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mindphlux posted:this is probably a really simple dumb question but I've ordered Costco checks several times and they are cheaper than any other place I have seen. As long as you have your account number and routing number, you should be good to go to order any place you want.
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Aug 16, 2010 18:24
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I know that a lot of people have asked the same sort of questions, but when I read this thread my eyes begin to glaze over and I have trouble sorting it all out. Any advice would be appreciated. I have two categories where I'd like advice. A. Me! -Debts - None. No credit cards. No student loans. -Assets - $12,000 sitting in a free checking account - My budget *after taxes I take home 1750/mo + bonuses (50-300/mo) *Rent $375 *Bills ~$75 *Cell Phone ~$60 *Food ~$250? *Other ???? Other doesn't add up to very much more, because I'm not much of a shopper. I usually have about $900 more at the end of each month, except after vacations and Christmas. I don't keep close track of my spending these days, because I seem to be doing alright. Goals - I'd like to have a separate emergency fund. I don't have a retirement plan at work, I'd like to consider setting up something like that on my own. Marriage is a major possibility in 2-3 years and I want to be prepared for that and everything that follows in the years after (house...? babies...?) Ideas - I have a Vangaurd (I think) money market account with $18 dollars in it that used to be my college fund - I guess it is half in my Dad's name or something, and he'd have to sign it over to me (not sure of technical details here). If Vangaurd is a good money market account, I can easily start using it. If there is something with a better rate out there, I'm happy to entertain other options. Other than that, the word 'investing' sounds scary and I don't know anything about it, whether it is good for me, or not. B My boyfriend - We moved in together two months ago. We keep our finances separate. Recently he's reevaluated his budget and realized that he is spending more than he's earning (he has a car and the associated expenses and payments, as well as some growing credit card debt). He's developed a plan to pay off his debts in 2 years, but it leaves almost 0 discretionary spending and no emergency funds. He does have a 10,000 bond that matures in 3 years. I don't know the specifics of his plan or its feasibility, but I know he'll need a lot of support if he has any chance of making it work. He doesn't want any direct financial help from me (he sees it as his problem, and therefore his responsibility), but we've talked about how I can help include cooking at home more often so he has leftovers to take to work, and helping him avoid extra discretionary spending by doing fewer spendy activities together. Any further suggestions people have on how I can help, or how to ease living with a significant other with a much different spending ability would be greatly appreciated. If this post isn't appropriate for this thread, please direct me to the right place. Thanks!
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Aug 16, 2010 20:45
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Knockknees posted:I know that a lot of people have asked the same sort of questions, but when I read this thread my eyes begin to glaze over and I have trouble sorting it all out. Any advice would be appreciated. I have two categories where I'd like advice. I'm a big fan of automating retirement contributions, and I like Vanguard. I do $500/month on a 10 month schedule to max out my yearly contribution for a Roth - usually Nov/Dec is free, because that works out well for holiday budgeting, and you can set that up through the site. If you wanted to do something like that, I'd put $4k in an account right now and start automating things for September/October (or put 3500 and do Sept/Oct/Nov) - their target retirement funds are very reasonable in terms of overall balance of stocks/bonds and low fees. Unless you have some sort of high-interest checking, I would recommend looking for a good savings account. Online savings accounts may be your best choice right now, just remember that it may take a few days to get your money back out when you need it. It's not really worth the risk and hassle of finding other accounts if you're going to spend the money within 5 years, and money markets aren't necessarily beating savings rates nowadays. Treat the first 6k in your savings account as an emergency fund, and the rest as savings for the future. You can split it out into specific purposes as you see the need.
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Aug 16, 2010 21:33
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I picked up "The Intelligent Investor" from the library and it seems to be, well, a bit over my head/past the point I'm at. The only Finance experience I have is from an incredibly basic Financial Management course I took in High School. What is the most absolute basic book I should start at?
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Aug 18, 2010 02:37
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Beatladdius posted:I picked up "The Intelligent Investor" from the library and it seems to be, well, a bit over my head/past the point I'm at. The only Finance experience I have is from an incredibly basic Financial Management course I took in High School. What topics are you interested in? Budgeting, Saving/Spending management? Investing? Retirement?
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Aug 18, 2010 13:31
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Beatladdius posted:I picked up "The Intelligent Investor" from the library and it seems to be, well, a bit over my head/past the point I'm at. The only Finance experience I have is from an incredibly basic Financial Management course I took in High School. moana fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Aug 18, 2010 |
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Aug 18, 2010 16:47
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Guys I need investment advice. Here are my details: Age: 21 Income: $43k before taxes annually Debt: $0 Assets: $1,000 (I just paid off all my debts with my savings, which is why my assets are so low.) Budget: Monthly take home pay: $2600 Less: Cell Phone: $90 Car Insurance: $60  : $200Entertainment: $200 Food: $100 Gas: $200 Remainder: $1,750/mo. I live with my dad and plan to for another 4 years, which is why I have no rent, utility, or food costs. I want to have as much money socked away as possible when I move out in 4 years, because when I move out I want to go where I want and not have to worry about much financially. What are the best vehicles to sock away my money in? Because of my age and living situation, I think some higher-risk investments would be preferable, but I am no expert (obviously) so I'm turning to you guys. Thanks!
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Aug 18, 2010 16:55
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Grenyarnia posted:Guys I need investment advice. Here are my details: Because you are making good money for a 21 year old, you are living at home, and they are not charging you anything to live there, the temptation is to find stuff to blow your money on. It might be a good idea to have money directly deposited at a mutual fund company and/or an online savings account like INGdirect. You want to have both liquid savings that can be accessed quickly, and longer term investments that have more upside potential. For the savings, you can not afford to lose anything on it, which means it will be very conservative and you will get 1% if you are lucky. For the long term, you should think about opening up a Roth IRA and check out the long term investment thread to learn more how they work and what to put in it. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2892928 also $200/mo on ? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3277879
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Aug 18, 2010 20:36
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I just got married  My checking and savings accounts are with Bank of America, and my wife has checking and saving accounts with Wells Fargo. One of us has to move our money to the other account and close the empty account. I'm trying to figure out which bank to stick with, and which one to leave. I asked BoA if I got anything by adding my wife to my account, and her transferring all her funds to my account, and I didn't even get a smile. So I guess there's not much to look at from that point of view. TL;DR: Bank of America or Wells Fargo?
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Aug 19, 2010 16:00
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Because you are making good money for a 21 year old, you are living at home, and they are not charging you anything to live there, the temptation is to find stuff to blow your money on. It might be a good idea to have money directly deposited at a mutual fund company and/or an online savings account like INGdirect. Thanks for the advice, I've been reading up on the long-term investment thread and feel like I have good knowledge on what I should do now to prepare for retirement. What about mid-term investments, though? Any recommendations or sources I should check out? I'll probably be buying a car within 4 years (cash of course, probably around 10k or less) and a house within 5-6. Edit: As for weed, well I actually decided to quit smoking yesterday after working with my budget so that's not an issue anymore. And I would have grown my own if I could, but living with my dad makes that kind of hard.
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Aug 19, 2010 16:03
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Grenyarnia posted:Thanks for the advice, I've been reading up on the long-term investment thread and feel like I have good knowledge on what I should do now to prepare for retirement. Ask your dad if he wants to skim off the top?
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Aug 19, 2010 16:07
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Alfajor posted:I just got married Why not keep your separate accounts and then open a new, joint account? With the big banks there isn't much of a difference. I'd go with whichever bank has branches / ATMS most convenient to you.
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Aug 19, 2010 17:35
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Grenyarnia posted:Thanks for the advice, I've been reading up on the long-term investment thread and feel like I have good knowledge on what I should do now to prepare for retirement. I know I’ll be corrected if I am wrong, (and I hope I am wrong) but for a goal 3 or 4 years away, I’m not aware of anything that pays out close to any reasonable yield. In normal times you could get a 3 or 4 yield CD if there was a clear goal at a defined time and get a bit more, but these are not normal times and 4 year CD’s yield barely anything with the disadvantage of tying up your money. Anything that could be called an investment, whether it be a stock with a decent dividend, a bond, a diversified mutual fund, anything that you could add to juice up the return can go down. I think there was a thread about high yield checking accounts at one point and I think I saw yields of 3% or 4%, and those are legit place, but there some hoops to jump thru. You have to agree to have direct deposit of everything going there, there probably will not be any physical branch nearby, and there may be some limits on ATM access. It is your call.
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Aug 19, 2010 17:45
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Is there a decent balance transfer 0% or low interest rate card out there now? I made a few mistakes and ended up with ~9k on a HSBC card and they've really started pissing me off with their indian telemarketers calling my parents house (the address I gave them, never gave them that phone number though?) 2-4 times a day. After calling and pitching a shitfit multiple times with no progress I'd really like to balance transfer away from them and close the account. I've never had a late payment and have a high 700 score. BlackMK4 fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Aug 19, 2010 |
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Aug 19, 2010 23:13
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BlackMK4 posted:Is there a decent balance transfer 0% or low interest rate card out there now? I made a few mistakes and ended up with ~9k on a HSBC card and they've really started pissing me off with their indian telemarketers calling my parents house (the address I gave them, never gave them that phone number though?) 2-4 times a day. After calling and pitching a shitfit multiple times with no progress I'd really like to balance transfer away from them and close the account. Stop worrying about balance transfers and work on paying it off.
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Aug 20, 2010 00:22
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What is a "good" or "good enough" credit score? I am mostly wondering what will be looked upon favorably when I'm trying to secure an apartment where they check that kind of thing. Quizzle says I am at 694. I'm told 720+ is optimal, but I'm not sure how to get there. What can I do to increase my score besides just using credit cards and paying them off every month? I think the only reason it's not any higher is just because I don't have much history. I'm just not sure what else to do, because it's been the same for about a year even after using my credit cards for everything and paying them off on time, every time. What else should I be doing?
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Aug 22, 2010 03:05
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You've checked your credit history and there's nothing on there against you like a late payment? Make sure you check all three reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com. Apart from that, just keep doing what you're doing and you should be just fine.
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Aug 22, 2010 03:34
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moana posted:You've checked your credit history and there's nothing on there against you like a late payment? Make sure you check all three reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com. Apart from that, just keep doing what you're doing and you should be just fine. Yes, I just checked all of them and there's nothing negative. I plan to keep doing what I'm doing, but when can I expect my credit score to go up? I'm making plans to move in a year, and it sounds like my score is going to be really important to secure housing.
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Aug 22, 2010 03:46
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spatula posted:Yes, I just checked all of them and there's nothing negative. I plan to keep doing what I'm doing, but when can I expect my credit score to go up? I'm making plans to move in a year, and it sounds like my score is going to be really important to secure housing. Most landlords won't check your credit and the ones who do check just want to make sure you are not leaving a trail of financial destruction behind. If you are in the high 600's you will be fine. If you are trying to increase your score, staying current, not opening up too many more accounts, keeping your debts low, and just the passage of time all help.
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Aug 22, 2010 04:14
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I'm a full time student in Canada, but I make between 3000-4500 per month on the side. I have 1200 monthly rent (including internet, cable and all utilities) and 4000 to pay this coming term in tuition and books. These are my only fixed costs, everything else I just play by ear. I have 6000 in a personal checking account. I also have 2000 in a brokerage account, which I'd like to increase to 5000 so that I can start doing some meaningful stock trading. This is my last semester of undergrad, so I'll likely be making more like 6000 monthly starting in January, and I'm tentatively planning on law school next fall, for which my educational savings plan will cover the first year (20,000 approx). I have two questions: 1. I'm 21 and I've never had a credit card or any type of credit. Should I be getting one to "build" my credit? if so, what sort of card? I should mention here that i have an unpaid internet bill of 300 or so from 3 years ago, so that might affect things. 2. Since I'm making more than I'm spending (hopefully), what should I do with the extra money (beyond what I put towards the brokerage account)? I have no idea where I'm going to be located beyond the end of this year, no plans to buy a house, etc. As I mentioned, all my "savings" are just sitting in a checking account right now, simply because I like having easy access without excess fees. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks bros edit: I forgot, I also have a cellphone at 100 per month JiUC fucked around with this message at 07:27 on Aug 23, 2010 |
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Aug 23, 2010 06:59
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Pay your tuition in cash. Is that $300 internet bill still outstanding? If so, why the hell haven't you paid it? You don't need a credit card as long as you can pay for things with cash, which you can.
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Aug 23, 2010 12:49
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What's the BFC consensus on just how big one's emergency savings should be? And what should it cover? I have read from three months to cover rent/mortgage, utilities, other bills (cell phone, insurance, debt minimum payments) and food plus $2000 "just in case" funds, to nine months to cover rent/mortgage, etc. Thanks.
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Aug 23, 2010 14:05
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I'm a college sophomore and I want to start building credit. What credit card should I get? (yes I'll pay it off on time)
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Aug 23, 2010 15:30
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Qaz Kwaz posted:You don't need a credit card as long as you can pay for things with cash, which you can. I do hear what you are saying. I see people every day who get in trouble with debt, and I see people doing stupid stuff all in the name of building their credit all day. I’ve been the first one to call people out on that in this forum when goons try pulling that argument. That said, I don’t think what you are saying is realistic for most people. There is something to be said for getting a credit card and demonstrating you can repay stuff. Most people have major purchases, or unexpected events in their lives that are difficult or impossible to save for, and even having one credit card and having a credit score makes that possible, or at the very least, easier. To give some examples, JiUC is fortunate to live in Canada where they actually make it somewhat affordable for students and it doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars to go even to a state school, and it’s cool that he can cash flow it. For Americans, if their parents didn’t save enough, should they only go to community colleges because they can never borrow money? In lots of place in the country, even starter condos are $250,000 or more. If you tell someone that they can never borrow money, assuming they can save $12,000 a year on top of their bills, their rent, and their retirement, you are telling them they have to wait 20 years to buy that starter condo, and how much will it cost then? It’s probably going to go up faster than the 1% you will get in a money market. To some of our Haitian members who belong to my credit union, if they need money to help rebuild their relatives homes and don’t have emergency savings, do you tell them their families need to keep living on the street until they manage to save enough money from getting a second job?
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Aug 23, 2010 15:39
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Large Hardon Collider posted:I'm a college sophomore and I want to start building credit. What credit card should I get? (yes I'll pay it off on time) I’m biased toward credit unions, but is there one that serves the student community? I think it is always better to deal locally with a credit union or a community bank. Personally I would avoid the big issuers like Capital One, Chase, Bank of America. You could get a Visa credit card from the littlest credit union and it will be accepted just as many places as a Visa card issued by the biggest bank, and will get reported the same exact way to the credit bureaus too.
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Aug 23, 2010 15:43
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I’m biased toward credit unions, but is there one that serves the student community? I think it is always better to deal locally with a credit union or a community bank. Personally I would avoid the big issuers like Capital One, Chase, Bank of America. You could get a Visa credit card from the littlest credit union and it will be accepted just as many places as a Visa card issued by the biggest bank, and will get reported the same exact way to the credit bureaus too. What's wrong with national banks? I just switched to BoA because they have an ATM on campus, saving me $4 per withdrawal.
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Aug 23, 2010 16:03
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Large Hardon Collider posted:I'll look into student-focused credit unions, thanks. Potentially nothing, potentially a lot, but if you really want your account to be screwed up, talk to Bank of America. Every bank can make a mistake, but when Bank of America does, they are known for the right hand not talking to the left hand, you will make call after call, and get a different answer each time depending on who you talk to, and then when you think its fixed, they will surprise you again. They have creative ways to apply transactions to maximize their fee income. With their credit cards, they will make sure you get a variable rate, and the moment you forget to pay it for a month, (and it can happen to the best of us, in spite of your good intentions now) jack your rate up to 20% or 30% or worse. Long story made short, they are a huge, undercapitalized bank who made terrible acquisitions and bets on the economy, and they are trying to earn their way out of their mess, and they will do what they can to do it on your back.
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Aug 23, 2010 16:19
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SUBFRIES posted:What's the BFC consensus on just how big one's emergency savings should be? The traditional six months' expense emergency fund has recently been called into question, with many people unemployed for over a year at a time. You decide how much you think is right - for me, I wouldn't feel comfortable without a year of bills saved up, but for a lot of people it isn't either feasible or necessary.
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Aug 23, 2010 16:31
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Large Hardon Collider posted:What's wrong with national banks? I just switched to BoA because they have an ATM on campus, saving me $4 per withdrawal. There are banks out there that will reimburse all your ATM fees so it's worth taking a look at some of the smaller banks (or online banks like ING and Schwab if the fact that they're online doesn't bother you).
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Aug 23, 2010 17:38
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Qaz Kwaz posted:Pay your tuition in cash. Is that $300 internet bill still outstanding? If so, why the hell haven't you paid it? It went to collections a long time ago, and at the time I had no income. To be honest, I wouldn't even know how to go about paying it now?
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Aug 23, 2010 19:30
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JiUC posted:It went to collections a long time ago, and at the time I had no income. To be honest, I wouldn't even know how to go about paying it now? Have you ever looked at your credit report? I am assuming the procedure in Canada is the same, I know that the major credit bureaus in the states all have Canadian divisions and score them similarly. The credit report will have who the original creditor sold the account to, and there will be a mailing address, account number, and usually phone number associated with the account. I would call them and ask where to send certified funds. DO NOT give them electronic access to their account, as collectors are scum and you don’t want them to forget that you already paid it and sell it to another collection agency who decides to pull the money again. Ask for a letter that says it has been paid and closed, and save that letter forever. Laminate it if you have to. These things have a way of popping back on your credit report at the worst times.
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Aug 23, 2010 21:01
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Have you ever looked at your credit report? I am assuming the procedure in Canada is the same, I know that the major credit bureaus in the states all have Canadian divisions and score them similarly. The credit report will have who the original creditor sold the account to, and there will be a mailing address, account number, and usually phone number associated with the account. I would call them and ask where to send certified funds. DO NOT give them electronic access to their account, as collectors are scum and you don’t want them to forget that you already paid it and sell it to another collection agency who decides to pull the money again. Ask for a letter that says it has been paid and closed, and save that letter forever. Laminate it if you have to. These things have a way of popping back on your credit report at the worst times. Thanks for the advice, I'll look into this. For some reason, I'd heard that once a debt had been sold to a third party it was best to ignore it.
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Aug 23, 2010 21:08
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Sorry for the double post, but I'm also wondering what I should do with the cash that I'm currently just throwing in my checking account but don't need. Someone suggested opening an ING direct savings account. Is this the best idea?
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Aug 25, 2010 04:41
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Just signed my first job offer today. 48k/yr before taxes. I have 70k liability in student loans. 0 in assets. Here's a tentative budget. Should I bother putting the $100/mo in my Roth IRA for retirement savings or put it towards my 70k in debt? My employer doesn't match contributions for the first two years. andy17null fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Aug 25, 2010 |
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Aug 25, 2010 05:01
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JiUC posted:Sorry for the double post, but I'm also wondering what I should do with the cash that I'm currently just throwing in my checking account but don't need. Someone suggested opening an ING direct savings account. Is this the best idea? Smarty pig is nice.
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Aug 25, 2010 13:01
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Has anyone used You Need A Budget before? Any thoughts? Would be nice to use software instead of my own spreadsheet all the time.
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Aug 26, 2010 08:53
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CelestialScribe posted:Has anyone used You Need A Budget before? Any thoughts? Would be nice to use software instead of my own spreadsheet all the time. Yes. I used it for a few months before I started my own spreadsheet. It crashes a lot but when it works, its pretty awesome.
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Aug 26, 2010 18:14
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I have two credit cards. One of them as a 12.99 APR, and a balance of 13,461.83. The other has an APR of 20.99% and after I make a payment in a few days will have a balance of 0 (and a credit limit of $6100). Now the 20.99 APR card has a balance transfer offer for 0% APR for 11 months. I want to transfer $6000 from the high card to the empty card. I'll be able to pay off the 0% APR in the 11 months, so I don't shoot back into 21% territory. I'm guessing the smartest way to do this is pay 1/11th of the 0% card every month, and throw the rest of my money at the 12.99% card, right? Is there any other smarter way to do this? Is there some fancy calculator I could be using to figure out the cheapest way to do this?
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Aug 26, 2010 18:40
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What is the best rate I can get on a savings account? I'm a university student in canada, if it matters.
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Aug 26, 2010 18:47
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FISHMANPET posted:I have two credit cards. One of them as a 12.99 APR, and a balance of 13,461.83. The other has an APR of 20.99% and after I make a payment in a few days will have a balance of 0 (and a credit limit of $6100). Now the 20.99 APR card has a balance transfer offer for 0% APR for 11 months. I want to transfer $6000 from the high card to the empty card. You do know that 0% is a gimmick, right? No bank makes money by lending at 0%, so how come they don’t go out of business? First, there is going to be a transfer fee. Then they will put you on a very short leash and if you stray by just a bit, or even if they mishandle one of your payments, you know the types of rates that card is capable of. Don’t think 21% is a cap. 21% is just one of many possibilities. 0% becomes a game. And you might very well win the game. I don’t know. And if you are intellectually honest, you don’t know either. Is there a smart way to do it? Just pay it off? I see people get in trouble because instead of paying off their debt, they look for cleaver ways to manage their debt. Here is a link to a loan calculator, but it isn’t fancy. http://www.dinkytown.com/java/SimpleLoan.html Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Aug 26, 2010 |
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Aug 26, 2010 20:19
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