Pillowpants posted:

I can help you make a long term budget (different excel sheets for each month and a debt/savings tracker) if you'd like.

JiUC posted:

Sorry for the double post, but I'm also wondering what I should do with the cash that I'm currently just throwing in my checking account but don't need. Someone suggested opening an ING direct savings account. Is this the best idea?

Arkane posted:

Stupid question of the day:

A 0% 12 month balance transfer offer with a 5% fee would cost the same over 12 months as a 2% APR 12 month balance transfer offer with a 3% fee, correct?

I like turtles posted:

I'm making approximately $55k/yr, have no debt, ~$6k in my checking and $20k in my HSBC Direct 1.10%APY online savings account. If I don't do any trips or buy more toys, I can get the savings up to $30k by spring pretty easily, I'm guessing. I work three jobs, half time at $40k/yr prorated, half time at $42k/yr prorated = $41k, and ~10hours a week at $34/hr.

If I wanted to game $5-$10k of the savings, what are my safest options with the best return within 5 years? Being able to get that money out of where ever it is without much of a penalty would be a plus. I am sure I'm "just" asking for the world here, but there's gotta be some sort of happy medium between risk and reward that is right for me.

I don't have any particular goals, though a house downpayment would be nice. Mostly I like seeing bigger numbers.

I work for the state of Arizona for the two salaried positions, so I'm in the Arizona State Retirement system. I don't expect that'd be enough to cover retirement (I'm 25), but it'll be helpful, at least. Even though I perhaps should be, I'm not overly concerned about seperate retirement investment at this point.

I think I'm spergy enough about research and statistical analysis 'n junk that I could be OK at the whole day trade stock thing, but I don't particularly want to be that guy at this point.

zeldadude posted:

Yep, I'm going to be investing around $800 a month into this savings account. So I'll have $1k very soon, I'll probably start up with stocks then. I'll read up on SmartyPig, thanks for the suggestion!

royalejest posted:

I'd like to keep my checking account to no more than about a paycheck's worth at a time (it was extra low today because my rent check just cleared), but then how much do people usually keep in a liquid account like the BoA savings would be vs. other savings accounts, and then investments?

BorderPatrol posted:

Is there any point in contributing to a 401k if the company doesn't match? My old employer did this and I never contributed.

bam thwok posted:

Considering your shaky employment and difficulty finding a job, I'd say your cash savings should stay where they are, especially if you intend to move out soon. Additionally, if your mutual fund investments are consistently returning in the 10-12% range even with a fairly conservative equity/bond split, I don't really see any compelling reason to incur fees by fiddling around with it. But let's see what other goons think.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

The explanation I’ve heard is that because they trade like a stock, they can be traded near instantly instead of like a mutual fund, which can only be bought and sold at the end of the day. Also, their expense ratios are tiny, less than a mutual funds, even less than Vanguard index funds, so for someone who wants exposure to something, and will never trade, they will pay less in fees. The downside is you have to pay a broker every time you want to trade, so they would be horrible for someone who wants to regularly invest a couple hundred bucks a month automatically.

80k posted:

Choosing between index funds and ETF's is about the least important decision you need to make. However, ETF's have several advantages over index funds:
- Often lower expense ratios (not as much the case now that Vanguard lowered minimums for Admiral shares. However note that many Vanguard index funds do not have admiral share class. International Small, FTSE ex-US, and Dividend Appreciation index come to mind).
- No trading restrictions, early redemption fees. This is significant as Vanguard imposes 60-day trading restrictions from buying back a fund after selling shares. They also have purchase and redemption fees on some of their international funds.

The negatives of ETF's are very insignificant: plenty of commission-free options out there. Also bid-ask spreads are tiny for highly liquid ETF's, which are the only ETF's you should be considering anyway.

Consummate Professional posted:

Hey everyone, first time I've posted in this thread/forum.

I'm 21, in the military and have pretty few bills. I have 2 grand in savings, a $350 credit card balance with 0 APR, and then internet/cell phone/car. My car payment is about $102 a month and insurance is $138. My car payment has 2802 left and it was a 36 month. The worst part is the 13.44 interest on it.

I'm about to get 1300 back in taxes and I want to start investing in retirement. I'd like to get a Roth IRA started through USAA. I don't really know much about them, other than to max my yearly investments and it'll pay out well at the end. But how should I break up the investments? Or should I just kill my car payment? I'm not too concerned with it because I'll get a raise about 1/2 through on top of the extra money I'll make during deployment.

Dbhjed posted:

I am in need of some investing advice.

I am starting to save for a house and want to save to have the 20% down payment and some for closing cost

I currently have $5,000 saved up for a down payment on a house, but since that is far below the $34,000 I need for my down payment (with closing costs) I would like to invest this but I need the following from it:

-Allowed to deposit money at any time (looking to direct deposit set amount from paycheck plus extra I have left over every month)

-A decent APR (something better than the .25 cents I am getting right now from it sitting in a regular savings account)

-The ability to take some money out in case of extreme emergency

Mikey Purp posted:

After doing a bit more research I think that laddering some shorter term CD's would make the best sense and hopefully hedge against rate increases, what do you think?

We are thinking divide the amount evenly between a ING savings account for liquidity, and then divide and ladder into an Ally 6 mo (1.05% APY), 1 year (1.29% APY), 18 month (1.37% APY) and 2 year (1.5% APY)

Engineer Lenk posted:

Your intuition is right - it doesn't really matter whether the tax is taken off at the end or the beginning, and Roth will only make sense if you think you'll be in a higher tax bracket at retirement.

In the US, we're at near-historic low tax rates right now, and there's an income eligibility cap.

BizarroAzrael posted:

Okay, but just to be clear, when I say "spending" I only mean that I use that card when I part with money, because using debit from my current account might put me into the overdraft which would be more costly. I still mean to spend as little as possible right now. I'm in a holding pattern with the old card, and have been gradually paying off the second. Thinking about it, my total debt has been going down, though slower than I'd like.

BizarroAzrael posted:

I'm not sure I see how it's different to paying with the card and putting more on it than I spend each month. And I could end up dipping into my overdraft if I shop with my debit card.

Zantie posted:

What do you guys think of Clark Howard? I like to listen to him since he's basically a moderate Dave Ramsey and doesn't think credit cards are the devil.

http://www.clarkhoward.com/

polyfractal posted:

Is there a "minimum" one should have available before starting investing in non-retirement vehicles? I'm saving for retirement (both 401K and IRA), although I am certainly not maxing out my contributions (because I don't make that much money). I would like to get involved in other investments, mostly just for fun. I understand that speculating like that is risky and I consider any money I throw at it to be already lost, akin to spending money on a hobby.

That said, I don't have gobs of money to throw, even if its a hobby. Is there a general minimum that is required (say, $5000 or $10,000) before you are even capable of investing decently? Can you do small, hobbyist investing with $1000?

Untagged posted:

What is regarded as the highest one should go when looking at the housing vs. income ratio?

Is 50% way too high? I'm possibly moving to the Northern Virginia area and at the salary of 48K, I can't find anything on short notice below $1200 (+utilities), even for a one bedroom. If my math with local taxes is right, that's about a little over 50%+ when factoring in other costs and expenses.

Catsoup posted:

I have $60,000 in my bank account for college savings - right now I'm going to be at community college for the next year which costs $1500 a semester, and then at a college for 2 years that costs about $6-9k a semester.

Right now it's all sitting in a savings account, tell me what to do with what I'm not going to use. I have absolutely no idea.

I have no debt, and a new car that is 100% paid for.

Dreadite posted:

I have a question about retirement investing that is probably totally inconsequential.

Currently I have a 401k through my employer that I pay 4% into and they match 4%. I also have a private Roth IRA that I contribute on a monthly schedule to. Is there any advantage to upping my 401k contribution to like 10% or more, since it's pre-tax, and cutting back in my Roth contributions? Will this ultimately be to my advantage since it reduces my tax liability and I'm getting money that I otherwise wouldn't be able to see because of taxes?

polyfractal posted:

So Amazon offers a credit card where you earn 3 points for every dollar spent at Amazon (and 2 points for gas/drugstore/restaurant, 1 point everything else). I'm currently using a 2% PenFed card for everything. I spend a decent chunk of money at Amazon though.

Would it make sense to open an Amazon card and then use it exclusively for my Amazon purchases while retaining my PenFed for everything else? Or is it silly to micromanage reward cards this way?


Edit: The card has no annual fees, but a higher than average APR (17-24%). However, I always pay off credit cards each month so I'm not worried about the APR.

FISHMANPET posted:

What are thoughts on on getting store cards for those 0% interest for X months, even if you have the cash for the purchase?

I'm thinking of getting a $400 laptop at best buy, and they're offering 0% for six months, which would be cool, as I'm always going to get some furniture this week, and spreading that out would give me a bit more breathing room.

Plus, more credit cards for me to stay current on and not gently caress up

Would having more cards that are all current improve my score any over having fewer, considering that in the past I haven't always kept current. Though for that matter how long before that stuff gets reported? In the past I've been late by a few days, which is probably enough to make the credit card companies happy, but not bad enough to report.

CelestialScribe posted:

Sorry, I should have been clearer - I already have a detailed budget and i know exactly what im spending money on. My issue is just that i thought i would have more cash at 23 years old.

moana posted:

Tons like lots of cards? How many are we talking about? I think it should be fine, especially if they are your oldest ones.

modig posted:

I don't understand the reasoning behind building up an emergency fund when paying of credit cards. You have credit cards, those are your emergency fund. So pay them down, save on interest and use them in an emergency.

TheShineNSB posted:

TheShineNSB posted:

Awesome. Get an Umbrella policy if you don't already have one, as having 250/500/100 auto liability and a $1M or $2M Umbrella is often cheaper than having 1M/1M/500K and no Umbrella, even though an Umbrella is shitloads better (more coverage, and broader coverage).

Gotta run to work now but I can elaborate on Umbrella insurance if you're not familiar with it.

quote:

I am actually very interested in hearing about Umbrella insurance for my home. I just moved to a new neighborhood that does not allow fences. I have a neurotic dog that I want to insure against any stupid thing she may do. I'm doing everything in my power to keep her contained, but without fences, I'm a bit nervous of someone getting hurt. I've been told the best thing I can do is get a bug Umbrella policy, care to talk about it?

Thanks!

illamint posted:

I've got a 0% balance transfer offer from Citi that can let me consolidate my higher-interest cards into one, so I can take what I would've been paying on those and put it towards some savings.

mike fictitious posted:

It is amazing that when I was younger, interest rates were really high, but I had no money to save. Now that I have enough money, there's no interest to be earned. When I look at stuff like Ally Bank CDs, the return is so awful that I never bother. Is there some relatively safe way to invest this money instead of the terrible return from our money market account?

GregNorc posted:

I almost never use credit cards - I use my debit card (which runs as a Visa) for everything except when I travel for work, then I charge my plane tickets and get reimbursed.

GregNorc posted:

I think you misunderstood - I use a credit card on vacation or when making large purchases. Day to day stuff like grocceries or a trip to the bar get the debit card.

When you use the "debit" card it runs through the Visa network, and I get the fraud protection from it. To use it as a debit card you'd need my PIN.