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Harry posted:You're probably not going to start itemizing. I can't really tell how much you made freelancing, is it 23k or 50k? You can go ahead and dump all your money into the student loans, but you might want to do a Roth and some 401k anyway if the interest rate is low enough. Sorry for the confusion - made $23k in the first five months of the year freelancing, started at my salaried job in May at $48k/year so I'll wind up making slightly more than $50k in taxable income.
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Jul 9, 2012 03:25
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Similar to the question from the last page: I am moving my main checking and savings to USAA from Chase. Do closing "aged" checking and savings accounts hurt your credit the same way aged credit cards do?
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Jul 9, 2012 06:05
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IllegallySober posted:Similar to the question from the last page: My husband and I just did this and it didn't affect our credit scores at all. I did Google up this which suggests that it might lower your score if you have overdraft protection or a line of credit associated with the account, but I am pretty sure we had overdraft protection with BoA so I don't know if that's necessarily true in all cases.
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Jul 9, 2012 06:20
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IllegallySober posted:Similar to the question from the last page: Checking, savings, and other depository accounts are not reported on your credit. Closing these accounts will zero effect on your credit.
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Jul 9, 2012 14:17
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Thanks for the info.  I'm going exclusively credit union (BECU) and USAA from here out then.
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Jul 9, 2012 19:03
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I don't know why my credit score (according to credit karma) dropped about 90 points in two month. I have 100% on time payments and did not have any major changes in credit. My monthly payments increased just a little bit my debt to income ratio increased to about 5%. I didn't cancel any credit cards or anything. The only thing I can think of that would negatively affect my credit, is I did one hard inquiry to see if I would qualify for an autoloan, except it has not been reflected yet. I also switched about 8k from my checking account to my fidelity investment account but I doubt that matters. I don't really need to apply for credit/loans but I like keeping tabs on my credit. 
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Jul 9, 2012 19:48
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singe posted:I don't know why my credit score (according to credit karma) dropped about 90 points in two month. I have 100% on time payments and did not have any major changes in credit. My monthly payments increased just a little bit my debt to income ratio increased to about 5%. I didn't cancel any credit cards or anything. The only thing I can think of that would negatively affect my credit, is I did one hard inquiry to see if I would qualify for an autoloan, except it has not been reflected yet. I also switched about 8k from my checking account to my fidelity investment account but I doubt that matters. DTI has no effect on credit score. I would pull a free report and see if something changed, otherwise it may just be this fake score being wonky.
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Jul 9, 2012 20:04
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So I was poking around the amex website after applying for one of their cards and noticed that a lot of what they do are charge cards. Are there any benefit to charge cards vs credit cards?
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Jul 9, 2012 20:14
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LorneReams posted:DTI has no effect on credit score. I would pull a free report and see if something changed, otherwise it may just be this fake score being wonky. I just pulled my free credit report, and there are no inquiries in the past year and everything else is on time payments with nothing of note. I guess I shouldn't worry about it?
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Jul 9, 2012 20:30
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A hard inquiry is usually like 5 points, not 80.
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Jul 9, 2012 22:37
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I'm going to be moving out on my own for the first time, and my dad wants me to pull my credit scores before I apply for an apartment lease. I was planning to do freescore.com to get all 3 scores, but for all I know it could be the trade secret that they're utter poo poo. What service should I be using for this? If I do go with freescore.com, is there something I should know? How hard is it going to be to cancel the trial before I get charged?
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Jul 10, 2012 00:31
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https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp That's the one you want.
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Jul 10, 2012 00:45
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Harry posted:https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp Only Equifax went through, and that was just a report, they want $8 for the score.
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Jul 10, 2012 01:56
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If you want a score, go to myfico.com. That's the only score that matters. Sometimes they have a 10 day free trial thing and you can just cancel once you get your score. The annualcreditreport.com is your credit report, which tells you what accounts/lines of credit/debts you have and what your record/standing is like for each. You can get it once a year from each of the three bureaus, so in practice you can get it three times a year. It's good to check it regularly so you can watch out for credit opened in your name by others, or mistakes because of someone who has a similar name/SSN. eta: Really though if you're going to be putting in applications for apartments, just ask the landlord what your score is after s/he pulls your credit. You'll have to pay for it anyway.
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Jul 10, 2012 02:26
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If you don't have much credit, you might have to call them anyway to verify who you are. Really though, it's not hard to cancel before the trial ends. Just make sure to cancel it asap, because you'll say "I'll remember to do it in a week" and you won't.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:20
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intrapenous posted:Is there a megathread for ways to live without working? If not, does anyone have any ideas here? Like how to get on permanent disability, the most generous states, little-known government aid programs, etc.? Join the military!
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Jul 10, 2012 04:48
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I'm receiving an inheritance and I'm not sure what to do with the money. A portion of it ($20,000) I am going to use for a procedure in about 2.5-3 years. Is a CD my only option if I can't afford any risk? Even the best rates will only earn me about $500 over that time period, but I guess that's the price I pay for safety. The rest of it ($40,000) will be used over a period of a few years to support myself while going to school FT and not having any income, so it has to remain pretty liquid. In that case, would just a typical savings account be best?
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Jul 10, 2012 16:52
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zelah posted:So I was poking around the amex website after applying for one of their cards and noticed that a lot of what they do are charge cards. Are there any benefit to charge cards vs credit cards? Charge cards are good if: you need a very high limit (in most cases these are unlimited or super-high 100k+ limits) to make large purchases you can pay it off in full every month you like to flash platinum (or like their airline benefits for example) They are less good if: you are trying to build credit you might ever, even by accident, not pay in full They can do wonky things with your score...not necessarily bad, but having "no limit" is hard to report so they usually use your highest ever balance as your "limit". This can do weird things to your utilization ratio.
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Jul 11, 2012 00:01
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With someone in 30K of federal student loan debt and 4400 in CC debt would you guys recommend consolidation with income based repayment at $140 a month and $300-400 at credit cards or should I just leave them in forbearance for another year and make the standard repayment of $360 a month after I'm done paying off my consumer debt? I make a $100 payment on $6,700 of that debt. The other amount is in forbearance. My first 6 month forbearance I accrued $878 of unpaid interest. I ask because after I pay off the credit card debt I could continue saving into my IRA at $600 (I'm saving $200 a month right now and it would stay that way unless I started making more money or consolidated my student loans to a lower repayment) month and max it out while maintaining a $140 month IBR repayment. Save for retirement early and eat the student loan interest? I'm not sure what would be better in the long run. I'm 24 and make 28K a year. Starting to think about a financial adviser for this. I know student loan debt is a big albatross and pay off ASAP is usually the motto on debt, but wouldn't I be better in the long long run with a bigger nest egg? I don't really plan on buying a house or getting married in the next 5 years. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 17:59
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cheese eats mouse posted:With someone in 30K of federal student loan debt and 4400 in CC debt would you guys recommend consolidation with income based repayment at $140 a month and $300-400 at credit cards or should I just leave them in forbearance for another year and make the standard repayment of $360 a month after I'm done paying off my consumer debt? I make a $100 payment on $6,700 of that debt. The other amount is in forbearance. My first 6 month forbearance I accrued $878 of unpaid interest. It sounds like you're in a similar situation to mine. I think you'd never find someone to refinance 30k in school debt with no collateral. If it's federal (mine is private @ 8%  ), the interest rate is low enough that you may get away with paying it slowly to invest in retirement.
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Jul 11, 2012 18:07
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Dragyn posted:It sounds like you're in a similar situation to mine. I think you'd never find someone to refinance 30k in school debt with no collateral. If it's federal (mine is private @ 8% Yea I know I can't refinance. If I could just get a big nest egg started and say gently caress it to the 20K-30K in interest I'll accrue on the loans I might just come out better by the time I turn 65. I'd need someone the crunch the numbers because it's all super overwhelming for me. Oh and doing more reading my subsidized student loan interest would be paid for the 3 years under IBR, which is about 6,500 of that 30K total. My forbearance ends next month so I'm trying to figure out my next move. Of course in the next 5 years I could start making enough to cover all that, but my take home would have to increase by 5-11K for that to happen on my very rusty estimate. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 18:13
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Dragyn posted:It sounds like you're in a similar situation to mine. I think you'd never find someone to refinance 30k in school debt with no collateral. If it's federal (mine is private @ 8% You can do what you want, but I would not intentionally pay them down slower to free up money for retirement. I would do an employee match. Since this is a multi year effort paying them off, it is too much money to leave on the table to forgo the match, but anything in addition to that should go toward the loans. 8% is not cheap money and there is nothing that will give you a guaranteed 8% rate of return. This sounds like a year repayment plan, you will turn 40, and realize that you have been making student loan payments your entire adult life.
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Jul 11, 2012 19:04
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It may help to think of it as interest in vs. interest out. Interest is either growing or reducing your wealth. We're going to need more info here on your loans. What interest rate are your student loans at? Credit card? What sort of retirement matching is your employer offering? If there's some matching going on there, it's probably best to put in the maximum that your employer will match (that's gospel around here.) Build up the recommended emergency fund, and then put everything into the highest interest debt (probably your credit cards) first. If you've got some unsub'ed or private student loans, it would be incredibly silly to pour money into unmatched retirement savings (between 4-8% compounding return) when you have a guaranteed 6.8% or higher rate on those student loans working against you. Same goes double for the credit card. Emergency fund is important so you aren't paying down debt like crazy with no savings, and then you need to get new tires/take your cat to the hospital/fly to grandma's funeral and put all that back on the card or a higher interest rate on a different card.
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Jul 11, 2012 20:01
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canyoneer posted:It may help to think of it as interest in vs. interest out. Interest is either growing or reducing your wealth. I know I'm pulling one a couple sentences out of context so I'm not picking on you, but I have to take issue with the idea of interest in vs. interest out. Not because the math is off, but because personal finance isn't mostly about math, but instead behavior. I didn't used to think that. My student loans were at 3% and I probably could have paid them off by 2004, but they were at 3%, tax deductible, and online savings accounts paid 4% or 5% at the time, so I was coming out ahead. Plus I wanted to save for a house, which I bought in 2008. I had to put way more money than I thought into it right away, and suddenly I couldn't pay them off, yet every single month the automatic debit took the payment out, month after month after month after month. It wasn't until March of this year, about 8 years after I could have paid them the first time that I finally did. I feel like I've paid for that $100 of interest I skimmed off the system 10 times over. I'm a loan officer so I don't think that debt is pure evil, but I see people with the same mentality who are really good at managing their debt, moving their debt, deferring their debt, borrow on really favorable terms, and they do that for 40 years, and at the end of it they are in more debt than ever and they can't retire because they have so many payments. Don't do that. If you still don't believe me, this is what a huge pile of 1.9% debt turns you into.
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Jul 12, 2012 01:09
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Y'all... I recently cashed a random rear end check I got in the mail that I knew was probably fraudulent or some manner of scam but I was really hard up for cash(my bank account was in the negative and I had no way to get out of that hole at the time) so I decided to do it anyway. The check was ostensibly from the United Overseas Bank in Singapore. It had some watermarks, which I know can be faked by a competent forger, and the correct routing number(which someone else could've looked up online as easily as I did). It was for $75.00 and I cashed it approximately a month ago. So far, my bank hasn't tried to pull the $75.00 out of my account or have me sent to prison. I had concerns about the validity of the check which I expressed to my teller and I documented that I brought up those concerns before cashing the check(I sat down with one of their bankers and he put together a statement on company letterhead which we both signed). She said that if the funds hadn't been withdrawn in 7-10 business days I would be in the clear. Obviously we're well past that point. The check came with a one sentence letter that was riddled with spelling errors, which also set off red flags, but I was in a pretty bad spot so I ignored it. At this point it appears as if I randomly got $75.00 in the mail.Before I cashed the check I googled United Overseas Bank scam, which does return some hits, but they're all email based scams. My concern is that these fuckos that sent me the check in the first place may have some manner of access to my personal information and could be trying to sign me up for credit cards or something(joke's on you my credit was abysmal before I entered grade school!). I don't know. It was a very scammy situation all around but I can't figure what angle they're trying to get at me from. In summary, how can I remain vigilant as to what services I have been signed up for in order to head off the inevitable next step in this scam I pretty much dove headfirst into?
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Jul 12, 2012 11:00
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How about remaining vigilant about your checking account balance and not going into the negative?
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Jul 12, 2012 13:13
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It may be the initiation of a scam that hasn't become a dangerous yet. What did the note that came with it say? Do you still have it? Do you have a picture of the check? The most important thing is that you realize the check is probably fake, and whatever you do, don't give them any money back if they contact you again. They will likely do so and offer you more money, saying you won a lottery or something. edit: Here's an explanation of the most common scams like this http://www.bbb.org/us/article/the-check-in-the-mail-could-be-a-scam-493 The really weird thing is that these are usually much more than $75, I don't get why they'd bother for such a small amount, so there must be more to it. If the account and routing numbers on the check are real though, it could take weeks or even years to come up as fraudulent though, so you're not in the clear by any means. SlightlyMadman fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Jul 12, 2012 |
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Jul 12, 2012 14:29
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MrKatharsis posted:How about remaining vigilant about your checking account balance and not going into the negative? I lost my job and couldn't defer my private student loans but thanks for this helpful response. I have started working on a budget, which will help me develop my savings better now that I'm working again, but the situation I fell into earlier wasn't the result of negligence. This was the first time my account had ever fallen into the negative. SlightlyMadman posted:It may be the initiation of a scam that hasn't become a dangerous yet. What did the note that came with it say? Do you still have it? Do you have a picture of the check? Unfortunately, I do not have the note any longer or really remember what it said. I remember it being very short, not being addressed to me personally, and not having anything explaining why I might be receiving a check in the mail. Thinking about it, I also remember that the return address on the envelope wasn't in Singapore but I can't think of the country of origin right now. Thanks for the link on this variety of scam. After reading it, like you said, the amount they sent me seems odd and the fact that they haven't tried to contact me or mail anything else so far is also odd. I will definitely keep a lookout for anything else from these guys. Thank you.
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Jul 12, 2012 15:29
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It could also have been a valid check where by signing it to endorse you are also agreeing to sign up for some recurring service.
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Jul 12, 2012 15:35
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Daeus posted:It could also have been a valid check where by signing it to endorse you are also agreeing to sign up for some recurring service. Oh wow, flash from the past. I remember getting those and lining out that part and depositing them. I must have cleared $1-2K before I stopped getting them.
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Jul 12, 2012 15:38
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Fisticuffs, if you have not done so already, close down the account and open another one with a different number and put a freeze on your credit. By depositing the check they know your account number and your bank’s routing number is public information. They know your address and your name. But this desperation has to stop. Broke, desperate and dumb all hang out together. You are bouncing from one crisis to the next, and that causes people to be short sighted, and you are so overwhelmed by everything you don’t see the next pile of poo poo that is in front of you. If you can’t put your loans on hardship deferral and you have to choose between paying them or things like eating, rent, and transportation, then maybe they don’t get paid this month. But you have to be intentional.
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Jul 12, 2012 16:15
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Daeus posted:It could also have been a valid check where by signing it to endorse you are also agreeing to sign up for some recurring service. If it was this, nothing has been withdrawn from my account yet and there was nothing in the note or on the check itself to indicate that I was signing up for a service. Though I just looked at the check on my bank's website and there are a couple asterisks next to both my names and the amount of the check  Zeta Taskforce posted:Fisticuffs, if you have not done so already, close down the account and open another one with a different number and put a freeze on your credit. By depositing the check they know your account number and your bank’s routing number is public information. They know your address and your name. But this desperation has to stop. Broke, desperate and dumb all hang out together. You are bouncing from one crisis to the next, and that causes people to be short sighted, and you are so overwhelmed by everything you don’t see the next pile of poo poo that is in front of you. If you can’t put your loans on hardship deferral and you have to choose between paying them or things like eating, rent, and transportation, then maybe they don’t get paid this month. But you have to be intentional. I will do this today, thank you. You're right about one crisis to the next for sure, my car broke down yesterday and I wanted to just shoot myself in the face and lie down in the road. I am going to the library today and I plan on picking up a book that'll help teach me how to manage my finances more efficiently(I'm totally open to any recommendations if you guys know of anything good - I don't mind dry at all so long as the information is useful). I'm not going to be making poo poo for cash but I can still budget and save something, I'm sure. I need to do a better job of keeping a cushion for myself so that I don't get absolutely hosed if I get laid off again. I have been making some small steps to that end but I need to get a move on it. Fisticuffs fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Jul 12, 2012 |
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Jul 12, 2012 16:16
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They can't just withdraw willy-nilly just because they have your account number, otherwise anyone you write a check to would have access to all your money. They can however use it to write more fake checks, which could potentially expose you to some future hassle, so closing the account and opening a new one might not be a bad idea.
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Jul 12, 2012 16:25
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I agree, it's all about behaviors. Know thyself, etc. Also, re: the mystery check: If one knowingly deposited a check that one suspected was fraudulent, couldn't one have some legal issues from that? You should get yourself as far from that as possible.
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Jul 12, 2012 16:40
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Husband won a really cool thing worth 4k (  He was so happy) , but of course we're going to have to pay taxes on it. For the life of me, I can't find out what percentage we're going to have to pay for US fed taxes (no state taxes here). Anybody know off the top of their head? I coulda sworn it was 20% but I can't confirm.E:  should this be in the income taxes thread or here?
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Jul 12, 2012 20:25
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Fluffy Bunnies posted:Husband won a really cool thing worth 4k ( Prizes are reported as part of gross income when you file your 2012 federal income tax return next year under Line 21 (Other Income) of Form 1040. quote:(a) General rule Demented Guy fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Jul 12, 2012 |
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Jul 12, 2012 20:59
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Fisticuffs posted:She said that if the funds hadn't been withdrawn in 7-10 business days I would be in the clear. Obviously we're well past that point. Just wanted to chime in on this bit - a BoA ATM once ate a check I tried to deposit, and even though they "resolved" the situation quickly and released the funds to me, they then withdrew the funds (plus a "returned item fee") with no warning weeks later because they suddenly decided they couldn't honor the damaged check. The check...that their machine damaged. So I'd say that "7-10 business days" thing is complete bullshit, and that money might disappear from your account at any time. And my check was 100% legit, just slightly wrinkled. For a check that is most likely fraudulent, I'd expect that money to disappear any day now. Googling up some check-cashing scams indicates that lots of people get in pretty deep before the first check even bounces, so it sounds like banks taking their sweet rear end time to determine the validity of a check is really common. I could be wrong, but I thought I'd let you know that it's a possibility. I don't think there's a limit on how long they have to pull the money back if they realize the check's no good, and it sounds like you're still in a situation where getting $75+ ripped out of your account would hurt you pretty badly. So, be aware.
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Jul 16, 2012 06:21
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Hello thread, I've done my best to read through most of this thread over the last week or so and I've picked up some really handy info - thanks in particular to Zeta for her regular input. Before my questions, a bit about me: I'm a 27 year old Australian earning about $72,000 per year ($4.3k net a month approximately) in a job with almost no prospect of being fired. I am a permanent state government employee which means that I can only be fired for horrible misconduct. If you are merely negligent or bad, they shift you side-ways to a place where you can do less damage. It's not great for our state but it's good for us employees. For this reason I figure I need a slightly smaller emergency fund to take into account the limited likelihood of unemployment. It is also my dream job, so I'm highly unlikely to be moving any time soon. I will get a 3% increase per year for the next few years until our agreement is renegotiated, and will get promotions each year. Not taking into account the 3% raises, it will be like this: 2013: $76k 2014: $80k 2015: $85k 2016: $89k 2017: $92k Australian employers have to pay 9% into our retirement funds on top of our salaries, so I have about $15k in a retirement fund so far. I will be setting up a voluntary contribution to this fund shortly. I have a mortgage of $166,400 which is at 5.99% (low by Australian standards). The property was purchased this month for just over $200,000. I own this property with my partner jointly and we share all communal type expenses. She is 25 and earns about $55k a year and will rise in a similar fashion to mine (her pay is based on the same scale, albeit at a lower level for now). I have a student loan through the government of about $40,000. It has a 0% interest rate and is index annually according to CPI figures, to keep it's value over time. See here. I have very limited savings at the moment. I budget using YNAB, although have only just started to do it. I'm putting about $2000 into the mortgage per month and my partner puts in about $1300 to account for her greater contribution at the start and my higher income. I am saving about $600 a month on top of that for long term expenses, my emergency fund and some savings goals. Our minimum mortgage payment is about $950 per month and we are contributing about $3,300 between us. We are on track to clear the mortgage in about 4 years, saving about $200k in interest. Of course, it's very early days yet. Things feel pretty decent at the moment, but I want to sort my retirement fund a bit better soon. Girlfriend and I have been together for quite a while and are still outrageously happy to be together all the time if that counts for anything. My specific questions: -Until I need my savings, am I best to put them in the mortgage (I can redraw for free at anytime) or should I always keep them separately? I have a free savings account that earns 3%. -Is there any reason to lower my mortgage repayments? -Am I right that I should pay the minimum into my student loans considering they are effectively chugging along with no interest? Thanks goons.
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Jul 16, 2012 12:22
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If you think you are safe to do so, and it sounds like you are REALLY safe, it's always good to pay off the highest interest 'debt' first. Some Aussie goons might shed more light on any optional long term retirement investment options you may have like 401k or IRA equivalents, but even then I'd be really surprised if they could beat the savings of paying off a 6% interest loan. Also clearing your mortgage in 4 years, that's insane and I'm jealous.
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Jul 16, 2012 15:38
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I agree, a risk free 6% is a very good deal in the current financial environment.
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Jul 16, 2012 15:47
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