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User (inspec): "I have a few thousand dollars that I've been using to speculate on tech stocks for the past few years (I wouldn't call what I do "investing"), and my current picks have been doing really well in recent months. \n\nThis might be a stupid question, and please tell me if it is - but is there any chance that leaked info on Bank of America could lead to a stock market crash? If so I'd like to cash in now and wait for whatever happens to blow over. " Self: "BofA was on the verge of collapse. It's not much better now."
User (inspec): "I have a few thousand dollars that I've been using to speculate on tech stocks for the past few years (I wouldn't call what I do "investing"), and my current picks have been doing really well in recent months. \n\nThis might be a stupid question, and please tell me if it is - but is there any chance that leaked info on Bank of America could lead to a stock market crash? If so I'd like to cash in now and wait for whatever happens to blow over. " Self: "Sell out. When Wikileaks makes the announcement and the market drops come back in and buy everything you can."
User (trivialretort): "Basically, I have no financial knowledge and I'd love to learn more...however the current situation is as described above. My father has told me that it is technically a bad thing to cancel credit cards (completely paid off), but I would like some input on that subject. \n\nI am considering changing to PNC, as my company has special deals with them and Sovereign (in my opinion) is complete shit.\n\nWhat should I do?\n" Self: "If you open a checking account with PNC, you could keep the credit card with Sovereign and (probably) close your Sovereign checking account. \n\nYour dad is sorta right that keeping credit cards open can help your credit score, but how important is your score, really? Are you planning to take out a big loan (mortgage) in the next year?\n\nWhat people often say is that it's good to keep a credit card open if it's \n\n* the oldest credit card you have, or\n* the only credit card you have, or if the credit line makes up the bulk of your total credit line on all cards.\n\nReally, you should set up your finances to serve you, not the interests of potential lenders or the credit rating bureaus." zhoppy (zhoppy): "As long as the card doesn't cost anything to keep open and you trust yourself not to use (abuse) it then keep it open. You may not be thinking about a mortgage now, but your credit score builds up year after year. It's not something you can decide to "fix" in a few months once you decide you're ready to buy a house or car or whatever.\n\nYou should be able to close your checking and keep your credit card with them. If not keep the checking account (again, assuming it doesn't cost you) with a few bucks (hundred.) Think of it as a rainy day fund."
User (trivialretort): "Basically, I have no financial knowledge and I'd love to learn more...however the current situation is as described above. My father has told me that it is technically a bad thing to cancel credit cards (completely paid off), but I would like some input on that subject. \n\nI am considering changing to PNC, as my company has special deals with them and Sovereign (in my opinion) is complete shit.\n\nWhat should I do?\n" Self: "Canceling a card does have a small negative impact on your credit score but good financial practices are more important. You can open a new card with the new bank and just stick the other one in a box."
User (trivialretort): "Basically, I have no financial knowledge and I'd love to learn more...however the current situation is as described above. My father has told me that it is technically a bad thing to cancel credit cards (completely paid off), but I would like some input on that subject. \n\nI am considering changing to PNC, as my company has special deals with them and Sovereign (in my opinion) is complete shit.\n\nWhat should I do?\n" Self: "If you only have 1 credit card, don't close it! Just put it away." User (trivialretort): "I have a few...but only one with sovereign." Self: "I read somewhere (this is internet advise afterall ;-) that as long as your oldest card is still 7 years old, you can cancel a card with minimal impact. If this is your oldest card and your other cards are all relatively new, than I would just hold off on cancelling this card.\n\nThere really is no massive upside to cancelling a card is there? Also, it doesn't really matter if you keep this card open."
User (trivialretort): "Basically, I have no financial knowledge and I'd love to learn more...however the current situation is as described above. My father has told me that it is technically a bad thing to cancel credit cards (completely paid off), but I would like some input on that subject. \n\nI am considering changing to PNC, as my company has special deals with them and Sovereign (in my opinion) is complete shit.\n\nWhat should I do?\n" Self: "Don't worry about canceling the card. Just make sure there're no annual fees or fees for non use, and melt it with a lighter. If you don't like your sovereign card you can open one with PNC without penalty." stockbroker (stockbroker): "Agreed. Except I'd record the number somewhere so that you can make an online purchase once every 90 days to keep it active. Pay it off each month."
User (trivialretort): "Basically, I have no financial knowledge and I'd love to learn more...however the current situation is as described above. My father has told me that it is technically a bad thing to cancel credit cards (completely paid off), but I would like some input on that subject. \n\nI am considering changing to PNC, as my company has special deals with them and Sovereign (in my opinion) is complete shit.\n\nWhat should I do?\n" Self: "Having a checking account with the bank you have the card at means nothing to them. keep that card open for the sake of your credit report. I would recommend Charles schwab high yield checking or a Fidelty Smartcash account, unlimited atm refunds and interest on your total checking balance. I have both and love it"
User (blackberry1204): "So I am a college student, last semester. When I graduate, I plan on immediately moving downstate to an area that is unfortunately known for being more expensive (provided that I get into the graduate school I hope to).\n\nSo here is my scenario- during winter break I am working a buttload of hours and will get a couple pretty substantial paychecks, totaling almost 1k. \n\nProblem: I am a TERRIBLE saver. I don't make a lot as it is and often eat into my savings to help support myself. My accounts are linked. \n\nWhat can I do to make sure I save this money? Should I open a completely separate savings account somewhere, maybe even online? Should I invest it somehow? CDs? T-bills?\n\nAny advice is really appreciated. And if you want to tell me to grow a pair and not sneak into my linked savings account, that's okay too.\n\n" Self: "I am a student, living on a moderate stipend, enough to get by for a single person, but not much more. So I know where you're coming from\n\nI'd suggest setting up an automatic transfer from your checking account to the savings account. Maybe $20 per week, or $150 per month, or whatever your earnings allows. This will help avoid the "TERRIBLE saver" issue: your rational self can make a one-time override of your \n\nI did this about two years ago and brought my savings from $2K to $5K. I guess I did cut back spending, but it wasn't because of total vigilence or sharp budgeting. Instead, just the natural tendency not to spend when the checking balance gets low.\n\nIf you don't have the discipline not to transfer the money BACK to your checking when tempted, you could set up a new online savings account. Sometimes the extra effort (and time) required to transfer from one bank to another will help you avoid temptation.\n\nBTW, does "downstate" mean downstate New York? If so I would have a little advice, and there might be a helpful reddit post to link to..." User (blackberry1204): "yes! ny :) can you link me? This was so helpful! DO you recommend an online savings account?\n" Self: "I like using a savings account with my own bank. Transfers back and forth are instant, and because it's a "money market deposit amount," I earn a little more interest, although transfers are limited to 6 per month.\n\nIf you want some recommendations (ING Bank vs. others), search around... I guess the considerations are interest rate, and usability/convenience of features.\n\nI was also looking for a reddit post about someone trying to move (furniture and all) in a U-Haul from North Carolina to NYC, and the overwhelming consensus was: don't\nhttp://consumerist.com/2007/01/how-to-move-to-new-york-city-sane-and-not-broke.html\n\nAbout the New York move: try to stay light. I moved into a Manhattan dorm room, and then an apartment in Brooklyn. One of the best Craigslist markets in the country, so you can pick up any furniture you need there. If you're moving downstate outside of NYC, maybe this advice doesn't perfectly apply.\n\nAnd save up as much as you can. My second apt required first month's rent, plus 2X rent as security deposit = $3 grand up front. Plus setup money and money to live on for first month, and you start to see where the consumerist article gets the 5 times rent number.\n"
User (blackberry1204): "So I am a college student, last semester. When I graduate, I plan on immediately moving downstate to an area that is unfortunately known for being more expensive (provided that I get into the graduate school I hope to).\n\nSo here is my scenario- during winter break I am working a buttload of hours and will get a couple pretty substantial paychecks, totaling almost 1k. \n\nProblem: I am a TERRIBLE saver. I don't make a lot as it is and often eat into my savings to help support myself. My accounts are linked. \n\nWhat can I do to make sure I save this money? Should I open a completely separate savings account somewhere, maybe even online? Should I invest it somehow? CDs? T-bills?\n\nAny advice is really appreciated. And if you want to tell me to grow a pair and not sneak into my linked savings account, that's okay too.\n\n" Self: "I am a student, living on a moderate stipend, enough to get by for a single person, but not much more. So I know where you're coming from\n\nI'd suggest setting up an automatic transfer from your checking account to the savings account. Maybe $20 per week, or $150 per month, or whatever your earnings allows. This will help avoid the "TERRIBLE saver" issue: your rational self can make a one-time override of your \n\nI did this about two years ago and brought my savings from $2K to $5K. I guess I did cut back spending, but it wasn't because of total vigilence or sharp budgeting. Instead, just the natural tendency not to spend when the checking balance gets low.\n\nIf you don't have the discipline not to transfer the money BACK to your checking when tempted, you could set up a new online savings account. Sometimes the extra effort (and time) required to transfer from one bank to another will help you avoid temptation.\n\nBTW, does "downstate" mean downstate New York? If so I would have a little advice, and there might be a helpful reddit post to link to..." User (blackberry1204): "yes! ny :) can you link me? This was so helpful! DO you recommend an online savings account?\n" charminggeek (charminggeek): "DiscoverBank(.com) has an online savings account that pays excellent interest with no fees and makes bank-to-bank transfers convenient. \n \nCheck out BankRate.com to compare various online savings accounts. You'll probably find that Discover and ING are about the best for worldwide access and offer very similar rates and benefits."
User (blackberry1204): "So I am a college student, last semester. When I graduate, I plan on immediately moving downstate to an area that is unfortunately known for being more expensive (provided that I get into the graduate school I hope to).\n\nSo here is my scenario- during winter break I am working a buttload of hours and will get a couple pretty substantial paychecks, totaling almost 1k. \n\nProblem: I am a TERRIBLE saver. I don't make a lot as it is and often eat into my savings to help support myself. My accounts are linked. \n\nWhat can I do to make sure I save this money? Should I open a completely separate savings account somewhere, maybe even online? Should I invest it somehow? CDs? T-bills?\n\nAny advice is really appreciated. And if you want to tell me to grow a pair and not sneak into my linked savings account, that's okay too.\n\n" Self: "Don't invest in that kind of stuff yet, just get a high-interest savings account so you can easily access the money in an emergency. If you set up a separate account with another bank or whatever you won't be as tempted to just spend the money. If you have trouble controlling your spending make sure you hide your credit cards and use cash as much as possible." User (blackberry1204): "Thank you everyone. I just opened a high interest savings acct SEPARATE from my checking account bank and will schedule automatic transfers. Luckily I don't have any credit cards :) " sallyNYU (sallyNYU): "Others may disagree with this advice; but I will give the advice and then back it up with an example. Take it as you want it.\n\nYou should apply for a credit card, especially when your a student and the requirements for a card are less. Be responsible with it, of course. You dont want to graduate grad school with no credit. How will you get an apartment? A loan for a home? Here is my example. I have a CC and debit card and have had the CC since I was 19 or 20 and working full time during my undergrad. I have a great credit score, pay off the credit card every month and I use my points to pay off my student loans (Citibank - couple hundred dollars per year). My bf, on the other hand, never got a CC. He graduated and has a great job and great pay but now he is 23 y/o and nobody will give him a CC because he doesnt have a credit history. He puts most of his money into paying off his loans and therefore doesnt have a huge amount of savings (6 month safety net + a couple thousand in checking). Anyways, now he has to go the route of a pre-paid credit card to get started and build some credit before he can qualify for a normal CC (even though he has a great job and no debt). \n\nMoral of the story is that its easier to get a student CC, like I have, than to wait until your in the real world and its harder to get a CC. " charminggeek (charminggeek): "Absolutely agree with this. \n \nThe bottom line is, get a credit card with no fees, NEVER purchase anything on the card that you couldn't or wouldn't pay for with cash immediately, and pay the bill in full every month. Almost all credit cards allow online billing and payment access. Set it up to automatically pay in full at the end of each billing cycle so you don't forget. \n \nIf you can, get a card that offers cash back and a checking account that pays interest. That way, aside from building credit, you're actually making money (in interest and rewards) whenever you purchase the things you'd typically buy. \n \nAgain, NEVER EVER carry a balance. If you can't track your spending well enough to avoid this, keep the credit card, but put it somewhere safe at home where you can't use it. Just having an active payed-off credit account will improve your credit worthiness for when you do need it for a car or home."
User (blackberry1204): "So I am a college student, last semester. When I graduate, I plan on immediately moving downstate to an area that is unfortunately known for being more expensive (provided that I get into the graduate school I hope to).\n\nSo here is my scenario- during winter break I am working a buttload of hours and will get a couple pretty substantial paychecks, totaling almost 1k. \n\nProblem: I am a TERRIBLE saver. I don't make a lot as it is and often eat into my savings to help support myself. My accounts are linked. \n\nWhat can I do to make sure I save this money? Should I open a completely separate savings account somewhere, maybe even online? Should I invest it somehow? CDs? T-bills?\n\nAny advice is really appreciated. And if you want to tell me to grow a pair and not sneak into my linked savings account, that's okay too.\n\n" Self: "I am a student, living on a moderate stipend, enough to get by for a single person, but not much more. So I know where you're coming from\n\nI'd suggest setting up an automatic transfer from your checking account to the savings account. Maybe $20 per week, or $150 per month, or whatever your earnings allows. This will help avoid the "TERRIBLE saver" issue: your rational self can make a one-time override of your \n\nI did this about two years ago and brought my savings from $2K to $5K. I guess I did cut back spending, but it wasn't because of total vigilence or sharp budgeting. Instead, just the natural tendency not to spend when the checking balance gets low.\n\nIf you don't have the discipline not to transfer the money BACK to your checking when tempted, you could set up a new online savings account. Sometimes the extra effort (and time) required to transfer from one bank to another will help you avoid temptation.\n\nBTW, does "downstate" mean downstate New York? If so I would have a little advice, and there might be a helpful reddit post to link to..." User (blackberry1204): "yes! ny :) can you link me? This was so helpful! DO you recommend an online savings account?\n" sallyNYU (sallyNYU): "I am a graduate student at a school in "downstate NY" (read my username). I thought I would add my two-cents about savings. I am attending school on 100% loans (graduate in may, yay!) and I have a 50% academic scholarship. Since I am living off my loans, i take out more than I need and it is very tempting to then spend that extra money. The first thing I did was created a mint.com account so I can see where my money goes and I have a budget on there (ie. $200 per month on food, $100 per month at beauty stores (I'm a female). Anyways, sticking to my budget has helped me stay significantly under my budget. \n\nI live in student housing (WSV) and for me, I like it but it is expensive. Since your from the NY area and familiar with the area, I would recommend getting a place in Queens or Brooklyn and save money. I traveled 1,000 miles to NY for school, so student housing was the right choice for me.\n\nAlso, I cannot recommend the psych research experiments enough!!! I dont have a entertainment budget because I only entertain myself with money gained from these psych experiments. On average they pay $10-$35 per hour. If you can get an MRI you can make a lot of money! These are great and not a lot of people take advantage of them. They also pay cash! I love it and take advantage of it." User (blackberry1204): "Great hint, thanks so much! By "downstate" I meant Long Island area but that is REALLY helpful still. "
User (blackberry1204): "So I am a college student, last semester. When I graduate, I plan on immediately moving downstate to an area that is unfortunately known for being more expensive (provided that I get into the graduate school I hope to).\n\nSo here is my scenario- during winter break I am working a buttload of hours and will get a couple pretty substantial paychecks, totaling almost 1k. \n\nProblem: I am a TERRIBLE saver. I don't make a lot as it is and often eat into my savings to help support myself. My accounts are linked. \n\nWhat can I do to make sure I save this money? Should I open a completely separate savings account somewhere, maybe even online? Should I invest it somehow? CDs? T-bills?\n\nAny advice is really appreciated. And if you want to tell me to grow a pair and not sneak into my linked savings account, that's okay too.\n\n" Self: "Don't invest in that kind of stuff yet, just get a high-interest savings account so you can easily access the money in an emergency. If you set up a separate account with another bank or whatever you won't be as tempted to just spend the money. If you have trouble controlling your spending make sure you hide your credit cards and use cash as much as possible." User (blackberry1204): "Thank you everyone. I just opened a high interest savings acct SEPARATE from my checking account bank and will schedule automatic transfers. Luckily I don't have any credit cards :) " molbio (molbio): "A credit card is like a buffet. You can be irresponsible with it as many people do. But if used properly, it can be glorious.\n\nNevertheless, credit is ESSENTIAL to several things. Your credit history is the only way for a bank to determine whether you have any.... wait for it.... credit. You will not get the best rate on a car loan, mortgage etc... if you happen to need one at some point if you don't have any credit history!\n\nSome employers check your credit when you apply for a job. Some landlords do the same when you want to rent from them.\n\nBUT, that being said, if you don't have enough self-control, stay away! I suggest getting a fee free one (most of them) and then cutting it up.\n\nNinja edit: Elaborated more on virtue of credit history."
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "Save. You'll just be forced to look for credit in an emergency if you don't, which just adds to your debt load.\n\n30k is a big number, but one you'll eventually knock down."
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "What is the interest rate on the loan? Is it all one loan or do you have multiple loans that constitute the $30,000?\n\nAn emergency fund is essential, but know the interest rates is also helpful.\n" User (thatboyaintright): "It's a 4 different loans. The rates are all pretty low, the highest is 5% with about a grand left on it, another is 4.75 with a grand on it, and the rest is mostly 2.75% or interest free (currently deferred and subsidized) " jamesss6 (jamesss6): "Aside from an emergency fund, or anticipation of needing to borrow more in the future, you shouldn't stick cash into a savings account paying 1.5% at best, when you have debts at 2-3 times that rate. But don't let an "emergency fund" turn into a "vacation fund"."
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "What is the interest rate on the loan? Is it all one loan or do you have multiple loans that constitute the $30,000?\n\nAn emergency fund is essential, but know the interest rates is also helpful.\n" User (thatboyaintright): "It's a 4 different loans. The rates are all pretty low, the highest is 5% with about a grand left on it, another is 4.75 with a grand on it, and the rest is mostly 2.75% or interest free (currently deferred and subsidized) " Self: "Like the poster below me said...\n\nI would put $1,000 into an online savings account for an emergency fund. Then I would take $800 and put it towards the 5% loan that has about a grand left on it. The benefit will be that you free up cash flow once you pay off the remaining $200. "
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "Always have an emergency fund. $1000 should be fine. Then start throwing all extra money towards the loans. " Atomm (Atomm): "This! Start with a $1000 emergency fund, then put the rest towards the loans. In a pinch, you'll be able to keep from going further in debt and as a last ditch solution, most student loans will allow you to go through a hardship deferment for 6 months. Yes, they capitalize the interest, but it beats missing payments. \n \nAlso, if you have not consolidated your student loans and locked in the low interest rates currently available, do so now! Many of my friends got themselves in trouble because the interest rate on their loans jumped up year after year because they were not capped." User (thatboyaintright): "Yep mine are consolidated (the ones that can be anyways) at a low rate. "
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "Standard advice: Put $1,000 into an emergency fund (high interest savings account somewhere), put the remaining $800 into the highest interest loan. Focus on highest interest loan first. So... to recap.\n\nPay minimum on Loan 2, 3, 4. Pay Minimum on Loan 1 + $800 bonus + whatever else you can. Repeat until Loan 1 is gone. Then move on to Loan 2.\n\nOrder your loan repayment list based on either minimum amount (for motivation!) or maximum interest rate (for practicality). If you want the great feeling of offing a loan, start with the smallest one. Good luck!" Atomm (Atomm): "Yes, paying off the highest interest rate loan is a good option, but there is another school of thought that says pay off the smallest loan first, then take what you were paying monthly and add it to the next highest loans monthly payment. Rinse and Repeat until you have paid off all the loans. This is referred to by some as the debt snowball. \n \nThe benefit of the debt snowball is how it reinforces what you are doing by giving you early easy victories that motivate you for the long haul. I've used this to great success and paying off any loan, regardless of the interest is a great motivator." ZacharyCohn (ZacharyCohn): "Which is the monetary choice? I'm plenty motivated, and I know no matter how I do it it'll take a while. I'm interested in the plan that will result in me paying off my loans with as little money as possible." User (thatboyaintright): "The highest interest rates first is the monetary choice. "
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "Standard advice: Put $1,000 into an emergency fund (high interest savings account somewhere), put the remaining $800 into the highest interest loan. Focus on highest interest loan first. So... to recap.\n\nPay minimum on Loan 2, 3, 4. Pay Minimum on Loan 1 + $800 bonus + whatever else you can. Repeat until Loan 1 is gone. Then move on to Loan 2.\n\nOrder your loan repayment list based on either minimum amount (for motivation!) or maximum interest rate (for practicality). If you want the great feeling of offing a loan, start with the smallest one. Good luck!" Atomm (Atomm): "Yes, paying off the highest interest rate loan is a good option, but there is another school of thought that says pay off the smallest loan first, then take what you were paying monthly and add it to the next highest loans monthly payment. Rinse and Repeat until you have paid off all the loans. This is referred to by some as the debt snowball. \n \nThe benefit of the debt snowball is how it reinforces what you are doing by giving you early easy victories that motivate you for the long haul. I've used this to great success and paying off any loan, regardless of the interest is a great motivator." ZacharyCohn (ZacharyCohn): "Which is the monetary choice? I'm plenty motivated, and I know no matter how I do it it'll take a while. I'm interested in the plan that will result in me paying off my loans with as little money as possible." Self: "Definitely high interest. However, like Atomm said, the debt snowball is a very effective method because of the "early easy victory". It really is helpful if you want the motivation."
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "Great question! I am in the exact same predicament now! All the advice offered was great for you (and me). It seems $1,000 in an emergency fund and $800 to student loans is the best method."
User (thatboyaintright): "I have about $30k in student loan debt from a few different entities which I am paying down slowly (the minimum they require + a bit more when I can) but surely. I mostly live paycheck to paycheck and have ZERO savings for an emergency. \n\nThis recent tax go round I am going to get $1,800 back. Should I pay off a chunk of that student loan debt or just stick the $1,800 in the bank as part of an emergency fund? " Self: "Save.\n\nBeing in debt sucks, but so does having absolutely zero liquidity. And while it may seem that interest is just PILING UP SO FLIPPIN HIGH it really isn't. Interest is tax deductible.\n\nRelax, do whatever you can to increase your immediate liquidity by keeping that $1,800 in savings. That's no fix, though, you either need to get your earnings moving or start cutting from your budget." ZacharyCohn (ZacharyCohn): "He can increase his 1800 by 1% or so (with the online high yield savings accounts out there), but his loans are growing by ~4%... so he's down net 3% if he opts to "save."\n\nI think it'd make more sense to put $800 or so toward emergency savings, and then use the thousand to make a big dent in the loan." daily_bagel (daily_bagel): "That sounds true, but 3% of 1800 is only about $50 per year. That is a small price to pay for the additional liquidity. \n\nComparable to a credit card's annual fee, in fact, but much preferable to have that full $1800 available in a savings account, than to use a credit card when an emergency (car repairs, traffic ticket, burglary, etc.) hits."
User (mattymomostl): "We're growing so fast it would be neat to give this sub it's own distinct personality with a new logo.. if you can help that would be great.. We can let the votes decide if we get submissions, thanks!" Self: "I would love to see the alien sitting on his own 'Benjamin Pile'. [link](http://www.gifsoup.com/view1/1328266/my-benjamin-pile-o.gif)"
User (mattymomostl): "We're growing so fast it would be neat to give this sub it's own distinct personality with a new logo.. if you can help that would be great.. We can let the votes decide if we get submissions, thanks!" Self: "[How's this?](http://i.imgur.com/vnskJ.jpg)\n\nI can provide a transparent PNG if you want." User (mattymomostl): "I like it alot... I will give it another day or two and see if we have any others, thanks!"
User (mattymomostl): "We're growing so fast it would be neat to give this sub it's own distinct personality with a new logo.. if you can help that would be great.. We can let the votes decide if we get submissions, thanks!" Self: "[How's this?](http://i.imgur.com/vnskJ.jpg)\n\nI can provide a transparent PNG if you want." User (mattymomostl): "Yeah, if you can provide the transparent .png I will put it up now, until we have a consensus to change it. Thanks" Self: "[Here it is!](http://i.imgur.com/PLEHx.png)" User (mattymomostl): "I can't figure out how to upload it properly.. I'll have it up asap.. if you've got any idea on how to resize properly lemme know.. thanks" Self: "Sure. If you let me know what size you need it at, I can crop and re-send."
User (mattymomostl): "We're growing so fast it would be neat to give this sub it's own distinct personality with a new logo.. if you can help that would be great.. We can let the votes decide if we get submissions, thanks!" Self: "[How's this?](http://i.imgur.com/vnskJ.jpg)\n\nI can provide a transparent PNG if you want." User (mattymomostl): "Yeah, if you can provide the transparent .png I will put it up now, until we have a consensus to change it. Thanks" Self: "[Here it is!](http://i.imgur.com/PLEHx.png)" User (mattymomostl): "I can't figure out how to upload it properly.. I'll have it up asap.. if you've got any idea on how to resize properly lemme know.. thanks" Self: "Actually, I just checked myself. Here's the image at the right size:\n\n[http://imgur.com/aC8j2](http://i.imgur.com/aC8j2.png)" User (mattymomostl): "Awesome, thanks!"
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "I <3 usaa. hard."
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "ima big fan."
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "My previous car was totaled by someone who has USAA insurance. It was her fault, there were witnesses, and USAA was quick about paying out the claim and rendering a fair value for my car. (My insurance was with GEICO)\n\nUsually insurance companies are dicks when paying out claims to other people, at least making it hard, but they were great. Everyone I'ved talked to about USAA has loved them too.\n\nLastly, my friend, who has USAA, routinely gets a small check each year as an insurance rebate or something (I forget why or how but he gets a small check)." veritablequandary (veritablequandary): ">Lastly, my friend, who has USAA, routinely gets a small check each year as an insurance rebate or something (I forget why or how but he gets a small check).\n\nThey have some formula whereby they average out what it cost them to pay all the claims for all of their members over the course of the year, and subtract out what everyone paid in dues, and then split that up evenly amongst everyone who carried a policy that year. It's never been more than $30-35 any year that I've been with them, but it's nice to get something back, even if it's mostly a gesture.\n\nThere might be some variables like how many claims you've had or something, quite honestly I forget about it every year until a random check shows up with a letter from the president of USAA basically saying "thanks for being a member, here's some money.""
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "My dad worked for USAA, so I was able to get an account through him way back in the day.\n\nI don't have much time to go into extreme detail, but I love USAA. I love that I can pick up the phone and call them and get a human being without having to hack the phone matrix. I love that I can get a person on the phone who is curious and who respects me and genuinely wants to help me.\n\nI also use their iPhone app religiously. I don't how good other bank apps are, but the USAA app is amazing. I check balances, transfer funds in real-time, and deposit checks by taking a picture of them with my phone's camera. The funds show up in my account immediately.\n\nNow I do everything through them -- car loans, insurance, home insurance, etc. I can probably find rates a bit cheaper elsewhere, but I'm willing to pay a bit extra for the good customer service and convenience of hosting all of my accounts in one place. "
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "My dad was an Air Force pilot for 25 years and I've been with USAA since I opened my first checking account at age 18. I've used them for my mortgage loan, auto loans, auto and property insurance, and most recently investing (just a couple of mutual funds so far). I love USAA and it would take a helluva lot to convince me to consider changing banks.\n\nJust as an example: USAA was one of the first banks I know of that started letting you deposit checks using a scanner... before that they provided postage-paid envelopes for mail deposits... now I can deposit a check using my iPhone & the money is credited to my account instantly. People are kind of gobsmacked when they write me a check & I whip out my phone, deposit the money, and hand it back to them.\n\nTheir customer service is amazing. My wife & I were in London once and somehow the clerk at the front desk of our hotel moved a decimal point and charged our debit card $4000 instead of $400 for our stay. Wiped out our checking account and we couldn't figure out why the fuck our card was getting declined at the airport when we tried to buy lunch. I called USAA from Heathrow and the CSR I spoke with (a) credited the money back instantly so we could buy food, and (b) promised to have everything fixed by the time we landed in the States. AND SHE DID. She called the hotel, fixed up the charge, and called my cell # to leave a message while we were in the air to let me know everything was resolved.\n\nI have never in my life found another company that treats their customers so well. USAA has earned my loyalty for life and I'm just grateful that I'm eligible to be a member." User (trivialretort): "Wow, that is pretty much amazing. I had already heard a lot about them from my brother, but only recently learned that I might be able to open an account with them as well. My brother is Air Force and my Granddad was Army...would I have access to all that USAA offers?" Self: "Check with them--my understanding was that it was only dependents but then my wife was able to open some accounts with them once we were married since I was a member. IIRC there were some things she couldn't do, as well (I want to say it was a credit card for some reason) but when we separated her eligibility did not disappear.\n\nThey aren't trying to keep people out, really. If there is any way to get you in they will find it--just call them up & ask." jasper_schwartz (jasper_schwartz): "[USAA's eligibility rules](https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=why_choose_usaa_eligibility_main)"
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "My dad was an Air Force pilot for 25 years and I've been with USAA since I opened my first checking account at age 18. I've used them for my mortgage loan, auto loans, auto and property insurance, and most recently investing (just a couple of mutual funds so far). I love USAA and it would take a helluva lot to convince me to consider changing banks.\n\nJust as an example: USAA was one of the first banks I know of that started letting you deposit checks using a scanner... before that they provided postage-paid envelopes for mail deposits... now I can deposit a check using my iPhone & the money is credited to my account instantly. People are kind of gobsmacked when they write me a check & I whip out my phone, deposit the money, and hand it back to them.\n\nTheir customer service is amazing. My wife & I were in London once and somehow the clerk at the front desk of our hotel moved a decimal point and charged our debit card $4000 instead of $400 for our stay. Wiped out our checking account and we couldn't figure out why the fuck our card was getting declined at the airport when we tried to buy lunch. I called USAA from Heathrow and the CSR I spoke with (a) credited the money back instantly so we could buy food, and (b) promised to have everything fixed by the time we landed in the States. AND SHE DID. She called the hotel, fixed up the charge, and called my cell # to leave a message while we were in the air to let me know everything was resolved.\n\nI have never in my life found another company that treats their customers so well. USAA has earned my loyalty for life and I'm just grateful that I'm eligible to be a member." tsunam (tsunam): "I'll second the above. I've always had good experiences with USAA and was sad that there was such a difference in insurance rates in my early 20's that it made me go away. I learned how much care and attention USAA gives to their customers, as soon as prices got close enough to call the benefits of USAA worth it, I went right back to USAA and haven't looked elsewhere since.\n\nI've used multiple services they've offered and always felt that I was well taken care of. I routinely find services that I didn't know they offered but are great once I find them. Such as helping you find a house...they'll give you cash back for going through them for a Realtor (moversadvantage). \n\nIts the internet so a whole hearted recommendation doesn't speak as much, but USAA is one of those good companies that I wouldn't have issue recommending to others.\n\nThey also recently released a video about their new employee hire training which they call a boot camp. It includes the employee's having to eat mre's and other service related tasks etc. They really do want to serve those who they were designed for, and get their people to understand their customers. Its not just a statement, but you can tell it in their service." The_Dixie_Flatline (The_Dixie_Flatline): "When people get hired at USAA, they go through a 4-day long orientation designed to teach them exactly that, no matter what department or position they've been hired for. Seriously. I've been around a while and have never heard of such a thing from any other company."
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "I work at usaa. This entire post makes me happy. They treat their employees just as great as they do the members. I hope you enjoy a long membership there.\n\nI've never worked for a company that had had so many 50+ year customers. Speaks volumes and it makes me want to help all of them get the absolute best." Sophocles (Sophocles): "What do you do there?\n\nI had a recruiter contact me about a call center USAA is opening in North Texas, so I have been trying to find out about the working conditions and corporate culture. The boards at [Indeed.com](http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/USAA/s-company-culture-at-USAA/t4210/p88) suggest that it is a pretty lousy work environment.\n\nBut maybe that is just the call centers?" Self: "I'm in auto policy service. Usaa was just voted 15 on fortunes best places to work and its #1 where I live. The whole company is call centers except for a few face to face locations in Texas. I can't say anything bad. The hours are great (4 10s), the benefits, bonuses, college money, and the facilities all awesome. Not to mention our members are military and their families, not just average Joe's so most every call is with a smart, pleasant person. "
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "(Ex-Military) I have been with USAA since 2001 and I have had nothing but good things to say about their insurance. I have had some issues where I needed the help with USAA insurance and they came through. \n\nBut aside from that I am now going through USAA mortgage and having the worst time EVER. Getting started was simple and it seemed like everything was going smooth. Come 3 weeks before closing time the loan processor does not reply to any emails or calls for simple questions. It is impossible to get him to answer the phone it was not until I had my questions "elevated" that I finally got a call back from him. \n\n2 weeks until closing I had a few more questions and went through the same garbage just to get an answer.\n\n1 week until closing I keep checking to make sure everything is good... no answer no response from anyone even my realtor is having major issues getting through to them. The original closing date was suppose to be APR 4th but was changed for the sellers and again no word on anything from USAA.\n\nNow I was suppose to close tomorrow (06 APR 11) and find out from the sellers realtor that closing has changed and they are missing paperwork that was given to them twice. No one at USAA contacted me and it is impossible for me to reach anyone at USAA mortgage.\n\nThe excuse given to my realtor was "The economy and drawbacks." That does not explain USAA completely ignoring questions and not passing any info along or refusing to answer the phone or return calls. \n\nStay away from USAA mortgage because I just found out I am not the only person that is having the same issues right now."
User (trivialretort): "I'm non-military but have military family." Self: "I'm 4 months late with this, but I will say that I'm very satisfied with my experience at USAA. The only problem I have, is that even though they are committed to service to the Military, the civilian customers they do have (and there are a lot more than you think), I feel like we're being used and neglected by not being allowed to participate in USAA's full range of services."
User (j1mcamp): "Hi all,\n\ntl,dr; I'm considering a couple of transportation options, and would like some input. I can either keep a car I paid for and pay for maintenance, or else sell it and get a relatively inexpensive lease vehicle. There's some other factors that go into my decision, too.\n\nI have a 2007 Nissan Sentra SER that I purchased new in late 2007. I have fully paid for this car, and no longer have a loan. (I just paid it off in November.) It has about 46000 miles on it, as I drive it every day to-from work (I reverse-commute from the city to the suburbs).\n\nThe situation is that my brother works for a car company, and I can get a 1-year lease on a nice new car for about $150-200/mo. I'm likely to have to get new tires for my car this year ($1,200... I have to get sporty tires because the sporty car requires it). I don't think I'd have to pay any kind of special-one-time fee for the lease, either. \n\nAlthough I did just get the 45000-mile tune-up on my current car, I'll likely have some additional maintenance on the car this year. And then there's the factor of depreciation, too . . . \n\nOne other factor is that I'm also selling my current place and buying a place w/in the next year or so. I think my car my depreciate a good amount over the next year or so . . . I could use the cash from selling my car as part of a down-payment on a place.\n\nI am pretty conservative when it comes to moolah, but I know I could afford the car payment. And if I'm going to put at least ~1000-1500/year into maintenance on my own car, I'm thinking that I can almost break even by doing the lease option.\n\nIs there something that I'm not considering? Obvs. I would never own the lease vehicle - it's just like renting a car. Might it still make good financial sense?\n\n\nHaving to spend so much money on tires is ridiculous. Please keep the cost of such items in mind if you ever think about getting a sporty car. " Self: "Does this hinge on your bro working for the car company, if not, go for it, if so, consider it carefully" User (j1mcamp): "I forgot to mention that I would actually get the discount because my dad is a retiree of the same company, so there's not a risk of the discount going away for now." Self: "seems ok. There is nothing better than riding around in your own wheels though. What are the chances of trading down to something less sporty?" User (j1mcamp): "I suppose that trading-down to a less-sporty car might be an option, but I would probably lose money on the sale-of-old/purchase-of-different car, and this would make it a loss... I think I'm just deciding between these two options for now." Self: "but does the loss in the sale outweigh the savings in the downgrading?"
User (j1mcamp): "Hi all,\n\ntl,dr; I'm considering a couple of transportation options, and would like some input. I can either keep a car I paid for and pay for maintenance, or else sell it and get a relatively inexpensive lease vehicle. There's some other factors that go into my decision, too.\n\nI have a 2007 Nissan Sentra SER that I purchased new in late 2007. I have fully paid for this car, and no longer have a loan. (I just paid it off in November.) It has about 46000 miles on it, as I drive it every day to-from work (I reverse-commute from the city to the suburbs).\n\nThe situation is that my brother works for a car company, and I can get a 1-year lease on a nice new car for about $150-200/mo. I'm likely to have to get new tires for my car this year ($1,200... I have to get sporty tires because the sporty car requires it). I don't think I'd have to pay any kind of special-one-time fee for the lease, either. \n\nAlthough I did just get the 45000-mile tune-up on my current car, I'll likely have some additional maintenance on the car this year. And then there's the factor of depreciation, too . . . \n\nOne other factor is that I'm also selling my current place and buying a place w/in the next year or so. I think my car my depreciate a good amount over the next year or so . . . I could use the cash from selling my car as part of a down-payment on a place.\n\nI am pretty conservative when it comes to moolah, but I know I could afford the car payment. And if I'm going to put at least ~1000-1500/year into maintenance on my own car, I'm thinking that I can almost break even by doing the lease option.\n\nIs there something that I'm not considering? Obvs. I would never own the lease vehicle - it's just like renting a car. Might it still make good financial sense?\n\n\nHaving to spend so much money on tires is ridiculous. Please keep the cost of such items in mind if you ever think about getting a sporty car. " Self: "I don't think leasing makes financial sense. What are the maintenance costs in a 2-year lease? Oil changes, at least.\n\nEven with a discount, leasing can't cost less than maintenance on your current car. What's the long-run cost of keeping the Sentra running? I bet you could keep it for 5 years and spend less than $3000 in maintenance, and at the end you would own the Sentra.\n\nYou're really lucky to have a paid-for car, just a couple years old and with low mileage. It sounds like you're looking for a financial justification to take the lease. If you want to lease a fancy new car, go ahead and do it. But consider it the true expense that it is, and don't try to convince yourself it's the financially prudent step in the long run." User (j1mcamp): "It would be a 1-year lease, and maintenance is included in that cost.\n\nAs for my own car, I'm considering both maintenance and depreciation. Every two years is $1200 for tires alone. \n\nYou're kind of right, though. I am kind of thinking of financial justification for taking the lease. It just seems close enough to be a wash to me... esp considering depreciation on my car. \n\nThank you for your input, though." Dynamite_Noir (Dynamite_Noir): "That year will come up very quickly and then you are stuck with a car that you don't own. Keep the Sentra and put $120/mo into a savings account for car repairs. Think of it this way, do you really NEED a new car or do you just WANT a new car? Also look into cheaper tires. Try www.tirerack.com. You can get performance tires for quite cheap. $1200 for 4 tires tells me that you are getting ripped off big time. I had performance tires on my sporty car before and you just have to look for the right deals. Do you really need performance tires on a Nissan Sentra? Are you doing high speed autocross racing or anything like that? You could get away with getting regular rims and cheaper tires if you are really strapped for cash." User (j1mcamp): "Your idea of putting $120/mo into savings sounds like a good idea. : )\n\nAs for the wheels - it's a Sentra SE-R, so the stock rims require a lower-profile tire with a certain type of rubber. A longer-lasting tire with that profile actually costs more than the $1,200, but I will try to shop around a bit more next time I have to get tires... The tires were flat before, so I didn't have much choice at that time.\n\nThanks for the suggestions. : ) "
User (j1mcamp): "Hi all,\n\ntl,dr; I'm considering a couple of transportation options, and would like some input. I can either keep a car I paid for and pay for maintenance, or else sell it and get a relatively inexpensive lease vehicle. There's some other factors that go into my decision, too.\n\nI have a 2007 Nissan Sentra SER that I purchased new in late 2007. I have fully paid for this car, and no longer have a loan. (I just paid it off in November.) It has about 46000 miles on it, as I drive it every day to-from work (I reverse-commute from the city to the suburbs).\n\nThe situation is that my brother works for a car company, and I can get a 1-year lease on a nice new car for about $150-200/mo. I'm likely to have to get new tires for my car this year ($1,200... I have to get sporty tires because the sporty car requires it). I don't think I'd have to pay any kind of special-one-time fee for the lease, either. \n\nAlthough I did just get the 45000-mile tune-up on my current car, I'll likely have some additional maintenance on the car this year. And then there's the factor of depreciation, too . . . \n\nOne other factor is that I'm also selling my current place and buying a place w/in the next year or so. I think my car my depreciate a good amount over the next year or so . . . I could use the cash from selling my car as part of a down-payment on a place.\n\nI am pretty conservative when it comes to moolah, but I know I could afford the car payment. And if I'm going to put at least ~1000-1500/year into maintenance on my own car, I'm thinking that I can almost break even by doing the lease option.\n\nIs there something that I'm not considering? Obvs. I would never own the lease vehicle - it's just like renting a car. Might it still make good financial sense?\n\n\nHaving to spend so much money on tires is ridiculous. Please keep the cost of such items in mind if you ever think about getting a sporty car. " Self: "I don't think leasing makes financial sense. What are the maintenance costs in a 2-year lease? Oil changes, at least.\n\nEven with a discount, leasing can't cost less than maintenance on your current car. What's the long-run cost of keeping the Sentra running? I bet you could keep it for 5 years and spend less than $3000 in maintenance, and at the end you would own the Sentra.\n\nYou're really lucky to have a paid-for car, just a couple years old and with low mileage. It sounds like you're looking for a financial justification to take the lease. If you want to lease a fancy new car, go ahead and do it. But consider it the true expense that it is, and don't try to convince yourself it's the financially prudent step in the long run." User (j1mcamp): "It would be a 1-year lease, and maintenance is included in that cost.\n\nAs for my own car, I'm considering both maintenance and depreciation. Every two years is $1200 for tires alone. \n\nYou're kind of right, though. I am kind of thinking of financial justification for taking the lease. It just seems close enough to be a wash to me... esp considering depreciation on my car. \n\nThank you for your input, though." beansandcornbread (beansandcornbread): "I used to be afraid of unknown maintenance costs with used cars but now that I've had my truck for 12 years and my wife's SUV for 6 I can tell you it is MUCH cheaper to drive used. \n\nAbout the depreciation. Cars loose a majority of their value in the first 4 years, from there the values flatten out a lot (still going down of course). You've already been through that with your Sentra. \n\nIf you lease the car for 1 year and then give it back the dealer then wants to resell the car and make money of course. So if cars loose a ton of their value when they drive off the lot who do you think is going to pay for that? YOU.\nLets say the cars value is $20K, you lease for a year and then the dealership set the price at which you can buy it at that point at $15k. That means it lost $5k in value. Now, they aren't stupid and want to make money on the transaction so the price you pay over the length of the lease will ALWAY be greater than the amount of value lost. Otherwise dealerships would lose money and go out of business.\n\nPLEASE, keep your Sentra." User (j1mcamp): "Thanks for your tips. Based on what you said, and the advice of Dynamite_Noir, I'm going to save up maintenance money and keep my car. "
User (finadviceplz): "Hi Reddit,\n\nMy company offers a "Saver" plan in which they match 100% of 6% of contributions which is great (401a). I'm looking to invest an additional 5,000 per year for retirement and am looking for advice on the best place to put it.\n\nMy company also offers a 403b but does not match. Would you recommend putting the 5,000 in a ROTH IRA, or 403b? Or perhaps throw it in the 401a?\n\nThanks much!" Self: "You have more freedom with the Roth IRA. If you are already getting the match in the employer sponsored plan, then you might as well open up a Roth IRA. If you are looking to invest in mutual funds then I would highly recommend Vanguard." daily_bagel (daily_bagel): "I second this advice and the Vanguard recommendation."
User (finadviceplz): "Hi Reddit,\n\nMy company offers a "Saver" plan in which they match 100% of 6% of contributions which is great (401a). I'm looking to invest an additional 5,000 per year for retirement and am looking for advice on the best place to put it.\n\nMy company also offers a 403b but does not match. Would you recommend putting the 5,000 in a ROTH IRA, or 403b? Or perhaps throw it in the 401a?\n\nThanks much!" Self: "The 403b is basically pretax (similar to a 401k). I don't know if you can have a 401a and a 403b, but if you can, I would also contribute to a 403 as well." robotlibrarian (robotlibrarian): "You can have both, and it's very common for non-profits to offer both plans. I think the 401a allows for them to match contributions and the 403b is just for employee contributions.\n"
User (finadviceplz): "Hi Reddit,\n\nMy company offers a "Saver" plan in which they match 100% of 6% of contributions which is great (401a). I'm looking to invest an additional 5,000 per year for retirement and am looking for advice on the best place to put it.\n\nMy company also offers a 403b but does not match. Would you recommend putting the 5,000 in a ROTH IRA, or 403b? Or perhaps throw it in the 401a?\n\nThanks much!" Self: "The advantage to the 403 is that it reduces your taxes now (which could be an issue for you), the periodic investing is automatic, and you can contribute up to $16,500 between the 401 and 403. However, if you only have $5,000 to invest then the Roth IRA might make the most sense this year. \n"
User (finadviceplz): "Hi Reddit,\n\nMy company offers a "Saver" plan in which they match 100% of 6% of contributions which is great (401a). I'm looking to invest an additional 5,000 per year for retirement and am looking for advice on the best place to put it.\n\nMy company also offers a 403b but does not match. Would you recommend putting the 5,000 in a ROTH IRA, or 403b? Or perhaps throw it in the 401a?\n\nThanks much!" Self: "You have more freedom with the Roth IRA. If you are already getting the match in the employer sponsored plan, then you might as well open up a Roth IRA. If you are looking to invest in mutual funds then I would highly recommend Vanguard." User (finadviceplz): "Thanks, appreciate it." beansandcornbread (beansandcornbread): "ROTH!!!\n\nIf you save $1 Million in a 403B then you pay taxes when you pull it out. At least 25% of it would go back to the Government. That's $250,000!!!\n\nIf you save $1 Million in a ROTH. You already paid the taxes so you get to keep all $1 Million.\n\n" mattymomostl (mattymomostl): "There's two sides to every story... with the 403b you can invest pre-tax dollars... the question should be is your taxable income going to be higher now or later.. I would still agree the Roth is the way to go.. but net net, the difference is probably negligble" beansandcornbread (beansandcornbread): "Not true. Here is a graphic/calculator showing that a ROTH is always better.\n\nNote that the orange bars showing the difference is the yearly income, NOT the total investment.\n\n[Link](http://scrs.schwab.com/tools/schwab_roth_401k_calc.htm)" mattymomostl (mattymomostl): "That is based upon your marginal tax rate being the same when you retire. That's not realistic. For people like myself that make good money now, our tax rate will likely decrease as we move into a lower tax bracket in retirement. Adjust the tax rate down 10% for your retirement assumptions, and and or change other assumptions and the 401k is better. It's not as simple as you're making it. The fact is, a ROTH is not always better." beansandcornbread (beansandcornbread): "According to the calculator I posted the only way it comes out even is if you tax is zero at retirement. Or if you invest the difference. \n\nBased on my projected nest egg I will be in a much higher tax bracket than I am now, pulling off a conservative 8% of my nest egg. They money I pull out of a ROTH doesn't count as taxable income. They money I pull out of a 401k will be taxed considerably.\n\nI adjust the tax rate at retirement on the calculator and the ROTH still came out better.\n\nNot being smart-alack, can you give a realistic scenario using the calculator that makes the 401k better?\n\n\n" mattymomostl (mattymomostl): "Invest the difference and drop the tax rate in retirement down to 15%. The 401k will make you 3% more.\n\n>Based on my projected nest egg I will be in a much higher tax bracket than I am now, pulling off a conservative 8% of my nest egg. They money I pull out of a ROTH doesn't count as taxable income. They money I pull out of a 401k will be taxed considerably.\n\nNot sure why you're basing your taxes upon the size of your nest egg, instead it should be based upon the income you will be taking from your investments. Not sure if that's what you meant, but that's how I interpreted this.\n\nMy entire point in challenging you was to show that what may be good for you, might not be good for someone else, and also that a ROTH is not always the best option, although it's a good one for many people." beansandcornbread (beansandcornbread): "In todays dollars the 15% tax bracket at retirement would mean living on at most, $34,000. That would suck but I guess it could happen.\n\nI was basing my tax rate on a percentage of my nest egg. Basically saying that I would pull off a percentage of it to live on each year rather than a fixed amount.\n\nDon't you love a good discussion about doing a smart thing like saving for retirement. There's no real 'wrong' answer here. Most people aren't saving at all."
User (finadviceplz): "Hi Reddit,\n\nMy company offers a "Saver" plan in which they match 100% of 6% of contributions which is great (401a). I'm looking to invest an additional 5,000 per year for retirement and am looking for advice on the best place to put it.\n\nMy company also offers a 403b but does not match. Would you recommend putting the 5,000 in a ROTH IRA, or 403b? Or perhaps throw it in the 401a?\n\nThanks much!" Self: "You have more freedom with the Roth IRA. If you are already getting the match in the employer sponsored plan, then you might as well open up a Roth IRA. If you are looking to invest in mutual funds then I would highly recommend Vanguard." mattymomostl (mattymomostl): "Why just Vanguard? Instead I would propose going through a company that you can buy from many different companies... many of Vanguards funds are excellent because of the low fees, etc., however, you're leaving out a number of top performers outside of Vanguard, when you don't have to.. check out a store such as the [mutualfundstore.com](http://www.mutualfundstore.com/) or similar.." Self: "The mutualfundstore charges 1.5% of the portfolio value per year, in addition to any mutual fund expense ratios. While to an investment beginner it might seem reasonable, it is highway robbery. Vanguard's expense ratios are usually below 0.20% per year on most funds, and with enough in assets, under 0.10%.\n\nIf you need expert help with portfolio planning, you should see a fee-only financial planner. With a fee-only planner, you pay a one-time (or more depending on how often you need to meet with them) amount of money for them to provide you an investment plan- independent on whether or not you take their advice.\n\nA place like the mutualfundstore.com is fee-based, which is much different. In this situation you pay 1.5% for their advice every year. When you are starting out small, 1.5% does not seem like much, but consider:\n\n1.5% of $5,000 is only $75 a year, but 1.5% of $1,000,000 is $15,000 a year. \n\nI also went through the reviews on this site about mutualfundstore.com and found them to be interesting:\n\nhttp://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/the-mutual-fund-store-c122686.html\n" mattymomostl (mattymomostl): "My point was, if you go with Vanguard, you're limited to their funds. Go with a place you can buy Vanguard, American Funds, Fidelity, and so on. I was only using the mutual fund store as an example."
User (drokly): "Alright, so I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but I thought I'd give it a try. If it isn't can someone point me to the right subreddit to get help?\n\nA few years back I was living beyond my means and made some bad choices, I was living off credit cards for a while and now have about 7,000 in debt. It's split between four cards, each with interest rates ranging between 25% to 30%.\n\nI started a new job about four months ago and am now ready to really try and tackle this debt and get it paid off, but what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best way to do it. Should I consolidate it and try and get a better interest rate? If so, what's the best way to go about that? If not, should I leave them as they are and try concentrating on one card at a time? I've never really had debt like this to deal with before so I'm a little lost on the best way to handle it and get myself back to being debt free.\n\nAlso, if it helps, I have been keeping up to date with my monthly payments. The most I've ever been late by has been a couple days to a week.\n\nThanks for you time!" Self: "I would not consolidate it, as your amount of debt is not very high relative to a lot of people who ask for advice. It would be easier to be helpful if you listed out the exact balance and interest rate for each card. I would strongly recommend the "debt snowball," but cannot tell which debt to attack first without knowing the aforementioned information." User (drokly): "I'm not sure what the "debt snowball" is, but I can get the info for my cards.\n\nCard 1 - $2,121.55 of a $2,000 dollar limit at 24.24%. This one was one that let me charge for 18 months without interest, and then charged all the previous interest at the end of that time.\n\nCard 2 - $1498.40 of a $1,500 dollar limit at 24.24%.\n\nCard 3 - $1,694.75 of a 1,700 dollar limit. $1,392.55 is at 17.24% and $301.71 is at 24.24%.\n\nCard 4 - $1,473.17 of a 1,500 dollar limit. $1,233.58 is at 0% and I'm not sure when that's going to end, and $254.85 is at at 25.24%.\n\nI hope that will help." Self: ""Debt snowball" means one of two things. Both involve paying the minimums on every card and then paying more money on either (1) the debt with the highest interest rate or (2) the smallest debt. There are two schools of thought and both are good. The reason for doing method one is because you will pay less money in interest over the course of paying the debts off. The reason for doing method two is because if you are a person who wants to see progress, putting the extra money towards the smallest debt first will get rid of one relatively quicker.\n\nTo your situation...\n\nAre you paying extra fees on card #1 because you are over the credit limit? Check into that and if you are, make sure you get under the limit so you can avoid additional fees.\n\nThe interest rates are all the same except for card #4. Once you get card #1 under the credit limit, I would recommend paying this card off first because the 25.24% is higher than the rest. It is also your lowest balance so you will see progress towards getting yourself out of this hole. You should really figure out when the 0% promotion ends because they will go back to when you started using the card and ding you with interest. \n\nThe debt snowball works that when you pay off card #4, you take all of the money you were putting towards it and put it towards the next card (Card #2). \n\nI hope this helps.\n"
User (drokly): "Alright, so I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but I thought I'd give it a try. If it isn't can someone point me to the right subreddit to get help?\n\nA few years back I was living beyond my means and made some bad choices, I was living off credit cards for a while and now have about 7,000 in debt. It's split between four cards, each with interest rates ranging between 25% to 30%.\n\nI started a new job about four months ago and am now ready to really try and tackle this debt and get it paid off, but what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best way to do it. Should I consolidate it and try and get a better interest rate? If so, what's the best way to go about that? If not, should I leave them as they are and try concentrating on one card at a time? I've never really had debt like this to deal with before so I'm a little lost on the best way to handle it and get myself back to being debt free.\n\nAlso, if it helps, I have been keeping up to date with my monthly payments. The most I've ever been late by has been a couple days to a week.\n\nThanks for you time!" Self: "I would not consolidate it, as your amount of debt is not very high relative to a lot of people who ask for advice. It would be easier to be helpful if you listed out the exact balance and interest rate for each card. I would strongly recommend the "debt snowball," but cannot tell which debt to attack first without knowing the aforementioned information." User (drokly): "I'm not sure what the "debt snowball" is, but I can get the info for my cards.\n\nCard 1 - $2,121.55 of a $2,000 dollar limit at 24.24%. This one was one that let me charge for 18 months without interest, and then charged all the previous interest at the end of that time.\n\nCard 2 - $1498.40 of a $1,500 dollar limit at 24.24%.\n\nCard 3 - $1,694.75 of a 1,700 dollar limit. $1,392.55 is at 17.24% and $301.71 is at 24.24%.\n\nCard 4 - $1,473.17 of a 1,500 dollar limit. $1,233.58 is at 0% and I'm not sure when that's going to end, and $254.85 is at at 25.24%.\n\nI hope that will help." beansandcornbread (beansandcornbread): "[Debt Snowball](http://www.daveramsey.com/article/get-out-of-debt-with-the-debt-snowball-plan/lifeandmoney_debt/)" Atomm (Atomm): "I went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and it helped me tremendously. The link above goes to his site. It's $150 and a lot of churches offer the class. I wasn't even a member of the church I took the class at and I felt very welcome to be there. \n \nOne part of the debt snowball is making sure you can stop using your cards all together. Before you start the debt snowball, put back $1000 as an emergency fund so that if something comes up, and it will, you don't have to use the card to pay for it. This keeps you from taking 1 step forward, then 2 steps back. \n \nRead Dave's Baby Step program. It's all right there. \n \nhttp://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/"
User (drokly): "Alright, so I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but I thought I'd give it a try. If it isn't can someone point me to the right subreddit to get help?\n\nA few years back I was living beyond my means and made some bad choices, I was living off credit cards for a while and now have about 7,000 in debt. It's split between four cards, each with interest rates ranging between 25% to 30%.\n\nI started a new job about four months ago and am now ready to really try and tackle this debt and get it paid off, but what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best way to do it. Should I consolidate it and try and get a better interest rate? If so, what's the best way to go about that? If not, should I leave them as they are and try concentrating on one card at a time? I've never really had debt like this to deal with before so I'm a little lost on the best way to handle it and get myself back to being debt free.\n\nAlso, if it helps, I have been keeping up to date with my monthly payments. The most I've ever been late by has been a couple days to a week.\n\nThanks for you time!" Self: "Another thing to mention is that there may be some simple lifestyle cutbacks that can accelerate the payback.\n\n* Are you buying lunch everyday at work/school? Cut back to 2 lunches out per month, brown bag the rest. Savings, $100 per month.\n* Do you subscribe to cable? Drop it. Savings, $50 per month.\n* Eat dinner out each weekend? Discontinue. Savings, maybe $100 per month.\n* Have a car payment every month? Could try to trade down to a paid-for car. Could be a big savings here.\n\nIf these (or other) cutbacks can let you bring an extra $150 per month to bear on this debt, you can cut back the repayment length from 35 months (I'm assuming a total minimum payment of $200) to about 20 months (assuming you pay $350 per month). \n\nBoth these calculations neglect the interest accrual, but they illustrate (to first-order accuracy) how boosting the payments can quicken this up." johnsmithindustries (johnsmithindustries): "Upvote for good advice. Most people try to tackle financial issues by endlessly working harder and trying to earn more to support a lifestyle they feel entitled to. Discovering the difference between wants and needs is an extremely important life lesson - one that many never seem to learn."
User (drokly): "Alright, so I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit for this, but I thought I'd give it a try. If it isn't can someone point me to the right subreddit to get help?\n\nA few years back I was living beyond my means and made some bad choices, I was living off credit cards for a while and now have about 7,000 in debt. It's split between four cards, each with interest rates ranging between 25% to 30%.\n\nI started a new job about four months ago and am now ready to really try and tackle this debt and get it paid off, but what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best way to do it. Should I consolidate it and try and get a better interest rate? If so, what's the best way to go about that? If not, should I leave them as they are and try concentrating on one card at a time? I've never really had debt like this to deal with before so I'm a little lost on the best way to handle it and get myself back to being debt free.\n\nAlso, if it helps, I have been keeping up to date with my monthly payments. The most I've ever been late by has been a couple days to a week.\n\nThanks for you time!" Self: "It might be a good idea to consolidate into one loan using a service like Lending Club. If you can get all your debt together into one place with a rate around 15% that will be a lot better than dealing with 4 different credit card companies all charging close to 25%. As long as your credit score is above 660 I think this would be a great option. \n\nI've never been in this sort of situation though but hopefully other redditors can weigh in on debt consolidation and social lending.\n\nBTW, I am in no way connected to Lending Club other than the fact that I have invested in some notes to try it out and have found it to be a very good thing."
User (HeavySeas): "My situation:\n\nI'm a 24-year-old law student. I have had two credit cards since I was 16 that were linked with my parents. Both cards have recently been discontinued by the credit card company. I enjoy having a credit card to help build my credit, and for a little piece of mind should I have an expense that I cannot cover immediately with by debit card. I always pay the cards off in full every month, and I have never been late with a payment in 8 years. I only use a credit card for purchases for which I know I have the money (including the only "emergency" use of one of my cards).\n\nI'm getting married this year. I graduate law school next year. I will have loan debt from law school, but not undergrad (paid off all loans before starting law school). I don't have anything bad on any of my three credit reports last time I checked them.\n\nWhat kind of card I should look into getting? This will be my first card in my name only, and I'm not entirely sure where to go to find information comparing cards or places that provide accurate, unbiased advice. I've considered just going to my bank an getting one from there, but I don't want to blindly enter into this sort of thing.\n\nAny help you folks could offer would be tremendous." Self: "I would suggest not having a credit card at all.\n\nA good credit score only allows you to borrow more money and is not an indication of winning. You should strive to accrue money so you can pay for things without borrowing. (I'm working on getting a zero credit score)\n\nYour student loans will be enough debt to keep your credit score up, if you care, without the need to have a credit card just to support it.\n\nMy wife and I cut up all my credits cards about 3 years ago (we used them just like you were describing). Cutting them up was hard because I was scared of that mystery emergency that you talk about. An emergency fund, a budget, and 3 years later I have not experienced the big emergency. Now we just have inconveniences because we have an emergency fund and a plan.\n\n\nI haven't come across anything a credit card can do that a debit card can't other than put your further into debt.\n\nBTW: We have med school loan debt to deal with so I know what your facing." User (HeavySeas): "I appreciate the advice. I do, however, think I would like to keep my credit score excellent. Not because I see it as "winning," but because it seems that credit scores are increasingly being used in other contexts. Credit checks are now commonplace for items like cellular phones.\n\nWhile I know the economic situation might not ever recover to the point where home ownership is possible for my wife and I, I would like to maintain solid credit to keep myself in a good position if we are looking to finance a home purchase. Additionally, I've heard of credit checks being done for apartment rental - I fear a poor score could seriously jeopardize my ability to maintain a suitable living situation.\n\nI have been considering going without a card, but I'm unsure that I can maintain a healthy credit score simply by repaying loans. My ignorance here is showing.\n\nI do appreciate you taking the time to respond, many thanks."
User (HeavySeas): "My situation:\n\nI'm a 24-year-old law student. I have had two credit cards since I was 16 that were linked with my parents. Both cards have recently been discontinued by the credit card company. I enjoy having a credit card to help build my credit, and for a little piece of mind should I have an expense that I cannot cover immediately with by debit card. I always pay the cards off in full every month, and I have never been late with a payment in 8 years. I only use a credit card for purchases for which I know I have the money (including the only "emergency" use of one of my cards).\n\nI'm getting married this year. I graduate law school next year. I will have loan debt from law school, but not undergrad (paid off all loans before starting law school). I don't have anything bad on any of my three credit reports last time I checked them.\n\nWhat kind of card I should look into getting? This will be my first card in my name only, and I'm not entirely sure where to go to find information comparing cards or places that provide accurate, unbiased advice. I've considered just going to my bank an getting one from there, but I don't want to blindly enter into this sort of thing.\n\nAny help you folks could offer would be tremendous." Self: "I am a graduate student and I have the CitiBank Forward card. I originally had a student card with Citi but then was transfered to this Forward card when I graduated my undergrad. I really like the card and there are tons of "thank you points" that can be earned and cashed out. I use my points to pay down my student loans - about $500 per year when I save my points. Additionally, the interest rates are really low if you have good credit. My rate is about 10% with a credit score of 750+. I have never met anyone else with this card but I really like it and they still offer it." User (HeavySeas): "Thanks for the suggestion, I'll be sure to look into it. I'm hoping to find a card that has some sort of points."
User (HeavySeas): "My situation:\n\nI'm a 24-year-old law student. I have had two credit cards since I was 16 that were linked with my parents. Both cards have recently been discontinued by the credit card company. I enjoy having a credit card to help build my credit, and for a little piece of mind should I have an expense that I cannot cover immediately with by debit card. I always pay the cards off in full every month, and I have never been late with a payment in 8 years. I only use a credit card for purchases for which I know I have the money (including the only "emergency" use of one of my cards).\n\nI'm getting married this year. I graduate law school next year. I will have loan debt from law school, but not undergrad (paid off all loans before starting law school). I don't have anything bad on any of my three credit reports last time I checked them.\n\nWhat kind of card I should look into getting? This will be my first card in my name only, and I'm not entirely sure where to go to find information comparing cards or places that provide accurate, unbiased advice. I've considered just going to my bank an getting one from there, but I don't want to blindly enter into this sort of thing.\n\nAny help you folks could offer would be tremendous." Self: "I have a Costco American Express True Earnings Card.\n\nInfo here: [here](http://www201.americanexpress.com/getthecard/learn-about/Costco-TrueEarnings)\n\nIt's a pretty good cash-back card and doubles as your Costco membership card. This is only worth it if you are already a Costco member or plan to become one since this is a requirement.\n\nI also recently decided to apply for two more credit cards in a long-term ploy to boost my credit score and to find a good rewards card for use at places that don't accept AMEX.\n\nI opted with [Chase Freedom](https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-Cards/Freedom.htm?CELL=6154&BT=FreedomLarge) for VISA and [Citi Dividen Platinum Select](https://creditcards.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-dividend-mastercard/)\n\nThese cards are kind of gimmicky with their cash-back in that they offer 5% back on different categories that rotate quarterly. My plan is to use the 5% cash back ones if the purchase will actually give me 5% back, otherwise fall back on my AMEX.\n\nAs a note, none of these cards have annual fees (unless you count costco membership). Furthermore, I pay 0 attention to APRs as I always pay my bill in full like you, so they may all be awful in that regard.\n\nHope this helps." User (HeavySeas): "Unfortunately, while I'm at law school there isn't a convenient Costco, but I appreciate the link. That's something I would consider when I get to an area that has one.\n\nI like the idea of utilizing the Chase Freedom card in rotating fashion to maximize cash back. I hadn't thought of that, but I'm going to explore that more.\n\nThanks!"
User (HeavySeas): "My situation:\n\nI'm a 24-year-old law student. I have had two credit cards since I was 16 that were linked with my parents. Both cards have recently been discontinued by the credit card company. I enjoy having a credit card to help build my credit, and for a little piece of mind should I have an expense that I cannot cover immediately with by debit card. I always pay the cards off in full every month, and I have never been late with a payment in 8 years. I only use a credit card for purchases for which I know I have the money (including the only "emergency" use of one of my cards).\n\nI'm getting married this year. I graduate law school next year. I will have loan debt from law school, but not undergrad (paid off all loans before starting law school). I don't have anything bad on any of my three credit reports last time I checked them.\n\nWhat kind of card I should look into getting? This will be my first card in my name only, and I'm not entirely sure where to go to find information comparing cards or places that provide accurate, unbiased advice. I've considered just going to my bank an getting one from there, but I don't want to blindly enter into this sort of thing.\n\nAny help you folks could offer would be tremendous." Self: "I'm not an expert on credit cards; however, good on you for wanting to build a good credit score.\n\nCredit scores and history are used in pricing models for various financial products including loans, but also any type of insurance you can imagine. Thus, living without credit can be more expensive than living with credit. Of course, you'll have to moderate your spending, and budget accordingly.\n\nI do have one comment, though, at least shoot for a second tier institution. Citi/Discover would be good, and avoid CapitalOne. Unlike other companies, CapitalOne reports only your "highest balance." As a result, many people have low credit scores, since they're always near full utilization." riraito (riraito): "where can i read about institution tiers"
User (mattymomostl): "You can view multiple select subreddits at once, for example.. I like to look at frugal, personal finance, and thrifty at one time instead of bouncing in between them all..... so I simply do this to view all 3 at once... http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance+frugal+thrifty (add a plus sign in between each one)... I shared this a long while back on frugal and most people didn't know it and liked it.. " Self: "THIS. CHANGES. EVERYTHING!"
User (mattymomostl): "You can view multiple select subreddits at once, for example.. I like to look at frugal, personal finance, and thrifty at one time instead of bouncing in between them all..... so I simply do this to view all 3 at once... http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance+frugal+thrifty (add a plus sign in between each one)... I shared this a long while back on frugal and most people didn't know it and liked it.. " Self: "Is there a way I can subscribe to these somehow and ALWAYS view all three of them together?\n\nI have RES."
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "I wouldnt invest til after college but if you are going to I would put it in growth stock mutual funds with at least a ten year average return of 10% or better. \n\neasy money sell plasma 2x week will get you $50 a week. The pyschology department is always looking for people to fill out questionarries and participate in studies. probably $20-$50 each. Exercises physiology departments are usually looking for subjects to participate in studies. Depending on the invasiveness $20-$200 per study. If a major city you probably have contract research organizations such as PPD, Cedra, Premiere Research that will pay you $700-$1500 for a weekend. These are companies that are paid by big pharma to test drugs on human subjects." User (formalwear): "As I stated in another comment, I do the investing for both funds and fun. I enjoy picking stocks, so I don't have a huge desire to put my money into a fund and just let it sit. \n\nAs for your money suggestions, I'll check those out first thing tomorrow. I am in a town of about 100,000 so I don't know if those companies are here, but I will look them up. Thanks a lot!"
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "I wouldnt invest til after college but if you are going to I would put it in growth stock mutual funds with at least a ten year average return of 10% or better. \n\neasy money sell plasma 2x week will get you $50 a week. The pyschology department is always looking for people to fill out questionarries and participate in studies. probably $20-$50 each. Exercises physiology departments are usually looking for subjects to participate in studies. Depending on the invasiveness $20-$200 per study. If a major city you probably have contract research organizations such as PPD, Cedra, Premiere Research that will pay you $700-$1500 for a weekend. These are companies that are paid by big pharma to test drugs on human subjects." User (formalwear): "just researched, my university doesn't pay for the studies, they offer credit in class for psychology majors in order to get subjects. \nAlso, those companies aren't in my town. " Self: "there are other companies those are just the major ones in my town. Search for "contract research organizations" or "CRO" for short. With 100,000 people in town you might have a place to sell plasma. " User (formalwear): "Okay, will do. Thanks. "
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "Instead of worrying about this right now, focus on college. Doing the best you can is a much greater investment than any investing you can do right now. Use the extra time to make connections with faculty, etc. If you have college taken care of and won't graduate with ANY student loans, the I agree with Sariel007; do a growth stock mutual fund or index funds. Picking individual stocks can be a recipe for disaster. \n \nAlso, I would recommend that you read [I Will Teach You to be Rich](http://www.amazon.com/Will-Teach-You-Be-Rich/dp/0761147489)." User (formalwear): "This is what I do for fun, I have a great GPA and have already had 1 internship with a law office and am working on setting up another one. I don't have any student loans, I'm here on (almost) a full ride, the rest is coming out of the money I've saved over the years, which will cover my 4 years. \n\nI'll check out that book, thank you. \nI might put some money into a growth stock fund, but I am enjoying doing the research and picking of stocks, so I don't really want to give that up. \nthanks a lot for your suggestions. " Rory_the_dog (Rory_the_dog): "I am in the same boat as you. Basically I just want to get my feet wet while I'm in college. In addition to a few ETFs, I have some money in a Roth IRA and a 401k through my internship."
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "Check out ETFs. Tons of firms offer commission free trades, and you gain a lot broader exposure than individual stocks. Schwab ETFs have rock bottom expense ratios too." User (formalwear): "My assumption was that ETF's were something that you made small percentage gains on, but were safe. Am I wrong about that? \n\nI mean, once I have money I'll absolutely do ETF's and mutual funds and the like, but at the moment it seems like if I'm only going to make 10% on a thousand bucks over the course of a year, I might as well take a gamble on individual stocks. I might have totally the wrong idea about ETF's though, I can honestly say they didn't interest me from the start so I put no research into them. I wouldn't be surprised if I am way off with my assumption. \n\nedit Also, right now i'm using a firm that charges 9.95 a trade :/ and if I withdraw my money I pay a 100 dollar penalty. So to sell all the stocks I have and move that money to another account would cost me exactly 10% of what I have ($140) which is a HUGE penalty to pay IMO. \n\nanother edit after 10 minutes of research I realized I was an idiot for not looking into ETF's sooner. Funny how ignorance works, isn't it?" daily_bagel (daily_bagel): "> My assumption was that ETF's were something that you made small percentage gains on, but were safe. Am I wrong about that?\n\nYou are wrong about that." User (formalwear): "Alright, I am basing that on no prior knowledge just an assumption, I'll definitely do some research this weekend. Thank you"
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "TD Ameritrade has 100 free etfs so it doesn't matter how little you invest. As far as picking stocks go you might check out indexing http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=1 \n" User (formalwear): "Alright, I'll do that. Thank you very much. "
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "You shouldn't be doing any of this. You are in college. The stock market is like gambling...you only play when you can afford to lose. Unless you are independently wealthy or a trust fund baby, you cannot afford to lose that money. Get out of stocks and keep it in savings until you graduate and start making a decent income." User (formalwear): "I respectfully disagree. First off I have enough money to be doing this, and second I feel like the earlier I start the better off I'll be. I still have 3 and a half years of school left (not including either law school or an MBA) and if I can continue to get internships and work on my knowledge in trading I will have a better chance of getting a job in finance once I graduate. \n"
User (formalwear): "Well I'm a college student and I have just started investing within the past 6 months or so. \nCurrently the stocks I own are ATVI - 50 shares (purchased at 11.35 a share), CCME - 25 shares (purchased at 19.00 a share), JSDA - 100 shares (purchased at 1.27 a share), ALIF.OB - 91 shares (purchased at .89 a share) \n\nMy questions are: \n1. with such a small amount to invest (just under 1400) is it smarter to load up on one stock or keep it split like I have?\n\n2. Should I try options trading (something I've been interested in) with a few hundred dollars or should I just wait until I get more to invest?\n\n3. Is it best to take profits and keep them in savings or reinvest them until I get up to respectable amount invested? \n\n4. I don't really have time for a job during the school year, only during breaks, but is there a good way to make some money that I can use to invest?\n\n5. Opinions on my stock picks? " Self: "I "traded" for a while with some money I didn't mind risking. I did well, but I would not recommend it to anyone. I got lucky, took my profits, got out, and will never touch that kind of activity again with a 10 foot pole. Fortunes are made, and more commonly, lost that way very quickly. \n \nIf you are going to trade, here are a few things I learned. Your amounts are too small to amount to anything significant. Do you really think Jones Soda is going to explode over night and be worth 5-6 dollars a share? A quick look at their balance/income statements show they are hemmoraging money. Haven't made a profit even in 3 years. Maybe someone is going to buy them out for the brand name. That is the kind of event you are hoping for when you trade. Odds are, you don't know when those are coming so you are just taking a shot in the dark there. \n \nHow I traded was to examine a stock and the underlying business. For example, I made most of my profits in Financial and Newspaper/Media companies. USB/WFC/GCI were where I made most of my money. They were sold/shorted into oblivion because of the financial meltdown and everyone starting to think that newspapers/media were going to just instantly die. I examined the balance/incomes sheets, read all SEC filings for the past 5 years for each company, and then made an informed decision. Every stock or options trade I made I stated before hand, "I am buying this stock because I believe that by X date Y is going to happen." If by X, Y had not happened (earnings were poor, no news announced that was expected), I got out of that stock and re-evaluated. If it did happen, and the reaction was as I had hoped (GCI announced earnings that were 10 fold what analysts expected) I sold into that news and took profits whenever they were available. Why do you own ATVI or JSDA? What are you hoping for short term that is going to make those stocks "tradeable." If you aren't thinking in these terms, and are thinking more long term, you are an investor. In which case, you've made some poor choices of money allocation. \n \nI do not recommend trading as you are probably thinking of trading. It was a full time job for me. I worked at a bank, would actively trade at my desk because my boss was into it as well and we'd often talk about it, but at home I would read for 5 or 6 hours a night. Company reports/filings, pour over stock screeners, price out options and figure out what my moves were going to be for the coming day depending on the action of the market. While I did make money (turned my initial 2500 into 52,000 over the course of 3 months), I would never try it again. If you can't handle looking at your portfolio and seeing it lose 20% of its value in a single day, or even a single hour, then this isn't for you. \n \nInvesting is great, and it's a good thing you are learning about it now, but I recommend learning about that, investing. You may get lucky with random stock pickings, but odds are you won't. I would never try to replicate what I did in the past, because I know it just isn't possible. I got lucky, and the timing of my entry into the market couldn't have been more perfect (Think I bought 500 shares of Wells Fargo for 8.XX a share?) Those bargains are long gone for the time being. \n \nTLDR; don't trade, invest. It's hard to do, you'll probably lose money, and how is Jones Soda still in business based on their performance in the past 3 years? \n" User (formalwear): "I originally bought Jones hoping for a company to buy it, (i purchased it right after it announced it got a new walmart and target deal) my plan was to sell it at around in around 6 months if no new rumors came out, and so far (before 2 days ago) I was up 50 cents a share. Obviously it's not a huge gain, but even today I'm up on that stock. \n\nATVI I bought 3 months expecting to sell in late Feb. (It's almost here) knowing that their 4th quarter results would most likely be great (2 record breaking games coming out). they also paid a dividend in Feb of last year and I was hoping they'd announce that they were going to pay another one which bumps the stock up. \n\nMy target sell price for atvi is 12.50-13.00, it was looking like it was going to get there 2 weeks ago, but after the 2010 video game market news was released it's taken a big hit. I'm hoping that their 4th quarter earnings (on Feb. 9th) will be high enough to send it back up. This is another stock that even if I were to sell right now I would break close to even. \n\nMy last stock pick (that I couldn't afford to buy, but I convinced my boss to buy $10,000 worth) was NVDA. I told him to buy it at 10.55, he did, he sold it at $23 three months later. After knowing I was right about that and missing out it made me look into stocks that could have similar short term growth (obviously the whole point of the market).\n\nCCME is incredibly undervalued, if it were selling at market value it'd be at 41 dollars a share, my selling point for that is 30, and I see it making it there by July. \n\nBesides, this is fun for me. I spend probably 2-3 hours a day reading about stocks and companies and it's what I want to do when I get out of school, so starting now doesn't hurt. I don't need the money, my school is all paid for, and this is no where near my whole savings account. Not to mention I made $1000 over 3 weeks of christmas break and should make somewhere near $5,000 over the 3 months of summer. I have nothing else to do with this money but sit on it. \n\nTLDR; I have the money, I know the risks, I did proper research behind my picks, and I want to work as a stockbroker for my job so I don't see myself ditching the market any time soon. "
User (SwagOnInfinity): "Good time to invest? Zillow has a bunch of houses listed at under $10k. They can only increase in value...right?" Self: "Who knows.\n\nBesides, while the plausibility of return important, so too is the length of time of achieve such return, the negative cash flow from property taxes, as well as the returns to be found elsewhere.\n\nNo go for me, at least. If you find the prospects attractive, go for it. "
User (SwagOnInfinity): "Good time to invest? Zillow has a bunch of houses listed at under $10k. They can only increase in value...right?" Self: "Here's a [good link to guys talking about this exact thing](http://www.biggerpockets.com/topics/55546-anybody-bought-with-urban-detroit-wholesalers-) in detail. Basically, the 10k houses are in areas where you could not find a renter and could eventually go down to 0k value."
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "I recently started using Chase Freedom. It gives 1% back for most purchases, and 5% back for certain rotating categories. The catch is that you have to remember to sign-up for the category at the start of each quarter, which is annoying. On the plus side, they tend to be nice broad categories like "groceries and pharmacies."\n\nThey also give you $100 cash back if you make $800 in purchases in the first 3 months."
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "I have American Express Blue. 1%-3% for first $6,500, 1.5%-5% after that. Higher percentages for gas/groceries/pharmacy. I spend a few thousand every month traveling for work, other wise I probably wouldn't hit the 2nd tier rewards at all, or maybe by final month instead of 2nd month.\n\nDoes anyone know of something with higher cashback rewards?" vdot90 (vdot90): "I believe it's down to 1.25%-5% after the first $6,500. Still, it's a great card and I personally use it.\n\nI also use the Amazon card, but mainly because I buy most of my things from Amazon. They offer 2x points on dining out and coffee, so I've been using that more than my Amex Blue."
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "I wonder what reddit thinks of High Yield Checking in place of a rewards CC? Instead of getting the cashback you use the card for the required X charges and earn more on whatever's in your checking account."
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "What are your spending habits? What can of rewards are you looking for? There are all sorts of rewards programs out there from gas rewards to airline miles to points to cash back and more.\n\nFigure out what rewards would work best for your spending habits and then you can pinpoint a card that best suits your needs.\n\nPersonally, I have an Amex Blue that I've been happy with. No annual fee ad the points are easy to redeem. That's not to say there aren't better cards out there."
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "For general purpose, I use Chase Freedom and Citi Forward.\n\njustkevin covered the details of the Chase card. The Citi one gives 5% on books, movies, music, and restaurants. Note that the "books" includes Amazon, from which you can buy nearly anything, including Target gift cards." sallyNYU (sallyNYU): "I have a Citi Forward and I LOVE it. I originally had the Citi MTV student card and when I graduated they transfered me to the Citi Forward (You dont have to be a student to have it). The point system is pretty good and there are some big rewards if you save up your points. For instance, I save up my points every year and put them onto my student loans - couple hundred dollars per year!"
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "Capital One Venture. $60 annual fee, 2 points per $1 purchased, 10k points = $100 for use towards airline (bad deal IMO) or $100 in gift cards (they have Amazon.com)."
User (xndz): "I've always been super good with credit cards... paying them off in full every month. I figured if I'm doing this I might as well be capitalizing on a good rewards program.\n\nAnyone here have some recommendations?" Self: "I'm really impressed with the Amazon Visa by Chase. Their threshold for turning pts into as-good-as-cash or actual cash is far lower than the other cards. Citi is starting to suck (fewer and fewer have the 1% points conversion rate, all starting at 10k), and Amex still has it all starting at 10k. Amazon Visa starts giving you the 1% conversion rate at as low as 2500, and will give you up to $600 in cash a year. Plus the 3% back on Amazon is freakin awesome (given that Amazon already bought my business with their free Prime).\n\nDO NOT DO any Citi Extra Cash. It's awful."
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "Where's your 5 year figure come from? Anyway I would try speaking to a bank manager first at big bank like BOA and them a credit union. At worst you should be able to open a savings account, and then consider getting a prepaid debit card. Sounds like a pain in the ass but your essentially creating a make shift checking account. "
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "I would consider a prepaid debit card. Like a checking account with no checks, but you can get money orders for cheap at walmart. :/ really the best advice I can give.\n\nedit: nvm, looks like someone already gave this advice!!! "
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "Why do you need a checking account? Heard of wepay or paypal? Check cashing at some grocery stores isn't terrible "
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "Wait, so...why can't you just close your account and open another one somewhere else? How exactly do you know that you can't open a checking account at another bank? Have you actually tried to open an account anywhere else? Did you explain to them what happened with your other account?\n\nSorry, but I'm confused.\n\n"
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "I had a similar problem and had a bad checking account on my record. I signed up with Chase later and they put me on a special account. It didn't have all the benefits of a normal account, the main difference was it took a lot longer for checks to clear. But after 1 year of using that account without overdrafting they sent me a notice saying I was automatically upgraded to the normal checking account. "
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "two words: credit union\n\ngoogle it. it's also been discussed on here as an option quite a lot too."
User (sososostupid): "A few months ago, I had an overdraft on my checking account. I did not notice that I'd done it, and as I wasn't working except for an under-the-table cash-only job, I wasn't using my account at all. I kind of forgot about it (and this was incredibly stupid of me, I know). The bank ended up referring me to a collection agency, who sent me a bill for about $114. I have paid that debt, but now I'm unsure as to how to proceed. I'm pretty sure I'm on ChexSystems and so most other banks can't allow me to open a checking account. The banks most of the people I work for use charge non-customer fees. I don't know what the fuck to do. Am I in financial purgatory for the next five years? \n \n\nTL/DR I'm an idiot and I let an overdraft fee fester for too long, and now my name is not welcome in most banks. WHAT can I do?" Self: "CHeck out this video when you have a minute. Good for some debt tips and laughs:\n\nhttp://guynance.com/2010/11/07/so-the-credit-companies-think-you-are-a-worse-risk-than-mike-tyson-eh/"
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "There's really no easy answer here except education. I suggest rolling up your sleeves and reading through each and every fund that vanguard has to offer to get a good idea what is out there."
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "1. Put 6-8 months of living expenses in a savings account (preferably high-yield). Or, you can do a staggered CD.\n\n2. Start with Roth IRA (any online brokerage company will help you do th\nat). With small amounts you will not be able to get into many funds. Check the minimums on each website.\n\n3. If your employer has a 401(K), start with that ASAP.\n\nI don't have a good answer about bonds.\nHow/where: http://www.consumersearch.com/online-brokers Research about their fees etc. IMO, mutual funds are a good point to start. \n" trivialretort (trivialretort): "I don't know a damn thing about CD's, where is a good spot to learn?" cmunerd (cmunerd): "A CD is just an account that pays a set interest rate for a set period of time. You can't withdraw your money during that period of time or you pay a penalty (and you close the entire CD). The tradeoff is you get higher interest rates but you can't withdraw your money w/o penalty, it's stability for the bank in return for a higher interest rate. That's basically it." trivialretort (trivialretort): "Hmm this seems very interesting. At what amount of money does it seem to be worthwhile?\n\nIt looks like my new bank offers up to 2.60% APY on CDs." cmunerd (cmunerd): "Well it's 100% FDIC insured so it's safe, it's really at whatever level fits your needs."
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "Roth IRA as soon as you can. It's the best deal going! I did a little write up for my relatives that you might like: \n \nhttp://www.reddit.com/r/FinancialPlanning/comments/f0yfg/requesting_idiots_guide_to_managing_retirement/c1cgj9m"
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "1. Put 6-8 months of living expenses in a savings account (preferably high-yield). Or, you can do a staggered CD.\n\n2. Start with Roth IRA (any online brokerage company will help you do th\nat). With small amounts you will not be able to get into many funds. Check the minimums on each website.\n\n3. If your employer has a 401(K), start with that ASAP.\n\nI don't have a good answer about bonds.\nHow/where: http://www.consumersearch.com/online-brokers Research about their fees etc. IMO, mutual funds are a good point to start. \n" trivialretort (trivialretort): "I don't know a damn thing about CD's, where is a good spot to learn?" rhbast2 (rhbast2): "If you don't want to mess with CDs there is a savings account that yields 1.3% http://go.salliemae.com/bank/default.aspx"
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "1. Put 6-8 months of living expenses in a savings account (preferably high-yield). Or, you can do a staggered CD.\n\n2. Start with Roth IRA (any online brokerage company will help you do th\nat). With small amounts you will not be able to get into many funds. Check the minimums on each website.\n\n3. If your employer has a 401(K), start with that ASAP.\n\nI don't have a good answer about bonds.\nHow/where: http://www.consumersearch.com/online-brokers Research about their fees etc. IMO, mutual funds are a good point to start. \n" trivialretort (trivialretort): "I don't know a damn thing about CD's, where is a good spot to learn?" Self: "CDs are Certificates of Deposits. These are what banks offer. Principal remains the same, you will earn interest, but very very low ~1% these days for 1 year CD."
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "1. Put 6-8 months of living expenses in a savings account (preferably high-yield). Or, you can do a staggered CD.\n\n2. Start with Roth IRA (any online brokerage company will help you do th\nat). With small amounts you will not be able to get into many funds. Check the minimums on each website.\n\n3. If your employer has a 401(K), start with that ASAP.\n\nI don't have a good answer about bonds.\nHow/where: http://www.consumersearch.com/online-brokers Research about their fees etc. IMO, mutual funds are a good point to start. \n" User (Ilikelearning): "Thanks for the help. I know I'm in the beginning stages and this is research time for me so thanks for the link.\n\nWhat is the difference between one mutual fund and another? Besides policy differences, why would it matter if I picked one company to invest in over another?" Self: "There can be fees associated with mutual funds (either while buying or while selling), and there are others which don't have any fee (no-load mutual funds). It is in your interest to select these kind (no-load). \n\nMost online traders may sell same mutual funds. If you buy mutual funds operated by a company, say "MF-A", from a online trader you will have some fee, compared to buying from "MF-A" . But many online traders will give you a wide range of investment opportunities (one stop shop).\n\nI would suggest "Personal finance for dummies". Read this. This is suitable for your background and it covers investing (just a bit), but then you can explore later. "
User (Ilikelearning): "I'm looking to put small amounts of cash into long-term investments.\nI have a few grand left over from school that I saved (bought less beer this year...and fewer books) and I'd like to invest it. There are so many funds available that I don't know where to start. I know bond rates are low, is it wise to buy and hold on to it for 10 years when rates increase?" Self: "My advice would be: \n\n1.) Establish an emergency fund. Aim for $1000 at first, then build it up to 6 months of living expenses. This goes into something with high-liquidity, i.e an ING direct account or similar, though, some people suggest other things. \n\n2.) Pay off all debt from school. Live frugally, pay off as much as you can every month.\n\n3.) Start your retirement savings, 401(K), IRA, etc. \n\n4.) Now start saving and build up some cash for some investments. \n"
User (sezu): "So here's the story. A friend (no, not "a friend", a real one) of mine recently found out she now has a foreclosure judgment against her. When she split with her ex 3 years ago, she gave him 20k to refi their house and take her name off it. She left and never looked back. Mistake. Of course he didn't refi, didn't pay the mortgage, and the house was foreclosed. Her name was still on it, so it's on her record too. She will be seeing an attorney, but based on a brief phone conversation, she's boned. She doesn't want to go after the ex for the money, doesn't want anything to do with him. Hasn't spoken to him since the split. Does she have any recourse here?" Self: "Her best recourse is to learn for her mistake.\nShe just paid $20k in stupid tax.\n\nDon't forget the mortgage company has every right to come after her for 100% of the difference on what was owed on the house and what it sold for at foreclosure. She can negotiate with the bank to only pay a portion of it to have her name removed from the debt. The best way to do that is to have a lump sum payment so tell her to start saving up a good bit of money. She really needs to do some research to see what was owed on the house and what it sold for. It may be years before they come after her but be ready. Worst case is they never do and she has a nice savings account." User (sezu): "Good advice. Thanks"
User (sezu): "So here's the story. A friend (no, not "a friend", a real one) of mine recently found out she now has a foreclosure judgment against her. When she split with her ex 3 years ago, she gave him 20k to refi their house and take her name off it. She left and never looked back. Mistake. Of course he didn't refi, didn't pay the mortgage, and the house was foreclosed. Her name was still on it, so it's on her record too. She will be seeing an attorney, but based on a brief phone conversation, she's boned. She doesn't want to go after the ex for the money, doesn't want anything to do with him. Hasn't spoken to him since the split. Does she have any recourse here?" Self: "I don't think your friend is telling 100% of the story, but regardless she learned a 20,000 mistake."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "If you're in a finance start-up, perhaps you have financial wizards working at the same place? Perhaps you could have a consultation with one of these wizards. I'd bet they could give better advice than someone random from the Internet.\n\nAs someone random from the Internet, I'd suggest a CD as your first step. Without spending too much time on it, I found a 2.6% interest rate offered, which seems to be near the inflation rate right now, and beats the hell out of 0.5%." pejasto (pejasto): "To add to that, build a CD ladder. Compound interest is your friend."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "Buy a cheap index fund and forget about it for like 25 years."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "My husband (also a redditor) and I were approved for a $190,000 Massachusetts Soft Second mortgage at 3.87% (fixed for 30 years), but our dream home is on the market for $218k. I'm thinking we can get it for around $205,000, but I could use a loan of $15,000. I'll repay it at 4.0% over five years.\n\nWe can do a deal that would be great for both of us." kobie (kobie): "That seems like a good return rate."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewforum.php\n\nThese guys will get you squared away."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "Do you get a W-2 or a 1099-Misc? If the latter, you can open a SEP-IRA and put in a LOT OF MONEY.\n\nWhat should you do? Move about 1 year's worth of emergency savings into an ING account. Then put away some money for things you plan on spending money on like a vacation or car repairs. Then put the rest into an investment account if you're interested in that. Buy index ETFs.\n\nA standard deduction will kill you. But since you have nothing to itemize, you might not have much of a choice. With this kind of money, I'd hire a tax accountant. He/She will be able to define the best possible tax strategy."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "Too bad your employer doesn't offer a 401k. Good start with the IRA. What I would do with the money is:\n\n1. If you want the responsibility of home ownership, buy a house with a large down payment.\n\n2. If you don't, put the money in a taxable account, buy index mutual funds with the lowest expense ratios and fees around, and don't touch the money for decades. This will probably be with Vanguard or a bunch of ETFs Decide on an asset allocation strategy you are comfortable with (stock/bonds, value/blend/growth, smallcap/largecap, American/International, REITs), and stick with it. If that all sounds confusing and you don't want to do further research, no problem! Put it all in a Vanguard Target Retirement fund, you will do better that most investors by default. Here are some sample asset allocations if you want a starting point. http://www.mymoneyblog.com/equity-asset-allocation-8-model-portfolio-comparisons.html\nGood luck!"
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "While a "CD" is a way to go, you could use some of the money for a home purchase (it is usually one of the biggest investments/purchases).\n\nThen use the tax credits for solar housing and make it so that you are possibly reducing your electric bill to a minimum or even getting money by supplying the system (depending on where you are).\n\nMutual fund investment would do better - at least that is a suggestion from a rich person I know in another country. They prefer to invest some in mutual fund because they can't manage all of their money.\n\nInvesting in Blue Chip companies stocks would be a good bet too.\n\nYou need to talk to a CPA because you do not need to do your own taxes. Keeping big balances in checking accounts unless you are using them is losing income when it can be gained. \n\nYour CPA can be a financial advisor but you need to have more than one, at least someone to consult.\n\nWalk into one of those charles schwabs places or what not and ask them about what they have to offer without quoting any of your own figures out perhaps? That is what I would do. I knew someone who made a $10K CD every month but other people use it to increase the money rather than give the bank a leverage which they already have.\n\nOh, and do that 2 year expenses set aside thing ahead of time."
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "My husband (also a redditor) and I were approved for a $190,000 Massachusetts Soft Second mortgage at 3.87% (fixed for 30 years), but our dream home is on the market for $218k. I'm thinking we can get it for around $205,000, but I could use a loan of $15,000. I'll repay it at 4.0% over five years.\n\nWe can do a deal that would be great for both of us." easlern (easlern): "Do you mean to borrow a down payment from a stranger on the internet?" Self: "Yes!" easlern (easlern): ":\|"
User (1hsd0d8dhj): "(throwaway account) I know it sounds like a stupid problem to have, but i can't find a good place to put the $120,000 that i have sitting in a money market making 0.5%. I guess i could open an ING account and get 1.1%, but I'd really prefer to take a little risk and shoot for a higher return. I'm just not sure how to do it. \n\nI save a large amount of my salary and want to invest that along with the current savings. What are some good strategies that you guys have? \n\nAlso, I still rent at $900 a month and have considered simply buying a small house, just not sure if that's the best route. I have no car loans, student loans, credit cards, etc.\n\nAlso also, I have absolutely no tax strategy and will probably be taking the standard deduction. Any ideas on reducing taxes would be awesome..." Self: "There is a series i've just started about a fictional character similar to yourself and his quest to build a sweet portfolio entitled "Lloyd Pancakes and his disapproving bunnies: How to build a portfolio and dominate life". \n \nContains tips on asset allocation, tax minimization, global diversification, thinking about your timeline for various expenditures over the course of life Part 2 was posted today so check it out! \n \nHttp://www.Guynance.com is the site. \n"
User (jamesyboy): "It seems like a no-brainer (if you have the discipline) to save the money that would normally be deducted from your paycheck, invest it over the year, then use that principal to pay your taxes when it comes time to file.\n\nHas anyone else had experience with this?" Self: "The problem with that is the IRS charges you penalties if you fail to make estimated tax payments every quarter. If you withhold all of your money, you'd need to pay it back every quarter. \n\nIt's much easier to try to calculate a $0 income tax liability." User (jamesyboy): "wow, really? That's low of them. Does that apply to Revenue Canada, do you know?" Self: "wouldn't happen to know. If you're working as a contractor, I don't know if the stuff about tax prepayment applies to you. \n\nSpend the couple dollars and hire someone whom knows more about taxes and can make you an entire tax plan. I'm only a student lol.\n\nThe IRS does this to make sure the government isnt giving you an interest free loan which is what happens anytime you're due a refund. "
User (jamesyboy): "It seems like a no-brainer (if you have the discipline) to save the money that would normally be deducted from your paycheck, invest it over the year, then use that principal to pay your taxes when it comes time to file.\n\nHas anyone else had experience with this?" Self: "The problem with that is the IRS charges you penalties if you fail to make estimated tax payments every quarter. If you withhold all of your money, you'd need to pay it back every quarter. \n\nIt's much easier to try to calculate a $0 income tax liability." User (jamesyboy): "wow, really? That's low of them. Does that apply to Revenue Canada, do you know?" LivingDaylight (LivingDaylight): "Not 100% sure but I think it is OK to pay it all at once in Canada. One place I worked didn't have any deductions...though that was a terrible job so maybe they were just slack. They did provide a T4 though...which makes me think everything was on the up and up."
User (jamesyboy): "Edit: I meant to put "debt" instead of "savings" in the title\n\nA bit of background.. About two years ago I decided I was sick of being forever poor, so I stopped wasting all the money I earned on stupid crap like cigarettes, eating out, etc. Last month I finally paid off my $5000 credit card bill. The only debt I have now is about 10K in student loans at around 5% interest.\n\nI opted to pay down my credit card (and make minimum payments on my student loans) rather than save any money, so I don't have an emergency fund at the moment.\n\nWithout going into details about how much I make, I have managed to whittle down my expenses so that if I want, I can save $1200 a month.\n\nSince last month I decided I was going to try to put $400 a month into a TFSA account to build up some emergency savings. I have the full contribution amount to use ($15K) and if I buckle down I could save that much by the end of the year.\n\nMy question is, what should I do with it? It seems like such a waste to leave the money in a savings account earning only 2% interest, even if it is tax free.\n\nI was thinking about saving $5000 as an emergency fund, spending the rest paying off my student loans, because from what I'm reading getting a 5% return in this economy is not easy. That being said, it is a good time to invest because the market is low (possibly not finished bottoming out but will rise again). Also, as an emergency fund, how liquid should it be. If I were fired tomorrow, I would have $4-5000 in pay and entitlements coming to me.\n\nWhat should I do? There are so many conflicting ideas out there. All I know for sure is that the TFSA is kickass, any earnings inside of a TFSA become a permanent increase in the total room (if withdrawn) but on the flip side, any losses are a permanent decrease and are not deductible.\n\nHow likely is it that I can earn more than what I would save by paying down my student loan debt early?" Self: "Google TFSA - canada only. DOH!!!"
User (jamesyboy): "Edit: I meant to put "debt" instead of "savings" in the title\n\nA bit of background.. About two years ago I decided I was sick of being forever poor, so I stopped wasting all the money I earned on stupid crap like cigarettes, eating out, etc. Last month I finally paid off my $5000 credit card bill. The only debt I have now is about 10K in student loans at around 5% interest.\n\nI opted to pay down my credit card (and make minimum payments on my student loans) rather than save any money, so I don't have an emergency fund at the moment.\n\nWithout going into details about how much I make, I have managed to whittle down my expenses so that if I want, I can save $1200 a month.\n\nSince last month I decided I was going to try to put $400 a month into a TFSA account to build up some emergency savings. I have the full contribution amount to use ($15K) and if I buckle down I could save that much by the end of the year.\n\nMy question is, what should I do with it? It seems like such a waste to leave the money in a savings account earning only 2% interest, even if it is tax free.\n\nI was thinking about saving $5000 as an emergency fund, spending the rest paying off my student loans, because from what I'm reading getting a 5% return in this economy is not easy. That being said, it is a good time to invest because the market is low (possibly not finished bottoming out but will rise again). Also, as an emergency fund, how liquid should it be. If I were fired tomorrow, I would have $4-5000 in pay and entitlements coming to me.\n\nWhat should I do? There are so many conflicting ideas out there. All I know for sure is that the TFSA is kickass, any earnings inside of a TFSA become a permanent increase in the total room (if withdrawn) but on the flip side, any losses are a permanent decrease and are not deductible.\n\nHow likely is it that I can earn more than what I would save by paying down my student loan debt early?" Self: "It's an emergency fund, not an investment. Don't sweat the interest. It's just a security blanket. And congrats on paying off the credit card. I hope you canceled it as well. :-)" User (jamesyboy): "thanks. Hahaha, they cancelled it for me. I was unemployed in 2008, under-employed in 2007 so I was not making timely payments.\n\nIf I had known they did that, I probably would have started saving an emergency fund sooner becasue I assumed that if the worst happened, I would be able to use my freed balance :P"
User (jamesyboy): "Edit: I meant to put "debt" instead of "savings" in the title\n\nA bit of background.. About two years ago I decided I was sick of being forever poor, so I stopped wasting all the money I earned on stupid crap like cigarettes, eating out, etc. Last month I finally paid off my $5000 credit card bill. The only debt I have now is about 10K in student loans at around 5% interest.\n\nI opted to pay down my credit card (and make minimum payments on my student loans) rather than save any money, so I don't have an emergency fund at the moment.\n\nWithout going into details about how much I make, I have managed to whittle down my expenses so that if I want, I can save $1200 a month.\n\nSince last month I decided I was going to try to put $400 a month into a TFSA account to build up some emergency savings. I have the full contribution amount to use ($15K) and if I buckle down I could save that much by the end of the year.\n\nMy question is, what should I do with it? It seems like such a waste to leave the money in a savings account earning only 2% interest, even if it is tax free.\n\nI was thinking about saving $5000 as an emergency fund, spending the rest paying off my student loans, because from what I'm reading getting a 5% return in this economy is not easy. That being said, it is a good time to invest because the market is low (possibly not finished bottoming out but will rise again). Also, as an emergency fund, how liquid should it be. If I were fired tomorrow, I would have $4-5000 in pay and entitlements coming to me.\n\nWhat should I do? There are so many conflicting ideas out there. All I know for sure is that the TFSA is kickass, any earnings inside of a TFSA become a permanent increase in the total room (if withdrawn) but on the flip side, any losses are a permanent decrease and are not deductible.\n\nHow likely is it that I can earn more than what I would save by paying down my student loan debt early?" Self: "\nYou may as well use your TFSA as a place to take a bit of risk (not much). The real benefit is that GAINS are not taxable, so this is the place to try to make some gains. It would be a waste to get 2% (and you probably could not anyway).\n\nReasonable things to do would be some mutual funds from whatever bank you have as long as they have no fees and the MER (management expense ratio) is low. Another good alternative would be some broader ETFs (exchange traded funds), but this requires you purchase stock-like things.\n\nEither of these are pretty liquid - you get your money out in a day or three. The drawback is that you have to sell at a moment that may not be ideal, but hey, it is an emergency.\n\nIt is very likely that once you put about $4000 away for emergencies, your best bet is to pay off your debt, just like you think. That is a equivalent to a guaranteed 5% return in after-tax dollars. \n\nThen go back to the TFSA.\n\nSounds like you did everything in the right order (credit cards first, emergency fund, other debt, TFSA) and have good instincts. Don't forget to have fun with all the amounts above your budgeted savings - it's not all about saving!\n\n\n"
User (jamesyboy): "Edit: I meant to put "debt" instead of "savings" in the title\n\nA bit of background.. About two years ago I decided I was sick of being forever poor, so I stopped wasting all the money I earned on stupid crap like cigarettes, eating out, etc. Last month I finally paid off my $5000 credit card bill. The only debt I have now is about 10K in student loans at around 5% interest.\n\nI opted to pay down my credit card (and make minimum payments on my student loans) rather than save any money, so I don't have an emergency fund at the moment.\n\nWithout going into details about how much I make, I have managed to whittle down my expenses so that if I want, I can save $1200 a month.\n\nSince last month I decided I was going to try to put $400 a month into a TFSA account to build up some emergency savings. I have the full contribution amount to use ($15K) and if I buckle down I could save that much by the end of the year.\n\nMy question is, what should I do with it? It seems like such a waste to leave the money in a savings account earning only 2% interest, even if it is tax free.\n\nI was thinking about saving $5000 as an emergency fund, spending the rest paying off my student loans, because from what I'm reading getting a 5% return in this economy is not easy. That being said, it is a good time to invest because the market is low (possibly not finished bottoming out but will rise again). Also, as an emergency fund, how liquid should it be. If I were fired tomorrow, I would have $4-5000 in pay and entitlements coming to me.\n\nWhat should I do? There are so many conflicting ideas out there. All I know for sure is that the TFSA is kickass, any earnings inside of a TFSA become a permanent increase in the total room (if withdrawn) but on the flip side, any losses are a permanent decrease and are not deductible.\n\nHow likely is it that I can earn more than what I would save by paying down my student loan debt early?" Self: "TFSA is great, but not as a simple savings account where gains are minimal. Since you won't lose the contribution room anyways, your best to rid yourself of the debt as quickly as you can and then turn to a TFSA to start building some wealth.\n\nThink of paying the debt as getting a guaranteed return on your investment. 5% interest isn't too high - so if you think you can get a better return elsewhere, maybe go for it." User (jamesyboy): "That's the thing I'm torn about.. I think paying down my debt is smarter (after saving some emergency funds) because I am a new investor and I highly doubt that I can do better than a 5% return, or even whatever the percentage is after deducting the interest from my taxes (probably closer to 4%)." csyuppie (csyuppie): "A 5% guaranteed return on your money isn't bad. But it's nothing like the feeling of security from having a pad of cash. So do both.\n\nBuild an emergency fund while paying down your debt (split the cash to each however you like, obviously paying at least the minimum obligated to the debt). When you're at say 3 months of emergency funds, start paying down your debt as fast as you can. Once your debt is paid off, expand the emergency fund to a year (more than most people say I know, but with your cash flow I doubt it'd take long), then start investing. You won't have to contribute to the emergency fund except to keep up with inflation (say, 3% a year). Any money that goes into investments should be thought of as no longer yours, that is, if it goes to zero, you shouldn't be hurt in any sort of meaningful way. \n\nGood luck."
User (test-tickles): "OK, hopefully a quick one!\nI live in the UK, with good credit (it's in the "green" zone when taking a credit score) and am looking to borrow £3k over about 2 years to buy a new car.\n\nI know I could get a fairly cheap loan, but probably looking at maybe 12%? \nHowever, I'm wondering if I can get a new CC, get £3k in cash, then get another new CC with 0% on balance transfers, and shift it straight over, so I basically pay no interest other than the transfer fee? \nAnyone done this or know if it's possible? Advice would be much appreciated!\nThanks Reddit :)" Self: "Read the fine print very carefully. Very carefully. \n\n"
User (test-tickles): "OK, hopefully a quick one!\nI live in the UK, with good credit (it's in the "green" zone when taking a credit score) and am looking to borrow £3k over about 2 years to buy a new car.\n\nI know I could get a fairly cheap loan, but probably looking at maybe 12%? \nHowever, I'm wondering if I can get a new CC, get £3k in cash, then get another new CC with 0% on balance transfers, and shift it straight over, so I basically pay no interest other than the transfer fee? \nAnyone done this or know if it's possible? Advice would be much appreciated!\nThanks Reddit :)" Self: "Try a credit union"

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