context stringlengths 9 25.4k | chosen stringlengths 2 9.97k | rejected stringlengths 1 9.38k |
|---|---|---|
Human: Some background: I bank with Bank of America. I have ~720 credit score. I have a month-old credit card with BOA. I have 2 negative marks on my credit report from about 5 years ago, ER bills that went into collections adding up to $300. I make 24,000 annually, live with my parents (no rent) and my bills are ~$700... | Is this a joke? You can't buy a car that is way more than your take home pay. | so you make 24k a year and want a 30k car? Im kinda shocked they turned you down |
Human: I just got accepted to a top-notch code accelerator and need to pay a large chunk of change quickly to start on time. I don't want to clean out my bank account, so I'm looking to subsidize the cost with a loan or credit of some type in the short term.
I actually have a job lined up with a friend at a startup as... | Man this has bad news written all over it.
Is this one of the 12-week boot camp things? Is there a reason you're doing this instead of something like Coursera? How firm is your employment prospect with your friend?
Maybe you could ask your friend to bankroll your tuition at the boot camp with the condition that yo... | What the hell is a code accelerator? |
Human: Hey guys.
Long story short: I am $240000 in debt for my undergrad. I made some horrible decisions and choices, and am through trying to justify them and convincing myself that its not my fault.
I completed a 5-Year Business degree at a university that is known only for their Engineering program. It is, more ... | I know this would only make a slight dent, but any chance you could live with your parents for... 25 years? | that is going to be hard to dig out of |
Human: It seems every post on this sub is someone asking if they should use their savings to pay off X(loans, mortgage, car payment, etc).
My question is, outside of your emergency fund, what is the purpose of have thousands of dollars in savings? Obviously people *save* for things, but so many people say that they ... | Opportunity. Cash is always king and you're limited to what you can do if your money is tied up. That $50k could make you that much more desirable of a buyer if you tossed that onto your down payment for a dream home.
What if you see that the housing market is going to pick up soon and you have the perfect chance to... | In your example, MANY people don't pay off their debt because they fear having an empty savings account. They fear that they'll incur massive debt immediately afterward, like it wouldn't happen any other time, and they won't have the funds in their savings account to pay for it. Yet they're ok with being charged all th... |
Human: Since savings account interest rates suck, I was thinking about moving my emergency cash into a bond fund, like Vanguard's Long-Term Investment-Grade Fund (VWESX). Thoughts?
| Emergency funds are for emergencies, which can often correspond with market declines (such as job loss).
Your emergency fund is not an investment, it is insurance. Leave it in a bank account. | I wouldn't move 100% in there, but as long as you keep 1-2 months in something highly liquid and you understand the risks of bonds then it's not that terrible of an idea to put some of the out months into a bond index. |
Human: So, I recently obtained a scanner and started scanning financial documents to be stored on my computer. I also will have this backed up to the NAS, and also have offsite storage (CrashPlan). What sort of important financial documents should be kept/scanned? What sort of documents can be scanned and tossed? What ... | >I don't see the point in keeping utility bills beyond a year
I don't even open the utility bills before throwing them away. Everything's online these days. When I was young and first started paying my own bills, I would keep stuff like this, too. It seemed like the responsible, grownup thing to do. Do you know... | Stuff I Keep Paper Copies of, and Don't Scan
* Tax Returns
* W2s
Stuff I Scan and Archive
* Car maintenance documents
* Medical documents/bills
* Work Benefits Summaries
* Utility bills that don't have an online option
* Major bills (school tuition statements... etc)
* Any sort of insurance paperwork
* Apartment l... |
Human: I have a credit card with ($730) on it, and have $700 in a savings account. I usually make $30 payments. If I pulled money from savings, I could completely pay off the balance on that card.
I still have $1,100 saved elsewhere, which would easily be accessed if needed, so I wouldn't be depleting all of my savin... | Pay off your CC. | is this a joke? |
Human: My GF has $5000 in Credit Card debt (assume 18% interest), and $5000 in savings (as well as some unknown amount in a 401k).
She's refusing to pay off her CC Debt in one fell swoop, because she says it's scary to have nothing in savings.
I want to convince her that it's still the better plan, because once she z... | It's important to realize that a line of credit for $5,000 and $5,000 in cash are not the same thing. At any time the credit card company can reduce your credit limit with no warning.
This is part of the reason why /r/personalfinance recommends having a cash savings account, and not relying on a credit card for an em... | There are a lot of long winded replies, but the bottom line is that $5000 in her savings is COSTING her ~$80/mo.
Pay it off and start rebuilding the savings, it will go much faster than trying to pay off that debt slowly. |
Human: I created a Gross salary calculator based off of how much student debt you have/expect to have.
I made this while I was weighing the option of going back to get a graduate degree in my field. I wanted to see if my future earning potential would justify the cost of going back to school.
[**Salary Calculator**]... | The fact that my comfortable salary is lower than my current salary makes me feel like I've won the lottery. | Higher education is increasingly a losing choice. If you have over $100k in student debt (I have none luckily), you're then forced to get a very high paying job in order to have enough left over from the thieving government's tax theft to pay off the loans. It just makes far more sense to get practical skills straight ... |
Human: I'm currently planning my wedding and had the idea to get a travel rewards credit card to help pay for my honeymoon with the rewards gained through putting all of our wedding expenses on the credit card and immediately paying them off.
I'm great with credit card management and this will be a great way for my f... | You might want to look at /r/churning and post there after reading a bit.
I'm hoping to do this with Chase Sapphire Preferred cards, mostly because we each have a decent cache of Chase Rewards points from our personal freedom cards.
I will also look at the SPG AMEX once we get done churning the Chase cards. | we opened an SPG Amex for all our wedding expenses. also got married at a Sheraton, so we were considered event planners and got whatever perks come with that, plus double points on money spent at the Sheraton. also negotiated to have our SPG number on every hotel room under our block, unless the guests had their own S... |
Human: A friend told me this is the place to ask, I hope this is an appropriate place for these kinds of questions. A little background:
I worked at a company that had a 401k with fidelity. I accumulated ~$26,000 in that account.
I left that company and did a "rollover" into a IRA at fidelity. I'm not sure why I... | The two vanguard accounts work like this:
Rollover IRA: A vanguard fund account. In this account, you can only buy Vanguard mutual funds.
Rollover IRA-Brokerage: An account where you can invest in equities other than vanguard mutual funds: stocks, ETFs, mutual funds from other companies. The reason all your money is ... | They'll probably just take a few days to sort it out. If the money doesn't appear within a week or two I would call Vanguard if I were you. |
Human: Quick background:
I have no car, no mortgage, no beautiful sailboat, and old debts that should have been paid off years ago.
I normally ignore all of my finances. Nights out, cab fares, charity, travel, clothes... I've never spent the time to scrutinize my budget.
Turns out, I'm a spendthrift idiot.
I earn g... | First, you've recognized that you have a spending problem. Honestly, that's the biggest thing. And you've realized it before you are $50K in debt with credit cards.
Second, you can still have the lifestyle you want without spending what you've been spending. Honestly, I feel like your friends are taking advantage of ... | Find a girl who makes good money and is good with money and marry her. She will solve your problems! |
Human: I bought something for $0.64 on my Capital One card and didn't do anything else with it last month. Instead of getting a 64-cent bill, I got a -$0.64 "CHARGE ADJUSTMENT" and a 0 balance. Is this normal? Can I get a free pack of gum every month and enjoy the high life from now on? I guess I'm just surprised a cre... | My guess is that is it more expensive for the credit card company to process such a small payment to make it worthwhile. Happened to me once also. Not sure if they could stop you from doing that on the future, but remember the merchant accepting the card probably paid a higher fee than the amount you charged. | What did you buy? |
Human: My wife has been out of college for about 4 years and I've been out for 1. My wife will be quitting her job in about a month due to the arrival of our second child. I just started a 401k with my company, but my wife has had one for a while and has a few thousand dollars in it? Should I transfer her 401k to my 40... | >Should I transfer her IRA to my IRA so we have more money in it sooner?
You can't do this. You have to keep IRAs separate. You can rollover her 401k to an IRA for her.
On top of that, you can still contribute to her IRA even if she doesn't have earned income, although she probably has enough for 2013.
| Roll it to a IRA in her name. Roth if you can swing the taxes. traditional if you can not. |
Human: So I am about to graduate college into a job that pays $73k in Austin TX, and I have $10k in debt from school. Real estate in Austin is skyrocketing like crazy. That makes me think that I should buy a condominium instead of renting an apartment since I could potentially make money on the property. However- how m... | > No money for a down payment. :-(
You are not ready to purchase real estate. | Don't forget about property taxes. They are crushingly high here in Austin 2-3%. So on your 300k house/condo, you pay minimum $500/month for property taxes. Don't forget to check into what the condo association fees are, usually at least $100/month.
The calculators you are looking at might assume 20% down, so che... |
Human: I'm a student in public health who wants to go into software development. I think a comfortable life would be $80k+
Edit: Wow! Thanks for responding everyone. Insightful. I wish you the best in your financial endeavors.
| I was in software dev. Out of school was making about 50k a year + 10k a year in bonuses. Quite frankly i couldn't stand it but I know a lot of people who loved it. I moved into being a web systems analyst which pays 70k + bonuses and so far love it. | I am in the legal field, mostly M&A, in one particular industrial sector. I have a JD, MBA, and another "fun masters that will never make me money. Salary is comfortable. Lots of stress, so I don't see myself working too much longer. I still have time to pursue my hobbies, work in the garden and fool around in my p... |
Human: personal finance, i need some help! long time lurker here. using a throwaway as i'm posting honest financial details.
bottom line is i am trying to balance monthly expenses, saving for a ring to propose to my longterm gf (who i live with and support), saving for retirement, and eventually saving towards a... | Uh, yeah, that's obscene. | I wouldn't've felt comfortable wearing a ring worth that much--I don't like to flash valuables, and I want to wear my engagement ring every day.
I might have felt more strongly about this issue than a lot of women do, but I think you can find an awesome ring for half or less than the budget you'd been picturing.
*Esp... |
Human: So here's my story. I'm 31, debt free, unmarried, and have $1.5 million in a trust fund that I have full control over. For the past decade or so, I've taken the standard advice and tried to pretend this money does not exist. I've worked my ass off at soul crushing jobs I pretty much hate, making $40-$50K annuall... | Given the limited information you've presented here, I would go for it for the following reasons:
1. Your current job does not sound like a very nice way to spend the next 35 years or so of your life. It's not like you're giving up a career that's paying $200k a year or anything, so the opportunity cost is relatively ... | I would go back to school in a heartbeat myself. |
Human: Note-Sorry for the wall of text, actual questions are in italics for ease of skimming.
I am going to be starting graduate school in late August in Fort Collins, CO. I am not one of those people who is dead certain I will make it through a Ph.D, but Fort Collins is probably my ideal place to live even if I don't... | As someone who bought a house when starting grad school - just don't do it. Flexibility is worth way more than you realize right now. | Hang out in /r/realestate for a while |
Human: My father believes that 6.8% interest on my loan is super high and I should get it refinanced, or ask for a lower rate (because he can get an even cheaper IR on other loans). I do not have any experience with typical IR's so I think he is being overdramatic. This site shows the fixed rates http://www.asa.org/bas... | 6.8% is the rate for federal student loans. No, this cannot be negotiated. If your dad wants to take a loan against his house to help pay for your school then great. Secured loans, and/or loans taken out by people with an established credit history generally have lower rates. Student loans are unsecured debt given to 1... | How much is your loan? Do you only have 1 loan or can you consolidate?
I guess I was super lucky that I graduated when I did. I am at 1.6% I think. Doesn't even pay to pay it off. |
Human: I love seeing these posts on /r/personalfinance as they've inspired me over the past couple years and I finally get to post one of my own!
I started a throwaway account because I'd like to share a little bit more personal detail about my situation. Here it goes:
29 years old. Married. Two kids born in '08 a... | Congratulations on getting on the right track! With no more debt, low expenses, and your recent raises, you'll see your net worth increase pretty quickly! | That is so awesome. Congratulations to you and your family! |
Human: I'd like to get back into the habit of designating certain amounts of my savings for specific purposes (e.g., pet medical emergencies, future kids, that kind of thing). Ideally I'd like to set up mini "accounts" with these nicknames. The only bank I'm currently aware of who offers this option is ING -- do you al... | USAA and Ally allow you to create multiple accounts, as well as nick name them. | Simple |
Human: I got this loan for $1600 (mostly to help with my credit score, be cause I had none) I'm paying about %19-25 interest. Is my monthly bill ($150) ONLY interest payments? Am I actually going to pay off this loan in 12 months if I keep current on my payments?
| This was a bad idea, pay off the full balance immediately if you are able. That interest rate is ridiculous.
Use revolving credit to improve your credit score, don't take out term loans to do so. | No, it's not all interest, and yes, if you borrowed $1600 at 19-25% interest, then it will be paid in full after 12 monthly payments of $150.
Hopefully you've done the math and realized that 12 * 150 = $1800, so you're paying back $200 more than you borrowed. If you can pay it off now (i.e. if you really just borro... |
Human: Celebrating a small success! I've always hoarded money into non-touchable savings accounts (401k & Roth IRA) but never was able to keep much in my credit union savings account without eventually transferring it into my checking account to spend. $2,000 in my savings account today!
...Alright, so it has ... | Well done. I'm working on the same thing. I'm just starting to get my finances in order after only getting one part-time job during college (though it did pay very well) and living off some inheritance, then having 6 months of non-permanent employment with no PTO and lots of legal holidays.
Credit card is already paid... | Good job. What works for me is to set the rule that whatever makes it into my savings account does not come back out under any circumstance. |
Human: My gut instinct, when he said that, was this is a "run, don't walk" situation. Am I just drinking too much index-fund kool-aid?
| > Met with a CFP, he told me "a [well-chosen] money manager can outperform index funds"
Can a manager outperform index funds? Sure.
Is it possible to know in advance which managers will outperform? No.
Will most managers outperform? Absolutely not.
Run away. | Only a very limited number of mutual fund managers can outperform the market, so if he can consistently do it after his fees, he's in the wrong office. Instincts confirmed. |
Human: I set up my 401k online and it registered at 60% instead of just the 6% I wanted to go in. I will be broke for the next two weeks because the deposit is irreversible. r/personalfinance, is there an upside to my mistake?
| One of the many reasons to have an emergency fund! | This is great. |
Human: That is all.
(WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)
| [Celebrate!](http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3dawstAMr1qcaw1o.gif) | Congrats! Isn't it nice to get that bitch out of your life? |
Human: New to this subreddit, but it looks like just the right place for this question.
I'm about to graduate with a BA and will be starting a doctoral program in the fall in St. Louis Missouri. I will be a full time student so the stipend they give me will most likely be my only source of income for the 6 years I'm i... | The biggest moneysaver for me has been living with roommates and living close to public transportation, which saves me a ton of money on rent and lets me put off buying a car for a few years. Consider if it is possible to live close enough to your campus that walking and/or public transportation would be viable option... | Hi there! So I'm in your exact situation, and it's not that hard at all. I set up a mint.com budget once I got rent and utilities settled and I'm still able to save ~$100/month. I don't have a car payment, and my dad is still carrying car insurance and my cell phone, but everything else is on me. That being said, I'm n... |
Human: Reddit, I hate my job. Absolutely hate. I'm miserable for 40-45 hours a week. I feel depressed on weekdays because I'm dreading going back to work the next morning so much. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning. Weekends and vacation days are my only solace.
The thing is, it pays well enough - I currently... | Buy your own health insurance. Cost starts at about $100 / month. | It does suck, but it's reality. I hope you come to some happy compromise between the life you want and the crap we all have to take into consideration when making these decisions. |
Human: (Apologies for the incoming wall of text)
I was doing a lot of reflecting after that post yesterday about the person in $240,000 of debt.
Take someone who made the decision to go to college ~5 years ago. They made their decision prior to the economic crash of 2008. The cultural zeitgeist at that moment in tim... | > Do you think it's within the purview of parents/high school counselors/society to say the following? "Look, you cannot afford your plan as it currently stands. I know that sucks, but that's the reality given your income situation/skills. Here are some options that might be better for you."
Of course I do. It's n... | after crunching the numbers then maybe yes; if the numbers don't add up [like getting an art degree from that crazy Drexel college from a different thread. Apparently it was one of the most expensive private colleges out there] |
Human: I have a vague memory of taking out loans from Fannie Mae and also FASFA loans... or maybe they were the same thing, I'm not sure.
My mom also doesn't know anything about it and is no help.
I checked my credit at https://www.annualcreditreport.com and it said my FICO score is fine though, and the details didn... | You have no idea how your school was paid for, and you don't think the school would be able to help you figure that out? | Of course the school can help. Call them up and ask.
You're in debt denial here - - it happens to everyone when they're starting out.
You think there might be a problem, but you see a way that it might not be a problem. You don't want to call and ask, because it might turn out that there really is a problem and now... |
Human: I am subscribed to personal finance but since i have submitted my photos to reddit gets drawn id rather not post to my regular account. I have never posted to PF but i think it is time.
SO here goes-
* my husband and i are both 25 yrs old. married 7 years almost.
* we have one son born in late 2010.
* ... | "should i pay off the debts or let them fall off in 3 or 4 yrs?"
This is why we can't have nice things. | From the information provided, you should know what your problem is and how to go about fixing it. Your husband makes a lot of money, you should be very grateful for him and all the hard work he does. Once you come to your senses with regards to spending way to much money on everything, you should make sure that you ha... |
Human: I'm just curious since I've been doing some research on the subject and it seems a lot of people seems like it's perfectly reasonable to just up and move to Alaska/North Dakota/Alberta/the Gulf and start working. Most websites and a few reddit posts from people who claim to be educated on the subject (i.e. actua... | It isn't easy. It is very damaging to the body. It is tough work. | No. |
Human: Okay, my 401(k) hit $401K in terms of money in there. I am totally bragging, because, fuck, I find it funny and awesome at the same time. Now I'm done bragging - I jut wanted to give some advice for you out there:
* Just automatically give the max. I started in 2000. My salary was $62,000. The max you coul... | You have a right to brag. Thanks for the great advice. | Dude, you f'ed up. You were supposed to wait until you were 41. WTF |
Human: I am 21 and turning 22 in August.
I recently graduated from a UC with a bachelor's degree in "Economics and Administrative Studies".
I have no job and I was dumb for not looking for an internship.
I haven't had a job in 2 years because I was focusing on my studies.
I have no debt at the moment as my ... | First of all, I'm very sorry about your mom.
Can you continue to live with her? Housing is going to be your biggest expense, so if you can eliminate that cost, that already gives you a lot of breathing room. If you can share the cost of food, that will also help. You'll need to chip in (and learn to cook if you don't... | I'm not sure how your world works in econ, but in the computer world, we have a lot of events, groups, conventions, etc. My suggestion is to find out where those events are for yourself. Just go and be yourself (it really is more important to befriend people than impress them), and try to get some contact information... |
Human: My Situation:
Living at an apartment with a roommate, splitting $1200 in total costs a month. I'm Self-employed ($8000 gross revenue /mo for the past two months), have VERY bad credit - around 530, but I have dad as a cosigner and he excellent credit.
I'll have around $5,000 in cash for a downpayment, but hav... | This is a terrible situation in which to buy a house.
1. Do you know for sure you're going to be in this area for a few years?
2. Your credit score is going to negatively affect your interest rate.
3. Your lack of a significant down payment means you will have to pay PMI, adding to your costs.
4. If that $5k is the on... | You will not be able to secure a mortgage without two years of employment history, and as a self employed individual you will need to get a cpa to confirm your income, based on the last two years of income tax returns. In your situation, your only real way to get a house is to buy cash. |
Human: I mean this to be a civil discussion. Things are not black and white of course but as I am at a sort of crossroads with regards to how sympathetic I feel for the majority of Americans that are struggling.
On the one hand, I know supply-side economics isn't as effective as giving the majority of Americans a tax ... | I would say as a general rule, we should all be sympathetic to our fellow man/woman despite his situation or how he got there. However, in the spirit of what you're saying, I feel like there are a lot of factors that come into play that make certain situations more or less "sympathetic" than others. The way we grew up ... | With the Internet, there is no excuse for lack of financial intelligence.
|
Human: Please assume that the younger person is currently in a similar financial/economic position as to where you were five years ago.
Edit: Sorry I--a word in the title. Since this is r/personalfinance, this should be one piece of *financial* advice. Thanks!
| Start your retirement portfolio yesterday. | you're 14, get a job now so you arent an eager spender when you can actually go out |
Human: I am fresh out of college with a marketing degree and my first job pays 33k/year. I got a job in property management. Average income in my city is 32k, it's a little smaller.
I don't mind going to my job and I like my boss. I also will likely be promoted in a year or so.
When should I be switching jobs? Rig... | Just out of school, you do want to show some stability with keeping a job for at least a year or two. If this is your first job, sticking around and being able to show they liked your work enough to promote you will be a big help in any future job seeking. Hopefully with your promotion will also come some higher earn... | If you are wondering if it's time, it's time. |
Human: Only half way done but out of debt!! WOOHOO! Now to finish the last two years and not rack up that kind of debt!
Assistant: Sad story really- My father recently passed away and left me enought to cover the loans and a small house. I just thought that the best thing I could do with it was to pay off the debt. ... | I'm sorry for your father . I'm sure he would been proud you used his hard earned money to pay something that worth it . | I'm sure your dad would be proud that you used the money for such a great purpose. I'm in law school and I've been racking up serious debt for it, and I've gone through a couple deaths in the family and other crises while I've been in school, and it's incredibly hard. I can't imagine how much harder med school is, with... |
Human: I've been getting the urge to go to my bank and see my money. I've worked hard saving my money, and all I can see from my hard work is a number on a screen or a receipt.
I want to touch it.
Is that weird? Is it possible to do without withdrawing? Has anyone done this?
| [This is 100,000 Each one is 10,000. Prepare to be disappointed.]( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/StrappedCurrency.jpg) | Jesse Livermore used to do this. Over New Years every year he would go have his bank fill a large vault with all of his physical money and sit there as he went through every trade he made over the past year so that he remembered what all of the stock certificates he dealt with all year really represented (Source: How t... |
Human: It took me awhile but I finally found an entry-level job in the field I'm interested in, advertising. I make 34k a year, so I'm in a pretty low tax bracket. I also owe my parents 22k over the next 5 years, $500 a month with 5% interest. I've got about $5000 in an emergency fund and a decent used car (Corolla). I... | I'd max out a Roth ($5500 this year) before going to the 401k if I was in that tax bracket. | Do they have a Roth 401k option? |
Human: My wife and I recently purchased a house under only my name. We were planning using her name for emergency loans and to make additional purchases down the road. A family member of her wants to use her name to purchase a house now because they have bad credit.
This is a bad idea and I do not really want to do i... | Do not do this. Please. Do not do it. Even assuming it did not rise to the level of fraud, this is simply a terrible idea for you and your wife. There are a litany of potential problems, the worst of which is that you are stuck being 100% financially responsible for a second house that someone else isn't taking care of... | Nope. No, no, no. |
Human: I am 24
here's a snap shot of what I am dealing with
401k : **22k** 20% bond / 80% stock
ROTH : **12k** 20% bond / 80% stock vanguard ( low fee )
some stock index ~ **3k**
company stock **4k** ( waiting for time to lift before selling for low tax )
House # 1 : mortgage 80k current selling price 140... | your question is exactly suited to /r/financialindependence
| How much income do you get from rent? How much at your job? |
Human: After living with my GF for a while I'm starting to find out how horribly financially irresponsible she's been in the past and it's really biting us in the ass.
Her pay has been garnished for the better part of a year. She promised she wouldn't let it happen again but after getting pulled over and finding out h... | You need to figure out what else she might be hiding (debt or otherwise) and get a clear view of her financial picture before you think about doing anything. | After she shirks her responsibilities, what is to stop her from running her finances into the ground again? What's going to change when her debts are wiped clean? (This is assuming that she declares bankruptcy.)
You're putting the cart before the horse. There's a reason she got into debt in the first place. How will s... |
Human: Greetings /r/personalfinance,
I have only the most basic knowledge of savings and budgeting and would like your help. 8 months ago I got my first well paying job, $43k per year instead of $23k per year. Since then I have put a lot of effort into paying off my credit card, which is down to the last $750 so it ... | Sell the car. Buy a beater. Stop the bleeding.
Pay off the CC debt.
Are the student loans federal? Do Income Base Repayment. If private, don't make late payments. You'd want to attack the loan with the highest interest.
You're extra $200 a month in "spending money for entertainment and whatnot" should go into a... | What is your bare bones living expenses? Lets assume you can move somewhere with an extremely low cost of living and live off $1,000 a month as a retired hermit. That will cover basic health insurance, living expenses, and a little extra for fun. At $12,000/year that is 12000/0.035 = $343,000 in savings you need to ret... |
Human: I am the beneficiary of my late father's Genworth IRA fund (~$200K). I'm thinking of opening a Vanguard IRA and transferring the funds there. I'm just assuming at this point that this is possible and the expenses at Vanguard would be smaller than at Genworth. Anybody has thoughts on this, or advice on what the b... | NO. STOP.
People assume that if you inherit an IRA you can just move it to your own IRA. Even financial planners who should know better recommend this. An inherited IRA is it's own type of account with it's own rules. You have to title the account properly identifying it as an inherited IRA and you have to take di... | Had he started to take disbursements yet?
Your basic plan sounds ok, but how fast you can/should take the money out will be affected by whether he was taking money out. Talk to a financial planner or tax specialist about the ramifications of cashing it. |
Human: UPDATE: I asked the companies to lower my interest rate. They did... slightly.
I am continuing to pay them off with highest interest first.
| You have a low income in an expensive area. Either increase your income, or move somewhere cheaper. | Hate to do this to you, get rid of the pet and find a residential home that rent out a room...that can't be anywhere near $1200. You just got a 3rd job for free. |
Human: My mom is a 63-year old nurse who is making approximately net $3,700/month. She has $0 in retirement savings, $0 in an emergency fund, and no debt. Her monthly expenses are approximately $2,075, leaving $1,625 to allocate. What should she do for retirement savings/emergency savings? Thanks!
| Hopefully she isn't planning on retiring for some time. If she is planning to continue working for 5-10 years then she should dump the savings mostly into bond funds and/or Target Date funds. Fortunately, she is eligible for catch-up contributions to her IRA at this point; she should be leveraging that if possible.
... | That's a lot of expenses. Is the house appropriate for her situation or is downsizing a possibility? |
Human: Here's the rundown:
Salary at present job around 70k. Wife around 40k. Just acquired second "job" that will be paying 8k/year. It's techinically a salaried position so it is subject to normal taxes (i.e. no contracting, self-employed, etc). One issue I am dealing with is that the biweekly checks from this are s... | Easy option to deal with getting the correct tax withholding is to file a new W-4 with each employer so that they withhold the proper amount of federal taxes.
I think increasing your 401k contributions is a good idea on top of that, but it's really a separate issue from the improper withholding you are trying to solve... | And for more info:
This is an issue I'm trying to address because with a "0" on all of our W4s the IRS calculator says that I will owe $3,100 at the end of the year.
Maybe I just need advice on withholding because that seems to be the issue. |
Human: Hi all,
I'm constantly re-evaluating my career and I'm afraid I will end up frozen/stagnent if I don't actively look for additional opportunities. Anyone have any experience in the area of career progression/development? By age would be great.
Currently 25, turning 26 next month.
Salary: 62k/year USD
Title... | If you stay purely in programming then your increases will be incremental if you stay with the same company (in most cases).
As with a lot of fields, the best option for increasing your salary is doing some upwardly mobile job hopping. If you are not anticipating any raises for the next two years and you aren't comfo... | > I've been with my company for 2.5 years and I become fully vested beginning of next year.
What is "vesting"? Are we talking stock options? How much are they worth?
You need to jump ship and get a job with another company to get a good raise. You're coming up on five years of experience since, and should be ma... |
Human: Hey /r/personalfinance-
I'm graduating from nursing school soon and am hoping to make somewhere around 66-71,000 my first year, and around 75-80,000 my second year with incremental increases every year. After taxes (Los Angeles), this should come out to about 3000/month for my first year and about 3500ish/month... | Reading between the lines you're probably still in college student mode, no house or car payments, no kids or dependant spouse, still able to live on ramen and cheap beer if it comes to that, Right? In that case go for a minimal emergency fund (maybe even count your credit card limits towards that fund, we're talking ... | Emergency fund first! A minimum of 6 months should be your goal. |
Human: If you didn't know, you can write off 3k per year in stock losses. For someone in the 25% tax bracket, that's basically a 25% subsidy on any stock choices you make that go bad. And if it goes in your favor just hold it for a year and you only have to pay 15% capital gains taxes
I'm generally a buy and hold type... | I lost 7k in the market a few years back when I didn't know what I was doing and it tanked.. For 2 years, I basically didn't have to pay taxes on 3k of my income. If I could choose between the two, I'd much rather have my 7k back rather than getting a few hundred extra bucks with my tax refund for a couple of years. | So I regularly invest in taxable accounts; like once a month I invest $X across an array of funds. If you do this each month for years and years in a row though, it's going to be hard to harvest losses if they are mostly index funds. The reason is that on average the index funds are going up each year.
If you rea... |
Human: Ok, so I'm not sure how to word this, but it can't be a feeling that I'm alone in having...
How to I avoid getting frustrated with saving money? I work hard, 60-70 hour weeks every week. I live in a crappy apartment because it's the most affordable thing I could find. My car is nothing fancy, because I paid f... | This sounds like a post from a /r/Frugal user. Perhaps you should live a little, a years worth of expenses may be a little much, most recommendations advise 3-6 months, or is that money is easily accessible investments? Personally I would advise using some of that money to make you happy now, no reason to be miserable ... | Homeless people. Not even once. |
Human: have ~200$ of debt on my credit card (I have lowered this by ~1000$ over the last few months). Most of that money I have been saving for a vacation I will be taking next month/the end of this month . I have taken my credit card out of reach so incurring any more charges onto the card won't be possible.
So th... | Unless your savings account is earning more interest than your credit card (which I HIGHLY doubt) then you are losing money not paying off the card.
Pay it off. | How is this even a question? Pay it off. You are talking about a difference of 2 weeks.....You wont even be saving that much in interest, just get it over with and be done with it. Pay the danm thing.
If you had more debt and less savings you might reconsider....What does your emergency fund look like? You know ho... |
Human: I recently got a job working in the financial district as a sales type position for a bank in San Francisco. If I live near work its about 400 more per month than if I was to live in Oakland. Do you think the difference is worth the possible networking ability I would have?
| Well, you would probably be spending less money on transportation. Would you take BART if you lived in Oakland? That can add up to a lot of money, especially since there is no monthly pass. | Would you happen to be able to make overtime pay if you lived close to work and just worked an extra hour a day (on avg)?
OT would pay for the place and give you a leg up for producing more work than a peer. |
Human: So I'm 12k in credit card debt and have about 9k in student loans. (Pay like $160/mnth for student loans) I have a car lease of $400 and insurance that's about 160$ a month. Rent is $400 w/utilities and to get to work it costs me about $300 via public transportation. $90 on phone with data. I spend like $900 on... | You are spending way too much money on transportation. Why spend $300 on a public transport and pay $560 for a car lease/insurance (plus whatever you spend on gas). Try to optimize your travel so you can reduce that amount.
What you need to do is make a decision to reduce the $900 (spent on gas and food and fun), all... | In addition to what the other posters have said, you may want to look into refinancing some of the debt. If you can get approved for a loan or %0 balance transfer, you can pay off the high interest debt in exchange for lower interest debt, and then backburner that debt while you pay down the other cards. Look into pe... |
Human: Wanted to know Reddit's opinion on whether or not its financially worth it to buy an apartment. My thinking is I'm going to be spending 7-8k a year renting while sharing a room and my brother is probably coming to the same school, so he'll be in a similar position. After we both graduate, I'm thinking about rent... | If you buy an apartment at 160k, down payment for 20% will be 32k + closing cost of 2% (which is low) for 3.2k, which means 35k "invested" that you're losing the ~$2500 (or 7%) investment return you could be making per year.
Plus, you'll have to pay taxes, HOA fees, maintenance costs, and possibly more in utilities. P... | Do you have any money?
|
Human: My company matches 50% up to maximum of 4% of salary. So I contribute 8%, they contribute 4%, for total of 12%. Pretty typical.
So, the matches are always Traditional contributions, even if the employee contribution is Roth. The mistake i made was this: i elected for only 8% Roth. The company matched the am... | Your contributions to the plan are based on a percentage of your salary, regardless of the manner in which it is removed from your payroll.
An 8% contribution made to Roth, or Pre-Tax is the same $ amount. The contribution is figured based on your gross salary and then removed from your check in the manner that you el... | What is BS, is my company two years ago decided to do the performance based match company wide. So my division makes our company millions, but another division only makes a couple million........so our company decides they don't have to match.
I really need to get the fuck out of this company. Damn family commitmen... |
Human: I have an online-only account (Ally) and a traditional Bank of America checking. I'd completely switch to Ally if I could--I like their fee structure (especially the fact that they reimburse all ATM fees), and fuck BoA. But I'm not sure what I'll do if when people pay me a larger amounts of cash that I don't w... | In an increasingly cash-less society, this is not much of a concern to most. On the few occasions that I need to deposit cash, I get a money order. You might also consider maintaining a local checking account if you need to deposit cash often. It is easy to link the accounts and electronically transfer between. | Couldn't you just deposit your money in the atm(reimburse atm fees) with ally. |
Human: Hi PF. Have been going back and forth with my small firm's Finance Director this morning and still can't believe what she's telling me.
She just got the "Q1 401(k) package, and [my] deferral of 13.99% of my salary is throwing us out of compliance for ERISA purposes."
My base is $140k. I max out my 401(k). Nev... | This can happen. In my small company, the owners put zero into the plan to help stay in compliance. Look into safe harbor rules. Basically, if you can get lower paid people to participate or a few other "safe harbor" issues, you can contribute again. Usually HR is all over this because they don't want highly paid f... | To get around this, front-load your contributions as much as possible. Try to get to the maximum by May next year. Your plan may have a maximum deferral rate, but if it doesn't, go for it! Of course, then the max percentage mid-way through the year will be lower than 5.75% so you're screwing over the other HCEs, but th... |
Human: I think it's interesting to hear what people who are working hard to improve their own finances donate to charity, if anything. For instance, here's a Get Rich Slowly post from last fall with a lot of discussion - answers really run the gamut. http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/09/07/ask-the-readers-how-much... | Young American checking in. I rent, have no debts, and have a pretty good job.
I have an annual financial spreadsheet that takes almost all of my incomes/costs into account.
1. one cell is for charitable giving and I set it as 10% * AGI.
1. I tell payroll to direct deposit (that amount divided by 24 pay periods per y... | Old clothes go to charity. Money can go to charity when my wife and I are dead. My taxes are already being used to fund enough charities/entitlement programs.
EDIT: I do drop a few hundred on toys for tots every year, but that's a negligible percentage of gross. |
Human: I get paid bi-weekly. I have a decent amount saved in my savings account (equal to about 2.5 months worth of take-home pay), but towards the end of the two weeks in between paychecks I usually have between $100-300 in my checking account (every paycheck I transfer money to my savings account) Is this normal or a... | Paycheck to paycheck was defined to me as "Having too much month at the end of your money"
Having a $300 buffer at the end of the month is HUGE compared to some people's finances. Paycheck to paycheck to me is getting a bill on the 15th and having to wait until the 1st to be able to pay it, while barely avoiding fees ... | Hey that's better than me. Soon after I start Grad school I will literally have $1 to save every month. You're not alone and this seems completely normal. |
Human: I have about $19,000 in a retirement account managed by my current employer. The money is 100% employer-contributed because I've never been able to afford to contribute.
I'm currently looking for a job (hence the throwaway), and I'm considering cashing out that account when I leave my current job.
My wife and ... | I am by no means an expert, but if I were in your shoes, I would do my best not to cash out the retirement benefits, especially since you haven't contributed to it and it is all free money right now.
I would reduce your spending as much as humanly possible. No outings for dinner, no alcohol, no fun activities, cancel ... | So I think 28 is quite old for not having any retirement savings (scenario after you cash out your 401k), but it's not the end of the world if you will save aggressively after that (I'm talking about 25% to 30% of your gross income) or you're happy and willing to work until you're 75 or 80.
If you *must* take out your... |
Human: More specifically, is there any situation I can get into where a Visa and an American Express will not suffice?
| SAMs club will accept a debit card or personal check as well. | Southern California Edison is the only thing I have come across in years that doesn't take a Visa. Amex is much more widely accepted now than in years past. |
Human: I know, I know, good problem to have. The basics: 401k contributions maxed out, both kids' (currently in grade school) 529 college savings accounts well-funded, only debt is 30-year fixed mortgage ($1400/month), good, steady job with health insurance, both cars in good repair with plenty of miles left on them, ... | If by liquid, you mean capital preservation, bond prices are very high right now, and if interest rates to up, you will take a big hit getting out of your bond position.
Interest rates probably won't go up this year but the unprecedented liquidity will not go on forever. | I think that's a huge mistake. What do you honestly need that much cash for? The majority of people's wealth shouldn't be a dispensable bank account. If you are talking about down payment on a house then that is completely reasonable. If you are saying that statement out of habit without any real genuine need to to... |
Human: I can easily afford to pay it back in September, but until then the most I could afford to pay towards a loan is $40 or so per month. However, I need $700 *now* or else I will be evicted. My credit is not great (I have a defaulted student loan and credit card). There is absolutely no one I know who can lend m... | Friends and Family.
| Back in the day I used to do this.... If you know anyone who works in supermarket customer service just ask them to ring you up alot of stamps books and then pay credit and take cash instead. A little bit shady but stamps are treated as cash so when their till is counted down cash will show lower and they will have a c... |
Human: I am studying Architectural Engineering at UT Austin and am on track to graduate in Spring 2015. I will be working this summer full time for about $13/hour and want to start spending/saving my money right. Fortunately my parents planned very well and were able to cover pretty much all education/living/meal plan ... | Stick it in a savings account and be frugal. | Personally, I would do what I did and open a Roth IRA as soon as possible. It's never, ever too early to start saving for retirement. |
Human: I am going to a state university for 4 years. Parents will be paying first two years for me. I currently have two jobs in between high school, but will only have one min/wage (under the table) roughly 35 hours for the summer. What is my best bet?
| At this point in your life, education is your best investment. Put this money in a savings account, in my opinion. | Savings account and forget about it. I had 4 grand in an account from high school and when I graduated college and was looking for a job it was this 4 grand and some very very frugal habits that managed to keep me afloat. |
Human: I threaten to quit recently, and ended up saying I would stay. They invited me to do a bit more with my position besides my normal tasks, although only for 1 day a week.
To make matters worse, I'm getting a better rate from my side consulting gig. So I know that I low-balled them when I negotiated my rate at th... | 1. Look for a better job (or more full-time consulting work).
2. Accept new job offer, quit current job.
3. Profit!
| > I threaten to quit recently, and ended up saying I would stay. They invited me to do a bit more with my position besides my normal tasks, although only for 1 day a week.
Your company has already labeled you a flight risk. This isn't necessarily bad right now, but it's less likely you have a long-term future at th... |
Human: My fiancee thought she made her last car payment. Unbeknownst to her she accidentally paid $1 less than the final balance. She let it go 30 days past due and received a late fee. It is now paid off.
It is now showing up on her credit report just about the time we are trying to refinance our house. Her cred... | I'd call the auto lender, get a human on the phone, and appeal to their sympathies. As silly as it is, it sounds like it was legitimately a late payment and they've already been paid, so they don't really have any incentive to go out of their way, but it's such an obvious mistake (and one that's potentially easy to ma... | They already got their money they wont give a damn about you |
Human: Hi, I'm about to switch jobs, going from one job where I max out my 401(k) to another job where I max out my 401(k). When I leave, where should I roll over my 401(k)s? To an IRA? What is best?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
| Unless your new job's 401(k) is _fantastic_, roll it to a _traditional/rollover_ (not Roth) IRA. If you don't already have one, call Vanguard and have them walk you through the process.
Some tips:
* You probably want to maintain your asset allocation among all of your retirement accounts; in this sense, your IRAs (... | If I have 3 401ks from 3 old jobs just sitting around, can I still roll them into my IRA? In other words, is there a grace period, or can I do it whenever? |
Human: Hey /r/PersonalFinance. I have a quandary that has been sort of burning in the back of mind for a while. My wife and I are both 25 (and graduated from college less than 2 years ago), making about 47k (after tax, 401k, health/dental) a year combined.
Right now, we pay 900 a month for rent, about 475 a month for ... | I think you're spending way more than you think. 47K is $3,916 every month. After your listed expenses you should have $2,116. Where is that money going? Obviously some of it goes towards gas, utilities (unless they're included in rent?), groceries.
$400 a month for the next year will net you $4,800. Is the kind of ho... | it sounds like you're in a pretty good place at the moment, but what do finances look like in the near future? will you be getting better jobs, raises, etc? don't forget property tax on the car and other bills.
when are the cars going to be paid off? How was your tax return? at least you've got a 401k, so it sound... |
Human: I thought this thread might inspire some good discussion, and provide some help for those looking to understand their finances better. So, what is one quote you heard about money that has stuck with you to help you better your finances?
EDIT: This doesn't absolutely need to be a quote, it could be anything th... | "The borrower is slave to the lender." | "It's not your salary that makes you rich, it's your spending habits."
-Charles A. Jaffe |
Human: A little background. I'm 26. I put enough in my 401k to get my employers full match, and I started a Roth IRA last year. I've inherited a little bit of money which I've used to start the account referenced here. My financial advisor is a longtime friend of the family and has managed my mom's portfolio for years.... | He is being somewhat clear. He is paid 1%/yr on C share funds.
Do you value his services and time to be worth 1% of your invested account balance? If so, then you need to mentally realize a portion of these expenses you are concerned with is buying his time/services.
If you don't judge it to be worth 1%, then obvio... | > My financial advisor is a longtime friend of the family and has managed my mom's portfolio for years. I definitely trust him,
None of this has any bearing on whether or not he's actually good at his job or more importantly, is acting in your best interests.
> but the comments in the Frontline special made me ... |
Human: I'm turning 18 very soon and I've been meaning to open a bank account. I have been searching for a bank but I honestly don't know much about banks so I'm a bit lost. If someone could recommend a bank and let me know why, that would really help.
Also, if anyone cares, what's the best type of account for an 18 yea... | Go with a credit union. Here is why: they are member owned...which means they are not trying to squeeze every last dime out of your pocket and into their coffers. You should at the very least compare the fees a bank will charge vs what a CU will charge. And what they offer for interest rates for CD's and auto loans.
... | Most of them are pretty interchangeable. Go with whatever bank is most convenient to home, work and school. |
Human: Check out my life situation and please, rather than say, "Wow. That's bad," tell me what I can do. I'll feel better if I have an action, plan, maybe.
I'm 32 years old. I am a single parent. I had my daughter in the middle of a semester in undergrad and went back the next week. I've juggled parenthood and school... | A clinical psych Ph.D. is hardly going to make you a good salary unless you decide to go the forensic hospital or V.A. route. I should know... I'm attending my hooding ceremony for the same degree next Thursday. Assuming a 2000 hour work year, I made $13.20/hr before taxes on my internship, and will be making $15.60/hr... |
Coming back tomorrow to get in on this, bedtime for now. |
Human: It seems everybody on this sub thinks buying a house is a good financial idea. I think its a personal decision and financially its a bad one. One benefit of owning is your rent never increases, your payments stay pretty much the same for 30yrs. You have so much of your wealth tied up in the home and its very ill... | I'm not sure where you got the idea that everyone thinks buying a house is a great idea. If anything, the complaints are usually that we are too against buying a house. | >>It seems everybody on this sub thinks buying a house is a good financial idea.
You haven't been following this sub. Everyone's financial case is unique and there are MANY instances where owning a home doesn't make sense or isn't the best move. |
Human: I'll be starting my first FT position and I'm trying to get a budget together. I used a take-home calculator for my state (IL). Grossing 58k annually, I'll take home about $38600 after federal and state taxes. Being taxed 20k seems extremely high and somewhat unfair considering if this money were coming from div... | Welcome to the real world. | That's life, son. |
Human: Please forgive any formatting issues, this is my first time creating a post.
We've been struggling with our finances for a while, but now it is to the point that something has to change.
Monthly we net **$4821**. Which yearly comes out to be about **$57840**.
We live paycheck to paycheck, and have... | > I know we could cut out the two gym memberships, and satellite TV.
So do it.
> But for our business we require cell phones and internet access.
You can do cheaper than $150/month for two phones. Look at T-Mobile.
> We are bad with keeping any discretionary spending in check. Often find ourselves buying a... | I've never given advice but I think I can postulate what I've seen on advice here (you guys let me know if miss anything).
Cancel revolving bills that are discretionary - $155/month from the gym, $80 per month on eating out, and maybe cut $50 bucks from your 'spending money' and you're almost at $300/ month just now.... |
Human: EDIT TO ADD: You guys are AWESOME! I was really nervous about posting all this, but everyone here has been so helpful! I can't thank you enough for all the advice and encouragement so far! This is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping to generate (even if not all of it is what I wanted to hear.) :-)
... | Cell phone is good then - Leave it as is.
Bass Clarinets - Check out CL. Doing a simple Search, I found a Bass Clarinet for 1700. Does the School not have Bass Clarinets to loan? (mine did back in the day)
On Terminix - I have a guy come, when I call him, he bombs the yard and baits the house. Looks the place over.... | >bass clarinets cost about $3500 to buy outright (!?)
ack. Deleted my previous response to this since I read "bass" as "base" as in "basic."
You should have been able to find a student bass clarinet in the low $1000-$1200 range, though. Buying used is always a great idea with instruments as well (I used to be a v... |
Human: I'm 23, from Australia if it makes a difference. I've got about $20,000 in savings. I've got no debt apart from HELP (Uni debt with no interest, just indexed), and have never had credit cards or loans that would give me a credit score, although I recently applied for two credit cards after reading "I will teach ... | Your credit score only matters if you need credit. I'm not sure it would be worth paying interest to boost it. Use the credit cards once in a while, pay them off every month and save the money you'd otherwise be spending on interest. | If you can get a 0% interest rate, absolutely. It'll cost something to originate the loan, but it will show lenders consistent payments over 36 months or longer. It has a tremendous positive impact on your credit score, therefore better offers from credit card companies. |
Human: I have 2 cards. One with 700 another not used. I'm thinking of using the one that has a 0 balance to pay the other and alternating this way until I get a job to avoid high interest fees. Will this work or am I being stupid?
| No, that would be a balance transfer, and there are typically fees for that. Otherwise people would do this all the time to take out indefinitely long 0% loans. | You can't do it directly. As mentioned, that's a balance transfer and typically carries a flat fee even if there is no interest being charged, so not worth it.
There is at least one way I've seen that could do it, but it is sketchy/questionable. Not illegal or immoral by any means, but doesn't always work and is pro... |
Human: 45 years old, married, two small kids.
$2,000,000 in brokerage accounts (index funds)
$500,000 in retirement accounts (mostly 401(k), also some Roth)
$215,000 in 529 plans for college for the kids
Home paid for/no mortgage (worth $500k, though I don't think that's too relevant)
No debts
I anticipate drawin... | Have you given any thought to teaching? Retiring at 45, I'm guessing you have a skill that's worth having, and teaching is a great way to stick with your current knowledge, while contributing something at the same time. | Maybe spend a year or two cutting back your responsibilities at work (if possible) and take the extra time to figure out what you're going to do with the rest of your life. |
Human: Hey guys. As an infant, I was burnt while at daycare. My parents took the responsible parties to court. Since the age of 2 I have received monthly checks for 5k. The settlement also covers my college tuition (I receive quarterly checks of 25k to cover school and whatever else.) For as long as I can remember I ha... | So you basically have almost a million dollars collected since the settlement? Damn. | I'd go buy a Ferrari with it because fuck it yolo |
Human: I typically use 50% if not more of my credit limit each month and know this is harmful for my credit score. I wanted to raise my credit limit but was told at my bank it would be better to just open a new card. I'm skeptical. Which is a better choice?
| INQs are not very harmful to your credit score. Using 50% of your credit is, even if you always pay it off on time.
Having more credit lines is slightly beneficial to your score. The important thing is that you'll be decreasing your utilization. Either option is fine but getting another card is slightly more beneficia... | Your best answer depends on several factors. You are weighing asking for a CLI with your current card vs. applying for new credit. Some banks are very stubborn about CLIs for whatever reason. If your ok with a couple of INQs you can try for the CLI first. If you get declined for the CLI then you should pay your cur... |
Human: The purpose of this post isn't to give advice on how to save a large emergency fund. I was able to do it simply because I've been lucky enough to have a decent salary so far. I do not consider myself particularly thrifty/frugal.
Instead, I just wanted to give my personal anecdote about how much better I feel ab... | Yes please! | Plaese do share. And send me a PM about it as well! |
Human: He said that to get a good credit score, to use 50-75% of my credit limit and to not pay off the full balance and have ~25% go over to the next statement. That sounds very sketchy. The posts I've read from /r/personalfinance suggest 15-30% utilization and to pay off the balance in full. Does what he's saying hav... | I wouldn't be surprised if the official BoA training told CS reps to tell customers that carrying a balance was a good idea.
It's not technically lying because I'm sure there are some people out there carrying balances that have higher credit scores than people without balances. But carrying a balance might not be th... | I think the reason they get away with "lying" like that is that credit scoring is sufficiently complex that it would be impossible to prove that he is intentionally misleading you rather than simply being uninformed himself. As wolfpackguy said, it's probably official BoA training.
Pay your balance off in full every m... |
Human: I am currently a 21 yr old student at a large private university. I funded my way through college with scholarships so I have no debt on my books.
I recently opened a Vanguard Roth IRA and invested all of the money that I've earned at my school job into a 2055 target fund (only $1000). I also put $3000 into a V... | If you're 21, you *want* to be mostly in stocks, unless you're extremely risk averse and can accept lower earnings. The diversification you do is invest in many many different stocks, which is exactly what the target date fund does. Plus the target date fund automatically gets more conservative as you age. | I'm basically in the same boat as you. Good luck! |
End of preview. Expand in Data Studio
- Downloads last month
- 36