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Thanks Zeta I totally agree with you - I have been borderline poor for so long this is a bit overwhelming. When my aunt said "I have to do the paperwork but I think there'll be a check for you" I told her I expected nothing. I guess because my father left me nothing, my other grandmother left me nothing, etc, anything more than a couple hundred bucks never entered my mind. Roth sounds good - I'm guessing my credit union would be the best place to do that? Could I fund a Roth for my minor child?
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Jan 13, 2012 22:32
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You can do an education IRA for your child. It works sort of like a Roth except it’s for his/her education. You can do that too. Your credit union is a fine place to park the money while you think about what you want to do with it, but it’s not the best place to invest it for long term growth. Your credit union probably does have IRAs but your investment options are limited to what they offer, mostly CDs that pay next to nothing. Vanguard and Fidelity are not the only good choices, but both have the goon seal of approval. Just remember that an IRA is not an investment, just something that you can put an investment in.
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Jan 13, 2012 22:47
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Binary posted:I'm applying for personal health insurance (US) and want to know if I can raise the deductible on an existing policy so as to lower the montly premium while keeping the same policy. This is United Health One, to be specific. As a rule, yes. Talk to your agent of course, but raising the deductible should lower your cost. It is always a balancing act between the two.
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Jan 14, 2012 02:42
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Coffee Wolf posted:
Any need-based benefit might be affected by your inheritance. You could contact the various agencies to see how an inheritance affects your benefits.
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Jan 14, 2012 02:59
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I would think about using some of the money for an emergency fund (since I didn't see it mentioned). Especially since you said you're living week to week on your income and you're having trouble making ends meet, having enough savings to cushion a job loss, car repair, medical emergency, etc. is important. Have this in a separate account so you're not tempted to dip into it when you don't have to. Also, do you have a budget? If not, now is the time. Having all the numbers in front of you will help you make decisions about how (or if) any inheritance money is getting folded into your weekly budget. (I would personally try not to do this since it isn't sustainable.) If you don't have a budget, sticking to one for a few weeks/months will also be good practice while you think about how you want to use the inheritance. As others have said, it's wonderful that you're looking for the best way to make this money help your family. Don't be afraid to make your own decisions on your own time; there's lots of good information on personal finance out there, and there's no harm in waiting to get all the facts on something.
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Jan 14, 2012 03:29
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catman posted:Any need-based benefit might be affected by your inheritance. You could contact the various agencies to see how an inheritance affects your benefits. Yep that's (part of) the plan. Of course it came on a Friday afternoon, along with a Monday holiday. I figure they won't clear it right away anyways but my big concern is it affecting my son's therapy in any negative way. Deep 13 posted:Emergency fund....separate account so you're not tempted to dip into it when you don't have to. Didn't even occur to me of a seperate account. Good idea. Deep13 posted:budget? If not, now is the time.....no harm in waiting to get all the facts on something. We every few months write out our super simple budget, then something pops up or we need more diapers/wipes than normal due to diarrhea or something or other. Job loss in the industry I work is a real possibility, in fact I was laid off for a month back in '09 so the emergency fund is truly a wise idea. I want to continue to live on my check as we do now, for now, just with knowing some money is on hand for when something like car repair is needed. Also pick up a second used vehicle, outright, so my wife can hopefully pick up something mothers hours once my son starts preschool (or I can if she lands something better than my job is - my benefits consist of 2 weeks vacation per year yay!!); also because our only vehicle is a 02 Mazda Tribute and I know it won't last forever nevermind gas costs.
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Jan 14, 2012 04:06
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I know this is a pretty basic question, but I'm starting to get a little extra cash lying around and I just wanted to check in to this thread and see if there is a consensus on what to do with it. -No Debt -Max ROTH IRA every year -3% employer matched 401K -Emergency fund filled and ready (in case of emergency) For a while I was doing the Lending Club thing. That worked out OK but it took like three years and the return wasn't really fantastic after all the defaults. What's the best thing to do with like an extra $3k after everything is said and done? Maybe start a Vanguard fund? What's a good one? Thanks.
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Jan 14, 2012 16:41
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I'm a law student fortunate enough to land a good SA position (basically internship). I will have about 50k in student loans by the time I graduate. I'm going to make about $ 25k pre-tax over the summer in a state with no income tax. My parents are very generous and paying for my living expenses. I'm living at home to save money, so post-tax all the money is going to me. Should I put all of it towards my federal student loans or contribute to a 401(k)/Roth?
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Jan 15, 2012 18:20
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What % are the loans at? If they're >4.5% I'd pay the loans off. Just me, though.
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Jan 15, 2012 18:54
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Jensen posted:What's the best thing to do with like an extra $3k after everything is said and done? Maybe start a Vanguard fund? What's a good one?
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Jan 15, 2012 18:58
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Well, I just got put on 3/4-time salary at my day job, so I was able to quit my awful night job that kept me up until 6AM. Also, I make enough money now that it's mathematically possible for me to get ahead of my debts, so I want to come up with a plan for that. I don't know all of my expenses, since I've mostly been using cash instead of plastic to try to make myself more thrifty, but here are the ones that I have an idea of: ~$100/mo combined utilities $525/mo rent ~$130/mo commuting by rail I have some credit cards: $0 Discover ($3000 limit, account currently frozen) $0 Capital One ($750 limit) $1475.90 at 29.99% Chase ($4300 limit) ~$130 at ?.??% HSBC (Account closed and in collections) I have some other debts, too, left over from college: ~$6500 consolidation loan at 0%, up to 6% in March or thereabouts ~$22,500 in student loans; some part of this is at 6.5% and some part is at 0% Some notes: The HSBC account was a store card at Sears and I feel like I got ripped off. My memory of it was that there was some contract with two places you could sign. One of them was "I accept a card with no annual fee," and the other one was "I accept a card with an $80 annual fee." I signed the former, and they punched it in as the latter, but 1) I don't actually have my copy of the contract anymore, 2) if I persuade them to accept the merchandise costs+interest anyway, it dings my credit, as far as I know. The collector admitted they don't have a copy of the contract either, but it's not worth it to sue them over (part of) $130 even if a win is guaranteed, which it isn't. I feel like the best thing to do is just admit to myself that I got ripped off, and pay it and be done, since it's not a lot. I'm not benefiting myself by trying to make a stand, here. Next is obviously the Chase card, because of the hilariously high interest rate. (The only reason that I want to do the HSBC account first is that then I can ceremonially burn the card and never think about that fiasco again.) I called my mom just now about the consolidation loan, which she got for me. She's going to set up online access and get a username and password that I can use to get the exact parameters of it. She's been paying it down with her own income ($500/mo or so) to mitigate the loss to interest, with the expectation that this represents an interest-free loan from her to me. She says not to worry about when she gets paid back, exactly, although she would appreciate roughly $100/mo. I've been getting repeated emergency financial hardship deferments on my student loans, since my income up to this point has been around $10,000/yr. As of now I make $22,000/yr, and although that's still pretty poor, I doubt if I'm still in the emergency category. Starting in mid-February, I'm expecting payments of $297/mo, unless there's some crafty way to pay less that I don't know about. I really like using cash to buy things, since research shows a pretty strong effect where people buy more with cards than with cash. The down side is that then stuff like Mint can't automatically enumerate/categorize my monthly expenses. I suppose that if I want to control my expenses, I'd better at least know what they are, so I'm going to start keeping receipts. What's a good way to record/analyze that kind of information? I have a Mint account, but I'm not married to that service. Any thoughts?
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Jan 15, 2012 22:16
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ejstheman posted:Well, I just got put on 3/4-time salary at my day job, so I was able to quit my awful night job that kept me up until 6AM. Also, I make enough money now that it's mathematically possible for me to get ahead of my debts, so I want to come up with a plan for that. I don't know all of my expenses, since I've mostly been using cash instead of plastic to try to make myself more thrifty, but here are the ones that I have an idea of: I don't use mint, so I can't speak to it, but you could use your debit card for online transactions, your checking account bill pay, and regular purchases. Mint should pick that up. If there is a particular category that you overspend, like groceries, or entertainment, you can use the envelope system. You put $100 in the envelope when you get paid, if you are at the store with $40, and you need a weeks worth of food, then you better like oatmeal, and I guess you are getting the chicken, not the steak. The amount you put in the envelope is what you track. I don't think people need to close credit cards to not use them. It's not like I am worried about every last point on the credit score. But I cringe when people don't have an emergency fund yet, but they cut everything up in a moment of passion. But I think it should actually rise to the level of emergency if you pull them out. I would work on getting a small emergency fund together, pay the $130, and then your Chase. You are not making tons and have a lot of student loan debt. Is that something your mother is ok paying for now? Also, what is a 0% consolidation loan? Was this a balance transfer onto another credit card?
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Jan 15, 2012 22:28
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Jensen posted:I know this is a pretty basic question, but I'm starting to get a little extra cash lying around and I just wanted to check in to this thread and see if there is a consensus on what to do with it. If you are at the stage that you have no debt, emergency fund set up, you are fully funding your retirement, you are in great shape. Are there specific goals that you have? Any further education, buying a house and saving for down payment? Whatever your longer range goals are, Vanguard is a great place to invest you money to meet them. Also, there is nothing wrong with enjoying nice thing too, as long as you don't go crazy. But if you are doing that well, not saying you need to give away all $3000 of it, but I do believe that those of us who can afford to give something back to our fellow man have a duty to do so. What you get back in warm fuzzies, in karma by taking 5 minutes to think about people who were not fortunate to be born into a rich country is immeasurable. I do know of kids in Haiti who would thank you personally.  http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3453251 But seriously, you don't have to join the  . You shouldn't give out of guilt, but only after you are comfortable with where your money is going and the people who will be using it. Life isn't about maximizing your net worth and charity is an investment too.
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Jan 15, 2012 22:42
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 I originally posted this in D&D but it's relevant here too - if your net worth is > $3,662, you're doing better than the median < 35 US household. Give yourself a pat on the back!
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Jan 15, 2012 22:52
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shrike82 posted:
I suppose, but the average American is broke, in debt, has only the foggiest idea what comes in and goes out, and their entire world will crash down on them if they miss one paycheck. BFC is all about being better than the median.
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Jan 15, 2012 23:02
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I don't use mint, so I can't speak to it, but you could use your debit card for online transactions, your checking account bill pay, and regular purchases. Mint should pick that up. If there is a particular category that you overspend, like groceries, or entertainment, you can use the envelope system. You put $100 in the envelope when you get paid, if you are at the store with $40, and you need a weeks worth of food, then you better like oatmeal, and I guess you are getting the chicken, not the steak. The amount you put in the envelope is what you track. quote:I would work on getting a small emergency fund together, pay the $130, and then your Chase. You are not making tons and have a lot of student loan debt. Is that something your mother is ok paying for now? Also, what is a 0% consolidation loan? Was this a balance transfer onto another credit card? The consolidation loan is like a credit card account with no actual credit card. My mom got these special checks and signed them, and I filled out the amounts and sent them out to my various creditors.
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Jan 15, 2012 23:11
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ejstheman posted:I can get behind that. How do you determine the amount in the envelopes, and how do you adjust it as necessary? One dollar is ultimately like another, so it seems like I ought to take a $10 thing I bought out of one envelope and a $10 thing I bought out of another envelope, and if one of them is significantly preferable to the other, adjust the envelopes for the next month. I don't think you need to be rigid about it. Its a guideline that should make your life more streamlined, not more complicated. It should be an amount that is realistic, and as you continue to budget and keep track of what you spend, you will have a better idea of what realistic means. You are not going to be a budgeting expert the first time you do it. quote:What dollar amount do you think makes the most sense? I'm thinking about $1575 should be sufficient for the time being, since that's three months' rent, and rent is the only thing I can't put on the Chase card if I absolutely have no choice. Dave Ramsey recommends $1000, and for most people, that probably makes sense. Its a good amount that can cover a lot of stuff, but low enough that your back is somewhat against the wall and you don't get complacent about it. Be careful about that balance tranfer then. It is a credit card, just one that you cut up the actual physical card.
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Jan 15, 2012 23:23
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I don't think you need to be rigid about it. Its a guideline that should make your life more streamlined, not more complicated. It should be an amount that is realistic, and as you continue to budget and keep track of what you spend, you will have a better idea of what realistic means. You are not going to be a budgeting expert the first time you do it. It's a credit card, but it's on my parents' unimaginably good credit instead of my lovely credit, so the interest rate is much lower. I can't even imagine having a credit card that only charges 6%, but I guess if you make $100,000 a year, have your house mostly paid off, and have never been late on anything ever, they figure you're a pretty safe risk. Also my mother is rapidly converting it into an informal loan, so I didn't want to put it with the other credit cards for that reason, too. I probably ought to hit up the student loan thread also and see about income-based repayment, because I've heard of it but I don't know anything else. Maybe I could get a partial deferment in the form of artificially low payments and have a little more breathing room in my monthly budget.
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Jan 15, 2012 23:31
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I am trying to rebuild my credit but keep getting denied for lack of revolving accounts. I first built it up by getting a car and making payments on time. Once I started getting credit card offers I did some stupid things and racked up ~$3k in debt, which was paid off years ago along with the car. I recently pulled my credit report to see if anything was still outstanding, and it isn't, but the few bad items wont fall off for another year or two. The cards I have been applying for have been simple gas station cards. I might try going back to my bank, Chase, and letting them know the situation. They gave me one of the first cards initially. Is there a better course of action aside from trying my bank/little gas or store cards? I do not plan on having a car payment again anytime soon. In the event that my current car breaks down I would probably look into renting or bicycling as I have no commute.
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Jan 17, 2012 19:07
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madpanda posted:I am trying to rebuild my credit but keep getting denied for lack of revolving accounts. Something seems missing with the narrative. So you got a car loan, and then applied for, and were approved for some credit cards, which you ran up to $3000 (which isn’t that much), and then paid them off completely? What are the bad items you are talking about? How far behind did you get, or did things go to collection? If things will be coming off in a couple years, then they are really old. Ordinarily items that old don’t prevent people from getting approved for loans. The exception would be if nothing was reported in the meantime, and your credit report only consists of 5 year old negative stuff. In that case, you might need to start out with a secured card, preferably one from a community bank or credit union. In 6 to 9 months, you should qualify for more. But if I am missing something or guessed wrong, let me know.
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Jan 17, 2012 19:46
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Something seems missing with the narrative. So you got a car loan, and then applied for, and were approved for some credit cards, which you ran up to $3000 (which isn’t that much), and then paid them off completely? What are the bad items you are talking about? How far behind did you get, or did things go to collection? Almost all of that $3000 went to collections which I paid off over the course of a year. The only thing that happened between then and now credit wise was the car being paid off. From what I understand paying rent on time every month doesn't effect credit for some reason. I wasn't aware that secured cards actually worked to improve your history, i thought that was a common myth. I will look into it more.
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Jan 18, 2012 00:27
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I have, what I would consider, a large emergency fund, 10k, put in a money market fund right now with USAA. I've noticed that it accrues very little interest, and putting that 10k in a savings account would yield more money. I understand that a money market fund is designed to be a safe place to put your money, but wouldn't a savings account be a better place for it? I have a decent sum in my savings account right now (saving up for a new used car). Also, is 10k too much? It is a minimum of 6 months of expenses, but, I have a steady job in the Military and I will not be laid off. I do not need to contribute anymore to my 401k or Roth IRA. agentq fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Jan 18, 2012 |
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Jan 18, 2012 04:03
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That's odd, usually it's the other way around...
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Jan 18, 2012 17:27
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agentq posted:I have, what I would consider, a large emergency fund, 10k, put in a money market fund right now with USAA. I've noticed that it accrues very little interest, and putting that 10k in a savings account would yield more money. I understand that a money market fund is designed to be a safe place to put your money, but wouldn't a savings account be a better place for it? I have a decent sum in my savings account right now (saving up for a new used car). Having $10,000 in an emergency fund and saving for a car besides is an achievement, and for someone who is broke it seems like a lot, but it isn’t THAT much. Savings accounts and money markets are mostly the same thing, and both pay next to nothing right now. I don’t think you have too much, but if you wanted to trim it back some, that’s cool, but the point of an emergency fund is not to earn lots of money, but to protect you when life happens. It will turn an emergency into an inconvenience. I’m a loan officer and I see enough desperate people, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that desperate and stupid are locked at the hip. I’m not sure I follow your reasoning why you don’t need to contribute to a Roth IRA or a 401K though.
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Jan 18, 2012 17:40
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I think he meant he didn't need to contribute any more (meaning any additional money) rather than anymore (meaning not contribute at all). I think $10K is just right for an emergency fund, personally, particularly if you have any dependent family, but even if you are single.
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Jan 18, 2012 20:25
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Having $10,000 in an emergency fund and saving for a car besides is an achievement, and for someone who is broke it seems like a lot, but it isn’t THAT much. Savings accounts and money markets are mostly the same thing, and both pay next to nothing right now. I don’t think you have too much, but if you wanted to trim it back some, that’s cool, but the point of an emergency fund is not to earn lots of money, but to protect you when life happens. It will turn an emergency into an inconvenience. I’m a loan officer and I see enough desperate people, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that desperate and stupid are locked at the hip. Okay, I might move the emergency fund to the savings account. I know it's not supposed to make me money, but if I get a better yield from my savings account, why not. I don't need to contribute to the 401k because it is taken out of my paycheck before I receive it, and I have monthly savings put aside for the Roth IRA as well. Thanks for the info guys, I'll keep it that size then.
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Jan 18, 2012 21:55
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seymore posted:As a rule, yes. Talk to your agent of course, but raising the deductible should lower your cost. It is always a balancing act between the two. My reasoning was that since I have a work HRA I should max out the premium since it's no cost to me, and if I lost my job I could raise the deductible/lower the premium so I can keep health insurance while living off an emergency fund. Is this sane? I've been reading about using your Roth IRA as part of your emergency fund, since you can get your contributions back out without penalty at any time. I figure that if I put part of my emergency fund to start a Roth for 2011 and I don't need the money later then I've gotten a head start. If I do need it it's the same as if I had kept all of the money liquid anyways. The downside I see is that you can't put the amount you took out back retroactively, and that your Roth could lose value when you need it due to stock fluctuations. I am aiming for a 10K emergency fund, and am now thinking that I should use 5K of it to get started on the Roth and keep the other 5K as a liquid buffer should anything arise. [Edit] The other thing is that I just found out I have til April to contribute to the 2011 Roth. If I go with this plan then I would probably get the emergency fund back to 10k liquid while also saving for the 2012 Roth. If I don't do this I miss out on the 2011 Roth and would have to start with the 2012 Roth. [Another edit] I was also considering paying aggressively on student loans once the emergeny fund is built. If I aim for max Roth contributions it cuts into what I can put towards the loans. The highest APR loan is around 7%, with a balance of about $7,000. Should I pay off this loan before worrying about retirement funds? Binary fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Jan 20, 2012 |
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Jan 20, 2012 02:35
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I have a kind of simple question about life insurance. Generally I am very suspicious of insurance companies and especially life insurance. What would be the disadvantage of putting the money I pay towards life insurance every month in my own long term investment instead that is transferred to my family in the event of my death? I'm thinking that if I was to die young (say under 40) then the return would be no where near a life policy but if I was to die at 80 surely it wouldn't be that different? Also it would guarantee that the money is transferred and not denied like many life insurance companies do (I.e in the event of suicide etc.).
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Jan 20, 2012 03:20
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Red_Fred posted:I have a kind of simple question about life insurance. Generally I am very suspicious of insurance companies and especially life insurance. That's the point of term life insurance. You're covering the time period where your income earning power is your biggest asset compared to you invested savings. When the term is up, you don't have the insurance anymore because you don't need it. So, a 25 year-old buying a cheap 20-30 year policy makes sense, but a 50 year-old buying a 30 year policy is a drain on their retirement fund for the sake of paying high premiums if they didn't have a plan in place. Other stuff like value/annuity/etc fall more on the "legitimized scam" end of things and you have every right to be skeptical.
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Jan 20, 2012 06:09
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Red_Fred posted:I'm thinking that if I was to die young (say under 40) then the return would be no where near a life policy but if I was to die at 80 surely it wouldn't be that different? Also it would guarantee that the money is transferred and not denied like many life insurance companies do (I.e in the event of suicide etc.). The point of life insurance isn't to pay out when you are 80, though. It's supposed to help your partner/children/family survive your death without complete financial collapse. By the time you are 80 you should be living on your retirement with your kids supporting themselves, so your death wouldn't be a terrible impact. The point is that if you die at 30 with two small children it doesn't destroy your family's savings and dump them into poverty. You should do some calculations to see how this would work out. Let's say that you are a 30 year old man; you can have a 20 year term life insurance of $125,000 for $7 a month (these numbers are from David Ramsey, so I assuming they are not total bullshit). If he dies in that period, his family will get $125,000 to help see them through. If he throws down $5,000 to start investing and puts that $7 into it every month instead, at 10% interest he will have $45,000 at the end of the period. More importantly, if he dies five years into this plan, he will be leaving his family with only $8,000. That's a big difference! The real answer is to buy the term life insurance as well as savings and investment, because that $7 monthly should not break your investing plans.
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Jan 20, 2012 16:12
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This might not be the right place to ask, but here we go: My father has retired from full time teaching to doing substitute work part-time (he also has his retirement from 20 years in the army). They are looking to modify their home loan through some of the options and programs out there. They aren't in collections or at the risk of foreclosure (that I know of), so there isn't a huge time sensitive rush on this (they have been discussing this for a year or so now). I'm a real estate attorney, so they asked me to help. I know next to nothing about residential lending and mortgage issues, though, so I have a few questions. First, they sent me a proposal to hire some non-profit group to basically act as their negotiator with BofA. Is this necessary? The paperwork talks about the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act as "mandating" BofA to assist mortgagees in refinancing. If that is the case, why do my parents need to pay this group to do it for them (I don't know what the groups fees actually entail). Wouldn't my parents be able to negotiate with BofA directly on this? More on the topic, does anyone have a small summary of what exactly the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act really forces residential lenders to do? I've read up on it a bit, and the closest I see is government backed loans to lenders who do a workout under certain conditions. I'm fairly unimpressed with the "pre-approval package" this group sent my parents (especially that the first step my parents would pay for is an approval of my parents for a loan modification). I feel fairly silly asking these questions, but residential finance is just a world I have little experience with (and is different enough from commercial finance that I know I need more information). My gut instinct is just to call BofA and talk to them directly (which this "pre-approval package" repeatedly tells my parents NOT to do, another issue I find troubling). Is the use of a third-party agent really a necessary, or even common, part of residential modifications through the various government programs? Thanks for any help, even if it is just a direction to another thread.
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Jan 20, 2012 18:49
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I’m open to what others might say, but it may be beyond the scope of the forums? As far as you know, are they really struggling to keep up with the mortgage, or can they easily do it, but just want a better deal? If they are struggling, is it because their rate adjusted against them, or has their income dropped so much that no matter what they do, this house doesn’t make any sense anymore? Do they have equity in the house? I dread the prospect of getting a modification through B of A. They are a monstrosity where the right hand doesn’t talk to the left hand. Usually they won’t even talk to you unless you are behind on the mortgage, but then when you are behind and work out a trial payment as part of the modification, their collections department doesn’t realize this and will demand the original payment, and you call them up and no one knows what is happening. Sometimes the don’t want to modify it enough to make enough of a difference, and people still struggle with the modified mortgage. Having a non profit do some of the work might be a good investment in everyone’s time.
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Jan 20, 2012 19:29
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Zeta Taskforce posted:I’m open to what others might say, but it may be beyond the scope of the forums? Thanks. As far as I know, they aren't really struggling (I know they aren't behind), but they are also fairly thrifty in general. I'm sure with my father's reduced income a reduction in payments would help them. I doubt they have any equity yet, as they bought in 2004 and there is no way the house didn't take a nice dip in 2007-2008. I personally question whether it makes sense at all to keep the house (for more than just the monetary reasons), but I know my parents won't walk away unless they have to walk away. As far as using a third party, I'm all for it if there is a significant value, I just want to make sure that I'm not telling my parents to pay a third party when this is the sort of adjustment that can be made fairly quickly by directly talking to the bank. That, and the package they sent scares me (bad grammar, overly selling, and some really vague terms on what constitutes "success" for the company's payment). Thanks again for the info.
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Jan 20, 2012 19:53
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Voodoofly posted:This might not be the right place to ask, but here we go: In general, a third party intermediary has to get paid, and the homeowner is the one bringing money to the table, so it stands to reason that any third party is costing your dad money. At least the attorney has a legal obligation to act on his behalf. But you knew all this; why are you asking us?
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Jan 21, 2012 06:58
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Voodoofly posted:Thanks. As far as I know, they aren't really struggling (I know they aren't behind), but they are also fairly thrifty in general. I'm sure with my father's reduced income a reduction in payments would help them. I doubt they have any equity yet, as they bought in 2004 and there is no way the house didn't take a nice dip in 2007-2008. I personally question whether it makes sense at all to keep the house (for more than just the monetary reasons), but I know my parents won't walk away unless they have to walk away. Is there any way that they can qualify for HARP through their bank? As of right now there is HARP 2.0, so if the loan is through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac they can adjust it regardless of LTV if I'm not mistaken. Gabu fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Jan 22, 2012 |
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Jan 21, 2012 10:10
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Thanks for the advice. After speaking with my parents some more, the "non-profit" wanted an up front fee of over $2,000.00, and I was able to talk my parents out of using their services. The more research I did on the company, the worse they appeared. If it had been a few hundred bucks to guide my parents through the process, I would have been all for it.Gabu posted:Is there any way that they can qualify for HARP through their bank? As of right now there is HARP 2.0, so if the loan is through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac they can adjust it regardless of LTV if I'm not mistaken. I think they might be able to. I looked up some of the information online and had my parents use the federal website and hotline for more information. Last I spoke to them they were going to call BofA directly today.
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Jan 23, 2012 22:46
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Questions like this probably have been asked 100 times, but I am just now jumping into reading material on finances, so bare with me. So I have around $40k in my old employers 401k, sitting there. Also have different 401k account with current employer, 3% match and all. Was thinking of opening IRA account and rolling old 401k there, should I go with Roth or Traditional?
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Jan 24, 2012 19:16
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Almost certain this question does not need its own thread and belongs here so here we go: Started investing in some mutual funds but unfortunately there is no fancy way to track them online or anything. I would like to be able to see how my money is doing without having to call in or visit the bank. EG Current value, % gain etc etc etc The funds calculate interest daily and pay monthly. I can easily get the fund price from each day off google finance or an equivalent site so my question is.. whats the best way to do track this? I am familiar with excel so that seems reasonable unless there is a better option? Further, what would the formula for something like this look like in excel? I want to keep better track of my funds and performance instead of just tossing money in and being happy when its higher than before  The fund calculates interest daily, pays monthly and I make a monthly scheduled deposit into the fund. Naes fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Jan 24, 2012 |
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Jan 24, 2012 19:31
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Deadreak posted:Questions like this probably have been asked 100 times, but I am just now jumping into reading material on finances, so bare with me. So I have around $40k in my old employers 401k, sitting there. Also have different 401k account with current employer, 3% match and all. Assuming this is a regular 401K, (it probably is, but check with the administrator), it MUST be converted into a Traditional rollover IRA. This is because it is pretax money and it must remain pretax money. This is not a taxable event. However once it is in the rollover IRA, if you want to convert it into a Roth, you can. This is a taxable event. You won’t owe the penalty, but you will owe income taxes at whatever your bracket is.
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Jan 24, 2012 19:42
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Naes posted:Almost certain this question does not need its own thread and belongs here so here we go: I’m probably not being that helpful here, but the math to do what you are trying to do can be surprisingly complicated. Especially once dividends and distributions are reinvested, even more so if since you are on an automatic investment plan. Most mutual fund companies do the math for you. Or if you bought them through a broker they would. Are you sure they don’t anywhere? Barring that something like Quicken would do too.
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Jan 24, 2012 19:58
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