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Duxwig posted:Speaking of credit score and history, this moron(duxwig) is looking to figure out his credit history. You're entitled to one free credit report per year. See https://www.annualcreditreport.com
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Sep 7, 2011 00:47
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Duxwig posted:If at all possible, not looking to pay an arm and a leg(how much is considered too much for a credit report to figure this stuff out?) You're entitled to your report once a year through each of the big 3. You don't get your score, however, you will get a list of everything that's been reported under your name. This is not one of the commercial ripoffs, its mandated by the feds. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
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Sep 7, 2011 00:48
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Thanks!
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Sep 7, 2011 03:16
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Perhaps someone knows this, but is it true that credit bureaus are given an extra 15 days to verify a dispute if you pulled it off a free credit report as opposed to a paid one?
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Sep 7, 2011 16:40
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Niwrad posted:Perhaps someone knows this, but is it true that credit bureaus are given an extra 15 days to verify a dispute if you pulled it off a free credit report as opposed to a paid one? What they have to do and when they do it should be spelled out in the FCRA...I don't remember anything about source of info though...it's always good to read through it if you haven't.
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Sep 7, 2011 16:47
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I have a (really dumb) question. Just got my credit card statement for August, and for the first time since I've had the card I've been charged interest. Obviously, that means that I didn't pay the balance for the previous statement all the way. But as far as I can tell, I paid it all except for one penny. Is it standard to charge interest on the entire previous month's balance? I'm still a little confused, I guess, because my statement says the "balance subject to interest rate" and balance at the end of the statement for July are different. The first is 130 bucks, and the second is 127 bucks. I plan on taking my statement to the credit union in a couple of days, but I'd like to hear what you fine folks say. This is my first credit card, secured and gotten through my local credit union as suggested here, so I really appreciate your input!
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Sep 7, 2011 23:17
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Meniscus posted:I have a (really dumb) question. Just got my credit card statement for August, and for the first time since I've had the card I've been charged interest. Obviously, that means that I didn't pay the balance for the previous statement all the way. But as far as I can tell, I paid it all except for one penny. Is it standard to charge interest on the entire previous month's balance? Your payment is usually going to be the larger of some percentage of principal plus interest and some minimum amount, like $10.
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Sep 8, 2011 00:19
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Meniscus posted:I have a (really dumb) question. Just got my credit card statement for August, and for the first time since I've had the card I've been charged interest. Obviously, that means that I didn't pay the balance for the previous statement all the way. But as far as I can tell, I paid it all except for one penny. Is it standard to charge interest on the entire previous month's balance? How did this happen? If its the first time you haven't paid it off in full, you might be able to get the charge reversed. If not, I hope that one penny was worth the 12,000% APY you paid for it.
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Sep 8, 2011 01:01
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Question: I have retirement and investment accounts at Fidelity. What is the difference between IVV (ISHARES S&P 500 INDEX FUND ETF) and FUSEX (Spartan 500 Index - Investor Class Mutual Fund), other than the latter has a $10,000 minimum? They have the same expense ratio, and iShares ETFs have no commission on fidelity.com.
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Sep 8, 2011 20:27
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Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but I didn't know who else to ask. So my brother is in a really lovely place in his life right now, and a company just ripped him off so that he only has $8 left in his bank account. Is it possible to stop payment on debit charges if the company didn't provide any service? He got arrested a couple of days ago and signed up for Legacy Collect Calls so his girlfriend could get him out. He was told the calls would cost $15 each, they were 40-45 each. Then his friend used the service under his account, since they told him it would just be a couple of bucks (he was calling his mom in CA from NY). My brother had no foreknowledge of the guy's using his account, and didn't authorize it at all. THEN the company charged him for 2 additional calls ($17 each) that no one placed. They never occurred. I was looking around online, and apparently this company has been sanctioned for this and had it's license revoked in a few states. So they have a history of fraudulent activity and false pricing. Is there anything my brother can do about it? According to the internets, the company is known for it's habit of hanging up on people and refusing to refund, so I guess that's not an option. The bank in question is Chase. Here's a link with some investigation into the company: http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/published/FINAL_DECISION/120360-02.htm#P137_17335 dopaMEAN fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Sep 10, 2011 |
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Sep 10, 2011 04:17
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Are these charges going on the phone bill or the credit card?
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Sep 10, 2011 17:11
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Wow your brother had a combo of just about every possible thing that could go wrong happen to him. Here's what he should do: 1. Call the bank that issued his credit card and tell them that a company fraudulently used his card information to deduct money from his account. He should make sure he tells the card company that he did not authorize the company to charge $45 for the calls, that he was told it would be $2, which is why he made as many calls as he did. (However many it was.) Don't mention the friend also using his card, that just complicates matters and makes your brother look to the bank like he doesn't have his poo poo together, which makes is less believable that he was ripped off. 2. If this was a credit card, he would be in great shape and should be able to get his money back no problem. With a debit card things can be a little more iffy because of the way respobsibility is shared among banks on the back-end. But he should be ok. 3. When talking to the bank, he needs to be calm and polite, his bank are the only people who can help him. If he gets someone who won't help him, calmly ask for "someone more senior who can help me". 4. Probably an obnoxious question given your brother's situation, but why do friends of his have access to his debit card info and PIN to use to make phone calls with? That's just like giving someone your wallet, telling them to go ahead and have fun with whatever is in it, and then enouraging them to get more from teh ATM...
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Sep 11, 2011 05:51
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I have a Health Savings Account through the HDHP my employer offers. Everyone at the company, including me, has his HSA account at one specific local/regional credit union. About a year ago the credit union announced that HSA accounts would no longer accumulate interest. That sucks. Can I move my HSA to a different bank, even if it's not the one sanctioned by my employer/insurance? Are there even any banks out there that will let me open a HSA as an individual? What kind of rates can I expect?
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Sep 11, 2011 16:10
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dopaMEAN posted:Sorry if this is the wrong thread, but I didn't know who else to ask. I don't know what to tell you. Companies who pull crap like that know how to game the system. You probably end up agreeing to it somehow when you have to click the "check here" thing to agree to the terms and conditions of the service. The nature of the company is providing phone service to the desperate, who are always an easy target. Like Oliax said, you have to dispute the charge through the bank. Canceling the debit card will not stop the charge since they have a valid authorization. I don't want to discourage you, but there is a very good chance your brother will not see this money again. Is anyone helping your brother through this rough patch in his life? Are you or anyone else in a place where you could provide guidance, and is he in a place where he would listen to it? It sounds like this phone thing is the least of his problems, and as long as he is making decisions out of desperation, he will be drawn to stupid like a moth is drawn to one of those bug zapper things. Good luck.
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Sep 11, 2011 20:44
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Melonhead posted:I have a Health Savings Account through the HDHP my employer offers. Everyone at the company, including me, has his HSA account at one specific local/regional credit union. About a year ago the credit union announced that HSA accounts would no longer accumulate interest. That sucks. Sorry melonhead. Your employer decides which bank will hold the HSA funds. unless they work with more than one bank you are SOL.
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Sep 12, 2011 01:16
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Meniscus posted:I have a (really dumb) question. Just got my credit card statement for August, and for the first time since I've had the card I've been charged interest. Obviously, that means that I didn't pay the balance for the previous statement all the way. But as far as I can tell, I paid it all except for one penny. Is it standard to charge interest on the entire previous month's balance? Most credit cards work like this (if you read the really small print): all charges incur interest from the day you incur them. However, if you pay your balance in full when the charges first appear, then the bank will waive that interest. So in your case since you technically did not pay your balance in full, you are liable for all the accrued interest on those purchases. The good news is, that interpreting the rules this way for $0.01 is beyond cheesy even for a credit card company. If you call them and complain (politely) you should be able to get that interest waived by any even semi-reputable company. Good luck.
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Sep 12, 2011 01:22
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Got some disposable income for the next six months and a lack of spending and I'd really like to put this money somewhere other than checking/savings. My current monthly expenditures currently look like this: Monthly income is $4035 after taxes $100 storage unit $80 car insurance I have $5000 in savings already at the moment and I'm keeping my checking >500. I've payed off $6000 of a $7000 CC bill and am keeping the $1000 on there just to keep some sort of balance. Any future spending I do for the next six months will go onto the credit card vice checking card. All of the purchases are online and fairly benign low dollar items just to keep activity on the card. Should I just go ahead and pay off that card completely now? It's at 8.9% interest a year and right now I do have the ability to 0 it out. I should have about $25k saved up in six months give or take with no debt whatsoever. How can I maximize the money that I have now to work for me and to start a good plan for the future? I'll have the usual bills like gas, phone, cable, rent, food, alcohol once I return from this deployment and with a marked decrease in income due to the paycheck being taxable and no longer receiving any sort of combat pay/flight deck pay, etc. I'm trying real hard to not take this extra cash I'm receiving and do what I always seem to do and spend most of it on poo poo I've pined over throughout the whole deployment.
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Sep 13, 2011 00:19
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Sean_Miller posted:I've payed off $6000 of a $7000 CC bill and am keeping the $1000 on there just to keep some sort of balance. What? Why? You're just pissing away money on interest fees. quote:Should I just go ahead and pay off that card completely now? It's at 8.9% interest a year and right now I do have the ability to 0 it out. Yes! Always! quote:I should have about $25k saved up in six months give or take with no debt whatsoever. How can I maximize the money that I have now to work for me and to start a good plan for the future? Start by stop carrying thousands of dollars on your credit card. Pay it off entirely every month.
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Sep 13, 2011 00:24
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Its payed off now. Unfortunately it takes so long to load pages that it's near impossible to thoroughly read a thread of this magnitude to get any sort of insight. I can read maybe one page every 30mins. Stupid internet. So for the time being I should be using only my CC for purchases and then pay them off immediately before any interest accrues? Like I said, when you're stuck on a ship for a year and the only thing you can physically buy is stuff you would find in a convenience store you don't spend too much money. The first half of this float I bought a Canon with a $1000 lens and a Macbook Pro. This second half will be towards savings.
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Sep 13, 2011 00:43
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Sean_Miller posted:Its payed off now. Unfortunately it takes so long to load pages that it's near impossible to thoroughly read a thread of this magnitude to get any sort of insight. I can read maybe one page every 30mins. Stupid internet. So I don't know if you thought that carrying a balance would help you build credit, or what. Just to be clear - it won't. Pay in full. All the time. EDIT: Sounded harsher than I meant it. I just wanted to be absolutely clear. The only way in which carrying a balance on a credit card helps you is if you literally have $0 or so little money that you might run out otherwise. Even then, paying off the CC should be your first priority once you have enough money to live on.
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Sep 13, 2011 03:20
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I'm good on the no balance on a credit card whenever possible now. But still what should I do when I get back (or now) and have this money burning a hole in my pocket. I'm not in a position in my life right now to buy a house, or land. My car is paid off and I don't have any plans on getting any thing new.
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Sep 13, 2011 03:46
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Sean_Miller posted:Its payed off now. Unfortunately it takes so long to load pages that it's near impossible to thoroughly read a thread of this magnitude
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Sep 13, 2011 05:13
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Oliax posted:Most credit cards work like this (if you read the really small print): all charges incur interest from the day you incur them. However, if you pay your balance in full when the charges first appear, then the bank will waive that interest. So in your case since you technically did not pay your balance in full, you are liable for all the accrued interest on those purchases. The good news is, that interpreting the rules this way for $0.01 is beyond cheesy even for a credit card company. If you call them and complain (politely) you should be able to get that interest waived by any even semi-reputable company. I did go to the credit union, and they said exactly what you did! I also got it waived, since it was the first time I didn't pay all the balance. And, one penny.
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Sep 13, 2011 05:43
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Sean_Miller posted:I'm good on the no balance on a credit card whenever possible now. But still what should I do when I get back (or now) and have this money burning a hole in my pocket. I'm not in a position in my life right now to buy a house, or land. My car is paid off and I don't have any plans on getting any thing new. Put the max ($5k) in a ROTH IRA. Put the rest in growth fund after you've researched what you think is best for you. It should be along the lines of a "Vangaurd 2055 Index", where the year is your expected date of retirement. There's a simple answer.
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Sep 13, 2011 12:01
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Meniscus posted:I did go to the credit union, and they said exactly what you did! I also got it waived, since it was the first time I didn't pay all the balance. And, one penny. Quoting this to make a point. Meniscus went through a credit union. He underpaid by one cent and their computers did the math exactly as they were programmed, and they charged him interest because the bill was not paid in full. But he called them up, he talked to a real person with a brain who likely doesn’t hate their job, they saw what he intended to do, they valued the relationship, and they reversed the finance charge. The whole procedure was painless, and there was a decent chance he talked to the person who originally opened up the account. This is why we deal with companies we trust, companies that have a good reputation in the community. Some of you will do amazingly detailed research on rates, fees, read the fine print, agonize over what will e the most profitable rewards program based on your likely usage pattern. I know we are all goons and can smartly manipulate all the technology out there, and think we can deal with one of the big banks. We figure nothing will ever go wrong and loans and credit cards are a commodity. But pray that nothing ever screws up, because then you will come here and moan and complain. Good luck having the same experience Meniscus had, making one call and having someone fix it.
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Sep 13, 2011 14:30
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Quoting this to make a point. Very well said, and this is why it's so important to 'vote with your dollars'. I switched over all of my day to day banking to a credit union (BECU in Seattle, highly recommend them!) and it has been a really great decision. I've very rarely had any problems, but when I have I've never been jerked around and have gotten friendly, intelligent, capable support both in-person and on the phone. Plus, my CC through them is a kick-rear end 6.9% APR. It's great knowing that if for some reason (emergencies, etc.) I had to carry a CC balance for a couple months I wouldn't be getting ruined by interest fees. Even when I was with Wells Fargo for years I never overdrafted, and mostly avoided any monthly fees entirely despite WF's effort of changing terms and seemingly randomly "upgrading" my accounts whenever I went into a branch. It's been so refreshing to just not even have to think about playing those stupid games. When I was shopping for a used auto loan about 6 months back, their rates were pretty competitive with other banks/lenders, but dealing exclusively with the credit union I already use and love made me forget about the few fractions of a percent in interest rate difference (plus the much "simpler" loan agreement paperwork). Don't regret it at all to support a great financial institution that doesn't try to screw the customer with fees and penalties at every turn - even if I was/am smart enough to avoid them.
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Sep 13, 2011 18:19
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2011 02:13
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GregNorc posted:So I am making an appointment with my credit union's investment services people. To say I'm biased toward credit unions is an understatement. That said, I don't think a credit union is the best place to get investment advice. Maybe they have a guy that they refer members to who come in with investment questions. Even then, $10,000 isn't enough money to have an adviser manage it, nor is it enough money to actively trade, even if you were doing it on your own. It's one thing if you had other long term investments and were funding retirement and you had some money on the side that you wanted to play around with at a discount broker. People do that sort of thing. But not if its their entire nest egg. Also haven't you asked this question before and were steered in the direction of either Vanguard ETF's or their Life Strategy Funds? Markets have been volatile lately in case you haven't heard. You don't need to go out of your way to take on even more risk. Just go with that; people gave you good advice. OK? Won't you be busy with grad school? Shouldn't you concentrate on that instead of this pile of money which frankly isn't even that large of a pile. Isn't grad school your number one priority? Like you should park the money somewhere and not agonize over it for 6 months and concentrate on school? I guess what I'm saying is please ask your credit union this question because I think the rest of us are tired of you asking us.
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Sep 14, 2011 02:40
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I'm transitioning out of a job where I drove all the time and it was important to have a dependable car. I have $10k left on a $16k car that edmunds says is still worth 13k. My girl wants me to get rid of the car and get something cheap as we can just use her car for long drives (its paid off and much snazzier). Does it make sense to sell or trade in the car for cheaper car or am I throwing away the money I've been paying on the loan?
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Sep 14, 2011 15:46
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Why would having a paid for car be "throwing away money"?
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Sep 14, 2011 16:11
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low-key-taco posted:I'm transitioning out of a job where I drove all the time and it was important to have a dependable car. I have $10k left on a $16k car that edmunds says is still worth 13k. My girl wants me to get rid of the car and get something cheap as we can just use her car for long drives (its paid off and much snazzier). Does it make sense to sell or trade in the car for cheaper car or am I throwing away the money I've been paying on the loan? What do you drive now, and what were you thinking about getting? To answer your question directly, if you decide to sell the car, you are not throwing any money you already put into it. Those are sunk costs and we make decisions based on what is best for us in the future, not what we did in the past. Assuming you sell it, you will no longer have that payment and the interest that goes with it, no longer own a depreciating asset, no longer have the maintenance, insurance payments, excise taxes, etc. That said, you usually have to trade way down in car to make it worth it. Like sell your $13,000 car and buy a $3000 one. If you are OK with that and have a mechanic check out the cheaper replacement, or you have the ability to check it out, then I’m cool with that. But if you are not struggling with the existing payments, you like the car, and you’ve always taken good care of it, and you plan on keeping it once it is paid in full, and don’t want to go that far down in car, I would think long and hard about selling it.
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Sep 14, 2011 16:20
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Edit: doublepost
maskenfreiheit fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Sep 14, 2011 16:33
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GregNorc posted:I think this is what I'll do. The only question I have is this... if I have to pull some out for some reason (ex: I get an internship in SF and pull a couple grand to cover the second rent for the summer) am I going to kill my gains from taxes/fees? You won’t be “killed” with taxes, but if you are lucky enough to have a profit, you will owe capital gains taxes on it. If you held on to the investment for less than one year, you will be taxed at your income tax bracket, which I’m guessing won’t be huge if you are a full time student. If you sell at a loss, you can deduct up to $3000 of losses a year from your taxes. If you stick with Vanguard or another discount company, fees should be minor. However if this is more than a theoretical possibility, you need to keep at least a portion in a money market/savings account. Your terminology from earlier was “one third liquid”.
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Sep 14, 2011 17:05
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Zeta Taskforce posted:What do you drive now, and what were you thinking about getting? Thanks for the advice. I drive a Nissan Versa SL 09 with about 30k on it. I've only owned a bunch of beaters and this car so I'm not certain what I'd buy but something in the 3 or 4k range.
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Sep 14, 2011 17:24
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low-key-taco posted:Thanks for the advice. I drive a Nissan Versa SL 09 with about 30k on it. I've only owned a bunch of beaters and this car so I'm not certain what I'd buy but something in the 3 or 4k range. If you like the Versa, and plan on keeping it for at least 5 years, and the loan payment isn't killer, I'd say just keep the car. It's an 09 with 30k miles, if you take decent care of it it has at the very least a decade of life in it, probably two. And since it's so new, you really shouldn't be having to put any money into it beyond gas, tires, oil, and brakes for the next few years. Unless you yourself are mechanically knowledgeable and know how to shop for good deals, or are VERY good friends with a skilled mechanic, used cars under ~5k tend to be a huge crapshoot. There certainly are good, cheap, used cars out there but they are diamonds in the rough and even they will still need more attention than a 2009 Nissan with 30k miles. Reliable, safe, hassle-free transportation is a really valuable thing to have.
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Sep 14, 2011 18:28
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GregNorc posted:I think this is what I'll do. The only question I have is this... if I have to pull some out for some reason (ex: I get an internship in SF and pull a couple grand to cover the second rent for the summer) am I going to kill my gains from taxes/fees? Unless it's in like a 401k, don't worry about withdrawal fees. You could even use it to fund a Roth IRA,* which is a good idea since retirement should never be neglected, and because if an emergency or internship happens, you can take out the principal (but not the earnings from stocks going up and down) at any time without penalty. Any investment is going to make you eligible for some kind of tax. The stuff to watch out for more is fees. * Up to the amount you are able to earn from wages within the year of deposit. So if you make $20k in 2012 you can deposit the full $5k for that year, but if you make $2k in 2012, you can only deposit up to $2k for that year. If you won't be earning any wages in $2012 at all, you can't contribute that year. If you've been working this year though, and earned more than $5K, you could still fund it for 2011.
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Sep 14, 2011 18:47
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Can someone take a look at my budget and see if I'm missing anything? Monthly income: $2,345 Monthly expenses: $2,235 Rent - $975 (includes all utilities except internet) Internet - $55 Car gas - $165 Cat stuff - $40 Cell - $85 Gym - $65 Savings - $200 Fun - $150 Food - $500 (includes groceries and going out) This... seems off. I don't have any types of loans, car payments or any other bills besides what I listed, but I'm afraid I may have missed something. I just don't know what! Edit: Oops, I just saw the budget thread. I'll go there now. Sorry about that. hog wizard fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Sep 15, 2011 |
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Sep 15, 2011 04:47
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I have no recent credit history - short term goal is to establish some, long term goal is to buy a house (3-5 years). age: 28 status: single, renting salary: 90k/year assets: 100k in savings/401k debts: 0.0 credit: 0.0 I have no active credit cards or debt whatsoever.. I paid my car off 4 years ago and cancelled my last credit card around the same time because of a beef with the company - I didn't know any better. No financial problems, just maybe a little too careful. I've been denied for two unsecured credit cards in the past 6 months. After reading this thread, I've applied for a secured credit card literally 10 minutes ago. I can't imagine I won't be approved, so what should my be plan be once I have it? How do you know when to try for an unsecured card? Should I get another unsecured card from another institution if I can? Is a gas card a good option to supplement this secured card? Basically - what should I do to put myself in a position to get the best possible rate on a mortgage 3 years from today? Some great advice in this thread.. thanks in advance!
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Sep 15, 2011 06:42
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I know when I got my very first credit card it was secured ($600 for a $500 limit) and after 6 months I called the bank to see if they would release the hold on my money to which they did since I had been paying the balance and dealt with them for a while, after which I was able to increase the limit without problems. Pay off your credit card balance every month and you'll start to build good credit over the next few years, plus a down payment can certainly help. Pretty basic advice but it'll help do the job.
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Sep 15, 2011 14:00
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Where did you apply for an unsecured card? If you have your savings in a local bank/credit union, go in and ask them about credit cards. I got my first credit card (which was unsecured) by going to my bank and talking to them. It was a lovely low-limit card but they were happy to give it to me because I had been banking with them for a couple years and they could look at that history as well as my raw score.
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Sep 15, 2011 14:49
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