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Talks To Cats posted:You know, I used to own a copy of that back when I had dreams of making money instead of actually working for it. I should find another copy of that, it really was a good title. It’s been awhile since I read it, but now that you say that, I kind of agree. Maybe we all have an IQ that is collectively higher than the level it was written at. I just listen to the podcast. The testimonials there are enough.
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Apr 5, 2012 17:44
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guggs posted:I just finished Total Money Makeover, and that really annoyed me as well. There is a testimonial on every other page it seems. There was definitely some good stuff in there, but the book could have been 40 pages. The core concepts have been boiled down to couple hundred word posts here several times, so yeah, lots of padding. The actual hard advice is pretty simple: don't live beyond your means. If you're already financially sound, that's obvious, but the book isn't so much about a detailed list of what to do and not do so much as selling that core concept for people who don't get it. It's very much selling a mentality, and testimonials and praise are just one way to try and lock "hey this is a good idea, you should actually do this" into someone's head.
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Apr 5, 2012 18:01
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A lot of advice type books, financial or otherwise, seem to do that. I suspect it's basically padding so people feel like the book is worth the price. A lot of these kinds of books, no matter how good their advice, would be pamphlet-sized without all the testimonials and "encouragement."
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Apr 5, 2012 18:01
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quote:don't live beyond your means What advice do you need beyond that, really?
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Apr 5, 2012 23:33
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Zeta Buttforce posted:It’s been awhile since I read it, but now that you say that, I kind of agree. Maybe we all have an IQ that is collectively higher than the level it was written at. I just listen to the podcast. The testimonials there are enough. And to be honest it feels more natural to attempt to emulate millionaires than emulating "just regular folks who got out of debt". I appreciate that there's an audience that needs to be told "anybody can do this - just look at all these testimonials from yokels like you!" but I pretty much understood that already. So here's hoping I'm not in here a year from now posting "I'm making so much money - and spending it all on bullshit!".
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Apr 6, 2012 14:29
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I had the same issue with one of the books recommended here. It's by two women but I forget the names. Each chapter was probably a page, at most, of advice. The rest was just stories of dumb people or explaining things repeatedly in dumbed down examples. Always read a contract before you sign it? Really?
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Apr 6, 2012 17:20
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Just gotta say that if you're reading financial advice books, the library is your best friend. It's infinity free books! Free! Go crazy reading all of these free books! edit: and if you want a good medium-level book to expand your understanding, start with The Intelligent Investor. moana fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Apr 6, 2012 |
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Apr 6, 2012 17:33
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WeaselWeaz posted:I had the same issue with one of the books recommended here. It's by two women but I forget the names. Each chapter was probably a page, at most, of advice. The rest was just stories of dumb people or explaining things repeatedly in dumbed down examples. Always read a contract before you sign it? Really? The thing is, for a lot of people they need basic common sense ideas beaten into them over and over before they get it (if ever). The average person is not very bright, especially when it comes to money. It's incredible.
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Apr 6, 2012 17:42
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I just moved to a new home and set up all my utilities and what not. I checked my credit report like I do every month and saw that several of the utilities popped up as inquiries on my report. Do these count as "hard" inquiries that will add up and potentially reduce my credit score in the event that I apply for a credit card, auto loan, or home loan in the next few years? I know the inquiries only stay on your report for two years but I'm considering financing a portion of a used car in the next few months.
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Apr 7, 2012 18:55
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agentq posted:I just moved to a new home and set up all my utilities and what not. I checked my credit report like I do every month and saw that several of the utilities popped up as inquiries on my report. Do these count as "hard" inquiries that will add up and potentially reduce my credit score in the event that I apply for a credit card, auto loan, or home loan in the next few years? I know the inquiries only stay on your report for two years but I'm considering financing a portion of a used car in the next few months. They are hard inquiries, but inquiries have such a minor effect on your credit. Maybe 2 points. If you were late on something, that could be 150 points. Being over limit is 100 points. It is not a red flag to have a few inquiries. They show up for 2 years, but they only count against you (minimally) for one year. If your credit was previously good, it still is.
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Apr 7, 2012 21:58
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Well, today I ran a credit report and noticed a random credit card from a bank I haven't dealt with, "Credit One Bank". Gave them a call and was told that the account had already been closed since whoever opened it wasn't able to provide two forms of identification. I won't be liable for any purchases made (something like $100 out of a measly $400 limit). I've already put a 90-day freeze on my credit and disputed the line item in my report with Equifax, so that should be okay. Still curious as to how this keeps happening. I had someone open a card in my name in December 2010, and in November of last year someone stole my Amex credit card number and made purchases that I had to get taken care of. Luckily none of this has had a negative impact on my credit reports or scores. What the hell am I doing wrong? I don't fall for phishing crap, I don't get card solicitations by mail, I don't have any outstanding loans or anything of the like. What the hell are people doing to get ahold of my personal information? Am I just unlucky?
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Apr 7, 2012 22:51
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They probably got your information once a couple of years ago, and it's just part of some list that is getting sold around.
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Apr 7, 2012 23:01
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I posted about this a long time ago but I forgot it was a problem until recently. I had a utility account that I gather I hadn't paid off in full when I moved. The balance left over was for a piddling amount of money - somewhere around 12 bucks. Instead of informing me about this they just charged it off and left that as a negative mark on my credit. I got this resolved with the utility company by paying the debt and having them delete the credit mark. How much will this improve my credit score?
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Apr 8, 2012 22:29
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Edit: Moved to tax thread
Silver Nitrate fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Apr 9, 2012 |
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Apr 9, 2012 01:00
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Harry posted:They probably got your information once a couple of years ago, and it's just part of some list that is getting sold around. Ugh, guess I'm gonna have to be on top of this poo poo forever. It's good that I'm pretty OCD about my finances to begin with, I guess.
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Apr 9, 2012 04:34
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I have a dumb question. I'm currently in the process of paying off my last known credit card, and later I'll address a $4,200 chase card that showed up on my credit report that I don't remember having. Today I plan on paying off my last credit card that was charged off last January and reported to the credit agencies as a loss. It's been punching my credit score in the face ever since. Is it worth it to pay it off since it's already been charged off and soiled my score, and if I pay it off entirely will that help raise my credit score? I want to believe that having a charged off account on my report is lovely, but having a charged off account that has eventually been paid in full is better than nothing.
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Apr 9, 2012 06:08
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I wanted to get a BFC opinion on whether I should get another cc or not. I currently have 2. My primary card is a Chase United cc, which is 3 years old. It has an annual fee of 65. Over a year ago I got a Capital One card which I use only on international travel because they have no foreign exchange fee. I was thinking of getting some variation on an American Express card, something with a decent cash back. My thought was to have the new American Express card as my primary card for the nice cash back but no annual fee, use the Chase United card for United flight purchases and keeping my miles from expiring, and Capital One for travel. Is this a good plan, or should I just stick with what I have. None of the cards carry a balance, and they're all paid off immediately.
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Apr 9, 2012 16:07
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Aziraphale posted:I have a dumb question. You're not going to really have an incentive to pay off your balance to the original card issuer. They've already given up trying to collect the money and reported it accordingly. Recovering these funds won't raise your score. Find out which collection agency owns the debt and try and negotiate a pay for delete. If they won't do a pay for delete at least you should be able to negotiate the debt down to pennies on the dollar. Have you been contacted by collections yet?
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Apr 9, 2012 16:30
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FCKGW posted:You're not going to really have an incentive to pay off your balance to the original card issuer. They've already given up trying to collect the money and reported it accordingly. Recovering these funds won't raise your score. Find out which collection agency owns the debt and try and negotiate a pay for delete. If they won't do a pay for delete at least you should be able to negotiate the debt down to pennies on the dollar. Have you been contacted by collections yet? No, as it turns out it wasn't turned over to a collections department. I paid the issuer/creditor directly.
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Apr 9, 2012 16:35
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Aziraphale posted:I have a dumb question. How was the account reported? In your name only or are you an authorized user? If it isn't yours, or was opened fraudulently, you can not legally be held responsible. But it will take a lot of work to see when it was opened, how it was opened, etc. If it is not yours, you need to fight it, don't pay it. If it is somehow yours, I always recommend paying it or settling it if you have the financial means to do so, and I don't care if your score temporarily drops because they update the reporting. I don't believe waiting for it to drop off is a good option.
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Apr 9, 2012 16:59
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Should my 401k have the same asset allocation as my Roth IRA? The Roth is in Vanguard target retirement, which is around 90% stocks right now, the 401k is in stable value funds and I figured I should match the risk that's in the Roth since retirement is decades away. Also, does selling and buying funds within a 401k incurs no tax penalties as it does in a Roth?
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Apr 9, 2012 23:22
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Binary posted:Should my 401k have the same asset allocation as my Roth IRA? The Roth is in Vanguard target retirement, which is around 90% stocks right now, the 401k is in stable value funds and I figured I should match the risk that's in the Roth since retirement is decades away. asset allocation within an account is not important... just worry about the entire portfolio as a whole and tweak it according to fund availability and fund minimums and (if in a taxable account) tax considerations.
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Apr 9, 2012 23:32
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80k posted:asset allocation within an account is not important... just worry about the entire portfolio as a whole and tweak it according to fund availability and fund minimums and (if in a taxable account) tax considerations. The Roth has the allocation I want, so the only way to keep those percentages across both accounts is to match them in the 401k as well, does that make sense?
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Apr 10, 2012 00:05
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Binary posted:The Roth has the allocation I want, so the only way to keep those percentages across both accounts is to match them in the 401k as well, does that make sense? well that works but it is not the only way. You can rearrange your Roth. There are practical considerations depending on what is available in the 401k.
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Apr 10, 2012 00:24
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80k posted:well that works but it is not the only way. You can rearrange your Roth. There are practical considerations depending on what is available in the 401k. That makes sense, I'm trying to keep it simple right now though. The selling and purchasing of funds entirely within a 401k should incur no tax issues as in a Roth I take it?
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Apr 10, 2012 01:16
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Binary posted:That makes sense, I'm trying to keep it simple right now though. The selling and purchasing of funds entirely within a 401k should incur no tax issues as in a Roth I take it? Right.
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Apr 10, 2012 01:29
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DeusVult posted:I wanted to get a BFC opinion on whether I should get another cc or not. I currently have 2. My primary card is a Chase United cc, which is 3 years old. It has an annual fee of 65. Over a year ago I got a Capital One card which I use only on international travel because they have no foreign exchange fee. I was thinking of getting some variation on an American Express card, something with a decent cash back. My thought was to have the new American Express card as my primary card for the nice cash back but no annual fee, use the Chase United card for United flight purchases and keeping my miles from expiring, and Capital One for travel. Is this a good plan, or should I just stick with what I have. None of the cards carry a balance, and they're all paid off immediately. I think you could probably optimize your CC pattern without changing too much. Capital One Venture (is that the one you have?) has a pretty good 2% cash back across the board, and no foreign exchange fee. Useful if you travel a lot, but $59 annual fee. You may consider calling and having this downgraded to a regular card with no annual fee/1.25 points per dollar spent. Instead of the United Card, look into the Chase Sapphire Preferred. You get double points on ALL travel (not just United, but any airline or train or car rental or hotel, etc.), as well as double points on dining (which is huge if you drink at bars, etc.). Annual fee is slightly higher, but it also has no foreign transaction fees, and comes with 40-50,000 bonus points depending on your link. These points are transferable to United. For a Cashback card, I really like the American Express Blue Cash (get the everyday variant for no annual fee). If you get the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, keep your United card open for now but when the annual fee comes due call and say "you're considering cancelling" - they will almost always give you either a credit towards the annual fee, or bonus miles. If they don't offer you anything and you've already picked up the other card, I'd close the United card. No sense in paying annual fees for no benefit (unless you fly frequently and the free checked bag is worth it to you).
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Apr 10, 2012 11:38
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kaishek posted:I think you could probably optimize your CC pattern without changing too much. Capital One Venture (is that the one you have?) has a pretty good 2% cash back across the board, and no foreign exchange fee. Useful if you travel a lot, but $59 annual fee. You may consider calling and having this downgraded to a regular card with no annual fee/1.25 points per dollar spent. That’s one way to do it. The other way is to get a no annual fee card issued by your local credit union or community bank, and not turn every purchase into a strategic exercise to maximize whatever points they let you accumulate. Most of them offer reward cards too, and if there is a difference in richness between the rewards between that and the Chase (whatever element on the periodic table they are up to now) card, it isn’t worth it to have to deal with Chase. Also I’m not a fan of needing spreadsheets to monitor my accounts to remind me when the annual fee is coming up. I don’t get mad at people who do this, we can still be friends. Heck, I like and respect kaishek. It’s just my experience as a loan officer that people who are too strategic about rewards and getting this card because it does this at gas stations, and that one because it gives them something else for hotels, and this one gives that back when you use it at a restaurant, they think they are being sophisticated, but more often than not they end up outsmarting themselves and inevitably end up spending more than they otherwise would.
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Apr 10, 2012 14:26
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Quick question here folks... The gist is, I don't really understand the whole idea of prioritizing an emergency fund ABOVE paying off existing debt. For instance, I've got the following: Emergency Fund: $0 Line of Credit (Prime @ 3.0% + 4.25% = 7.25%) = -$13,600.16 I can put away roughly $500/month towards one of these. Tell me why exactly I should put it towards topping up an emergency fund rather than paying off my LoC? Also, I hear ranges of emergency funds, from 1 month to 6 months. This works out to roughly $2,800 - ~$16,800 for me. That's a pretty big difference, and if I'm to save $30,000 before paying off a $13,000 Line of Credit I can't understand it. Thoughts on what I should do here? (PS - I'm Canadian, if that makes a difference.) Rocks fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Apr 10, 2012 |
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Apr 10, 2012 14:40
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You have $5000 worth of expenses in a month and you can only put $500 towards debt? Most people on this forum advocate a small emergency fund while you're in debt. This is not a mathematical thing, it's a behavior thing. Building a $1000 cushion in savings and dipping into that when the car breaks down is very different than paying $1000 towards your line of credit then borrowing some back to fix the car. I don't think anybody would recommend that you save $30,000 while you have $13,000 in debt.
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Apr 10, 2012 14:45
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kaishek posted:I think you could probably optimize your CC pattern without changing too much. Capital One Venture (is that the one you have?) has a pretty good 2% cash back across the board, and no foreign exchange fee. Useful if you travel a lot, but $59 annual fee. You may consider calling and having this downgraded to a regular card with no annual fee/1.25 points per dollar spent. This is all good info, but a few things. I just have the Capital One Platinum card, which is no annual fee but only has 1% cashback. I'll have to look at the 1.25/dollar one you suggested. Is a point based system or a straight cash back better? As for my Chase one. There's actually no real benefit other than the miles I get for spending, I don't have the nicer ones with checked bags. But in my case, I fly from Chicago to Vancouver monthly on my own money. With United miles it's 25k miles for a $800-1000 ticket. With the generic points based ones, they are all usually 100 pts gets you a dollar towards travel. I thought I'd have to spend much much more to get a free flight and it doesn't combine with my united miles so I actually have to spend a lot rather than have the card supplement my miles points. With that logic, does it still make sense to keep my card? I'll have to try that fees thing though. I'll also look into the Amex card you mentioned, thanks for the info. DeusVult fucked around with this message at 14:55 on Apr 10, 2012 |
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Apr 10, 2012 14:52
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MrKatharsis posted:You have $5000 worth of expenses in a month and you can only put $500 towards debt? My budget looks something like this: (alphabetical) Alcohol: $40 Auto  $60Auto:Insurance: $170 Clothing: $100 Dining: $40 Entertainment: $40 Fitness: $100 Groceries: Home: $250 Groceries: Work: $100 Household: $200 Internet: $62 Personal Care: $0 Pets: $50 Rent: $1,150 Service Charges: $20 Take-out: Breakfast: $0 Take-Out: Lunch: $50 OUT: $2,200 ====================== IN: $2,800 Net: $600 So barring any other extra expenses, plus any incurred service charges (which I'd like to get to $0) I think $500 is not bad.
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Apr 10, 2012 14:57
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That budget looks pretty good. You have (in theory) some left over at the end of each month. Build a $1000 emergency fund and dip into that when unexpected events come up. When the fund goes below $1000, replenish it before paying off debt. Once that's in place, throw your extra cash at the line of credit. If you start along this path I expect you'll get sick of the slow pace of payoff and figure ways to cut costs/boost income.
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Apr 10, 2012 15:04
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MrKatharsis posted:You have $5000 worth of expenses in a month and you can only put $500 towards debt? Suzie Orman does, but she is weird. I understand what you are saying. Math would say that you pay down the line and save the interest, and if you have to use it you use it. Plus emergency savings will earn about 0.5% a year. But personal finance is not just being really good at math, it is more about behavior. The reason why you should have a small, starter emergency fund is because it encourages good behavior. If you have $1000 in the bank and your car breaks and it costs $600, there is a difference between seeing your line of credit go from $13,000 to $13,600. It’s not the direction you want to go, but it doesn’t hurt too bad. But seeing your emergency fund go from $1000 to $400, that hurts. Your back is against the wall. You covered the expense, but you feel the hole and you are going to work hard to fill it in. You need to break out of the habit of your line of credit providing. Your cash needs to provide. What is the deal with this $500/mo? If your expenses are $5000 a month, you are not cutting enough for it to hurt. You are turning what could be a one year plan into a 3 year mosey along. What else are you spending money on?
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Apr 10, 2012 15:33
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Suzie Orman does, but she is weird. It's not $5000/mo., see the post right below that - a math error on my part. More like $2,200 expenses v. $2,800 revenue.
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Apr 10, 2012 15:43
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Also, one more question surround girls and getting married. I'm looking at getting engagement rings, and it's killing me. The norm (i.e. jewelry dealers, other friends that have proposed recently) says I am probably going to spend around $3,000 - 5,000 on a ring, but: a) I can't afford it without dipping into the LOC b) I can't NOT buy a ring and propose I'd like to propose without a ring, but unfortunately life is just like this. Just seeing what other people have done during proposals... and preparing the onslaught of insults of "why spend so much for a ring". Thanks.
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Apr 10, 2012 15:47
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Zeta Taskforce posted:That’s one way to do it. The other way is to get a no annual fee card issued by your local credit union or community bank, and not turn every purchase into a strategic exercise to maximize whatever points they let you accumulate. This is what I do and I highly recommend it. I get some minor cash refunds automatically credited to my card at regular intervals, without counting points or paying fees or generally keeping track of bullshit. Regarding cash emergency funds - the other reason to have one is in case some poo poo hits the fan somewhere and your bank closes your line of credit. The size of it should be a balance between the size of your debt, your inescapable monthly expenses, and your life responsibilities. $1000 is just a number someone pulled out of the air - it probably works for a lot of typical situations, like it might cover a car repair or other random poo poo that could otherwise derail somebody pretty bad.
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Apr 10, 2012 15:50
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dnbrwn posted:a) I can't afford it without dipping into the LOC Then you can't afford to propose to this woman right now. Financially speaking (and disregarding a whole lot of other relevant stuff) a diamond ring is a pretty dumb thing to go into debt for. You could be using that money on family stuff: house, kid fund, whatever.
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Apr 10, 2012 15:52
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dnbrwn posted:I'm looking at getting engagement rings, and it's killing me. The norm (i.e. jewelry dealers, other friends that have proposed recently) says I am probably going to spend around $3,000 - 5,000 on a ring, but: gently caress society's conceptions about what you should pay for a useless rock. Get a nice high end cubic zirconia ring set in gold or platinum for $200-500. There are lots of moral reasons you can use for not buying diamonds, it's not just the stupid economics. Alternatively, buy a used ring and get it cleaned up and resized. Never buy diamonds retail.
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Apr 10, 2012 15:55
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dnbrwn posted:Also, one more question surround girls and getting married. Save up and pay cash. Seriously. Don't be in any hurry because if you can't afford a ring right now, just wait until the wedding planning starts. The ring I bought was about $5,200. I saved up for a little less than year outside of my regular savings for it and wired the money to the jeweler when I was ready. Seriously do not go into debt for a rock. My girlfriend's brother in law spent $20,000+ on the ring he proposed with and took out a freaking home equity loan to pay for it. Why you would do that is beyond me. Also, negotiate. e: Last thing: that was the hardest purchase I've ever made. Every instinct was screaming "do not pay this much for a god drat rock." SixPabst fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Apr 10, 2012 |
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Apr 10, 2012 15:58
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