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Fair enough; this is why I asked you guys, since you don't have the "be debt-free" thing clouding your judgment. Thanks for the sanity check!  I won't touch it until I can roll it over in September. quote:(where you contribute to fully max employer match and hit roth limits if you can---and you should be able) I'm doing the Roth thing as much as I can right now since my new employer isn't likely to match any contributions. Technically I have a Roth 100%-match on the first 6% (as in they'll even match - tax protected - my Roth contributions), but they do it in all-or-nothing chunks every two years for vesting purposes. Given pharma's general volatility, I am not likely to be here in two years, so I have to assume none of it will be given. In 2-3 years, I will definitely be able to hit the max. Right now, between $8K-10K each year goes to supporting my grandparents back in New York. Being realistic, they don't have too many years left in them, so that money should free itself up soon. Kaishek posted:I agree with the three above. The thought of clearing a debt is sorely tempting, and normally highly recommended, but not at the expense of your retirement savings. At your income bracket, you would be losing a decent chunk of it, more than $6,000 to pull it out. Right now you pay $2337 a year in interest (which is deductible, so that saves you $500 in taxes straight up, and doesn't take into account the fact that the amount of interest will shrink with the loan principal). Can you pay that debt off in four years by budgeting ~$7500 per year towards it? You'll be in a much better position further down the road, rather than wiping out your retirement savings and paying penalties, just budgeting and paying down the loan in the next 4-5 years. Yeah - the debt clearing is what makes me want to. I hate having student loan debt hanging over my head. I just wrote a check for $12,800 to finish off my wife's student loans, and now it's time to start on my own. My big concern is also predicated around how unstable the pharmaceutical industry is. Sure, I'm making $91K right now. I probably won't be in Indiana in a year, though. It is far more likely that I get laid off in a corporate restructuring than that I retain my job; that's just how the industry goes. With the career dysfunction, the idea of not having a loan hanging over my head is so tempting.
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May 13, 2012 18:23
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Does anyone have any experience with the NMTC (http://cdfifund.gov/what_we_do/programs_id.asp?programID=5) and finding eligible organizations to invest in?
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May 13, 2012 18:37
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If paying off your debt is that high a priority and your industry is that uncertain, I'm OK with temporarily stopping the Roth (only if ALL of the money goes to debt repayment). If you do that and keep the budget really tight and shovel money at the loans, you will be used to living really modestly and you can better weather things in case something does hit you in a year. But you are thinking about this and that puts you ahead of about 90% of the population.
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May 13, 2012 18:43
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Sundae posted:Fair enough; this is why I asked you guys, since you don't have the "be debt-free" thing clouding your judgment. Thanks for the sanity check! It is a strange position to be in, because normally BFC rule number one is "get debt free"...this is one of the few scenarios where that is not the case. To rephrase the last part of your post (and I DO NOT want to be construed as advocating the use of retirement savings as a safety fund, that's not what it's supposed to be there for), assuming you do get laid off there is nothing stopping you from pulling as much as you need out of the retirement money at that time instead of now. I don't think you should do this, but if it helps to have that sort of counterpoint to the idea of the loan "hanging over your head" then that's good. Either way, you won't be at risk of not making payments if you get laid off. Best case scenario, you pay off most of the debt by budgeting really well and keep your retirement intact!
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May 13, 2012 21:25
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Renting While Unemployed This is a bit of a rant as well as a potential probe for advice, but why is it so bloody hard to find someone who'll rent to me while I'm unemployed? I can understand the general reasoning behind it, but here's the thing: I completely "check out" in every way except employment -- 780 PLUS score, clean credit history with all previous loans paid off, rental references, and enough savings to make rent for 4-6 years. I'm even telling property owners that I'll pay 6-12 months in advance, which my finances allow me to do comfortably. I arrive at any apartment showings with all relevant documentation: credit report, redacted bank/mutual fund statements, and previous references. I figured if I paid my entire lease in advance, people would be jumping at the opportunity. After all, a job doesn't guarantee someone will pay their rent on time, and this seems like it'd be a sure-fire way to ensure they get paid. And if I don't continue my rent after my lease, well, they have every legal right to kick me out. For reference, I also tell them that I am jobless by choice, waiting for the 2012 college year to start. Tuition and rent will be paid for under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. So what gives? Any advice? I know I can find roommates easier than renting my own place, but I currently live in a 500 square foot 1BR/1BA so selling off extra furniture at a loss would be a rather large hit... and I hate living with others. I'm getting a few people here and there that are okay with my situation, but it's fairly rare and it's always in a spot too far from my desired location. Something tells me there's not much else I can do other than keep trying and perhaps focus on independent renters who are renting out a part of their house and such.
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May 16, 2012 06:56
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Have a parent or relative co-sign and breathe easy.
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May 16, 2012 07:13
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I've just turned 23, so for me it's become that time in my life to start doing some actual research into smart ways to manage my money. I'm not in any financial stress. I'm studying at the moment, so life is week to week, but I'm Australian so even the debts from my degree will simply be taken out of my paycheck in small sums each fortnight. I own my car outright, have no debt, have about 10k in my savings account, about 10k in assets and earn about $450 a week while studying "full-time". With that in mind, I was just after a simple book (or other resource) recommendation that helps understand smart ways to manage income, savings, investments and personal expenditure for when I graduate in a couple of years time and start earning a proper salary. I figured the above information was important because I feel like I'm not careless with money. I think perhaps maybe there are books written to help you make the right decisions and other books that stop you being a crazy jackass who spends 5k on clothes every year. I'm after the first option, so any book that could be considered an all-encompassing introduction to managing your own personal finances to the best of your ability. I read the OP, but a lot of was based on American finance, and the book recommendations seemed to be about more sector-specific topics than I was after.
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May 16, 2012 08:30
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I'm freaking the gently caress out. I have an Amazon store card. I went to pay my monthly bill with them 2 days ago and just realized I accidentally paid the FULL BALANCE. Well, the full balance is $960. I only have $150 in my bank account and I definitely don't have anything close to paying up for this mistake. I called Amazon and they told me that since it has been over 24 hours, there is nothing that they can do, it's a done transaction. Bank of America reports it as still processing. I can't pay this amount, I ACCIDENTALLY clicked the wrong box (I guess???). I did not mean to pay the full amount. My bank account is over $800 overdrawn and if I have to pay that, I'm not gonna have money for rent or ANY of my other bills PERIOD. I could get kicked out of my house. What in the hell can I do?!? I'm waiting anxiously for the bank to open, but that's not for another 5 freakin' hours 
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May 16, 2012 10:11
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89 posted:I'm freaking the gently caress out. As it's a done transaction for Amazon, you're only chance is with your bank. Did you use a credit card or paypal or what? I don't remember Amazon or any bank transferring money back to a customer unless it was their error. Certainly not in the case of asking for money back that you used to pay off an existing debt. It's basically equivalent to them just giving you money. EDIT: Your account is overdrawn? How did the payment process if you didn't have enough funds in your account to make the payment? If I pay anything off that's connected to a savings account it simply won't process a payment if there isn't enough funds to cover it.
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May 16, 2012 10:24
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PaoFerro posted:As it's a done transaction for Amazon, you're only chance is with your bank. Did you use a credit card or paypal or what? I don't remember Amazon or any bank transferring money back to a customer unless it was their error. Certainly not in the case of asking for money back that you used to pay off an existing debt. It's basically equivalent to them just giving you money.
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May 16, 2012 10:58
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Sounds like a good wake up call... unless you are a fellow $0 balance checking account person like myself. But if that was the case, you could just transfer some from savings.
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May 16, 2012 12:49
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I have like $18 in my savings account. $160 was all I had in my checking account and I only have about $40 cash....I was trying to pay the $35 minimum...
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May 16, 2012 13:05
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89 posted:I have like $18 in my savings account. $160 was all I had in my checking account and I only have about $40 cash....I was trying to pay the $35 minimum... You might have to do a cash advance. It’s not ideal, but it will cost a lot less than 3 overdraft fees and whatever fees the other places will charge you when they realize your payment isn’t any good. But it is a wakeup call if $800 is enough to throw you off a cliff. You were walking too close to the edge.
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May 16, 2012 15:11
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softcorps posted:Renting While Unemployed Look at small landlords, like the people who own a duplex and live in one half, or people who are upside down on their house and had to move and they need to rent it out for a couple years while they wait for the market to recover. People like this would love to rent to you, especially if you can pay that much ahead. You’re right that if you are going into big apartment complexes and all they are doing is typing your information into a computer, your options will be severely limited.
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May 16, 2012 15:18
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89 posted:I have like $18 in my savings account. $160 was all I had in my checking account and I only have about $40 cash....I was trying to pay the $35 minimum... There are two simultaneous problems here - 1) you don't have any money (are you un/under-employed?) 2) this error. For this, you don't really have any recourse. Once you click authorize transaction, you've authorized the transaction. The only saving factor here is that BOA might decline it for insufficient funds. At this point you just need to keep calling BOA and ask for the transaction to be declined (or try Chase again, I assume that's what you mean by Amazon card...ask for the payment to be cancelled and plead/insist on being transferred to a supervisor, etc.). You may just have to wait for the banks to work this out between themselves. Either they'll enormously overdraft you, or reject the transaction, but it might take several days to play out. I wish you luck in resolving this, and hope you figure out the income side of the equation also.
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May 16, 2012 15:24
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kaishek posted:There are two simultaneous problems here - 1) you don't have any money (are you un/under-employed?) 2) this error.
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May 16, 2012 15:37
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89 posted:Yeah, I work three jobs, so I try to do the best I can, but $960 isn't exactly something I have in my bank account quite yet. I'm heading to the bank to talk to them right now, so...we'll see.. Just keep in mind that you are asking them for a favor, not something they have to or should do out of the kindness of their hearts. Most credit card payments have multiple steps and require you to tick a box saying you understand and that the money will be pulled from your account. Come back and set up a budget thread when this gets sorted out - 3 jobs and only $150 in the bank sounds like time for a reorganization. Good luck!
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May 16, 2012 16:24
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kaishek posted:Just keep in mind that you are asking them for a favor, not something they have to or should do out of the kindness of their hearts. Most credit card payments have multiple steps and require you to tick a box saying you understand and that the money will be pulled from your account. This is just extremely horrible, horrible timing. Otherwise, I was looking at the likely hood of being debt free in less than 6 months. Anyways, went to the bank and they put a stop payment on it and basically it's a hope for the best scenario. They told me 9 times out of 10, when it's deal with a debt or credit card, nothing can be done. But, I also called the claims office and they said there's a good chance that it will bounce and put the money back in my account because it's such a drastic difference from not only what's in my checking account to what's also usually in my checking account. I just have to wait to see if the payment processes before the stop payment does. Worst case scenario, I'll have 60 days to pay Bank of America that negative amount and I can't use the account until then. Also can't open another account anywhere else until it's paid. So, it sounds like unless I can get some help from family or something, not only will I owe Bank of America that money in 60 days, but I'll also not have a way to pay any of my other bills for 2 months because my account will be deactivated........maybe I should go ahead and open a checking account at another bank today.. 89 fucked around with this message at 16:40 on May 16, 2012 |
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May 16, 2012 16:36
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Baby step #1: $1000 emergency fund!
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May 16, 2012 16:38
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softcorps posted:Renting While Unemployed I am not sure where you are, but in some states it is illegal for landlords to demand more than a set amount of rent up front (often just first and last). So even if you are prepared to pay it, they might be wary because of how it could look if it ever comes up to light. This is particularly true for corporate places, so you might do better with small landlords who either don't know or worry less.
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May 16, 2012 16:41
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89 posted:Well, I've had 1 waiting job for the past 10 months and it has dipped severely, so I picked up a bartending job and a web design job in the past month. But, it's recent, so I haven't been able to quite reap the benefits of it yet. Been paying on a student loan, an outstanding debt to the university (a semester that wasn't paid), and 4 credit cards (yeah, I know). I've gotten everything down big time and if anything, in the past few years I've brought my $16,000 I owed to college down to $900 that I have left. Is there any reason why you can’t use one of your cards to get a cash advance? That’s going to be easier than trying to make Bank of America to do something or not having access to your account for 2 months. Amazon is under no obligation to reverse a payment either. You are dealing with corporate giants who either don’t care, or dealing with customer reps who are too overworked to do anything even if they did care. No one is attacking you here. We are in this thing called life together and people are just pointing out that even before this happened you were in a precarious position. That isn’t a judgment on you as a person.
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May 16, 2012 17:29
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Amazon was by far my largest card, and I don't have enough credit available to cash advance on my other cards, they are either too small or too close to the limit. I just didn't want it to seem like I'm some terrible person with my money. I changed jobs 5 times just last year alone because everything keeps sucking or falling apart (the woe's of the service industry). I'm used to working 1 job and working there for years. Not this quick turnaround all of the time.
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May 16, 2012 17:35
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PaoFerro posted:I've just turned 23, so for me it's become that time in my life to start doing some actual research into smart ways to manage my money. I'm not in any financial stress. I'm studying at the moment, so life is week to week, but I'm Australian so even the debts from my degree will simply be taken out of my paycheck in small sums each fortnight. I own my car outright, have no debt, have about 10k in my savings account, about 10k in assets and earn about $450 a week while studying "full-time".
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May 16, 2012 17:58
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Thanks for the advice, I'll check that book out. I've ordered 'Enjoy Your Money' by J. Steve Miller and 'The Neatest Little Guide to Investing' by Jason Kelly. They both seemed to have really good reviews and seem like they'll give me a good understanding off personal finance and the stock market. Anyone got any experience with either of these books?
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May 17, 2012 02:47
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PaoFerro posted:Thanks for the advice, I'll check that book out. When I first got interested I read the Barefoot Investors book and researched his website: http://www.barefootinvestor.com/ All australian specific personal finance but not a lot on investing. I also read How to afford a husband by Justine Davies one of the news.com.au money bloggers, was mostly stuff I knew though. If you find a good Aussie investing book, post it here, as theres so many options to buy and I'm unsure where to start. I wish I'd started caring about money as I got out of uni, but at least 26 wasn't way too late in life to screw it up totally
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May 17, 2012 05:52
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 Many thanks to the participants of this thread for all your advice. This time last year I had just about $11k in credit card debt. Paid off my entire credit debt yesterday that I've been carrying around since 2006! Now on to my $3k school loan, then a small safety fund (I have no savings), then my car. Dragyn fucked around with this message at 17:27 on May 17, 2012 |
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May 17, 2012 17:25
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Woohoo, congrats Dragyn! For those of you buying books, consider getting them from the library if possible. Usually even if your local library doesn't have a copy you can order one through ILL (Pao I know you're australian so it might be different, your post just reminded me). Support your libraries, support your wallet, and if you really like the book then you can always buy a copy for yourself later!
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May 17, 2012 18:03
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Dragyn posted:
Awesome job! Feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders? 
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May 17, 2012 18:51
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IllegallySober posted:Awesome job! Feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders? Not as much as I'd like, still got a long way to go: School Loans: 30k (8%) + 3K (2%) Car Loan: 8.5k (4.5%) Heating System Loan: 6k (0%) and that's excluding my mortgage, which is still relatively new. But it's nice to have $0's on my spreadsheet for once.
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May 18, 2012 14:22
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Having cleared through our CC debt, our next goals are a) boosting our emergency fund from around $1900 to $10k, what we figured to be 6 months of living expenses and b) starting Roth IRAs. I've been reading about people utilizing Roths for emergency fund saving as contributions can be withdrawn without penalty. I hadn't heard much of this so I'm curious what others think of this strategy? One thought I had was to leave the $1900 where it is (CU savings account earning nothing) for a slight cushion and then build Roth IRAs, knowing that they could also provide cash in case of emergency.
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May 20, 2012 19:06
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kaishek posted:I agree with the three above. The thought of clearing a debt is sorely tempting, and normally highly recommended, but not at the expense of your retirement savings. At your income bracket, you would be losing a decent chunk of it, more than $6,000 to pull it out. Right now you pay $2337 a year in interest (which is deductible, so that saves you $500 in taxes straight up, and doesn't take into account the fact that the amount of interest will shrink with the loan principal). Can you pay that debt off in four years by budgeting ~$7500 per year towards it? You'll be in a much better position further down the road, rather than wiping out your retirement savings and paying penalties, just budgeting and paying down the loan in the next 4-5 years. ??? It is my understanding that you can't deduct student loan interest if you are making more than $75,000 a year. At least, that is how it is for me.
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May 21, 2012 05:55
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The Experiment posted:??? He listed his income as married filing jointly which changes the cutoff. If he was making 100k plus all by his lonesome you'd be right though.
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May 21, 2012 14:06
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jfballin posted:Having cleared through our CC debt, our next goals are a) boosting our emergency fund from around $1900 to $10k, what we figured to be 6 months of living expenses and b) starting Roth IRAs. I've been reading about people utilizing Roths for emergency fund saving as contributions can be withdrawn without penalty. I hadn't heard much of this so I'm curious what others think of this strategy? One thought I had was to leave the $1900 where it is (CU savings account earning nothing) for a slight cushion and then build Roth IRAs, knowing that they could also provide cash in case of emergency. Emergency funds need to be liquid so you can get at them in an emergency. If your ohshit money is in a retirement fund, it'll take you at least a couple days or longer to get the money you need. Also, since it IS an investment account, the value is going to fluctuate, sometimes wildly. Over the long term usually you'll come out ahead, but say the economy shits itself again, you lose your job, the stock market crashes... your emergency fund is now halved and you're hosed. So no, don't do that. Savings account interest blows right now but c'est la vie, your emergency fund is not an investment. Once you start a retirement fund, treat it like the money is gone. You do not touch your retirement fund. It's a one-way door that you put money through until you retire. If it's literally the only choice you have to afford something vital, that can be a different story. But 99% of the time you need to treat it like a time capsule you fill with money, bury, and dig up in 50 years and not before.
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May 21, 2012 18:47
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So I'm pretty much being buried in debt right now. $500 in back rent, another $500 in unpaid cable bills from a previous apartment, $900 credit card that hasn't been paid in months, plus about 15k in student loans. I live in the asscrack of Ohio where there are literally no jobs whatsoever that aren't mininum wage and part time, which I'm working and making about $400 a month from right now. I managed to scrounge up about $2,000 bucks (including my tax return from last year) and am living off that for the time being but its rapidly dwindling. I maybe have enough to live for a couple months at most and that's probably stretching it. To top it all off, I just learned today that my credit score is 123, which from my extremely limited understanding of credit is pretty much apocalyptic. Due to that I just had to pay an extra 200 dollars to get electricity. Am I just straight up hosed?
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May 22, 2012 06:46
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Drakkel posted:So I'm pretty much being buried in debt right now. $500 in back rent, another $500 in unpaid cable bills from a previous apartment, $900 credit card that hasn't been paid in months, plus about 15k in student loans. I live in the asscrack of Ohio where there are literally no jobs whatsoever that aren't mininum wage and part time, which I'm working and making about $400 a month from right now. I managed to scrounge up about $2,000 bucks (including my tax return from last year) and am living off that for the time being but its rapidly dwindling. I maybe have enough to live for a couple months at most and that's probably stretching it. Forget about your credit score for the next seven years. You're not buying a house. Your first priority is food and shelter. Get a 2nd job. Bus tables, push a rake, overnight retail. It's time to hustle. What did you go to school for? Where are those jobs? Go there.
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May 22, 2012 14:19
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What's the apartment situation now? Can you live with family instead? Are you living with roommates or by yourself? Have you considered going to North Dakota and working in the natural gas boom? It sounds like you haven't got much to lose and it could help.
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May 22, 2012 14:36
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Drakkel posted:To top it all off, I just learned today that my credit score is 123, which from my extremely limited understanding of credit is pretty much apocalyptic. Due to that I just had to pay an extra 200 dollars to get electricity. Not sure where you got that score, but a FICO score (which is the one that most people actually care about) ranges from 300-850. If you scored 123, it means you're not on the FICO score range, so the number is meaningless. That said, Bill is right, you don't have a credit problem, you've got an income problem. List your degree/certification/whatever and more specific location and we can possibly help you on that end, and start hauling rear end otherwise with pizza delivery/server/whatever jobs you can get right now.
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May 22, 2012 14:59
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Drakkel posted:So I'm pretty much being buried in debt right now. $500 in back rent, another $500 in unpaid cable bills from a previous apartment, $900 credit card that hasn't been paid in months, plus about 15k in student loans. I live in the asscrack of Ohio where there are literally no jobs whatsoever that aren't mininum wage and part time, which I'm working and making about $400 a month from right now. I managed to scrounge up about $2,000 bucks (including my tax return from last year) and am living off that for the time being but its rapidly dwindling. I maybe have enough to live for a couple months at most and that's probably stretching it. That's not a FICO, but it could be something else.
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May 22, 2012 16:27
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Looking for some recommendations on some debt consolidation loans. My wife and I are looking to get a loan that takes what we owe and brings down the interest rate as well as making one payment. Any recommendations on where to look? Looking for roughly $15k.
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May 22, 2012 16:44
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Mr.Trifecta posted:Looking for some recommendations on some debt consolidation loans. My wife and I are looking to get a loan that takes what we owe and brings down the interest rate as well as making one payment. Any recommendations on where to look? Looking for roughly $15k. There really is no such thing as a debt consolidation loan, that's just a loan purpose which adjusts DTI requirments with proof of payment (they usually pay of the loans for you). Basically you would need to be approved for an unsecured loan from a credit standpoint, and then the DTI is calculated based on the debt that is being paid. Don't be confused with debt consolidation plans which are mostly scams.
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May 22, 2012 16:56
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