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Thanks for the advice! So transferring it to a Vanguard Target Retirement Fund won't cause me to pay any early withdrawal/transfer fees? I have no intentions of taking out and using the money (I'm already 29 so I'd like to have a retirement fund at least started), and once I have the credit cards paid off I'll focus on the emergency savings but right now my goal is just to finish school with as little debt as possible. I'm fine with something a little higher risk, since I feel like it's just kind of sitting there right now.
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Jun 17, 2013 01:24
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Chessna posted:Thanks for the advice! So transferring it to a Vanguard Target Retirement Fund won't cause me to pay any early withdrawal/transfer fees? I have no intentions of taking out and using the money (I'm already 29 so I'd like to have a retirement fund at least started), and once I have the credit cards paid off I'll focus on the emergency savings but right now my goal is just to finish school with as little debt as possible. Just make sure they make the transfer and you aren't pulling it out yourself then reinvesting in the new fund. I've met people that did this and it sucks for them.
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Jun 18, 2013 21:32
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|Ziggy| posted:Just make sure they make the transfer and you aren't pulling it out yourself then reinvesting in the new fund. I've met people that did this and it sucks for them. When I've done this before, they wrote the check to "my new IRA servicer For the Benefit Of [my name here]". Yes, it would super suck to get burned on that come tax time.
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Jun 19, 2013 17:49
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Yeah, I just opened a "Rollover IRA" with Vanguard and I just filled out the paperwork with Vanguard's address and they cut the check right to them. I never even had to touch it.
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Jun 19, 2013 19:48
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I'm currently applying for a job that has an "Hourly Off-Scale" wage for the position. Google was not able to help me, what does off scale mean?
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Jun 20, 2013 00:33
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Busy Bee posted:I'm currently applying for a job that has an "Hourly Off-Scale" wage for the position. Google was not able to help me, what does off scale mean? "Scale" probably means the union wage scale. So my totally probably not correct guess is that means it isn't a union job at a place where some people have union jobs.
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Jun 20, 2013 00:51
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|Ziggy| posted:Just make sure they make the transfer and you aren't pulling it out yourself then reinvesting in the new fund. I've met people that did this and it sucks for them. Awesome, thanks. This is the kind of stuff I would probably overlook.
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Jun 23, 2013 20:58
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What do you typically look for when choosing a credit union? I've been deciding based on the fee schedule pretty much entirely, wondering how beneficial that is? Basically I can choose between western FCU or Pentagon FCU, and I'm leaning towards western because they impose less fees. Anyone got a compelling reason I should go with Pentagon?
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Jun 24, 2013 13:53
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What sort of fees are you looking at? One of the main reasons I switched over to my credit union is that they've never once charged me a fee for anything (except my mortgage refinance, of course). Of course, interest rates are going to be one area they vary wildly from each other. Min has extremely low interest rates on loans, and decent CD rates, but the savings account interest rates are abysmal.
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Jun 24, 2013 16:35
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SlightlyMadman posted:What sort of fees are you looking at? One of the main reasons I switched over to my credit union is that they've never once charged me a fee for anything (except my mortgage refinance, of course). Of course, interest rates are going to be one area they vary wildly from each other. Min has extremely low interest rates on loans, and decent CD rates, but the savings account interest rates are abysmal. Just overall. Big ones being transfer fees though.
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Jun 24, 2013 17:31
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Yeah the main reason we switched was because of the potential incentives of belonging to a credit union. For example ours has lower interest rates for loans and refinancing other loans, no checking fees and a higher savings rate than any of the major banks. We only keep our emergency fund in that account though because my wife works at BB&T so it's easier to handle the general checking/billing through them. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Jun 26, 2013 |
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Jun 26, 2013 17:04
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I'm in the boat of looking for a better rate for savings/money market account. Currently I have Bank of America, and between my wife and I we have $7000ish in savings (shooting to get it up to am even 10 by end of the year). BoA said their savings would only fo 0.04%. I'm pretty certain I can do better. I live in Philly, just curious if anyone here has had luck with a specific bank or credit union (ill be looking at both of course). I already have 401K and Roth accounts setup, this just making the most of our emergency fund.
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Jun 27, 2013 00:03
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Duckman2008 posted:I'm in the boat of looking for a better rate for savings/money market account. Any reason you wouldn't consider an online bank? I use ally (for all of my banking, actually), and it seems pretty decent. No one has good interest rates right now, but they're in the high .X%, rather than the low .0X% range.
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Jun 27, 2013 15:24
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You're earning 2.80 a year in interest.. Even if you triple your interest, is it worth an extra 5 bucks? I'd just sit on it and see where rates go in the next six months. If they change significantly then move it.
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Jun 28, 2013 08:42
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Haven't Bank of America's interest rates always been poo poo though? I seem to remember my savings account only getting something like 0.2% when a lot of places were offering 5% accounts years ago.
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Jun 28, 2013 15:36
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If you can wait a few days between deposits/withdrawals online banks are ~1%.
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Jun 28, 2013 16:20
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PRADA SLUT posted:You're earning 2.80 a year in interest.. Even if you triple your interest, is it worth an extra 5 bucks? We're talking like 5 minutes of effort to get an additional $60 a year at basically no risk.
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Jun 28, 2013 16:48
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SlightlyMadman posted:Haven't Bank of America's interest rates always been poo poo though? I seem to remember my savings account only getting something like 0.2% when a lot of places were offering 5% accounts years ago. Even when rates were 5-7% on online savings accounts, rates pretty much everywhere you could walk into and open an account were next to nothing. You're "paying for" tellers and the ability to walk out with cash today.
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Jul 1, 2013 17:38
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eddiewalker posted:Even when rates were 5-7% on online savings accounts, rates pretty much everywhere you could walk into and open an account were next to nothing. You're "paying for" tellers and the ability to walk out with cash today. Right, I didn't mean to say BoA was unusual in that regard, just that "leave your money in a crappy savings account and wait for interest rates to go back up" is probably not good advice.
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Jul 1, 2013 17:49
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I recently found out I have money with the Massachusetts abandoned property department. Its from old stocks and I have the original certificates which they want me to send them and they'll send me the money. Are there any pitfalls I need to avoid or is this a pretty foolproof process?
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Jul 1, 2013 18:41
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SlightlyMadman posted:Right, I didn't mean to say BoA was unusual in that regard, just that "leave your money in a crappy savings account and wait for interest rates to go back up" is probably not good advice. I don't mind online banks, although I will say I do like that anywhere I go I have quick access to my money currently. I would likely leave a little in checking and savings with BoA to retain that, and put the rest in whatever savings. The perspective is a good one though, $50 a year is better than $5 a year, but I can take my time to find the right combo.
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Jul 2, 2013 15:06
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Duckman2008 posted:I don't mind online banks, although I will say I do like that anywhere I go I have quick access to my money currently. I would likely leave a little in checking and savings with BoA to retain that, and put the rest in whatever savings. This is how I do it. Note that if you have some flavor of "free" checking with your physical bank, they often tie a minimum direct deposit amount to that account or else they charge fees. For instance, the Chase accounts I use require a minimum $500/month deposit for it to remain free.
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Jul 2, 2013 16:46
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Most places let you keep a balance of like $1000-$1500 in a checking account to keep it free as well, even with no direct deposit. You could just stick the minimum in the account.
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Jul 2, 2013 18:07
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I've got a Discover card, and it looks like they're doing checking accounts as well now. They'll give 10 cents cashback for debit transactions and checks written. I write exactly one check a month, and that's for rent. Anybody have experience with Discover for a checking account? I'm currently with Wells Fargo, and I'd have to keep an account open there because I have a loan with them and I got a lower interest rate for having it deducted from my checking account.
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Jul 2, 2013 18:18
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UK finance questions, hopefully the principles are similar enough for this US-centric thread: My job doesn't pay enough and I've spent a lot of time unemployed. Since I got employed again I've arranged to pay to pay £180 a month into my credit account. My debts look as follows: £3500 on a credit card, paying £180 a month, 25.9% £1200 overdrawn on a current account with the same bank Current account I actually use and have my wages paid into, just keep it out of overdraft each month £500 on a credit card I occasionally use, I pay £50 in each month which is well over the minimum, I don't see it as a problem. I arrange to freeze charges and interest on the top two whilst I was unemployed, but I'm now concerned that with the interest coming on again things will not actually get any better and it will remain a huge drain on my resources. Whilst I was looking to a balance transfer to a new credit card with a 0% no-payment period I saw an offer on a bank website for personal loans. £6000 paid back over 36 months would be about £185 a month on that particular one, so the same going out each month as for my credit card now. It works to paying back just under £6700, which appears to compare well to what I'm doing now, but I need to factor in interest will shrink as I pay things off. Is there a better, more thorough way to work out the comparison? I must admit, I idea of being able to set a date to be "debt free" is appealing. Of course I need to be accepted for the loan, no idea if that can happen, so I'm keen to hear other suggestions on how to proceed. I may also be taking a one-year Master's degree course from September, if that is relevant to any advice you might give.
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Jul 2, 2013 21:25
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Fancy_Lad posted:This is how I do it. Note that if you have some flavor of "free" checking with your physical bank, they often tie a minimum direct deposit amount to that account or else they charge fees. For instance, the Chase accounts I use require a minimum $500/month deposit for it to remain free. For online banks, which ones do people recommend? IE chase and the rest.
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Jul 3, 2013 00:21
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Duckman2008 posted:For online banks, which ones do people recommend? IE chase and the rest. They're all more or less the same, but I've been using ING Direct or Capital 360 or whatever it's called now for a few years and it's been fine.
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Jul 3, 2013 01:01
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Duckman2008 posted:For online banks, which ones do people recommend? IE chase and the rest. Mandals posted:They're all more or less the same, but I've been using ING Direct or Capital 360 or whatever it's called now for a few years and it's been fine. We have been happy with Ally. No issues so far, and its been a good few months.
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Jul 3, 2013 01:23
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SlightlyMadman posted:Yeah, I just opened a "Rollover IRA" with Vanguard and I just filled out the paperwork with Vanguard's address and they cut the check right to them. I never even had to touch it. Welcome to the Vanguard club. If they had bumper stickers, they'd be the first/only thing on my '96 explorer.
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Jul 3, 2013 04:31
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Would still like some feedback on this, but just to update I've spoken to the Financial Support department at the back and will now pay £90 a month to the credit card, £70 to the current account, and after 3 months my arrears should be credited back to the credit account under this arrangement. Still considering the loan if I can get it.BizarroAzrael posted:UK finance questions, hopefully the principles are similar enough for this US-centric thread: My job doesn't pay enough and I've spent a lot of time unemployed. Since I got employed again I've arranged to pay to pay £180 a month into my credit account. My debts look as follows:
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Jul 3, 2013 22:57
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Alright finance goons. I need some advice because my money tree has been very, very generous the past couple of months. I'm holding two jobs until labour day: a contract/stipend research job worth $3500 and a part time position on weekends (worth overall ~$1600). In the fall I'm (hopefully!) going back to school to start postgrad. I'm making this post because I won a $5000 grant that I'd like to make the most out of. On top of the jobs and grant, I've got $2300 sitting in my account. I'm also receiving a living stipend that takes care of my food/sundries/bus pass etc and I live with relatives so my expenses/liabilities are minimal. So to add up, I'll have roughly $12500 in savings by Labour Day. Here are my big items on the table:
I'm not going to touch this money until at least Labour Day (63 days from now). School will begin and then I'm going to need it. Hopefully $1-$2k will be left in savings. I'm gonna talk to my bank (TD Canada Trust) tomorrow and see what they offer. I'm guessing since the period is so short that the only way to make any money would be to put it into aggressive/risky mutual funds.
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Jul 4, 2013 03:23
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Telemarchitect posted:I'm guessing since the period is so short that the only way to make any money would be to put it into aggressive/risky mutual funds. Nononononononono no no no no no no no. No. No. No. No. Do not do this. High risk investment are something people do over the long term because hey, if the shares crash down to 10% of their initial value, you still have the shares, and they'll go back up eventually right  ? Or rather, more volatile investments trend upward over a long period of time, but they go through ups and down. It could go through an up while you're holding, but it could also go through a crash. Someone smarter will be along shortly with a better explanation, but in your situation anything high risks, and mutual funds as a whole, are not a good idea at al.For a 63 day holding period, you're looking at a CD at best. 1-2% interest, if that, but you're sure that the money'll be there in two months. Anything else is essentially gambling and while you're flush with cash right now, you really shouldn't be gambling in your situation.
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Jul 4, 2013 03:29
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FrozenVent posted:Nononononononono no no no no no no no. Yeah no I wasn't planning on it. 
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Jul 4, 2013 03:41
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There are ultra short term bonds and corporate bridge loans that could be hypothetically leveraged here, but you need more like $5 million to make that happen while managing your risk.
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Jul 4, 2013 15:49
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Stick it all in a TFSA (assuming you have contribution room) and earn your miniscule percentage of tax free interest for 63 days. I think that's your best bet. Your should probably open an account with an online bank like ING Direct. TD will offer you terrible rates on a TFSA savings account. edit: ING Direct is currently offering 1.4% on their TFSA's. DarkJC fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Jul 5, 2013 |
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Jul 5, 2013 15:37
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Is there a method for figuring out if it is in my best interest to continue leasing the car I have or if I should I buy it out? I don't have much of a head for numbers, so I'm not sure how to do this.
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Jul 6, 2013 20:59
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BizarroAzrael posted:Would still like some feedback on this, but just to update I've spoken to the Financial Support department at the back and will now pay £90 a month to the credit card, £70 to the current account, and after 3 months my arrears should be credited back to the credit account under this arrangement. Still considering the loan if I can get it. Just looking at what you said, it seems like the loan is a no brainer. It will consolidate everything (right?) and be far less interest over 3 years than just one year for only the credit card. I guess the only thing to think of is if you can pay off the credit card with the $3500 balance while under 0%, if so that would be a better bet but from what you said that doesn't sound likely.
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Jul 7, 2013 17:54
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I dont really understand the difference between statement balance and credit card balance. Normally I pay off the whole card every month. If I pay the statement balance will I avoid being charged interest?
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Jul 7, 2013 19:24
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lampey posted:I dont really understand the difference between statement balance and credit card balance. Normally I pay off the whole card every month. If I pay the statement balance will I avoid being charged interest? Your current balance includes charges made after the the last statement was issued. Set up an automatic payment for the full statement balance and you won't be charged interest.
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Jul 7, 2013 19:42
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lampey posted:I dont really understand the difference between statement balance and credit card balance. Normally I pay off the whole card every month. If I pay the statement balance will I avoid being charged interest? Yes. Stuff that hasn't cleared by the time your statement is generated can be paid on the next statement. If you pay the full statement balance you shouldn't be charged any interest Your card balance is a running total. Your statement is the balance at a moment in time.
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Jul 7, 2013 19:46
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