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Oh I didn't know that. Still, the tax penalty is only going to be a fraction of the amount owed.
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Oct 19, 2013 20:34
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razz posted:Oh I didn't know that. Still, the tax penalty is only going to be a fraction of the amount owed. Yeah, sure would suck if you're making $20k/yr, get $200k forgiven and end up owing roughly $50k in taxes though!
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Oct 19, 2013 20:39
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Pay as you earn is the new one and even better. Its 10% of AGI minus 150% poverty level and the debit is forgiven after 20 years. Good luck if he runs out of federal loans though. My friend just sold his car to pay off his credit card debit but still buys 2 new video games a month probably has 100+ in his collection probably spent near 5k on those lol. Bigntasty fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Oct 19, 2013 |
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Oct 19, 2013 21:14
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baquerd posted:Yeah, sure would suck if you're making $20k/yr, get $200k forgiven and end up owing roughly $50k in taxes though! Income-based payment plan to pay off the taxes incurred from the income-based repayment plan for student loans! 
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Oct 19, 2013 21:14
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baquerd posted:Yeah, sure would suck if you're making $20k/yr, get $200k forgiven and end up owing roughly $50k in taxes though! Right? That would totally suck! I really, really hope that someone with a degree (supposedly, if they have that much debt) would at some point in that 25 year period be able to get a decent paying job and their IBR payments would go up, thus they'd hopefully pay it off before 25 years and not get hit with that tax penalty. That would be sad if you really were stuck making minim wage for 25 years  daggerdragon posted:Income-based payment plan to pay off the taxes incurred from the income-based repayment plan for student loans! 
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Oct 19, 2013 21:16
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baquerd posted:Yeah, sure would suck if you're making $20k/yr, get $200k forgiven and end up owing roughly $50k in taxes though! That would actually be awesome because now you owe $150k less.
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Oct 19, 2013 21:50
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Nippashish posted:That would actually be awesome because now you owe $150k less. Well, the IRS is somewhat less forgiving, but they're willing to work with you and you can discharge the taxes in bankruptcy. It's far from bad, but if someone doesn't know how to deal with it the debt forgiveness could really hurt.
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Oct 19, 2013 22:09
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I knew about IBR, but had no idea it could be that useful for huge loans. Unfortunately at least a third of the loans are private. Those worry me. If he can't get a job as a lawyer or if the job he gets doesn't pay well, his backup plan is to borrow more money, and go back to school for his PHD, because you don't need to pay loans if you're in school.
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Oct 19, 2013 22:11
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Me, I'm (almost) bad with money. My procrastination is constantly just this close to loving me over, but never does. A few recent examples:
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Oct 31, 2013 10:53
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. Instead, I drove for like two weeks after returning before taking care of it, risking at least an unpleasant conversation with the cops.
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Oct 31, 2013 13:36
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It turns out my girlfriend of three years has been quietly paying off an unsecured loan with a 23% APR she took out around the time we met and putting her monthly budget shortfalls caused by the repayment of said loan on a 26% APR credit card. She still has 8 months of payments left on the loan and it took me a week to talk her into taking money from me to pay the remainder before more interest is accrued. Would not budge on the credit card balance. I consciously avoid calculating how much interest she's paid altogether and how much of it could have been avoided.
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Oct 31, 2013 15:58
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Tonton Macoute posted:It turns out my girlfriend of three years has been quietly paying off an unsecured loan with a 23% APR she took out around the time we met and putting her monthly budget shortfalls caused by the repayment of said loan on a 26% APR credit card. She still has 8 months of payments left on the loan and it took me a week to talk her into taking money from me to pay the remainder before more interest is accrued. Would not budge on the credit card balance. That is so  that it hurts. Would she have taken a payday loan next to cover the shortfalls from paying off the credit card?
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Oct 31, 2013 18:56
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SpelledBackwards posted:That is so I was unclear earlier. She hasn't been putting the entire loan payment on the card and has kept its balance reasonably low, all things considered, but even then - unsecured loans and high APR credit cards are not really a solution, when I'd be more than happy to assist. Anyway, I'd rather not make any further comments.
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Oct 31, 2013 23:09
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That's better then. I debated on whether to post this in the Financial Independence thread or here, but I wanted to get the thread's take on the following article: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/why-do-poor-people-waste-money-on-luxury-goods To summarize, it basically says that in specific favorable circumstances, which are hard to put a finger on, buying luxury goods which enhance your social status and which you normally wouldn't be able to easily afford could open the door to opportunities you wouldn't normally have access to. I feel that it rides a fine line between teaching unaware readers an important lesson about institutional forces keeping certain types of people from getting ahead, vs. enabling a because-I-want-it attitude to spending, and doesn't really harp on the need to save regularly to where getting these luxury goods shouldn't put you in a precarious situation. SpelledBackwards fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 1, 2013 21:49
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SpelledBackwards posted:vs. enabling a because-I-want-it attitude to spending, and doesn't really harp on the need to save regularly to where getting these luxury goods shouldn't put you in a precarious situation. Honestly, that's what I was feeling towards the end of it. Really, the guy can throw up as big of a smokescreen as he wants about 'belonging'; it's not hard to look sharp to the average person on a modest budget. CatsOnTheInternet fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Nov 1, 2013 |
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Nov 1, 2013 22:14
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SpelledBackwards posted:To summarize, it basically says that in specific favorable circumstances, which are hard to put a finger on, buying luxury goods that which enhance your social status and which you normally wouldn't be able to easily afford could open the door to opportunities you wouldn't normally have access to. There was also a lot of emphasis on behavior in that article, so I'm not sure that expensive clothing is the only issue. I mean, the stylist looking to get an office job could have sacrificed to buy a silk shell to wear under her blouse instead of a cotton tank...but the VP could have considered that the stylist was trying to move upwards on a minimum wage budget and never been in a silk shell position before and been a little more compassionate. I don't think the stylist was in the wrong there. And you can certainly look more than "bare minimum presentable" on a budget. You might have to spend some extra time trawling sales and thrift stores, but it can be done.
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Nov 2, 2013 04:15
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HelloIAmYourHeart posted:I don't think the stylist was in the wrong there. I think you missed the point.
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Nov 2, 2013 04:59
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The article's nearly impossible to discuss sanely because it conflates two things. One part is the idea that luxury goods serve as practical tools for economic/lifestyle gain. The solution there is obvious - to try to calculate out and optimize your wardrobe to give off the most class for the least money. This would imply convincing replica bags, painstakingly selected clothes, etc. etc. The process would be very distinct from the aching desperation caused by an identity signifier that you crave and that's been marketed to you, of course. But who's ever doubted the value of looking good? But it also seems to be doing this weird thing that people do these days where it appears to be defending peoples' feelings as having a right to exist or something. "If you were a poor person, you would probably have the feelings of a poor person". I mean, duh? It's rational that poor people buy identity signals because they have a mixture of practical and psychological reasons compelling them to do so. Well ok then! Not much to say to that. So what is actually up for debate? It's the classic sort of article that leads to unproductive discussion. Are we talking about the most practical approach to a wardrobe, or are we talking about what precise social factors are compelling people to overspend on clothes? Either of these are potentially fruitful topics for discussion, but one is an exploration of change in behavior while the other is an attempt to justify current behavior, and of course one group will read bad intentions onto the other for misinterpreting the article when they're really just taking the other possible discussion that can develop from the content. (Note also that lifehackers/optimizers hate talking about the latter because it is a discussion of factors outside their circle of influence and social justice types hate talking about the former because they are looking to assign blame/demand change from the responsible party for these social conditions, I think, and believe that focus on individual change is insulting in the face of poverty etc) No Wave fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Nov 2, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 08:33
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I read the entire article, but it seems like it boils down to two things. Some people in power are jerks, and when you're meeting with someone important, to have a good dress outfit, and act like a professional. When I was getting out of the military, they have you go through a "real world class" and brought in a ton of recruiters to talk to us about interview mistakes and tips and stuff. There was a local woman who was in charge of hiring for one of the larger furniture stores in the midwest. She said that just dressing up and wearing a tie when interviewing for a warehouse position made a huge difference in her mind, compared the guys who would show up in t-shirts and jeans.
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Nov 2, 2013 15:37
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Tonton Macoute posted:It turns out my girlfriend of three years has been quietly paying off an unsecured loan with a 23% APR she took out around the time we met and putting her monthly budget shortfalls caused by the repayment of said loan on a 26% APR credit card. She still has 8 months of payments left on the loan and it took me a week to talk her into taking money from me to pay the remainder before more interest is accrued. Would not budge on the credit card balance. This I recognize, I am bad with money and had debts when we met. By the time she found out I had paid thousands in interest and was trying to fill the hole with another hole AND she offered me her savings interest free, I was so ashamed I could not talk about it normally. So good on your gf to accept your money but be on the lookout that she does not go back to old patterns after the loans are payed off.
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Nov 2, 2013 15:42
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FYI, on the other side of the coin, Netflix just added "Extreme Cheapskates" to streaming. It's one of those TLC reality shows like hoarder, so I can't wait to dive in and see what hot messes they have.
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Nov 5, 2013 23:26
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particle409 posted:FYI, on the other side of the coin, Netflix just added "Extreme Cheapskates" to streaming. It's one of those TLC reality shows like hoarder, so I can't wait to dive in and see what hot messes they have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z68tH-lnK60  This looks like it will be a hilarious ride. 
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Nov 5, 2013 23:49
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Man I'm going to go live in a debris pile in the forest to get on TV!
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Nov 6, 2013 00:14
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tuyop posted:Man I'm going to go live in a debris pile in the forest to get on TV! Stop looking for excuses to live your yurt dream and just do it
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Nov 6, 2013 00:57
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Trilineatus posted:Stop looking for excuses to live your yurt dream and just do it Man, I think the rough whiteboard version of the plan is to to spend a few more years here in the loving frozen Albertan north, then move back home to NS, establish the yurtropolis in our land that we got as a crazy wedding present, buy a sailboat, raise a kid or three, move onto the boat when they're like 5-10 and just tool around the world teaching English or voluntouring. Tell me stories of losing my whole family to a hurricane in the North Atlantic.
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Nov 6, 2013 01:50
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tuyop posted:Tell me stories of losing my whole family to a bankruptcy caused by a leaky depreciating money sink. FTFY.
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Nov 6, 2013 02:09
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tuyop posted:Tell me stories of losing my whole family to a hurricane in the North Atlantic. Hurricane shows up, boat gets dismasted, you try to cut off the stays and go overboard, wife tries to save you and goes in the drink. You die of hypothermia quickly; your kids survive a few days. The Atlantic always win.
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Nov 6, 2013 03:56
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Or you could live through the shipwreck and survive after being adrift at sea for 76 days (true story). Unless y'all all have dark secrets, in which case it's a part of the Punisher's plan to have you all turn on each other (less true story). Or you're actually off course for 20 years and go through unbelievable adventures and trials until you return to a homeland where much has changed (even less true story)
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Nov 6, 2013 05:52
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Extreme cheapskates is pretty good. I'm only one episode in and the first cheapskate is shown preparing to celebrate his 25th anniversary. In which he: -Splurges an entire $2.00 on gifts including expired Animal Crackers and a skull shaped stress ball. -Takes her to the courthouse they were married, where he then makes her wait while he scoops rice off the ground. -Gives her flowers he found in a dumpster along with a teapot from the same dumpster. -Reused a greeting card from someone else that was several years old (He changes the date, adds a few words, and signs it). -Despite his wife asking specifically to not do it for one night, he asks patrons at the restaurant they dine at for their left overs.
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Nov 6, 2013 06:38
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My cousin one day up and decided that life as a 50 year old accountant with a secure job and steady income wasn't fulfilling enough anymore. And so she went and turned her hobby into her job, opened up a dog hostel/saloon in the middle of nowhere and attached a dog food mail service to it. She's mixing the food herself, apparently it's been popular with her dog-loving friends. It's not that the dog food doesn't sell and it's not like she's never having a dog in her hostel (for some reason she keeps inheriting, literally inheriting, them from her friends), but one day my aunt decided to investigate how the business finances work out. Inbetween lamenting that none of her children have inherited neither business sense nor common sense, she's been supplying my cousin with enough money for heating oil, paying back her montly loan rates, and a rudimentary health care plan ever since. Apparently it has been flowing out like crazy because while the dog food about breaks even, putting up a dog saloon in the arse end of nowhere was a really really bad idea, even before you factor in loans. It's not all bad, though: at least she got over ponies and into dogs before this debacle started. I'm not sure who is more financial irresponsible here: my cousin who keeps tossing out money for hair-brained ideas that seem like fun at the time (and her siblings who aren't any better) or my very wealthy aunt, who has been bailing out her children out of their messes pretty much forever. She's pushing 80 and I'm dreading to see what those people will do with their inheritances.
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Nov 6, 2013 13:25
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RommelMcDonald posted:-Despite his wife asking specifically to not do it for one night, he asks patrons at the restaurant they dine at for their left overs. God you could just clean up by doing that!
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Nov 6, 2013 13:55
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When I was around 14 I signed up for those "TEN TAPES FOR $1" mail scams because I didn't know how it worked. I got my tapes but then found I had to buy a bunch more at full price. Of course I said "gently caress THAT" and ignored it. Then collections came and my parents found out. More recently my debit card was deactivated by the bank because of a compromised payment processor (they deactivated a ton of other cards so it's not just me). I was under the impression upon being told this when I called to ask why my card was being declined that a new one would be coming to me. 2 weeks later I still had not gotten one, but I did get a letter informing me that yes my card had been deactivated so if I wanted one I could come in and get it at the bank or call. I put it off for a month because hey I have a credit card with some room on it so no problem, right? Also I'm paying it off so it'll work out? Turns out that my balance has been staying at where it was since before I started consciously dumping money into it (~$4000) because while I'm putting a lot into paying it off, I'm also using it as my main source of spending power. Whoops.
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Nov 6, 2013 19:57
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Dead Inside Darwin posted:When I was around 14 I signed up for those "TEN TAPES FOR $1" mail scams because I didn't know how it worked. I got my tapes but then found I had to buy a bunch more at full price. Of course I said "gently caress THAT" and ignored it. Then collections came and my parents found out. I don't understand, who has been getting the money that you've been sending to your CC?
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Nov 6, 2013 20:42
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tuyop posted:I don't understand, who has been getting the money that you've been sending to your CC?
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Nov 6, 2013 20:45
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My friend bought a 2011 Ninja 250 brand new and financed it at like 35% interest. After putting like 20,000 miles on that he went and bought a Ninja 650 as well.(financed of course). I did the calculations once and I think he is going to end up having paid a 50% premium on the 2011 bike simply on interest alone. He still has the 250 and is still paying on it. This is also in addition to a car loan, credit card debt, and credit card settlement debt as well. The stories I have of this guy and his financial incompetence are very, very numerous. A lot of it revolves around almost a psychological compulsion/problem to buy electronics and RC toys...use it for a few months and sell it, only to repeat the cycle a month later when he is bored. In the past 7 years he has probably gone through 5 or 6 each of Xboxes, desktops, laptops, and projectors. Hell, he didn't even contribute to our companies 401k for a year because he couldn't "afford" it. And our company offers full match up to 6%! He is slowly and I mean slowly, getting better. I'm constantly trying to hammer FI concepts in his brain. Some of it sticks, some of it doesn't. I kinda stop caring sometimes though....you can only help someone so much before you get tired of them not changing.
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Nov 6, 2013 20:52
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canyoneer posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z68tH-lnK60 I caught a recent episode of this the other day. Some guy lives rent free in a condo and doesn't flush his toilet, he said that it would cost $30 a month to flush it. That's bullshit of course, but someone in another thread went to the trouble of calculating toilet costs: Shwqa posted:Because in fact I'm the awkward one, I did the math. According to about 6 seconds of googling:
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Nov 6, 2013 21:15
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Yeah, water is SO cheap in some parts of the country. When I lived with 3 other girls (obviously we used a lot of water) our bill was usually about $35. And $20 of that was a generic "sewer service charge" from the city that you got regardless of water usage, so we actually used less than $20/month in water. I'm sure all but about a dollar of that was from showering.
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Nov 6, 2013 21:39
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You guys pay for water?  (Also cheapest power rates in North America what up  )If it's not faked, the people on extreme cheapskate are legit mentally ill, to the same level as the people on Hoarders. I'm not a big fan of mocking the disabled so that show kind of irks me.
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Nov 6, 2013 21:42
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My parents (but mostly my mom) have a long history of thinking that they are one good purchase away from becoming financially independent. Those purchases are, of course, always idiotic. they've been duped into MLM scams three times, (I narrowly helped them avoid a fourth) my mom had her "identity stolen" in a work from home scam twice, and they've bought a crazy amount of things hocked door-to-door. They've bought vacuum cleaners, a sunroom, and two months after paying a ludicrous amount of money to get hooked up to the city water supply (we had well water before) they were duped into buying a 7000 dollar Rainsoft water softener. All of these terrible decisions were bad, but nothing quite beats the Timeshare. Excuse me: Timeshares. So my mom got a letter in the mail offering her a free cruise! All she had to do was attend the 90 minute seminar. My mom, being literally incapable of saying no to a salesperson regardless of what they are selling her, bought into the whole package without even trying to haggle the price down, ending up with something like 20,000 dollars worth of new debt. I want to mention that my parents have never taken a resort-style vacation in their lives prior to this point due to the logistics of getting two working class adults out of work at the same time for long enough to leave the state. Occasionally they would take driving trips to see family for a weekend. Also, my mother was working for the Auto industry while Ford was actively laying off employees, and she had been laid off and called back to work four times in the past five years at this point. Surprisingly, within six months of purchasing the time share (And a brand new Lincoln Navigator with all the option packages including a full aftermarket DVD player, sound system and wireless multi-channel headphone setup) she was laid off from her job. When it became clear that she couldn't continue to pay down the timeshare and her car and all of her other bills without having to declare bankruptcy, she got my grandmother to bail her out. My grandma paid off the entire thing in one shot, which was incredibly nice of her, with the stipulation that my mom eventually pay her back. (But let's be honest, everyone knew this wasn't going to happen) A couple years later, my mom got called back to work! Great! Then, that summer, she got a letter in the mail offering her a free cruise... Between the two timeshares she probably has about 40,000 dollars tied up, and I think she takes one vacation every three years. 
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Nov 6, 2013 22:09
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You should use that to your advantage. Friends/relatives with unused timeshares are the best. My husband and I got 6 nights in a couple REALLY nice timeshare resorts as a honeymoon gift from two friends who apparently have so many points that they can't use them all. I mean, there's no way we could have stayed in places this nice on our own. They were $500+/night 2 bedroom 2 bathroom fully furnished condos. We usually try to hit up the $49 Budget Inn when we're vacationing so it was a pretty sweet gift.
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Nov 6, 2013 22:28
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