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slap me silly posted:annualcreditreport dot com is the official free credit report source. creditkarma dot com has the same information all in one place but also shoves a bunch of credit card ads in your face. Yeah. I have a Discover card and it give me a credit score of like 759. Then gives me a list of reasons why my score is so low, lol. They are in the business of selling financial services and products, they aren't going to say everything is cool keep what you got. Hell I remember working in retail banks, we were constantly told to try to sell people on multiple checking accounts. It gets annoying trying to convince a customer that not only do they need 1 checking account, they need 6. And some for the kids!
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Feb 16, 2015 16:46
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CreditKarma tells me that my credit is good, but if I want it to be REALLY good, I should have 22 or more open accounts! And then it tells me all the great deals they can find for me on credit cards! Hmmmmm....
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Feb 16, 2015 18:13
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Yeah credit karma has a significant conflict of interest and therefore gives bad advice. But they do have your real credit info.
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Feb 16, 2015 18:32
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Oh, yeah, I wasn't trying to insinuate that they would misrepresent your actual credit data, just that their "advice" on how to raise your scores is probably not the most impartial.
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Feb 16, 2015 18:38
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I use mint and credit karma for specific purposes, but all their recommendations are retarded. You could save money off your tax bill by opening an IRA!  Set up an emergency fund in Mint!  You could lower your energy bill (no, because I live in a condo) 
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Feb 16, 2015 18:49
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Massasoit posted:According to the credit score provided by Discover I have "too few accounts currently paid as agreed". I only have the one account, Discover, and it automatically pays the entire balance every month. It should also be my only line of credit anywhere. You can have totally fine credit with just one card, but you might want to look into opening a second just because Discover isn't accepted as commonly as Visa/Mastercard.
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Feb 16, 2015 19:09
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overdesigned posted:CreditKarma tells me that my credit is good, but if I want it to be REALLY good, I should have 22 or more open accounts! I would chalk this up to lazy programming or the nature of credit scores rather than being intentional on CK's part. There's a weighted algorithm that gives you a score, it automatically kicks back anything under a fixed mark on any one dimension of the score.
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Feb 16, 2015 20:25
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One time CreditKarma (or maybe it was annualcreditreport.com) said that the biggest positive factor on my credit was the amount of new credit I had. Then it said the biggest negative factor was the amount of credit I'd recently applied for! Lesson - all that info is for is how to improve your score if it's relatively low. If it's high, ignore it.
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Feb 16, 2015 23:13
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Nail Rat posted:I use mint and credit karma for specific purposes, but all their recommendations are retarded. Most of mints money making potential is trying direct people over to junk like other brokerages, bullshit investment schemes like Motif investing or new credit cards.
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Feb 17, 2015 00:47
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From a "relatively price-stable and keeps value with inflation" perspective and not an "omg, this is so undervalued I'm going to make a fortune" perspective Is gold at all worth using as a savings platform? The price seems to be very stable over time, and it is about $50/oz over spot price to buy which is about roughly on par with the cost of making a stock trade at about a 3% transaction fee to buy in. It looks like you can sell gold on the open market for about 93-97% of it's value and silver for about 91% of it's value. So that's about a 10% depreciation hit over the lifetime of the investment, vs 1-3% annually in a savings account. Assuming the price is stable over a long period of time. I bought a 1 oz silver coin for  as an experiment*  *in futility
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Feb 17, 2015 01:16
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Hadlock posted:From a "relatively price-stable and keeps value with inflation" perspective and not an "omg, this is so undervalued I'm going to make a fortune" perspective  
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Feb 17, 2015 01:30
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Hmm yes this is a choice quote, "Gold is 59% above its historical average." which would leave me to believe it's going to drop by double digit percentage points some more in the next 3-5 years.
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Feb 17, 2015 01:44
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Yeah that gold price in both inflation adjusted dollars and the nominal price looks like the bubble that's in the early stage of collapsing. In fact one large (I believe) investment bank that has been stockpiling gold to elevate the price has almost completely sold out for a huge profit. So there's nothing holding the price artificially high. Expect gold to continue to descend in price. I still remember this old guy I knew who bought gold at $800 after the 1987 stock market crash. He was waiting for the price to go up. I think he died before he could realise a profit.
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Feb 17, 2015 02:11
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Hadlock posted:Is gold at all worth using as a savings platform? The price seems to be very stable over time Uhhhh. . . .
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Feb 17, 2015 04:27
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Ugh, my dad bought a pound of gold while it was being run up during the 2008 crash. I think he got it at around $1k/oz. I'm assuming at this point he'll just sit on it. I'll just wait another 30 years for it to get hyped up again during the next financial meltdown, I guess. Will be a nice windfall for my 50s.
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Feb 17, 2015 04:31
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I am in the military, with retirement coming in at least 8 years or so and I am looking at starting to save for a potential house down payment. I just sold one of my cars for a $6K profit and I wanted to use this as the start of my house savings. I have been saving 10% of my paycheck into a retirement plan for the last 13 years and I will have a decent government pension/health care after I retire along with a second job to supplement my income. I talked to a friend who is a financial adviser for Wells Fargo and he recommended, since we are looking at least 8 years down the road to put the max amount into a Roth IRA annually and take out what we want for an initial house down payment. From the research I have done, after 5 years, I can take money out of a Roth IRA, but only the money I have contributed to the account, not any of the earned income, since that will become taxable. Is this a feasible option to start saving for a house? I figured at worse I would just keep the Roth as a second retirement account and just rent a place to keep my options open on moving across the country for a job and not being tied down with a house.
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Feb 19, 2015 19:43
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Rythe posted:I am in the military, with retirement coming in at least 8 years or so and I am looking at starting to save for a potential house down payment. I just sold one of my cars for a $6K profit and I wanted to use this as the start of my house savings. I have been saving 10% of my paycheck into a retirement plan for the last 13 years and I will have a decent government pension/health care after I retire along with a second job to supplement my income. If you have no option to save up after contributing to the ROTH, it's better than nothing; however, you will never be able to get back the tax-advantaged status of the holdings that you'd have in your account at that point. I would strongly advise you to save for your down payment in a separate account after maxing out your ROTH IRA instead, if you can afford to do so.
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Feb 19, 2015 21:09
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I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question or if it belongs in the retirement savings thread. Last year, a somewhat distant relative passed away and according to my parents, she "might have opened a 401k in [my] name." My family has not heard anything from the executor of the will/estate. Is there a way for me to look this up on my own, given I have no information and the account may not even exist? I guess I am asking if there is something similar to a credit report that would list all assets that are associated with me. At this point, I am just assuming it's something that never existed, but I am curious if there is a way to find out for sure.
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Feb 19, 2015 21:32
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Pip pip pip posted:she "might have opened a 401k in [my] name." You can't open a 401k in someone else's name, it's an employer-sponsored retirement account. But maaaaybe you were designated the beneficiary of the account? Seems odd for a distant relative, though.
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Feb 19, 2015 21:36
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She is not really distant I guess- My grandfather's (he passed away a few years ago) second wife, but I don't know her super well.  Guinness posted:You can't open a 401k in someone else's name, it's an employer-sponsored retirement account. This is what I thought. I'm not sure if they meant that I might be a beneficiary on a 401k or if my grandmother may have opened some other type of account. Probably neither!
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Feb 19, 2015 21:46
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Not a Children posted:If you have no option to save up after contributing to the ROTH, it's better than nothing; however, you will never be able to get back the tax-advantaged status of the holdings that you'd have in your account at that point. I would strongly advise you to save for your down payment in a separate account after maxing out your ROTH IRA instead, if you can afford to do so. I already max out my first retirement account and I figure I have about 6k extra a year to save. I am not 100% sure I will even want to buy a house but I would like to have some savings set asides or where I can get to it easily if I get to the point of wanting to buy a house. Do most people just set aside money in a savings account towards a house or what other options are typically available? I would honestly love to rent until the day I die and have two maxed out retirement accounts but my wife has ideas for a house in the future.
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Feb 19, 2015 22:01
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I have a coworker that was just rewarded for performance with company stock. Current market price of the stock puts the award at just a hair under $55,000 (probably 80-90% of her yearly salary). In one year she will be vested for a third of the stock, another third the following year, and fully vested after the third year. BFC - what would you do with this windfall? Sell as you get vested? Hold it in a taxable brokerage account?
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Feb 19, 2015 22:29
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The Mandingo posted:I have a coworker that was just rewarded for performance with company stock. Current market price of the stock puts the award at just a hair under $55,000 (probably 80-90% of her yearly salary). In one year she will be vested for a third of the stock, another third the following year, and fully vested after the third year. I sell my company shares as fast as humanly possible from a diversification perspective. If the company has a couple really bad years and starts laying people off, it would sure be nice if that $55k didn't turn into $20k. On the other hand, there are some people from my company that had shares vest in the 90's and turned into literal millionaires, so there's that.
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Feb 19, 2015 22:36
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Rythe posted:I already max out my first retirement account and I figure I have about 6k extra a year to save. I am not 100% sure I will even want to buy a house but I would like to have some savings set asides or where I can get to it easily if I get to the point of wanting to buy a house. Do most people just set aside money in a savings account towards a house or what other options are typically available? Most people set aside money in a savings account for a number of years. You could potentially invest the money but a CoD or savings account would be a better short term choice. People do obsess over houses and it's a topic that's often discussed here. If you live in a large expensive city sometimes buying doesn't add up, outside of large expensive cities buying a house is a more reasonable idea. Renting provides the option of maxing out retirement accounts and having investments that actually make money (unlike a house).
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Feb 19, 2015 22:37
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The Mandingo posted:I have a coworker that was just rewarded for performance with company stock. Current market price of the stock puts the award at just a hair under $55,000 (probably 80-90% of her yearly salary). In one year she will be vested for a third of the stock, another third the following year, and fully vested after the third year. The nice thing about this is that since she works for the company, she's got the inside scoop on how this might turn out. If she's willing to take a risk and forsees a bright future for the company, by all means, hold on. If she's unsure or has a suspicion that there'll be a lull in business, she should dump the shares as soon as possible and diversify.
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Feb 19, 2015 23:01
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Not a Children posted:The nice thing about this is that since she works for the company, she's got the inside scoop on how this might turn out. If she's willing to take a risk and forsees a bright future for the company, by all means, hold on. If she's unsure or has a suspicion that there'll be a lull in business, she should dump the shares as soon as possible and diversify. Enron?
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Feb 19, 2015 23:07
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Not a Children posted:The nice thing about this is that since she works for the company, she's got the inside scoop on how this might turn out. If she's willing to take a risk and forsees a bright future for the company, by all means, hold on. If she's unsure or has a suspicion that there'll be a lull in business, she should dump the shares as soon as possible and diversify. Isn't this insider trading? (and if so, how do people ever legally sell off their company stocks without leaving the company AND waiting for all their confidential information to be released/inapplicable?)
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Feb 19, 2015 23:07
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Blinky2099 posted:Isn't this insider trading? (and if so, how do people ever legally sell off their company stocks without leaving the company AND waiting for all their confidential information to be released/inapplicable?) Not necessarily. Insider trading is trading on the knowledge of "material, non-public information". Any company that is not crazy will have clear policies on who is considered an insider, and who is not.
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Feb 19, 2015 23:20
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Insider trading in and of itself is not illegal. It's illegal when such trades are made with nonpublic information, and when counter to the trust between the individual and any other party. Since she isn't exactly betraying the shareholders here (and probably holds an insignificant stake in the company), she's not really treading on ice here. efb
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Feb 19, 2015 23:26
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If I already made a big payment on my credit card this month but I want to pay off the other half am I better off doing it this month or waiting until next month? Or does it not really matter?
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Feb 19, 2015 23:37
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Baram posted:If I already made a big payment on my credit card this month but I want to pay off the other half am I better off doing it this month or waiting until next month? Or does it not really matter? Not really enough information on the state of your finances. If you have been carrying a balance on the credit card and you are accumulating interest you should pay it now. If there are recent purchases that are within the interest free period then you can wait until they turn up on the next bill.
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Feb 19, 2015 23:56
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I pay my credit card every month in full. Occasionally though I pay the bill say a day or two before it's due and then use my card again. Does that have any effect? Like would that hurt my credit over time if I'm carrying over a small some between billing cycles?
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Feb 20, 2015 03:34
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Popete posted:I pay my credit card every month in full. Occasionally though I pay the bill say a day or two before it's due and then use my card again. Does that have any effect? Like would that hurt my credit over time if I'm carrying over a small some between billing cycles? The main thing that matters for this part of the score is having too much of your credit used up. So having 7000/8000 max total credit in use will impact your score in a negative way.
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Feb 20, 2015 03:38
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Popete posted:I pay my credit card every month in full. Occasionally though I pay the bill say a day or two before it's due and then use my card again. Does that have any effect? Like would that hurt my credit over time if I'm carrying over a small some between billing cycles? When you do this you're not carrying over anything between billing cycles. For example, let's say your billing cycles begin on the 1st of each month. This means they end on the last day of each month, i.e. the 28th, 30th, or 31st depending on the month. This means that everything you put on the card in, e.g., January will land on the January billing cycle. But your payment isn't due immediately at the end of the billing cycle. Instead you'll get a few weeks. So maybe your monthly due date is on the 18th. Thus, you must pay off your January billing cycle by February 18th. It doesn't matter whether you pay on February 1st, 5th, 14th, 18th, whatever. In the case you're describing, what's happening is that you're paying off your January billing cycle a little before its February due date, and then you're placing another charge on the February billing cycle that won't be due til the March due date. Does that clear it up? e: Now that I reread your question, I wonder if you're getting confused because you're paying off the entire balance as opposed to the balance from the last billing cycle. Both of these are appropriate ways to pay and will avoid picking up late fees and interest.
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Feb 20, 2015 04:05
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Popete posted:I pay my credit card every month in full. Occasionally though I pay the bill say a day or two before it's due and then use my card again. Does that have any effect? Like would that hurt my credit over time if I'm carrying over a small some between billing cycles? It's been answered above. You just pay the balance of the current statement and you are fine. There will be the current months spending on the card so the balance will no be zero and that is fine. There is only one exception to this when using the credit card. If you have carried a balance and accrued interest, or have taken a cash advance then it works differently. Any payments are put against the non-interest amounts first and the interest bearing amounts last. If you are accumulating interest I find it's best to pay the entire balance and leave it at zero for a couple of days to clear out the interest.
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Feb 20, 2015 04:27
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What's the best deal on a no-nonsense new car these days? I love my wife's 2004 Corolla, but new Corollas and Civics are pretty spendy once you add on the "essentials" (for us) like keyless entry and automatic transmission. The Honda Fit seems nice, but is kinda small. What about the Versa or Versa Note? They're pretty cheap inside but I've had good luck with Nissans. Kias and Hyundai's are apparently legitimate options now, too, but I've got a bias towards Japanese cars. Maybe a Prius - but I'd need to drive for like 8 years before the break even point.
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Feb 20, 2015 15:26
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Radbot posted:What's the best deal on a no-nonsense new car these days? I love my wife's 2004 Corolla, but new Corollas and Civics are pretty spendy once you add on the "essentials" (for us) like keyless entry and automatic transmission. I worked at a Nissan dealership 2007-2009. Versas are cheap. They probably will be acceptably reliable, and are kind of inexpensive but to avoid the depreciation of a new car you should always get a used model. The problem there is that the people that buy Versas usually have a pretty big overlap with the people that don't maintain cars very well. If you're looking for Japanese reliability, might I suggest looking at a Mazda 3? They've kind of taken over the mantle from Honda for economy and reliability.
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Feb 20, 2015 15:54
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Isn't the Mazda 3 like twice as expensive as a Versa? edit: Oh wow, it's not that much more. I'll have to look at that. I've looked at prices on used Versas, but a 20% discount off of new for an immaculate model is like, $3,000 - and you give up a warranty while buying a bit of a black box. I'm planning on running any car I buy into the ground (after hundreds of thousands of miles and many years), so I'm not quite as concerned about depreciation as I am about reliability. Radbot fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Feb 20, 2015 17:04
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There's good reason the Versa is the cheapest new car in America. It makes other economy cars look and feel like luxury cars. If you're buying new and are going to hold on to it for 10+ years spend the bit extra and get something not entirely dreadful.
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Feb 20, 2015 17:28
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Devian666 posted:Not really enough information on the state of your finances. If you have been carrying a balance on the credit card and you are accumulating interest you should pay it now. If there are recent purchases that are within the interest free period then you can wait until they turn up on the next bill. It was sitting around $600 since December when I had some emergencies come up that I had to put out ~$3000 between mid-November and the end of the year. Some of it was accumulating interest. I went ahead and paid all of it off though. 
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Feb 20, 2015 17:35
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