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Aliquid posted:I've been living off the grid for almost three years and am recently rejoining society. Before I left, I had a credit score of 650-670 with one old credit card in collections for roughly $1400. Since then, I haven't owned a credit card, but I have paid monthly bills on time with no missed payments and recently took out $18,000 in student loans for grad school. I checked my score for the first time in forever and it's about 550. I still haven't paid off the collections debt (maybe that's what's killing me?), but they haven't sent me a letter in 30 months and I wouldn't even know who to contact. Should I have expected a large drop in score like that? I guess my first question would be: Why do you care? If your grad school experience is anything like mine, you won't really need credit until after you're done, and at that point paying on your student loans will help your score a lot. If you're sure nothing new bad has come on your report since you left, it's possible something good fell off your report, or taking on the student loans have increased your debt enough to affect it. Collections (and all bad marks) affect your credit less the older they are.
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Feb 8, 2015 15:54
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Brotein_Shake posted:I need help finding a new financial institution. For the last 15 years I have kept everything (not much) in a credit union because that was where my dad took me to open my first bank account. The credit union I use owns except now I am moving across the state and they do not have any branches in the area I will be living. I have heard a lot of horror stories and had friends get screwed over by banks and specifically Bank of America so I am leery of keeping my money with a bank. One of the big things I like about my credit union is they have no fees for any type of accounts or overdraft issues and are very helpful when I have a questions about my money or accounts. You might be able to stay there and just use local credit union branches as your home bank. Check here.
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Feb 22, 2015 03:14
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Massasoit posted:My girlfriend had some payments that ended up in collections because they didn't send the bill to the right address - she has since posted them but they are still listed on her credit report. Any way to get them removed? Probably not. You could call the original creditor and ask very nicely, but they have no obligation to do it. When I collected on credit cards, we'd do it occasionally, but it was kind of a pain, so it would have to be a good reason. Not knowing you had a bill due isn't a great reason. Probably just chalk it up as a learning experience. I suppose you could ask for validation on it and hope they don't respond, but they probably will. Someone with more experience on the other side of the equation would have to speak to that more.
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Apr 7, 2015 17:21
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legsarerequired posted:I wish there was a thread where I could look at different people's budgets. There used to be. Not sure if it got archived.
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Jun 15, 2015 21:12
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khysanth posted:Every time I'm forced to use a non-Wells Fargo ATM and pay a stupid WF fee on top of the ATM's fee, I want punch myself in the face. Any goons have recommended CUs in Los Angeles? I've googled a few times but honestly the review sites seem bad and the CUs sites are even worse. Looking for one that has a good website/mobile check deposit, no stupid fees, etc. Ally does all of that (except for being a credit union).
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Jun 22, 2015 23:08
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Thanatosian posted:Just FYI, your actual interest rate is probably lower than that, because I suspect you're making little enough money that you're eligible for the above-the-line deduction you get for student loan interest. Even if the math comes out close, with a 6 month payoff horizon, I'd want to just pay them off. Having no debt would have a dollar value to me over and above the actual monthly payment. It would allow things like the freedom to change jobs without fear it won't work out and such.
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Aug 4, 2015 20:23
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I'm not sure selling a twice repaired car is a great idea. He will be well underwater on it, and he'll still need reliable transportation afterwards.
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Sep 4, 2015 21:08
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Hypnolobster posted:Does anybody have some links for trying to figure out if a HSA/high deductable health plan is worth it over traditional? It's open enrollment time on Monday, and I barely understand how the hell a HSA/hdhp works anyway and I'm trying to educate myself before I make a dumb choice. The other somewhat obvious, but important, part of a HDHP is to have sufficient cash savings so that you can pay your OOP max for a year or two, in case things go really badly.
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Nov 8, 2015 15:03
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alnilam posted:I'm currently migrating all of my investment assets to Vanguard. I'm also probably going to buy a house soon. No and no.
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Jan 16, 2016 22:33
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Rexim posted:I opened a savings account with Ally last month. I know the interest compounds daily which is cool, but when does it actually post to the account? The mob is going to break my legs if I don't come up with that $1.02. (Actually I'm just curious) Monthly, on your statement date (listed on the website).
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Feb 6, 2016 04:17
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SeaWolf posted:Speaking of insurance shopping... Every time my 6mo premium rolls around I always go shopping but for some reason whenever I get quotes from other companies it's usually 4-5x higher than what I'm paying now. And I already think I'm paying on the higher end of what I should be. I'm with geico with higher than average coverage, but comparable coverage with other companies just seems so out of line with what I've got, I don't know what to think... This is me too. Sometimes you just fit a particular company's risk model very well I guess. I've heard people say GEICO can be hard to work with if you actually need them to pay out. But I have an old car with liability only (decently high limits), and I've never needed them, so I have no personal experience there.
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Feb 10, 2016 18:06
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ObsidianBeast posted:That's very interesting, as we've had Geico and went through 2 totaled cars with them. Both times the process went as smooth as I can imagine it ever going, paid out quickly, quick estimates and a breeze to work with. I guess YMMV. Well, I'm just passing on 3rd hand reports of anecdotes, so it's very possible I'm full of poo poo.
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Feb 10, 2016 18:18
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I think $150 for groceries might actually be a little low, personally, although maybe not if you eat out lunch every day
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Mar 9, 2016 17:40
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I'd like to set up a ROTH IRA for someone in my extended family, and contribute to it. I'm not sure what the tax implications for this would be. I'd love to just put my bank account (which has my name only, not this person's name) on it and auto deduct an amount every month, but the IRA itself needs to be in the other person's name. Is the best way to deal with that, tax wise, to make it a gift from me to the recipient? It won't be a lot of money per year, just a few thousand at most, definitely below the contribution limit. I know for sure they don't contribute to an IRA themselves, so no risk in going over that limit. I do contribute to an IRA for myself, but that shouldn't be a problem, correct? Is there something else I should be thinking of? What can go wrong here?
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Mar 19, 2016 17:04
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Fuzzy Mammal posted:So I just did my annual online credit pull. Two of the bureaus worked fine, but for experian I got the amazingly unhelpful (paraphrased, i moved on but should have copypasted) error message, "A condition exists the prevents us from retrieving your report, <link to snail mail credit request form>." I've had this exact error since February with Experian. Not sure what's going on.
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Mar 31, 2016 13:52
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Make a new thread and link it here
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Apr 8, 2016 00:03
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Blinky2099 posted:Speaking of credit scores when it doesn't actually matter... Yeah, that happened to me a while back. Not sure if it's common, but it definitely happens.
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Apr 14, 2016 19:18
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The difference in cost between 25k/50k and 100k/300k is usually really small. I'd go at least 50/100, but get a quote for 100/300. You might be surprised. To actually answer your question though, if you have a reasonable insurance limit (and this is a completely subjective and maybe a little moralistic judgement, so feel free to disregard it, but I don't feel 25k/50k, especially if you could afford more, is reasonable), most insurance companies will just settle for suing your insurance company for your payout limit. If it's really low, they might try to get a judgement on you, even if you don't currently have many assets. They're betting you eventually will. Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Apr 19, 2016 |
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Apr 19, 2016 02:23
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FCKGW posted:No, insurance has nothing to do with credit scores. They don't even look at yours because they're not issuing credit. Yeah, most auto insurance companies definitely use a modified version of your credit score as part of their algorithm to determine your rates. However, screwing up your auto insurance won't affect your credit score (unless you let it go unpaid and it goes into collections).
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Apr 29, 2016 20:54
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Should you get married (or divorced) for tax reasons - http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/marriage-penalty/
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May 12, 2016 23:25
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:I never got a debit card but I think I had the option to? It's entirely possible that I got converted to (or signed up originally for!) their money market account, it was a while ago. Yeah, you have a money market. My normal savings account is still 1%.
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Jul 1, 2016 18:22
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I was in a similar situation, and chose to pay the loans. That said, I felt very stable in my job, and was pretty sure I could get another quickly if something went wrong. I also didn't own a house or car, and was well insured, and my rent was $800/mo so not much could go expensively wrong. I did keep increasing my savings by a couple hundred a month though, just blasted the rest into the loan.
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Jul 12, 2016 18:42
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Busy Bee posted:One of my bank accounts is with a local credit union and I get 4.07% dividend/interest for the first $500 and then 2.44% after. I only have around $1,500 in that account right now. I know that those are high interest rates but I'm considering withdrawing my money out of there and putting it in my investment account or Roth IRA with my financial advisor. I rarely have activity with that credit union and they require me to do X Y and Z every month to retain that account. I'm also going to be moving soon and I would rather not deal with it. What do you think? Don't use a financial advisor for amounts of money less than, oh I don't know, $1m.
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Jul 13, 2016 12:38
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.69% is fine for a 401k in a target retirement, especially if you work for a small/midsized company. You could do better, (Vanguard's IRA TR funds are something like .19%, and I've worked places that got close to matching that), but you could do worse (my new company's is close to 1%).
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Jul 25, 2016 03:46
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tyler is a joke posted:Quick question on cards and balance transfers. It might ding your credit score, but it's temporary and will go away when you pay it off. Unless there's a reason you'll be needing your credit score in the time it takes to pay it off, don't worry about it (see thread title). You cannot use the Chase card as your daily. You will be charged interest. EDIT: Make sure you're doing the math as to whether you'll save enough interest to cover the balance transfer fee (and some extra for the hassle/risk of it going wrong). If you're really paying it very quickly, it might not help.
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Aug 4, 2016 18:41
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:How would it ding his score if he's just transferring balances? As far as I know (and I could be wrong) the score is only affected by overall utilization ratio across all available revolving credit. Transferring balances form one card to another wouldn't change that overall ratio. I very well could be wrong, but I thought I remembered someone coming in here with a low limit card maxed out (but with other high limit cards at ~$0) that was hurting his credit. Maybe it's just the usual FICO gobbledygook explanations being full of poo poo though.
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Aug 4, 2016 22:50
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A Tin Of Beans posted:I'm in the scrub leagues of personal finances but thanks to some reading of this forum I've been working more on paying off my student loans and actually budgeting. No debt besides student loan debt. I make around $27k a year. Keep that money as liquid as possible. It's the start of your emergency fund. You'll also likely need some cash for your move. That means savings account/money market. I wouldn't bother with a CD unless you find something that's significantly better than the 1% you can get from some place like Ally. If you want, you can open an online savings account to get the 1%. It's not a huge difference, but as you get more money in there, it will add up eventually. I use and like Ally, but there are a bunch of banks that will give you ~1% on your savings. No debt besides student loans and some savings -- you're doing good. Keep up the savings, keep paying down those loans. If you have a 401k match at work, consider taking advantage of that (depending on how big and how high the interest rates are on your loans). The thing that will really help you is increasing your income, but you're doing well already.
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Aug 6, 2016 14:09
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A Tin Of Beans posted:Liquid just means 'available' right? That makes sense then. Most of the CDs I've seen available to me wouldn't give much more than 1.3% at the highest, which doesn't seem like a big enough difference at scrub tier. Yep, liquid means you can get to it in a day or two and that you don't pay a penalty to do so. I'd call CDs semi-liquid, because you can usually get to them quickly, and the penalty isn't too bad usually. I personally wouldn't use a CD when the rate difference is ~.3% from an online savings account, because I'm lazy (and if you need the money, the penalty will wipe out that extra .3% pretty quickly), but some people like to squeeze out every last cent. I do use an online savings account though. It's an easy way to get another .85% interest. If you felt like it, that wouldn't be a terrible idea, but it's certainly not make or break if you're happy with where your savings is now, or if you're able to avoid fees at your current bank with it there. Agreed on your second point, with the move coming up so soon-ish, I wouldn't look for a new job where you are now either. You're doing fine as is, I just wanted to mention that you seem to be pretty optimized otherwise, that would be the next step. Be sure to visit the negotiation thread here when you're getting ready to start looking for new jobs. It has made me literally 10s of thousands of dollars that I probably wouldn't have asked for otherwise. If your career is one where LinkedIn is used frequently, the OP of that thread helped me find my current job extremely easily as well. Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Aug 6, 2016 |
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Aug 6, 2016 15:08
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:I'm a non-resident, US-citizen. I've been filing tax reports for a few years and I have a bank account in the US with around 10k in it. All of my income is foreign. No first hand experience here, but getting a free credit report (without a prior credit denial) is a US law for US citizens, so they probably just don't want to give you one for free, and don't have to. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to give one to a paying customer looking to pull your credit. They might not have much a a file for you, since bank accounts don't report to the bureaus.
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Aug 22, 2016 13:00
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Massasoit posted:Couldn't find a thread in automotive or travel or bfc, but how can I go about getting a good price on a 12 day car rental? I've had good luck with hotwire and other aggregation sites. They aren't magic bullets, but you usually can get a good deal there.
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Sep 23, 2016 17:07
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:annualcreditreport.com for actual reports once a year. quizzle is fine too
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Sep 24, 2016 14:57
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I use and recommend Ally
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Oct 11, 2016 03:41
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I'm helping my Mom get her retirement savings in order. As part of doing that, we are going to deal with her inheritance from her mother. It is roughly $50k in a inherited IRA, currently in CDs at Wells Fargo. We are opening her a Vanguard IRA and will be investing in a 4 funds strategy. My Mom is in a fairly low tax bracket. We'd like to transfer the funds from the inherited IRA to her IRA. It doesn't seem like there is a way to directly roll these funds over though. Is the only option to make regular IRA contributions over ~10 years until we've moved all $50k?
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Nov 2, 2016 18:59
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If you can is a decent starting point. It uses some terms you may not be familiar with, so feel free to ask questions here and we can talk about it. If You Can
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Nov 17, 2016 04:40
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EugeneJ posted:Um 1.5% interest, not worth paying them off quickly. Australia's student loans are very different than US student loans. OP: Yeah, I'd recommend investing some, but I understand the hesitation. I guess, what are your goals? You've mentioned buying a house, but not much else. Are you in a relationship? Kids? Do you want that? How stable is your job now? Do you like it? Is early retirement a goal?
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Jan 28, 2017 18:13
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A year or so ago, I asked here if anyone was having problems with Experian annual credit reports and a couple of people did. "A condition exists that prevents Experian from being able to accept your request at this time." I never fixed it and just hoped it would go away next year. Long story short, it didn't go away this year. But, rather than giving up, I did literally the least I could do and googled it. Turns out, my ad-blocker was the problem. Disabling it made it work fine. So, I can't remember who else was having problems last year, but try turning off your ad blocker!
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Feb 2, 2017 14:09
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Randler posted:Thanks for the feedback guys. Emergency funds are about security and stability, which, after a certain amount are personal. I think 6000 is adequate for you, but if you'd feel more secure with 10000, I'd say go for it. Maybe increase it slowly, and put the excess to investments?
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Feb 20, 2017 23:08
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(This is also part of the reason I wanted a second opinion on the emergency fund, because I also feel bad about having too much money just lying around without doing anything.)
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Dragyn posted:I"m helping my brother get his finances in order, and he's got a ton of student loans. I was thinking "well that isn't so ba..... gently caress" when I came to the Navient ones. I guess the first thing I'd figure out is is that 13% rate a penalty rate because of the missed payments, and if so, what can be done to get out of penalty? It probably isn't, but I guess I'd like to hope people aren't so horrible as to approve a student loan at that rate.
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Mar 7, 2017 23:47
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Wow, this is news to me. I was planning to pay cash for my next car, but I'd be better off paying down a loan slowly? I dunno, some of these sound like typical finance guy at a dealer excuses for a thin/new credit file. I've never had a car loan, but every time I've been to a dealer, they've fallen all over themselves qualifying me, and I've had no trouble getting a mortgage. Obviously that's just anecdote vs anecdote, but I'm skeptical.
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Apr 24, 2017 14:45
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You should consider starting a thread and linking it here.
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May 3, 2017 15:43
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