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Human: Throwaway for reasons. Next summer my wife and I will be finishing our fellowships and be starting in the real world for the first time. We're applying for jobs now and have been blown away by the salary offers. I'm finishing my interventional cardiology fellowship and my wife is finishing her gastroenterology fellowship. Combined, starting next year we're looking at salaries in excess of $1 mill. Neither of us have ever made more than 90k (residency and fellowship salaries are a joke). First and foremost, we have over $600k in outstanding student loans. I think we should pay these off first, but my wife wants to buy a house first. Depending on the offers we accept we'll be getting anywhere from 50k-200k in signing bonus, should we just dump this into student loans? Or use it for the down payment for a house (my wife is looking at houses in our city in the $2 mill range, which I figure need 400k down payment)? Second, how do we start investing this? I obviously don't want to just stick this in a savings account but are there any resources we can start reading about on how to not waste all this money. Any help is appreciated, just feeling overwhelmed by the types of job offers I'm/we're getting after basically spending the past 16 years of my adult life super poor and in massive debt.

2 physician household here. Your choice depends on your philosophy, AND whatever you and your wife agree to. Option 1- Buy a very expensive house (which you won't qualify for for two years...) and work on the mortgage, kids college, nice cars, great food/dining, and student loans when you get around to them. With that income, you should be able to clear things up in 10-15 years while acting "normal." Of course, if either of you is temporarily disabled, or wants to take a break from medicine, or practice in more disadvantaged communities, or any of a number of things that can affect your income, that is not really an option... SO, option 2 looks like rent for a year or two while you clean up the mess. That means pay off the loans, THEN start looking for houses, cars you will buy with cash, and investing appropriately for retirement, college, etc. Assuming a $1,000,000 income, you will owe AT MOST $310,000 in federal income tax. That looks like you have enough left over to get rid of the loans and scrape by on $90,000 for the first year. Now imagine two years from now with no debt; you can truly afford a $2,000,000 house if you wish, you'll have retirement investing and investing for kids colleges set up (you won't be getting any financial aid for them....), you'll have obscene amounts of money available every two weeks to do with pretty much as you please. Someone wants to take a year off, or spend 6 months in Haiti helping out? Not a problem. You've delayed pleasure for a long time; delaying it for another two years (or less) means incredible amounts of financial peace and freedom if you don't succumb to being "normal." Good luck!

Welcome to /r/personalfinance! Comments will be removed if they are political, medical advice, unhelpful, or uncivil ([subreddit rules](/r/personalfinance/about/rules)). Our moderation team encourages respectful discussion. You may find our [Health Insurance wiki](/r/personalfinance/wiki/health_insurance) helpful. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: I (20m) am looking to get a $12,000 auto loan. My job requires me to drive often and I commute to school during the week, so I’m getting a reliable car as opposed to the one I have now. I have a very low income, because I am a student, but I don’t have any monthly expenses. I still live with my parents and they still pay my bills. I’m very lucky. Will a loan officer take into consideration that auto insurance, auto loan, and the occasional auto maintenance will be my only expenses? I have a 710 credit score, but I haven’t been building credit for very long. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

They take a look at your income. They really only care about your DTI, your credit score, your income, and the cost.

12k loan means you should have atleast 24K+ yearly income. otherwise stay away.

Human: I woke up this morning to a number i dont recognize, so I let it ring. I take a look at the voicemail and I get this automated message about how the IRS apparently has "strong evidence" that I failed to file my actual income tax, which is actually higher than what i stated, and rhe FBI have a warrant to my name for my arrest. Something seems fishy to me about this, but I just want to ask if anyone may know if this is legit or not? The phone number is different from the IRS and the Treasury numbers, but should I post the number as well? EDIT: Thank you everyone who's basically confirmed this was a scam for me!

It's a scam. The IRS doesnt call you

Lol, thats just a bunch of indian scammers. The government is going to send you letters and use the court system.

Human: As by my title I am separating from the military in October of next year. I am married with two kids and we have a mortgage and paying off two cars. Wife works but I am trying to plan for a better financial future. I understand the benefits of the military but financially I want more for myself and family. I will have a bachelors degree in finance come next September and will be starting my masters degree in 2020. Does anyone have any advice on job searching and financial planning. Branch of service is Navy Assistant: Stuff as much into the TSP as you can in your last year. Don't roll over the TSP to anything else when you separate. Keep it and roll 401k plans, when you leave future employers into it. For job searching, a good resource will be the careers office at either your undergraduate university or your master's degree university, or both. Spend time there. Go to the presentations of companies that recruit on campus. For financial planning, follow the steps and the flow chart in the wiki on the sidebar: "PRIME DIRECTIVE: How to handle $". Here's a link, in case you are on mobile: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics Good luck. Human: Why keep everything in the TSP as opposed to a 401k or IRA? Assistant: I was wondering this too as well. I’m not the biggest fan of TSP Human: If you are not the biggest fan of the TSP it may be because you do not know enough of it. Hope you don't have it all in the G-fund... seriously the TSP is a pretty sweet deal with those low numbers. You can rollover your IRA's into it and as long as you have at least $500 in it before you separate you'll be able to keep it. Assistant: I have less than 2% in the G fund. It’s not that I’m not a big fan of it but I’ve read up on it but I want to do more research on my options

TSP is an amazing 401k. You shouldn’t give it up.

Sounds like you messed up big time by missing out on one of the best military benefits (as compared to the civ side options). Saying this more to educate others than to poke nastiness at you, since it's too late for you to fix your mistakes. TSP beyond the default G fund is a great deal...all should consider it carefully.

Human: Tldr: Basically the title. If someone can only contribute 10 dollars a week, would it still be worth it to open a IRA (Roth)? Where would you recommend opening the IRA? Long version: I'm 24 and on a pretty tight budget. I already contribute 12% of my income to my 401k (Roth) with a 3% company match, and I squirrel away about 100 dollars a month into a savings account. After that and all the bills are paid I have about 75 dollars a week left over for what I call 'lifestyle' money.  (Anything not technically a necessity comes out of this money, as does new clothes. So coffee, eating out, birthday gifts, books, etc. ) Some weeks all of the lifestyle money gets spent. (Like this week when I bought new shoes and fall jacket) Some weeks I'm a homebody and it doesn't get touched. Some weeks its a little more than 75 dollars because I had to stay a bit late at work. It varies. I'm trying to work up to saving 15% of my income for retirement. This lifestyle money is the only thing to add to the savings pool, but on weeks where I spend all of it, the thought of reducing it worries me. I would prefer to have it be a little flexible, that way if I need an extra couple dollars to pay for something, I have it. I'm thinking about opening an IRA rather than increasing my 401k contribution. I would try to put in about 10 dollars a week, reducing the lifestyle money to $65/week.  On the slow weeks I could put away more. And on the expensive weeks I could not contribute and have the extra 10 dollars. Would this be worth the hassel? Is there anywhere I could even put this money away where it wouldn't cost me money in the long run from fees? Can I even open an IRA with such a small amount? I know the money will add up to something worthwhile in the long run, but where do I put it in the mean time?

$10 a week is $520 a year. If you kept that up until retirement at 65, with an average of 7% annual growth, you'd end up with $119,408 in your IRA. That's assuming you always stuck to only $10 a week rather than starting to max it out once you earn more money, in which case the benefits would be even higher.

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: For me, I feel like I have a lot saved eg: HSA, 401K, Roth IRA, Company stocks but at the same time I feel like I am not enjoying life. I have no kids and no debt. My paycheck every two weeks is not as much as my peers because I put so much into savings but for what? When I'm 65 I won't be able to do the things I want to do when I am in my 20s. How do you find the happy medium?

Make a budget. Earmark a certain amount out of each paycheck for hobbies, entertainment, concerts, etc.

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Moved into a year long lease a few months ago and shortly after, one of my two roommates quit his job without having any other employment lined up. He still hasn't found another job. This whole living situation has been nothing short of a disaster anyways, but with the reality of my roommate not being able or willing to pay his rent, do I have any options to get out of the lease but avoid eviction? I've heard it can destroy my credit and make it hard to rent again; what do I do?

First thing I would do is contact your landlord immediately and let him/her know the situation. If you signed the lease collectively it may come down to having the roommate’s rent be distributed to the rest of you. If you signed individually you personally have nothing to worry about. Sit you roommate down and tell him if he can’t pay rent the rest of you will kick him out and find someone who can. If he wants to take you to court, and the judge sees this guy is living rent free I’m willing to bet the judge will side with you.

If you all want to end the lease and move out, that's called breaking the lease. Many standard leases allow you to break a 12 month lease, but for a penalty of 2-3 months rent. You'll have to read your particular lease to see what it says. You could also ask your unemployed roommate to move out, and see if you can't find someone else to take over his portion of the lease. You'd have to check your lease to see if subletting is allowed, but it's one option to consider. If at all possible, you and your other still-employed roommate should consider options for covering the full rent owed so you aren't evicted. Having an eviction on your record will make it much harder to rent in the future, and it may be worth the additional rent money to avoid that outcome.

Human: The person on the phone said they would be sending the customer information back to the Ambulance company but I felt suspicious that it might have been a scam. They called me and mentioned the company and amount, asked if I was full name at address and I said yes but never got an ambulance ride. Then they confirmed my last 4 of my social without me giving it to them first. They said they would send me to collections if I didn’t pay after I repeatedly said I haven’t even been to the hospital this year. I don’t know if I should freeze my credit reports or just let it be. They said I couldn’t contest ambulance rides. If this isn’t the best subreddit to ask this question, please let me know where I can get advice. Thanks Assistant: Ignore their calls. Contact the actual ambulance company to get invoice and confirm the services billed. If the bill is actually real, then you can file for identify theft/fraud. Human: I should do this but I forgot to write down the actual ambulance companies phone number. I’ll probably call the collections agency and ask for it again and then contact the actual ambulance company directly

This sounds to me like somebody got mail or stole mail with your information on it. Then they just make up some story asking you to pay immediately. Idk I'm not an expert or anything

Don't ask the 'collection agency' for the number. If you were a scammer would you give out a legitimate number to the victim could confirm that they don't owe money or a fake number that puts you through to the scammer company who pretend to be the ambulance company? Look up the ambulance companies number on a reputable source. It's easy to fake a website too.

Human: Hi everyone, don't know how to go about this but I need your help in recognizing this as a scam or not. About two and a half weeks ago I answered a job posting ad for an assistant business admin. At the time of his first email he sent me a questionnaire about my qualifications, I also checked out his website and he appears to be real. German architect/photographer to travels around and needs help with booking, flights, planning meetings etc. Since he has been out of the country he can't meet face to face yet or schedule a phone call. After my email questionnaire he accepts my credentials and sends another list of questions to make sure my home office has all his needs. So far the grammar and tone have been professional and haven't noticed any red flags. His first task for me was to get a PO box once I got the information for him I emailed him but didn't hear back from him until this morning in a new email. He ignored my text message also. This is the text of the email: *"It's a new week and it is going to be a very busy one for you from my end because I have loads of work to be accomplished. I received an information with the delivery details of the funds mailed to you by my client. You will receive the funds to purchase the remaining equipment needed to start up in the morning via FedEx courier service. I decided to order a new HP notebook and a 4-1 printer for my assignment and as confirmed from office depot, it will be delivered in five to seven working days excluding the weekend. I chose the best that will fit into what I will be needing it for and which will give the desired production and last longer. I can't afford to let go of these equipment when I saw the right configuration and model on there. In regards the funds that was mailed by my client, it will be delivered via FedEx courier service today and and this is the tracking number (omitted) which you can confirm the status of delivery via* [*www.fedex.com*](http://www.fedex.com/)*.* *Kindly take note that I always keep record of all my assignment and every document, no matter how small it could be. You will have to deposit the check in your account and get back to me with a scanned copy or snap shot of the deposit slip for my record purpose. Deduct your first week pay ($800) and my budget for the remaining equipment is $100 as I already ordered for a new laptop, printer, scanner, copier and fax. The remaining balance will be used to book for a photo exhibition for me which I need to confirm if I can still book the event or not. It is coming up in New Jersey but if it has been filled, you will have to get me booked for another one in Cebu, Philippines. Both event starts the same day but the Jerseys will be preferred to the Cebu for some professional reasons and it's coming up on Thursday 27th September and I need to book the event swiftly because there are limited space available also in Philippines.  I will have to be there with you on Monday night or Tuesday morning (September 24th or 25th)  to have a face to face conversation and give you some materials needed to accomplish my assignment (soft copies and hard copies). I will be using the two days to meet a Realtor and inspect some studios, staying at a Bread and Breakfast till Wednesday evening or Thursday Morning before leaving for the New Jersey's event or Philippines. I will get back to you on which of the event I decided and also on how to go about booking it.* *Moreover, You will have to get back to me with a a clean copy of the receipts as soon as you purchase these stationery like printing paper, glue, Pens, note books, stapler,business envelopes, paperclips, highlighter and buy 100 regular stamps at the post office to mail out 50 mails on tomorrow morning. I will send you an email containing the Notification memo that you will send to the 50 clients, including the names of my clients and there address.Finally, I will need you to confirm if my date of arrival is okay by you for me to schedule my flight bookings for our meeting in two weeks. I will in return furnish you with the details of my flight itinerary. Waiting to read back from you as soon as possible."* So now I have a cashier's check in my hand from CCF BANK I checked online and it is a real bank. Except the remitter is in someone's else name. A few more details, he asked if I wanted to be paid via Check or DD I choose DD since be faster, and more secure. Not sure how to proceed right now.

Anytime they ask you to deposit money into your account and then take money out is always a scam.

"Bread and Breakfast" Seems legit. Anyone who says they are looking for a remote worker on Craigslist is a scam artist. Always. No one who actually needs that kind of assistance is hiring off of Craigslist. Period. Read this before you use craigslist for anything else: https://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

Human: So I was rear ended and the person at fault's insurance gave me an estimate based on photos I sent them. I was told to take the estimate to a local repair shop and the repair shop agreed to do the repairs. The local repair shop approved the estimate. The insurance company sent me a check in my name with the amount of the estimate. I then gave the car to be repaired. Upon getting the car back the shop said I didn't owe them anything and I left. What should I be doing with the money I recieved??,I don't want to get sued, I've never had this happen before! Assistant: It's possible they send you the check to get it repaired, but paid the repair shop as well? Probably some miscommunication with their insurance provider. Regardless, don't spend the check or assume it's free money. If it was a mistake, they are going to be asking for that check back. Human: I haven't spent it. I had it deposited in my checking but took it out shortly after getting the car back and not being charged for repairs. I have it hidden away in case they ask for it back. Assistant: Let me clarify after receiving the check I deposited it so when I thought I had to pay the repair shop, I would have it paid easy through my debit card. After I picked up the car I withdrew the money so I could figure out what to do with it. Human: So you have cash instead of leaving it in the bank? Why? Assistant: My wife and I share the checking account. She has no control.

Yikes.

Open another account?

Human: Usually auto insurance has two parts, collision insurance which insures your own car and liability insures the car/people you hit. i totally understand the collision insurance will go up since it will be more expensive to repair or replace parts of a newer and more expensive car. But since the new car (a Tesla) has better technology to avoid accidents from happening in the first place, doesn't it make more sense to have a lower LIABILITY insurance? Or last least not much more expensive than that for my old car (a Honda)? thank you guys.

These numbers are generated from real world accident costs. The data does not support your hypothesis.

It's all part of an algorithm that gets factored in. They may think given the technology and the penchant for people to sometimes use automated features when they shouldn't, that you're more likely to crash.

Human: Work in tech, we don't have enough people but they decided to start firing people anyway. People who have been here for years and years. As far as I know we are are not going out of business, stock and revenue are at an all time high. I'm definitely at risk of being fired if they're letting people go who have been here for years and contributed more. I don't really feel like finding a new job at the moment, I have vacation coming up soon. So is it a bad idea to wait and see what happens?

I'd certainly start looking for a new job, as it looks like your current situation is a bit volatile. But you should wait it out unless or until you have a new job lined up. It's always better to have money coming in than to not have money coming in. You also are more likely to retain the ability to collect unemployment if you are fired than if you quit. Those laws differ state to state, but generally speaking you cannot claim unemployment if you quit (there are some exceptions).

Does your company do severance? Some companies cut you a check of 1 or 2 weeks pay per year of service - if you’ve been there 10 years could be a pretty penny.

Human: Given the other thread about credit fraud, I thought this would be germaine. [https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/09/in-a-few-days-credit-freezes-will-be-fee-free/](https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/09/in-a-few-days-credit-freezes-will-be-fee-free/) >Currently, many states allow the big three bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to charge a fee for placing or lifting a security freeze. But thanks to a federal law enacted earlier this year, **after Sept. 21, 2018 it will be free to freeze and unfreeze your credit file** and those of your children or dependents throughout the United States. Emphasis mine. The rest of the article is trying to convince you why you should get a freeze, something Krebs often does, followed by a nuanced discussion of the law and credit bureau practices.

Good link. Love his blog. Thanks for sharing.

Great news! Thank you for sharing.

Human: I am getting married to someone who has bad credit[550ish] and wanted to know how this may impact us once we are married? Any insights are appreciated

The answer here depends a lot on two questions: How did she end up with a bad credit score? Has she remedied any issues that caused it? If the bad score wasn't truly self-inflicted (family opened accounts in her names and didn't pay, he/she co-signed on something and the other person bailed, an unexpected medical bill), then I'd just make sure she has in place protections to make sure that cannot happen again. And then its about helping him/her to improve his/her score. If the bad score was self-inflicted (he/she ran up credit card debt, or stopped paying bills, or was evicted from a home), then you obviously need to make sure he/she has broken the habits that led to the irresponsibility in the first place, and that all of the debt is accounted for and being handled. It probably also warrants a conversation to make sure you and him/her have a similar financial outlook regarding credit, and it's importance. Tangibly, your score won't go down because of her bad score, but it may impact joint financial decisions and bigger purchases you'll need to finance. His/her bad credit may impact your ability to jointly rent a place or purchase a house. You'll almost certainly need to be a cosigner on a car loan, student loan, or other personal loans or financing. That's important because if you divorce (it happens), you'd be on the hook for anything that you cosigned with him/her after you got married.

This question has a lot of factors that will come I to play. Did they not know what credit was? Did the forget about a debt? Have they had a difficult time financially and drop their score? Do they have bad financial habits. This could really almost be relationship advice. The biggest advice I have is to teach them about credit and help them improve financial habits. Do this and they won't have bad credit in the future.

Human: Includes microsoft office and old xbox live. I lost the accounts email and therefore can not cancel them. Can I dispute this with my bank? Can I receive refunds for the past few months on these services, if I have not used them.

Call the company and talk to customer service.

> Can I receive refunds for the past few months on these services, if I have not used them. Maybe, but unlikely. It's like a gym membership. Just because you didn't use the service, didn't mean it wasn't open and available for you to use. They provided you access, you need to pay for that access.

Human: I'm trying to come up with a plan how to make sure that my family (wife - in her thirties - and 2 young kids (1 an 3 years)) is financially okay in case something happens to me. My income is much higher than my wife's and I do most of the financial planning. Since she is very anxious about financial planning and not very experienced I want to leave her very clear and pretty foolproof instructions for how to manage after I'm gone. I already have life insurance and I think the amount is reasonable, so my question isn't about that, but rather what kind of instructions to leave her regarding what to do with the money. I would really love some feedback about the plan I outline below: ​ There will be around 4.8 million USD (pooling life insurance, retirement savings and other savings). We don't have a house or any other relevant assets. My plan is to tell her to do the following: 1) Pay down student loans (about 80k) and car loan (3k) 2) Buy a house for around 800k - we live in the a high COL city, so this is a very modest 3 BR house where we live. 3) Put 500k away for college for the kids. Put this into a Vanguard investment account, evenly split between: Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund and Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares. 4) Put 500k away as an emergency fund. We have family in Switzerland, therefore put it into an investment account with a Swiss bank, with the same allocation as 3). 5) This leaves around 3 million to live off. Put this into a Fidelity account with the same allocation as 3). Everyyear pay yourself 4% of this as a Yearly income and use this for living expenses (which amounts to around 10k per month). You need to pay taxes out of this, but this would only be capital gains taxes and should be <10%. ​ Does this make sense? Should she put money into an IRA? Is it crazy to have almost everything in stocks (except the house)? Anything else I'm missing?

It's kind of weird to leave instructions like this for after your death. As long as you have enough assets and insurance to cover what you want to cover, you should leave the implementation details to the survivors. If you really believe your wife is totally incapable of managing her own finances, and totally incapable of finding someone to help her, consider setting up a testamentary trust, but with a living trustee who can make decisions based on reality. Dead people are terrible at reacting wisely to changing circumstances.

You should definitely consult with an estate attorney. You can't assume your wife will do what you instructed her to do. What if she gets remarried and her future husband is a self described "expert" and decides to "help" manage the money for her and blows it all. You even self described her not being good with money, so she may be the type who defers to "authority." Also, with this level of money, even close friends and family can't be 100% trusted. Money makes people weird and this level of money will turn ordinarily nice people predatory. Anyway, at the very least, lock up the kid's portion of the money into a trust so that it's there for them when they need it. You also may want to have the money released slowly so it's not all given in a lump sum. Also, consulting with an estate attorney will also give you insight on how not to lock up the money too tight. You may want to leave some clause for extraordinary circumstances or whatever the legalize is so they can access the money beyond the $10K/month stipend, such as what if your kids need some experimental surgery that's not covered by insurance?

Human: Throwaway account since my main account could be tracked back to me. Not sure if this is a proper sub to post this on but I did also post this to r/legaladvice. https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/9f0z3p/had_23_checks_issued_to_me_via_a_settlement_claim/?utm_content=title&utm_medium=front&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=legaladvice Hi PF! Sorry in advance for the long story. I’m 26 years old and my mother passed away when I was 17. She was out on a workers compensation claim at the time of her death and her work was found partially liable so my younger sister and I each received a lump sum payment and monthly installments from the years of 2009-2015. I did not know how long the monthly installments were going on for so when I moved out of my grandparents house in 2012 (we moved in with them the night my mom passed away in 2009), I hadn’t received checks for a few months so assumed they ran out and thought nothing of it at the time. (A dumb mistake I unfortunately have to chalk up as a life lesson) Fast forward to a month ago, I am in the midst of planning my wedding so my fiancé and I were in the process of going over all of our finances so I thought to call the insurance company just to make sure I hadn’t missed any checks that were never cashed. They informed me that all checks were cashed and payments stopped in January of 2015. After talking with the original claims adjuster for the account they requested images of the backs of the checks which we just received yesterday. They verified my signature for the old checks and starting in January of 2012 all of the checks were endorsed with two signatures, one of my name and one of my grandmothers name but both in her handwriting and they were stamped being deposited into my grandmothers bank. I contacted the bank and I provided them with the images of all of the checks which they verified all 23 checks (each check for the amount $667.01) were deposited into her account. They cannot provide me with much more information since I was not listed on the account. The insurance company is claiming their liability is covered because the payments were made via the plan and the bank is claiming they have no liability because her signature is the only one they need to validate since it is being deposited into her account (both signatures are obviously in the same handwriting). Here is the kicker, my grandmother passed away early 2015 and my grandfather passed away early 2016. I filed a police report yesterday but now am hoping for advice (if any is available) on how I can recoup any of the $15341.23 that was stolen from me. I am in Wisconsin which has a 6 year statute of limitations for fraud if that helps at all Thanks in advance for any advice on this and sorry for poor formatting as I am posting this on mobile.

I would think the bank would be liable at least to some extent. The whole point of signature cards is so this doesn’t happen. Definitely talk to an attorney.

Ah. I see now. She made it look like you signed your checks over to her. Wow. It might be time for a lawyer.

Human: My father passed away recently, and I am his only child. It sucks, but I'm getting through it. I'm 30 with a wife and a 1 year old. I am inheriting everything, including his house (in Oregon; I live about 8 hours away). In going through his papers, it looks like he owed ~$180k on the house, which Zillow says is worth ~$500k. He did some weird 10 year loan, so his payments are $3k/mo. He also had around $300k in cash and non-retirement stocks, plus some IRAs and other investments. We had some really good memories at the house, and it has an amazing ocean view. The house isn't in bad shape, but it's outdated. I'm hoping to get thoughts and advise, as I am debating between the following:   1. Fix up/remodel the house, then rent it out on AirBnB (or similar) and also the family could use it as a vacation house. It needs a new roof and new flooring, and we'd like to open up the kitchen and living area, re-do a couple bathrooms, etc. My rough guess (with input from a family friend who is a contractor) is that this would cost ~$75k. It would be nice to keep the memories and the view, and it should also bring in a little side income. But it is 8 hours away from me, meaning that if anything went wrong with the property, it wouldn't be easily accessible. I also worry about the security of the house, not that it's in a bad part of town or anything, but still. There are a couple family friends in town, but that's about it. 2. Sell it. If we sell it, we could pay off our own house, our car, fund a huge chunk of our child's college fund, max out 401ks, etc. This is definitely the least stressful option, but we'd be losing the vacation spot and the memories.

Sell it. You'll be better served bringing your debt down and stabilizing your family finances.

Don't rush into selling it you can always sell it down the line. Look at what sort of rental yield you will receive on it if the amount is paying for the house itself, asets in hand which provide cash flow are always better than lump sum amounts of cash. You should technically behave as if this inheritance doesn't exist. And keep aside these assets for emergencies.

Human: I moved to SLC a year ago, and he lives in CA. He has a job (\~30k/yr) that is primarily commission based (\~90k/yr) so he won't be able to qualify for a loan. He will split the cost on any renovations or repairs. I will likely rent it out and keep any of the extra money I make from that. Currently I don't have the money for a down payment. Advice?

He is paying 20% for 50%of the home right

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Human: So the saying goes that a paid off vehicle is the best situation to being due to no monthly payments and whatnot, however I own a 2012 subaru wrx with a value of around $15k-17k and I was looking to trade/sell it to purchase a 2013-2016 used prius. Assuming I find one for a good deal, is this a worthy trade? I'm now a full time college student + working part time and the Subaru is a slow drain of money with its gas and insurance rates and I just want a more economical vehicle with great reliability. Should I just keep the vehicle and tough it out through college? Any thoughts? Ps: as any Subbie owner is, this car has great sentimental value to me but sometimes it's time to grow up lol

It will be cheaper. But, I owned a Prius. They are great cars. But they are probably the worst car out there, literally the worst, when it comes to performance. The first time you try and get ahead of a minivan at the lights and some soccer mom blows your doors off (and she will), you are going to very likely regret having gone from a wrx to that.

WRX owner here. Keep it. Unless you've a sedan, sell it and buy a wrx hatch. This is sound advice.

Human: Just moved out from my parents house for the first time. Realizing I'm missing my piano at home a lot more than I thought. I've been playing piano all my life, and I'm now looking to purchase a keyboard for myself to have in my room. I have $500 on my credit card (with a limit of $1100) which I'm consistently using and paying off as I go. I've already payed off my minimum payment for next month, and I have a job with good pay to keep paying it off as I go. I'm looking to buy a keyboard at about $100, which I'd likely put on my credit card now and then pay off with my next paycheck, which is next Friday. Is this a bad idea? I have all my other important finances covered (rent, utilities, all for this month, savings, extra money on debit for food and others). I know I can pay it off, and worst case scenario if I do end up fucking myself over, my parents are fairly well off have offered help if it comes to that. (although I'd rather not get to that point). Thoughts??

If you are not paying your credit card off in full each month, then you can't affourd any luxuries. Once you pay off that $500 on your credit card, you can start saving up to pay cash. If you have the cash, you can do whatever you like.

If you can pay for it with your next paycheck, wait until you have that paycheck in hand.

Human: I am planning to sell my house and purchase another house in the next 3-6 months. The other day I was rear-ended (no fault), and my car which had a private seller value of about $6k is totaled. There is damage to the frame. The inspector said it’s safe to drive but I have a hard time believing that. Now I have a dilemma. Given that I want to be approved for a new mortgage soon, do I: 1) Repair my car - I don’t think this is an option given it is totaled. 2) Use the $6k cash to purchase a used car of similar features/mileage so I have no payments or credit pull. 3) Use the $6k cash and trade in value if any towards the purchase of another car/ lease? I had been debating purchasing another car in a few years anyway so I feel like maybe I should just push up this timeline and put the cash towards a used car or a lease, but that might affect my ability to be approved for a mortgage.

Don’t finance a car before you being approved for a home loan or during the process. I went to a home buying seminar last month at my local bank and that was the first thing they said not to do. Try to get something for the 6k you got and wait until you close on a house to finance one.

But a beater. Don’t get an additional debt before a closing as it can screw up your financing and is generally a bad idea. If in doubt talk with your realtor and bank that will be handling the mortgage.

Human: I signed up for Bank Americard by BofA years ago, and at the time they offered 1-3% cash back on certain categories if I recall, which is why I chose them. I don't remember ever making sure I was getting cash back, and I have no idea how to find out if it's still happening, where I'd see this cash back, where to look etc. ​ Any advice? As far as I can tell there's no place for me to see what I'm currently getting in terms of rewards or cash back from my current card within the Bank of America website.

What did they say when you called them?

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Human: I'm currently a senior in college and I have been looking into opening a Roth IRA for a while now, probably with Vanguard. I make about $4500/year from my part-time job but I can afford to put it all away because I have other savings and I'm still dependent on my parents. ​ The only issue that is making me hesitant is when I talked to my parents about it, they had no idea what a Roth IRA was and thought it was a traditional retirement fund and therefore dropped the subject because they don't understand it. My taxes are still filed with my parents by an accountant they hire and since I make so little, all the taxes I pay at every paycheck comes back. Since my taxes are still filed together with my parents, I'm worried how opening the Roth IRA might affect that process. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

If you make $4500/year, you can put $4500 per year into the Roth IRA. That is a hard limit-- extra money (gifts, for example) cannot go in this fund. The money is taxed BEFORE it goes in the roth, so it should not impact anything. Plus, filling out taxes with a roth is pretty straightforward. Just answer the questions. If you don't pull out any money, nothing complicated happens. Opening an IRA NOW is a great idea. Please please please do this. Normally, I would advise that you set aside an emergency fund first, but if your parents are safely able to support you, you may not need one. Where to invest? Go on Vanguard and look at their fund options. They are a good place to start because of the low fees. Fidelity is another option, but I believe vanguard has lower fees. Look and decide for yourself. A word of caution-- the stock market ebbs and flows. It WILL have downturns. Don't panic. You're in it for the long haul.

I use M1 Finance for my Roth IRA account. Has free trades like Robinhood and easy to use.

Human: If I have a $500 limit on company A card and a $500 limit on company B card, why doesn't company A try to say, "Close your account with company B and we'll increase your card limit to $1000"? Instead of debt consolidation, it'd work like credit consolidation. I've never had a company make an offer like this and just curious why not.

They don't care if you close your credit line with the first company because doing so does not necessarily benefit them. Making an offer like that would both be difficult to enforce and offer nearly no benefit to them. It is much easier and more profitable to directly incentivize what they do care about such as spending on their card with point bonuses or balance transfers by waiving fees/offering extended terms.

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Human: I make $11/hr and work ~55 hours in two weeks. Checks are $380-$700 every two weeks or $800-$1300/mo after child support and taxes. But this new job is $15/hr at 40/week. That's $2400 minus 30% is $1680 for taxes and $380 for child support. So after taxes and child support my net will be 1300/mo. Either way I get $1300/mo am I crazy?

Less hours worked? Yep, same money

Can you do me a favor and redo the math for the first one? The way I'm getting it is, $11/hr for 55 hours every two weeks worked... wouldn't that come out to 1,210? That's before subtracting taxes and child support. Am I missing something here?

Human: My mom is 64 years old and recently let me know that she is in something of a crisis. She is single and retired. She has spent the last 6 years caring for my grandmother before she passed away. She has recently had some health issues of her own arise. She lives on the family homestead which is 5 acres and has two small houses. The remaining mortgage on the main house in which she lives is $31,000. The other house is virtually worthless and should be torn down. She has had to spend money on repairs on the main house. All totaled, including the house, her debt is at approximately $72,000. She is trying to find a part time job to ease her burden but the area in which she lives is not exactly teeming with opportunities. No one else in our family is in a position to offer any significant assistance. I am married and my wife and I have five children ages 10-15 between the two of us. We have no room to take her in. What are some things she can do to work her way out of this situation. What are some options? What can we do to help her. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.

Mom should sell the real estate, use that money to pay off debts, and move to an efficiency apartment, or one with roommates, in an area with jobs (about 99% of the country right now).

I wouldn't normally recommend this, but: https://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/reverse-mortgage-to-pay-off-1st-mortgage.aspx

Human: Hi all-just like the title says, I have just finally gotten married after all too long! Now is the easy part, after saving and spending every dime over the last 14 months, we can begin to restore our savings. We've discussed and divided up all the bills and how we are going to keep our own individual savings/checking accounts. However, question on the gifts we've been given. Some are made out to both my full name, and her first name with her new last name. Is there nothing we can do with these checks until at least our marriage certificate comes in? And do they absolutely need to be enough entered into a new joint account? Concern is only when we do apply for a mortgage, it will be only under my name due to student loans and a lower income on hers. My only worry is by having a joint account, will they automatically need to add her to the mortgage as well? Thanks PF!

Not what you are looking for, and it will get downvoted , but I think keeping separate accounts is generally not the wisest idea. It is hard to get behind the same goals and can be a breeding ground for bitterness and resentment. But, you guys have your own lives. Best of luck!

There's no requirement for her to be on the mortgage just because you have a joint account, or at least not in Canada. I agree with the first reply, I think separate accounts creates separateness within the marriage.

Human: So as the title says I am scheduled to close tomorrow on my current house. The lender for my buyer doesn’t want to fund until after hurricane but is willing to close. My new house is not contingent on this sale but I am using the net profit for my down payment. I don’t understand how this is possible and if I should be concerned. The closing was already pushed back 5 days to begin with so I’m aggravated because this shouldn’t even be in discussion. I’m mostly just looking for an advice on this situation or what to ask since I have a meeting with the closing attorney 6 hours before closing. Supposedly, title will be transferred also even though funds will not be released. I am in South Carolina. Assistant: I am a broker in NC and I have to recommend you don’t close until the transaction is funded. I know here you can, for whatever reason, and without change to your contract, postpone closing for 14 days. Check with your attorney or your realtor. Human: Is this regardless of the contract? Since it has already been pushed back 5 days once on the buyers behalf.

I can't see how you'd be expected to hold up your side of the contract if the purchaser doesn't have funding in place. Sounds like a scam, definitely do not do this.

Do Not Close without the buyer having the funds wired to the closing attorney. Make sure that the closing attorney CONFIRMS prior to you signing any documentation that they have received the wired funds. On the flip side- make sure that what they are doing isn't signing the documents to be held in escrow by the attorney to be distributed upon funding. (This is done frequently when people have to leave the state, or when people buy remotely, etc) ​ Do keep in mind that lenders these days are waiting until the absolute last possible second to wire moneys- and are not great at communicating about funding. Especially larger banks, online banks, etc. This is a huge point of frustration for closing attorneys, buyers, and sellers. Unless the buyer is able to pivot to another lender very quickly (which is not always possible at the last minute) the lender holds all of the cards over the buyer/seller/attorney/etc. ​ Is the home you are selling in a location that could see damage? (ie MYB or wherever this monster is expected to hit) Make sure your homeowners is paid up and current. Are floods a risk- if so, do you have separate flood insurance? Also you should also look over your sales contract and see what it says about risk of loss. The RE agent or the closing attorney might also be willing to help you understand that aspect. ​ I know it is a PITA, and I am sorry you have to deal with this.

Human: My roommate, who I've known for 15 years, asked me if I would be willing to co-sign on a dept consolidation loan. This person is responible enough to not ignore dept and has been very open about his plans to take care of this dept for a year and some change. I've seen him take on extra jobs and make some sacrifices in order to pay off these loans. So my first instinct, on account of the fact that I have reason trust this person, is to say yes. But then I remembered that I don't know anything about the world of finance. Also sometimes people can be so distracted by personal duty, that they don't notice some warning signs. Could this be a way to improve my credit while helping out a good friend? Or is this a bad idea for reasons I don't know?

Let's say your friend gets hit by a bus. You'll be obligated to pay off that loan.

He could get sick and be unable to work, or some scenario out of his control, later in life. Send him to prosper or other online lending community. He doesn't need a co-signer. Actually, it's pretty fishy he asks. Maybe his credit sucks.

Human: My company just laid off over 80 percent of the department I'm in. I believe they have plans to lay off even more in November. Problem is that there's four of us left now, so if they lay off any more people there's a high chance I'll be one of them due to the work being assigned to me. (I'm being assigned higher amounts of a specific type of work, but this kind of work is something that everyone else is trained to do, I just do more of it on a regular basis). Ive already updated my resume, but I need to save up the maximum amount of money I can before November hits. I currently don't have any savings, this entire layoff process happened in the span of about three days so I havent had any warning or time to plan for it. I desperately need advice on what I should do next, Im supporting a full family so I cant afford to be out of a job, but I also cant leave early or Ill miss out on the huge benifits I would be receiving otherwise (like around 3500 dollars). ​ Any advice you can give me for this situation would be helpful.

I would start putting in applications and interviewing. Just because you are, doesn't mean you have to accept the offer. You may surprise yourself though and find a new position at a new company that will pay a little more or have better benefits that cost less, enough to make up for the 3500.

Put your resume out and weather the storm until you find another gig. You don't have many other choices. I personally would be more concerned with getting a shit load of extra work dumped on me for the next few months while they figure out what to do with me. You need to look into your actual obligation to do this work and if you're fired for not complying, would that still mean you could collect unemployment. You want to avoid being fired for cause at all costs.

Human: Hey PF, Apologies if this is not the right subreddit. A friend of mine has decided to move his family from MD to OH in two weeks for a better paying job making $20 an hour. He tried to take our a loan to assist with the move (did not say how much), but he was denied because of previous debts. They told him if he paid the debts, he could get a loan. Well, he paid the debts off but he used all available money he had. To top it off, he will have to wait 30 days for the loan to be approved. He comes to me with two options... pay him $300 to help him with the move, or help him cosign on a loan. The $300 would not be paid back. Im letting that bake for a bit, but ultimately I’m not shelling out $300 and not letting my credit score tank. If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking that he can’t move until he gets his finances in order and has a better plan. I honestly am not sure what his plan is for housing and relocation logistic... but $300 is a small amount when talking relocation. I would like to help as best as I can. I have looked at Ohios website for relocation assistance programs, but they require months notice with their advisors. Are there any other programs that would assist with this or is there any advice I could give him?

If you want to gift him $300, go for it. But you'd be crazy to cosign on anything.

I’d say no to all of it. His emergency isn’t your responsibility.

Human: My in-laws live in California and are essentially homeless having been forced out due to rent hikes and are living in shared rooms in separate AirBNBs. They do not have any monthly income aside from SSI. I gross 230K and my wife makes 60K. In 18 months her salary will increase to 350K and mine will marginally increase. Total gross salary July 2020 will be ~600K (physicians). Disclaimer: net worth (-1,000,000) - student loans (800K) + current mortgage (200K). Loans should be forgiven through PSLF in 2024. My wife and I currently live in another state and her parents refuse to move states to live with us. We are moving to Southern California (work related) next year and there are 2 options: OPTION 1 - Buy a duplex and we/them inhabit the units until my wife’s salary increases (1 year). At this point we will have enough income to buy a separate house for my wife and I. Her parents will continue to pay a small amount of rent to us (1000/month) to offset the mortgage and also serve as landlords for other tenants. OPTION 2 - Buy a single family home, live with in-laws for 1 year and risk my marriage but suck it up. The downside is that I wouldn’t be able to generate rental income from this property once my wife and I buy a separate house. TLDR: my in-laws need a house and I either buy a duplex or single family home until she gets a huge raise and we can live elsewhere in Orange County, Ca

As soon as I read "they refuse to move states" it was a no too bad from me. If they don't want to move somewhere the hardship won't be so difficult then why help in the first place.

Do not move in with them at any cost. Speaking from experience, letting my father move in with my husband & me helped contribute to our divorce. Just stay separate.

Human: Hi PF, I'm a Canadian citizen, but have been working in the US for the better part of a decade. I'm now moving back to Canada (in a couple months), and need to convert my savings (hundreds of thousands) from USD to CAD. What's the right way to do this? Both in terms of safety and getting the best exchange rate. Thanks!

Norbert’s gambit.

U should look into Bitcoin . It can send all ur money for under a dollar. U just have to transfer ur money from a US wallet to CAD wallet and cash it outright away or it might have a chance of deflating. This is a risky method but can save u from the transfer fee

Human: 30 y/o single male who hasn't been saving for retirement. Current employer offers a 50% match for whatever I put in. If I max out my 401k by contributing the 18.5k, my employer will add an additional 9.25k. I have my emergency fund, 0 debt, and don't have any interest in buying a house anytime soon (maybe 10 years out). The thing is I only make about 60k right now (rent is over $1000 in my area). I can see myself making 70-100k in the next 5-8 years. Should I stick to the 15% rule or live very frugally the next few years while maxing out my 401k? Edit: Also, does my 401k have to be funded right out of my paycheck - or can I add in money I have earned this year?

Max it out, no other investments will get you 50% risk free. Even if you have to do early withdrawal you will probably still come out ahead after the penalty

Not enough math to tell. Rule of thumb is 1x income at 30 in retirement. If you’re WAY over that, you can cause problems by locking down the money, but we have no idea if that’s you or not. If you haven’t been contributing at all, that’s probably the rate you need to catch up anyway. If you have a 5M trust maybe not, but then maybe max out completely.

Human: I was talking to a friend of mine about learning how to invest and create another source of income. He suggested I meet his mentor. I met up with my friend and his mentor at a local Starbucks. The "Mentor" was asking me questions about my values and If I saw myself working 9am-5pm for 40 years of my life. He mentioned how the educational system failed him. The "mentor" asked if I had any mentors in my life and how his mentors saved his life from the 9am-5pm work cycle. The "mentor" mentioned that he was willing to "educate" me on how to create a stream of passive income, no charge. Be it that this person is willing to take time out of his "busy" schedule, meet with me for 3-4 weeks to train me, for free, and meet his mentors, sounds like there is a catch that Im not aware of. After our meeting, he asked that I read the book Business of the 21st Century by Robert Kiyosaki. Ive read things about this book and how people use this book as a tool to recruit people into Multilevel Marketing or Affiliate Marketing. Sounds too good to be true, is it???

Sounds like a classic pyramid scheme recruitment pitch. Avoid and don’t waste your time.

Trust your gut on this. If it feels like a scam...

Human: I'll spare the long story. My girlfriend's parents don't think we should date because I have had depression issues in the past. They just found out...even though I've been going to counseling and working extremely hard to be the best person I can become. Anyways I'll skip to the finance issues. They are starting to give her ridiculous rules that make it extremely difficult for her to go to work/school/socialize/etc. She's going to college so naturally money is tight and she works at a nursing home which doesn't pay all that great (roughly 20 hours a week). With no car can she afford to get one and move out? She has no credit score so she can't take a loan. Ask me any more questions you need for more info I'm not sure where to start. Thanks for your time and help!

Why can't she get another job, or a higher paying one? I get she's in school, but if you wanna live on your own it might mean having to work more despite being in school. And are you guys trying to move in together or is she trying to get her own place? Also, what is your financial situation and can you help her?

Sounds like she’s still in high school. We would need some kind of budget to look at before we could say for sure, but there’s a reason nowadays a lot of people stay at home during college. Even splitting an apartment with my boyfriend, I was still pulling 35-45 hour weeks while studying full time at college to make ends meet. Racked up a lot of credit card debt in that time because I never had any savings to deal with emergencies. Would not recommend.

Human: I went to the ER (Kaiser). Two weeks later I moved. I had mail forwarding in place starting a few days before I moved just to be sure I didn't miss anything. A few days after moving I went on vacation for three weeks, during which I had my mail held. A week into my vacation I also changed my address with Kaiser over the phone. I came home and got a bill from kaiser for the ER visit (I now see that a portion of the amount said past due, but while plowing through my 3 weeks of mail unfortunately I missed this detail. I also think a bill must have been lost somehow because I don't have a first bill, only one that says past due). I mailed Kaiser a check immediately. They cashed it. Now exactly 2 months after going to the ER I just received a bill from a collection agency for the money I have already paid to Kaiser. (Holy shit, that was fast. They couldn't call or something before sending it to collections??) I am going to call Kaiser tomorrow when their billing department opens, but is there anything else I should be doing? Is there a way to get this fixed so it does not impact my credit? Am I supposed to pay the collections agency immediately (it is not a large bill, I can pay it for a second time if I have to), or do I need to dispute it somehow? I am so happy this happened after my mortgage went through. I have heard many other reports of hospitals sending things to collections at the drop of a hat but this still caught me completely off guard. Thanks in advance for any advice! Update: I called Kaiser and they said they would take care of it since they can see it has been paid, but I only like 80% believe that they will actually fix it so I am going to also ask them to verify the debt using the "I do not owe this debt" version of the form letter linked below just to be sure. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-if-i-believe-i-do-not-owe-the-debt-or-i-want-more-information-about-the-debt-en-1403/ (thanks Padmewan!) Assistant: It does seem really fast to send you to collections. Are you a Kaiser member or is that just the ER you went to? Kaiser does a three part billing that makes no sence to any reasonable person. They bill you separately for hospital, lab, and professional. These bills don't always come together. Especially a lab bill. It is possible that you paid the bill you received in the mail and not one that got lost in the shuffle. If your a member you can check these online once you have an account set up. That being said don't trust that if online says you owe, that you really do owe. Kaiser never shows that you have paid anything even if you pay on their website. They will gladly show your balance until one day it is cleared. I'm a member and a have a seperate health care savings account. I paid for a visit several months ago when I got an email. Then my wife paid when one of the paper bills came in because online we still had a balance. She then paid the balance in full online. So now kaiser has been paid twice plus a little more. That drained my HSA and I got a notification. Calling Kaiser was fruitless, but a month later they sent me checks for each over payment. Basically, Kaiser makes getting your ducks in a row difficult. You didn't help by changing addresses. Sending you to collections might have been an automatic computer thing. Human: I am a Kaiser member. I am sure that I paid the correct bill (we checked this online), but it is true that my check only cleared a week ago, so perhaps this collection process had already been initiated at that point. When rereading the letter I received I noticed that it says "Please be advised that the current creditor listed above and the original creditor are the same creditor." Maybe this means this is basically still a letter from Kaiser, and the debt has not been sold off? The letterhead is for "USCB America." The letter also says that that I must resolve it within 40 days of the date of the letter (which is a week ago, even though it came in the mail today) in order to avoid having it show up on my credit report. It is great that I have time to pay it before they will report it, but then if I dispute it via certified mail because I have already paid am I eating into that time? I care more about my credit than paying this bill twice, which thankfully was by far the smaller of the two ER bills I have received so far.

I work for a similar collection and billing company. USCB is a collection agency but they do not own the debt they just receive a % of what they recover for kaiser. if you call and been let then know what happened they will put it in a dispute status which will not allow them to report it to your credit report until the dispute is resolved. submit any documents you have showing it as paid i.e. check image from the bank and this should clear it right up.

I received a bill from a collection agency for a medical bill as well. When I called the hospital they explained that it was just the company they used for billing and that it hasn't gone on my credit as a collection. I don't if this helps but I hope it does.

Human: I received a statement with a balance of $250 on a department store card that I have, but have never used; it hasn't been out of my home. I reported the charges as fraud to the store and after looking into they decided that I am responsible for the charges. They sent me a copy of a register receipt from a store in California, with what is supposed to be my signature on it. I live in Washington, have never been to that part of California, and it's certainly not my signature. They did say I could appeal the decision and send documentation, but I'm at a loss as to what to send that could make a difference? Thanks for any advice. EDIT: Thank you everyone for the great advice! I will check to see if I have anything that proves I was in Washington and send copy of an official document with a notarized letter. Unfortunately I beleive it was my daughter who did this; we do not have a good relationship and are not speaking. The items are things she would purchase and there was cash taken off the card. I don't know how that could have happened, there wasn't any way she could have gotten ahold of a replacement card as she had just arrived in California. She is great at social engineering, though so maybe there is a way around that. I'm cancelling the card. Again, thank you for the advice!

This is fairly standard practice in the UK for an appeal. They send you a copy of the receipt in case you have given the card to a friend or family member (which you should never do mind) to purchase something on your behalf. You check the signature and then can appeal from there or accept the charge if you know the signature. ​ I would send a certified copy of an official document, such as a passport or drivers license that shows that your signature doesn't match that of the charge. (A certified copy is a photocopy that has been confirmed as a true likeness of the original copy by someone in authority. Good if you know a member of the police / lawyer / similar). ​ Include a covering letter advising that the charge is not yours and if you have anything to prove that you weren't in the area at the time. I.E. a receipt from a purchase in a different location at a similar time proving that you can't have been in that place at that time. You should be fine with all of this. ​ SEND ALL OF THIS RECORDED DELIVERY!!! Don't want to have collections contacting you because the bank 'didn't receive it'

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Human: I bought it exactly one year ago knowing it would t last that long. It was just to travel between cities and finish my last year of college while working two jobs. I paid $1,000 for it at 130,000 miles. Now it's just coming to its end and I don't want to finance anything. I would like to buy a decent manual car that will last a few years while we save. So I'm trying to see if there are some unknown places I need to look for cars instead of auto trader and the likes. My commute to work is all freeway and takes me an hour. Would be willing to spend $5000. Any thoughts? Edit: Just want to thank the community for all the responses. This is all very helpful. Thank you all.

search up chrisfix on youtube. He has a GREAT series about buying a used car.

Can confirm that a Camry will last for years with minimal problems if you maintain it well.

Human: Hi everyone I’m 19M and I need to leave my current living situation with my folks. I have some mental health I need to take care of. Tips you can give me would be a life changer. So far, I’ve applied to Starbucks and I’m hoping I get hired, because it’s a small dream of mine to learn to make coffee and actually just work in a coffee shop. I’m also looking for other jobs. Today I start the apartment hunt (unfortunately, I have pets, fortunately, they’re snakes and super cheap to keep). I need to move out soon... I’d like to start going to get help, which I can’t do where I am. So far, I’ve been pawning some of my stuff. Less stuff to move out, and more money in pocket. Thanks everyone! (I accidentally posted this on r/financialindependence if this looks familiar)

You can't move out until you have income. Starbucks part time won't provide enough income to live independently. Do you have any additional training or skills? You need to send out a lot more applications.

Putting yourself under financial stress will only make your mental health worse. Stay at home untill you make decent money. Dont waste your work time making coffee, join a company that works a trade (construction, electrical, plumbing) and learn what you can and work your way up. Use your free time to learn hobbies such as coffee making

Human: I currently live in a LCOL area (small town in Ohio) and I make $125k plus a bonus of up 27%. I feel very comfortable where I am. Yesterday I was approached about a job in NYC. The pay would be $200k plus a bonus but I’m not sure about the percentage. It is a really great opportunity and could be a good boost to my career. It will also be more demanding than my current job. There hasn’t been an official offer or anything, and I definitely plan to go in for an interview to learn more. I know the question will come up as to whether I’m willing to move. I want to be able to answer honestly. I lived in NYC when I was young and was only making $40k (2006 ish). It was fun, but I remember money always being an issue. I’m older and wiser now and would also be making a lot more, but I’m still a little apprehensive about moving to such an expensive place. Would a $75k raise be worth it? As context, I bought a house recently for $100k, lease a car for $400/month and have a 15 minute commute. My monthly living expenses are around $1500, plus maybe another $500 for groceries/dining out. I feel like this would triple in NYC. Does that sound accurate? ****Update**** Thank you all so much for your ideas and comments! I had an informal interview this evening. It’s definitely a lot to think about. It would be a great boost to my career and could open a lot of doors, but would be at least a two year commitment of 80-90 hour weeks. I only work 55-60 hours where I am now and barely ever work weekends. I would have killed for this opportunity maybe five years ago, but at 35, I don’t know if I have the energy. I have a pretty good deal where I am now. I worry about giving it up for something that I don’t know if I can do.

The real question to ask is if you want to live in NYC or not.

the only problem i see is constantly dealing with newyorkers

Human: I have $10,000 in student loans. I’d like to save $10,000 for a house down payment. Should I pay off all my students and THEN save for a house, or make smaller payments to my students loans WHILE I’m saving for a house down payment?

To buy a house you need at least a 3 month emergency fund (preferably 6 months). And really a 20% downpayment + closing costs. You don't have to be debt free, but it will help you qualify for better mortgage/rates if you are debt free.

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans](/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Good Morning. I completed my Chapter 7 bankruptcy, due to a divorce, in April of 2018. Is it a given that I need to wait 2 years to be able to get a mortgage?

Bankruptcy attorney here: ​ In most cases, it will take 2-3 years before a bank is willing to talk to you about a mortgage. In the mean time, get a secured credit card and start rebuilding that credit. If you somehow manage to save up a 20% downpayment a year out from filing bankruptcy and have no other debt a bank might be willing to work with you.

Here are the guidelines for Fannie. I believe Freddie follows suit so this is your bet for conventional loans. FHA or other government products may be different. https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b3/5.3/07.html

Human: I’ll be getting financial aid money soon and my mom says that “the money is ours. The amount they give you is based off of our income. “ Is it true that she has control over the money they give me, I’m an 18 year old guy and find that this is bullshit.

She is full of shit. The financial aid calculates based off the aid that you can anticipate getting from your family. Basically, can you expect your family to cover the majority of your school expenses? No? Then you get a larger percentage of your total possible financial aid. The money, whether it is grants or loans, goes to the school first. The school deducts the cost of going, including tuition, lab fees, etc. If anything is left, that is sent to you as a refund. Usually it is direct deposit. Make sure your mom doesnt make you give their bank account as the one the money gets refunded to. Some schools may also still send you a check in the mail, in your name. But it takes longer than the direct deposit.

It is based off of their income unfortunately. Even if you have a terrible relationship with your parents and they don't want to give you the info. Its really difficult to get off their income unless you get married or become 24(?) years old. But all the aid you get will be either directed to you or the school on your behalf, never your parents.

Human: I am planning on traveling overseas out of LAX(los Angeles airport) around december and want to purchase an diamond ring on Tiffany Co. as duty free. But I am afraid they won’t have the size. Someone told me that I can just buy it right now and once I get to the airport , I am can get my tax money back? Is this even remotely true? If no, what would be the best way to get the ring from duty free shop?

Off topic but why go through the trouble of typing LAX only to spell it out in parentheses right after? You're driving me insane. Thanks.

Call up the airport store and ask for them to pre-order it for you?

Human: I \[24M\] am trying to decide between 2 apartments in the same area of a small city. I am single, make 60k a year with $300/month in student loans, no pets or dependents (although I might want a cat for company) and have never lived alone (always had roommates) \-Apartment 1 is a 1 Bed 1 Bath for $595/month, everything but gas and electric included. Has 2 off-street parking spots, is on the 3rd (top) floor up some pretty narrow stairs which might make moving in difficult. Hardwood floors that are a bit uneven but aren't a hazard or anything, just kinda ugly. There's no laundry hookups. When I visited the ceiling was partially collapsed due to water but there has been a lot of rain recently and the realtor said that's not a normal occurrence. \-Apartment 2 is a 3 Bed 1Bath for $745/month, everything but gas and electric included. It's on the 2nd and 3rd (top) floors, is newly renovated and has nice carpets and hardwood. There's 1 off-street parking space next to a bar. There's a laundry hookup but I'm not sure how much the fee is. I don't have any friends in this city but I figure I could be able to get a roommate later once Ive met people. ​ Both allow cats, the commute is time is roughly the same, both are managed by the same company. On-street parking permits from the city are $30/month. ​ Edit: Apartment 2 is listed as a "house for rent", I don't know if that's significant or changes how maintenance would work but I figured I should mention it.

Honestly, Apartment 1 sounds like a dump. You have enough money for your own laundry set, so I'd go with Apartment 2. Like you said, you can expand into having a roommate if necessary.

You can easily afford apartment 2, and it sounds a lot safer. It also sounds like you like it a lot better. Once you get a roommate, apartment 2 would be even cheaper than apartment 1.

Human: Hi all, thank you in advance for reading my post and offering advice. I will say I realize I have put myself in this situation. I have recently moved into my first rental, and the expenses have gone above my budget. I paid my security deposit as well as my electricity deposit, a total of $600. This was all fine but now I must pay the prorated rent by today and I am short $200. I did not plan for such a high electricity deposit and it has put me in a hole. Where can I make or get this money quickly? I tried quick loans but since my license says I live somewhere else they will not approve me. I tried a couple other loan locations and was unsuccessful. I am anxious to the point of physical sickness. I am desperate to make this right and was hoping you all may have some ideas of ways I can get a loan ASAP. Thank you in advance, any advice helps.

Ask friends/family for a short term loan.

Donate Plasma, ask family, talk to your landlord.

Human: A little background: been with this job for 11 months. Helped open the store. For the first 4 months of the store being open I was the ONLY employee working 60-70 hours a week. 12 hour mandatory hours m-f. Was led to believe i was going to be made manager once other employees were hired. Owner hired an additional person and then told me that he didn’t need a manager since he was always there... but still requires me to do all the manger duties. There is only two employees. Myself and “emp2” . Emp2 takes off at least twice a month, calls in sick constantly, and not trying to be rude- she’s just not good at her job. I’ve only requested off ONCE in the 11 months that I’ve been employed here( mybday) and it was denied because “he needed me here” Just found out the owner takes out 30 minutes for “lunch breaks” but doesn’t let us clock out because -his words- you can eat in between helping customers. He refuses to give me 40 hours a week so he schedules me for 20 hours now but will change the schedule randomly depending on what he wants to do in his personal life. Example: I was scheduled 11am-7pm today but was woken up to 4 missed calls at 530am from the owner saying I needed to open and work all day BY MYSELF because he “forgot he had a dentist appointment” this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this and this isn’t the first time he’s forgotten a “dentist appointment” and if I say I can’t come in he throws the “I thought you wanted more hours” OR -this is my favorite- “glad I don’t have you full time, looks like you need the free time” He sat me down this past Monday for some “good news” apparently he wants to have me trained to be a ‘certified store operator’ which is basically a key holder position. So I can run the store while he’s away... so I asked if it came with a raise or title change and he said maybe depending on how it goes. But the training won’t happen until January, and he’s taking some anniversary trip with his wife out of the country in October.... leaving the store in my hands. Now most people are going to tell me to quit and get another job... but im kind of stuck... I have no car so I walk a mile to and from work every day. I live in a newer part of town so there’s not many places around here yet. I resent my had an interview at my local supermarket... as a bag boy... it would be 30-35 hours a week. But they pay an hour more then what I’m making now, and it’s a LOT less responsibility. I know it sounds good but I’m 28 years old... going from a pretend manager to a bag boy almost feels like a slap in the face. Also it’s 2 miles from my house (I walk to and from work) I want to sit down with the owner and tell him what’s up. Let him know it’s unfair to take out lunches but not let me take them. It’s unfair to pay me as a sales associate but demand I do manger work. It’s unfair to call me into work whenever just because he wants to have some free time in his personal life. - F*** my personal life right? - I don’t know what to do. Or who to turn to. I feel stuck. Any advice is MUCH appreciated

> I resent my had an interview at my local supermarket... as a bag boy... it would be 30-35 hours a week. But they pay an hour more then what I’m making now, and it’s a LOT less responsibility. I know it sounds good but I’m 28 years old... going from a pretend manager to a bag boy almost feels like a slap in the face. Also it’s 2 miles from my house (I walk to and from work) 1. take this job. 2. buy a bicycle. 3. realize that pride of a pretend higher title does not put food on the table

If he is taking advantage of you then being a bag boy sounds like a better deal. If the other super market respects their employees and you’re a hard worker it shouldn’t take you long to move up to a better position.

Human: I'm a relatively-recent college graduate, 25 years of age, currently holding a Bachelors of Engineering. Without going too much into specific, I will be obtaining a lump sum of about $8,000 USD by the beginning of December of this year, and all I know is that I want to find a way to make it grow. I know it's not a whole lot, but I'm hoping that with proper management/investing I can make something off of it. I currently have no college debt (grant), and owe about $300 in credit but have never missed any payments. My credit is good. I hope to be enrolled in graduate school by Fall 2019 in a Masters' program under a fellowship, and I expect zero or few relative costs. Once I get the lump sum, I plan on getting lasik eye surgery (dead-set on this; I've heard so many good things about it) on both eyes, assuming I qualify. I also need to buy a second-hand car, I'm thinking $4,000 max, lower if possible. I don't have a job as of now, but I'm planning to go back to my old job, which averaged about $2800 a month. I do not have health insurance. ​ Once again, I know NOTHING about investing and have been speaking with several good friends. My goal is simply to make this money grow, just not sure how. IRA? 401K? Stocks? Oh, and I live along the Mexico-US border, if it matters. Sorry if my English is choppy.

Grad school fellowships don't allow you to roll in the dough, it's just barely enough to get by while in grad school. Having money in savings for emergencies or just things that come up are important. If you need a car (i.e. you need it for work, school, or activities of daily living) then that'd be reasonable to buy in cash and save the rest in a high yield savings account. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't make this money grow easily beyond what you'd get in a HYSA. Your income is not steady and if you're in a state of flux. I don't think you have the money for LASIK right now.

Have you gone for lasik consults and talked to your optometrist? You don't just "decide" to get lasik. You need to be qualified for it, otherwise you are throwing money away. 25 is a little young as your eyes are likely still changing.

Human: I’m 32, going back to school for my second Bachelors degree. My parents bought my current home specifically for my fiancé and I to live in while in school and my first degree was paid off in full. My parents plan to pay for the wedding. I spent some years working full-time in between degrees and have a 401k from that job, had $15,000 in credit card debt, and about $7,000 in subsidized student loans on my current degree. I work part-time, have about $200 in Acorns, $200 in Coinbase, and $500 in Robinhood. I won $40,000 in my first try at Fantasy Football betting. I paid off the credit card in full, and the rest is sitting in my bank. I’d like for about $10-15,000 of the rest of it to start earning, and the rest to sit as savings. I don’t know if, when it comes to investing it, if I should just dump it in my Acorns account, which I’m at least familiar with, or look into opening a different type of account. I’m in TN, which doesn’t have state income tax. Assistant: why a second bachelors? what's the first bachelor's in? a masters might be faster and cheaper, and open more doors. Human: My first was Creative Writing and English, which did not open doors, and I don’t think a Masters in that opens the doors I want to go through. I’m doing Computer Science currently and should graduate in the Spring or after a Summer internship.

Yeah OP, I can’t overstate how valuable the skills from your first degree will actually be even if the degree itself wasn’t. If you can apply them to creating legible and easy to follow documentation or instructions etc you will be highly valued in any field in IT. Seriously, good technical writing skills for documentation isn’t an aspect of IT that gets talked about but it’s as useful as a sysadmin as it is for a programmer or for a database admin etc.

Check out NSS. Nashville software school. That’ll get you pretty up to speed and employable in 6 mos or so. I have lots of friends that have used it and love it.

Human: So my parents have been living in the South Bay area since they immigrated 25 years ago but never really invested. They've gone through one bankruptcy from purchasing a home in the 2008 housing crisis. They've recovered but they've been renting ever since. They both work service jobs and make a total income of $80k. They qualify for a $300k home but everywhere in the South Bay is over $500k so there's nothing to buy at their price range and have been searching for 2-4 years. If I help them with my credit they qualify for a $500k house but I don't want to have my credit stuck with their house purchase. They both have okay credit but can't afford the prices the houses cost. I've been telling them to move out of state to buy a home cheaper than living in the bay. Most of my family lives in the bay and that's the main reason they don't want to move. I'd love to help them but I don't want to help them sign into a house they can't afford. What can I do to help them? Assistant: Unfortunately they cant afford to buy in the bay area and likely never will. There is NOTHING wrong with that though. The vast majority of us cant! Human: But what can you do when the city you've lived in all your life has increased in price to buy a home. Just start from scratch in another state? Especially at their age. They're both close to 50yo

Is this a typo? I'm in my forties and consider myself to be, compared to my past, in my prime! It's not like they're practically dead or anything. It would be better to start from scratch now than when they're nearly 70, just sayin'. (Now some sixty-five year old is going to come along and tell me they're also doing great.)

“Close to 50” is young! Yes, they rent or they move—or they go through multiple bankruptcies instead of just one. Because owning a house is expensive, even if the house is within financial reach. A $500k house has things go wrong with it that cost what they cost in the environment that produces the $500k house. It’s all more expensive and it will all add up. Unless you are prepared to pay for all of that, putting your income into the mix just pushes the crisis down the road until the first roof repair.

Human: Suffered a work force reduction recently. Got a severance package and when combined with my emergency fund gives me about $10K in the bank. Going back to get my partially finished associates degree in Electrical Engineering and maybe pick up an a two year CS degree while I am there. I feel these are relevant degrees that will provide a means to improve my future. School is 31 miles one way. I own my home and 2 vehicles. No credit card debt and a credit score of 752. No kids or family. The only loan debt I have is a $200 a month payment on a small tractor to maintain the property and it is in good standing/current. At this point I have no job, am registered for unemployment from the state, working with some programs to get funding for people in my position, am chasing other public grant money on my own, and have just received notice that my FASFA has been processed by the local community college. They are figuring what government grants may be applied yet. Monthly costs: * Electric - $60 * Car insurance - $80 * Food - $125 * Internet - $60 * Cell - $110 (Working on paying off the contract) * Fuel (Allocated $80 as I my last job was work from home - figuring 18-20 mpg) * Property tax - $41 * Tractor Loan - $200 This totals $756.00 for ideal monthly operating costs. School tuition for 2 full years is roughly $16,000. The actual number for me is a bit fuzzy still since I have already done a large number of courses for the engineering degree and many of them will transfer to the CS degree as well. Still working out the details with my advisers. I live frugally already but in crunching the numbers I will have to get student loans to cover some of this. I want to go full time as a student at least for the first semester. If I feel it is manageable, I'll pick up a job for the following semesters. Being nearly debt free for so long has made me very averse to racking up any debt. Reading though the horror stories I am very concerned about falling into the debt trap. Shooting from the hip I would guess that without working and with no grants I will potentially require 20-25K to pay for everything over the two years. I realize this is likely less than most car payments but would like any input you may be able to provide. Is this doable?

If you haven’t already, completing the FAFSA will provide you the opportunity to apply for grants. There used to be quite a few for “older”students. You don’t have to take loans, but don’t miss out on free money.

I did the career change, back to college for a master's degree, in my 40's What's the plan after you complete? Are there potential employers in your area? Can you research them? Use your social network to find people who work there? Plan to move? Where to, and why? Research the job market there. How much would your place sell for? Would it cover some of the debt and still let you have a good relocation fund?

Human: I don't have much work this week and have been meaning to apply for a more challenging job.

Depends on the system they are using, but there are systems that record screens and have override control. So the answer to your question is yes it’s possible but not certain.

General rule. Don't do anything on your work computer that you don't want your work to know about. 1. Looking at websites you shouldn't. 2. Sending personal emails, or work emails you wouldn't want them to read (ex. bitching about boss to coworker). 3. Using the computer for personal business. Etc etc etc. There are million tools out there. Any given employer may use 0 of them or have you tracked tighter than a maximum security inmate. Generally in the US you have no right to privacy on a work computer, so don't expect one, and don't be surprised if they act on something they see you doing.

Human: My wife is in a trust agreement with her mom. My wife for the past 2 years had to take 100k from her (dead) fathers brookrage account to fix the houses that the father left to her. And this year taxes had to pay 17k because her mother took all the deductions for her self when it isn't hers. We tried going to the irs directly for tax fraud and tried scheduling an appointment but they won't hear us out. We tried going to the police and they said they don't deal with that stuff that's an irs issue. Can anyone give us advice on how to go about this or have a way for us to schedule an appointment. Ask questions if you need to. This is really a gross interpretation of the actual issue but I tried to keep it short.

If there are deductions you think rightfully belong to your wife, then take them. The IRS will sort it out later when they see two returns with the same deductions. Then it will be on your wife and her mother to prove they were right to claim it. That is how it can be sorted out.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/7r0tvv) - [Taxes](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Insurance won't go through. Went in 45 days ago and they called me about this today. Wtf do I do? Can I sue? How can they charge 4500 to tell someone to take Tylenol? They didn't do anything like an X ray or anything like that. Made me wait for 2 hours in the waiting room, a nurse felt up my back and told me to take Tylenol and I was out. They didn't even give me anything. Today is the first time Im hearing about this. Edit: I didn't want to go to the emergency room but my mom strongly insisted till I gave in. (she has that thing where she thinks everything is a disease)

FWIW they didn't charge you $4,500 for the advice to take a Tylenol, they charged you $4,500 to receive said advice in an emergency medical setting from trained professionals. You really should have gone to urgent care, not the ER.

I had lasik and did not get my prescription filled, i was in extreme pain, went to the ER They called the lasik company and then told me to fill my prescription, sent me home and later sent me a bill for a grand I have insurance but i sent the hospital a letter saying i wont pay as they did nothing, they are charging me a grand for a phone call, i never got a bill from them again nor did it go to collections Personally, i felt they dont deserve to be paid that is why i didnt file it with insurance

Human: **TO CLARIFY: I don't plan on finding an apartment in LA for $1,400 a month. My roommate and I plan on spending $2,800 a month on a 2 bedroom apartment. $1,400 will be my portion, more or less.** ​ Hi all, I plan on moving to LA very soon with a very close friend of mine who I will be rooming with and my dog. I make $70k gross, and assuming 30% to go to taxes, have a monthly budget as follows: * Income after taxes: $4,000 * Rent: -$1,400 * Utilities/Cable/Renters Insurance: -$175 * Health and Car Insurance: -$200 * 401k: -$250 * Gym: -$60 * Fuel: -$200 The above leaves me with about $1,700 for food, savings, etc. I use YNAB and using a "loose" number for "casual spending" estimate \~$500 a month on various bs (restaurants, clothes, etc), although this will likely be much less. * Restaurants: $150 * Groceries: $400 * Dog: $200 (food=$50 a month. remainder left over wuld be saved through the year for vet visits (typically 2 a year) * Clothes/General Spending: $200 What's left (about $700 a month) would go towards my IRA, brokerage, etc savings. No student loans, or any loans/debt/credit card balances. Any holes in my plan? I feel pretty good about my estimated spending and expect quick increases in salary over time. Currently I contribute 6% to my roth 401k but max out my IRA each year. I'm a CPA so the raises in public accounting are pretty standard, and would expect a decent boost when/if I change jobs. Assistant: where are you finding a place in LA for $1,400? lol Human: Thats what i was thinking Assistant: There's no reason you can't share an apartment for $1400 each. Human: Are you from the area? My roomate will work in the Woodland Hills area and I anticipate working in DTLA. North Hollywood seems like a good spot in between the two areas for the both of us. Are you saying there are two bedroom apartments for $1,400 in LA?

Your budget is fine for NoHo. I pay \~$2,200 in Pasadena for a 2 bedroom condo. You'll have no problem finding a 2 bedroom apartment in NoHo for $2,800. Good luck with the move. LA is expensive but its definitely manageable at $70k especially with a roommate. I make it work on $50k and have a roommate and live in North LA.

Noho is good for you guys. Won’t find 2b for 1400 there. East side ( glassel park, lincoln heights ect ) there are 2b under 2000$ but not ideal for working in woodland hills. If you move to Noho take advantage of the redline train for commuting.

Human: I've heard this advice over and over that you should only consider buying property if you're going to live in it for 5 years. I have never seen a financial break down as to why that's the case or a decent reasoning why this advice is valid. Doesn't that depend on your mortgage & down payment as well? Your plans if you move out (selling or renting it out)? Can someone explain this to me?

because the fees to close and to move is a lot of money.

> I have never seen a financial break down as to why that's the case Well, because that is highly dependent on your own situation. Its just general advice, man, its not even a fake "rule". When you are in the market you will need to consider closing costs, taxes, insurance, fees, and market appreciation (or depreciation) to decide how long it'll take you to break even when compared to renting.

Human: Hey guys, so here is the situation. I want to purchase my first house and have money saved for a down payment. I currently live at home with my parents and girlfriend. My girlfriend would be moving in with me when I moved out. She will be my fiancée in the near future, so it is a serious relationship. She hasn’t had the same opportunities I have had and is currently paying off ~$20K in student loans. I have no debt and therefore am able to be saving more and at a faster rate than her. When I go apply for a mortgage and they look at all my finances, is there any possible way to have them also consider my girlfriends income as well, without actually putting her name on the mortgage? we will be splitting all mortgage costs when we live together (she will essentially pay me rent for 1/2 the mortgage costs etc) but the down payment will be mine. Is there anyway to benefit from a larger loan having a 2 income household but without her essentially being entitled to the estate until we are married? If not, what other options are there? Edit: Thank you all for the advice and help! Greatly appreciated!!

I know this is personal finance, but *personally* I would suggest buying a house that *you* can afford, not what the pair of you can afford. If you can't afford the house now, you should wait until you're married and sharing finances "for real". If you don't take that advice, then I would even more strongly suggest *not* putting her name in the mortgage anywhere whatsoever. If you still decide to buy a house right now, and she's verbally saying she's going to be paying you, for goodness sake have it drawn up as a renters agreement because if you can't afford it by yourself then you're going to be stuck renting to *someone* if she decides to leave. These suggestions are based on the numerous horror stories on PF and LA. Here's your options: 1) Buy a house that you can finance. The mortgage payments shouldn't be over 1/3 of your income (or something like that). 2) Wait to buy a house until after you're married. Rent someplace until married and keep building your down payment. This will also give you experience with finances before being tied down with a house. 3) Consider paying off her school debt with your down-payment and then both working towards a down-payment together. Ideally do this when you are married.

Not super versed in this area. But try talking to your loan agent and let him know that you will be renting out the property therefore your projected income will be your salary plus half the mortgage payments. That at least makes your income look bigger.

Human: My gf and I are finally getting our finances in order and are starting to save for a house. Long ways off but it's in the scope. We live in a small 500 sq foot apartment and we love it. Could be a little bigger but it's almost perfect size for us. We are going to move away from our home town and buy a home in a different state. We have been interested in kit home plans because of the size and cost. We have found A-frame homes that fit our needs perfectly and seem to be within our ideal budget. Is it too good to be true? I know when pricing a kit home you need to include labor for concrete and construction. Maybe setting up utilities if not already available (idk how much that type of stuff would cost). Permits. And land purchase. I don't have definite prices for most of the things listed. I've never bought a house or anything like that. Is this a feasible idea? Or should we just looks for houses that are available when the time comes?

Do kit homes appreciate like most real estate, or depreciate like mobile homes? That would be the question that makes the most difference.

It would be hard to do in a new area because you'll be working as a general contractor for different people (electrician, plumber, mason, roofer, drywall) and you won't have any relationship with them. And while most localities just use the same code it doesn't sound like you are aware of any of it. But let's ignore all that. Look at this the opposite way. Building a home in 2018 you're looking at about $150 per square foot. That won't matter for 500 or 5000 square feet. The ways you can save money on this via sweat equity are limited if you don't have any skills or relationships. It seems to me you're looking at a kit and extrapolating the finished price from there, but that's imagining that the work done by these trades is easily replicated or somehow not necessary with the kit. That's not the case, especially if the structure needs to meet code and/or you're getting a loan to pay for it. IMO you'd be better off buying an A frame cabin and gutting the insides yourself, paying a drywaller to come in and redo it, and learing to do floors/cabinets/windows/whatever yourself. There will still be a ton of work, and there will still be ways to save money. And this is coming from someone who would love love love to build my own cabin someday and does a lot of DIY on a larger house.

Human: I am trying to save money and my boss thinks it's a bad idea to have my savings in cash instead of in a savings account. What are the pros and cons of either?

Cons to having it in cash in your matress: It can be stolen easily, can be burned up, doesn't earn interest so you're losing money every year. Pros: Basically none Pros to having it in bank: Safe, insured, earns interest. Cons: Have to go to ATM to get money.

The main reason to keep it in the bank is to have proof you had the money to begin with. If you have $5000 under your mattress and someone steals it from you, you're never getting it back. With a bank, you can. And if you have a fire or tornado or hurricane or anything that destroys your home, you aren't getting that cash back either. Even if they believed you had it, who would be able to give it back to you?

Human: So I’m 25 and I still live at home with my parents. I hate it for many reasons. First, I don’t have my freedom. I also hate it because there isn’t a whole lot to offer for jobs. Since graduating in 2016, I haven’t been able to find any job that’s willing to pay me more than minimum wage. I’m not going to have health insurance once I turn 26 in March and I’m honestly worried. My parents would rather me try to go back to school than to get my financial life together. I have a degree in Kinesiology and have work experience as a physical therapist aide and a group fitness trainer, yet that’s not enough for employers apparently. I want to move out sometime in the next 10 years but honestly I don’t know how I can manage that at the rate I’m going. I don’t even know if this is the place to talk about this but I’m tired of holding in my thoughts and feelings

I don't know much about the PT field, but how about reaching out to friends and friends of your friends to see if you can get some clients to train? Even if you only got 3-4 people who were interested, you could train them at whatever gym they were at and make some money. It probably wouldn't be lucrative money wise, but it would be a start and would allow you to gain experience. If doing your own PT work didn't work out, maybe you could just apply for a basic position at a gym. Doing something is better than nothing, and maybe you could work your way up through the ranks. ​ The most important thing for you to do is to do SOMETHING. Look into being a waiter or a bartender and start making some decent money to keep yourself busy with an income stream. Just don't get yourself deeper in a rut that you can't climb out of.

Personal training is like 60% a sales job. To be successful you need to be outgoing and convince people to buy in to the gym or the classes. The rest of it is just working out a lot and honestly being very attractive. It isn't for everyone, and the average pay is not great. If this is what you want to do you have to put in the work and cold call, or start marketing to build a client list. Look for local jobs on usajobs.gov. There are a lot of government jobs for recent graduates that require a degree, but not necessarily a related degree. And these jobs are usually not posted anywhere else. Apply to bigger companies for other types of positions, or tangentially related positions. You need something now to pay the bills, move out, and get health insurance even if it is not something you will be doing for the rest of your life. If you are willing to relocate you have a lot more options for a short term career. If you are in CA you can make $19+ an hour, full time, good insurance and other benefits, and get four weeks of vacation to start working for the social security office, or medi-cal, or kaiser customer service, without any specific prior experience. The healthcare industry pays relatively well in other areas too. Once you have a little experience in the healthcare industry it is easier to transition to something more related to your degree.

Human: Hello, fours years ago my cousin came to visit so I took her to the mall. We stopped by Victoria secret because she liked the fragrances and I wanted to buy her something. We both got some cheap body spray and when I went to check out the ladies were promoting their Victoria secret card. I assumed it was a discount card (like hot topic has) but just to be sure I asked her if I would have to pay anything. She said I wouldn't and that id only have to pay for one of the fragrances if I signed up for their card. My idiot ass thought "wow what a great deal!" so I gave her my address and social security number (which I thought was a little weird) and paid then left. I eventually got a card from them in the mail but I never go to Victoria Secret myself so it just got lost somewhere in the house. A month ago I received a letter about the charge on the credit card and the interest owed by a collection agency and yesterday it was added to my credit report. It's nearly a $200 debt. Is there anyway I can right this? This is Colorado if that helps. Thank you! Assistant: So the fragrance got charged to the card? Human: Yes. Assistant: Okay well then you definitely owe the money but good news is you can negotiate with the debt collector for a lower amount Human: Do you know if it's possible to find out how much the original charge was and only pay that?

That's not how debt works.

I would assume it's similar to what they charge now for their fragrances but you have negotiating power since they bought the debt from VS for pennies on the dollar but I doubt you get to pay just like $20 or whatever.

Human: I had a flight last month from the US to Mexico and a brand new pair of shoes was missing from my luggage. I emailed Aeromexico and sent them some information like boarding pass and luggage tags and they said they can compensate $1,900 MXN pesos as a deposit to my credit card. In the email they're asking for a picture of my credit card so they can make the deposit. It sounds kind of sketchy to me and I wasn't sure if it's a good idea to send them the picture of my credit card, so should I?

i've actually done this before and it was fine. now that said, i'd be very careful still. ask for a phone number and tell them you'll give the information over the phone because you're not comfortable sending this information over email photo. then you can confirm that the phone number is a listed phone number with the company

Just do it. Even if they steal the numbers and buy shit, you aren't liable at all for fraudulent charges on a credit card. So do it!

Human: My employer and I agreed to a raise of my hourly wage two weeks ago. This weekend, my employer asked me to reduce that raise by more than 50%, citing financial struggles in the company. I chose to leave the company because I believe I am being undervalued and can receive higher salaries at other places of employment. Now, my previous employer is threatening to withhold my final paycheck until they receive certain information that I collected during the course of my job duties (mostly contact information, correspondence, and spreadsheets). Since I am no longer an active employee at this company, I am wondering how much of this information I am required to turn over, or if I am required to at all. There are some things they are asking for that I created on my own to decrease the time it took to perform certain tasks, mostly in Excel, and I do not believe that my employer has a right to this intellectual property, but I would be interested to hear from all of you. One piece of information I found that I believe is relevant to this situation is from the New York State Labor Laws, Article 6,191: "3. If employment is terminated, the employers shall pay the wages not later than the regular pay day for the pay period during which the termination occurred, as established in accordance with the provisions of this section. If requested by the employee, such wages shall be paid by mail." I appreciate anyone who takes time to read this and respond, you would be helping me more than you will ever know.

>There are some things they are asking for that I created on my own to decrease the time it took to perform certain tasks, mostly in Excel, and I do not believe that my employer has a right to this intellectual property, but I would be interested to hear from all of you. You created these things "during the course of [your] job duties." The general rule in NY is that in the absence of an agreement stating otherwise, the IP rights in the things that you made under these circumstances belong to your employer.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/7r0tvv) - [Taxes](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hi All, My company pays a $3,000 (after tax) promotion bonus after two years. They recently implemented a program which allows new promotions to choose between taking the 3k now or 20k (after taxes) 3 years from now. However, if you leave before the 3rd year is up, you forfeit the entire amount. ​ I know this sounds like an easy decision on paper and is definitely going to vary by personal preference but here are the underlying factors: ​ The next level to which i am being promoted to is notorious for being very difficult (long hours, large amounts of responsibility, and just moderately good pay). I never have planned to stay for 3 years at that level. I enjoy working at this company but part of what keeps me sane is knowing I can easily find a new job with better hours. This is an accounting position so it is definitely cyclical as far as the busy times of year. I have a lot of student loan debt but my expenses are manageable and 3k wouldn't really move the needle much either way. ​ Is the ROI for the next 3 years too good to pass up? Is it too big a risk to give up the 3k now and then possibly leave and get nothing? I would love to hear your thoughts.

If you are not committed to stay for 3 more years, I would take the money now. You don't sound like you will stick it out that long.

Just going off of the title... $20k in 3 years

Human: I am on track to have the last of my student loans by the end of the yeah (well ahead of schedule) and am wondering if I should actually completely pay off and close the account. I've read a lot of stories about credit scores dropping once the student loan account(s) are closed. Currently, I have a >800 credit score with great revolving card data (aged accounts, high limit, low util, etc.. ) but my student loan is the only active installment loan on my report, and it is one of my oldest accounts. How much will this closing it hurt my credit? Should I instead pay it almost all the way down and leave just a tiny balance for the sake of keeping it open, at least until I have a car loan (probably early next year) or mortgage (heh, right...)? Edit: Thanks for the replies. A lot of comments are about not keeping debt or accruing interest. To be clarify, my question is should I close the account or pay down to where I owe some negligible amount (say $1.00) so that it stays open?

Never sacrifice continuing paying interest for credit. Pay it off.

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans](/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hey guys, So granpa has just passed. Turns out he bought about 50 or 60 shares of a company back in the 70s that is still around today. Only his 500 dollar investment did really well and is now working over 30 thousand dollars. Theses shares are the old fashioned kind issued on paper. Is there anyplace we can take these so we can sell them on the market? Or are they worthless?

Grandpa* Like 30 grand, pa

I think this is a great time to mention the Canadian board game "stock ticker"! It's crazy addictive!

Human: I cosigned for a car with my fiancé (then girlfriend) about 2 years ago. I just got an email about a major change in my credit and it looks like she missed a payment last month. We have (had?) plans to get pre-approval on a mortgage next month, to see how much house we could afford hopefully by the end of the year. This is through Chrysler Capital and a google search seems to indicate they do not, under any circumstances, grant goodwill adjustments. Does anyone have any experience dealing with this type of situation, or specifically with Chrysler Capital? Any and all advice and help is appreciated. Assistant: Missed a payment or was late? Did she catch up? Human: When I asked her she said she paid her bill yesterday, but realized she forgot to pay last month's. According to Credit Karma there is "1 missed payment" with the current payment status as "30-59 days late"

Contact the car loan company and ask to have the 1x payment that was late corrected on the credit report. They may be nice enough. Or you can write a letter and ask.

Catch up. Make last month's payment. Maybe it will record at a late payment and not a missed payment. I also would call the lender and ask if they can reclassify it as late. Everyone has missed at least one payment in life. Sometimes that's the best way to learn. If you take over everything it doesn't allow her to learn to do better. There are ways to set alerts on your phone. Put things on a calendar.

Human: I'm 32 and according to my math, I'm about $42,496 in debt. Now this is from a whole slew of things, that I’ve broken down into 6 categories. 1. Active debt (thing’s that I’m behind on that I still have active monthly payments for beyond the debt. i.e. My car payment & cell phone bill) - $719 2. Driving (Tickets, surcharges, etc.) - $4,000 3. Financial (Old overdrawn bank accounts and credit card debt) - $1,817 4. Personal debt (friends and family that I have borrowed money from over the years) - $20,600 5. Miscellaneous (charges currently on my credit report. i.e. Old Cell phone bill, bad pay day loan, old ER visits) - $2,000 6. Legal problems (Long story shortish, my mom was dying of cancer and had me cash her workman’s comp checks for her. She told me I was on the will/checking account and I that I had power of attorney. I found out that I wasn’t on the account and that I did not have PoA (never was able to find her will, so I’m unsure if she ever had one), but she took a turn for the worse and died before I could get thinks fixed. I was to guilt stricken to focus on details and after she died the checks continued to come. I assumed they were going to her estate and continued to cash them (stupid I know), until they stopped coming. I was arrested about 4 months later for grand theft and scheme to defraud. I was placed on withheld adjudication probation for 5 years (which ended in May of this year) and was asked to pay $300 a month. I paid what I could, but after the 5 years I only managed to pay about $6,000 off and still owe $13,000 which the judge gave me until the end of May 2019 to pay. All of this happened in Florida and with me living in Texas at the time, I also had to pay the state of Texas each month a sperate charge for supervising my probation. That bill got behind about $360 by the end of the sentence. Not sure if I still owe that, as I’ve heard nothing since. I’m going to assume that I do.) - $13,360 I started getting my credit up in 2017 (as I had written bad checks and defaulted on loans when I was younger) and got a secured credit card. That was going well (was at about 550) until I decided to move away from Florida and back home to Texas for a new job. My credit took a hit and is currently sitting at about 470 according to Credit Karma, though my bank’s app shows it at 423. Lat year when I moved back to Texas I used some of my savings and also borrowed money from a friend to buy a car (I looked for a cheap car but could not find a working one at the time in my price range) and now I’m leasing a Jeep which requires me to pay $213 every two weeks for about 5 years. I know It’s expensive, but It was working out fine when I first got the car. Once I got out of steady work is when problems arose. The car was actually repossessed a few weeks ago, but thanks to a friend of mine helping me, I was able to get it back. Now, I want to fight for it even more so that my friend didn’t help me for nothing. When I moved back to Texas I began to get my license back, but after I started all the payment plans and went through the DMV to get my paper license in hand, as I waited for the official one in the mail, I received a letter saying that my license was being stopped because of an older ticket (from 2010) that came up from another city and now I have to pay that in full to get rid of it. So, one of the tickets went to a warrant because I couldn't afford the payment plan now. Yes, I have been driving with out a valid DL and with an active warrant out for me. I’ve only been doing out of necessity of finding work. I'm also sleeping on my father’s floor as I have nowhere else to stay. I hate it here and need to find a new place as soon as I can. I don’t need to be a burden on his well being anymore. The job I had when I moved back to Texas ended after about 6 months. I was laid off as the company started to go under. I found another job 4 months later and stayed there until the end of June when I quit. They treated me horribly and continued to cut my hours back to only a few a week, so I left. I don’t regret leaving that job. I’ve been doing freelance work ever since (I’m a filmmaker) and donate Plasma twice a week. I’m currently able to get about $80 each week. I’m actively searching for a new steady job, but I’m having a difficult time finding something that will pay me well enough to start to fix my problems. I’ve done the math and in order for me to make enough to live on my own, pay the current bills that I have, and set aside $500 a month to pay towards my debt (which at that rate would take a little over 7 years to pay off) I would need to make $22.12/hr for a 40/hr work week for the full 52 weeks of each year. That currently seems insane to me. Also, for the record, average room rental in my area is about $750/month. So, factor that into my above equation means I would still need to make about $18.50 an hour. Better for sure, but still doesn’t seem probable. I don't know what to do, or how to fix this. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I just want to get out of this stupid hole from my past, so that I can get working on my future. Assistant: It's a mess, but you can do it. I would suggest: * Fix your legal stuff. Get some help on r/legaladvice. Do some research. You might not even be employable right now - if the companies you are applying to run a background check, I'm pretty sure a warrant is going to pop up. This is top priority. * You're not a freelance filmmaker. You need to be a full-time job searcher. Applications, every day. You need income. This is not the time to be chasing dreams. * Get yourself to a position where you're not starving and can float a little. Talk with your dad. "I'm in a tough spot. Can I stay for 3 months while I figure this all out? Things are really bad right now." Free place to stay is going to help you a lot right now. * You do not need to pay your friends and family back right away. They might be angry at you, but they won't come after you and ruin your life. So forgot about that $20k for right now. Talk to them and let them know it's going to take longer than you thought. * Driving tickets can wait, probably. IANAL. I don't know how that will influence your ability to drive and get your license back. * $500/month lease is not good. I don't know enough about leases to offer advice though. * Stop making bad decisions. You're at a crisis point. Driving without a license is a bad decision. You need to get rides from family/friends, walk, public transportation, bike. Stop breaking the law, friend. You're hurting yourself and those around you. Probably something else. You need money. Working in oil is a great idea. Probably not eligible to enlist because of the warrant. Get off Reddit and start making some moves. Prioritize. Human: I don't believe I am employable right now. I've gone on multiple interviews and have not gotten work yet. I am trying though. I'm still looking into my situation. I AM a freelance filmmaker. I will ALWAYS be chasing my dreams. Period. I am just not making it a priority right now. But you better believe if a freelance job comes in, I'm taking it. I know you're just trying to help and I DO appreciate it, but that got under my skin a little bit. I mentioned in a previous reply my reasons for wanting to leave my father's is more than just not wanting to be here. A free place is great, but the other cost seems to high to me. My friends and family have been great and (for the most part) aren't pressuring me. It still weighs on me though. I addressed the driving and car situation in a previous reply. But I don't see how I'm hurting anybody around me? My only crime at the moment is not having the money to pay for the proper paper work. Even if I am eligible to enlist it is not something that I am willing to do. I never have and never do want to be in the military. Just not my thing.

Listen, you're the one posting and asking for help. If you aren't going to take the suggestions you're left with what you think is best and making decisions on your own. So far by your calculations that's gotten you 40k in debt. Maybe it's time to try living the way someone else suggests.

I think that what would benefit you most is not a money makeover, but first an attitude makeover. First, I understand your point of view, but to an outsider things like "my only crime at the moment is not having the money" and etc. really just give the impression that you think you're above everyone else and that the rules don't apply to you when you don't want them to. That's not a good impression to leave people with. It's **really** not a good impression if/when you are caught again and even though your "crimes" are in fact pretty trivial, the judge/jury will see that you have a lot of them. You're lucky if you got out of grand theft without a *felony* conviction, don't think that next time it will just happen again. * Yes this means stop driving until you pay up for your license (and do that first). Once your attitude makeover is complete - and not before - you can then turn your attention toward money, which is actually only of secondary importance here. * As others said, the $20k of loans from others can wait if not enforceable. It sucks, but you really cannot pay back, and there is a reason we don't allow debtor's prisons. Our country's philosophy (which I agree with) is that if the debtor can pay, sure we allow enforcement, but if the debtor can't, well, "you took the risk by choosing to lend." * Because you have a sizable amount of other debt, consider bankruptcy. You might not be able to discharge the court ordered fines, but check with a bankruptcy lawyer to be sure. * Take the long but sure way up afterwards. Stay out of trouble, keep costs low (live with others instead of paying rent until you've paid back your non-dischargeable fines + settled your debts), move on and up.

Human: Hello everyone! My husband and I have been renting for awhile now, and I have become aware of how much we are loosing by renting, and am considering just buying a place so that we can be making an investment into our future. I know absolutely nothing about this process, or what kind of money we will be spending out of pocket, but am open to the idea of Rent to Own properties, and would perfer to keep the down payment at a minimum. I have had a credit card for just about a year now, and have paid if off every time I use it, but don't know how that actually affects my credit. If I have credit, it should be good, but I only got the credit card to start building it. I'd love some advice- any information helps! Thanks!

Do some sidebar reading. Renting isn't always a waste of money and there are several situations in which that's more favorable.

Well you're going to need to do some research on your own before asking the general public for help. What I would advise you to do is start plugging your potential home's value and mortgage amount into a mortgage calculator and seeing the true cost of a mortgage. For example, if you get a 4.5% 30 year mortgage on a $200,000 house, it's not like you will just pay $209,000 for that house after 30 years. Mortgages follow an amortization schedule which really just means you initially pay a lot of interest as part of each monthly payment, and it becomes less and less every month. To finance a $200,000 home for 30 years at 4.5% will actually end up costing you $357,369.40. This is why you generally want to have the largest down payment as possible, and the smallest mortgage amount possible.

Human: This past academic year (2017 - 2018), I had to take out private loans from Sallie Mae for two of my three quarters there. I took out the loans with a cosigner with neither of us quite understanding the responsibilities of the cosigner. In total, the loans came out to be around $18k USD, and since we were opening a new account through Sallie Mae, these two new loans brought down the average age of my cosigner's debt by a lot. It dropped my cosigner's credit about 70 points from around 800 to 730. My cosigner is a little panicked, so I was wondering if there is ANY way to alleviate the drop in the credit score. Thank you, and yes, we are stupid and didn't do any research.

Not really, as a cosigner the loan is theirs as much as it's yours. The only way would be to refinance them off the loan.

You may find these links helpful: - [Student Loans](/r/personalfinance/wiki/studentloans) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [What's the best way to pay down my debt?](/r/personalfinance/wiki/debt#wiki_what.27s_the_best_way_to_pay_down_my_debt.3F) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hello. I have a 2015 car I purchased for $17,800 last year. I paid $10,000 cash and was left with a $7,800 loan. I’ve popped it down to $4,800 I also have around $8000 saved up in the bank. I just had a baby so my goal is to buy a used van for around $3,000, pay off the loan on my car for the title, sell it, and pocket whatever money is leftover. I realize it’s probably a better idea to just keep the 2015 reliable car and continue on with my life, but if I can sell it for a fair price, I would much rather a have a few thousand extra cash in my savings and a decent old van that runs good. I never needed the newer car, I was single and had some money saved up and foolishly bought it on a whim. It wasn’t a bad investment, just an unnecessary expense when I could have just bought a cheaper used car and had more in savings, but I didn’t expect to meet someone and get married/have a baby in such a short time. I digress. KBB says my car is worth around $14-15,000 private sale. I’ve looked the car up on Craigslist and seen similar makes/models with ballpark mileage for 13,900 (https://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/d/2015-nissan-altima-sl/6683727315.html) this one has 66k miles, mine has about 61k. There are lots of the same car for $16,000+ with 30-40,000 miles as well, which isn’t drastically far off from my mileage. I’ve decided I would be happy selling it a bit cheaper than KBB to sell it faster, if I could get $12-12,500 for it I could pay off the loan for $4800, have $7,200-7,700 leftover, buy a van for $3000 and pocket $4,200-4,700. I have a few questions: Is this completely stupid or reasonable ? Can I realistically sell it for $12-12,500 private sale including all taxes etc? How easy is to sell a car of that value to some random person? My gut tells me it would be difficult. I feel like private party car sales are always under $5000 because if someone could afford to buy a car for over $10,000 they would just go to a dealership to avoid the hassle ? What would a dealership give me? I’m assuming a sore ass. If anyone can help me in any way I would be seriously so appreciative. Thank you so much.

Why are you buying a van because you had a child? You have a loan that can be paid off in like a year,and a car that'll last you at least another 8. Who knows how long a $3k van will last you. Add on sales tax, fees, decreased milage, how much are you really saving here?

Any van in that price range is going to get a pretty bad MPG please take that into consideration as well. Would having an extra $4k is going to make huge difference in your life? A $3K van might not be as reliable as your current car for so many different reasons such as the age of the vehicle, the mileage, the history of the vehicle, you won't know how well or bad it was taken care of. You might spend another $1K - $2K within the first year of owning it, so that $4K you think that you are going to have might go down to $2k - $3K.

Human: Hello, So here is the skinny. My wife and I just had out first child in June. I am 39 years old and we just went through all of our bills. I feel hopeless at the moment. My wife left her job making $62k a year once we had our child. I make between $80k-$100k depending on commissions. I also get $700 in mileage. We also have $10k in savings. Our debt breaks down as follows: Rent - $800 Car 1 $302 Car 2 $266 Personal Loan $390 (5.9% interest) Personal Loan 2 $261 Car insurance $150 Entertainment (Netflix, Hulu, etc) $45 Cell phones $65 Groceries $300 Gas $200 And the biggie, credit cards $17k roughly. (Rates vary between 16.9%-24.6% I am feeling pretty defeated about reckless spending. Not to mention the rift this has caused between my wife and I. Any ideas to help would be incredible. Am I correct in feeling hopeless? Thanks everyone. Edit 1: Since this keeps popping up, I'd like to address the vehicle situation. I drive for work, between 1,000-2,000 miles a month. Not to mention that I travel, at times, up to two hours from home. From a safety and security standpoint, it doesn't make sense to get rid of one. My vehicle is in impeccable shape, but it's the family car due to the safety and it having four doors. Her car can't be sold for a profit because it's in terrible shape. It runs great, but she was in multiple fender benders and never made insurance claims to get the car fixed. So it's technically a beater with a car payment.

No, this isn't hopeless! It just takes some teamwork. Based on the lower end of your salary, you take home about $4500/mo? That is what I am going with. Your expenses total $2779 although you are missing some things like what your credit card minimums are as well as other regular expenses like car maintenance, gifts, etc. We can round this up to $3.5k. That leaves you $1k extra to put towards debt payoff. If this math feels very wrong, I'd suggest you use Mint or manually comb through your spending to see where the money has been going so that you can redirect it appropriately. Has there been reckless spending, sure. You were making $150k combined and you're making ~$90k now and have another person to take care of. You have car loans, personal loans and credit card debt - there's definitely some overspending here. But its not insurmountable! Just educate yourself on where the money has been going and redirect it to put it to better use.

Expenses aren’t debt. Renegotiate your credit card interest rate, find a card to transfer to with lower interest or get a debt consolidation loan. Also - read some books instead of asking for advice from unqualified strangers on Reddit.

Human: This is a serious question about the financial fairness of a gift, and it's made complicated by family and favoritism. It's also long. Sorry. Thanks in advance. Please no replies about how I just need to be grateful to get gifts. I am grateful. But there's a lifelong history here and I'm starting to wonder how fair this all is. That's where you come in. # Background My sister and I are both in our thirties, both with decent household incomes. Neither of us needs handouts, but we accept what we get. My parents are financially stable, comfortable; they give us gifts from time to time. This is very generous of them. I am also more independent than my sister, and my parents tend to shelter her, give her more help and handouts, etc. # Example of material favoritism My sister and I both have kids. My parents and sister are next door neighbors. I live in a totally different state. For years, they've given my sister full time childcare at like $2/hr. They're retired, so they'll also come spend maybe two months a year staying with us, and in that time we get free childcare. Usually not for fully 40 hours, but it's still free. My sister gets super-cheap childcare for 9-10 months, and I get it free for about 2 months. For easy math, say babysitting two young children is $10/hr. They're effectively giving her a gift of $8 \* 40 hrs \* \~38 weeks ($12,160), versus my gift of $10 \* 40 hrs \* \~10 weeks ($4000). The above is probably the strongest example of their favoritism but it's hardly the only one. Please keep in mind the difference between our gifts. I'm not saying that my parents aren't generous to me - they are. However, it's pretty easy to quantify how they're more generous to my sister. There's a history of material/financial favoritism that is in play here. # The current issue This one below might be fair... or it might be another example of things leaning toward my sister. My spouse and I can't agree. One of us thinks it's fair, the other does not. I love this sub and all the well-reasoned financial advice, so I thought I'd check with you all. If I sound a little schizophrenic, it's because I'm trying to fairly represent both of our perspectives. My sister and her husband have two cars. My spouse and I have one car; we've been looking to get a second "beater", something ok to drive around town when the other person has the good car. Mom had been wanting to trade in her old SUV for a newer car. My sister had been thinking about trading in her old sedan for an SUV. Mom saw an opportunity here. Instead of trading in her old SUV, my mom is giving it to my sister. Mom's SUV is worth about $5000. Then my sister is in turn giving me her old sedan. My sister's sedan is worth about $3000. For the sake of this argument, please assume that all parties are trustworthy and these figures are correct. Last - and here's the part I'm having trouble with - I pay my sister $500. Now, first of all, big picture, I'm happy about this. I'm getting a $3k car for $500. Sweet deal! But the thing that I can't quite reconcile is this: my sister is getting a better car for free, and she also gets a check. I'm getting a "better car" in a way, but I have to pay for it. Now a big wrench in all this is that in the above childcare example, my sister is easily getting the better shake. But she's not writing me a check. What do you all think? First of all, do you agree that the financial math here checks out, or no? Is this fair, or is this one more thing skewed toward my sister?

What are you talking about? She lives next door to them. You don't. Of course they are going to spend more time with her and her family. Get over it. Meanwhile, you're getting a $3000 car for $500. That sounds like a pretty good deal, yes? Edit: and adding that the sister doesn't get the mother's car "free"...it costs her the $3000 car.

If you also live next to your parents then it will be same Child care advantage to you too. About Car Your mom lost 5000.00 Your sister getting getting car worth $5000.00 Plus $500.00 check Total $5500.00 - she will lost her car $3000.00 = her gain is $2500.00 You are getting car $3000.00 for - $500.00 = Your gain $2500.00 So your sister and you have same gain. I hope you understand above math !!

Human: I'm in the U.S. I have an income of around $2,100 a month, after taxes. I live surprisingly well on that. I rent an apartment & I live alone. I have zero debt. I always pay my bills on time. I don't have a car, so no expenses there (I'm legally blind, so I don't drive). I use my credit cards to pay for everything (to build up rewards) but I pay them off completely every month. Zero balance. Zero debt. My credit score is in the 820s. I recently received what amounts to $80,000 ish after taxes. Plus what I'd been saving, it adds to... let's say $95K. And if I live extra frugally for the next six months it wouldn't be too hard to get it to an even $100K. Is it realistic to use the money to create an income? If I could use it to bring in an extra $500 a month, that would be helpful. An extra $1,000 a month would be amazing. Based on where I live (big city) it isn't realistic for me to buy a home. As I said, I'm legally blind, so living in a vibrant downtown where everything I need is in walking distance is essential to me. Housing is crazy expensive here, HOA fees insane too, not to mention property taxes, etc. There's no way I could afford that. I'm happy renting, to be honest. I'd sure like to use the money as a way to generate a bit of income. Needless to say, I'm mostly interested in a safe/cautious approach, though I could maybe be talked into splitting the sum 50/50 and being safe with half and less conservative with the other... but I'm not a gambler at all. A few closing thoughts: I have no interest in splurging with the money. I haven't told anyone about it, and I won't. I'm very private about my finances. I'm in no rush to do anything other than learn and plan. I seriously don't plan on spending one single dime of it. I want to use it as a way to generate an income. In a perfect world, I'd be able to make a bit of money for me and put whatever else back into the sum to build it. I don't even know where to begin to look for this sort of info, so I figured I'd start here. Please be gentle, but assume I know nothing, so feel free to teach and/or over-explain. I'm here to learn. EDIT: I wanted to thank you all for your help. You've given me a lot to think about. I'm glad I'm not in a rush. As I research my options, I've been returning to read through the comments you've posted. Again, thank you. I appreciate the help and insight.

If you invest that money, 50% in equity index funds and 50% in bond funds, you should be able to draw 3% as income probably forever, (and the fund will probably grow more than inflation). So, 3% of $100k is $3,000/yr., or $250/mth. If you hang on for 10 years and invest the money more aggressively, (Say 80% equity index funds, 20% bond funds), it is likely to double to $200k (though there is risk that it won't), and you could safely draw $500/mth. If you left it invested for 20 years, it is likely to double again, and you would have $400k invested, and, then if you drew 3%/yr, you could have an income of $1,000/mth. Good luck.

It's going to depend on when you want that income. If you invest it now in tax-advantaged retirement funds and let it sit and accumulate for 20-40 years, it could certainly generate that much when you finally retire. If you're talking about getting $500-1000 per month on an ongoing basis, starting now, it's unlikely that you'll get that from 100K. $500/mo gross would require 6% growth per year just to keep the principal at 100K. For $1000/month you'd need 12% growth which is wildly unrealistic on an ongoing basis. Not to mention that you'd owe taxes on that income and inflation would inevitably erode the purchasing power of the money. 3% is generally considered a "safe" withdrawal rate, which as others have mentioned, is about $250/month. The only way you could get to the kind of income you're talking about right now would be to leverage the money. The most common way average Joes do this is by buying rental property--you use 100K as a down payment on a 500K property with a 400K mortgage that then hopefully rents for $500-1000/month over your combined mortgage, tax, and maintenance. Obviously this is a riskier strategy--you're betting that, over time, you'll make more than you're spending, but the potential rewards are also proportionally higher.

Human: So I have a friend who is trying to get his financial house in order but he has been making some choices that seem a little off the beaten path. None of what he is doing really jives with the things ive been learning on this subreddit. I am also new to the game so i was hoping from some insight form some seasoned vets. 1) He started out well and got a budget going and consolidated his debit. He had 75 thousand in student loans and credit card debit (some high interest around 20%) and he wrapped that all into his mortgage for one manageable bill of about $275,000. The odd thing was, he decided to go with this scheme to get a first position HELOC, have his paycheck deposited into it , and pay down his mortgage in chunks. From what i gather this will reduce the amount of interest he'll pay and he says his house will be payed of in 7-10 years. He say the way the HELOC compounds the interest(not amoratized) he'll save thousands. This seems like an odd way to do it , but mostly makes sense to me . Im curious how this would compare to just paying extra against your principal. 2) Hes getting into "legacy wealth building" Which from what I gather, Is a type of universal Life insurance that allows you to avoid taxes and is "like a savings account that pays you guaranteed 4% interest" From what i have read on this sub, universal life is considered overpriced. He says He'll get 96% of his money back in cash value. 3) Now today he tells me hes getting involved in an out of state Apartment complex investment deal in Alabama. He says he is gonna borrow $25,000 to invest in this thing and make 18%. I told him this sounds sketchy and he says doesn't care. He sent me some links to this podcast hes been listening to "Heads I win, Tails you lose" with Patrick Donohoe. I listened to the first episode and honestly it sounded like Two dudes using scare tactics to get you to buy insurance based financial products. Dude just started getting into this recently and from what i see, has gone all in on some stuff i have never even heard about. Am i just be overly cautious ? or is he going down dangerous road ? i mean he's a big boy and he can make his own decisions but it all just seems odd to me. TL/DR Friend is making unconventional investment choices. Looking for insight into any blatant scams or pifalls he might be embarking on.

Just nod your head, smile and be a good friend when it all crashes down. Don't ever take his financial advice though!

You may find these links helpful: - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) - [Investing](/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hi pf - Wanted to run a quick sanity check to see if my idea is do-able and/or figure out of this is a huge mistake. First things first, my finances. I consider myself extremely lucky here. I'm 25, NW ~$300000 (25k 401k [maxing out now, but had been aggressively paying off loans and only contributing the min for match], 230k post-tax brokerage, 45k cash (some of this is a CD maturing very soon, so my real cash position is not this high). My base salary is $150,000, but for the next 3 years I will earn an extra ~300k *per year* (pre-tax) due to the sale of the startup I co-founded. Monthly take home (from salary) is ~8,000, monthly spending is generally a hair under $4,000. My equity payments go right into a brokerage, after tax. I rent, not own, and don't care to own property where I live (houses start at 700k) As should be pretty obvious, I'm saving pretty aggressively, and plan to try to retire early. How early, I'm not super sure. I love my job, but it's incredibly stressful (but I'm obviously compensated accordingly, and am thankful for this). Anyways, I currently rent in a HCOL area and live in a pretty small apartment, because cities. That said, beautiful little cabins that are ~2 hours by car (which I have) run for ~200,000 and come on multiple acres of land (!!!), and I can't get my mind off of owning one (would pay cash from my next yearly equity cliff) and heading there on the weekends to de-stress. To make this not a total money pit, I think I'd like to try to airBNB it out when I'm not there to try to "break even" on taxes/maintenance/utilities. That said, I'm a bit worried about a) the amount of work potentially involved, and b) the logistics of managing a property that I may only be able to visit for a weekend or two a month. Basically, I'm hoping for a sanity check here. The /r/fire person in me is saying I'm crazy and missing out on market returns by buying a time sink, but the stressed office jobber in me would love a place to relax with the wife and dog. I know I *can* afford this, but want to analyze the possible hidden costs. Thoughts?

So, financials aside and just from a “been there” perspective.. We own a vacation property in a lower end but still popular spring break area. If I had the cash to buy the property I already own, I wouldn’t do it. Not now with the market high. Held onto this property through the crash, and they crash first hard and fast. You can still make money as a rental, but it’s generally seasonal and the value as a rental goes down as well. It’s a risky investment especially if you’re financing it.

I'd try finding something that you would want on airbnb and booking it when you want it for the next 6 months? Maybe that is once a month, maybe twice--you have the cash for it. See how you like it and if you actually use it. Then in 6 months if you still want it, maybe go for it. You can afford it. The question to me is whether or not you actually want it or just like the idea of it.

Human: From 18-20 I worked for a property management company and made like $35k a year which I don’t think is bad at all being young. I had my daughter and have been off for a year. Old job has asked for me back three times in the last year I’ve been off and they want me to take my old job for $3 more an hour. I am taking that job and going to school at the same time for a nursing degree. I was going to take the job and make some extra money until Fall 2019 when nursing program starts. I have all my pre reqs and coreqs done after this semester and was going to apply for the nursing program starting Fall 2019. However, since I have friends in the company like the assistant Vice President (AVP) I have some info the current manager doesn’t. In 6months or less they want to get rid of the current manager and replace her with me. I’d be the youngest manager in company history. The reason being is this property is outside the metroplex hub so not a lot of managers want to drive to this property and its CRAZY busy and nobody has stayed longer than 6 months except me. I know it inside and out. This would mean a huge pay increase. Around $75,000 a year vs $35,000. I want to be a nurse eventually, but Jesus I don’t think I can pass that up. That’s a little more than I’d be making as a nurse with a bachelors. I should definitely take this job right? I can always be a nurse later. I’ll finish this semester since I already paid for it and don’t want any Ws on my transcripts. I’d be able to pay off my car note ($23,000) faster and pay off my $5,000 in credit card debt in no time. This is the smarter move right? My husband only makes about $50,000 give or take a year currently.

Well, when I was young I didn’t know what I wanted to do other then make money. So I did. I worked hard, lots of hours, and lots of jobs. Eventually I was successful and I had a series of great jobs. 85-120k range until my early 30s. I hated what I did though and so I hated my life 8-10hrs a day 5-7 days a week. The stress from that feeling of meaninglessness broke my wife and I up. Eventually leading to me making many changes and going back to school to be a nurse. Now, none of that has anything to do with you per say. If you didn’t mind the work the money can make a big difference to a family lord knows that why I didn’t make a change sooner. Money isn’t everything though. Think through your next year, five and ten years. Will you have a better life as a nurse? Will money now help your family more then a career later? No right or wrong answers. I totally get why you are asking the Internet for help. I know I type things into google bars myself like sending off little Digital prays into the ether... Anyway, good luck, and for the record, my wife and I are still together after what amounted to a week break.

> That’s a little more than I’d be making as a nurse with a bachelors I think you need to consider (1) the career progression and salary levels beyond just the first year salary and (2) the work and culture surrounding it, and how you feel about it. Short term, taking the job might be the best option, but you have to look at the long term, too. I had the option to drop out and take a well paying government job, but I refrained and am absolutely glad I did.

Human: I have moved jobs twice in the last 6 years. Both times I just left my 401k in the old employer's system. Of course after a year or two I forgot about rolling it over. On my latest job transfer, the company has a 401k program, but no matching, so I never opened an account there. I want to roll over the balances from both of those old accounts to a current account. I also already have a Roth IRA which gets maximum contributions each year. AFAIK, I basically have 3 options: \#1 Roll them both to a 401k with my new company. \#2 Open a new standard IRA, and roll them both into there. \#3 Roll over both into my current Roth IRA. ​ \#3 seems to be the best to me, since it would get all of my retirement account savings under one roof, allow me complete control over investments, and just be simpler overall. So I guess my question is: \- Since I am already contributing the max in new money to my Roth IRA each year, can I even do #3 without getting hit with excessive penalties? \- (Assuming they can be easily described) What are the tax % and penalties I will owe if doing the #3 transfer now? \- If I did #2 instead, would the taxes/penalties I pay in the future be more or less than what I am paying to do the #3 transfer now?

Assuming your old accounts are standard 401k's and not Roth 401k's, then the main disadvantage to option #3 is that you will need to pay income tax on the full balance rolled over. This is because 401k contributions (to non-Roth accounts) are tax-deferred, whereas a Roth IRA is not. So you'd basically be converting the money from an "I'll pay taxes on this later" account into a "I've already paid all my taxes on this" account. Whether this is a good idea or not depends on what your tax situation is, what you predict the future of income tax rates to be, and if you have enough money on hand to cover the tax bill (which will likely be 20+% depending on your bracket) without having to dip into your retirement savings to foot the bill (though admittedly this concern is perhaps overblown from a mathematical standpoint). Option #2 will have no tax consequences for you. Option #1 rarely makes sense unless for some reason your new company's 401k is better than any available rollover IRA's at the usual brokerages (hint: it's not).

You may find these links helpful: - [General Information on Rollovers](/r/personalfinance/wiki/retirementaccounts/rollovers) - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: My grandmother raised me, and we really only have eachother. I consider her my mother and as such have cared for her for the last five years while her health and mobility have sharply declined. She was recently diagnosed with small cell lung cancer, and combined with her slew of other health issues, it seems like we're in the end game. I'm writing this in our Local ER waiting for them to stabilise her before being transferred for more surgery and chemo. We've lived together in a one bedroom $650 a month apartment ever since she lost her independence and needed me around full time. We have a joint checking account, her social security and disability cover most bills, and I have a job as part time staff at my local junior college where I'm 5 elective hours from an associates degree. The plan has been to transfer to a four year school for a comp sci degree. We've talked about death and grieving, I know what to expect for the most part. I know how destroyed I'll be when she passes. That part isnt as scary because i have an idea what it will be like. What I don't know, is how to deal with our finances before and after she's gone. Like I mentioned, we have a joint account and I just recently learned how bad that could potentially be. As far as I understand, if she doesn't survive the entire month, social security will contact the bank to retrieve the last payout that was made. The issue being that by the end of the month, our account only has a couple hundred dollars left after bills and groceries. If she were to pass before the third of the month after payment, they'll attempt to reclaim that payment from our account, and as far as social security is concerned, all of the money in a joint account in which the SS recipient is listed as an account owner belongs to the SS recipient. In other words, if she passes before the third of the month after the payment, any and all money in a joint account where she is listed will be reclaimed. This means I'll most likely be left with an account that is in the red nearly 2 grand, with no feasible way to pay it, much less pay bills. I'm honestly lost as to what to do. I talked to her about closing the joint account and opening two separate ones, and she's completely receptive to it but as I sit here in the ER not knowing if she'll live long enough for us to get in front of a banker, that doesn't really matter. If she passed tonight the scenario I described above plays out. I need advice. In the back of my head, the plan if she should pass suddenly was always to find whatever full time work i could until my lease was up and then transfer to a 4 year school and live on campus while working, but if I get saddled with an account 2 grand in the red, I don't know how id get through that and not be homeless. I'm willing to hear any advice anyone is willing to give. Assistant: I don't have any advice to offer. I just want to give you a hug. /hug Human: People often underestimate how much stuff like that matters. Even though our family unit is really just me and her, the reassurance and help from home health nurses and other aids who have become friends means the world to us.

I walked beside both of my grandparents during their hospice journeys. I’m sending hugs to you and your grandmother. She did a wonderful job of raising you and I am sure she is so very proud of the person you’ve become. Do speak with the social worker. Also if she’s not receiving hospice care, sign her up. They are worth their weight in gold and they’re there to support the family as well. For now, spend as much time with your grandma as you can. You can always work on financials when she’s sleeping or after she passes.

Here, have another hug. And give one to your grandmother. She is lucky to have you. *hugs*

Human: I'm 25 and in January I lost my job I recently started going back to school to finish my degree(parents are paying for it). I recently finished off my emergency funds had to get two teeth pulled and get an implant and bridge, My family and friends are telling me to withdraw some money from my Traditional IRA. I've done research and that's a bad idea. How do I tell them to stop suggesting that?

Just filter out the bad advice. They don't control your accounts.

You may find these links helpful: - [Retirement Accounts](/r/personalfinance/wiki/index#wiki_retirement_accounts) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Like it says, i got a substantial raise and want to use the extra income wisely. Keeping in mind that it is not a job that I can do forever how do i make the most of my situation? As of right now I travel for work and am put up in air bnbs during that time. When im not working I'm living in my truck (which I love). I would love to buy land but also am toying with the idea of opening a business

Take a look at the prime directive in the sidebar. You'll want an emergency fund, budget, and savings at least if/when you decide to get land or a business.

If you can, set up your direct deposit so your main account only sees $100/$200 of it. Dedicate the $1k+ to something else - paying down debt, building savings, retirement.

Human: I am a college student who has experience working in a hospital. Wanted to make some extra money and decided to get back into it. Applied for a position and got an interview. It was the first real interview I've ever done where I had multiple people sitting at a table asking me questions. It was interesting but nothing I couldn't handle, and feel like I crushed it not to mention my qualifications are honestly above what they are asking. Anyway I've been told, and even seen on here, that you shouldn't ask what the salary is and only mention it if brought up by the interviewer. Well it never was, and when they asked me if I had any questions for them I opted not to ask about it as I didn't want to break the taboo/put myself in a unfavorable position. Now they said they will notify me on Friday on their decision so I will see then. So my question is one, is that normal in a interview and two say things go well and they offer me the position and say the pay is x how should I approach it? Another tip I've heard time and again is never accept the first offer, so should I ask for more no matter what and if so how much more? Finally I suspect they will call me and notify me, should I do any negotiations over the phone? Sorry for these questions just want to make sure that I set myself up right.

Usually offer letters are written and through email. It is 100% normal to not discuss salary until they extend an offer. If you are comfortable with the salary and/or really want this job I wouldn't negotiate. You risk them saying "nah sorry thats too much". Then you lose out on the job. It's best to negotiate salary when you have leverage and can risk them not accepting. IE when you already have a job making money, if you get an offer, you can easily negotiate because if they decline, whatever you just keep working your current job. Or if you have multiple offers you can negotiate because the risk of them all declining is smaller. But with it being your first big boy job, with no current other offers, I wouldnt push it unless you truly truly feel the offer is low.

If they make you a job offer, they will offer you a salary. You can ask for more at this time, the recruiter must log your request and pass it up the chain.

Human: Complicated back story. My girl was legally adopted by another man after birth. But life has brought her to me. How can I/we look through some record of her $40k (US) student loan debt and figure out what is all hers? I know that her mother and legal father have applied for some kind of loans, and kept the money for their personal use. I want to help her work on debt, but not looking to help the turds pay off any debt that can, and should, be left to their own debt snowball, since they used the money for personal gain. Not sure where to start or Google terminology to use to work on this. Help would be appreciated.

It sounds like you know she has $40k in student loan debt in her name. You just don't know how much of that was actually spent on her schooling. Just FYI, paying off the part used for schooling and leaving the rest won't work if it's still in her name & on her credit report. She's going to need to either pay it off or report it as fraud. If she reports it as fraud, the government can and will charge her parents with fraud. So I don't think "left to their own debt snowball" is the outcome here either way. Either she's going to pay it all off, and use it as a life lesson, or she's going to (indirectly) confront her parents and force them to address their problems. Good luck.

I wanted to clarify something as I work in Higher Ed. LEGALLY, an American adult can only get another adult's personal loan information from that person themselves. In other words, you must get that information from your daughter who can get that information from the organizations she signed up to get the loan from. I want to underscore that whether you're the students parent or not, they are an adult and the University and other financial institutions legally cannot tell you anything about that person. ​ I say this because I come across this daily. Parents of students want their students data not realizing they are not legally permitted to it. I don't care if you're the one paying the bills. Our contract is with another adult, not you.

Human: Hi there! Background: Single and 23, make 70k annually (~2,100 bi weekly) and have no student loans + car is fully paid. My work pays full health and caters lunch M-F, so I only really pay for dinners at the moment (I skip breakfast and just eat a lot @ lunch since it's buffet style). My bills are primarily car insurance (~100), and ~250 on credit card payments. I also pay $150 for a gym (martial arts so always super expensive) and generally go out every weekend. Question: Do you think 1600 rent is doable? The location is ideal and I wouldn't have to drive to work. I'm generally pretty frugal but I'm a little apprehensive about paying 38% of my monthly income on rent (I've been paying around 1,250 since moving out here but my roommates want a nicer spot). What are your thoughts? Thanks! Assistant: 1600 is for sure do able for your income. Edit: Also since you wouldn't have to travel for work you can save on insurance as well as gas. Human: Forgive my ignorance for proper budgeting: I've always heard to stay away from 40% of your salary going to rent. It seems like 1,600 would be 38% of my income. Am I doing the calculations wrong? Or is this a typically lax rule dependent on circumstance? I guess in other words - you say it's doable, but do you think it'll feel like a tight budget? Thanks for the advice! :)

You are doing the calculations correctly. The rule of thumb I grew up with is 33% for all housing costs, but I’m in a high cost of living area with a high income and am around 45% at the moment. What does that mean? I don’t have much for vacations or nice cars right now. In your case be careful, what are your financial goals? How quickly will the CC be paid off? Do you want to be saving for a house or a car? Are you putting away money for retirement? That being said you’ll be fine if you are careful with other expenses, pay off the CC and then pay it off every month in full. Carrying a balance on a cc is a good way to get poor.

People like me that live in the Midwest would definitely say that’s too high! I think you can make it work.

Human: I’ve started working at a job that pays 140k a year and after taxes and with all my expenses I’d be able to save 60k a year. Since I’ve already paid income and provincial tax on the money, over the the years as a resident of British Columbia, will my savings be taxed? Is it different in the US?

Can only talk about U.S. Money you have saved is not taxed; if that money generates *other* money -- for instance, your money market account pays interest or your stock pays dividends -- that other money can be taxed. Congratulations on saving a big chunk of your income -- I think that's the single biggest factor of financial success, being able to discipline yourself not to spend money just because it's possible. Look into investing it so that it grows, there are a number of threads and articles here about having an emergency fund, enjoying part of your ample money, and how to handle the rest so that it grows into something you can retire on.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/7r0tvv) - [Taxes](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hi everybody, I am a recent graduate and have been working full time since june. I have $5500 of student loan debt and am current in grace period until mid november. My absolutely necessary monthly expenses have been about ~$700 so ive been pocketing about $2500 a month after some spending for myself and will have enough to pay off this debt in 1 payment when november comes. I browse this thread quite often and what ive learned from credit card usage, i should never pay interest. I predict ill have about $10-12k saved up by the time my first payment is due. Is it a good idea to pay for the entire debt in 1 payment or maybe spread it out over 3 or 4 payments to take less of a chunk out of my savings. Im asking because im not really dispersing my money into different savings such as emergency fund or general savings for when i move out. Im hoping i can have some guidance on how i should treat this debt and how i should break down my take home pay into different savings.

Generally speaking, you should always try to pay off all debt as quickly as possible. I would be paying $2,500/month right now since you have it.

You're doing great. If you aren't accruing interest, save the money until right before the interest kicks in. This is a good time to track your spending and see how much money you will absolutely NEED for 6 months. That's your emergency fund. After that, see how much you have left. If it's more than $5500, then enjoy being student loan free. It's one of the best feelings, to be honest. The emergency fund will take care of most things that could happen. And with how little you spend, you'll have a chunk of change again in no time.

Human: Im 20 and just moved out, and im struggling to get by badly and was wondering what options i have. My mother is cancelling my car insurance this month so i have to find my own. My expenses are Rent: $400/month Car payment:$500/month Gas:$100/month Insurance the lowest i can find is about:$400/month Currently working a full time job and a seasonal night job bringing in about $1300/month, what are my options Assistant: You need to do something about your car. You're spending $1000 per month on your car payment, gas, and insurance. That's 77% of your monthly take home. Priority one, above all else, is to bring that number down. If you provide more information about the car you may be able to get some good suggestions on what to do. Human: Its a jeep wrangler that i can trade in with a loss of 5k. Still owe around 23k on it

Is the car in your name? Seems unlikely you would qualify for that large of a car loan. Best option is private sale. See what the Kelly blue book value is for private sale and see how upside down you are.

Don’t trade it in. Look for a private sale. This car is pretty popular and you can probably sell it for close to what you owe on the loan. See if you can go without a car for a few months to save some cash and then get a small used reliable car (corolla,civic).

Human: So I decided to apply for a credit card because, why not? And surprisingly I got approved. Now what? A little backstory : I just recently got my SS almost a year ago, I had applied before for a CC but got rejected (about 5-6 months ago) this is exciting but very confusing Thanks in advance

the very first lesson is; Do not spend money that you do not have...

Yep, as others have said, a credit card is not a license to spend. Use it for your monthly purchases, take advantage of any card benefits they offer, and then pay it off in full *every* month to avoid paying interest charges.

Human: I have no idea how to help her. What are her options?

Doesn't really have any. She can let them take it and auction it off and figure out a payment plan for the difference. Or she can make up the fees and get the car back.

Well without any further information it is not possible to give advise. Your mom is obviously in some kind of trouble. Try to figure out the situation first; she needs to come clean and let you help her. That starts with telling you whats going on. When you got that and more info you may wanna post here again.

Human: I got a new job at a preschool after 5 months of the worst, most abusive nanny job I’ve ever had. I didn’t find out until 3 days in that they “hold” everyone’s first paycheck. It’s not a deferred payment, as I’ve been seeing info for when I google this. They just literally do not give us our first check until 2 weeks AFTER we leave and stop working there. Every time I try to google this, it misunderstands what I’m asking and brings up results for “is it legal for my employer to withhold my last paycheck” instead of what I’m typing, which is “is it legal for my employer to withhold my first paycheck”. Because of this, I won’t get paid for around a month. And that’s just completely unacceptable to me. Does anyone have experience with this? The owner of the daycare said “most” employers do this, but I’ve been in the workforce for over 10 years and have never heard of them just not paying my first check until after I leave.

Most employers do not do this. Stop Googling and telephone your state's Labor Department office, in the state capital, and ask what your rights are, which may vary somewhat from state to state.

First of all, it sounds like you really need that job. If everything else is kosher, you might want to suck it up and wait it out. Having said that, this has to be illegal, and should be reported quietly. If the labor department of your state is doing their job, they should put an end to it fairly quickly.

Human: **Delivery is always more expensive than the electricity used.** Live in Boston, MA Edit: thanks for everyone's answers

Because there are two major expenses with getting electricity to your house. Generating the electricity with this you are billed simply what you use. The other major expenses is transportation of that electricity to your house, the power lines, sub stations, all this is billions of infrastructure. So there is a fixed amount you need to pay just to be connected to the grid , doesn't matter if you use a tiny amount or a lot. The other portion is what you use.

Part of the bill is the cost to generate the electricity. As a public, regulated utility , they divide the cost of electricity among those who use it. The more you use, the more you pay. The delivery, is the cost for maintaining the lines, poles, and equipment used to get electricity to your house.. That's more of a fixed cost, that is equally divided among everyone who recieves electricity. The "Profit" that a public utility makes, is often used to pay the interest on public bonds that were sold to finance the utility and to help fund additional upgrades and expansions. In the US most public utilities are regulated by the state government.

Human: I'm looking to sell a car that was transferred to me as a "gift" from my parents to me. If I were to sell it, would I have to pay any taxes on it? Edit: Appreciate all the good advice here!

If this is in the US, the buyer will be paying the taxes when they register and transfer it.

You may find these links helpful: - [Tax Software Megathread](http://redd.it/7r0tvv) - [Taxes](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes) - [Understanding tax brackets](/r/personalfinance/wiki/taxes#wiki_eli5.3A_taxable_income.2C_tax_brackets.2C_marginal_tax_rates) - [W-4 IRS Withholding Calculator](http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/IRS-Withholding-Calculator) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: Hello guys,    So I just have a friend who used to work seasonal jobs in the US for a couple of years. After two years he decided to get a credit card and because he had a good credit score he got it. Now he finished his studies and got a job back home in Europe and decided not to go to the US anymore. However, he got into the habit of using the credit card all the time when he didn't have money. But the problem comes now that he was laid off from his job and he struggles with getting another job so he can pay his credit card debt.     So my question is what happens if he won't be able to pay his debt in short and long terms?

He'll find out what happens next time he attempts to do anything of a financial nature in the US, or even seeks a visa to visit the US. Even if he never tries to come back to the States his deadbeat credit profile can hurt him in other ways. Read: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/credit-score-canad-move-expat-country-abroad/

They would get hit with late fees, then after 30 days not making a payment it would go on his credit score and continue to show negative marks till payments are made. After a few months it will get sold to a debt collector and his credit score will get dinged again. Other lenders will probably avoid giving him any lines of credit and the bank that gave him the credit card will blacklist him for long time or even forever. Depending how large the debt is, he can possibly be sued if it's worth their time. Of course him not being in the country, depends entirely if he is coming back or not. Not exactly sure on what happens at that point.

Human: My employer has received a notice for garnishment from Arrow Financial. I dont remember ever dealing with this company. However it may be an old credit card that was written off. It's no longer on my credit report. What are my options? I'm cluless.

If they've got a garnishment order, you missed multiple notices as well as court documentation surrounding this. Really cannot do anything.

Get a copy of the order from your employer. If you think it's for a debt that isn't yours, you will want to take it to a lawyer. If it is, you don't really have any options besides changing employers and hoping it takes awhile for them to find out who your new employer is.

Human: I just (as in 13 days ago) moved into a 2 bedroom apartment with my coworker and his girlfriend. I found out that my coworker put in his 2 weeks notice and is going to move out of state for family reasons. He hasn’t told me yet. We moved in together to save money but now I’d be spending more money than before if I stayed in the new apartment. My base salary is 24k. Roughly 30-32k with commission. I previously lived in a dump of a studio apartment for $445 with roughly $110 in utilities (electricity,WiFi, etc). With my coworker leaving, my part of the rent would jump to about $650 if my other roommate doesn’t leave. I don’t really have a full estimate for a new utilities bill because I’ve only lived in the new place for 13 days. I’m in Tucson, Arizona which has a pretty low COL but I’m still freaking out. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I fear I’m going to be hemorrhaging money. TL:DR: Moved out of a cheap studio apt to save money with two roommates. One roommate is leaving less than a month into new lease. What can I do? EDIT: EDIT: I *was* going to let him tell me tonight but I’m confronting him tomorrow (Friday, 9/14). AFAIK, his GF is staying in the apartment. Also, his last day with us is Oct 8. So roughly 3 weeks. Whether he’s lying or not about the exact reason he’s moving doesn’t matter, right? Assistant: Is his name on the lease? Human: All three of us have our names on the lease

>All three of us have our names on the lease The burden to find a new roommate falls on him. If he bails without doing so, you still need to pay the full rent, but you can sue him for his portion and win.

You're going to have to let them know that they are responsible for every dollar they agreed to pay until you find their replacement. They are also responsible for the difference in money if you can't find someone willing to cover all their expenses. If they decide not to pay, tell them flat out you'll be taking them to small claims court for full restitution. You should notify your landlord asap and tell them what's going on. You should let them know you're exploring finding someone to replace your current roommates but you'd also like to find out if you can terminate the lease early if necessary.

Human: So I'm starting a new job on Monday. The company is top of the industry and offers a ton of perks. One of the perks is 401K matching and like the title states, they will match 150% for the first $7,500 I contribute. Afterwards they will match 100% for the next $7,500. I am relatively financially illiterate and trying to slowly improve that. When it comes to a 401K, do I have to open an account within the company, or my personal bank? Is it unwise to have a 401K and an IRA as well? Also, my salary will be 60K with potential for big bonus (anywhere from 1,000 - 20,000). This salary is already 20K more than my previous, and I was already getting by okay with that. Any advice on how to use that money wisely? I know it's not good to sit in a savings. I definitely want to aggressively pay down my down my debt first, but after I'm open to anything! I have: 22K student debt $600 in cedit card debt (from few months I was unemployed) $575 Rent $180 Car insurance (I'm less than 25 years old) $130 in phone bills (two phones) $200 in gas and Electric bills That brings my monthly total to around $1,145. I know nothing about investing but want to learn. Any advice on what do do or where to look so I can be financially responsible and literate? Thank you!

Put enough into your 401k to get maximum match. If my math is right, if you put in 15,000 you get an immediate 125% return on your money, far higher than you'll get anywhere else short of luck.

You may find these links helpful: - [Budgeting](/r/personalfinance/wiki/budgeting) - [Tools and spreadsheets](/r/personalfinance/wiki/tools) - /r/mintuit: all about Mint - /r/ynab: all about YNAB *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Human: It's a $20 medical debt from 2015 that I am 100% certain was paid ($20 is the fucking copay, which you pay when you leave the office, there's no way I left the office without paying). I got several calls from them recently and I finally called back because the voicemails didn't say what it was about. The lady on the phone explained the debt, when I asked for verification of the debt she said she didn't have verification of the medical services provided because they didn't get that from the insurance company. I explained that that wasn't what I was asking for, and she cut me off and said the phone calls will continue until the debt is paid and hung up. I still don't know what company the name of the debt collecting company. They knew the insurance company I had in 2015 and they cited a hospital system that does have an office that I visited in 2015, but again, I paid the $20 copay at that office when I visited and I only visited that hospital system one time in 2015 (and never since then). I want to send a verification of debt letter but I don't even know who to send it to. Is this legit? Or is this a scam? It feels like a scam, or at least a medical billing error because the $20 was DEFINITELY paid upon receipt of services. Edit: The calls were from 855-332-9470 (which I have since blocked after speaking to them on the phone), which the internet tells me is a company called "Receivables, LLC", which apparently gets sued a lot and renames themselves to avoid getting sued. I can't find a reliable address for them though. They have my old home address where my parents live, and my parents want me to just ignore them but I'd rather do this the proper way and verify that the debt is or isn't real. I don't want to give them my actual address, though, because I don't want to get spam letters from them if they end up being a harassing agency (I already get collections letters from all the previous tenants of this apartment!).

Tell them that you request all correspondence be written from here on out. If it's real, they'll send a letter.

We also got a debt collection letter once for the same thing. Co-pays. I was irritated b/c I think that DH actually HADN'T paid the co-pays b/c every time he went, they would tell him he didn't owe anything or that they'd send a bill instead of just collecting the money. Well, we always paid every bill we got from them so...as far as I'm concerned, they didn't bill, then we didn't owe....<shrug>. Then, suddenly, we start getting these collection letters for this shit. When I pressed for validation of the debt, they couldn't give it to me. And when we tried reaching out to the doctor's office ourselves, they NEVER CALLED US BACK. They didn't give a shit. They'd sold the "debt" and it wasn't their responsibility anymore. After awhile, I was just like "F it..." I'm tired of dealing with this and stopped trying to figure it out. The letters eventually stopped and nothing ever hit our credit reports. Probably b/c they had zero proof that we actually owed it. ​

Human: Going to skip right through how my mom was barely in my life, as I found out she now has Parkinson's and has been in the nursing home for a year. They will not let her leave because she is not well enough to be on her own and would need caretakers to be taking care of her 24 hours a day. I can't live with her under any circumstances and I barely make enough money for myself to be helping her out. However, it hurts me to see her alone in the nursing home and I would love to help her go back home. She is only 59 years old, so I do not sure if Medicaid could help us. ​ If you folks could give me any recommendations, I would love to hear all choices. I am very overwhelmed with everything :( Assistant: Keep her in the home. Don't really know how at the same time your mom was so absent from your life, yet you all the sudden care so much after finding out this has been going on *for a year*. Human: All she has is me, no body else. I feel terribly guilty and helping her out would relieve me of the stress I am currently under.

Try posting in /r/relationships to help get more feedback on analyzing your relationship with your mom and this feeling. Its hard to live with these feelings, this is valid and an extremely reasonable concern. Financially, just dont set yourself on fire to keep her warm — you come first.

If you take her home & cannot give her the proper care she needs, she could die. I know you feel guilty, but you need to do what is best for her. That may be having her remain in the nursing home.