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FCKGW posted: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.
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Nov 30, 2013 21:35
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Yaos posted:I like to imagine slap me silly has a diverse portfolio of saved posts that they can draw on in times of low post liquidity. Hopefully he's using a goldmine index fund instead of actively managing that portfolio. 
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Nov 30, 2013 23:48
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Small White Dragon posted:Be aware that this will probably only be good for about 2 years due to the scheduled US EMV transition. That's about how long the non-replaceable battery lasts anyway.
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Dec 1, 2013 19:52
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Is there anything wrong with opening multiple savings account with the same bank? I have navy federal with a checking and saving account. I want to open another savings account so I have one for emergency funds and one for misc such as trips and big purchases etc.
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Dec 3, 2013 11:00
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Hughmoris posted:Is there anything wrong with opening multiple savings account with the same bank? I have navy federal with a checking and saving account. I want to open another savings account so I have one for emergency funds and one for misc such as trips and big purchases etc. Go right ahead. The only reason not to is if there is some sort of fee charged by the bank/credit union.
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Dec 3, 2013 13:54
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Hughmoris posted:Is there anything wrong with opening multiple savings account with the same bank? I have navy federal with a checking and saving account. I want to open another savings account so I have one for emergency funds and one for misc such as trips and big purchases etc. A lot of people set up a christmas savings account and a holiday savings account, so it's easier to track how much you've set aside, and you don't end up spending money you needed for something else. If you use mint, it also helps you track distinct goals much easier.
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Dec 3, 2013 17:11
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I have 11. Works for me.
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Dec 3, 2013 21:00
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I have three savings accounts. 1. Never touch this you budget-challenged bitch (emergency fund for out of the blue crazy poo poo) 2. This is only for stuff you planned, dumbass, unless the car breaks 3. Ok, you can impulse purchase with this one but not liquor for fucks sake The balances get progressively smaller 1,2,3. I didn't actually set out to do it this way, it just kind of coalesced over the years. Edit: Hmm, I am giving myself too much credit. In actual fact I am very strict about #1 but 2-3 are a sloppy mix of planned purchases, impulse purchases, house repairs I did expect, medical bills I didn't expect. slap me silly fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 02:22
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Anyone have a good recommendation for a very fundamental, non-tedious book on personal finance and savings? I'm looking for the sort of book you'd give a kid or teenager when they're learning basic ideas like the envelope/jar thing, but it can't be explicitly aimed at kids because it's going to be given to an adult. Lots of recommendations in this thread but this is someone that doesn't really read at an adult level.
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Dec 4, 2013 06:39
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Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover
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Dec 4, 2013 14:22
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I like The Wealthy Barber myself. Also liked The Millionaire Next Door.
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Dec 4, 2013 17:14
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Me in Reverse posted:Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover I actually prefer his FINANCIAL PEACE.
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Dec 4, 2013 22:03
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Remy Marathe posted:Anyone have a good recommendation for a very fundamental, non-tedious book on personal finance and savings? I'm looking for the sort of book you'd give a kid or teenager when they're learning basic ideas like the envelope/jar thing, but it can't be explicitly aimed at kids because it's going to be given to an adult. Lots of recommendations in this thread but this is someone that doesn't really read at an adult level. I'd recommend The Wall Street Journal Complete Personal Finance Guidebook. It is written to be easy to understand, but covers a lot of ground. Some of the information may be a bit dated (i.e., if example interest rates are given), but I was pleasantly surprised with it. It's a bit more "here are the facts" rather than "narrative to change your life" like Dave Ramsey, but I don't know if that would be better or worse for what you're looking for. RogueLemming fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 03:22
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Thanks for the recommendations guys, the two Ramsey books are appealing to me most but all look like potentially good reads, here's hoping she actually picks it up 
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Dec 5, 2013 04:07
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Be advised that Dave Ramsey's car buying advice is the following: Invest in a 12% annual return index fund with $30,000 Buy a new car with the interest every few years.
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Dec 5, 2013 04:31
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My parents have took out a whole life insurance policy on me when I was born and have been paying into it ever since, and have taken money out of it at various times to do lord knows what. They are now offering to give it to me to do what I want with it. From what I can tell, it has a monthly expense charge of $5.00, and the "cost of insurance" for me is currently $19.71 per month, which increases every year. The guaranteed interest rate is 4.5%, which is what the current interest rate is, not surprisingly. The death benefit is about $200k, and the cash value is $1,885. If I didn't put any more money into it, it would apparently last another 10 years, or so the latest policy statement claims. Now, I have absolutely no need of any life insurance in addition to what I already get through work for free and my retirement savings. The only use I can see for this would be to put my emergency fund in it, which would draw a substantial amount of interest beyond the monthly fees, and presumably I could cash it out if I ever needed it. There would also certainly come a point at which I got old enough that the cost of insurance would outweigh the higher interest than I could get vs. a savings account. My initial inclination was to just cash it out and give it back to the parents to go on a vacation, but they seem to think that it is something I should keep instead, and the fees do seem pretty low. I've tried to do as much research as possible on what whole life insurance is, but there seems to be a lot of variation and I haven't actually talked to the "agent" yet. Would there be any value in holding onto this, maybe as a place to get a better return on my emergency fund, or something else? Zyme fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 04:32
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Wait, am I reading it right that you're paying $60 a year in fees on an $1800 investment? 4.5% isn't that great a rate, cash that poo poo out. Also where the gently caress does Ramsey get these 17% a year market index fund?
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Dec 5, 2013 05:06
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Zyme posted:My parents have took out a whole life insurance policy on me when I was born and have been paying into it ever since, and have taken money out of it at various times to do lord knows what. They are now offering to give it to me to do what I want with it. From what I can tell, it has a monthly expense charge of $5.00, and the "cost of insurance" for me is currently $19.71 per month, which increases every year. The guaranteed interest rate is 4.5%, which is what the current interest rate is, not surprisingly. The death benefit is about $200k, and the cash value is $1,885. If I didn't put any more money into it, it would apparently last another 10 years, or so the latest policy statement claims. I had an $8,000 investment with a similar policy from my family, personally they're just not great. Cash it out and put it towards your savings or Roth or whatever. Or hookers and blow I guess. Someone did the math here, and if mine would have been in a standard S&P investment instead the $7,000 put down would have been something like $30,000 instead of $8,000. Depressing.
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Dec 5, 2013 13:03
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Dave Ramsey has really good, effective advice for people looking to get out of crippling debt and struggling to pay bills. The way it's presented is done in a real rah-rah-rah you-can-do-it! way that provides good motivation for the people. It's not about math, it's about behavior. The "it's not about math" axiom carries over into investment advice, with terrible results. His tactical-level investment advice is garbage. "Just put it in a 17% return index fund!"  I don't know all the intricacies of tax, but a few in this thread with more knowledge have said that his tax advice is similarly pretty lousy.Once one leaves the realm of consumer debt, and is doing any savings outside of an emergency fund, one has graduated entirely from Ramsey-land. It's a bummer, because a number of people get their finances straightened out using his method become converts, and think that he's the be-all and end-all of every money topic ever and end up making some sub-optimal investment decisions.
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Dec 5, 2013 18:03
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(Happily?) the one I'm buying for is at zero risk of foolishly putting $30k in a high risk investment. I'm concerned more about her no longer writing checks that can't be cashed until payday; the girl's lived with her dad rent-free for a couple years now while working and still struggles to come up with gas money. Might end up doing this one as a stocking stuffer, last night her Mom suggested that she'd be more likely to read something by a female author- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B73QU5I
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Dec 5, 2013 19:04
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Remy Marathe posted:(Happily?) the one I'm buying for is at zero risk of foolishly putting $30k in a high risk investment. I'm concerned more about her no longer writing checks that can't be cashed until payday; the girl's lived with her dad rent-free for a couple years now while working and still struggles to come up with gas money. All Your Worth is by two female authors (mother daughter I think?) and is an excellent, easy personal finance book. It even has some investment content toward the back that the authors explicitly caution may be a lot to take in and not to worry about it until you've had success with their budgeting portions of the book. I liked it several times more than Total Money Makeover
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Dec 5, 2013 19:20
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I really credit getting on the right financial path with Suze Orman's "Young, Fabulous and Broke." Definitely beginner stuff, real world, with nice breakdowns of things like compound interest, why you likely should never lease, etc. etc.
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Dec 6, 2013 14:20
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:All Your Worth is by two female authors (mother daughter I think?)
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Dec 6, 2013 19:57
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:All Your Worth is by two female authors (mother daughter I think?) and is an excellent, easy personal finance book. It even has some investment content toward the back that the authors explicitly caution may be a lot to take in and not to worry about it until you've had success with their budgeting portions of the book. The abstract for the book on amazon is kind of dubious: "no more complicated budgets, no more keeping track of every penny." Is that really the tone of the book? Because that doesn't sound like a way to plan for your entire life. The three buckets(Must-Have, Want, Savings) sounds like a nice way to start...but not an end-all.
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Dec 6, 2013 20:11
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The "track every penny" thing is very helpful for starting out and it did me a world of good, but once you're out of the fire it stops returning such great dividends. Once your emergency fund is in place, every dollar can still have a job, but some of my dollars are tasked with "be in my pocket until I decide I want candy." I suspect what the book is getting at is the classic "spend to your budget" philosophy.
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Dec 6, 2013 21:11
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That's what's so great about mint. I don't have to think too much about it, but I can check it out every once in a while and think "whoa I bought way too much booze this month, better reign that back in." The famous envelope technique is another great example of this, the bottom line being that if you approach your budget correctly, you won't need to meticulously track every penny.
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Dec 6, 2013 22:41
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I just realized that in the past 5 years I've drained approximately $3000/year into car leases ($4000/year if you include the cost of insurance). That's ridiculous. I'm thinking about buying a clunker when my lease is up in a year and pocketing the extra $250/month I'd save. What is the best advice when it comes to cars? Obviously the trade-off with owning instead of leasing is that you are responsible for repairs. I make $25k/year and have $28k in student loan debt. Expenses are $550/month for rent and utilities, $250/month for my car payment, $150/month for health insurance and $200/month for student loan payments.
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Dec 7, 2013 23:33
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EugeneJ posted:I just realized that in the past 5 years I've drained approximately $3000/year into car leases ($4000/year if you include the cost of insurance). That's ridiculous. Get a Japanese car and find a good independent repair shop. Get a PPI (pre purchase inspection) after you kick the tires yourself. Do some research as to what car you want to get, late 90's/early 00's Toyota's are something I've been looking at for a future daily. I'm a BMW guy and own two 90's BMW's, so stepping down to a japbox is really hard for me, but some of the Toyota's are pretty comfortable and very economical. The new ones are pretty lovely, my gf's dad had a '08 and now a '11 loaded Camry and man, I can't sit in it for more than about 20min comfortably. Too bad, because my friends dads 2000? Solara is super comfy.
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Dec 7, 2013 23:45
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Nail Rat posted:The abstract for the book on amazon is kind of dubious: "no more complicated budgets, no more keeping track of every penny." Is that really the tone of the book? Because that doesn't sound like a way to plan for your entire life. The three buckets(Must-Have, Want, Savings) sounds like a nice way to start...but not an end-all. Generally I've found that the quality of jacket blurb and the quality of the actual text inside have no relationship whatsoever.
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Dec 8, 2013 00:14
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I saw a similar question asked about healthcare a few pages back so was hoping this is the right place. I just started a new job and have 2 options for health care. I am married with a 2 year old and another on the way and I can pick between a PPO and a PPO HSA. PPO $1500 Family Deductible 90/10 Coinsurance $7500 out of pocket max $438 per month PPO HSA $2500 Deductible 90/10 Coinsurance $5000 out of pocket max $275 per month There is no company contribution to the HSA. Probably an easy answer but any advice would be appreciated.
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Dec 8, 2013 13:12
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MrKatharsis posted:The "track every penny" thing is very helpful for starting out and it did me a world of good, but once you're out of the fire it stops returning such great dividends. Once your emergency fund is in place, every dollar can still have a job, but some of my dollars are tasked with "be in my pocket until I decide I want candy." That's fine to have a limited "petty cash" fund like that as long as you're still tracking when you add money to it. You lose the insight as to where the money ends up amongst the things you use it for, but as long as it's just candy money it's not like it's a big mystery.
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Dec 8, 2013 13:15
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hitachi posted:I saw a similar question asked about healthcare a few pages back so was hoping this is the right place. I just started a new job and have 2 options for health care. I am married with a 2 year old and another on the way and I can pick between a PPO and a PPO HSA. I'd take the HSA with the information you've given and everything else being equal. The additional deductible cost will be made up by reduced premium within the year (around month 7). Also, you're max any year is 2,500 less on that, so if you hit a major incident (which babies/toddlers/children are known for) you'd make up the deductible. The point at which the non-hsa would be preferable is very thin if even existent, to the point I'd take the HSA and not look back.
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Dec 8, 2013 13:44
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Dead Pressed posted:I'd take the HSA with the information you've given and everything else being equal. The additional deductible cost will be made up by reduced premium within the year (around month 7). Also, you're max any year is 2,500 less on that, so if you hit a major incident (which babies/toddlers/children are known for) you'd make up the deductible. The point at which the non-hsa would be preferable is very thin if even existent, to the point I'd take the HSA and not look back. I was pretty sure this was the case but I wanted to get a different opinion. Thanks.
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Dec 8, 2013 13:54
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hitachi posted:I saw a similar question asked about healthcare a few pages back so was hoping this is the right place. I just started a new job and have 2 options for health care. I am married with a 2 year old and another on the way and I can pick between a PPO and a PPO HSA.
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Dec 8, 2013 14:06
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Dik Hz posted:The difference between the two plans' premiums is ~$2k/year. There is literally no way the non-HSA plan would ever come out ahead, even ignoring all the fabulous tax advantages of the HSA. The only way I could see it is if the PPO has a $1500 FAMILY deductible, and the HSA has a $2500 INDIVIDUAL deductible.
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Dec 8, 2013 15:43
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Grumpwagon posted:The only way I could see it is if the PPO has a $1500 FAMILY deductible, and the HSA has a $2500 INDIVIDUAL deductible. Typically the way that works is 1/2 the family (listed) deductible is the individual deductible, with 1+ other people being responsible for the difference. So, that harkens back the limited range where the ppo beats the hsa (if at all) ...
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Dec 8, 2013 18:46
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I have sort of an e/n question. I'm trying to put together a Christmas budget and have asked my husband, "What is the absolute max you're willing to spend on Christmas?" He started adding up what we've purchased so far (about $20) and what we may need to purchase still, and came up with an estimate of $300 for the 7 children in our family. I understood the generous estimate, but didn't think that really answered my question. I look at it as, "Maybe $300 is an estimate of what we should spend, but $200 is what we're going to spend." Is this a good way of thinking? It seems right to me, but I can't seem to explain it to my husband.
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Dec 8, 2013 22:32
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The concept of setting a budget, then making your purchases fit within it, is very helpful for making your money work better for you. Also it's not an obvious or easy concept to everybody - just read a few of the baller threads around here. It's hard to convey the sense of control you get from using a budget to someone who is used to just buying things until the money is gone (or worse, until the credit card is tapped out). It's probably worth more discussion with your husband, especially if finances are tight.
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Dec 8, 2013 22:40
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The problem isn't that he didn't answer your question, he did. The problem is that the question you asked doesn't actually get you to a budget. You say this, "Maybe $300 is an estimate of what we should spend, but $200 is what we're going to spend.", but you're entirely leaving out how you got to the $200 number which is the important part. I think this approach is a little backwards since it may make more sense for most people to decide a value in say January and then save that amount over the year. Ignoring that, I think you can start with what you want to spend and then you need to ask what can you spend. If those numbers aren't the same, then you need to resolve them either by reducing the amount you want to spend or by moving money from some non-essential budget item. I'm also not sure if I'm reading to much into a short post, but one aspect of this confusion might be that it sounds like your Christmas budget is separate from your normal budget. This should not be the case, you make X in a month or year and you budget it out including Christmas along with everything else. Thus if you want to spend $300 for Christmas, the rest of your budget items need add up to X - $300.
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Dec 9, 2013 02:22
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asur posted:The problem isn't that he didn't answer your question, he did. The problem is that the question you asked doesn't actually get you to a budget. You say this, "Maybe $300 is an estimate of what we should spend, but $200 is what we're going to spend.", but you're entirely leaving out how you got to the $200 number which is the important part. I think this approach is a little backwards since it may make more sense for most people to decide a value in say January and then save that amount over the year. Ignoring that, I think you can start with what you want to spend and then you need to ask what can you spend. If those numbers aren't the same, then you need to resolve them either by reducing the amount you want to spend or by moving money from some non-essential budget item. The numbers are arbitrary. And you answered yourself, really. Perhaps I should have stated, "Maybe $300 is an estimate of what we want to spend, but $200 is what we're going to spend because it's what we can spend." Does that help? We're still getting into the habit of saving and budgeting things, so the Christmas budget is not something that was put into practice earlier in the year. Quite frankly, we just weren't in a position to move away from living paycheck to paycheck. I put us on a budget and have tried to make sure we spend to that budget rather than our bank account (as Old Fart puts it), so we do have extra money in the account for other stuff. I'd just rather not spend it if we don't necessarily need to do so. I mean, we don't need to buy gifts for all the kids, but it's something I think we feel obligated to do-- especially if the parents of these children intend to purchase things for our child. I'm hoping to get this cleared up some time this week because I'd rather not buy gifts for anyone other than my daughter. I think my real concern may be how he views our finances. He doesn't really see a need for a budget, and has expressed his disdain for them, saying they're too constricting. He doesn't understand why we can't just pay our bills, then use the rest of the money to do whatever. This came up when I tried to discuss an Entertainment budget (or Blow Money, as some call it). Bleh. Anyway, this is becoming much too e/n for my tastes. Thanks anyway.
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Dec 9, 2013 03:53
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