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Murgos posted:Eh? If I can borrow at 0% while other money earns whatever then I am up the money earned in the interest bearing account. I'm talking about whatever interest you're paying on your card now. How much are you really gonna earn on that interest? Is it worth the risk if you can't pay off the card in 12 months or whenever the teaser rate expires. You're not paying off the debt, you're shifting the debt elsewhere to save a few bucks. If I were in your shoes, it would not be worth the risk to me for some minor financial gains. But then again, I'm of the opinion that all debt is bad debt. And no, I would never borrow on a credit card to invest with. FCKGW fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Nov 9, 2010 |
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Nov 9, 2010 17:40
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My company offers a deferred compensation plan, like a 401k, although they do not contribute to it. After I max out my $5k annual Roth IRA contribution in January, does it make sense to put money into that deferred compensation plan for the tax benefits, even without their contributing anything, or would it make more sense to invest somewhere else? I also have about $10k in a 401k from a previous job that I need to do something with. Is there any reason I couldn't roll it over into this deferred compensation plan? I guess pretty much anything else would incur penalties. I don't need the money for anything right now. Oh, also I have some money in a 457B from a previous employer (not much, I was only there 8 months.) I have no clue what I can do with this, if it can be rolled over into the deferred compensation plan, if they just cut me a check for it, or what. I'll obviously call them and discuss it, but I'd like to have an idea of my options going in. I'm 26 and have no debt. Febtober fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Nov 10, 2010 |
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Nov 10, 2010 02:11
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Murgos posted:Now, if you could pay your existing CC with your new 0% intro card, without doing a cash advance (non-0%, I'd imagine, most of the offers I've read are non-0% for cash advance), maybe that would work out.. I'm siding with BorderPatrol. Pay off your debt, even with savings, as long as it doesn't hit your emergency fund, and be done with it.
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Nov 10, 2010 05:49
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Update on the 401k situation. I am still waiting on the information packet from HR, but after talking to my manager, he says that the company stock part of my 401k had to remain vested for 180 days. Does anybody know what that means? I'm still new to the whole investment game. To be honest, despite the 50% match, I am really tempted to keep my retirement savings in my Roth IRA, epically after seeing the management in this company; I don't have a lot of faith in our company stock.
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Nov 10, 2010 06:34
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Vested for 180 days means if you withdraw from the 401k within 180 days, you lose some/all of the company match.
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Nov 10, 2010 13:45
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If I contribute money to a Roth 401(k), then later roll that money into a Roth IRA, can I withdraw all the money out of my Roth IRA, thus getting around the requirement that you can never withdraw money from a 401(k) until retirement age?
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Nov 13, 2010 18:15
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I know this is sort of similar to the namesake of this thread, but im going to go ahead and ask anyway. When i bought my car, the guy who worked out my loan with the credit union told me that it would be better for my credit score to pay back the loan slowly, rather than as quickly as possible. He said that the length of the loan was an important factor in accumulating credit score. The extra interest incurred by paying it back in 12 or 24 months would be pretty minimal compared to paying it back in 6, and there are no penalties with the credit union for paying it back quickly. Is it true that I'd be better paying it off slowly? Im not planning on buying a house or anything soon, but figured i wanted to manage this debt well since i won't be buying another car again for quite a while.
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Nov 14, 2010 15:36
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It's true that the credit union will make a lot more money by you not paying it off right away. There are better ways to improve your credit score that don't involve you paying unnecessary money.
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Nov 14, 2010 16:31
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|Ziggy| posted:It's true that the credit union will make a lot more money by you not paying it off right away. There are better ways to improve your credit score that don't involve you paying unnecessary money. The difference between paying it off as quickly as possible versus 9 months or longer is pretty minimal, around 250$. So I'm not too worried about that. Based on your answer though, sounds like the loan guy was correct and it is better (for credit rating, if not my bank balance) to pay it back slower?
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Nov 14, 2010 17:13
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Alkuan posted:I know this is sort of similar to the namesake of this thread, but im going to go ahead and ask anyway. There's a bit of truth to this, especially if it is your only loan and your credit is very new. But even then, it is minor compared to the things that really matter, like you being current on everything and not maxing out credit cards. The exception is if you do have a very thin credit history, and it is a small loan, less than $10000, and at a decent rate, you could make a case for it. I always get back to you can either manage your finances, or manage your credit score. I find that when people manage their finances, the credit will be there when they need it. Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Nov 14, 2010 |
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Nov 14, 2010 17:20
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Six years ago I moved out of the country and paid off everything. At least, I thought I did. This morning I checked my credit history because I was curious and I'm going to be applying for a credit card again soon so I wanted to see what there was to see. Apparently I have an outstanding debt of $166 that was sent to collections over 4 years ago. I didn't know I had been sent to collections because no one ever actually contacted me. But it's sitting there on my credit report regardless. Obviously I'm going to pay this off when I get my next paycheck but I'm wondering what having that sitting there for all those years is going to do to my ability to get a new card and eventually rent from someone not a friend of my family. Every other account listed on my report is pristine, does that make any difference at all? How big of a ding to my credit is $166 anyway and will it help when I pay it off?
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Nov 14, 2010 19:05
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Esmerelda posted:Six years ago I moved out of the country and paid off everything. At least, I thought I did. This morning I checked my credit history because I was curious and I'm going to be applying for a credit card again soon so I wanted to see what there was to see. I wouldn't stress too much. You probably don't have a credit score anymore, or if you did have one, I would guess you would be somewhere in the low 600's. It's not the end of the world. You should pay it off if it is a legitimate debt. As far as getting an apartment, it is entirely possible that some people might not rent to you, especially some big apartment complexes, but tons of people will. But most parts of the country are still in a housing crisis, young professionals have moved back in with their parents, families have moved and can't sell their houses because they owe too much so they are renting them in the meantime. Still others have taken on a roommate to help with expenses. Many landlords won't even pull your credit, and for the ones who do, if they make a decision with their brain and not a formula, they will rent to you. If you are still not convinced, think of all the people who were just went thorough foreclosure who still manage to rent after. It probably means you will still get a cell phone plan, but you will have to put a bit more money down. Maybe you will have to get a secured credit card for 6 months before you can get a regular one. Might not be the best time to buy a new car right away, but moving back after 6 years probably wouldn't make it a good time anyway.
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Nov 14, 2010 22:35
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Zeta Taskforce posted:You should pay it off if it is a legitimate debt. I've always had immaculate credit so having this one little blemish, particularly for such a small amount, it bugs me. That and I was planning on getting a department store credit card when I'm ready to re-buy everything and I wasn't sure if having been sent to collections was going to get me turned down or not.
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Nov 14, 2010 23:45
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Esmerelda posted:My best guess is that's a late fee from my final payment. Which would make it legitimate even if the fact that they never billed me or let me know it existed makes this their own drat fault to begin with!
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Nov 15, 2010 00:02
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How do I get accepted for a credit card if I have no credit? Are there any legit cards that are designed for this? I'm renting in my name but avoid all credit otherwise (utilities and cell phone not in my name), and every application is getting denied because I haven't had an active line of credit in the past 6 months.
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Nov 15, 2010 00:11
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SiGmA_X posted:Look up a "pay for delete" letter. Send one to the collection agency. Offer them something like 30-50% of the value they are claiming, as they likely a fraction of whatever your total debt was initially. Thanks for the advice guys!
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Nov 15, 2010 00:15
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MikoLovesYou posted:How do I get accepted for a credit card if I have no credit? Are there any legit cards that are designed for this? I'm renting in my name but avoid all credit otherwise (utilities and cell phone not in my name), and every application is getting denied because I haven't had an active line of credit in the past 6 months. Look into "secured" cards. They're low limit cards that you put the credit limit down for in cash. That might be an option.
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Nov 15, 2010 01:04
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Esmerelda posted:I'll look into doing that, didn't know that was possible.
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Nov 15, 2010 01:32
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SiGmA_X posted:There is actually a massive thread on the subject here. For some reason Search isn't letting me put in a subforum.. Look for "credit" in the thread title in Ask/Tell. But [based on my limited knowledge, mostly from that thread] I think you just want to send a PFD and see what happens. If you mean the "Dealing with Debt Collectors" thread, it's in the op: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3234974
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Nov 15, 2010 19:33
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Another question: I have 3800 sitting in a 401k. I left the employer who was matching this, so I have the option to roll it over into another account or cash out, paying a ~20% tax which would leave me with about $3000 flat. I currently have $1100 in my savings and I live in New York City. Would it be smarter to cash out and pad my savings account as an emergency fund, or roll it over into another 401k and keep that extra $700? As noted in the post above, I do not currently have any credit cards, so I have no emergency credit line either.
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Nov 15, 2010 19:53
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SiGmA_X posted:Look up a "pay for delete" letter. Send one to the collection agency. Offer them something like 30-50% of the value they are claiming, as they likely a fraction of whatever your total debt was initially. You have nothing to lose by sending a pay for delete letter, but I am speaking for my credit union, we do not ever delete anything, and our reading of the law is that we can not. I’m sure with the millions of collection accounts, it happens on occasion, but in my experience pay for delete is only slightly better than cow tipping. Everyone has heard about someone somewhere who has done it, but no one can provide firm evidence that it’s possible. Because it is so small, I would just pay the entire thing, whether they actually delete it or not. Either way, as far as actual damage to what you need to accomplish when you get back, it is a speed bump.
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Nov 15, 2010 20:01
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Zeta Taskforce posted:You have nothing to lose by sending a pay for delete letter, but I am speaking for my credit union, we do not ever delete anything, and our reading of the law is that we can not. I’m sure with the millions of collection accounts, it happens on occasion, but in my experience pay for delete is only slightly better than cow tipping. Everyone has heard about someone somewhere who has done it, but no one can provide firm evidence that it’s possible.
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Nov 16, 2010 08:59
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Chernori posted:Thank you so much for this. I need to set up an RRSP and TFSA this year, and I really didn't want to go to a bank not knowing a god drat thing about a god drat thing. Very helpful stuff. Since our most immediate and pressing financial goal is a home, I'm planning on contributing the $10k I made when I sold my company stock into an RRSP with a very low-risk portfolio, as we can deduct $25,000 each from our RRSPs for a home purchase, with the only stipulation being that we pay that money back into our RRSP within the next 15 years. Once the down payment is out and our RRSP becomes an actual retirement fund, I'll work on a proper portfolio with my actual retirement date in mind. I'm nowhere near able to max out my annual contributions to an RRSP, but I plan to put a few thousand into a TFSA after we get the down payment out of the way for non-retirement investments. man thats gross fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Nov 16, 2010 |
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Nov 16, 2010 17:47
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man thats gross posted:Thank you so much for this.
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Nov 16, 2010 19:00
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moana posted:Added this awesome post to the OP, thanks Chernori! Wow, I didn't think my post was worthy of the OP, but I'm flattered!
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Nov 16, 2010 19:06
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I'm 27 and turned a sort of part time IT consulting hobby into an actual 'business' this year - IE, I filed a DBA with the state and opened up business accounts and stuff. It's just a sole prop, and I'll file my income and expenses as schedule C on my tax return. I still am employed part time and get a W-2. My question is, are there any tax beneficial savings/investing vessles for self-employed/sole prop people? Like a 401k or IRA or something that I can have my 'company' match contributions to? I really feel like I need to get my savings in order - I have about 40-50k invested in stocks and a bit of cash to my name, but other than that no savings. No company I've ever worked for has had like 401k or really any benefits at all so I really just don't know much about them.
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Nov 17, 2010 05:28
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mindphlux posted:My question is, are there any tax beneficial savings/investing vessles for self-employed/sole prop people? Check out SEP IRAs.
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Nov 17, 2010 05:33
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alreadybeen posted:Check out SEP IRAs. Thanks, this looks like what I was thinking probably existed.
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Nov 17, 2010 05:37
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Not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but hopefully I can get some advice. My foolish mother and her husband apparently decided to stop paying on a number of credit card accounts. At one time, I had a card with a few of these, but never used them and I haven't had the cards in years. I've now found out that my credit history has 4 negative accounts, 3 of which are closed and 1 of which is still open and most likely continuing to damage my score. What, if anything, can I do about this?
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Nov 17, 2010 08:45
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Kinkajou posted:Not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but hopefully I can get some advice. My foolish mother and her husband apparently decided to stop paying on a number of credit card accounts. At one time, I had a card with a few of these, but never used them and I haven't had the cards in years. I've now found out that my credit history has 4 negative accounts, 3 of which are closed and 1 of which is still open and most likely continuing to damage my score. What, if anything, can I do about this? If you cant get an answer here, try asking Zeta here.
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Nov 17, 2010 15:11
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There's also a dealing with debt collectors thread that might provide some useful information about how to help with those accounts.
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Nov 17, 2010 18:04
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Thanks, I'll try Zeta first and then go from there.
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Nov 17, 2010 18:07
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Okay, probably a silly question, but this is my first credit card: Netflix was charged to my card on 11/5. My Payment Due Date is the 19th of every month. This is the first thing I have ever charged to my credit card, so in the column for last statement balance it says $0.00, when I sign in from BankofAmerica.com. Do I need to pay off what was charged on 11/5, by 11/19? Or after 11/19, will I get a new statement for the preceding month, and then will I have to pay off what was charged on 11/5, by 12/19 when the next payment due date (dealing with the last statement) happens? Basically my question is if whether or not I am paying off my statement or what was charged in the previous month on the payment date? I know to some it may seem like it does not matter as long as it is paid off, but I have heard from various people that if you don't have a balance on your statement each month, it will not go into your credit history, which is my point of getting a card at all, to build good credit. Can anyone confirm or deny if this is true?
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Nov 17, 2010 18:29
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SuperX2332 posted:Okay, probably a silly question, but this is my first credit card: Your statement closing date for statement with due date 11/19 likely happened before 11/5. So the 11/5 should show up on your next statement (which should be available end of Nov or early Dec), after which you would need to pay it by 12/19.
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Nov 17, 2010 18:39
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SuperX2332 posted:I know to some it may seem like it does not matter as long as it is paid off, but I have heard from various people that if you don't have a balance on your statement each month, it will not go into your credit history, which is my point of getting a card at all, to build good credit. Can anyone confirm or deny if this is true? The title of this thread would lead me to believe that you don't need to carry a credit card balance
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Nov 17, 2010 18:42
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SuperX2332 posted:I know to some it may seem like it does not matter as long as it is paid off, but I have heard from various people that if you don't have a balance on your statement each month, it will not go into your credit history, which is my point of getting a card at all, to build good credit. Can anyone confirm or deny if this is true? 80K is right about the due dates. You are also correct that that FICO scores inactive accounts differently than active ones, however you are not required to have a balance to build credit or show activity. On credit reports they distinguish between a zero balance with activity and zero balance with no activity. The first gets reported as a “C” for current. If there was zero activity, it will get reported as “N”. Also, accounts are considered inactive if there is zero activity for 6 months in a row.
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Nov 17, 2010 19:13
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Just checked my credit score for the first time since April and my score declined from 760 to 739 because of "open credit card utilization". Am I to understand that because of some car repair that I put on my card, which still had me well below my limit, my credit score went down? What sort of crazy world do we live in that using a line of credit responsibly, I always pay off my balance, brings your score down?? Or am I totally misinterpreting everything?
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Nov 20, 2010 01:04
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It's a short term swing, it doesn't matter especially when you're already above 700. Eventually responsible use of credit will lead to an increase. They have to put a reason on there for your score, just so happens that you had a higher utilization ratio the day they pulled your score. Don't sweat it.
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Nov 20, 2010 01:43
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Ok thanks! I don't check it often and this was the first time it went down so I got worried.
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Nov 20, 2010 02:00
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Thanks to the advice from this thread, in the past 2 years I have: - Paid off a $1200 personal loan from a finance company - Paid off a $1500 credit card balance - Paid off a $500 credit card balance - Paid off my 2008 car (last week, still stoked about this one) - Brought a $6800 credit card balance down to $3500, with a $500/mo payment schedule until it's done with. I closed the first 2 CC accounts last year. The only thing I'm paying now is eliminating that last credit card, which is also a closed account, and my mortgage which only has about $6000 left. And to help rebuild my credit I got a no annual fee credit card with a low limit ($400) to use for gas and groceries, which I will pay off immediately every month. THANK YOU THREAD.
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Nov 21, 2010 19:48
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