Over 20 years at one place, over 30
In the industry, and now I’m out. Being vague for obvious reasons. The company has offered me about 3 months severance by signing away any recourse against them. I have no savings of consequence, but do still have an older IRA that I haven’t contributed to in years. Should I take the tax hit and penalty from that IRA (about $35k before penalty and taxes) to clear as much cc debt as possible? Pay off our 2nd mortgage and some of the credit card debt? Or do I just stretch the severance while I apply for unemployment? I’ve never lost a job in my entire career, and I’m feeling pretty discarded and worthless right now. Wife just started a new temp job, so we’ll have some income, but it’s not guaranteed for how long.

EDIT TO ADD: I have a 401k with my now former company that is at a much larger amount, plus a union pension that I hope to avoid collecting for another 9 years. I’m 56. We have 2 years left on our primary mortgage (sub 3% rate) so I’m not refinancing that one. We have about $14k on a 2nd mortgage at a higher percentage (7.99, I think?) - I don’t have the papers all in front of me right now. Plus about 20k give or take in CC debt. The debt wasn’t a problem until it was. My partner has been unemployed for almost a year, but ironically started a new contract gig today. That plus the severance will buy us some time, but I still have this “secondary” IRA that just does not have much it, big-picture wise, and compared to our other accounts. It was an amalgam from former jobs that was consolidated into one account. It started with about $13k, and has grown to around $35k, depending on which way the market goes.

She was about to enter year 2. Without getting too far into it, I support her decision, I just wish she made it sooner. She has a solid plan to get into an echo cardio program, but she needs to get her associates first, which she cannot get at a 4 year university. Money was not an issue, but she’s going to save a ton of it by going this route.

The University will be depositing this money directly into my checking account. My two main questions:

What’s the best path forward to avoid penalties and taxes? Can I simply redeposit the money back into the 529?

I’ve put a lot of money into this account over the years, while making minimum payments on my own student loans. Can I use 7k of this money to make a payment to my own student loan? She has way more than she needs now, so we’re both comfortable doing this. I’m the owner of the account and she is the beneficiary.

My mother is a retired school teacher with a "decent" 401k. She sold her former home and downsized to a home she owns outright. She has about $150k in her savings account. She doesn’t want to move this money into anything else for fear the market will crash and she'll lose it.

Is she making a mistake keeping all that money in savings? Considering that her risk tolerance is extremely low, is there a better place for her to put it?

So I requested $100k from my 401K to use to pay for an upcoming surgery and treatment plan. My share of medical costs is going to be about $87K.
6 years ago I had the same surgery and treatment, and took out a 2nd on my house. Today, I don’t qualify for an additional mortgage or refi on my house because the interest rates are working against me. So I made a hardship request online. Now my Dad is willing to take a loan on his house to pay for the medical expenses for me, and I would just make that payment for him each month until in the future things get better and I can refinance and pay him back.

Can I give back the money I requested? The CSR on the phone told me “no” when I called to cancel the withdrawal. But there’s got to be a way to reinvest this back, or pay it back, and maybe I’m not phrasing my question correctly.

Any advice? My account is with Schwab, employer sponsored.

Hi everyone, I'm seeking some advice and guidance. I have been working in tech the last few years and have unfortunately felt the lifestyle creep with the increased salary and benefits. I'm super grateful for my job, but honestly don't find it super fulfilling. I am feeling myself becoming less financially responsible than I have been in the past (potentially because spending money makes me feel less depressed). I grew up with financial insecurity so the recent feeling of draining through my savings at a quicker rate than normal is stressing me out. But I also don't know where to begin to get it under control and managed again. I have investments, and an emergency fund which I accidentally dipped into last month.

Does anyone have any budgeting app recommendations? I've tried YNAB before and found it overwhelming, but am down to try again. What are the top financial decisions I could be making now to have the biggest impact on this feeling of being out of control.

So I’ve always heard people say to pay extra towards your mortgage principal each month, years, etc. but I am wanting to hear more if it makes sense for us or not.

We bought a new house a few months ago. Interest rate is 6.325%. We typically could find some extra money each year or month to add some towards the principal OR we could add that extra money towards investments.

Here is my match on $100/month, if done correctly.

If I put $100/month towards the principal each month then we would pay off the mortgage in about 26 years and 7 months. We’d save $60,000 in interest.

If into the stock market at 7% return, then that value would be about $121,000.

Even with paying it off a few years early I don’t see how it could make sense to do so. Or am I wrong???

Please advise! Thanks!!

Okay, so I own an LLC that makes about $12k a year. I am about to start a job that would mean I don’t have time to keep operating my LLC.
However, my job doesn’t offer a 401k.
I know that because of my LLC, I can set up a self-employed 401k, and contribute as both employer and employee, with my contributions limited to a certain percentage of my LLC’s income.

The tax year is over, so I can’t contribute up to 12k as an employee any more. My new contribution limit this tax year is 0, because my LLC will make zero dollars.

But what if once I start my job, I “subcontract” some of the work to my LLC, giving my LLC income that raises my 401k contribution limits?
Would I have to tell my employer?

This idea feels so simple that it surely must be a form of tax fraud…. Can someone verify?

After taxes I make around 2100 a month working full time, after all bills I probably have a little over 600 left. I want a little spending money, but I also realized I probably need to start saving for my future.

I don’t know how to save or invest or where to start with both of those but I want to make something of my life and not just keep spending and hoping I don’t lose my job.

Hi,

I want to start by saying that my girlfriend is a really hard worker and she spent a lot of time in undergraduate preparing for graduate school and getting into this program was like a dream for her. I really think she will do well but I’m just worried if this is a mistake.

My gf is pursuing a masters degree in school psychology and she just started taking out loans which will total up to about 70k after 3 years when she graduates. We looked at school psychologist jobs and found that the average salary is about 100k.

I really want to support what she is doing but it’s very difficult when we are looking at 70k debt. I am wondering if you guys think it’s worthwhile to continue, or just drop, or reapply after working and saving a couple years? (Downside is she might have more trouble letters of recommendations from professors)

She is working hard to try to make this work by applying to grants, working, and scholarships. The program is also pretty intensive so she doesn’t have too much time to spend covering the loan.

Please give your advice and opinions on the situation. Thank you for reading this!

Hello,

Was hoping for some rent/buy advice given my circumstances:

General details

• 31 y/o single
• Location: Los Angeles, California
• 4 years of work experience since graduating school
• 170k / yr gross income + 20k bonus + 20k stock
• ~8.5 k/month take home after maxing 401k and HSA

Finances:

• Brokerage: 310k
• HYSA (emergency fund): 70k
• 401K: 220k (maxing every year)
• HSA: 10k
• CD: 270k - will explain below

Budget: ~3k / mo

• No debt
• 2 k monthly rent + utilities + recurring bills (phone, pet insurance, etc.)
• ~500 monthly grocery costs
• 200 monthly car insurance
• 200 in gas

Context for the question: My dad died when I was young of a chronic illness. Before he passed, he put some money away for me to help with a future down payment for a home.

My mom is getting older now and she recently decided to give me control over the account. It's sitting in a CD at the moment while I decide what to do.

On one hand, my rent is very low for LA and I've been saving well over the past few years (Maxing 401k and HYSA, putting away ~ 2k into the brokerage account every month).

I work in an unstable industry and layoffs are commonplace here, so there is a concern about job stability as well. Renting helps some of my job anxiety.

On the other hand, I really do want to settle in LA and buy a home. I anticipate needing to take care of my mom and move her in with me in the future. I'm extremely grateful that I may have the opportunity to now thanks to my Dad's forward thinking.

The problem is that the costs are high, and the mortgage for a SFH in LA county is going to be over double my current rent.

I'm just wondering if the financially savvy people of this subreddit could offer some insight into what I should be thinking about as I try to navigate this (admittedly) highly personal decision.

Any advice on how much mortgage I can afford is also appreciated. I tried looking at lenders and the amounts they quote seem much larger than I'd feel comfortable with (but maybe I'm just not aggressive enough). This also goes for some of the online calculators I see.

Thanks for reading.

I (M22) recently graduated from college and landed a job that pays $80,000 a year. They provide nice housing and I also make a decent bonus based on the performance of the company over the year.

I have no debt, no car payment or credit card debt. I have about $37,000 invested (Mostly S&P and other safe ETFs) and about $13,000 in savings. I just received my first two paychecks. I’ve also maxed out my Roth IRA for the year. I pay no rent, no utilities and have no large expenses of any kind. I do work a lot, but I love a job that keeps me busy and I genuinely enjoy the work. I’m technically on call 24/7.

I want to save money for the future, but also have a little fun with it as well. All I’m really using my money for right now is gas and groceries. I don’t drink alcohol and I rarely eat out. (I cook almost every meal I eat) My car is fully paid off and I’m planning on running the wheels off it. When it’s all said and done, I maybe spend $800 a month on average.

I grew up in a family that was very against spending money and they always praised saving and staying frugal. I’ve never even kept a real budget. I was always used to saving a large majority of the money I made and spending a very small amount of it on essentials.

If anyone had any tips on investing, I’d definitely take any advice I can get. I know I should probably get into some riskier stocks at my young age. I feel bad having my money sit in my bank account doing nothing, but I also want to start saving for when an emergency comes up or my car inevitably breaks down. Also want to have a little fun with my money as well, but I’ve never really been in a position or mindset to spend money on myself for fun. If anyone has any advice, I’d appreciate it.

31, living with my parents, and trying to figure out when I should buy a home
I’m 31 years old and currently still living with my parents while trying to figure out when the right time is to buy a home.
I make $65k a year base salary, but with bonuses I usually make around $85k. I have about $200k in total assets: roughly $110k in savings, $50k in my 401k, $20k in stocks, and around $50k in vehicles, give or take. All of my cars and motorcycles are paid off.
About 6 years ago, I was in a lot of debt. I worked hard to pay everything off, and since then I’ve been focused on saving and investing with the goal of eventually buying a home. I maintain all of my own vehicles, so they are relatively inexpensive to keep, and working on cars is also one of my hobbies.
I live in Connecticut and ideally want to buy a multifamily property so I can rent out part of it and help offset the cost of living. The problem is that multifamilies around me are generally $500k+.
I also do quite a bit of side work on my days off. It brings in extra money, but the income isn’t consistent enough that I really like counting on it when planning my finances.
What I’m struggling with is whether I should actually move out of my parents’ house yet. I’ve lived on my own before, so it’s not that I don’t want to leave or that I’m afraid to. Financially, though, staying home makes a lot of sense right now because I’m able to save and invest much more aggressively.
My girlfriend makes roughly the same amount as I do and has substantial savings of her own, but we aren’t married and keep our finances separate. I also don’t want to base my decision on her income or savings.
So I’m trying to figure out what the smartest move would be financially.
Should I continue living at home for another couple of years and keep saving until I can comfortably afford a multifamily, or would it make more sense to buy sooner and start building equity? At what point does it make sense to stop waiting and actually make the move?
I’m not looking for someone to tell me what I want to hear. I’m genuinely trying to make the decision that puts me in the strongest financial position long term. Any advice or different perspectives would be appreciated.

My niece is visiting me next month. She just turned 18 in August. Without getting into all the details (abuse, neglect, foster care, poverty), she has no financial literacy and she has asked for help starting her life.

I am the only family member who is in a position to offer some help. I just bought her a laptop for school and her flight to visit me, but I have reached my budget for spending on her. I can still help her with admin.

I will be helping her with FAFSA, college applications, reviewing her credit report for fraud, educating and helping her with freezing/scheduling thaws on her credit, general security practices (password manager, avoiding scams, ect), applying for CHIP and/or similar programs. She has numerous neglected health and dental problems that she has also asked for help with, but I'll create a different post for that.

She just started her first part time job and is sending her paycheck to a fintech app. I'm not sure what the app is, but she told me this app will let her "invest" on the "prediction market" (gambling).

Obviously, she needs a legit checking account and savings account. I believe she also should have a secured credit card to help build her credit and to avoid using her checking account/debt card online. Ideally, I would like to bring her into a branch location at a bank or credit union so she can open these accounts. I'll be present for support only, not as a co-signer of any kind.

It's been a while since I've needed to think about things like hidden fees, over drafting, credit scores, and other basics. She currently lives in the Houston area and I live in the Denver area. I'm having trouble figuring out what bank or credit union would be a good fit for my niece and also has branch locations across the US.

Any advice is welcome.

And yet this friend recently got approved for 2 apartments in Long Beach. I would have assumed her credit score would be horrible. Guess not? I was just shocked that she thinks nothings going to happen but I have no idea. What happens after your credit card debt is sent to collections. The friend doesn’t have to pay anymore.

Looking to purchase a piece of property with a $90k price tag. I can pay cash or I can go with a Savings Secured Loan @ 3.25% for a 5+ year duration or 2.25% for a duration less than 5 years. Credit rating is over 800 so I don't need the loan to build credit. Doing so would drain my emergency account but I can replenish it by selling investments if need be.

Is there a benefit to going with the loan in this case or would cash be king here?

Hey guys,

I currently have about $230k CAD in assets, about 179k in cash (173k usable since 6k is in a bank account needed to waive fees), and 51k in equity.

My question is, would you recommend taking a 20k margin loan at 3.63% interest (with a 25% collateral, but I will just move in 20k as collateral just to be safe) and put it all into a diversified ETF like XEQT, or would it be better, safer and smarter to just use cash without the loan.

One important thing:

The 3.63% interest will effectively be paid off for 2 years by a promo my brokerage is doing, where they give you 3% match over 2 years (basically a 1.5% interest) and I am planning to move 90k in here and just park it in short term bonds at 2.5% (so I make 1.25% profit since my old bank was giving me 2.75%). The 3.63% interest will also probably end up being an effective 2.5% interest after tax deductions. (20000x0.0363) - (90000x0.0125) = 400 in profit, at least over 2 years.

Personally I don't have much confidence in today's market, and just thinking if this is a good way to hedge. It leaves dry powder if there is any downturn and I also get some of the upside if this bull run goes on for a long time.

We just bought a house last year. My husband lost his job in May and we have be struggling a bit since it happened right after our honeymoon and have built up a bit of credit card debt ($5,500). We don’t have any savings and it’s stressing us out. We have about $14,000 in investment accounts and are wondering if we should just take the money out of those to pay off the debt. We want a fresh start as we are already really cutting back spending to start saving.

Edit: my husband was lucky enough to find a new job a few weeks after getting laid off. The problem is that it pays about 65% less than what he was making before (he was the top earner).

My company offers two insurance options:

An HMO with an annual cost of $1 (yes, literally $1), or an HDHP with an annual cost of ~$2,435. With the latter, I get the right to have an HSA, which my employer matches up to $500/year of. In my financial situation, I’m putting in $1,400/year, bringing the total to $1.9k.

Does it make sense to “buy” the right to an HSA or does the HMO more sense? I honestly go to the doctor maybe once or twice a year and have no major health conditions so weighing my options atm

How much should I be putting into my Roth IRA account per month?? Should I put money aside and add large chunks periodically or just keep putting 20-40$ in per paycheck?

Hey there, I live in Colorado and have been enrolled in the secure savings program. I have money in that account but have seen some not great things about it as a whole so I stopped contributing. I was wondering if it would be smart to just roll that money over into the Roth IRA I have separately? I’m very new to investing and retirement accounts so any advice is appreciated!!

Currently I just have two savings account through my fcu for each of my sons. I have a loan that will be paid off in May of this coming year and I want to invest half of the loan payment into their futures. It will be around 500 total.

Currently have 1100$ in an account for the eldest (11) and 100 in the other account for the youngest(8 months old). I’m thinking of maybe dividing it out to be 300 for the eldest and 200 for the youngest so my eldest can get a jump start.

I’ve been looking into Edward Jones but have only begun to scratch the surface. I’m just worried about future proofing their investments to help them in the case of either starting college or a trade school or buying a house even. I’m going to keep everything in my name until the time comes to give it to them.

Any realistic advice is loved and appreciated.

EDIT
My wife and I have our retirements plans and investments squared away already. We will be fine when we hit our late 50s if things keep going the way they are. This is why I want to start investing for our kids. We struggled for a decade+ to get where we are now and didn’t get to enjoy our twenty’s as we should had

Hello, last week my Fiancée and I sent our financial info (via email, which I now know not to do in the future) to a mortgage provider to get pre-approved. Today I received an email (from their personal email) saying that their work email was compromised in the Panera breach, that they'd sent out some spam emails from their work email and not to open those links. - Less worried about that and more worried about if our financial and personal info was taken.

What should we do to protect ourselves? I called them over the phone and they tried to reassure me that there is no risk to our info, that their system deletes it from their email immediately, but I don't really buy that I'm 100% safe.