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Shadowhand00 posted:I just read in some company documentation that employer contributions in CA are subject to income tax? I'm not sure, but even so, would you turn down a $500 raise just because you'd have to pay income tax on it? With a $1250 deductible and $500 towards it from his employer, that's only $750 he could potentially end up paying out of pocket before it kicks in. Since the other plan's deductible is $250, that's only a $500 difference. So worst case scenario, that's $40/mo he could end up paying (without taking taxes into account). By that math, if the HDHP's premium is $40/mo less than the other option, it's basically impossible for that not to be a better deal. Of course chronic illness or prescription medications screw these up, but it sounds like the poster doesn't have those considerations. In addition to that, an HSA is a really good retirement plan, especially with that employer match.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:14
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SlightlyMadman posted:I'm not sure, but even so, would you turn down a $500 raise just because you'd have to pay income tax on it? With a $1250 deductible and $500 towards it from his employer, that's only $750 he could potentially end up paying out of pocket before it kicks in. Since the other plan's deductible is $250, that's only a $500 difference. So worst case scenario, that's $40/mo he could end up paying (without taking taxes into account). By that math, if the HDHP's premium is $40/mo less than the other option, it's basically impossible for that not to be a better deal. Of course chronic illness or prescription medications screw these up, but it sounds like the poster doesn't have those considerations.  my company also provides $$ if you choose to go with an HSA so I take it, regardless of the tax. was just wondering whether anyone would know for sure whether HSA income is taxed like that.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:27
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 Does Chexsystems follow you around forever? I thought this poo poo was supposed to go away after 5 years. But I just got declined when I tried to open an account with Charles Schwab online. I did have a Fifth Third account that was overdrawn by $4 back in 2006 or 2007 and ended up getting charged off because I refused to pay over $200 in overdraft fees (due to their reordering of transactions which actually got them to settle a class-action lawsuit in 2011). I just ordered my report from them. I thought that would be gone by now. Banks don't care about your credit score, just chexsystems, and I haven't had so much as a single overdraft in at least 6 years.
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Nov 14, 2013 22:30
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Bisty Q. posted:Just use Schwab. I'd put ally right up there with it. No fees, they refund ATM fees, interest checking (slightly higher than Schwab, but still very low .4% apr) and savings. Good smartphone app, and a very decent customer service department. I've been very happy there.
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Nov 15, 2013 00:14
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Ashcans posted:What is your coinsurance on the two plans, and what is your out of pocket maximum? Is it the same?
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Nov 15, 2013 01:40
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martyrdumb posted:
I had a similar 5th 3rd issue when I briefly tried them in 2008. Worst bank ever.
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Nov 15, 2013 03:42
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So, I've been at my first adult job long enough that I got signed up for the RRSP plan this week. We can contribute up to 15.5% of our pretax income and the company contributes 2.5% of our pretax income. When asked how much I'd like to contribute I said "the max". The bank rep told me that there's no way I could afford that - only people with extremely high income can afford to contribute that much. I'm 25, have less than $5,000 in student loans and no other debt. My fixed expenses each month are less than $1500 (including rent/food/beer/loan payment/cell phone bill/transit pass) and I net about $3,000 monthly. Am I wrong to think that I should be contributing as much as possible now, while I don't have very many financial obligations and can do it without significantly decreasing my quality of life, as opposed to regretting not doing it later, when I may have more financial obligations and can't afford to save as much?
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Nov 15, 2013 21:34
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SatansFingers posted:So, I've been at my first adult job long enough that I got signed up for the RRSP plan this week. Is the company contributing a flat 2.5% or matching your contribution up to 2.5%? If the later, contribute 2.5% to RSRP and stick the rest in investment vehicles under a TFSA; at your age and income it'll be much more beneficial. What's your gross income, about 45k? Wouldn't placing 15% of your gross paycheck exceed your contribution limit anyway? And if you can afford to save 15% off the top, congrats on having really low expenses.
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Nov 15, 2013 21:47
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SatansFingers posted:So, I've been at my first adult job long enough that I got signed up for the RRSP plan this week. I suggest 20% of net income for retirement savings usually. +/- based on life style and goals.
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Nov 15, 2013 23:25
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Does anybody have any ideas about how to pay off my car loan faster? Income: 50 hours a week (7am-3:45 Monday to Saturday). Pay-cheques are about ~$1100 every two weeks or about $2200 a month. I put $200 a month into a Savings account so I have $2000 to use on expenses. Expenses: Rent $650 Car Insurance $190 Car Payment $400 Health Insurance $70 Personal Loan $50 Gasoline $80 Food $300 Cell $70 Marijuana $80 Cigarettes $30 Misc. 80$ Total: $2000 Debts: Visa Credit Card: -$3500 Interest: 19.49% (Yes... I bought a car with my Visa because my truck died and I needed to get to work the rest of the week. Thinking back it probably would have been better to rent a car for a few days while I applied for a car loan and found a cheaper vehicle. But hindsight is 20/20 I guess.) Currently putting $400 toward my Visa every month. Interest is about $58 every month, so $340 gets applied to the principle. At this rate it's going to take me ten months to pay off my vehicle. Options I've been considering: I have the option to pay $50 and Visa will reduce my interest rate to 14.49% which would save me $175. Going to do this on Monday. Either that or applying for a LoC with single digit interest to save more. I have also been looking for a cheaper place to live by getting a roommate. That should save me $100-$150 a month. Looked at getting a part-time job in the evenings to increase my income but fitting one in would be difficult. This would probably have to be something like delivering papers or hanging door advertisements because of my limited schedule.
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Nov 17, 2013 23:08
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Christ that hurts... You know this now but that was a bad move putting it on a cc. Can you go to a local credit union/bank and try to refinance it. Surely you can do better than 15 percent that route.
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Nov 18, 2013 00:51
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Dead Pressed posted:Christ that hurts... You know this now but that was a bad move putting it on a cc. At the time it seemed like the only option because I needed to get to work the next day. I made a panicked decision. My "eject" button would be to sell the vehicle and use that money to pay off the credit card and just take it as a very expensive lesson learned. I'm not all that attached to it, and a cheaper vehicle would save me money on interest, gas and insurance. It didn't really seem like a big deal at the time, but the increase in my insurance over my truck costs me $45 more per month or $540 over a year... I will ask at the credit union about taking out loan with a smaller interest rate. Even if it's for half the amount it would save me money. Peony fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Nov 18, 2013 |
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Nov 18, 2013 01:23
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SlightlyMadman posted:This happens to most people every year or two, so I'm pretty sure it's not "because of Obamacare." Take the HDHP with HSA though. They're almost always the best deal for somebody young and in good health, and an employer contribution is sweet delicious icing on that cake. It can be a great deal if you can make it work for you.
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Nov 18, 2013 03:03
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What's the thought on using a Roth IRA to hold a portion of an emergency fund? Due to some other reasons I generally contribute to my 457 over a Roth. That said I figure I could potentially achieve a level of return better than a normal savings account and God willing I never need it over the years it will turn in to other retirement savings. Edit. Just to be clear I'm only talking a portion of an emergency fund, while a majority minus the Roth limit depending upon how the year is going would be in the Roth.
Untagged fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Nov 18, 2013 |
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Nov 18, 2013 03:15
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Untagged posted:could potentially achieve a level of return better than a normal savings account This is determined by the amount of risk you take, not by whether it's in an IRA. Don't take risks with your emergency fund. It could be useful to put money in a money market fund in your Roth IRA if you're afraid you might need to take it back out, but don't want to lose the year's contribution opportunity if you don't. I did that one year while I was building up my actual emergency fund. But in general, emergency fund and Roth IRA are for polar opposite purposes, so...
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Nov 18, 2013 04:11
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Peony posted:Does anybody have any ideas about how to pay off my car loan faster? The best way way to pay something off is to cut your expenses, where possible, and pay off the highest interest debt first. The $80 on marijuana could be cut if you really wanted to pay it off faster, as well as cigarettes. Your car insurance seems pretty high, maybe you could shop around for more quotes?
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Nov 18, 2013 04:12
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The Sock posted:marijuana, car insurance Took the words right out of my mouth...
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Nov 18, 2013 04:16
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The Sock posted:marijuana, cigarettes, car insurance Admittedly I do spend a bit on marijuana and cigarettes, but I justify that because I spend very little on alcohol. Can't remember the last time I bought a bottle. The car insurance is a fixed cost unless I get a different vehicle. Living in British Columbia, there is no way to reduce my insurance because I'm required to buy it from the government corporation (ICBC). I have been trying to reduce living costs by shopping at discount grocery stores and reducing the amount of driving I do. Looks like I'm going to have to make some decisions about what I really need to spend money on. My tax return in April should be about ~$1000 but I'm not going to bet on it.
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Nov 18, 2013 05:50
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Two questions: 1) I've got two Visa credit cards through US Bank.
2) I'm planning on taking a ~$4000 vacation in January 2015. I would like to save up for this vacation by setting up a savings account with automatic transfers of $300/month to this account. I remember Smartypig being recommended for this kind of thing by this forum in the past. Is it still among the best solutions out there for my needs?
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Nov 18, 2013 08:50
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Kefit posted:
I have used, and continue to use Smartypig for savings goals. Right now my wife and I have saved about a third of the amount we're expecting to use on a down payment for a new home, and are on track to finish in 19 months. I highly recommend it since it separates the money from our main account, and there's no temptation to spend it on something else.
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Nov 18, 2013 13:49
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Kefit posted:Will this have any effect on my credit score? Why do you care?
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Nov 18, 2013 18:23
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Peony posted:Admittedly I do spend a bit on marijuana and cigarettes, but I justify that because I spend very little on alcohol. Can't remember the last time I bought a bottle. The car insurance is a fixed cost unless I get a different vehicle. Living in British Columbia, there is no way to reduce my insurance because I'm required to buy it from the government corporation (ICBC). I have been trying to reduce living costs by shopping at discount grocery stores and reducing the amount of driving I do. Can't you just redirect that money you're putting into savings into your CC as well? There's no point building up a savings account if you're in debt. After the car is paid off redirect the money from your CC payments back into savings to make up for whatever lost time.
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Nov 18, 2013 18:28
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ceebee posted:Waiting to get my myFico score right now (Edit: 493 - Bad...gently caress) but I just got my credit report and it doesn't seem too unmanageable. I know you asked this a few days ago, but I'm not sure if it was adequately answered. Even though your rate is crazy, I doubt you will be able to do much better than you have now. It probably does not make sense to sell it and get a cheaper car if you need one. That's always an option though if you can make it with bike/bus and the ocasional rental. You probably do need to have your own thread if you want to unpack things more, but in the meantime you probably would do well to listen to Dave Ramsey and do his plan. I don't agree with him on everything, especially his Jesus encrusted boot-strap Republican politics, but beyond that you will do well to listen to what he has to say on debt, career and budgeting. That would sound something iike this: Establish a $1000 emergency fund. People debate all the time if they need to do this first since if something happens, couldn't you just get a cash advance? It is a fine debating point, but in your case you are unbankable and you really do need to live off your resources if something happened, and having a small cushion of cash means the difference between paying for the unexpected bill and not being able to pay for it and having a fresh collection account. So if you don't have this yet, do that first. Next, since all your bills and active debts are current, you can start hitting the collection accounts. It was unclear from your post if all of them together are sub $1000 or if they are individually each under $1000. My recommendation tends to be that if they are small, and small is relative depending on your income, then pay those in full. Usually this is like $500 or less, unless you have a crazy number to pay. Anything much above that you want to save up and one by one once you do, see if they will give you settlements. Go through them smallest to largest. You can even play them off on each other. It can go something like "I have $400 saved and I have 7 accounts to pay. Do you guys want it because if you dont' I'm going to offer it to the next people". It is never worth going on payment plans with them. Either you have the money, or you dont' and they can wait. Paying off collection accounts looks better than settlements, but it's the difference is not as much as most people think. Once they are paid or settled and if you are never late with anyone ever again and you don't open up any more debts, your credit will heal much faster than you realize. They will be on there for 7 years, but things 2 years old and older barely count against you if the new stuff is clean. A year after your collection accounts are dealt with, my guess is you will be somewhere in the low 600 credit and it will make sense to refi your car.
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Nov 18, 2013 19:11
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Untagged posted:What's the thought on using a Roth IRA to hold a portion of an emergency fund? Due to some other reasons I generally contribute to my 457 over a Roth. That said I figure I could potentially achieve a level of return better than a normal savings account and God willing I never need it over the years it will turn in to other retirement savings. Edit. Just to be clear I'm only talking a portion of an emergency fund, while a majority minus the Roth limit depending upon how the year is going would be in the Roth. This has come up a few times, at least once by me. General consensus is that its unfavorable, due to the desire to have explicit emergency/retirement savings. My wife and I, however, did not prescribe to this thought process. I personally like the Roth as a emergency stash, as it can kill two birds with one stone if you don't have a major emergency in the first few years of fund development. If you utilize the contributions in an emergency, you're not really out anything more than you would have had it been in a savings account. Worst case scenario, you lose money due to investments in the Roth, and thus your fund isn't as large as it could have been when potentially needed. That was a risk worth taking on my end, as I had enough buffer otherwise to cope in case of moderate emergency. In the last 2.5 years, we've built a fund of about $30k in contributions should we have critical need of funds, but otherwise its a good start to retirement (+401k) for a pair of 25 year olds. Just my $0.02.
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Nov 19, 2013 03:56
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Kefit posted:Two questions: In 10 years, it will hurt your average age of account. In the short term, doesn't matter, close it. Even in the long run, AAoA is a tiny factor in your overall score. Don't worry about it.
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Nov 19, 2013 04:18
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I have an opportunity to work remotely for a company in another state. I'm in NYC now and don't plan to move for a while. What kind of tax impact would taking the remote job have? Would I be taxed by the state the company is in, by NYC, or by both? vvvv Thanks! Missed that thread on my first look somehow, not sure how. cletus42o fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Nov 20, 2013 |
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Nov 20, 2013 03:05
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cletus42o posted:I have an opportunity to work remotely for a company in another state. I'm in NYC now and don't plan to move for a while. What kind of tax impact would taking the remote job have? Would I be taxed by the state the company is in, by NYC, or by both? Ask the tax thread to be sure, but if you live in NYC your new employer should be withholding taxes to NY State and NYC, not the state they are based in. If they do it right you will file NY State and NYC returns like normal. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3394641
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Nov 20, 2013 16:26
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I have no debt. I have a six month emergency fund. My wife and I spend less than we earn. We have money funded for car repairs, etc. We're doing very well. So why do I feel uneasy when I look at the 30k in our bank account? If that's enough to keep us safe, why am I worrying? At this point, I'm not sure how I'd cut down our spending anymore. Logically, I know we're doing well. But I keep comparing myself to people my age (26) who have 50, 60, 70k, etc. If I have enough, why should it matter?
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Nov 22, 2013 04:05
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CelestialScribe posted:I have no debt. Do you have no other money in investments? That would be what would worry me the most - having $30k just sitting there losing real value and not working for me. It sounds like you're really risk-intolerant, which is probably a little unfortunate at your age. It also sounds like your monthly expenses are $5k, which is really pretty high if you want to compare yourself to people your age with significantly more savings, unless your salary is way above the median.
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Nov 22, 2013 05:32
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I am kinda risk intolerant. Having that cash there is a bit of a security blanket and I'm hesitant to look into anything else. Maybe I should speak to a financial planner? And my expenses are below 5k but yeah my wife and I earn over six figures combined.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:08
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CelestialScribe posted:I am kinda risk intolerant. Having that cash there is a bit of a security blanket and I'm hesitant to look into anything else. Well, if your expenses are below $5k, you have more than 6 months expenses sitting around. Personally, 6 months already seems like a conservative amount to hold for a couple, because what are the odds that both you and your wife will lose your jobs and not find another for 6 months? You can talk to a financial planner if you want, but really you can just look in the retirement thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2892928 The short and sweet version is you need to start taking advantage of 401k matches and tax advantaged retirement accounts immediately for long term financial security. If you don't take advantage of letting your money grow and compound very soon, you will regret it more and more over time. If I were you, I'd take $11k of your cash reserves and dump it in 2 Vanguard Roth IRAs, up your 401k contributions to meet the employer match by year end (this will cause a huge short-term salary hit but you'll make up for it in tax rebate and can adjust your contributions back down after Jan 1st), and then keep your cash reserves at 3-4 months expenses.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:18
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CelestialScribe posted:I have no debt. Like always I seem to have the exact opposite viewpoint that baquerd does. His name rhymes with weird you know.  I quickly looked at your posts in this thread and I notice a couple patterns. First, the amount of money you have saved keeps increasing. I disagree that spending $5000 AUD a month as a married couple is extravagant like baquerd seems to think. I would suspect it is quite modest. You are saving a huge percentage of your salary, you can practically live on one of your salaries. So good on you. But the other thing I see running through your posts is a constant dread over several years now that having more money saved hasn't really alleviated. It's unclear if you have other money in investments, but I would suspect that even if you had quite a bit you would still have this dread in your stomach. I don't think I have much in the way of wisdom here, except to say that your fear seems irrational, but like most fears, there is some grain of truth to it, but there is a difference between prudence and concern for your future, and the panic that seems to be manifesting itself. I'm not one to send everyone to counseling, but I think there could be something to unpack about how you grew up, or something that you have seen or thought about for a long time. Another observation is that you seem to be comparing yourself to other people who might have more than you do, or have saved more, or who are further ahead in some way. I have some sad news on that front. There are people, who for one reason or another are richer than you are. Some people are fabulously wealthy, some have incredibly lucrative careers. This isn't a contest, so stop comparing yourself to others. If it was, then you have already won when you compare yourself to the 6.7 billion people on the planet who have less than you do.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:20
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Like always I seem to have the exact opposite viewpoint that baquerd does. His name rhymes with weird you know. I missed that he's an Aussie, and I think living expenses tend to be much higher there, and of course it invalidates my specific US based investment advice. He still needs to get some investments going on in whatever the equivalent is down under, as I imagine you'd agree? I don't think we're too far apart here.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:29
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baquerd posted:I missed that he's an Aussie, and I think living expenses tend to be much higher there, and of course it invalidates my specific US based investment advice. He still needs to get some investments going on in whatever the equivalent is down under, as I imagine you'd agree? I don't think we're too far apart here. I think that he is in a more than stable place to do long range investing if he hasn't done so already, so yes I agree with that. I think there is a strong fear of loss running through that he needs to overcome too, otherwise that sensible advice will cause him even more loss of sleep as the markets churn up and down. But I don't think better management of numbers or math is the issue. I see a pattern where he feels like he is behind where he thinks he should be, or won't have enough, and having to pay unexpected things that he can easily afford seems to cause anguish.
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Nov 22, 2013 06:43
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Yeah dude I'm two years older than you and make a fraction of what you do, and you can just go and throw a - in front of that 30k too. I think it wouldn't hurt for you to go see a therapist, there's nothing wrong with it and it can help alleviate a bunch of stress you're feeling about this. Helped me out in my career search a lot, and I'm kinda bummed I just had my last appointment earlier this week. What's the point of living responsibly and meeting your financial goals if you're worrying about it all the time anyway?
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Nov 22, 2013 15:12
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Hmm. Definitely not the advice I expected to hear, but useful all the same. Maybe I should check out some therapy or counselling. Couldn't hurt, right? Thanks (By the way, wrt to retirement savings, we have employer-mandated contributions to retirement accounts at 9.25% of salary. Currently we have just over $33,000 saved in that regard).
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Nov 22, 2013 17:05
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Does anyone know anything about the Chexsystems "Qualifile" system? I keep getting declined to open a new bank account, but my Chexsystems consumer report has no adverse information listed at all. I found out that my "Qualifile" results are why I'm getting turned down. Does this involve credit rating or something?
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Nov 27, 2013 16:56
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obi_ant posted:Here is a strange question. I'm currently using Chase as my main credit card company. I also have a checking account with them. Which means I'm typically carrying around two cards, one for credit and one for debit/savings/checking. Is there a way I can combine these two cards into one? So I don't need to be carrying both cards? Two years later, this is happening! https://onlycoin.com/
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Nov 30, 2013 03:34
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slap me silly posted:Two years later, this is happening! https://onlycoin.com/
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Nov 30, 2013 04:33
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Plus it requires merchant not to laugh at you as you try and pay with a card that has no name, number or ID on it. Also, how long did it take you to find that 2 year old post.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:11
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