010. You could put $1,000 in the stock market, which is often quoted as returning something like 7% per year, so a year later you'll have about $1,070 (that's not really how it works, but let's just pretend for illustrative purposes). Or you could put $1,000 in your 401(k). You have a 15% match. So *instantly* your $1,000 investment turns into $1,150. And on top of that, 401(k) contributions reduce your tax liability this year, which is like a little extra bonus - if you're in the 25% tax bracket, for instance, then putting $1,000 in a 401(k) saves you $250 on taxes this year. Absolutely take advantage of the match up to the max you can contribute.

Contribute as much as possible - you're saving more for the future in a tax friendly way. I'd try to max out the 401k even without the match ($17,500 is the max for 2013 if under 50). The 15% match, while not amazing, is an added sweetner.

Human: Can I pull my company 401k money out of the market and into a cash position when the market goes down? I have my company 401k in Index funds and it's doing well currently but I could see this changing.

Can you? Probably. Should you? No.

Yes you can. The average person is not good at timing the market though. But the money, and the risk is yours. I've done it several times in 20 years. Plus, dollar cost averaging is actually a pretty good idea.

Human: I am thinking about starting a roth IRA with my bank (one of the big banks) and the financial advisor person says I should put my money 50/50 in the [Franklin Income Fund](https://www.franklintempleton.com/retail/app/product/views/fund_page.jsf?fundNumber=109) and the [Franklin Rising Dividends Fund](https://www.franklintempleton.com/retail/app/product/views/fund_page.jsf?fundNumber=158). Is this a decent place to put some money long term? Or are there better options? Or is starting an IRA through my big bank a bad idea? Am I total n00b? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Way too high fee. Stick with Vanguard.

Go to source for investment info: http://www.bogleheads.org/ Check out the wiki and the reading list. As others have mentioned, stick with Vanguard.

Human: I recently found out that, when I was born, my grandpa opened a Universal Life Insurance policy for me. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it has about $8k in it making 6% interest, and it seems to be self sustaining. My first reaction is that this seems to good to be true, since all my searches have indicated that Universal Life is not a very good investment option. Guaranteed 6% interest seems pretty good to me though, and I'm wondering if there's any way I could use this as a medium term savings account (saving for a house in 5 years, for example)? Are there restrictions on deposits and withdrawals on this type of account usually?

Double check your contract language to see if 6% is your guaranteed minimum interest rate. If it is, you might want to hold onto it because it's impossible to find those kind of guaranteed returns in something as stable and risk free as that is. You could use it to somewhat safely park cash and pull it back out in the form of policy loans or partial surrenders. Be very careful thinking that it is self sustaining. UL products do not work like normal whole life products. The cost of insurance could rise and eventually eat away at all your cash value. I'd suggest going and talking to r/insurance if you really want advice on working with a UL product.

> Are there restrictions on deposits and withdrawals on this type of account usually? Usually yes. You can take a policy loan sometimes. Technically you could withdraw all the cash value, but then the policy would lapse and you'll never get the 6% interest rate again. If you take a policy loan and your cash value gets too low, it'll lapse. Expenses and fees and COI charges will be coming out of the policy as well, and if the CV is only $8k right now that will probably end up happening before age 120 unless you pay more premiums.

Human: I live in a share house and the online payment system my landlord's company has been using has been charging me $500 less than is on my lease each month, so my roommates and I have only been paying what the website had us pay. Now the lease is up for renewal, and he's finally noticed this error and expects me to pay the difference. Am I stuck paying the money or does this error leave me out of it?

You're legally bound to the lease I would guess. Probably a question for a lawyer.

The lease is the source for all legal agreements between you and the landlord/property manager, not any payment system (unless otherwise noted in the lease and/or local laws). You're probably stuck with the error, but as also mentioned, you can talk with a lawyer or a local housing authority/rent board to get better guidance.

Human: I work a job as a server while I'm in college and I hear that most people just report the credit card income. That way you get taxed less. I have bad credit as it is and a manager told me that I should report all income because it looks good if you increase your income. Not sure what to do. so far I've been reporting all of the tips, cash and card. Please don't tell me I'm a scum bag for avoiding taxes. im not the only person in the world who avoids taxes. Think of all the giant corporations lol

Legally you must report all tips.

I know this reaaaaal late, but... I've had two jobs that I got tips from. I never claimed all of what I've recieved. The tax code has loop-holes for the rich to get richer so why not keep what you can? The income-tax was passed around midnight, Dec 26th with only a few congressmen showing up to pass it. They knew it was a croked deal back in 1913. I never feel bad for keeping all I could with the money I've earned. Think of all they do with your money that you might disagree with. But it's your choice to make. Sorry for the short rant. Have a good one :)

Human: So here's my situation. I have a job as an office administrator, $14 an hour in south Alabama. I'm the only full-time employee at my office so as opposed to offering group benefits, they reimburse me for an individual policy because they can't get a group plan for one employee. My wife was laid off at a bank in November, where we had insurance previously, so I had to apply for a private family plan, and it's coverage began on Jan. 1, 2013. We weren't trying, but my wife is pregnant and due on Dec. 21. As it turns out, our insurance policy doesn't offer maternity coverage for 12 months. Also, our income level is at about 150% of poverty level, so we can't qualify for Medicare in the state of Alabama. We qualify in every other state around us, because most states have a poverty threshold in the range of 185-200%. But Alabama is set at 135%. Alabama hates poor people, btw. Obamacare is going to prevent these maternity waivers (as I understand it) but that doesn't kick in until 2014. Also, we would have qualified under the PCIP high risk plans, but they ran out of funding in March and Republican's are blocking any attempts at renewing funding through the end of the year. We've fallen through a crack. As I see it, there are very few options that will provide maternity insurance: 1) Quit my job and go on Medicare until after the birth of my child. I have a very low cost of living $550 mortgage, low utilities, cars paid for, but only about $3k in savings account. My wife gets $200 a week in unemployment. I won't be eligible for unemployment because I work for a church (wtf?) We have about $30k in a 401k that I could take from if it was the difference in being homeless and making it. I would also be looking for under the table cash work everywhere I could to stretch our money. 2) Find a job with a group insurance policy as those usually offer immediate Maternity Coverage. However, the job market is not going that great and there's no guarantee I can find anything. I've already started attempting to find a second job that offers part-time employees full benefits, but there just aren't many of those. I know UPS does this, but they're not hiring. 3) I've thought about seeing if my job would cut my pay to a level that would qualify us for Medicare, but I really don't think they would go for that because they're afraid it would look suspicious. I've looked at the pay ahead options at the hospital, but that's going to be $6-7k up front and will not cover any other incidental fees that will be billed at the full pre-insurance marked up rate. If it is a complicated pregnancy / c-section / premature we could end up owing over $100k easily. Midwife is also not an option as they are illegal in Alabama. I'm trying to think through this, and I'm frustrated because I'm generally very responsible and take good care of our finances. Our savings are usually much higher, but my wife has been out of work for 6 months. Does anyone have any advice or analysis of my options to help me make a better decision? Anything I'm not seeing here that could help us out? Other federal programs or foundations that help with this? TL;DR I need a way to get maternity insurance for my wife but Alabama hates poor people.

Do you have a 401k? Maybe you could contribute enough to your 401k to lower your AGI to the medicare threshold.

Group plans are not just through employers - for example here in Philadelphia I've seen group plans offered to individuals who are members of the Chamber of Commerce as well as a local food co-op. I would check around with the local chamber(s) of commerce, the [National Association for the Self-Employed](http://www.nase.org), or other member organizations that you may qualify for.

Human: Every month after all my bills are paid I have about $400 left over. For about the past year I've just been paying an extra $400 toward my mortgage. I've always heard it's a good idea to pay off your house as soon as you can but I just feel like that money could be put to better use. I already have 15% going into my 401k at work and have about $35k in my savings account just sitting there. I guess you could call it an "emergency fund" but I doubt I need that much. Just looking for some suggestions. Thanks in advance. EDIT: I'm 28 y/o and am only 1 year into making house payments. Assistant: What's the interest rate on your mortgage? Are you paying PMI? Do you have any other debts? Human: my interest rate is 3.92%. No PMI and no other debts.

Yeah, at that rate you may want to consider maxing out a Roth IRA with the $400 a month or something, if you're not already doing that. But as kurds_way said, you probably won't regret paying down your mortgage so I wouldn't say it's a bad idea. Also if you've got $35k just sitting in a savings account you should find something better to do with that. Keep an appropriate amount there as an emergency fund, but the rest should be going to work for you in some kind of investment.

Could you comfortably make the payments on a 15 year loan with the $400 bucks? Since you are planning on staying there, it may be worth the refi. My husband and I paid our house off last week after 7 years and it feels wonderful to know that we don't have that payment coming up! We refi'ed from 30 to 10 and it made a huge difference granted our interest rate on our 30 was double our 10.

Human: So I make $33,000/year starting salary, and am wondering if it is too low for a college grad, and what advice you could give me. I graduated from a good business school in our state with a marketing degree. From what I have read, the average starting salary for college grads is ~$45000!! This is obviously a little discouraging since I work my butt off for quite a bit less. For more detail : I live in a smaller town of 80000. I moved back home after graduation and pretty much took any job that was available. I work as an assistant property manager of an apartment building with 1200 college/market aged tenants. The main property manager makes close to $45000 and I would likely be promoted to that in maybe a year or two. Further detail: My net is $2200 per month, and all loans/bills/expenses add up to $1600. Any savings will go to my $35000 in loans at ~5%. Should I be switching jobs or asking for more? One day I might like to be a hotel manager, which is pretty relatable to my current job. Thank you for any input!

They don't pay you for your degree. They pay you for the job you are able to do. If you "pretty much too any job that was available" then you are going to get the salary that goes with it. Either work hard for your promotion to main manager, or look for a better line of work. Even if you do get to be main manager next year, then what? Does not sound like there is much of a career progression possible in this job.

Yes. Along with everyone else in America who has to take on usurist debt to get an education.

Human: So I'm 26 years old, I make 55k a year, I don't have any studentloan debt. Right now I'm putting 10% into my 401k. I'm paying about $700 a month for my car and $600 for rent. I get anxiety about not having enough money in my savings account. I only have about $1200 right now and I feel like I should be saving a lot more. Any advice on how to budget better so I can build my savings account? I obviously know my car is too much but I leased a mercedes Because Ive always wanted one and was perhaps a little irresponsible with that. I never have trouble paying my bills but I just don't think I'm saving enough. This is my first time posting here so I hope I gave all the important info. If I forgot anything please let me know, and thanks for your feedback.

You should have $3500/month take home (probably more). Your two big expenses add up to only $1300. What are you spending the other $2200/month on? If you don't have a budget, start teaching expenses. Yes, you should at least have 6 month's of emergency funds. And retirement, but the rule of thumb for that depends on your age.

>Any advice on how to budget better so I can build my savings account? Do you even have a budget? It doesn't look like it - I assume you eat and occasionally entertain yourself with something that costs money. Your emergency fund should cover 4-8 months of expenses, so after you make a budget, decide how much you want to contribute to that (in my opinion it should be all or most of your discretionary income).

Human: Probably preaching to the choir here, but: About 10 years ago my best friend called me up. He'd graduated from an expensive private school with ~$100k in student loan debt, and had been admitted to law school at the same place. Turned out he was having a wee bit of trouble financing it. He wanted to know if I'd co-sign on a law school loan or two. At the time, I didn't even know what that meant (I got through college with no debt, thank the Old Gods). Called up my dad who strenuously advised me to under NO circumstances co-sign on anyone else's loan, ever. So I told my buddy sorry, but no. Unfortunately, our friendship was never the same after that. I'm sure he resented me for not being a true bud and signing. But somehow or other he managed to get financing for God knows how many more tens of thousands in loans for law school. Fast forward 10 years. Found out recently that, like many with law degrees in the current economy, his income hasn't kept pace with his loans, and he's defaulted on his student loans and the debt collectors are pounding on his door, taking his car, garnishing wages, taking out liens, etc. And if I had agreed to co-sign those years ago, those debt collectors would be coming after **me**. Thank the Old Gods for my dad's wise advice, and the lesson is: never, ever co-sign. Ever. EDIT: Interesting minority of folks here chiming in to say they co-signed X loan with no problems. Some get lucky, I guess. Also, I suppose that in a **very** few limited number of situations - parents helping children - co-signing *might* make sense. I still wouldn't do it if it could at all be avoided, though. EDIT 2: So many horror stories. Anyone considering co-signing a loan should be required to read through these comments first.

Your friend wasn't much of a friend by asking you to co-sign his law-school loans in the first place. I know I wouldn't saddle any of my friends with that kind of financial responsibility. You would've entered into an arrangement where there was zero upside for you but plenty of potential downside. Props to you for turning him down.

i wouldn't even take a loan for myself, the hell would i take it for someone else? i've thought about this. given taken a loan out to save someone's life or have them die. they are going to die. that's just life. seems cruel, but people die in some parts of the world for having less than $10 a day. no one bats an eye because it's not in our face.

Human: Currently make roughly $48k a year for a family of four, wife and 2 kids. Take home pay is 4k pre tax, actual take home after taxes and health insurance ($700 a month) is 2574. With that monthly bills are as follows * $1250 - house rent * $300 - Car payment * $30 - Water utilities * $100 - Electricity (low balling) * $300 - student loans * $100 - car insurance * $125 - cell phones for both users * $40 - diapers * $30 - dog food (2 dogs) That is $2275 and those numbers don't change. The student loans are about 20k in total so no fast way to pay it off. We don't go out and eat, very little on entertainment. That leaves us $300 a month for gas and groceries which we've been finding as tough, plus anything at all on the side. Internet is included in rent and we don't have cable. I'm not sure what else we can realistically subtract from our lifestyle besides me working a second job or making more money. The health insurance at $700 a month is staggering to me, but that is the best my company offers for insuring the entire family. I do miss the days of dual incomes and no kids, but looking forward; Hit me with some advice :) Assistant: Making more money would be nice but what you really need is a company that gives you a decent insurance plan. $700 is insane. You could probably find a cheaper plan independently. Does anyone ever ask your employer why they have such a bad plan? The other thing to consider would be having your wife work a few night shifts per week. Human: The plan is decent if your single, less than $100, not too bad if married ($250 ish) but when you add all of it into the "family plan" it skyrockets. I'm glad I'm not insane for thinking it's crazy expensive.

$700/month is highway robbery. I'm not sure what your field is, but I'd start looking for a new job, not just a second one. If you find one, you'll likely end up with more pay and lower healthcare costs, which would really improve you're financial situation.

You should consider enlisting a few other coworkers with families and making an appeal to your HR department. Escalate it above them if they won't play ball. Long term those kind of insurance costs will lead to high turnover of folks with families, which is really bad because they won't be able to hold on to anybody with experience.

Human: I have one credit card left with a pretty high interest rate (29%). I haven't used credit in a couple years, so this is just a final pay down. There's about a thousand left, and I've been doubling the minimum payment for a while. My emergency fund is about $2300 now and I contribute $160 a month to it. Should I just go ahead and blow that card away from my emergency fund, or leave it as is, eat the interest, and add the $160 to my payment? That will still be a significant gain, but not as satisfying as blowing that sucker away in one shot.

Pros: * You'd save money on interest. * Assuming they don't close your account as soon as you pay it off, the credit card would act as a de facto secondary emergency fund in the short term. Worst case scenario is you pay off the card and then a week later you have a $2,000 emergency, so you have to put $1,000 back on the card - so you're right back where you started. Cons: * You're probably not going to save *that* much on interest. If you only owe $1,000, and you'd be paying double the minimum plus $160 every month, you're going to have it paid off pretty quickly anyway and will likely pay less than $75 in interest. * There's always the possibility that your card will be closed or have its limit reduced after you pay it off. I don't know how common this is, but someone here mentioned it happened to them once, so I assume it's a possibility. There's some risk to relying on the credit card in the short term while you build your emergency fund back up. So really I suppose the worst case scenario is you pay off the card in full, they close your account, and then you get hit with a $2,000 emergency. I know emergencies are, by definition, hard to predict. But if you've got a stable job and don't anticipate any major things happening in the next 6-12 months, I would personally go ahead and pay off the card in full now, and then take the money I would've paid towards the card each month and add it back to the emergency fund. It's not a huge difference either way so it's up to you and what you're comfortable with.

Why wouldn't you? Kinda seems like a no brainer

Human: I make 45K per year, I expect it to increase to ~60K after two years. I plan to save aggressively. My folks are going to help me with a down payment on a condo pretty soon which I intend to pay off in full within the 5 year time frame. In 5 years, I want to quit my job to travel the world and do all that hippie shit. Probably take about a year off. The way I see it, if I have my finances in order, I'll at least be able to pay for it without coming home nearly homeless, and I'll have 5 years experience to boot. I am looking for advice on investments I should make, as well as what I should do with the condo (sell or rent, and if rent, should I put it over to a property management agency, and if so, how does that work?). Also looking for tips on how much I should save and what I should do once I get back in the way of explaining my period of unemployment. Thanks :)

If you get five years into a career, living in a cozy condo customized to your liking (which takes three years or so), the chance of you leaving it all to wander the world are slim. I'd travel, then settle down.

Just rent if you plan on leaving for a long time.

Human: My credit history is at 2 years and a few months. My transunion credit score was around 750 and it dropped to 711. The only thing that could have caused this is a hard credit inquiry that incurred due to being approved for the amazon store card. My cc utilization is at 20%, I have never had a late payment, and I always pay off the full balance at the end of each month. Continuing this behavior, how long until my score increases back to 750?

Okay lemme set a few things straight here. Applying for almost any card (save some business cards) will result in a hard inquiry on your credit. No, they are not "grouped" like for mortgage/car shopping. Each CC is a new inquiry. While inquiries will temporarily hurt your score they shouldn't drop it 40 points, unless you have a ton. What might drop it 40 points is if you have had one card for 2.5 years. Your "average age of accounts" is 2.5 years. Now you get an inquiry and open another account and your average age drops to 1.25 years. This is likely what happened your score should recover eventually.

Are you using creditkarma (or something similar?). These are just simulations and don't always reflect your actual credit score.

Human: As a child, my aunt bought me a small U.S. savings bond. Unfortunately, I misplaced the piece of paper she gave me containing the details, and I have absolutely no idea how bonds are issued. I don't have the bond serial number. Is this money lost to me?

So glad I found this thread, I have the same problem!

This is exactly what I needed

Human: I have had a current account with HSBC since I was 15. I've never taken out a loan apart from my student loan. When I got accepted into Uni I rang up HSBC to switch my account to the student account. They rejected me, they wouldn't tell me why, but said it may be something to do with my credit. Recently I'm having money problems and an overdraft would really help that, alongside the job I'm hoping to get. So I went to Natwest thinking it would be easier to open an account. Same thing happened again... I did a credit check on www.noddle.co.uk and it said my credit scores 3/5. Surely I'm in the exact same boat as the majority of other students? I know having no credit can be as bad as having bad credit but everyone I know in Uni has a student account and was in the exact same boat as me prior to Uni. I have had no loan and never had a credit card, what makes me different? It frustrates me the banks won't tell me why, but there's nothing on my credit report apart from my current account which I've never had any problems with. I need this overdraft, help me reddit!

It's because you're not on the electoral roll, so when they do their checks it's as if you don't exist. Register abs reapply in a couple of months.

Because your family is poor and you stink of crayfish and turpentine. Sorry 'bout your luck, mate.

Human: I'll start off by saying I know I'm way late to the tax party, but there's a reason for it. My wife left in November of last year with our daughter who was born in July of last year. We have always argued about money, mostly because she would never get a job and I'm junior enlisted in the US Army. I don't make that much money. Anyways, come tax time, I kept asking for her and my daughter's information so I could file the taxes joint and give her 2/3 of the return. Apparently that wasn't enough because she wouldn't give me anything and refused to agree to file jointly. I've been having some money issues now because I'm sending her so much for spousal and child support, but she won't do anything to help me out. I'm giving up on filing jointly. The last conversation we had she said she wanted my tax information so she could file the taxes jointly and send me "my share". She refused to tell me a specific percentage, so I feel like I'd be gutted again. She drained my bank account 2 days after a payday, so my trust in her having that much money that I'm entitled to is very very low. If I file separately, I will be losing a lot of entitlements and obviously get a much, much lower return that filing jointly. I understand that. I just don't know if I'm legally obligated to give her a percentage of the return if I file separately. I'll be filing in Texas.

In negotiations for divorce settlement, you will both declare ALL assets, including your tax refund and the total will be divided according to the eventual divorce decree. If you can get her to agree to a legal separation, assets acquired after that date can escape inclusion, depending on jurisdiction and sometimes the whim of the judge. Get a good lawyer. Draining your bank account just after payday is bad behavior that may have consequences.

Sounds like you've got major marriage issues. More than just money.

Human: Just found out today that my spouse & I have been declined for a home equity line of credit. The bank said they did not approve because of the reason why we are getting the loan. What the heck kind of reason is that? Here's our story - * Our home, primary residence, in TX has about $300,000 equity in it (out of a probably $700,000 value if we had to sell today) * Only other debt is a vacation home in FL that has a $99K mortgage, (with an approximate value of $200,000), and a monthly car payment of $500 that has 4 more payments left on it. * Credit cards are paid off every month, have been for years * Credit scores for both of us are 830. No negatives on either of our reports. * I was going to put our annual income and net worth, but wasn't entirely comfortable posting that. Its in the 6 figures per year, and in the 7 figures for net worth. We applied for the LOC because we are purchasing a lot in a nearby neighborhood. We will be building our new primary residence home on it in 3 years. At that time we'd sell our current home, paying off the mortgage and LOC at that time. We would not be building/moving sooner because we are waiting for our youngest to graduate high school. We are buying now because the area we are buying into has virtually no empty land left. This one sold in less than 24 hours on the MLS with multiple offers. We are able to cover with cash instead (had to sell some stock that we would have liked to keep, but we're making it work) but we are left cash poor at the moment and would have liked to use the LOC instead. Anyway, husband and I are totally surprised that we got turned down. We seem to be the "perfect customer" on paper at least. The reason they gave us on the phone, that they don't approve of how we're going to use the loan, seems like total BS. TL;DR - Got denied a home equity LOC even though we seem like good candidates. Bank gave us a BS reason.

I can't explain it for you, but why don't you simply try another bank?

Unless you are leaving something out in your post I would also suggest checking with another bank. What was the approximate amount of the LOC if you are comfortable posting it?

Human: So this is a more philosophical question than is normally asked on /r/pf but I wanted to see what the opinion was. The question is fairly straightforward, where can you draw a line and say that person is just greedy. Honestly I've pondered it and I have no idea. I strive to be a generous person while also building up wealth with which I can be more generous! I've been accused of greed many times, and admit that perhaps I am greedy, but where do you draw the line and say "That's just too much?"

Wealth and greed aren't on the same spectrum of characteristics. It's like asking, "Where is the line between blue-eyed and tall?" You can be wealthy and greedy, or wealthy and not-greedy, or not-wealthy and greedy, or not-wealthy and not-greedy. If you've "been accused of greed many times," that's probably something you should work on. It's not necessarily related at all to how wealthy you are.

To me, it's more of a means than a number. You can be broke and incredibly greedy.

Human: Now that the construction industry is improving, my sister and her husband are now saving away some money after years of struggling. This last 5 years was brutal for them: They made so much money before, they never saved anything. ( I could strangle her for that, but the past is the past.) They almost lost their house (had to do gov re-fi and had to rent it) and she has had an UNBELIEVABLE amount of stress with helping to keep everything balanced and afloat. They have 2 kids. She has become good at saving, but not so much big picture thinking or necessarily understanding where her money is really going or how to plan or invest in the future. I showed her mint.com today and she LOVES it! She has really taken to saving and wanting to manage money responsibly. (I have also told her about YNAB and having a 6 month fund etc.) However, the fact that she didn't know about mint or have another way to track/budget shows me that she still has some way to go to make sure she can stay secure in the future. She is very eager to learn and I know there a TON of books out there, but I was wondering where she might start? Any recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks PF!!! Love you guys!!

I'm a big fan of Dave Ramsey and his materials.

millionaire next door and rich dad poor dad

Human: For a business trip, a company booked a hotel room for me and offered to pay. Upon check-in, I gave the hotel my personal credit card, which they said would only be used for incidentals. Upon check-out, the hotel said the bill was paid, and gave me a receipt that showed it was paid by the company, (with a contact e-mail and CC # that were not mine.) About a month later, the company decided not to pay for some of the rooms of the group I was with, including mine, and told the hotel to bill my personal credit card. I was charged with no notice from the hotel, and never signed anything. I had to contact the hotel just to get a receipt, and I did not get a response when I asked how they could charge my CC when I never booked the room. Can I contest this charge on my credit card with my bank? Am I liable for the room even though I did not book it? Thanks.

This should really be a dispute between your company and the hotel. But both parties have decided (by inaction) to leave the middleman (you) with the bill because you're the easiest to exploit. Therefore, I recommend calling your credit card company and disputing the transaction. Once that happen the the hotel and company will sort things out between themselves. I would be surprised if your credit card company was not amenable to this.

Can't you do a chargeback?

Human: Hello Reddit, I am about to buy a new car, and the dealer is offering 0% financing. However, I can pay cash. On the one hand, I would love to finance so that I can keep investing that money myself over the term of the loan. On the other hand, I want to preserve my credit score, since I suspect it will impact my insurance rate and ability to apply for a 5% cash-back gas credit card. Does anyone know how significant a hit your credit score takes when you finance a car? And in the long run, does it make your credit score significantly stronger once it's paid off (all I have right now are fully-paid pristine credit card accounts)? I suppose one option for me would be to finance, wait for it to show up on my report, and then pre-pay the entire remaining balance the following month. I'd really appreciate the advice, I'm new to all of this and this is my first car! Many thanks!

Are you sure the 0% financing offer isn't "in lieu of manufacturers rebates". It almost always is.

one argument for paying cash is the dave ramsey "financial peace" part of the equation. that intangible feeling of peace that you have when you don't have any debt. this is a big deal for some people (and ramsey's business strategy is to get people to feel this way.) it's that "take a load of your shoulders" thing. personally, i do my best to take emotion out of the equation and am happy that i have been given free money and would take the 0%

Human: I paid my student loan last Friday using my bank routing/account number. I've received a confirmation email from Nelnet that my payment went through and when I login to my account, it shows that it was applied to my loan on May 27th. My BofA account, on the other hand, shows nothing but other payments or deposits I've made in the last week, including several made after the 27th. I've never had a debit like this not show up before - it would at least say "Pending" if it hadn't gone through yet. Did I just luck out? Something tells me that's unlikely. Should I call Nelnet to confirm? Call BofA? Is BofA back to their old trick of stacking payments/deposits oddly to cause overdrafts? I haven't had that issue in 2 years. Also, FYI, Nelnet is, hands down, the worst company I have ever had to deal with which has motivated me to just pay off what's left of my last $3000 loan ASAP. Anything I can do to avoid calling them is preferable as their customer service reps just lie anyway or hang up on you if they can't be bothered with your question.

Just wait. Sometimes it takes a week to clear the bank and I have an amazing bank. I think it is nelnets doing not BOA

Yup... just wait. I've had a few hopeful moments with stuff like this... trust me, the banks are keeping track of your money... you won't be getting a "free payment" :(

Human: So I've saved up my emergency fund, since I understood that to be important. I've got about 6 months real living expenses saved up; if I went bare bones, I could probably stretch that to about 9 months. This comes out to ~$13K. I know there's some debate about how to do this and the importance of keeping this money liquid and accessible, but here's my thoughts. * I have health, dental, and life insurance provided at no cost to me from my employer; my job is in a very stable industry. * I have renter's insurance that covers theft, fire, etc. above $1000 worth of damage * I am 23, have no kids, no car, don't own a home. **Do I really need to keep $13K in cash liquid at this point?** It seems like my insurance would cover any catastrophe. If I kept maybe $5K in cash and put the rest in a bond fund to at least have it try and keep up with inflation, would that make sense? It just seems like a lot of money to have sitting around when I can't think of a situation where I would need all of it within a day (if it's in a bond fund, I could at least access the rest of it in 24 hrs. What does /r/pf think?

I don't really think you need to keep that money liquid. I mean, you are only 23. $13,000 invested even moderately well is going to turn into a huge chunk of change for you down the road. Also, most things that you will need that money for aren't going to be things where you'll be expected to pay all the money right away. For example, if you lose your job, you're not going to have to buy six months of food or rent at once. If you have a massive unexpected expenditure, no one is going to demand you pay them the same day, especially if you have the money but need a few days/weeks to get it all together. Basically what I'm saying is that by investing it in things like the stock market, you can easily pull that money out of investment faster than you will need it to be cash in hand. I might keep $1000 to $1500 in cash just in case, but anything more than that can just be put on a credit card and the necessary funds can be liquidated before you start facing any nonpayment consequences.

Keep it in your savings account. Given your situation it looks like you could probably loosen the strings and devote *some* of your emergency fund to other investments, but I would not go below 4 months of expenses.

Human: I've got two unused credit cards with no balance that are in positive standing that I want to close. I mostly want to close them out of peace of mind (I don't want to have to look to see if they are issuing inactivity fees or someone charges to them without me knowing.) I already have a house (the main reason most people care about credit score) and my score was mid 700's. I realize that closing the cards will ding my score due to utilization rate but I don't care THAT much about my credit score as I'm already in the highest tier that banks usually care about for loans. So anyone know how much it might ding it? 5pts? 10? More? Oh and I'll be keeping my oldest most used Credit Card.

Hmm, you could try to use [CreditKarma's simulator](https://www.creditkarma.com/myfinances/simulator/index/ref/tools) for a rough estimate, even though there's no explicit section for closing a card other than your oldest one.

I'm looking to close a CC, but I'm in a bit of a different situation. Fresh out of college, and my credit score is pretty good, 750+. I only use the card for the benefits tied to its store. Should I close it? How many points are we talking here if I do close it?

Human: This seems to be happening repeatedly. They are threatening to send me to collections for services that are covered because the hospital isnt filling out the paperwork claims insurance, and the hospital claims they are never receiving them. I have the money to pay the bill, but I really don't particularly want to, and more importantly I'd like this to stop, but I don't really know of an healthcare governance agency you can complain to for this sort of thing.

Call the insurance, get them to locate the charges (if there are charges, there is paperwork), and then, AT THE SAME TIME, get the hospital on the phone. Conference or merge the call it. Let them hash it out while you are On the line to give social security,etc.

good luck to you. I had the same thing happen a couple weeks ago, and just paid the bill, since previous experience has taught me that fighting it isn't worth the consequences (I've been really screwed hard for fighting unjust charges) again, good luck. I hope things work out well for you, and support your stand against getting fucked by "the machine"

Human: I'm 21, and will graduate in the spring of 2014. I know I should save for retirement once I have a real job but I'm not sure if it my summer internship is the time to do it. It's better for me to have cash for down-payments on house or whatever. Also, I have no bills while I'm at school during the year; my parents pay for everything. Therefore, I have no loans too. I was told briefly about the company's 401k program at orientation, and It doesn't appear that theres any matching amount included (maybe I'm missing it?). I'm mostly confused on how this (401k) works, in order to make a logical decision. Which I'm pretty sure the best idea is to just keep all my money for now. **Is there any significant reason for me to save some for retirement now as opposed to keeping it accessible?** edit: I just realized I forgot to mention the other half of my question. **What do I do with the $5k I plan on saving from this summer?** (half my take home pay from the summer). I'd rather not just let it sit under my pillow (figuratively). edit again: I put actual questions in my post.

Keep it under your pillow. You'll almost certainly need it when real life hits next year (otherwise use it to backpack thru Asia or Europe).

You need an emergency fund. Also, if your internship doesn't offer you full-time employment, you may need another employer. I recommend saving it for now. I moved halfway across country for a job after graduation, and ended up spending roughly $3k in the first month or two for getting an apartment, a bed, and putting down deposits for rent, utilities, internet, etc. The remaining $2k can remain a bare-minimum emergency fund after you get you move and get settled in.

Human: I'm wondering what to do with about $1200 that work accidentally paid me for. I live in Ontario Canada and I've never done any investing or anything, right now I've got the money sitting in my savings account accumulating interest but I want to see if I can get more of a return on it and hopefully be able to withdraw it at some point if work ever decides to take it back. So, what would you fine folks on Reddit suggest I do with the money? Assistant: Alert your supervisor to show them you have integrity/character. If the company is even a bit organized, they will find that they are $1200 short at the end of the month/quarter/year and will discover it went to you. It's not a free gift, unfortunately. Human: I've already alerted some managers and coaches of the overpayment and they all say just leave it until they ask for it back.

I would get that in writing or in an e-mail.

Then you should do exactly that - leave it in your savings account, or wherever your paycheck is deposited.

Human: I am looking to get a online savings account that pays decent interest instead of it sitting in my 0.15% bank account. Here are the basics of each: * Capital One 360: 0.75% interest * Ally Bank: 0.84% interest Just looking at the numbers makes me want to go with Ally, but I want to know about the intangibles...customer service, fast response, things like that. Do any of you have any experience with either account? What are your thoughts?

https://www.banking.barclaysus.com/index.html 0.9%

I would suggest you just buy index funds instead and hold them, but that's on the riskier end of the spectrum (still not that bad). It's basically trading a slow bleed to death for a real return with a chance of getting killed, I've lost money on stocks before but last month they basically paid my rent, and I'm way ahead of where I would be if I used a savings account. Also, double check ALL the terms in that savings account. Higher rate ones typically have some restrictions on withdrawals, minimum account balances, etc.

Human: I am just getting out of college and starting a job. I am contemplating not investing in my 401k and IRAs because when my parents expire, I will be put in charge of a $10 million (maybe more, hopefully not less) trust fund. I will probably contribute that "extra" money partially to a business I am starting and partially to alcohol and partying. I don't see any of that money until they die. Large expenses (weddings and houses) I can charge to my parent's accounts, but other than that I am on my own. Fortunately, my parents are about 50 y/o and I am 20. What investing advice does /r/personalfinance have for ppl in my position?

No offense, but you really do sound like a trust fund kid - and not really in any good way. The only one I've known did put a lot of money toward alcohol and partying ... strangely, that all petered out as he and his 'friends' got older, and he is now (really morbidly) fat and forever alone (lots of ladies earlier, now not so much. My advice: behave as much as possible like the people around you who you enjoy - get a job, save for retirement, and assume this windfall might not happen (e.g. your parents get sued, live really long, spend it all at the end or give it away, etc...). It will probably help you shape a happier life for yourself, whatever happens with the money.

Like other posters said, it would be very possible for you to retire before your parents die. Why not put money into retirement accounts & other savings and plan to retire earlier than you would otherwise be able to? What I would do is plan on never seeing that money and save up. For one thing, you can't count on it, and for another, you might want to pass it on to your own heirs some day, so you could easily regret spending it. ETA: My mom has been retired for almost 10 years now and BOTH of her parents are (thankfully!) still alive.

Human: So I mistakenly applied for a credit card while shopping at Banana Republic, thinking it was just going to be some kind of store reward card. I don't know what I was thinking (it was an instant 30% discount...). I was thinking about canceling just so I don't have to worry about it, but if I don't plan on using it, should I keep it anyway? I do have another card that I use regularly. edit: Thanks for the input, upvotes all around! I do keep a strict budget, and pay the balance on the card I've been using off every month. I'm not really tempted to shop all the time so I guess keeping the BR card it is.

Check the details: will the card come with annual fees? If so, cancel.

3-4 credit cards is about right, typically the advice is to have a bank credit card, a rewards credit card, and a department credit card. It only really matters when you have a major purchase coming up (I.E. a car/ house type thing). The length of time you have had the credit cards is also a huge factor in your credit score. If you are a couple of years away from a big purchase, it is a good time to clean house and get the right credit mix. Check out [NerdWallet.com](http://www.nerdwallet.com) is a great site, you can filter out cards with annual fees... beware of the "sponsored" cards as they are rated artificially high. Best of luck!

Human: I am 27. I am software engineer and doing this stable full time M-F job for around 3 years. I make around 75K a year and have saved around 100K. I do not have any student loans or car loans, I have paid off everything. I share an apartment with my co-worker and pay $500 a month. I don't any major monthly expenses except this. I have all of my 100K saved in one bank account. I have enrolled for 401K, HSA and ESPP through my employer. Need advice on what to do with my saved 100K and my bi-weekly paychecks. Interest rate in banks is very less and its not worth keeping there for compound interest. I am planning to get married in next 3 years and planning to buy a house after that. I will really appreciate any help from fellow redditors who have been through this.

If you haven't done so already, max out a Roth IRA. Probably goes without saying that you should max out the 401(k) as well. Other than that, I don't think I would do much. A house and a significant other are some pretty sure fire ways to take disposable income and completely dispose of it.

You can give it to me. :) You can always start a business doing something you love. There's always the stock market. Also, look into import/export from China. Purchase items there and have them shipped here only to resell at a higher price.

Human: Hi guys, I have lived at home all my life and continued to do so while getting a job as a sub mailman. The way it works is you are hired as a sub and you move up as senior mailmen/women retire. There are 14 routes and I just moved up from 4th sub to 3rd. It might be another 5-8(conservative estimate) years before I get my own route. The point of me telling you guys this is that my work isn't consistent and I am always on call. So my income is very variable(made 14k this year since April, took home about 11k, spent about 5k) . I live in Az and a condo for 30-40k right now is a reality, surprisingly. My financial stats are: One CC: only a 6 month history, limit 1k, score on Credit Karma upwards of 700 5500 in savings before my next paycheck which will add to permanent savings another 500 at least. I try to save most but currently since I started this job in April I've spent about 60 percent(new comp rig, new tv, other stuff I always wanted to do, beer, etc.) I have a cell phone bill of 68 dollars a month which includes a data plan that I utilize the GPS on. I know emergency fund will be the first response here because I'm a long time lurker but beyond that, do you guys have any suggestions at what savings point *before pursuing a property* I should reach if I max out my fund? I was thinking 25% down to skip the home owners insurance. My goals to find a place include the HOA being under 200 and just a decent area/small sub 1k sq ft condo. Nothing else really. Yes/No? P.S. I know renting might be suggested but that is not *my* plan. I am hoping to eventually buy another condo after this one is paid off and have 1 to rent out/ 1 to live in by the time I am 30. Ideally o.O

>condo HAHAHAHAHAHA Don't do it - condos are the biggest scam out there. At 40k whatever condo you buy is going to be an albatross as this means no one else in the complex is going to be paying their dues, and at that price it's very attractive to meth cookers.

Try to have at least 20% as a down payment. By the time you buy, you should also have some more money than that, say at least 2_3k, as an emergency fund. Your cost of living may increase (do you pay for utilities and food now?), so make a budget beforehand to make sure you can always pay the mortgage, the bills, food AND still have some money left to save (home repairs/other sudden expenses). Good luck.

Human: What are the financial accomplishments you had in 2011? Lets reflect back and enjoy our successes in 2011.

All credit card debt paid off in November. First time in the 22 years there's no balance carried month-to-month. What an awesome feeling that is. True emergency savings plan in place now, and accelerated car payments to get loan paid off faster (July 2012 instead of June 2013)

Got all my money out of a checking account and into savings and investments.

Human: One of my resolutions this year is to do better tracking of where my money goes. Is mint still the gold standard for this? I've tried using it in the past, but I found it hard to reconcile credit card payments into individual purchases, and correlate bank transfers for the to/from accounts, etc. It just seemed really complicated. Is there a guide to using mint successfully?

Why do you have trouble reconciling payments into individual purchases..? Did you add your credit card account to Mint? that will import purchases and do a fair job of automatically categorizing them for you.

I personally prefer GnuCash, and highly recommend it, due to it's double entry nature. I don't think it's too complicated. Just learn some accounting concepts, and you'll be fine. Their tutorial is pretty good. It's just a bit more work (more manual, less automatic) but it isn't so bad if you regularly pay attention to it. Better tracking of where your money goes is a good reason to regular pay attention to it. Its reporting features are top notch.

Human: And I'm blown away by this product. Day 1 of seeing its utility in helping me budget and get out my paycheck to paycheck living. I have 33 days left of this trial and already willing to purchase the license. Does anyone have a reason I should not purchase this product? Any success or failure stories regarding the product or possibly other suggestions?

It's a great product, and it especially makes having budget conversations with other stakeholders much easier (eg, spouses).

If YNAB is what you're comfortable with, buy it. I think the minimal cost would be worth it if it helps you start saving. Granted, you can create a budget with Excel and Mint for the same purpose for free. However, I still pay for Quicken simply because I like its interface over Mint's.

Human: Aside from what everyone already knows and is aware of, I just had to vent my rage at this company at 2:30am to anyone possibly looking on advice on whether they should or should not go for that big school loan with Sallie Mae. Answer is: DON'T! I've had a loan with them, one single loan of $8,000, and *all* I want to do is get it paid off and be done with their subtle underhanded scheming to get more money from unsuspecting college students. I have been set up for automatic debit from them because at times I forget to pay my bill. This eleviates that issue. When I sighned up for this 6 months ago, my monthly min. was $198. Now they have slowly snuck it down to $173. Sadly enough, this slowly adds a month or two to my "pay off date" with every few dollars it's lowered. Though I can just pay the extra each month to continue paying off my loan, I'm just so freaking SICK of how this company opperates and had to let *someone* know and Reddit seemed to be the place to go. Edit: There are also a miriad of other reasons, this is just a new one I'm particularly fired up about.

This isn't really rage-worthy. You instructed Sallie Mae to deduct the minimum payment amount from your bank account each month. The minimum is usually 2% of the current loan balance. As your balance decreases so to does your minimum payment. Discover (and probably every other lender) does the same thing for their credit cards. I know this because I read the fine print. Even though you have payments setup automatically you should still check up on your accounts at least once a month. Add a calendar reminder if you're forgetful.

Interesting - I just checked my payment log on Mint, and it seems my payment has not changed during the ~2 years Sallie has owned one of my federal loans. However, that may be because the loan was not originally with Sallie, can't say for sure.

Human: My wife and I came into ~$140,000 as the result of a life insurance policy when her mother passed away. My wife has ~$35K in student loans, 7K on her car, and we just bought a condo in November that we owe $28K on. We also inherited her mother's house, which is paid off, giving us the option to live in the house and rent out the condo. We would pay to have some improvements made to both homes. We are discussing whether to pay off the condo now or over the course of the mortgage with the rent payments. We are also discussing whether to pay off her student loans now or to do it over ~15 years with monthly payments. I know a lot of factors come into play, interest rates of investing vs interest rates of the debt, amount of time it would take to pay off the debt, and so on, but living truly debt free lets our family take risks in our careers that we might not be able to take if monthly payments hang over our heads. So, do we pick financial freedom with a smaller retirement, or a larger retirement with bills to pay?

Mint has a good article on this very subject. http://www.mint.com/blog/investing/paying-down-your-mortgage-vs-investing-more-112011/

There are way too many factors here to discuss with people on the internet and come to a satisfactory conclusion. I do this sort of thing and know I would spend a couple days doing spreadsheets and sensitivity analyses before making a decision, obviously no one on the internet is going to do that. I recommend you contact an accountant or financial advisor or both.

Human: I currentyl use only Amex. I love them because of their protection. If I dispute a charge, they are great. However, I am looking to by a $5000 item, that supposedly there is a high percentage of them can have a defect. And there is a chance that I may have to use the credit card to fight in case I have any issues. However, this store does not accept AmEx. (probably because of the consumer protection) Is there a different credit card company that is as consumer friendly? They accept Mastercard and Visa. I hopefully will not have any issues, however, I like knowing I have the credit card to fight for me if I have issues. Also, do any of these companies offer an extended warranty? Thank You

I used American Express to take advantage of their accidental damage feature (if you break an item within 90 days they will cover it). Bought the wife a new digital camera, she dropped it, it broke. Called AMEX, they asked which transaction it was on my statement and credited me on the spot. No paperwork, no proof, nothing. Was very impressed.

Don't buy a $5000 item which is likely to fail. You're welcome.

Human: Got a letter from the IRS today which indicated I owed an additional $26,000 in taxes on my 2010 taxes. A bit of reading and it becomes clear that somebody in their offices entered a 690.00 income from one source as a 69000 income (forgot the decimal). Luckily all I had to do was open up my 2010 envelope and pull out the relevant 1099 form to send back as proof that they're screwballs. Keep your records, friends! I was not expecting a paper audit 2 years after the fact, but I'm glad I decided to not throw away any of this essential information.

Yup, happened to me, although on a much smaller scale. One year my wife had some surgery, and collected a couple grand in short-term disability. It was duly reported on our W-2. I did our taxes, paid what we owed, and that was that. Until... ...the STD company sent in a separate W-2. The IRS promptly sent us a bill for $600. All it took was a phone call to iron it out, but it was made *so* much easier because I had every scrap of paper.

Those things are so annoying. I got a CP2000 clarification letter because the IRS claimed I didn't report income from a 1099... except I did. All I did was write a letter that said "No, you're wrong, I included it." and they said "OK." I don't know how they reached that conclusion (or accepted my terse response) since all the 1099 income was summed together on my Schedule C.

Human: I'm 23 and have two credit cards. One has a $1700 limit (bank credit card) and the other has a $1400 limit (department store card), and the $1400 one started off at $700 three years ago. They keep increasing my credit limit because I don't use it as often and pay it off faster than I do my other one. I barely make over $20,000 per year and it honestly scares the shit out of me to have a total credit availability of more than $3,000. Both because I'm scared of maxing out the cards and taking forever to pay them off, and that somehow my card will get stolen, I won't be able to dispute the charges, and get stuck with the bill. Unreasonable fear? Probably yes. But I'm sick of credit cards. I'd like to decrease my line of credit for my department store card to its original $700. I got it when I bought a television and have been using it for small purchases here and there to keep it active (CDs, games, gift cards, etc). I don't want to close it completely (yet) but I don't want a large line of credit either. Can I do this and how do I go about doing it?

Completely agree with misnamed. OP, I understand your fears, but unless you sincerely believe you would be tempted to use the credit unnecessarily, there is absolutely no reason to reduce the size of your available credit. Many banks allow you to set up an email or SMS alert for when your balance on a card exceeds a certain amount. If you think you might run over the limit you've set for yourself without realising it, these alerts are probably a better alternative than forcing down the actual credit line. Also the fear of being unable to dispute charges is completely unfounded. **By US law you are never liable for more than $50 worth of fraudulent transactions charged to a credit card**. Most banks just go ahead and say they will never hold you liable for a fraudulent charge on your credit card. If your bank tries to make you eat more than $50 worth of fraud, that is illegal. See: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre04.shtm

I'm sure you can, but it sounds like a horrible idea. Just my personal opinion, but if someone is scared of maxing their credit cards out, they shouldn't be using them to begin with. I'm a sophomore in college and make less money than you do and one of my cards has a $7,000 limit. It doesn't affect the amount of money I spend.

Human: So, plenty of respected money types (Suze Orman, Clark Howard, etc) suggest that if you don't want to spend too much time on your retirement savings, just plop your money in a target retirement fund, where you select the year you want to retire, and the fund automatically moves to bond and 'safer' choices as you get closer to retirement. Since the market is super down and on sale right now, I've chosen to put all of my money in mutual funds, mostly in Vanguard 500 with a few others thrown in (a value fund, a natural resources fund and a growth fund.) I figure since I'm 32 I have some time to ride the market, and a bunch of bond and money market funds are just going to reduce my return. Am I crazy? Is there a good reason I should be doing anything *besides* buying stock on sale? In case it matters, I'm currently investing 6% in my 401(k) (enough to get the match) and maxing out my Roth IRA. That puts me at investing around 16% of my gross pay. I'm currently debt free except for my mortgage and 7.6k student loan, which should be paid off by June. Thanks in advance for any advice or ideas! edited because I can't spell

In 1960, when I had my first hunk of cash, my dad suggested purchasing a mutual fund, my first long-term savings. Over the years, I kept it, as much for sentimental reasons (something I did with my father) as for anything else. (It was a tiny part of my savings by the time I retired.) The company that ran it merged and merged and got bought out and then got spun off again. In 2010 I finally sold it. A 50 year investment. Come tax time, I sat down to figure the capital gains, and much to my surprise, per the cashout sheet the broker sent me, it was a net loss. Not just a loss compared to inflation, a real loss. So I yanked out the old documents (I had almost every one of the annual 1066DIVs going back to the 60s, which explains why there's no space around here.) Yup, if I'd taken the dividends instead of automatically re-investing them, I'd have had more money. And if I'd put the original money in a 5% CD I'd have had even more money. TL;DR: what "they" say about the stock market ain't necessarily so.

> Since the market is super down and on sale right now, I've chosen to put all of my money in mutual funds, mostly in Vanguard 500 with a few others thrown in (a value fund, a natural resources fund and a growth fund.) I figure since I'm 32 I have some time to ride the market, and a **bunch of bond and money market funds are just going to reduce my return.** My bold. There was an article just yesterday on how bonds have beaten stocks over the last thirty-year period. It is, in my opinion, inadvisable to try and time the market. True: most 30-year periods stocks win ... but there have been 60+ year periods (not this past century, but the one before) where they *lost* too. Here's the thing: adding just a *bit* of bonds to the mix *greatly* reduces volatility/risk without substantially impacting returns over most periods (sometimes it helps, often it drags, but it makes the ride so much safer and smoother at very little cost). My recommendation, per Benjamin Graham, is to never have less than 25% in bonds ... below that you are just concentrating your risk so heavily the rewards become lower and lower and less and less worth it. Age in bonds is a good place to start. Or, look at it another way: the entire world is full of people trying to guess what comes next, and the aggregate opinion right now has set the price for both bonds and stocks ... so unless you have special knowledge no one else does, you *might* be right that stocks are cheap, but you're going against the grain if you *bet* on it. Finally, you have capitulation risk ... a lot of people with your approach got scared as sh*t during the last downturn and 'went to cash' (i.e. bought high, sold low), ruining their retirement savings so far, but, even worse, scaring themselves off stocks forever. Everyone thinks they can handle it, but when zeroes start disappearing from your account it's hard not to get a wee bit worried they'll never come back ;)

Human: So I am a 22 year old. I don't actually know what my credit score is, but I have been paying bills under my name for 4 years and am about to get my first credit card. My dad wants me to co-sign with him on a 15-year mortgage on a house he wants to rent out (already has a tenant lined up). I don't know the specifics but I know that I will definitely be an "owner" of the house as my dad puts it, though my dad will be making all the payments. My mom is quick to point out that you are not the "owner" of the property in any real sense until every last cent is paid to the lender. She insists that this would be a terrible decision for me, saying that my dad is not the most reliable person financially (I can't vouch for this one way or another, they are divorced and hate each other, each one claims the other is financially dumb), and is basically entering into debt and liability needlessly, since I don't need the house. She says that when she bought our house, she got approved just on her paying bills on time, credit cards, etc. To be fair, I am very young. Also planning on grad school. I don't see myself looking to settle down and buy a property any time soon. (Although who knows, against all of my expectations I did fall in love, 2 years ago, with a man that I could *so easily* marry.) I also already own a car that is in great condition so I don't see myself looking to get a car loan soon either. On the other hand, my dad says that this is a great opportunity for me to build my credit and gain assets... though he has not offered any counter-argument to my mom's claim that you do not own the property until the mortgage is paid off. Basically, both of my parents are claiming that their argument is a "no-brainer", and making me feel pretty shitty about my apparent lack of savvy. And it's true, I know nothing about finance! Hello adulthood, I guess. Reddit, please help! **TL;DR:** Is piggybacking on a 15-year mortgage more risk or reward? **edit:** Also I have no student loans, and it seems I will not have to acquire any for grad school, since my parents are willing to pay for it. (I am very blessed and thankful.)

As an employee at a mortgage company that handles evictions I suggest you do not do this. I see so many properties where the tenant quits paying rent and there isn't much you can do to evict them or the tenants that trash the house. There is a lot of risk involved in investment properties and considering it's with your father it could add unnecessary strain to your family if something did go wrong.

Don't do it. Too much risk, too much tax liability.

Human: I've been working a campus job thinking that my earnings were paying my personal contribution of my tuition. Turns out I already paid it and my money doesn't have a destination. As I'm young and without any real obligations right now I want to put away around 50% of what I make. Roth IRA? 401k? Something else y'all recommend? I have no idea what to do so gimme everything I originally posted this to r/frugal and they told me to come here

The proper thing to do is to first make sure you have an emergency fund($2500-$4000. The next thing to do is make sure you have no debt. After that you want to stary saving for retirement. The better thing to do is to make sure you have a emergency fund of maybe $2000. Then enjoy yourself. You're in school and these are the best years of your life. Just ask around, once you graduate life never gets better. It's all downhill.

paying it to your tuition anyways.

Human: 22yo just graduated university, working in California. I started in August, and spent my first couple of months treating myself with some big-ticket items. But now that it's January, I'm hunkering down and taking complete control of my finances. Here are the details: **Housing:** Living at home **Income:** $40k Salary take home about $2400 a month after taxes **Expenses/Month** - Currently $940: $300 - Mom (Single parent, so I help her out with paying the mortgage, etc) $305 - Federal Student Loans (10-year repayment) $135 - Public Transportation $100 - Phone/Internet bill I split with my brother $100 - Various things my mom asks me to help with (poor relatives overseas, etc.) **Savings/Month** - Currently $4,072: $800 - goal for saving each month **Debt:** ~755 Credit Score on Credit Karma $13,000 combined credit limit over 3 credit cards, no late payments $880 - Credit Card Debt $26,944 - Student Loans **Company Benefits** $75 - company reimbursement for transportation Medical insurance covered by company Catered lunch and fully-stocked kitchen every day That leaves me about $660 each month to spend on myself. I'm fairly confident that my spending spree is over (especially after the holidays), so I believe I can stick to that for fun money. **Questions:** 1. How does my budget look? 2. How much in savings should I have when I move out? 3. How much should I set aside for company-matching 401k? 4. Should I contribute to my contributory Roth IRA with Charles Schwab? 5. I get paid $1200 on the 15th and last day of each month, and my credit cards are due on the 28th. What's the best way to split my budget when I get those paychecks? For reference, I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where I'm always welcome to move back home if I should ever move out and lose my job, get injured, etc. Thank you so much! EDIT: Formatting

I'm a recent graduate, making $45k but my take home check is only $1760, much smaller ($640) than your $2400. I do live in a cheaper area than California, but my monthly expenses are still about the same as yours. Like you say, you've got around $660/month to spend on yourself, that seems like a huge amount to me. Where does this $660 go (and where does your $800 specifically go?) I'm not sure how far that would stretch in California. What about increasing your 401k or another retirement account with *part* of that money? Or possibly your student loans? You're doing decent for a person in their young twenties, but then again, I'm in my younger twenties too so maybe I'm just full of myself.

Umm... No offense meant whatsoever dude, but I'm going to be honest with you. A. You have $880 in credit card debt when you have >$4k in savings. WTF, pay off your credit card. Why on earth haven't you done this?? Literally, go pay it off NOW. There is absolutely no reason for you to just hoard that much money in your savings account when you're carrying a credit card balance. Seriously, wtf. B. You have $27k in student loans and you are giving yourself $660 a month in "fun money?????" I literally cannot fathom this. Cut down your fun money to $200-$300/month and put the rest toward your student loans. You have basically no expenses right now since you're living at home and getting all your meals paid for by your employer/mom, so please be responsible and use this time to pay down your student loan balance. If I were you, this would be my plan: This month, instead of putting $800 in savings, pay off your credit card entirely. Cut down on your "fun money" budget and put $600-700/month toward your student loans instead of $300. Next month, resume saving $800/month until you have moving/furnishing costs AND 6 months' worth of living expenses saved (which would be student loan + transit + phone + rent once you move out + food once you move out + whatever else you will need every month as an independent adult). Then move out of your parents' place. That should answer 1 and 2. For #3, set aside as much as your company will match. For #4, I would personally contribute as much as possible without sacrificing your emergency fund because your 20s are a really key time to start saving IMO. For #5, who cares what day it's due? Budget your spending well enough that you aren't living paycheck to paycheck. Unless there's some sort of extreme emergency, you should always be able to pay off your credit card if you spending is in line.

Human: Hi PF, I graduated last May, have a full time job, and live with my parents (temporarily). I have 3 student loans: * $3500 at 6.8% * $4500 at 6.0% * $4500 at 5.0% I have roughly $23k in online savings, $8k in checking, $2600 in a 401(k), and $2300 in a Chase Mutual Fund. My question is... is it smart to pay off my student loans? I make $33,000 before tax at my job, plus about $5000 in self-employment which I pay taxes on. I am engaged, and will be starting to look at buying a house in the 24-30 months range. Is there any benefit to *not* paying off my student loans? I know there's tax advantages (which would help, because of the self-employment), but can it really outweigh a 6.8% interest rate? Psychologically, debt doesn't bother me too much if I know it's beneficial (so don't consider that a barrier). Right now I contribute 15% of my paycheck to 401(k), and will be putting a $5000 lump sum into a Roth IRA before April 15. EDIT: No other debt (e.g. credit card, car payment, etc.). Assistant: It makes no sense to spend $1 on interest to get 25 cents of it back from a tax deduction. I've been in your situation and paid off my loans 26 years early. It was the best decision I've ever made, and my rate was 3.75%. If I were you, and had those kinds of reserves and income, I would pay them back immediately. The piece of mind you'll get from being debt free is incredible, plus it frees up X dollars that you can now use for other investments if you see fit. Human: Great to hear from someone who was in a similar situation. I agree -- I figured *if* I was going to regret something, I'd be more likely to regret *not* paying them off than paying them off. I guess my concern was that it would take $12,500 out of reserves that I then wouldn't be able to use for a 20% down payment.

It's never smart to put yourself in more debt before you pay off old debt. 5%+ is a lot to be paying someone else to borrow money when you clearly don't need to be borrowing. Pay it all off first and put off the house hunting another 4-6 months to recoup some down payment money.

Even if you take that out of reserves, you'll be able to put it back easier/faster than trying to save plus pay off the student loans. Just because you don't have 20% down right now doesn't mean you won't later. Just wait to buy a house. The time needs to be right for YOU, not when other people say it's right for you.

Human: I was thinking about using it to have everything all in one place, but I wanted to get some opinions before I did.

Good things about Mint: * A one stop shop for an overall view of your finances, without having to go to each site and update a spreadsheet * Perfect for the generally lazy who want to sort of keep track of finances but aren't spergy enough to make a spreadsheet about it * Bill pay alerts * Graphs and trends are very useful, especially 'net worth' both over time and monthly * Spending budgets, except things that don't line up on monthy lines cleanly (gas) * Makes it easy to discover you are spending way too much money on things like food/entertainment/booze, assuming you use a credit/debit card most of the time for easy tracking * A great place for a little self flagellation or masturbation depending on your spending/saving habits and life situation Bad things about Mint: * It doesn't always sync with random accounts (Especially if they are from small companies) * It generally gets confused if you transfer money between accounts, you have to manually mark the transaction as transfer on both ends. * Annoying "alerts" / ads to "help you save money" like suggesting you could save more by switching to a new 3% cash back credit card, on your 3% cashback credit card account. * overly monthly focused - yearly/bi-yearly/gas bills don't line up and skew monthly stats * The way they do saving for retirement is very overly simplistic, and there is no easy way to make a 'saving' budget and link that into an overall retirement goal that fluctuates over time.

I used to have mint for a bit. They were bought out a year or two ago and the new system they put in place couldn't incorporate one of my accounts. I switched to yodlee. I'm happy with them so far.

Human: **TL;DR Bought car, feeling buyers remorse, want to invest the car payment money instead now. Should I sell immediately and downgrade to a cheaper car, pay off ASAP and then sell, or just keep it until it dies and count this among lessons learned for next time?** I made the mistake of letting my lifestyle balloon basically the day I got out of college. I was sick of being poor. I saw my buddy who graduated before me in the same industry get a slick apartment, car, and all kinds of goodies almost instantly with a salary comparable to mine (I think there have been some major signing bonuses that I am NOW aware he got). I graduated with a job, and needed a car. Since new Civics were around 22k (you can hardly find the base models) I went up in price a little and paid 24k for what is honestly a fantastic car - the Mazdaspeed 3. A sporty version of a pretty practical hatchback. I love driving, I drive a lot, so I did it. I can afford it - I am saving $1000 a month while making double payments on the car. (monthly is $411 and I pay $822 because I want to own it ASAP) Now I am experiencing a strong bout of buyer's remorse. It sure is nice to have, but I think I could get away with a little $15k super economy hatch (like a kia or something), or even get a lightly used one (under 50k miles) for quite a bit cheaper. If I can finance that for <200 a month and make double payments on it, I am envisioning myself contributing an additional $400 a month to some kind of investment (index fund? mutual fund or money market? big contributions to an emergency/layoff fund?) However, I have only had the car for ~4 months; still owe about 20k on it. KBB lists the value of the 2011 version of my car (I have a 2012) as $23k, and I put down 10,000 miles (I'm currently at 5k but if I resell it might take a while). I have seen the error of my ways and wonder what possible courses of action are. I have considered selling it and getting something cheaper. If I could actually sell it for 23k I would be ecstatic, I would say $1000 for 4 months of driving is a decent deal. Or would it make more sense to keep paying it off as fast as I can and sell it in 2 years? (KBB value for the 2010 model which is the oldest of this 'version' of the car is 21k, so it looks like it will hold its value OK) I guess I could eat this mistake and have a fun car for the next 6 or 7 years by just driving it until its dead. Just looking for some advice. EDIT: Also, lets just assume for now that the double payment is the best use of my money at the moment and that my investments are not returning higher than my car loan interest.

Ehh... Easiest way to make it less painful? Drive the car to 200,000 miles. For example, I still am driving my 2001 Toyota Corolla. It has 193,600 miles on it. It cost me $13,500 ($15K after tax and registration). I purposely avoided power windows and locks. Now, I kind of wish I bought a fancier car. Just enjoy, but enjoy it longer. Over 10 years, the extra $9,000 is $900 a year. That's $70 a month. Considering most people spend at least $400 a month on car payments, you can laugh your ass off.

I got a new mazda3 for 15k. It's a sedan, not a hatch and just a bit less power, but just as fun to drive as the maszda3 speed.

Human: I am student, I was offered to try out newspaper subscriptions for free for 2 weeks, so I thought to my self "why not"! But apparently my subscription is automatically extended after the 2 weeks unless I write them something, so after I go out for the x-mas vacation I come back only to find tons of newspapers and bells totaling 170 Euros! I call them immediately afterwards and ask them to cancel my sub, that order will only be valid after the end of this month, so they're charging me for this month too :( I am a poor month! Whastudent in Germany! And I am also moving to another city (in Germany) in a little more than a month, what would happen if I don't pay!? plz help! I am not German I am form teh states

Goes to collections.

People are mentioning sending this to collections so I thought I would chime in. My mother works for a collection agency. They usually settle for a fraction of the amount owed. I would contact the newspaper and offer to pay them about half to settle the debt. It will be cheaper for them than to sell the debt to someone else.

Human: $160k in student loans, $15k of that is federal gov't federal loans are deferred until April, a couple subsidized loans under the private lender (Sallie Mae) are in forbearance breakdown of the private loans currently in repayment: $36,237.52 - 5.75% $38,111.35 - 9.75% $29,813.02 - 9.88% $1,474.62 - 13.13% $29,756.54 - 13.38% currently my min monthly payment (which is interest only) is about $1,180 graduated in 2010. useless liberal arts degree. I work in IT, $12 hour, 40hrs week. I feel pretty screwed and have been contemplating fleeing the country or offing myself. my credit is already shot because I've missed payments. options? death? (please, no comments calling me an idiot or expressing surprise. I'm perfectly intelligent, was misinformed when I went to college a year early. I promise I'm beating myself up enough)

1. Save $80,000 2. Put it on black.

Leave the country and teach english somewhere. ESL teachers are in high demand (mainly in Asia.) Good luck

Human: My father makes 15k on social security and I make 9k. Or do I have to make more than him to claim him as a dependant. Can I claim my father as a dependant?

I am pretty sure the answer is no, not unless he is unable to care for himself and you provide/pay for medical care for him. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p503.pdf

How old are you?

Human: I'm a college student with currently no job so that means no direct deposit. I used to bank with Wells Fargo but they charged me $15 a month for not having direct deposit for $100 or more monthly. I've been interested in Bank of America .. any other recommendations?

What is the credit union that is affiliated with your college? Problem solved. BoA? What are you thinking!?

*currently with no job (working on that)

Human: When I signed up with ING, my savings APY was 1%. In the last 3-4 months, it has dropped by .20 percentage points: http://imgur.com/S68zo. Is this due to Capital One's acquisition of ING, or the economy in general?

Everyone's interest rate has dropped. Ally, Schwab, American Express Personal Savings, Discover Bank, even Alliant Credit Union (which now offers savings at 1%). It sucks, but not much you can do about it. With interest rates so low, it's not really worth shopping around for another account if you're happy with the service and other features ING Direct provides.

Its due to ZIRP and low interest rates by the FED

Human: I've got some money saved up and I'm still saving for a down payment for a house sometime this year, so I'm looking for places to invest it safely for the next few months. I'm told that mutual funds are a good place for short-term, low-risk investments. Keep in mind I'm in a relatively high tax bracket so tax-free investing is especially attractive. What are some good places to invest?

A few months? Don't invest. Just keep it in the bank. There are no investments that will give any significant or reliable return over that short of a timespan. Most "short term" investments (e.g. short term bonds) are meant for more like 1-3 years.

It really depends I guess. The best tax-exempt investment vehicles you can get are municipal bonds. What kind of account are you holding these in? If it's a brokerage account then I'd say diversify among some municipal bonds within your state. I'd really consult an hourly financial planner on this, though, as there are so many factors that I don't know about your situation. A financial planner can help you get everything sorted out for you for a relatively low price.

Human: I am low on cash and would want to open up a credit card to purchase something. It would be paid off right away (within a month) as I do have incoming cash from ebay it's just that something goes on sale soon so I wouldn't have the money right away. I will 100% pay off the card, and plan on cutting the card up the moment it's been used for that said item so that I don't do anything dumb. I'd be closing it right after it's paid off... within a month Is this a horrible idea? Will it affect my credit score? And for the record, I only have 1 credit card, I pay it on time but it's nearing it's max Assistant: More info: I am 22 years old. The max limit on my card is 1200, I'm at around 1k. I need 600 to purchase something, I'll be getting around 800 on ebay I read that canceling a credit card affects your credit in a negative way, but was told since I only have 1 credit card and I'm young & dumb it wouldn't affect me too much since it's not like I'm buying a house or car any time soon

How about not buying the thing... At all? And using that incoming $800 to almost fully pay off your debt with the CC company? You could also see whether there's a cheaper version of "the thing" around or whether there are second-hand options of buying "the thing" or a previous version of "the thing".

what are you buying for $600? From where? I can see if maybe you'd do better getting a certain type of card that offers bonus rewards, but if you were to get it I'd recommend not cutting it up and just using it wisely, like, only when you can get great rewards.

Human: Im living in Austin after graduation. I don't know much about his subreddit so I dont know if its okay to post how much ill be making but its $57k annually. Im trying figure out how much I can afford on rent (I don't want to live in a dump), how much to put in my 401k, etc. EDIT: Okay I'm getting a few responses from people and I think I should elaborate a little. After insurance, 401K (which is at 10% with my contributions + my employers), and taxes my take home is $2,889. I have zero loans and debt. I have very little ($6000) in my bank account right and its not going to be going up at all until I start my job after I graduation.

I'm going to play very fast and loose with the math here, but it will get you close. You will be paying a portion of that 57k to taxes. Call it 20%. That brings you to $45,600. People will advise not to pay more than a third of your salary toward living expenses, giving you a budget of just over 15k a year. Monthly that's around $1250. I've never felt like coming anywhere close to 33%, but that's me. Some people really value living in a nice area. Contribute to your 401k enough to max out the employer match, then find something else to do with your money. Either build an emergency fund, or if you have one, start investing/ paying off debt. People will tell you to put money into a Roth. It's not a bad idea.

I've always approached it from the other side: What area do I want to live in, how nice of a place do I need, can I tolerate a roommate? That usually dictates how much I spend on rent. However, I think it's smart to find a rent-ceiling coming from how much you make and what your long-term goals are as well.

Human: So reality just struck me that these college classes I'm taking are pointless (sociology, anthropology, etc). I can read about these on my own, I want a degree that pays. What degree has the best market value? As in what degree has jobs available, and also pays well? I was thinking engineering, or computer science, but I am just assuming. I don't care how hard they are, I'm fine with studying my ass off. I just got out of high school and this is my second semester.

accounting

Airport controller person guy

Human: I have no debt except a mortgage which will be gone in a few years. I buy used cars with cash, have a fully funded emergency fund of 6 months worth of expenses. I have no intention of borrowing any money in the future. I don't do anything that would intentionally hurt my credit score, but on the other hand, I really don't care about it. I find it almost insulting that consumers are expected to play the game of credit. I don't believe in taking any actions to boost my credit score. I decided to write this post because I see so many questions asking "If I do XZY will it hurt my FICO score?" or "If I do some XYZ will it get my FICO score up?" I understand if people have loans balances, plan to buy a house soon or finance a car or something else. My overall question: Does anyone else just not care about their FICO score?

A low credit score can increase your insurance rates.

Mines top tier. dont really care

Human: **NOTE:** This is a throwaway to protect the identities involved. Background: Last summer, my mother passed after a very long battle with cancer. A few months after, my father suffered a heart attack and passed away. I'm currently a senior living at a state university about to graduate in the spring. My sister is 3 years older, currently has a high school diploma and has some community college classes completed. She part-time waitresses. About the estate: The will left everything to be divided between my sister and me. This includes a rather substantial retirement account (~600K) and a house that is also worth about that much, maybe less. There is a $140k mortgage left on the house at 4.5%, leaving mortgage payments at about 2200 a month. There are some other investments that we recently discovered in our names along with other accounts that my father held that might amount to about $80k. Also, my father had a medical practice that shared space with another doctor. The stake in the mortgage and physical space is being bought out by him, as well as his remaining patient list (about 30% of profits from my father's patients will be sent to his estate). I wouldn't count on much coming from this since the agreement has yet to be signed, and it seems to me that it will be unlikely for many of my father's patients to go to another doctor without him there to recommend it. It's also worth noting that none of the beneficiary information from my father's retirement account can be found, meaning that the account needs to be inherited through the estate. As our lawyer explained to me, we will need to withdraw the balance from the account within 5 years and also face income taxes on the withdrawn amount, as unfortunate as that seems. This brings the estimated amount we'll actually inherit to about $400k. Problem: My sister does not want to sell our house. I asked the lawyer what would happen should we decide to divide the estate so that she can keep the house. He said this would probably leave her with little to no money. Since she hasn't got a decently paying job and wants to go back to school at some point, this seems unrealistic already. It's also important to note that the house is 3 bedrooms + master bedroom with an enormous yard and a large garden all throughout it (my mom spent a lot of time on this). I don't believe that she has the ability to take care of the house, work and go to school on her own (I don't think I would either). I also have no desire to live in this house ever again (bad memories etc) so I wouldn't be there to help her. To add to my worries, she also adopted a stray puppy soon after my father passed, which I've already seen wreaking havoc in the house. Instead of selling the house, my sister wants us to inherit it together. Her logic is that the house will increase enough in value, that in a few years, we'll be able to sell it at a much higher price, since the market is so awful right now. She wants to work out a system where she will pay the living expenses and take care of it on her own until we sell it later. I am not sure if I believe she can take care of it, but the idea has also been brought up to use a lawyer to write a contract to support this. This whole situation keeps me up late every night and makes me stressed beyond belief. I'm already too worried about getting a job and interviews along with where I might end up living next year, and it's driving me crazy having to worry about my sister and this house, especially when the idea of selling the house makes her very upset with me. If anyone can give me some advice or help me in the right direction, I'd be eternally grateful. **TLDR:** Sister wants to keep 600k house with 140k mortgage. We have about $480k inheritance money, maybe more. I'm graduating college soon and I don't want to live in the house ever again. She wants us both to keep it to let it increase in value while still living there. What do? Assistant: Flat out tell her that you do not want to keep the house. If she wants to keep the house as her half of the inheritance, understanding that she will not be getting "cash"... that is up to her. Human: I've done this, but she doesn't trust the lawyer's opinion. I guess we should be talking to a realtor as suggested, since the house value the lawyer gave was just based on tax records.

tax records can be way different than market value of a home. please please consult with the needed professionals before signing or even verbally agreeing to anything.

don't bother with a realtor, hire a licensed real estate appraiser and pay him $250-500 for an official appraisal of the house.

Human: Hello everyone, I completed my undergrad in May. I was the first one to graduate from college in my family and my parents didn't know how to finance my college education, so I collected about 90k in student loans. I just started working 2 months ago, making $35k a year. I have private and federal loans. I have decided to make payments on all of them every month, whatever the amount due is. The payments are about $1000 total a month. EDIT: Here is a breakdown of my private loans $19,526.73 - 6.49% $10,191.27 - 7.74% $10,407.57 - 7.74% $14,241.25 - 8.49% $9,733.75 - 8.49% Federal loans total: $31,163 *I'm at work so I don't have time to login to THREE different sites to get the info. (Nelnet, MyGreatLakes, Sallie Mae) Should I consolidate? This is all new to me as well as my parents so any advice will help. Thanks!

Could you disclose the amount owed, the length and the interest of each loan?

Did you go to an AI?

Human: Hi guys. I desperately need help picking investment options. I'm 24 years old, and am completely lost as to what these options are. The 401k plans are due today, and i seriously don't even know where to start. My company matches 5%, so i put in 5%, but other than that i'm lost. I took a photo of my options, and any help/suggestions would be great! [Here are my options.](http://i.imgur.com/EsC2C.jpg)

Yup, Vanguard target retirement 2045 would be my idea too. Good luck!

I disagree with the people suggesting the 2045 option. I think Target Retirement funds are fine, but that they are almost all too aggressive for the age group they target. I would do research and get comfortable with an asset allocation *first* and *then* look at what TR fund best fits that if you want to. My rule of thumb is to *start* with 10 years *before* you expect to retire for fund selection, then go from there (i.e. tilt toward/away from risk as desired).

Human: So i work for this comapny for about a month, it was a total cluster fuck. No communication, nothing organized. I left and found an amazing job. a little while after i left i recieved a paycheck direct deposited in to my account. I called the the owner of the company and told him what happened. He said thanks for letting him knw and he would have it taken out. His wife does the payroll and would be responsible for doing that. that was over a month ago and the money is still there. Will it ever be mine? Hwen i get my W-2 from them and that check is on there can i keep the money since i now have to claim it on my taxes? tl;dr- former comapny gave me money- i told them bout it- that was over month ago- when will it be mine EDIT- thanks for advice guys. these comments have scared me in to calling the guy and make arrangements....again. but if he doesnt take it after that and it shows up on w-2...well then

Don't discount the possibility that this is a trap. Give it back.

Why does this sound familiar to me?

Human: For example, if you have 3 credit cards, and you use one to pay rent which is $1000 per month. You pay it with a card that gives 1% cash back, netting you $10. Then you pay off that credit card with another card getting you another 1%, and then with a travel rewards card giving you 1000 points. This can't be possible, right? I swear I have heard of people paying off credit cards with other cards.

you don't earn rewards on balance transfers and you get charged a fee for transferring a balance. so your $1000 balance becomes $1050 when you transfer it the first time, $1102.5 the second time you transfer it, and you've earned zero rewards in the process. there are weird loopholes from time to time, like some [the healthy choice thing](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,996450,00.html) or [the US mint thing](http://creditcardforum.com/rewards/1317-us-mint-credit-card-rewards-buying-dollar-coins.html), but they always close those loopholes before you find out about them.

When you hear about people paying off credit cards with other cards, it's because they can't pay them off with cash. So instead they shuffle debt around between cards in a desperate attempt to keep all the cards current. All the while they go further into debt.

Human: My wife and I only have one car after my Toyota Camry died (265k miles). She has a job in close to home, not walking distance but pretty close. I have interviewed for a job that could potentially be from $35-40,000 a year but it is a 30-45 minute drive. I am currently completing my senior year of college and cannot work Tu/Th because of class schedule. So what the heck should I do? We dont have more than $1,000 to spend on a vehicle, I dont have a motorcycle license, and I dont know what to do. The distance of the new job is not a big issue but the main factor is I would have to pick up the wife when she gets off work and then drop her off at home, without a vehicle, and go back to work for a few hours. Any advice on how we can fix this problem? Is there any alternative vehicle or something that I could afford? What about using a cab service to pick her up? edit: Thanks for all the support and advice I will try to get on here in a few hours. I really appreciate all the info though thanks! Assistant: What part of the country do you live in? Could you get a bike and a bike rack? drive the wife to work and have her bike home each day? Human: Small-ish town in Texas. Population around 80k this would be ideal but it would probably be more practical riding a bike myself for 30 miles than asking my wife to ride one 2 miles home. If you have a girly wife you will know why... edit:I dont really understand the downvotes. I guess you would just have to know us to realize what I mean by the above comment. I agree that biking for her would be a good solution but the reason I posted was to see if someone had any other ideas that I had not thought of.

The hell? She can't bike or walk two miles? If you're slow, that's a 10-minute ride, 45-minute walk. Also, I'm girly and I bike 20 miles round-trip to work in the spring/summer/fall. She needs to consider if it's really worth spending money you cant afford on a car because she's too lazy to go 2 miles.

Downvotes were for dismissing cycling as a non-"girly" activity. Fuck your gender roles. Oh, right. Texas...

Human: 'Ello Here is my financial situation: * Full Time Student in a very much in-demand field (unemployed for now, but well paid after graduation) * Family-provided university fund that covers tuition, books, and living expenses; and also functions as an emergency fund. * Credit Card A with a limit of $1000 that I use for day-to-day purchases. I'll usually max this card out during the month and **pay it off in full at the end of the month**. * Credit Card B with a limit of $500 that is meant for emergencies. If I end up using it, **I'll pay it off at the end of the month**. * I pay my bills in full as soon as I receive them. * Credit score around 760 according to Equifax **So here is my question:** How can I better use my credit cards to increase my credit score? EDIT: Added more information, formatting.

(1) Do not max out your cards. In fact don't go over 30% of your total credit limit at any time. (2) Pay your balance down BEFORE the statements come out, this way the reported credit usage will be lower. (3) Most Important: Stop obsessing over your credit score 760 will pretty much puts you in the top tier (or close to it) and a better credit score will not materially affect your life.

What matters are the monthly balances that creditors report to the credit bureaus. These balances are weighed against your available credit, and this debt-to-credit-limit ratio, or utilization, makes up about 30 percent of your FICO score, the most widely used scoring formula. If you charge your card to the limit each month but always pay in full, the score will react as if you've maxed out the card. It's all about the reported balances. That said, a tiny reported balance can trump a zero balance. "In short, the lower a consumer's credit utilization, the better, but having a small balance is slightly better than having no balance at all," says Barry Paperno, consumer operations manager for FICO, the Minneapolis-based company that created the popular credit scoring formula. In other words, a teeny charge does a FICO score good. Use the card on an inexpensive item and then pay off the balance when you receive the bill. The small reported balance will help your score, and you'll avoid finance charges at the same time. You can trick the system by paying in full a week BEFORE your statement cuts thereby manipulating the reported balance in your favor.

Human: Got the message today, but it was too late to call them back. Not sure what this could be about, other than an error or a scam. I do have a mortgage with a different bank, but I know it hasn't been sold off, and I've never been late on it anyway. What should I say when I call them tomorrow? I don't want to give them any information in case it is a scam, but I'm not sure how to get them to admit I don't owe them anything without at least telling them my name. **EDIT:** I did look up the phone number, and it's listed on www.wellsfargo.com as the number to call to request a loan modification. I ran my free Equifax credit report for the year, and it didn't turn up anything negative whatsoever, and no reference to a mortgage with Wells Fargo. I suppose it's possible that a scam robocaller is spoofing their phone number with WF's, but it should be safe to call the number seeing as it's listed on WF's website. I still don't plan to give them any personal info. Interestingly, the "office hours" that the robocall stated were NOT the office hours listed on the website, and when I called the number today, the answering service stated the office hours that were listed on the website.

1-866-234-8271 is the number I call for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

The daily show had a segment a few months ago about this. A couple down in Florida had to take the bank to court.

Human: Not sure what to do about this one. Assistant: Didn't you get a receipt when you returned the equipment? I know in the past that not only did I get a receipt, but I had to sign something as well with them. Human: I asked the rep who came to my house if there was any paperwork required and he told me "No, we just scan it and it's good"

Could be a rep running a scam. I'd definitely be ringing as many bells as possible.

did you have someone come to the house? if so call Comcast and try to contact that person again. They usually keep track of locations they send reps

Human: I'm sure this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it. I have often heard the argument that you lose a "tax advantage" when you pay off your mortgage early since interest on your mortgage is tax deductible. How is it beneficial to pay $1 interest to get back $0.30 in taxes? I'm assuming that you could invest that extra money to (possibly) gain a higher "effective interest"...but is that ever worth the risk for gains of a percent or two? **EDIT** Next question is, if it is advantageous to pay off the house early (to save those interest dollars), then would it also be better to put all non-matched, post-tax investments into the house payments instead?

My opinion is to pay the home off early. I look at it as you will have a place to live vs counting on a good investment return. I still have investments though.

Question: if your home was payed off, would you take out a mortgage on your home and invest it? I hope the answer is no. If you're able pay off your house now but invest instead, you're doing essentially the same thing.

Human: I am inheriting a lump sum of cash. The money will be released in the next few months. No credit card debt, owe about 3k in student loans, will pay that off first with inheritance, etc. $10k to emergency, will start a Roth IRA, etc. Next up, I rent. I have a smoking deal of paying $600 a month for a awesome 1bd apartment in a cool neighborhood in Portland OR. That includes utilities. I take home just shy of $2,000 a month with minimal bills. I have a good budget and am able to stick to it each month. With the money I intend to pay off my $3500 in debt, start a ROTH IRA, put enough cash in my ING savings account to have it be 10k, then after that is all done use the majority of the remainder to buy a home. Real estate in Portland is either bottomed out or damn close. It is a perfect time to buy and get a whole lotta house for only 100k. I am a modest person and don't like big new houses. A little 2bd 1000sq ft house is perfect for me. But here's the twist... I want to go back to school. The program I wish to attend would require me to quit my job. I'm fine with taking this on. But, because of this money I have the chance to pay cash for my education. I'm thinking about paying cash for a modest home, renting it out, and using that income to pay my rent each month, pay the insurance, pay the taxes. I would pretty much break even on housing/utility costs each month. But with that home giving me income that takes the burden of rent off my plate each month as I go to school. I can put enough away to use for upkeep of the home no problem. My thinking is that I want to own a home eventually. Now actually. But if I buy now, I will have a monthly bill of $400 for taxes/insurance. And then paying utilities by myself would put me pretty much right where I was as a renter. This would not save me any money while going to school. If I rent the property out, I would break even each month outside upkeep and emergencies. If I wait the 4-6 years till I'm done with school real estate is going to go up. I can get a lot more bang for my buck right now while real estate is cheap. It makes a lot more sense to me to let the house sit, give me income, then hopefully in ten years the economy is done crapping the bed and the house has gone up in value significantly. It does seem a little counter intuitive and if I was to continue at my job and not go to school it seems like a no brainer I would pay cash and go live in the home. But with school it would be such a huge relief to have a home paid for, that produced income, paid my rent, and would be an asset that can not be taken away. And of course if my landlord sells the house I'm in now I can always move into the rental. What say you? Anyone ever been in a similar spot? Buy a duplex what?

Wait, you are going to buy a house in cash (converting all of your liquid money into illiquid land), but not live in it or use a mortgage as a tax-shield? And your ideal plan is to break even off the rent? And the market might move 1-2% a year as far as equity is concerned? Wouldn't you just get to pocket the exact same profit by converting the inheritance into a 5 year or 7 year CD (with, say 1.2 to 2.5% growth) and getting the exact same return for less hassle, then buying a house when you will be in a tax bracket that makes a mortgage sensible?

I think real estate won't go up, much, over the course of 4-6 years. I also think that if you want to move in the next 4-7 years, the house will be more of a hassle than an asset. We currently own a house, and yeah, YMMV, but ours currently needs a new roof, a new kitchen and a new bathroom. Ca-ching... And we may want to move soon, too, all of a sudden, meaning we either do these repairs now for lots of money and get a reasonable price for the house, or we don't do repairs and accept the loss and the fact that it will sit on the market for longer because less people want to buy a house that needs so many repairs. If you keep the money in CDs (don't forget I bonds) for now, you can always buy a house later, when you are settling down and are almost sure you'll live there for a while. Also: I do not know your age or situation, but for a long time (age 25-age 30) I was forever alone, and then suddenly I found the right guy. If you own your house and you meet the right partner, it may be that the house is too small, or it even may be (oh irony, I've seen this with a cousin of mine) that he/she also owns a house and that you'll have to sell two houses before you can start living together. (Anyone interested in a nice house in Sittard, The Netherlands, by the way? You'd help my cousin out...). So my main point is that buying a home means that you lose a lot of flexibility, and that given your circumstances (new study, new job market later) you may need that flexibility later. There are many buy vs rent calculators on the internet, showing that renting is always cheaper in the beginning. [This](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html) is one such calculator.

Human: I've taken a new job which offers around $80,000 p.a (AUS ~US$83,000), excluding expenses and bonuses, but I feel like I've never had less money in my whole life. That saying of how you end up living to your means or something really does apply. Can any redditors here offer me some advice on how to not burn through so much? I don't live an extremely decadent lifestyle, nor do I have a huge social life. My rent is pretty high ($2300 per/month). Any investing tips or tricks in this kind of situation? Ask anything.

Egads - your rent is, what, 50% of your take-home? I just bought a house and feel a little stretched with 25%. Rent is one of those things that you have to pay every month - you can't ever cut back on it. Three years ago I lived in a small crappy apartment in a bad neighborhood in a city. So it wasn't great, but it cost me half of what I'm paying now, and looking back, it was worth it. It allowed me to get out of debt. You have to make a budget... although I don't even do that so I feel like I shouldn't be giving out that advice :)

invest all your money in down syndrome, it would make much more sense than paying 2300 a month for rent and supporting someone who won't work in a country with an unemployment rate that is as low as it is. seriously, if you want to be wealthy stop throwing your money away.

Human: We currently owe approximately $30,000 on 9 various credit cards. Outside of our mortgage, we have no other debts (student loans, car payments, ect…). The combined minimum monthly payment is around $700. Five of the cards could be paid off and closed with $5,000. Our household take home income is around $5,700 a month. Mortgage, child care, and utilities cost us around $2,500 leaving us with just over $3,000 for day to day expenses and tackling our debt. In addition to our income we do have a $20,000 nest egg we can use to attack this debt. What would be our best plan of attack to reduce our credit debt to 0? Should we look getting lower interest cards with 0% transfer balances? A debt consolidation loan? Do we pay down the higher interest or largest debt first? Would we be better off cashing out our nest egg now and knocking our debt down to $15,000? Would we wise to get our debt moved to lower interest accounts and then use our savings to knock it down? Any advice would be much, much appreciated.

[unbury.me](http://unbury.me) is a great calculator for figuring out how your targetting your extra payments will speed up the time to pay off your cards. A visit to /r/frugal for money savings tips, allowing you to put more towards the cards, is always worth wild. Depending on your relationship with your bank, your credit score, and your current interest rate you may be able to get a personal loan that will save you money. If you have some home equity, you can look into a HELOC to pay off [some/all] of your credit card debt at lower rates. In any case, make sure you address whatever lead you to rack up $30k on your credit cards, otherwise you'll never break the debt cycle. I'd avoid using your nest egg unless you have extremely high rates on your debt and can not refinance the debt.

A hard-to-beat strategy that has worked for many people...**[Debt Snowball Plan](http://www.daveramsey.com/article/get-out-of-debt-with-the-debt-snowball-plan/)**

Human: Exactly what the title says. I've been working at the same plus 1 year+. In the field of higher education (e.g. college/university) so the benefits are pretty good. I receive all the benefits my colleagues receive EXCEPT the 403b. Is it legal for them to deny me the same benefits as other employees because of my age? Anything I can do about it?

Well, yes, it's ageism, [but the U.S. Department of Labor only protects those age 40 and older](http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/discrimination/agedisc.htm). >The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination I'm not a lawyer, so this obviously isn't legal advice, but it sounds like it's legal. Whether it's fair or not can be debated.

I've heard age 26 before in 403(b)s, it isn't uncommon.

Human: Like the title says. My great grandfather passed away this year and left everything to his only son, my grandfather and his children. He has three kids, and he's asking them to take the money my Great Grandpa left them and invest it in this magic thing called Lyoness. I'm having a hard time finding information about this company, but the 'salesmen' has my grandfather convinced that its the greatest thing ever. I think it looks shady as hell, and uncomfortable with him investing tens of thousands of dollars. Here is their website: [http://lyonessusa.com/](http://lyonessusa.com/) The biggest argument that my grandfather gave my father is that because this company is moving into the American market from Europe, where pyramid schemes are illegal, that there is no way that it can be a scam. Does anyone out there have any information I can give my crazy grandfather to keep him from throwing my father's inheritance away? Or is it possible that this is a legitimate investment opportunity? Sorry I don't have more information, I what I know I've learned from my aunt who has tasked me with finding out if this is a scam or not.

A quick google search of "lyoness pyramid schemes" looks like it should give you enough information to stay away from this company.

> The biggest argument that my grandfather gave my father is that because this company is moving into the American market from Europe, where pyramid schemes are illegal, that there is no way that it can be a scam. Yes, and the fact that they spent phase I becoming 100% legal in all 50 states is another one. You have not articulated one specific quantitative issue with the Lyoness business model. [Contact me](http://www.LyonessFlorida.com) if you do. And you dont need to invest thousands into Lyoness. Your first step would be to thoroughly understand Lyoness and then understand your various options for getting started - $225 in accounting units, $450 in gift cards, $3000 premier member / trading partner.

Human: I'm married. My wife and I are both in our early 30s. We have two young kids. I own a very successful business, live way below my means and have saved up quite a bit of money over the last several years. Our current finances look like this: Zero debt. $600,000 house and land (fully paid off) $370,000 in IRA retirement accounts (currently invested in a mix of mutual funds) $180,000 in taxable investment account (approx $50,000 of this is in private REITs that are currently illiquid, the remaining $130,000 is currently in cash) $300,000 in savings account (at almost no interest) $230,000 in CDs (1% interest) The retirement accounts and taxable investment account are currently with a financial advisor who charges 1.5% a year and keeps the assets mostly in a diversified mixture of mutual funds. We plan to continue adding $90,000 per year to the retirement accounts for as long as our business income remains high enough to do so (this is uncertain, but likely to last at least a few more years, hopefully much longer). I'm interested in any general advice or thoughts on how I should be managing my finances. Specific questions I'm also interested in are: 1. Retirement: How should I be investing my IRA funds? Since I have a relatively large amount for my age my thinking is that I can afford to be more conservative as long as I'm beating inflation. I've been considering purchasing a diversified portfolio of low-risk 30-year bonds that pay around 5% interest. My thinking is that I'd hold the bonds until maturity which would allow me to earn the interest without worrying about the bond prices fluctuating. Is this a good idea? 2. What to do with non-retirement savings? I have around $700,000 saved up outside of my retirement account. It's currently mostly in savings accounts and CDs earning almost no interest. Are there any better options out there for me? I'd love to get more interest, but am pretty risk-averse.

With small kids I'd suggest investing some money in a 529 for education expenses. For better returns while keeping risk down, I'd suggest looking into municipal bonds and bond funds. With that much capital you could also move into the real estate market. Some diversification into higher risk investments would be a good idea. You could get your toes wet by experimenting with ETFs. All that being said, you really should talk with a professional.

Find an Insurance Agent that has also passed their Series 6 and Series 63. This person is a 'Registered Representative'. Insurance agents usually work on commission, not fee. They can often give advice that is almost as good as a fee based planner... But if you don't buy anything from them the might charge you by asking for referrals to a few friends. If they do a good job with the basic finance portion of the discussion they are most likely well worth introducing to other folks. For that you get information about Life Insurance, Variable Annuities, Mutual Funds. All of which can help you save for the future, invest in the stock market (variable annuities), invest in low risk vehicles (fixed annuities) and straight up taxable investments in the market (mutual funds). Most people don't think of Insurance Agents/Registered Reps as a good source of information on investing, but if you find a knowledgeable one they can be. Don't go to the cut rate insurance agencies though. Go for the GIANT insurance companies. Specifically check out the Mutual Insurance Companies. They have no shareholders and tend to provide better training of their agents rather then cheap sales tactics. Barring that I agree with the other posters. Educate yourself. Start with "The Bogleheads Guide to Investing". And give "The Intelligent Investor" a shot. If you run your own business and can follow the accounting portion of your company, you can teach yourself everything you need to know about investments using those books as a jumping off point. Also I want to read Jack Bogles book on investing, but I haven't yet. That might be really good too.

Human: Every once in a while the call will come from a person and I'll tell them that I'm not whoever they're looking for. When that happens they'll say they've taken my number out of the system but the next day I'm getting calls again. What do I do? The robot callers say the account in question is a CITI sears card.

I'm not sure what your recourse is, but this is a clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Contact the BBB - chances are you'll have 'em off your back right quick.

Human: I already contributed 1800 this year. Should I max out my 401k in the first 4 months of the year? My employer matches upto 4k. I am not sure if i have to invest x% whole year to get maximum match from my employer. But I want to invest maximum possible in next 2-4 months. I am getting 15k bonus next week, and I have enough saving for 3 years. Also putting 5k in IRA account for 2011. Is this a bad idea? why? ---- edit: My company matches 50% of my contribution up to 4k.

If you wanna increase your savings (since apparently you love saving), see if you qualify for an HSA. Some call it a [super IRA](http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/ns84i/what_are_the_benefits_to_an_hsa_over_an_fsa_other/c3bkdmg).

My only thought about dumping that much money in right now is that you're buing at a 52 week high for the market. If your plan has some kind of dollar cost averaging option, you might consider that.

Human: Hi All, I'm considering buying my first home and was hoping y'all could give me a reality check on whether I'd be making a mistake or not. My situation: Income: 80K Job outlook: pretty stable, likely higher income in the near future. Debt: About 20k in student loan debt, nothing else. Savings: $14,000 Credit Score: 795 I'm considering buying a house in the 200k - 250k price range. Because of my low savings I'd have to use an FHA loan to do it. Is this a big mistake? I feel like it would be ok because my financial situation is pretty solid with a good outlook. I'm low on savings mainly because my income only recently jumped up to where it's at now so I wasn't saving as much as I could. I'm planning on working in this metro area for the foreseeable future so I should be in the house for a long time. I've been doing some calcs and looking at rental prices and even after adding in the mortage insurance and taxes my house payment cashflow would be less than the rent for a similar house. So my big loss in cashflow vs. renting would be the added maintenance costs. My main worries are blowing a lot of money on mortgage insurance (though I could save up enough to pay some principal and get it removed within a few years) and that the home value crashes a lot more. What are the odds that home values will have decreased significantly 5 - 10 years from now and I'll find myself wanting somethign nicer but being way upside down? Anything else I'm missing that would make this a shitty idea?

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html

You'll want to wait till the end of the year before you buy real estate. Wait for ALL major markets to crash. The ones in the 200k range will likely retain their value, but might go down because of lack of demand for them, depends on the market. That was according to the last book from Harry S Dent I read, [here](http://www.amazon.com/Great-Crash-Ahead-Strategies-Turned/dp/B006TQUMP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327282810&sr=8-1) is his latest one on Amazon. He's an economist who has a very high accuracy rate. His predictions have saved my friends lots of money in real estate. EDIT: Formatting

Human: I realize this is close to "I have $[X]... what to do...", but the link for this topic is very generic. I have some particular details and specific questions. Here's a few relevant details. I'm a graduate student (but also work full time, pull in around $75k/year), looking to graduate in ~3 years. I currently own two rental properties. I owe ~$130k on one of them, the mortgage payment is ~$1100, it rents for $1200. The other one I owe ~$70k, mortgage payment is ~$570, it rents for $1150. I have ~$30k in credit card debt. My in-laws recently inherited some money and said they want us (my wife and I) to use ~$30k and either invest it or pay off credit card debt. These are the options I'm considering: One option is to use that money as a down payment on another rental property. I'm fairly confident we can buy a house for ~$110k, have a mortgage payment of ~$700, and rent it out for ~$1200. The extra money coming in every month would be put in a bank account so my in-laws can use it if they need it. The thinking is once they pass away, we would end up owning the house. So they get some emergency money they can use when they need it, we get some real estate after a few years/decades. The other option I'm considering is to pay off all our credit card debt and start depositing ~$500 every month (possibly $1000 once I graduate) into an account my in-laws can use when they need it. My in-laws again get some emergency money they can use when they need it, we erase our credit card debt. If we go the buy house route, there is at least a tangible asset involved. Paying off debt would be nice, but we would not have the tangible asset. Can you give me your opinion on these two options? Are there things we are not considering that we should be considering? Any information/advice/opinion is welcome.

Pay off the credit card debt. If you had zero dollars would you go take out an unsecured loan at whatever crazy interest rate your cards have to use as a down payment? That would be dumb.

Credit card debt. I bet the interest is something like 12% per year or more. If you use this to buy a new property and thus take on new debt and new risk, you're only one step away from financial ruin.

Human: I'm struggling with this concept. most savings accounts pay less (sometimes much less) than 1% interest, and inflation has been at 3.38% over the last 10 years. what good is all of this analysis if the end result is "we're just losing our money *slower*"?

The alternatives: * spend your money on fun (well, congrats, but what do you do when there's an emergency?). * put your money under your mattress (nope, inflation *and* your money's less safe than on an account (FDIC or NCUA ensured). * put your money in bonds or stocks (possibly, but can you get to your money quickly and without losing money because you have to sell now?). * put it in a business you own or know (well, let's hope you made the right bet. And: what happens when you have a financial emergency?). So the quick answer: putting some of your money in a savings account helps you to when there's an emergency. That is worth losing say 1% of its value.

Getting a (good) return on ALL of your money just isn't going to happen. You keep a certain amount in savings for a rainy day or to save up for a purchase and then you can invest the rest.

Human: * *Refund

Same thing I do every year, into my vanguard fund

Getting back $9k. Would have gotten more if I hadn't made decent money in my company's ESPP and my wife hadn't gotten unemployment last year. Not using it for anything. Credit cards all paid off. No car payment. My student loan paid off and only owe small amount on wife's.

Human: This hypothetical is often asked somewhat rhetorically, or with the implicit assumption that you would blow through the money in question (i.e. 'if you could spend a million dollars right now'). I'm positing a more 'real life' scenario where you, a responsible (?) adult, indeed now have a million dollars, to save or spend as you wish, after taxes for the sake of simplicity. **So there it is, in your bank account ... what comes next?** For some, a million dollars might help pad an already-comfortable lifestyle. For others, it might represent decades or a lifetime of accumulation. Thus, I expect answers will vary, but I am curious to see what people have to say either way. The amount is also somewhat intentional - not so much that you could live rich forever, but not so little that it shouldn't have at least some impact on pretty much anyone short of a CEO or inheritor. So, how would you deploy it, or not? How would it change your savings account, your investment portfolio, your living situation and/or future aspirations? Would you change careers, take time off, or keep doing what you do at the same pace? Would you buy instead of renting? Move? Travel? Upgrade something in your life, or many things? Think of these as a jumping-off point - not definitive questions - as I'm sure there are things I have not thought to put down so far. But remember: it is a one-shot deal ... burn through it fast and you lose it forever!

I'd buy a hotel that costs 7 million dollars.

$20,000 to pay off student loans; $80,000 to pay off student loans my parents took out for me; $200,000 to buy the house of my dreams (where I live this IS possible); $50,000 earmarked for travel over the next 10ish years; $450,000 in retirement and possibly some fund for future children's college; $100,000 to various charities; Well, it was fun to dream for a few minutes =)

Human: I'm looking at purchasing an expensive item ($3-4k range) and looking at ways to reduce the overall burden on my balance sheet. I'm looking at something like this, [Citibank CC Offer](http://creditcards.citicards.com/usc/value/dpnr/Oct2011/holidayoffer/bluenile/external/default.htm?BTData=C02167B7969617459544A42BDBEB2A6A399958490F9FDF4E8E1D5CCD9D1F658EDE&BT_TRF=115081&app=UNSOL&sc=4DNZJ2U1&m=XCK2MDV66ZW&langId=EN&siteId=CB&B=M&screenID=3000&uc=BGN&t=t&link=Consumer_725219494&ProspectID=1B6D63DD285A41379EF140CE0456BBD3) with 18 months of zero-interest. I can easily pay the item off in that time. There's also an option of financing through the purchasing company for 6 months of zero payments/interest if you pay the item off in 6 months. I figured the 18 month period would have lower payments than the 6 months and be better overall for me. Any thoughts are appreciated!

*Good* financial habits would mean: * don't buy the item * buy a cheaper version or buy second-hand - after some research to know you'll get good enough quality * borrow the item * save up first and only then buy the item. *Mediocre* financial habits would be to buy the item now and pay later. After all, are you sure you'll have the money to pay this off, later? What will happen when you lose your job two months from now? Will you still be able to make the payments and avoid interest? What if the item breaks five months from now, or what if you lose interest in using it, but you still have these payments? If you *need* to have this item now, financing it with a 0% deal would be the best thing to do, but I would pay it off ASAP. Find out the fine print for both deals - can you pay off quicker, without a fee, for example? What happens if you are one day late with one payment? Will the credit card have an annual fee, and how much is it? Also: if you get the credit card, you could be tempted to put more stuff on it. Will you be able to avoid that temptation?

The answer depends entirely on what the item is.

Human: I'm planning to switch my current checking account from Bank of America to Charles Schwab (High Yield Checking account). I see on the terms that they do reimburse ATM fees, my question is the following (very stupid btw): Does this mean I can use any ATM and not get charged for by the owner of the ATM and by Schwab? (Still use Bank of America ATMs free of charge?) Is it also true for hotel and gas station ATMs where there is a service charge?

Besides their seemingly-flawless, always available over the phone customer service, the ATM refund is one of the greatest things about Charles Schwab bank. You'll never look back at BoA again. Trust me.

Correct. Any ATM fee charged by the operator to WITHDRAW CASH is refunded (don't do balance inquiries, etc.). If it doesn't get credited, you call them and they'll adjust it if you have the receipt. Refunds are done lump sum for the past month on the first of each month. So technically you pay the fee and they refund it, not upfront. Still an amazing deal IMO.

Human: I am 27 years old, single male with a 763 TransUnion credit score. I have zero credit card debt, $8,900 left on my car and $54k in student loans. I make $53k a year and live in the Midwest. I have been pre-approved for $110k loan with 4.25% interest and am looking at a townhouse or condo (3 level, 3+ bedroom, 2+ bath). I like the idea of a condo or townhouse because less yard work and amenities like gym/pool. I currently rent and I have 1 roommate (current rent is $865/month). We are contemplating renting a townhouse with another friend at $1600-1700 a month. I have found several townhouses online in my price range. With condo fees, insurance, principal/interest and taxes it would be around $1050-1100 a month (plus utilities). I know I could easily make it financially with two roommates... the thing that worries me is if they move out. I have no desire to live paycheck to paycheck. I tend to worry/over analyze my finances because I grew up pretty poor. Is this a sound investment...especially if I get them to sign a lease. I have 3% to put down, no more. I don't plan on moving anytime in the next 5+ years.

I haven't put any numbers in a cruncher, but my experience says that that cost, with what you make, and that interest rate, shouldn't by itself cause you to be "check to check". Have roommates while you can and hit your biggest debt *hard* and then by the time they move out maybe you'll be free of one of them. Or, while they live with you *save* hard and then if they move out you can still live while you figure out other roommates... Don't see any reason you can't do this. Should you? $110k doesn't sound too bad, honestly. $53k a year, you could probably pay it down faster, too...

Nope. Pay off car first, student loans second. Then buy a house. If you're crazy about it, you could probably get it all cleared out in 5 years or better. When you DO buy a house, I would recommend still looking at the same price range you would be looking at today.

Human: What kind of down payment does one need to purchase an apartment building? Will a bank require that I have a full time job to take out a loan if I'm planning on renting out 10 units to make my income? Anyone on here ever gone from working a FT office job to being a landlord?

You might also want to ask /r/Entrepreneur.

Get the loan before you quit your job and also check into "stated income" loans.

Human: As stated I am currently deployed to Afghanistan and I plan on leaving the service 8 months after returning state side. I am 21 years old and have never had personal finance classes. This transition has me more afraid than any other in my life due to my confusion in finances. Any advice will be much appreciated. Any additional info needed feel free to ask. EDIT: Heres some info that may be handy I'm 21, single male. I have bank through USAA. No vehicle. Plan to go to college the semester after I get out. I'm recieving a $35,000 bonus at the end of my contract.

Just some basic stuff - I grew up in a medium-sized town that was primarily military (lived there 26 years), and most of my family was military. Here's what I've seen that might help you. Are you single? Don't make the common mistake that every soldier seems to make - do NOT come home with your giant wad of cash and blow it on a brand new sports car and clubbing. I can't even count the number of military/contractors I've known who came back and did exactly this. I have a good friend who came back from Iraq with $120k cash to his name and, according to him, has "no idea where that money went. None." Instead - keep your money piled up, buy a cheap car when you get home, find a cheap apartment with a short lease (6-9months lease at most, preferably month to month, after you leave the service) and use your stash of money to survive for the time it takes you to replace your employment. You might have to move for a new job, so that's the purpose of the short apartment lease. After you've found new gainful employment, set aside 6 months of expenses as an emergency fund. Feel free to upgrade your car and housing (consider purchasing with 20% down if you plan on staying put for some time). Enjoy your financial foundation and thanks for being a soldier. Any specific questions that have you confused or fearful?

USAA is awesome. I would suggest reading some personal finance blogs and magazines to get an idea of how you can plan for yourself. A great magazine for personal finance is Kiplinger's. You can probably find that one in the PX on base. Some great blogs are www.getrichslowly.org , www.wisebread.com , www.budgetsaresexy.com , and www.budgetforwealth.com . You should also consider hiring a financial planner if you're not very experienced in these matters. A fee-only financial planner will get you on the right path.

Human: I know most of us sign up for programs every so often and they usually have offers along the lines of "refer a friend and earn $50". I almost always ignore these, because trying to get people to sign up for things like a new American Express card is almost impossible. But, since we all sign up for these types of things already, could we start something where we would help each other out by essentially piggy-backing off people in this subreddit for free money? I know this is about as spam as it gets, but still I feel like this is money wasted. Let me know what you think.

I'd be willing to pay money not to have anyone refer me to things like credit cards ever.

I don't think this is a bad idea.

Human: she's talked to the person doing payroll at the company, and they said they were not going to send her a 1099. this seems, at best shady and at worst highly illegal. if it ends up being true does that mean she doesn't have to claim that income on her taxes? if she gets audited, I guess there's no paperwork, but… seems like not something you want to mess around with.

Agree w/rest and would add: she should ASK why they don't want to/aren't going to send things. Lie or truth, it will be informative.

Sue.

Human: I've been trying to not spend money so frivolously but I seem to be get caught up in the moment every time I see something that catches my eye. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on a way to break this horrendous habit I've developed.

Don't go shopping w/o a list. Don't buy things that aren't on the list. This is fundamentally an issue of discipline. Best of luck!

Leave credit cards at home and carry enough cash only for emergencies. Only buy something if you still want it after 2 days.

Human: I have a Bank of America Credit card and it is the only account that always has trouble updating. Even when it goes through, it's always the last one to finish the race. I found this [thread](http://satisfaction.mint.com/mint/topics/temporarily_unable_to_connect_to_bank_of_america_accounts) on the Mint.com website about the issue. Is anyone else having this issue? Do you think Bank of America is doing this on purpose?

Well, nobody likes Bank of America, so you can't really blame Mint.

I had a little trouble but just kept trying. It eventually worked.

Human: I'm in Texas and I'm just trying to fact find about what types of contacts, down payments, etc... need to be considered before putting my house on the market for lease. Thanks!

Get yourself a Nolo Guide for Landlords. Everything you need is there.

Make sure your location is zoned for renting. Often single family home neighborhoods aren't zoned for renting.

Human: I am considering buying a 4 bedrooms house and renting out 3 bedrooms to trusted friends and/or acquaintances or even strangers if I must. I'll charge like 500-550 for each room. That means 1500-1650 in monthly renter income. I'm looking at houses sort of fixer-uppers around 90,000. I have a very nice credit score it was 775 when I checked it last. Looking at rates I could get around 4% on a 30 year fixed. I have no co-signer though, so I'm not even sure I could get the loan. I'm doing a Chase pre-approval right now to find out. That works out to about 425 a month for my mortgage payment. Of course with insurance and taxes and everything it would be more like 700 a month. Add in utilities for 4 people that would be about 400 a month, maybe 500. Cable and internet say 200 for the premium stuff. Altogether that's only 1400 a month. I've got 100-250 leftover for upkeep. This is just a rough estimate of course but can anyone give me some suggestions or advice on this idea? I'm 25, single, first time homebuyer, but I gross only 25,000 a year. Thank you for your advice beforehand!

You should buy this house assuming that you will be the only one living there. If you can't afford the payments yourself, you shouldn't buy it. With that said, utilities for 4 people will be more than $400 a month. Depending on your cooling/heating source and the age of the house, your heating bill could be pretty high. During the peak of the winter you could be looking at a 400 or 500 dollar bill. While money can be saved with a programmable thermostat, if 4 people have 4 different schedules, the heating/cooling will be operating for a much longer time. The water usage will also be high between bathroom, kitchen and laundry use. Each person will also have their own personal electronics which can eat away at the KWh. Wear and tear in the house and appliances. Typically, you should budget 1-2% of the houses value annually for upkeep. That is used when a house is in turn-key condition. If you have a fixer-upper, then you wont really know how much money you need. Some rough estimates for a single story, 1200 sq ft home if you hire a pro: Roof - 3-5K, Heater - 2-3k, Siding - 4-5k, New Windows - 500 each, New Electric Panel - 2k. You will also have high usage of the toilet, shower, sink, oven, microwave, fridge, floors, vacuum, etc. Those items can only take so much abuse. Bum Tenants. Give thought to what happens when a tenant stops paying. Consider what would happen if they began to steal from other tenants of if they did drugs inside the house. They could also hit their girlfriend/boyfriend in the house and they could play loud music until 2 in the morning or come home from the bar and wake everyone up. Parking for a minimum of four cars. More is better. Will you have any personal space or privacy? Will 4 people share a single bathroom or will 3 people share one bathroom and you get the master. Personally, I wouldn't have more than one room mate. A four bedroom single-family home is really meant for a single family. It could work but it isn't something I would choose.

> ...but I gross only 25,000 a year. Just rent. You will be one roof leak, furnace, hot water heater, termite infestation, etc... away from bankruptcy at all times unless you have major savings.

Human: I still have a 401(k) worth about 40k at a job I left about 4 years ago. It is currently split over 5 funds at Merrill Lynch and is currently earning 5.18%. I still have about 20-25 years before retirement, [single with no dependants](http://i.imgur.com/6QrJg). Currently I have a 401(k) at Fidelity through my new job earning 5.3%. I know I should move my old account to something else, but I don't know what I should move it to. Any suggestions? Not sure if the information I provided is sufficient or relevant for informed advice, but it's all I could think of.

Gigiya's Advice is very good. If you are into self directing, Vanguard is a great way to go. Read [Bogleheads Guide to Investing](http://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/0470067365/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327456284&sr=1-1) so you know what you're getting into at Vanguard. They buck the trend of most funds so read up on them as a company to understand the kinds of mutual funds you are going to encounter over there. T Rowe Price is a good alternative, as they have low costs and more traditional 'beat the market' mutual funds (which aren't necessarily better then Vanguards, just different). However I want to clarify something. Don't use the words 'roll over'. Instead do a "Trustee to Trustee Transfer'. That language is super important. Roll overs are done by yourself, and you have a limited number of them per year. Also 'roll over' implies that you will have a check cut to yourself. If you don't get that into another IRA account in a timely manner you could be hit with Fee's, and Penalties assessed by the IRS. Not fun! Better to contact Vanguard directly, and have them send you Trustee to Trustee Transfer paperwork (they might call it something a little different). They will contact the old 401(k) and have the money moved into their accounts without having to worry about making a mistake. I'm not a big fan of fee only financial advisors. You can get very similar advice from a Registered Representative at one of the big Mutual Insurance companies without paying for it. They are insurance agents who also can discuss Variable Annuities, which can be IRA's. RR's are paid on commission, so expect some salesman like behavior, but if you are firm and simply say no you can walk away with some good advice... And who knows you might get in contact with one of the RR's that wants to treat you like a client whether you buy something or not. Those are the best.

Roll it over into an ira. It's easy and keeps you in control of you money. I made the mistake once of ignoring a 401k at an old job and the company managing it eventually rolled it over on there own into a money market making no money and with an annual fee. I'm sure there were forms and options I ignored over the years leading to me being boned on this. But, It wasn't a lot of money and I didn't pay attention. Do it know while it's on your mind. Fidelity would be fine if you want all your money under the same roof. One thing I learned from this board. When you want to move your money somewhere, go through the place where the money ending up. Principal held the above mentioned 401k and they were exceeding unhelpful as far as getting the money moved or into an investment vehicle. When I called Vanguard, they got it done for me quickly and easily.

Human: This is the first year that I've made more than say, $10,000. My adjusted gross income is $30,069 (it was 32569 before deducting **student** loan interest paid), and after the standard deduction of 5800 and an exemption of $3700 my taxable income becomes $20,569. According to the tax tables this means my tax to the government is $2661. I'm pretty sure I claimed 0 on W4, but my W2 tells me I paid $2434.91 in income taxes, and it looks like had I not worked overtime and earned only the total amount of my salary, I would have had to pay $2,279 instead of $2,661. In this case I probably would have received a refund. Has anyone here ever had a similar experience? I'd like to know how to prevent this and whether or not it could happen if my W4 withholding is set to 0 or 1. Thanks! **Edit: type of loan** And one more thing: I'd like to point out that my state refund is $198 so I've filed for that first so I can pay off most of the federal debt with the state money instead of out of pocket.

this explains it pretty well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm1hn3N5M14

I think ccb621 is correct. You only pay the higher tax bracket on the money in that bracket not on the whole amount. I am however NOT a CPA, tax accountant, etc. A couple thoughts: Itemize your deductions. If paying that extra tax money bugs you resolve to start keeping records on your expenses and itemizing them. As long as you have more expenses then the standard deduction you will get a bigger tax break. Ultimately you are responsible for doing your own taxes. If you aren't proficient with doing them, get help. Go to H&R block, either online or in person. Online is cheaper. Having a professional or professional software tally everything up can save you more money in misspent taxes then they cost to use. A no brainer way to save money.

Human: I have about $10k in company stock (doing pretty well lately), and another $15k in cash sitting in a standard low interest savings account. Other than my auto loan with $7k remaining at 4% interest, I have no other debt. One year plan is to have enough saved up (including stock) to put a nice down payment on a house (figuring about 40% down). I know the savings is really doing nothing sitting in my bank account (except losing value) but I don't see much of any short-term investment options that are really any better or worth tying up funds for a year. That said, should I pay off my auto loan, and then start putting an extra $250 in my account each month? This seems like a good idea to me. I can't see any reason I shouldn't do that, unless I have the ability to invest in something that will return more than the interest I am being charged on the auto loan. But the only way I see that happening is if I shelf the house idea for a while, and lock up my money for a longer period of time - or take a larger risk. Am I off base here? What do you think I should do?

If you have nothing better to do with $7k, and the remaining $8k is a good enough rainy day fund, pay off the car loan.

Indeed, don't take risks with this money. So don't invest it in bonds or stocks. If you pay the car loan off now,will you have enough money by the time you want it to make that downpayment of 40%, or at least of 20%? If so, pay down the car loan. If paying down the car loan will mean that it will take a year or more longer to collect your downpayment, ask yourself what you'd rather want. In that case you can choose to keep the car loan, then you are more or less borrowing money at 4% interest to get a large enough downpayment. 4% isn't too bad. Or you can still decide to postpone your house plans by a year or so, pay off the car loan and enjoy being debtfree. You can also always go halfway: pay down say $4k of the car loan and pay down the other $3k slower.

Human: My Grandma has had nearly 50k locked in a CD for the last 10 years. (It's matured to 50k.) Apparently some insurance company has called and offered to take that 50k in exchange for a 150k insurance policy. I feel like she is being scammed or throwing a lot of money into a very risky investment. She is 72 and I just want to be a good grandson and help her do the right thing. I would recommend to her that she puts it back into a CD (even though the rate would be a lot lower). Should I be concerned / get involved?

Insurance policies are one of the very few ways to pass wealth on with minimal taxes. If this $50k is purchasing a single premium (you only pay one premium for the life of the policy and this is done at the time of issuance) insurance with a $150k death benefit that means that a different investment would have to increase in value over $100k in ~20 years to pass on a comparable level of wealth to her heirs / beneficiaries. Considering her age and the death benefit involved, I would assume this has to be term insurance and probably a bad idea. However if it is a single premium whole life policy then, this needs to be money she will never miss. If there is any chance she will need that $50k, the insurance policy will take a big hit in terms of value or fees if she taps into part of the cash value or surrenders it.

She's being scammed. I suggest she uses some of the money to pay a good financial adviser (note: she finds him/her, not the other way around; and note: she pays the personal adviser, the personal adviser does not get paid by insurance companies or banks for clients he/she brings in).

Human: i understand the pros of paying off your mortgage early...no payments, house is in your name alone. the only downfall i can think of is not having the interest of the mortgage as a tax write-off. i'm hoping my dad (who is financially illiterate) will pay it off soon but i'm trying foresee the downfalls.

Since I paid off my mortgage, I'm having a lot of trouble. Trouble getting the smile off my face.

I'm gonna GIVE you a house. Then I'm going to force you to take out a $50k loan against it such that if you don't pay me back your HOUSE is subject to forfeiture. Takers?? Anyone? Where'd everybody go? :-( --Robert