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place fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Feb 10, 2017 |
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Jul 29, 2011 01:11
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Pieces posted:How irresponsible is it to spend a bit more on rent as a new graduate? I wouldn't sweat 30% on city living. We currently pay ~31% in the DC metro, but every time I start to think that it would be nice to move into the burbs and pay two-thirds of what we pay, I run the numbers and realize that we'd be paying an extra $400 - 500 in parking alone, not to mention the gas and time spent in grid lock swearing at the bumper right in front of you. In the words of Captain Barbosa, they're more like guidelines. As a young new graduate, there are temptations everywhere. Furnishings, dining out, Apple goodies. If you can avoid these you can surely afford to spend 30%, especially if you are debt free. KennyG fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Jul 29, 2011 |
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Jul 29, 2011 04:07
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So I just paid off my car (and plan never to take a car loan again)! Does this affect my car insurance at all? I know that I used to have to have collision because I didn't own it, but I still want collision on it. Would telling my car insurance company that it is mine now lower my premium otherwise?
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Jul 29, 2011 12:13
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Chin Strap posted:So I just paid off my car (and plan never to take a car loan again)! Does this affect my car insurance at all? I know that I used to have to have collision because I didn't own it, but I still want collision on it. Would telling my car insurance company that it is mine now lower my premium otherwise? Yes, you can remove coverage if you would like now as there isn't another party involved. However, you do lose coverage, you may want.
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Jul 29, 2011 14:00
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I recently ordered a new bedroom set and mattress/box spring from The Brick. Part of their delivery service states that all old mattresses and box springs have to be bagged for pick-up, and that you can pick up plastic mattress bags at any brick location for free. The other day I go in to pay off my balance and pick up some mattress bags, and they told me they were 10 dollars each. I said "Are you sure, your policy says they're free." And I showed her the part of my reciept where it said that. They replied, saying that the delivery persons will unwrap the new mattress and re-wrap the old ones with the bags the new ones came in. Honestly I didn't think this made sense (I thought the entire purpose was to have the mattresses bagged prior so as not to expose delivery persons to bed bugs and things.) so I asked if I could get it in writing. Was this unreasonable of me to get a note from the manager? I know it'll be kind of moot if the delivery goes wrong and they can't take my old mattress anyway because of health regulations, but I felt like if they're telling me something that's not in my contract or directly loving clashes with their delivery policy, I thought I should take extra precautions. In retrospect I could've just paid the 20 bucks to get the mattress bags, but it should either be taken out of their policy that they're free, or it should be mentioned during the initial purchase that they're needed for delivery. 
Clavietika fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Jul 29, 2011 |
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Jul 29, 2011 16:42
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Chin Strap posted:So I just paid off my car (and plan never to take a car loan again)! Does this affect my car insurance at all? I know that I used to have to have collision because I didn't own it, but I still want collision on it. Would telling my car insurance company that it is mine now lower my premium otherwise? My general principle with insurance is to get insurance for things you cannot handle out of pocket, like catastrophic lawsuits, severe injuries, and huge property losses; and don't pay lots of additional premium for minor stuff (pounding out panel dents or replacing a stolen Xbox). Most people have low deductibles—I consider $500 and lower to be low for auto, and anything under $1000 to be low for home—and I think it's a long-term (and often short-term) waste of money. Having low deductibles basically says to an insurance company, "I cannot pay for any bad thing on my own and I will call you to handle everything that ever happens ever," and your rate will reflect that, even if you're not actually filing a bunch of claims. Even if that's not your intent, that's what requests for low deductibles imply. You probably have a $500 collision deductible, right? Get a quote for $1000 and see how much that would save you. If it's $50 or so, then I wouldn't bother with it, but you'll usually see savings of $200/year (i.e. $100 every six months) or more, simply by quoting a $1000 deductible. If you could pay $2000/year with a $500 deductible, or $1800/year for $1000, there isn't much reason not to*. I think it makes very little sense to pay an additional $200/year to essentially purchase another $500 of insurance on your car. That $200 can either go back in your pocket, be used toward much better liability/medical coverage (25/50/25 and $500 deductibles can often be changed to 250/500/100 with $1000 deductibles, without much change in premium), or go toward purchasing Renters insurance (discussed earlier, and yes everybody, please buy this policy. It's probably the best value in property insurance) or an Umbrella policy (an excess liability policy for catastrophic liability claims, and personal/emotional injury lawsuits. It's probably the best deal in personal liability insurance). The point is, you can do much better things with $200 than buy $500 of insurance for damage to your car. *The key reasons to keep $500 would be if you could not afford to pay a $1000 deductible if your vehicle gets banged up tomorrow, or if you have a history of filing a collision claim at least every 2 years or so. Discuss the option with your agent/representative if you're not sure if it makes sense for you. Comprehensive (aka "other than collision") doesn't have a huge impact on the rate, usually, but if you have something ridiculously low, like $50 or $100, see what you'd save by bumping that to $250 or $500. Yes, this would pretty much eliminate your ability to make windshield replacement claims (unless you have a Full Glass waiver) but again, if it saves you a bunch of money and your windshield doesn't typically break every 2-3 years, then consider doing it and just handling glass replacement out of pocket. If your insurer offers Full Glass, then consider a $1000 comp/otc deductible, since you'd have a $0 deductible for the most common comp/otc claim, anyway. Same disclaimer applies as with collision - if you couldn't pay $1000 to replace your car if it were stolen tomorrow, then leave the deductible where you could afford to pay it. tl;dr: if you're not a high-risk, low-income person who needs to use insurance to handle every bad thing ever, then make sure your policy isn't designed (and priced) for someone who is. Shine fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Jul 29, 2011 |
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Jul 29, 2011 17:02
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TheShineNSB posted:I have a $2000 deductible for collision and for comprehensive. I prefer self insuring most things (and can afford to). But then again I have extraordinary limits (1M/1M BI, 500k PD, etc) because I'm paranoid about the long tail disasters that insurance should cover for. I worked for a summer doing pricing statistics at an auto insurance company, so I know all about all that.
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Jul 29, 2011 18:48
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Chin Strap posted:I have a $2000 deductible for collision and for comprehensive. I prefer self insuring most things (and can afford to). Gotta run to work now but I can elaborate on Umbrella insurance if you're not familiar with it.
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Jul 29, 2011 18:55
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TheShineNSB posted:Awesome. Get an Umbrella policy if you don't already have one, as having 250/500/100 auto liability and a $1M or $2M Umbrella is often cheaper than having 1M/1M/500K and no Umbrella, even though an Umbrella is shitloads better (more coverage, and broader coverage). I am actually very interested in hearing about Umbrella insurance for my home. I just moved to a new neighborhood that does not allow fences. I have a neurotic dog that I want to insure against any stupid thing she may do. I'm doing everything in my power to keep her contained, but without fences, I'm a bit nervous of someone getting hurt. I've been told the best thing I can do is get a bug Umbrella policy, care to talk about it? Thanks!
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Jul 29, 2011 19:14
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Clavietika posted:Was this unreasonable of me to get a note from the manager? I know it'll be kind of moot if the delivery goes wrong and they can't take my old mattress anyway because of health regulations, but I felt like if they're telling me something that's not in my contract or directly loving clashes with their delivery policy, I thought I should take extra precautions. Absolutely not. If it's in an official policy, it should be already written down somewhere. If it's a manager's policy (due to a previous instance or something like that), he should have no aversion to writing down something so trivial. Also, I'm not really sure why this is in the finance thread.
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Jul 29, 2011 19:49
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I wasn't really sure where else to put it (Maybe ask/tell proper), and it certainly didn't merit its own thread. Thanks though!
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Jul 29, 2011 21:08
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TheShineNSB posted:Awesome. Get an Umbrella policy if you don't already have one, as having 250/500/100 auto liability and a $1M or $2M Umbrella is often cheaper than having 1M/1M/500K and no Umbrella, even though an Umbrella is shitloads better (more coverage, and broader coverage). Hmm I guess I've never really priced it. I've just always assumed that umbrella pricing only made sense when you have a house to insure too (I don't, I rent). The main reason for such high coverage is that I am a high earner so if something horrible happened I could be gone after for a lot. I'm paying 600 for 6 months of car insurance. I wonder what that would look like quote:I am actually very interested in hearing about Umbrella insurance for my home. I just moved to a new neighborhood that does not allow fences. I have a neurotic dog that I want to insure against any stupid thing she may do. I'm doing everything in my power to keep her contained, but without fences, I'm a bit nervous of someone getting hurt. I've been told the best thing I can do is get a bug Umbrella policy, care to talk about it? Umbrella policies are high limit policies (like 1 or 2 million) with high deductibles (like 500k deductibles). They are meant to kick in only when your normal insurance is maxed out.
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Jul 29, 2011 22:49
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Chin Strap posted:Umbrella policies are high limit policies (like 1 or 2 million) with high deductibles (like 500k deductibles). They are meant to kick in only when your normal insurance is maxed out.
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Jul 29, 2011 23:11
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Just checking to say that I want to know more about Umbrella policies. My eventual brother in law was in a terrible accident that included a deceased man (not him). It's unclear if the accident caused the death or vice versa but he rear ended a car stopped in the middle of an interstate. Came over a hill at speed and couldn't stop. Hurt himself pretty bad and now the estate is coming after him. He is a high earner by almost every definition but Frobes'. Thankfully he had a large umbrella policy which got us wondering if we should have the same. I don't have near the assets to make such a policy a necessity but just thinking about this scares the crap out of me. As a lawyer, I know what kind of fuckery poor insurance coverage can lead to.
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Jul 30, 2011 02:56
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Disclaimer: This is very general information. If you have questions after reading this, you'll want to speak to your agent/representative about the specifics of your insurer's policy. I'm not an expert on your insurer. What are they? Personal Umbrella Policies (PUPs) are liability policies, designed to supplement Automobile, Homeowners, and other insurance policies - a.k.a. the "underlying policies." The main function is to provide excess liability coverage in case your underlying auto/home/boat/etc. insurance has insufficient liability coverage to pay for a covered claim against you. This is the "kick in when your normal insurance is maxed out" that Chin Strap mentioned. They most commonly provide $1,000,000 coverage, but some insurers offer far higher limits. On top of that, though, they are designed to plug a few "holes" in auto/home policies, and this is what makes them superior to simply having high auto/renters liability limits. Depending on your company, they may also: 1. Provide coverage for personal injury lawsuits (libel, slander, etc.). Some also cover emotional injury, such as if a surviving spouse sues for emotional suffering following their partner's death in an accident you caused. These are typically not covered by auto or home policies. 2. Provide liability coverage on rented recreational vehicles for which there is no underlying insurance. If somebody rents a boat or ATV and injures someone, their auto/home policies will not cover it. A typical PUP will. 3. Provide international auto liability. I always recommend buying local insurance if you rent a car overseas, but a PUP will provide excess coverage if the rental insurance is insufficient to cover an accident. 4. Cover liability exposures for certain community activities, such as non-profit boards, recreational sports, and volunteering. Maybe someone is working in a soup kitchen, and he accidentally spills a pot on someone, scalding them. Maybe someone is planting trees with her church group, and somebody breaks their ankle in a hole she dug. Again, not all PUPs are the same. Some may offer a few more coverages (such as excess uninsured motorist coverage) or may not cover all of the items above. Consult your agent. Is there a deductible? Most PUPs have a fixed $500 deductible, whether they are acting as excess insurance (i.e. stacking on top of your auto/home liability) or as the primary responding policy (when they cover something that isn't covered at all by your auto/home, like the examples above). Who needs one? Anyone with something to lose. For homeowners, you have much better protection against losing your home due to a catastrophic lawsuit. If you are a renter, a modest income household, or if your home is protected from forced sale via homestead exemption, then you might wonder how a PUP would benefit you, as you feel you have "nothing to lose," and that's a fair question to ask. My customers will sometimes quote Rocky: "Sue me for what?" You don't have to be a millionaire to be sued like one. Even if you don't have major assets, you still have something to protect: your income and future. You have a paycheck to protect, and the lifestyle that paycheck allows you. You probably don't want garnished wages for the next decade or two. You probably don't want a big lawsuit to torpedo your chance of owning a home someday (unless you read this thread). You probably don't want to have to convince a partner that it's a good idea to marry you even though that $200,000 settlement against you will become their problem, too. You probably don't want someone taking that inheritance your deceased parent/grandparent just left you. PUP will give you peace of mind against these. (Note that intentional acts aren't covered, so you can't get a PUP and then punch boxing promoters.) How do I get one? Generally, you need to meet the following criteria to purchase a PUP: 1. You have automobile insurance with the PUP company, with at least $250,000/$500,000/$50,000 liability limits. Some companies only require $100k/$300k/$50k. 2. You have either homeowners/condo, or renters insurance with at least $300,000 liability. Most policies come with this amount, or you can increase it there for $10/year or so. Not all companies require that you insure your home with them to provide a PUP - you can have it insured elsewhere as long as it has $300k liability. 3. You have a decent driving and claims record. A speeding ticket or two is probably okay, as is a minor property damage claim. Bodily injury claims and major violations are often disqualifiers, but this varies from company to company. It doesn't hurt to ask your agent, even if you have a spotty record. The higher a limit you're requesting (ex. $5,000,000), the cleaner your record needs to be. Your company may start you at $1,000,000 and allow you to request higher coverage later. How much do they cost? This varies from company to company, but they are usually very inexpensive, considering the amount and breadth of their coverage. A $1,000,000 policy could be as little as $100 or as much as $500, depending on how many vehicles/boats/homes you own, and what your record looks like. The reason for the low cost is simply because you will probably never need to use it. Being sued for hundreds of thousands, or millions, is not a common thing. But it can happen, so I think it's worth considering when you buy insurance. The biggest issue for most people will be the automobile liability. Chances are your policy has less than 250/500 liability. If you have state minimums, then it may be costly to increase to 250/500. The option I typically suggest here is to offset the increased liability with higher deductibles. Often, something like 50/100 and $500 deductibles will cost the same as 250/500 and $1000 deductibles, essentially trading $500 of coverage on a vehicle for $400,000 of bodily injury coverage. Now you only have the small expense of the PUP to deal with. Incidentally, even if you don't want a PUP, you might want to tweak your auto policy in this manner anyway - it's a more effective use of premium, in my opinion. I always learn toward insuring against things you can't handle on your own. If you can pay $1000 (or more) to replace your car, then set your deductible to that amount and buy better liability and medical limits. If you already have 250/500, or 100/300, then increasing your deductible may free up enough premium to pay for a PUP entirely. You essentially trade $500 of deductible for $1,000,000 of liability. A good deal, I think. That's the gist of PUP. Again, talk to your insurance agent/representative about their specific policy, as my information is very general.
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Jul 30, 2011 06:57
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So I bought my car using Southeast Toyota Finance and I want to pay the bill faster than my normal scheduled monthly payments. This month I paid $1,000 instead of my usual $250. However, to request a payoff statement, you have to mail it in. Am I allowed to pay more than my monthly scheduled payment? I would assume so - it's effectively the same as a credit card company; but I want to ensure the money is actually going towards the payment and not disappearing (not sure why it would).
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Jul 30, 2011 18:09
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Wagoneer posted:So I bought my car using Southeast Toyota Finance and I want to pay the bill faster than my normal scheduled monthly payments. This month I paid $1,000 instead of my usual $250. However, to request a payoff statement, you have to mail it in. Am I allowed to pay more than my monthly scheduled payment? I would assume so - it's effectively the same as a credit card company; but I want to ensure the money is actually going towards the payment and not disappearing (not sure why it would). They should send you a check back for the overpayment amount. When I paid off my car I got about $30 back from the extra I sent in to make sure I got all the accrued interest.
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Jul 30, 2011 23:18
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gregday posted:They should send you a check back for the overpayment amount. When I paid off my car I got about $30 back from the extra I sent in to make sure I got all the accrued interest. Well, I'm not close to paying it off. I'm still about 5k off so there technically shouldn't be any over-payment. I just want to make sure it will go towards paying off the vehicle 
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Jul 31, 2011 05:40
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SoI just had a whole bunch of poo poo go tits up at once, and in short, am willing to tap myself (further) into debt just because otherwise, I'm completely hosed. But my credit is poo poo. Is there any (relatively) low interest credit card that I'd qualify for? I'm working on paying off what debt I have, but I just had a whole bunch of poo poo go wrong at the same time. And what debt I have is only like 3k, so am I totally hosed? I defaulted on about $1k in credit card, and have one outstanding bill with comcast and even though I paid the bank directly, I've gotten a letter from the collection agency about overdrafting $400. Like, I've got about 1k of poo poo I need to take care of by the next 2 weeks...and that I can easily pay off in ~3mos, but I don't know if I qualify for any credit cards.
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Jul 31, 2011 07:15
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Wagoneer posted:Well, I'm not close to paying it off. I'm still about 5k off so there technically shouldn't be any over-payment. I just want to make sure it will go towards paying off the vehicle What you need to do is make sure that the extra amount goes directly to principal, and not simply making the next few month's payments. I just did a pre-payment on my home loan through Chase's website, and I selected zero as my normal payment amount and the amount I wanted to pay as going to principal alone.
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Jul 31, 2011 15:37
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I'm really mad right now. I've got pretty great credit, never late on anything, paid off my car, paying student loans, one credit card for 6 years that I always pay on time and until recently have kept a pretty low balance on (moved for work but am paying it off). After a lot of research, I decided I wanted to apply for the Disney credit card because we're planning on making a trip to Disney World in the next few years. Since my current credit card has no rewards, I want to slowly phase it out for this one. So I printed off all my credit reports and since they looked good, I applied. I got a letter today from Chase saying they denied my application because of "Delinquency or other derogatory relationship with our bank." WTF? I've never had any accounts or relationships with Chase in the past. They said they made the decision based on Trans Union's report. I double checked my report from Trans Union and everything checks out. Now I'm stuck. Chase gave me no phone number to call and dispute other than Trans Union's, which is just their automated phone number to order your report. So what do I do? Is there any number at Chase where I can talk with a human being? Would going to a local Chase bank be helpful?
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Aug 2, 2011 00:40
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I have a Chase credit card with a balance of $3,332.79 with an interest rate of 8%. Chase just mailed me "0% interest tll 6/12" checks payable to whomever I want (obviously excluding Chase itself), with a fee of 1% or $5, whichever is greater. Shouldn't I write myself a check for the balance amount, deposit it in my checking account, pay off my Chase balance from said checking account, and have an interest-free balance for the next year? The fee for writing myself the check is about one month's interest. Even after the promo 0% interest, the interest rate is still only 8%. Ammanas fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Aug 2, 2011 |
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Aug 2, 2011 01:00
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I'm looking for a "free" financial planning consultation and someone to get me started down the right road. (no interest) debt, etc. and I'd like some advice on all areas. Especially how best to save for short term, long term, and retirement, as well as possibly income generation (hahaha what an idiot newb). Anyway, PM me please. If no one gets ahold of me in awhile I'll post the info in the thread but I'd prefer a more private back and forth. I'm willing to throw in forums treats, I guess.
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Aug 2, 2011 01:42
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TigerMoJo posted:I'm really mad right now. I've got pretty great credit, never late on anything, paid off my car, paying student loans, one credit card for 6 years that I always pay on time and until recently have kept a pretty low balance on (moved for work but am paying it off). After a lot of research, I decided I wanted to apply for the Disney credit card because we're planning on making a trip to Disney World in the next few years. Since my current credit card has no rewards, I want to slowly phase it out for this one. So I printed off all my credit reports and since they looked good, I applied. Call 1- 888-270-2127, which should be Chase's reconsideration line. Ask them what, specifically, they see on your TransUnion report and tell them that you're looking at it and don't know what they're talking about. They should reconsider the application.
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Aug 2, 2011 03:42
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Ammanas posted:I have a Chase credit card with a balance of $3,332.79 with an interest rate of 8%. Chase just mailed me "0% interest tll 6/12" checks payable to whomever I want (obviously excluding Chase itself), with a fee of 1% or $5, whichever is greater. To answer my own question (or at least guess at it): The payment I submit would be applied first to the promotional balance on my card (i.e. the amount I wrote the check out for), then the previous standing balance. In essence negating the transaction, with Chase pocketing a 1% transaction fee. True?
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Aug 2, 2011 03:45
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My wife and I earn $1,300 per week combined and we are saving 22% of that into general savings accounts for a future deposit on a home, continuing to boost our emergency fund and a little account for a holiday as well. Is that generally a good amount to save? This is in Australia, so superannuation is our retirement, don't need to worry about that. A few people at work seemed surprised that I was only saving 22%, saying they save like 40%. I always thought 10-15% was generally a good savings rate, but now I'm not so sure. There's not much more from my budget that I can cut.
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Aug 2, 2011 05:11
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22% is excellent and it's way above the average (since then it's gone up a few more points but it's still small compared to what you're managing). Ignore the bragging of your workmates, you're doing well and there's no reason to reduce your quality of life just so you can stash away more cash.
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Aug 2, 2011 06:58
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Thanks! Just wanted to know if I was off the mark, as I thought as I was doing okay. Seems that I was right. Thanks for the reassurance.
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Aug 2, 2011 07:32
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I moved to a neighborhood with no Chase ATMs and I don't want to get hit with the $2 out-of-network fee (plus $2-3 ATM fee) every time I pull cash - thinking about opening a checking account with Ally, keeping a few hundred in it and using the card at ATMs. Is this as easy and simple as it sounds?
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Aug 3, 2011 03:10
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I had 984 shares of restricted stock vest yesterday which was 628 shares after withholding. I sold them this morning and should have the cash balance in my bank account on Monday. By Tuesday morning my student loans will be paid off and my debt to income ratio will exactly and precisely 0.0% (zilch, zip, zero, nada)! I can't wait I'm thinking of throwing a party for myself.
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Aug 3, 2011 03:18
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Congrats on getting rid of the debt; go have some ch3ch2oh to celebrate 
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Aug 3, 2011 04:04
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I am in pretty good shape compared to a lot of people on here but I just got a raise and I'm trying to re-budget and could use an outside perspective. I'm 26, single, no debts other than student loans and credit cards I use and then pay off fully every month. Here is my monthly budget with breakdown of percentages of where my money goes. The Target Percentages I took from Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You To Be Rich", but I guess I'm not really hitting them too closely. pre:Value Percentage Income Sources: 2390.09 50% 2390.09 50% Total: 4780.18 100% Target Percentages Investments 478.02 10% Savings 478.02 10% Guilt-free 956.04 20% Living Expenses 2868.11 60% Actual Living Expenses Housing 725.00 15% Power & Gas 150.00 3% Internet 45.00 1% Cell Phone 110.00 2% Gasoline 100.00 2% Groceries 300.00 6% Total 1430.00 30% Debt Student Loans 1 155.43 3% ~$17,200, 6.125% Student Loans 2 85.00 2% ~$6,700, 5.375% Total 240.43 5% Guilt-free Entertainment 300.00 6% Dining Out 150.00 3% Mom 200.00 4% Gym 50.00 1% Total 700.00 15% Investments Roth IRA (Vanguard) 450.00 9% value ~$12,300, 1 month of $50/year 401k 0.00 0% value ~$9,300, not currently contributing (no match) Total 450.00 9% Savings (ING) Car Insurance 75.00 2% value ~$750 Short Term Savings 200.00 4% value ~$2950 Long Term Savings 300.00 6% value ~$7000 Charity 200.00 4% value ~$200 (just recently donated the balance) Car Savings 400.00 8% value ~$100 (just paid off car and started this) Christmas 100.00 2% value ~$700 (used for gifts all year round) Vacation 300.00 6% value ~$2770 (going to Vegas in Sept.) HSA 0.00 0% value ~$3000, no longer available to contribute to Total 1575.00 33% Grand Total: 4395.43 92% Left Over: 384.75 8% I'm not currently saving for anything in particular (other than my vacation in Sept.), so I'm just sort of socking the money away in ING. I'm also not sure how much of it actually counts as "Savings", because some of it I plan on using. Like the Car Insurance is to pay off my car insurance each year in full for a lower cost. Charity and Christmas are obviously not going to be saved and spent on myself. Short/Long term I don't really know what I'm doing with yet. I could probably contribute more to retirement but I'm maxing out my Roth and my company does not provide a 401k match so I don't know if I should just start contributing to that or what. I also think I should probably take some of my savings and start putting into more mid-term investments because I don't really need that much in cash available all at once, but I don't know where I should look into putting that money. My HSA I was planning on contributing to until down the road when my medical needs increase but my company only provided it for one year so now I just have $3k sitting in there doing nothing (I don't think it even has an interest rate, was planning on looking into that but then they got rid of it so I didn't bother). So I will probably start pulling from that for medical expenses now. Then I'm also not sure what to do with the "left over" part. Sometimes I go over on entertainment or groceries, etc., but I do try to keep it down. I don't want to just open that stuff up more because I don't really need to, and I would probably just spend it on stupid stuff anyway. The last thing is I have 3 credit cards, all opened in 2005 or 2006 when I didn't have much credit and needed cards for work expenses. I would like to switch to different cards, because these all have annual fees and don't really provide any rewards. My credit score (TransUnion) is 723, and 2 of the cards have a 30 days late marker from back in 2008, but I have no other delinquencies. I don't know if I should try to get some new cards and close these because I don't want to adversely affect my credit too much. If I call the creditor, would I be able to switch my card but keep the same account or is that not generally possible? Am I more worried about affecting my credit than I should be? I just finally got it back over 700 last year after those bad marks from late payments so I'm probably a little paranoid. I don't plan on buying a house any time soon. tl,dr: I make more money than I need and I've tried to organize it all but I'm not sure if I'm doing the right things or if there are things I could be doing better or what. Edit: Oh, I also have private disability insurance but I don't really budget for that, it's like $18 a month. Probably too small to affect anything but figured I would put it out there. sighnoceros fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Aug 3, 2011 |
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Aug 3, 2011 21:32
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GOONS ARE MEAN
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moana posted:Congrats on getting rid of the debt; go have some ch3ch2oh to celebrate I'll have about 3 grand left over and my personal laptop just died so I'm thinking about treating myself to an iPad
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Aug 4, 2011 00:50
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gos_jim posted:
More appropriately, if you don't start saving more for retirement, you will be the charity case who needs help. Charity is a great thing and I don't want to be Scrooge McDuck over here, but you really need to be taking care of your own long term needs first. There are many ways that a twenty something can do to give back without having to donate $200 a month to charity. If you want you can say that you are already donating to the charity of 'Mom'. Is the $9k in your 401k from your current employer or a previous employer? If it's a previous employer, roll it over into an IRA or your ROTH if you can afford the ~$2000 taxes that you will end up paying. How bad is your current plan? The thing is, you need to be putting away more than $5,000 a year (as you can clearly afford) and unless your 401k plan is just terrible, you may want to take advantage of the tax benefits you can get in there. Also, if you are only netting $4800 a month, if you up your 401k contribution you may be able to get your MAGI low enough to qualify for the student loan interest deduction. I'd suggest treating your savings (with the exception of retirement investing) like you treat debt. Attack the one that is smallest/shortest term. I interpret short term savings as emergency fund/cash cushion and with your living expenses it should be about $10k. I'd dump my long term (assuming it is liquid) and stop saving for short term savings unless my lifestyle changed. Be careful, most HSA's are 1 year use it or lose it purchases. (Unless It's not what I'm thinking of.) If you have any dental that needs to be done, go do it! Looking at your rent level, I'd say homes are relatively reasonable in your area. Do you know what if any time frame your looking at, how much you want to put down, what you're looking to spend. Short of that with no kids, no significant debts, I think you should attack your student loans before long term savings (AFTER adding in your increased retirement contribution). Edit: Tl;dr; I missed your left over of ~$400. This means you have close to $1500 in extra at the end of the month (ignoring $400 for vacation/gifts). You should take at least half and commit it to retirement savings. KennyG fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Aug 4, 2011 |
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Aug 4, 2011 01:55
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Couple quick questions: I have two credit cards I'm getting ready to pay off, as well as a "reserve" line of credit through my bank (attached to checking for overdraft). I am in very low danger of overdrafting (I don't spend nearly enough at this point). One of my credit cards is a chase freedom card (13%) that I'm going to have paid off by the end of the month. The other is a credit card through my bank that I used to do a balance transfer (0% for 6 months) but after that it pops up to something ridiculous like 23%. Should I consider shutting down my credit card and reserve line through my bank? Should I just pay them off, leave them open, and forget about? I drive quite a bit for work so my plan from here on out was to just buy one tank of gas, per month, per card, but if I can only keep one without dinging my credit, I'd like to. My other question is similar: I'm getting ready to start saving (rainy day + emergency) and in a month or two open up a Roth IRA with Vanguard. I have a traditional savings account with my bank, but I thought since this would be long term savings (for the most part) it'd be a better idea to save via an Ally Savings account with a higher yield. Will having multiple savings account (one with my bank that only has $25 and one with Ally that has all my real savings) carry any kind of consequences? Thanks guys
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Aug 4, 2011 02:09
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KennyG posted:
That'd be FSA's. HSA's are great accounts to hold onto. Even better than IRA's (tax deductible going in, tax free coming out for health related expenses). They also make great emergency funds especially if you have accumulated health related receipts. Just leave it in the HSA account compounding tax free if you don't need the cash yet (i.e. you were able to pay for health related expenses with your regular funds). When you do need the HSA funds, you can take out any amount to offset your accumulated receipts, even years after they were incurred. HSA accounts at most credit unions have higher yield than savings accounts (Alliant has 2% yield compared with 1.1% for most high yield savings accounts), and money immediately accessible. Add to that the fact that the interest is not taxed, and it becomes an awesome emergency fund.
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Aug 4, 2011 02:22
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I just got a collection account that was not mine succesfully removed off my credit report through Experian. Do I need to dispute it again with the other 2 reporting agencies, or does it kind of propogate to them?
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Aug 4, 2011 02:24
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Thanks for taking the time to look at this for me so far, guys. Here are my questions about what you said, KennyG:KennyG posted:
KennyG posted:...charity... KennyG posted:...retirement... KennyG posted:I'd suggest treating your savings (with the exception of retirement investing) like you treat debt. Attack the one that is smallest/shortest term. I interpret short term savings as emergency fund/cash cushion and with your living expenses it should be about $10k. I'd dump my long term (assuming it is liquid) and stop saving for short term savings unless my lifestyle changed. KennyG posted:Be careful, most HSA's are 1 year use it or lose it purchases. (Unless It's not what I'm thinking of.) If you have any dental that needs to be done, go do it! KennyG posted:Looking at your rent level, I'd say homes are relatively reasonable in your area. Do you know what if any time frame your looking at, how much you want to put down, what you're looking to spend. KennyG posted:Short of that with no kids, no significant debts, I think you should attack your student loans before long term savings (AFTER adding in your increased retirement contribution). KennyG posted:Edit: Tl;dr; I missed your left over of ~$400. This means you have close to $1500 in extra at the end of the month (ignoring $400 for vacation/gifts). You should take at least half and commit it to retirement savings. Mom 200 Retirement 450 STS 200 LTS 300 Charity 200 Left Over 350 Total: 1700 Which would make half of it $850. So my total contribution to retirement accounts would be $850 a month. Or are you pulling in some other items and not including my ROTH contributions? So half of $1500 ($750) plus the $450 = $1200 a month towards retirement? That's like 25%, that seems excessive to me, but I don't know. I also may have misinterpreted your numbers. Thanks again for your advice, I really appreciate it. sighnoceros fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Aug 4, 2011 |
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Aug 4, 2011 03:10
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I'd really like to hear more about this FSA/HSA discussion. With the apparent benefits of an HSA, why would anyone ever select an FSA? In the past I have been disgruntled that I forgot to set up an FSA (with high costs of infertility treatment for my wife, it would have been a huge savings) and it sounds like an HSA has everything an FSA has, but is more flexible, doesn't destroy unused funds, and is disconnected from my employer...
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Aug 4, 2011 17:35
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gos_jim posted:I would absolutely keep giving your mom money. You can afford it and it's your mother. I did not include the $200 you give her in your 'extra' money. I generally look at short term savings or emergency fund need as debt. As in if you don't have it and something happens, it will become debt. So, the next thing after you are short term debt free, with extra income, is get yourself up to about $10k (roughly 6 months) in almost 100% liquid savings. You can do something like laddered CDs but all that effort isn't really going to get you much with interest rates the way they are. Personally, I'd just open an account at SmartyPig or Ally and put the money in there and forget about it. Don't touch it unless you lose your job or are the victim of a catastrophe. Pay your student loans first. Look at the market right now. 5 year interest rates are about 1.5%. To get a better return, you have to take on risk. Retail mortgage rates are below your student loans, even with the mortgage interest deduction. Yes, on a long horizon investing in the market, especially small cap equities, will beat 6%, but on a 2 - 5 year time table, under current market conditions (see the guy a few posts back who is DOWN 10%, I'm only even for the year) you're likely better to pay the student loans off first. If your employer has canceled the 401k plan (unlikely) you should be able to roll it into your IRA. This will cause a taxible event when you convert it to post tax funds but it will not affect your annual limit. You will essentially sneak an extra $9k into tax free investing (subject to some personal suplementing/taxes). :party: If it is the more likely scenario that they simply canceled the match, you would at least want to look at what you are invested in. If you set it up when you first started it's likely in FFFHX (their lifecycle 2050 fund). I was in this at my last job before I looked into anything. RUN from this. It's a very high fee fund. Look for something else with lower fees. You should be able to login to fidelity and switch this to something else relatively easily. Given that you aren't even thinking of buying in the next several years I would focus hardcore on retirement investing. The cruel fact of retirement investing is that one dollar today does as much work as about 5-10 dollars in your 50s. If you were stocking away maximums in your early 20s you could be laughing at your friends worried about social security and cutting their lifestyle in their 50s or worried they may lose their job and be forced to retire at 60 something. I am not advocating that you drastically alter your life style, but if you have the extra money, that's where it should go. I would do the following minor changes: pre:$200 Mom. $416.66 Roth to max it. $500 401K (Find something with a low, e.g. <.25%, expense ratio that compliments your roth holdings) $100 Gifts $300 Vacation $rest Pay your student loans then Middle term savings with an eye for opportunities, (i.e. if the Stock market tanks like it did in 2008, or buy a car, get married, buy a house, etc) Oh student loan interest deduction. Basically, if you make an AGI (possibly a MAGI) of < 60k you can deduct 100% of your loans interest payments up to ~$2k. This basically means you can get up to 25% of your loans interest back in cash. Google Student Loan Interest Deduction rules. If you can get below even $70k there is some benefit as that's where the ultimate phase out is. KennyG fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Aug 4, 2011 |
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Aug 4, 2011 17:44
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