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Veskit posted:Depends on the interest rate really. And probably your marginal tax rate? I'd have to think that one through, but I'm not in a good place to think. Is student loan interest deductible?
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May 23, 2014 16:10
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Folly posted:And probably your marginal tax rate? I'd have to think that one through, but I'm not in a good place to think. Is student loan interest deductible? Up to $2500 but there is a phase out and eventual cut off. MAGI of $60k starts the phase out and $75k cuts it to 0 for a single person spwrozek fucked around with this message at 16:15 on May 23, 2014 |
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May 23, 2014 16:13
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I didn't even realize open enrollment for a 401k was a thing. Wow, not being able to tweak contributions throughout the year would be super annoying. How do you tweak to hit the cap? What if you don't know how much extra you can spare until 4 months down the road? What if that changes? Not offering the ability to adjust contributions throughout the year just seems negligent and wrong.
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May 23, 2014 16:29
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It probably drastically reduces the administrative cost of administering the plan, but from an employee perspective I would hate it. I've changed my contribution percentages upwards about 4 times this year as I adjusted my budget, and I anticipate at least 3 more such adjustments this year as various goals are met.
Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 16:47 on May 23, 2014 |
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May 23, 2014 16:40
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My work changed from vanguard to Merrill and automatically changed my plan choices. The expense ratios went from .08 to 1.2 or more. I'm pissed that I waited 6 months to look it over.
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May 23, 2014 16:55
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Nocheez posted:My work changed from vanguard to Merrill and automatically changed my plan choices. The expense ratios went from .08 to 1.2 or more. I'm pissed that I waited 6 months to look it over. That sucks, my vanguard 401k is a flat fee of $53 a year.
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May 23, 2014 17:05
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Vilgan posted:I didn't even realize open enrollment for a 401k was a thing. Wow, not being able to tweak contributions throughout the year would be super annoying. How do you tweak to hit the cap? What if you don't know how much extra you can spare until 4 months down the road? What if that changes? My company does this but they also match 10% when I put in 6% so its hard to complain.
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May 23, 2014 18:32
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Question of the Day: If you got laid off and had to go on Unemployment, would your Unemployment benefits cover your expenses? AKA "How hosed would you be?" If I used NY's benefit calculation: quote:1. Gather your pay stubs from the past year. Include pay stubs from all employers. If you do not have all the necessary pay stubs, contact your previous employers and request a printout or other statement of your weekly wages for the past 12 months. I'd make about $225/week according to that, which translates to $900/month. I'd easily be able to get my expenses down to about $600/month, so I'd be fine. That would include deferring my student loans (which I would hate to do) and enrolling in Medicaid for health insurance.
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May 25, 2014 14:44
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EugeneJ posted:Question of the Day: If you got laid off and had to go on Unemployment, would your Unemployment benefits cover your expenses? Hm, I never thought about collecting EI before. I guess if I don't find a job by Fall 2015 I'm eligible for the max of $514/week. My wife would be up for $426/week. So $3760/month! It's just another day/for you and me/in paradise
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May 25, 2014 14:57
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Vilgan posted:I didn't even realize open enrollment for a 401k was a thing. Wow, not being able to tweak contributions throughout the year would be super annoying. How do you tweak to hit the cap? What if you don't know how much extra you can spare until 4 months down the road? What if that changes? On the other hand, if the plan needs to be tested, (i.e. audited by the IRS to make sure the 401(k) isn't being abused by the executives) then the company could face some stiff taxes if a bunch of people tweak their contributions half way through the year.
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May 25, 2014 15:05
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Quick question - is there a thread on the pros/cons of common bank or credit union offerings for US-based monthly checking? I know BOA is garbage, but I'm looking to possibly move banks and am wondering at each one's current offers. I'm currently using ingdirect (now capital one) and BB&T. Since days of 7% interest are long over I figure now is a good time to look around and see if there's anything new or interesting in the arena - I've mostly stayed with them via inertia. Are there any in particular that have unusual offerings I should take a look at? I don't have any unusual requirements, except that I do 99.9% of my banking online, use mint, am almost completely paperless, and do occasionally need to transfer money through the ACH and have banks cut checks for one-off bills/expenses that I can't pay online. I should add that I'm only looking for checking - I have an amazon chase visa and vanguard for my long-term investments already. Bhodi fucked around with this message at 15:55 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 15:48
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Bhodi posted:Quick question - is there a thread on the pros/cons of common bank or credit union offerings for US-based monthly checking? I know BOA is garbage, but I'm looking to possibly move banks and am wondering at each one's current offers. I'm currently using ingdirect (now capital one) and BB&T. Since days of 7% interest are long over I figure now is a good time to look around and see if there's anything new or interesting in the arena - I've mostly stayed with them via inertia. Use Schwab. No fees, use any ATM (including internationally) completely free (they reimburse the other ATMs fee), free checks, bill pay, etc. The only thing that they do that isn't great is that transferring money through ACH requires you mail in a paper form for the initial set up (for some reason.) You can do the actual transactions online once you mail in the form but the initial transaction requires a paper thing. https://client.schwab.com/secure/cc/service/open_account/investor_checking_schwab_one & https://client.schwab.com/secure/file/P-6230997/Schwab_Bank_HYIC_Account_Summary_of_Fees_and_Features.pdf contain the info.
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May 25, 2014 18:04
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EugeneJ posted:Question of the Day: If you got laid off and had to go on Unemployment, would your Unemployment benefits cover your expenses? Nope, they wouldn't. It would take about 3 weeks of post-tax UE benefits to pay my rent in Pennsylvania. $573 pre-tax is the maximum payout, roughly a quarter of my pre-tax weekly day-job salary. Given my rent just went up from $1185 to $1315 a month, not a chance of affording it My side business would prevent me from being hosed, but I try to pretend that income doesn't exist anyway. However, I do not have five quarters of consecutive employment in this state and thus would not be eligible for UE in the first place. My compensation would, by my reading of the eligibility rules, be $0.00. (They take the top four of your last five quarters and average them as compensation guidelines, but require that earnings be present in all five quarters. I have not lived here for that long yet.) Sundae fucked around with this message at 19:57 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 19:03
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I'd apparently get $441 a week on unemployment. I could live off of that, I suppose. It wouldn't be much fun though!
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May 25, 2014 20:33
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Don't forget that it will probably be three months before you get your first unemployment payment, even if you apply the hour after being laid off! In CA they now come on a BoA debit card where you can't deduct more than $1000 a day (because you have to use the ATM!) and because it's just a prepaid card and not an account, they can't assist you inside the bank, so gently caress you if your rent is more than $1000!
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May 25, 2014 21:48
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For some reason this makes me think of moana. Except in an  way. 
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May 27, 2014 01:49
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I'm sure it's been covered in the legit online moneymaking thread, but… I still want my Smart TV, so in addition to saving up all my cash back rewards, now I'm also using Bing Rewards (Referral Link) to earn Amazon giftcards. $10 so far this month, and if you have a LOT of spare time you can have up to 5 accounts per household. I'm rollin' with two for now. That TV will be mine. Eventually. 
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May 27, 2014 04:12
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spinst posted:I'm sure it's been covered in the legit online moneymaking thread, but… While I think you'd be much better off just simply realizing you don't need a Smart TV to be happy (I have a 47" dumb TV and used to aspire for a 60"+ Smart TV, but realized the money is better 1. Not simply just buying it with credit (not saying you'd have to) 2. Not simply just plopping down the cash without making it a painful process first. Maybe by the end of this, once you've saved up enough, you'll realize you don't really need it after all.
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May 27, 2014 13:23
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I know I don't need it, but I want it and am willing to save up for it. If I play my cards right I will only have to shell out maybe $200 of my own money. The rest will be cash back rewards and gift cards. Plus my birthday is next week, so whatever I get from that I will save.
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May 27, 2014 13:28
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I did the unemployment thing while in law school, got the full 99 weeks. THANKS OBAMA. And no, I couldn't live on it at the time. I depleted lots of savings over those 2 years. But it was a good deal. I worked at a big (really big) company and they had a leave of absence policy. I took a leave of absence to go to law school. When the next layoff round came through, I was an easy target because I was already gone. So I got a severance package. Then the 2009 bailout changed the rules for unemployment so that you could collect it without looking for work if you were a full time student. We would have actually broken even without depleting savings, but my wife had to take a lower paying job during the recession and her income decreased enough that it just barely balanced out. Also, sonofabitch. I lost my work badge sometime last Thursday. Replacing the badge is free, but my bus passes for the rest of May and all of June was on the cord with it. That's $85 gone.
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May 27, 2014 13:40
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I ended up spending a lot of money this weekend on the move. My parents truck broke down about an hour and a half (due to traffic) away from my house so I had to go pick them up (If they had told me the truck had issues I would have told them to just drive their car instead) and then bring them back to the house. This really put my dad in a poo poo mood all weekend and the moving was probably the hardest I've worked physically in three or four years. Once that was finished we actually started to have a decent time and I got my mom into Game of Thrones. Then my dad decided he wanted to look into car rentals so he could get home because he didn't want to inconvenience me by borrowing my car. Sadly it turned out that all the rental places were closed (thats what I get for supporting the troops) except the ones at the airport and after a trip to the airport it turned out that although they could lend us a car none of the rental places back home would accept them. So my wife and I are carpooling again for a couple weeks until my parents find a new motor for the truck which will probably set my dad back about $2,000. I love helping my parents but it just sucks that my plans for a relaxing weekend with them after the move were ruined by a bit of bad luck. At least my dad is happy. He quit his job a few years ago and now mows grass and does other odd work (which he prefers) for income. He also does a lot of carpentry and sells what he makes, usually outdoor lawn chairs but he also brought some hand made cutting boards (they look fantastic) he's selling to show off and gave us one as a house warming gift.
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May 27, 2014 14:47
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Fuuuuck. Think the AC in my HVAC unit is finally giving up for good. These are 100% electric units(heating and cooling), and according to the maintenance guy at our condo the replacements people are having to get nowadays when they give out are running like 7k. That's going to blow away my entire emergency fund. The plus side...is I had that emergency fund. And I'm going to be rebuilding it $700 a month while still putting 1660 a month into retirement accounts and 250 extra on the mortgage every month. Still...loving sucks man.
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Jun 1, 2014 19:50
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You could just go without AC. Save money on your electric bill too.
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Jun 1, 2014 20:41
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Without knowing where he lives, advising to go without AC / heat isn't really a good idea.
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Jun 1, 2014 20:59
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spwrozek posted:You could just go without AC. Save money on your electric bill too. Or invest in a water bottle and spray yourself in the face when you're too hot.
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Jun 1, 2014 21:04
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Ice is cheap, just get some ice and a fan.
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Jun 1, 2014 21:31
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spwrozek posted:You could just go without AC. Save money on your electric bill too. Besides the fact it gets too hot to be comfortable, not an option. I'm not staying here longterm and there's no way I could sell without functional AC. So I may as well enjoy the benefit of a brand new unit if I have to buy it in the next 18 months either way and my old one is now completely dead. I'm all about frugality nowadays but AC is where I draw the line man. I don't run it nearly as much as a lot of people though. (Also when the AC isn't run when it gets over 90 it damages the moldings and frames in the condo so another reason not to just man up). Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Jun 1, 2014 |
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Jun 1, 2014 21:56
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Nail Rat posted:Fuuuuck. Think the AC in my HVAC unit is finally giving up for good. Can't you just get a couple window units for $100/pop, or are those not allowed in your complex? What about portable air conditioners like these: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/air-conditioners/portable-air-conditioners/abcat0907004.c?id=abcat0907004
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Jun 1, 2014 22:31
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EugeneJ posted:Can't you just get a couple window units for $100/pop, or are those not allowed in your complex?
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Jun 1, 2014 22:38
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EugeneJ posted:Can't you just get a couple window units for $100/pop, or are those not allowed in your complex? Floor to ceiling glass windows/sliding doors. No windows. Those things won't work. It's a lovely situation, and believe me, I regret buying this place but I can't go back in the past and fix that.
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Jun 1, 2014 22:43
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Went a wee (a lot) bit overboard in May with my "Wants" categories. Lots of eating out and happy hours with friends. And one very delicious and totally worth it $35 bottle of wine. I pillaged my vacation fund to cover the overages as punishment. Time to buckle down for June. Which will be slightly difficult due to the fact school is out for summer on Friday and I will be free to waste all of my time doing whatever. I guess I could teach summer school but… Nope. nopenopenope.
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Jun 1, 2014 23:39
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spinst posted:Went a wee (a lot) bit overboard in May with my "Wants" categories. Lots of eating out and happy hours with friends. And one very delicious and totally worth it $35 bottle of wine. I pillaged my vacation fund to cover the overages as punishment. You're a teacher?
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Jun 1, 2014 23:48
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I had no idea that I could use my credit union's online bill pay to cut a paper check to an individual. I pay my mom for my cell phone bill, and it's always a pain to go get a loving stamp to mail the check. Now I just set it on my credit unions website to send her a check at the beginning of every month. Awesome.
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Jun 2, 2014 00:46
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Aren't there a million ways to send money over the internet now? It seems like every time I check hacker news there's a new one. The most recent one I saw was something about sending money directly to a debit card I think.
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Jun 2, 2014 01:18
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GAYS FOR DAYS posted:I had no idea that I could use my credit union's online bill pay to cut a paper check to an individual. I pay my mom for my cell phone bill, and it's always a pain to go get a loving stamp to mail the check. Now I just set it on my credit unions website to send her a check at the beginning of every month. Awesome. America so the weirdest country in the world. I mean, you're so cutting edge at so so many things, but you still don't have a standardized way to send money electronically to each other. Thank god for interac in Canada. It's free and incredibly easy to send money to anyone with just an email address.
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Jun 2, 2014 01:18
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There are plenty of easier ways to send my mom money, but she's old and doesn't understand technology at all. Let's not get on a "checks are dumb" derail.
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Jun 2, 2014 01:23
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GAYS FOR DAYS posted:I had no idea that I could use my credit union's online bill pay to cut a paper check to an individual. I pay my mom for my cell phone bill, and it's always a pain to go get a loving stamp to mail the check. Now I just set it on my credit unions website to send her a check at the beginning of every month. Awesome.
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Jun 2, 2014 01:49
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tuyop posted:You're a teacher? Yup.
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Jun 2, 2014 01:50
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I'm not eating out today - because it's a public holiday and most of the shops are closed. That said, I am working today, so packed lunch for me! In preparation for the public holiday I went to the supermarket yesterday, and I'm still wondering how it's possibly more profitable to sell a kilo of apples for $2.90 than just letting them rot on the tree. froglet fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Jun 2, 2014 |
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Jun 2, 2014 03:20
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spinst posted:Yup. Cool! What do you teach?
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Jun 2, 2014 04:04
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