KingSlime posted:

hown that debt grows with income? I'm willing to bet it's because people *can* and has little to do with their actual needs

KingSlime posted:

Wasn't it shown that debt grows with income? I'm willing to bet it's because people *can* and has little to do with their actual needs

AreWeDrunkYet posted:

Debt, or debt to income ratio? The former should be obvious, the latter would be worrisome.

Tiny Brontosaurus posted:

Nobody said it was, but investing less in retirement so you can have fun money lying around to buy cameras when the mood strikes isn't GWM either. Too many people in this thread act indignant that anyone ever might not have infinite money for whatever their heart desires.

Subjunctive posted:

The latter wouldn't be extremely surprising to me, since as income rises wealth becomes a bigger part of the financial picture. With more assets to collateralize, or even just to flash the bank, the available credit grows almost independent of income.

quote:

I have been looking at getting a new loan for a new car with a lower interest rate. I don't want to refinance with the car I have because, well I hate the car...and I can't because I'm upside down. I have noticed on a lot of credit apps/pre quals that they don't ask about trades in or removing the existing loan.

1) Is there a lender that includes this in part of their application, short of going to a dealer and telling them?
2) Any specific lenders that work with "good" credit, somewhere between 600-650. I have tried Capital One and Lending Tree, both of which can't pre qual me.

quote:

Here's my existing situation:

Current Vehicle: $12,500- Owe
Trade In: $8,000 (Written Offer)
Money Down: $1,500

"New" Vehicle
Price: $12,200
KBB Value: $8,000-9,500

Obviously the smartest decision is to keep my current vehicle and just pay it down. But interest is killing me.

Enfys posted:

How do you end up that badly underwater on an economy car?

SweetSassyMolassy posted:

I'd like to compliment this thread because the last couple of days have appeared to have quite a bit of content.

Bonus content:

Get rid of existing car loan- Get new loan


Please help me find a way to roll negative equity into a new car loan!!!

later in the thread:


Wonder what the interest rate he's got is? Out of curiosity I googled bad credit car loan interest rates and for what it's worth bankrate says "While the average interest rate for borrowers with good credit is between 4% and 5%, subprime borrowers will pay an average of 10% to 13%, depending on their credit score." Safe to say he's got a 10%+ loan?

SweetSassyMolassy posted:

I'd like to compliment this thread because the last couple of days have appeared to have quite a bit of content.

Bonus content:

Get rid of existing car loan- Get new loan


Please help me find a way to roll negative equity into a new car loan!!!

later in the thread:


Wonder what the interest rate he's got is? Out of curiosity I googled bad credit car loan interest rates and for what it's worth bankrate says "While the average interest rate for borrowers with good credit is between 4% and 5%, subprime borrowers will pay an average of 10% to 13%, depending on their credit score." Safe to say he's got a 10%+ loan?

quote:

Naturally a preface with "yes I know, maybe I haven't made the wisest decisions on the personal finance front." But it is what it is at this point, so I'd like to get on the right track. Apologies for the long post and life-story, but it felt right.
Long story short, after college I had some decent savings from my desk job, so I quit and took off traveling that very summer. Work exchanges, camping in jungles, hitchhiking--you name the low-to-no budget travel method, and I've probably tried it. Something like seven years later, here I am.
My on-the-road writing career didn't work out as expected, so the credit cards inevitably started to rack up. Any "income" was purely through $100-200 odd internet jobs here and there, normally through PayPal and cash, very rarely checks. Sometimes friends and family would send me money. I had a blog that didn't bring in any money, occasionally some YouTube videos would bring in a couple hundred per year. I would stay somewhere cheap like Mexico for as long as the visa would allow, doing a work trade for my food & accommodation and survive off less than $100/month. But I digress.
Back to the point, I haven't filed for taxes since 2010. Had a tax return in 2011 from the few months I worked in 2010, but have had no contact with the IRS ever since (which has been pretty nice, seeing how stressed out everyone always gets around tax season). Looking back, I probably wouldn't have had to pay much in taxes anyway if I had cared to take the time to look into it. I know at some point, a lot of that was fear over the fact that I would have to pay a fee for not having health insurance after I turned 27, a whole concept that intimidated me from the get-go as an American young adult with no stability in any form.
I had gotten really good at living on couches and playing music in the streets, but at some point I realized that I didn't want to be a bum with no contribution to society. I came from a well-off segment of society (compared to most the world, anyway), and realized that I was wasting a whole lot of potential that was almost like a slap in the face to my parents.
In my transition out of that phase, I had learned about the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform. I used it and my supportive friends & family to raise money for two projects: one year brought me $3000 in donations and the next year the second project was around $2000.
Two years later, and those projects eventually lead into something I'll simplify by saying it's turning into a career as the founder of a 501c3 non-profit organization. Plot twist?
Last year was our first year of operations and revenue was way less than we ended up spending (the remainder more or less on my credit card). This year it's likely to be similar, or at least break even if I stay responsible (which I probably won't).
All business-related expenses have been expenses of the non-profit itself because the revenue generated (in line with our tax-exempt purpose, in its own bank account) is the company's (though mainly my own work). And to complicate the matter, a lot of these expenses have been reimbursement to my bank account because the paychecks never seem to arrive before I've already had to pay for something business-related on my credit card.
Ugh, anyway I know that's probably TMI but I can't help but be a storyteller. I know I probably did it backwards of how most would go about doing something like this (donate personal money to the start-up of the non-profit and deduct it later), but as I've explained, I've had a different background leading into this and it all came about kind of out of the blue.
Anyway, I am facing my fears of the unknown and I want to clear myself in case this organization actually gets off the ground. I don't want the thought to linger thinking there's anything potentially sticky waiting in the future. I really believe in what we are doing and I don't want to jeopardize that in any way.
So my question is, should I begin simply by filing my 2016 returns late?--which would still be very low income, if any, but at least it's filed. I imagine there would be a health insurance penalty.
Or should I figure out my health insurance now, and just start filing 2017 returns next year and just go with it, crossing my fingers? Depending on how things go, there's a chance I could even claim some money that the nonprofit is paying me for work I am doing this year... that, or I'll go into more credit card debt.
Or maybe I should call the IRS and explain my situation upfront? I also don't know the situation with our country's new administration repealing Obamacare and if that affects anything. I'm assuming this method will bring the most peace of mind and the most penalty fees, but I'll leave that for you to tell me.
At this stage I'm very aware of the reality of paying some amount of late fees, I'd just obviously prefer to minimize them. I don't really want to hide any longer but if I owe a few grand in not having health insurance over the years then you see why maybe I'd want to continue hiding. It's a weird paradox I feel myself in.
Some logistics in case its relevant: there's probably never been more than a cumulative $8k in my personal bank account over a year-long period in the last six years.. I've managed to keep up the ~$130/month in minimum credit card payments going, a grand total of roughly $6000 credit card debt at its highest (which my dad has recently bought off me and I'm paying him back a lower interest rate). Suddenly this year, my bank account has seen at least twice that amount because of all the expense reimbursements.
And regarding the non-profit, I personally (optimistically) believe we could get it going to where I'm making a decent salary by next year. So I am not sure if it makes more sense for my return to progressively climb from ~0 or go from non-existent to something like $50k.
Also, I still have a decent credit score. Upwards of 750 when last I checked earlier this year. I only want credit cards for the rewards, at this point (air miles have literally brought me around the world). Not sure if that matters.
Anyway, thanks for your perspective, omitting any personal opinions on my choice of lifestyle/actions over the years.

quote:

I came from a well-off segment of society (compared to most the world, anyway)

quote:

I was wasting a whole lot of potential

Pryor on Fire posted:

The only way those numbers make sense is if they got a 60 month loan and paid about $28k for that civic. So they either just got flat out robbed for nearly $10k over retail (this is surprisingly common) or there is another underwater loan rolled into that.

quote:

Ugh, anyway I know that's probably TMI but I can't help but be a storyteller

quote:

I came from a well-off segment of society (compared to most the world, anyway), and realized that I was wasting a whole lot of potential that was almost like a slap in the face to my parents.

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

Tangentially related note I saw a MY16 BMW on the sales floor today with $17,000 in dealer added options (tints, wheels, vinyl wrap, nitrogen tires, etc etc) on fire sale for significantly under the pre-options MSRP

cowofwar posted:

Apparently there's a pretty large excess of cars coming off lease so you should be able to find some decent used cars as compared to the used market from the last few years.

spwrozek posted:

Golden State spent $200K on Champagne after winning the NBA championship last night. Pretty much all of it was sprayed in the air and went down the drain. I know they are a pro basketball team but still pretty BWM.

quote:

Basically I did some contract work several years back and foolishly never paid taxes on that income, and the IRS sent me a notice back in 2010. I actually set up a payment plan and made a few $100 payments but I lapsed, and I haven't heard from them since.
I haven't done any contract work since but I've been employed full-time for the past 7 years and I haven't filed once.
Not really sure what to do at this point. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to file for 2011-2017, I don't have my W2s for these years.
Should I call the IRS and be forthcoming with everything and hope they'll put me on a manageable payment plan? Or am I putting myself at risk by putting myself back on their radar? Really unsure of what to do next, hoping somebody has dealt with a similar issue.

Enfys posted:

Anyway, the IRS sent me letter in 2010 declaring I owe them approximately $7,000. I haven't filed since and they haven't tried to contact me since. What is the best way to handle this?

"... hoping somebody has dealt with a similar issue ..."

Haifisch posted:

Translation: Mommy and daddy told me to get off my rear end and go get a job already. I'm surprised they're not throwing an accountant at him to get his taxes sorted out.

Solice Kirsk posted:

Yup, known entity that just goes away if you ignore it the IRS. I wonder if his wages are being garnished already and he just doesn't know.

Krispy Kareem posted:

No because he'd probably get poo poo from his employer if a wage garnishment had gone through.

But he is in for a surprise when he finds out how much interest and penalties add up on $10k after 7 years.

quote:

Now we have weddings where one headliner isn't enough; they need three or four. Then you hit problems as to what order do you put them on in.” Tell a big name that she’s not the headliner, and she’ll drop out.

quote:

Couture services for a designer like Monique Lhuillier, who sells $20,000 collection gowns, start at $55,000. The lace, the beading — everything is custom. Among the most elaborate dresses she has made is one with a skirt of rolled organza roses and a 50-foot train.

quote:

Costs also add up when you’re serving the nicest wines, the best food; it’s a challenge to scale quality when it comes to fine dining. Last year, one of Sarah’s weddings served 20 kilos of caviar. She had to install a kitchen safe for the eggs, and hire someone to guard it. (For context, high-end Osetra caviar can run nearly $4,000 a kilo.)

And of course, these celebrations last for many days. “Why have the guests travel and put up just one event?” asks Preston. “You should at least have three of them. For the luxury client, they can afford to give as many parties as they want to.”

Ixian posted:

Assuming it is 10k and 7 years, about $47k. That's even factoring in the cap on penalties.

He might get it down to about half that with a good appeal, though 7 years of willfully not filing also opens him up to criminal tax evasion charges if the IRS is feeling spunky.

Enfys posted:

I just finished reading a book that dealt with the California gold rush in the 1850s. There was a section on San Francisco in particular that talked about how money had just lost all meaning to people there, so businesses would just name insane prices for food or lodging or whatever. Something that would cost $1 in a different town in California would be $90 in San Francisco, and there was this frenzy of people moving in not to be involved in the gold panning but to provide all kinds of weird services to guys who would spend weeks or months at a time in complete isolation and filth on their claims and then emerge desperate for human contact again with buckets of gold. A trapper who traveled there wrote about how it was like entering some kind of surreal dream world operating on completely different rules, and people were just in some kind of spending frenzy without even realising what they were doing. San Francisco went from a tiny settlement of ~200 to a huge city of ~36,000 in just a handful of years.

Photex posted:

Not sure if this falls within the rules but the BWM thread would love the ongoing twitch streamer Crumps drama as it is also relevant to the IRS, he's been dodging the IRS for years and they are finally coming after him and he is in denial that he owes any money.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Crumps2/

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

I have no idea how to gleam the story from a subreddit with a million different links to twitch and gyazo.

ebacho posted:

monster on a stick posted:

OK pretend you are a possible lender.
If you think Ethereum is going to go up for whatever reason, why wouldn't you just buy it yourself and get 100% of the profit?
If you think Ethereum is going to collapse, this person literally has everything in ETH and has already leveraged themselves, why do you think you'll get anything back when they declare bankruptcy?

ebacho posted:

A couple posts down the same guy says this:



so yeah I dunno how these people think

ebacho posted:

so yeah I dunno how these people think