- April 17, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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I (23M) currently have about $14k in savings, usually putting in about $1000 every month. I’m looking to move about $12k into a HYSA and have $2k on me as emergency.
Looking for best rates and best HYSA you guys recommend. I’II be putting the $1000 into the HY btw.
Thanks for any help!
My parents are looking to move and make an all-cash offer (or as close to an all-cash offer as possible) on the new house they are moving to. The new house would be purchased before they would be able to sell their existing house.
They are asking me if I would be in a position to loan them some money to increase the offer. I have great relations with them, am an only child, and they gave me $200k over 10 years ago when I got my first condo, so I’d be happy to help if I could and I’m not concerned about losing the money or anything like that (as far as I’m concerned, it’s all heading my way eventually). I have $40 – $50k in savings and a couple hundred thousand in various investments (split between standard brokerage accounts, IRA’s, 401k’s, etc.). I think for this to be a meaningful gesture I would need to go into savings.
I’m concerned however, because my understanding is that if I take money out of my investments then I will need to pay capital gains on them next tax season and I will disrupt the benefit of investing early and leaving the money alone.
I asked about gap loans and they said they can do that, but they are prohibitively expensive (~18% interest, minimum 6 month hold, etc), or just taking out a mortgage which they pay back once they sell their other house (that sounds more rational, but they would still prefer to take out the lowest mortgage possible).
They thought there was a way to withdraw money and not have to pay tax on it if the money was replaced within a short period of time. Is that a thing? Is there anything to all of this, or should they just be getting a larger mortgage in the short term? I’m in CA in case that matters.
I am receiving a settlement after a car accident, nearly $200k. At first I was 1000% sure I’d use the money to just buy a house or put up as much of it as possible for a down payment. But then quickly realized that even $200k is barely enough of a significant down payment on a house I’d still need to take out a $150k mortgage on where I am (and I have to stay close to where I am due to being the only child of aging parents). I’m not exaggerating on cost – houses that desperately need things like old carpeting replaced, a new roof, or are showing signs of foundation decline are upwards of $325k to start, and they aren’t even in desirable neighborhoods. I also know that most list prices are trying to entice buyers and encourage bidding wars. Also seeing/hearing a lot of horror stories of people constantly being outbid by cash buyers and giving up for a couple of years before trying again.
So then I considered investing, letting it appreciate and then cashing out when I have increased that down payment amount, but I am an absolute yokel about this and have no idea where to start or what I’m doing. I’m scared to death of losing money when for the first time in my life I feel like I have a financial safety net. I also don’t see much of a point in keeping the funds in a regular savings account unless I’m literally only trying to out-accrue inflation and not lose any money by just sitting on it.
Realistically, what should I do with this money? Who do I even talk to about this? I’m worried about getting scammed, or cheated. I just want to do the most responsible thing that gets me closer to my goal of not throwing away $2k/month by renting.
TL; DR what’s the best thing I can do with this money as someone with zero experience investing or saving?
Is dental insurance worth it?
Monthly cost = $25/m
Max benefit = $1000
deductible = $50
Preventative is 100% w/o deductible. Minor restorative = 80% and Major = 50% [req deductible]
I have Ally but am thinking of switching to Wealthfront since they have higher APY. I want to know if my money is actually safe with them since they are not a bank and if they just vanish one day will my money too? Also, are there any cons I should be aware with Wealthfront vs Ally savings?
Getting some cash with retroactive pay and a gift from parents for marriage. Total is around $15-17k. I have $19k on a 11% debt consolidation loan (811/month) and $25k on a 2.9% auto loan ($650/month). $600 on my credit cards. Likely getting a significant raise with union negotiations.
Option A: erase most to all of the debt consolidation loan.
Option B: money into a HYSA / safe investment vehicle.
To Keep Robinhood or not?
In 2020 I slowly began investing in Robinhood. In early 2023 I stopped investing since our medical bills got too expensive. As of now, I have $2000 in there (I sold about a thousand or so earlier this yr). The VOO ETF is up +100ish. The market seems ok and I am hesitant to withdraw. On other hand, I want to withdraw it all and add more to my emergency fund as a buffer. I already have 5-6 months worth of expenses but I just want a buffer in case there are more medical expenses. What would you do?
Help me figure out which is the better return.
Option A
* Keep money in HYSA earning 4.25% while using credit card for an aditional 2% cash back
Option B
* Keep money in Income checking account earning 6% as long as I use my debit card for 15 transactions a month.
I’m officially graudating mid may, and have a job that starts in early june. I have already found a lease that I have accepeted in the area that I’ll have to relocate to (its a much higher COL than where I’m at rn) and its roughly 35% of my take home pay per month (i got these numbers from an online calculator). I get a relocation bonus of 5k which i think will cover all my excess fees for the move (including stuff like packing supplies and the fact that both my current lease and new one overlap for 2 months). I have no debt or additional payments of any sort and am v greatful for my parents for covering that.
Over the last year, on my stipend and internship pay from last summer, I was able to save roughly 17k in a savings account that I didnt touch (10k for emergency fund + money for driving lessons and car once I graduate). but now since I will be moving to a HCOL, that barely covers a 6m emergency fund assuming all other expesnes are roughly 1k. There isnt really a way for me to commute to work without a car in the new location. I will be ubering both ways until i am able to drive myself unless theres a coworker who is willing on carpooling but i am not banking on this idea yet.
does anyone have advice on how i can rework the money i have into an emergency fund + car savings? are there any resoruces i can look at to work out better estimates? im just very stressed and confused about finances in general so any advice would be appreciated!!
Unexpected hardship occurred to me recently and I’m still recovering. Long story but I’d like to withdraw from a Roth IRA to supplement my money atm just to have more breathing room for the next month. (Getting a new roof at the end of it, which is unrelated to the other thing that happened)
I’m under the impression I can take out whatever I initially put in but anything that it made I can’t touch, I’m assuming that is whatever earnings the investments in it earned so far. If I’m correct since there is rules regarding age and tax /fee penalties I’m reading about then how do I specify to my account I only want that and nothing else?
Or am I completely misunderstanding how these work and you can’t do that?
Could anyone help me with the math on what it would cost to add my partner to my health insurance as a domestic partner?
My salary is $108k and I contribute 20% pretax to retirement. Let’s say I expect an additional $2k in 1099 interest income from my HYSA. I live and work in NYC. The value of the health insurance, which would be added as taxable income, is $12k/year. What would that add to my total tax burden including federal, state, and local taxes?
I tried using an online calculator but I think (hope) I did something wrong because it came out to ~$6k in additional taxes for the year, which doesn’t seem right..
Hello,
I recently moved my Roth IRA to Robinhood so I can get the 3% back. While I make a decision on how to invest that money, does anybody knows what’s the closest on Robinhood to something like Schwab’s SWVXX money market fund. I was thinking on parking it on GOVT or something similar since Robinhood seems to lack money market funds. Any ideas?
Seems like the market is pretty crazy these days, I just want to park that money safely until I’m ready to put it on some ETF…
# Reasons against rolling Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) into a Robinhood Roth IRA?
Is there a reason I shouldn’t transfer my Roth IRA and roll over my Roth 401(k) into Robinhood so I can consolidate a bunch of accounts into a single account, and claim the 3% matching bonus [Robinhood is offering](https://robinhood.com/us/en/about/retirement/) this month? I’ve done my research but I’m posting here before I pull the trigger so I can double check that I’m not overlooking or misunderstanding anything in regards to tax or other implications.
– My Roth IRA is through Vanguard
– My former employer’s Roth 401(k) is through a separate thing called “Vanguard Retirement Plan Access (VRPA)” which is a totally separate account, and I believe it’s offered by a separate company using the Vanguard name under license or some unconnected Vanguard subsidiary
– 25% of those assets are in Vanguard mutual funds (VTTSX)
– 75% of those 401(k) assets, the max allowed, are in a self-directed brokerage account (SDBA) administered by Schwab which I have invested in stocks
(This used to be administered by TD Ameritrade and they charged substantial fees every three months just for administering the brokerage account, but it was recently transferred to Schwab and I don’t think there are fees anymore)
– Downsides to keeping the current situation: having to manage three nested accounts, not being able to invest those 25% in anything but mutual funds, missing out on the Robinhood 3% match which is substantial in my case
– Robinhood doesn’t seem to have fees besides $5/month for Gold, and I only need to commit to keeping Gold for one year after the transfer to keep the 3% match (plus I generally have to keep the IRA with Robinhood for 5 years to keep the match)
I already have my stock investments through Robinhood, which I realize lacks the same level of stable reputation as the other major financial firms. But their 3% match and other good terms, today, seem to be compelling and I can always transfer my investments back to Vanguard someday if the need arises.
From my research, it shouldn’t be a problem to roll a Roth 401(k) into a Roth IRA, and in fact the latter seems to be generally a more flexible product. The only downside I could find is the rather unlikely case of 401(k)s having better bankruptcy protection but it looks like IRAs still have about $1.5 million in protection which is far above my needs. I recognize that rolling a 401(k) into an IRA is a one-way deal, so it means I can’t roll it into another future employer’s 401(k). But otherwise, I think owning an IRA is preferrable anyways? Please let me know what I may be missing.
Additionally, as I read in my research, transferring the IRA between brokerages doesn’t even get reported to the IRS but rolling a 401(k) into an IRA does get reported, however as long as it’s a direct transfer that doesn’t create a taxable event. Is that correct? What implications does that cause next year I’m filing my taxes? Are there any other tax implications I need to be aware of?
A few other details about my situation:
– I’m early in my career
– I don’t expect to need to access my retirement funds early or soon
– I don’t currently have any earned income and won’t for a few years (I’m starting a tech business)
– I need to be careful about maintaining near-zero income for health insurance reasons
– I’d like all my retirement investments tied to stocks at this early point in my career because that best fits my risk-reward profile while I have plenty of time to earn and reduce my risk profile later in my career (so moving those other 25% of 401(k) funds to Robinhood would mean I can put those into stocks as well)
I got an IRS notice about an audit for my 2021 taxes, which I filed using freetaxusa.
I did backdoor roth conversions for myself and my wife that year and filed form 8606 for each of us documenting nondeductible traditional IRA contributions and roth conversions. The audit letter seems to be considering these conversions as distributions and claiming I owe taxes (with interest and early distribution penalties as we are younger than 59.5) on those amounts.
The letter also says I didn’t pay the Net Investment Income Tax (I filed form 8960 and included the amount in my calculated total tax on my return) or Additional Medicare Tax (this amount was also included in my calculated total tax and I filed form 8959).
All that to say I *think* that I paid the correct amount of tax for 2021, but I’m second guessing myself because the IRS should already have all the information they need to see that, right? I’m planning to respond but it seems weird to basically just say “look at the info you already have.”
I guess I’m just looking for reassurance that this kind of thing happens and it’s possible (likely?) the IRS made a mistake.
A positive – Ive gotten on YNAB to track my spending (first) then going to use it to budget. It’s been great and making me mindful of spending. It’s become almost like a game to keep as many numbers green as possible.
The funny thing is I want to track and use it but I’m not making any purchases so nothing happens on it!
[deleted]
I paid off about 2.5K worth of credit debt with a consolidation loan. I want to pay off a smaller loan with it (slightly higher interest on it), but preserve my credit SCORE.
I already got the score hit from taking the loan, FINE…. and I know my score will bounce up from credit cards paid eventually…but will paying off this 5.3k loan I have (NOT my oldest account BTW) with this better loan HURT my credit score in the short term or not? I’d rather wait cause I’m in the process of moving (in approx 1mo), and I want to keep the highest score I can FOR NOW.
WWYD, considering my specific circumstances?
I may come into a large sum of money. I have no debt, I own my house outright. Both myself and my wife are gainfully employed as professionals. How should I invest to maximize my inheritance towards retirement?
I am not eligible for a pre-tax HSA, but I do like the idea of earmarking money for health/medical premiums when we are older. Is there an advantage to an after tax HSA?
Should I pay my $1800 rent with my credit card for the points?
The only thing is paying with CC is a 3% fee. Is that worth it? I was previously paying with bank account to avoid this fee.
Hi,
I have $60k in a savings account with my bank as well as a 401k from a previous employer that I no longer work at/contribute to. I work freelance now so won’t be getting a new job with a 401k. I’m wonder how to best manage this.
1. Should I rollover the 401k and add too it monthly from my savings? Or do a large chunk?
2. Or do I leave the 401k alone and open an IRA to contribute to from my savings?
All contributions going forward will be post taxed money if that makes a difference in this decision.
Thank you!
# Purchasing $1.8m Family Home
[Housing](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/?f=flair_name%3A%22Housing%22)
My fiance’s grandmother is looking to sell their family home in the next couple of years. Grandma would like to see the home remain in the family if at all possible.
If Grandma only wanted a $7.5k monthly payment with 0% interest, the loan would be set to be paid over a 20 year period. The government however requires a minimum Federal interest rate currently around 3.5% – 4.0%. (If you know the exact value, I’d greatly appreciate that knowledge.)
I understand that Uncle Sam doesn’t entirely appreciate the idea of this and the concept of gift tax comes into play. Assuming the minimum interest is 4%, that means grandma would be gifting us that 4% interest annually. This Amounts to a 72k gift annually. Whereas the annual exemption rate is currently only 18k per individual annually. (Do my fiance and I have to be married for grandma to gift us 18k each individually? Or can she make that separate gift to myself without us being married yet?)
Assuming that she is 54k over the annual exemption rate, grandma shouldn’t have to pay any taxes on that 54k gift and it only gets deducted from her lifetime giftable amount of $12.92m. Am I understanding that correctly?
Side question, if Grandma were to pass before the end of the loan, what happens to the remaining balance of the loan? is that something that needs to be written out in the loan documents?
Any information provided on this matter would be greatly appreciated!!
Hi everyone!
I’m currently exploring my options for growing my savings, and I recently received an offer from Wells Fargo. They are offering a promotional 4.62% interest rate if I deposit $10,000 in new money into a Platinum Savings Account. This rate seems significantly higher than what I’m currently earning in my standard savings account.
Before I make any decisions, I wanted to reach out to this community for advice. Here are my main questions:
1. **Is this a good offer?** The 4.62% rate seems quite attractive, but I want to make sure I’m not missing any potential downsides. Has anyone here had experience with a similar offer or with Wells Fargo’s Platinum Savings Account?
2. **Are there any terms I should be aware of?** I’m particularly interested in knowing about any fees, balance requirements, or restrictions that could affect the account’s value.
3. **What are my other options?** Are there other banks offering better high-yield savings rates or other products that I should consider? Any recommendations for other banks or types of accounts would be greatly appreciated.
4. **What should I do with my standard savings account?** If I do move forward with the Wells Fargo offer, what should I do with my existing savings account that doesn’t earn much interest?
5. **General advice:** Lastly, I’m open to any general advice on managing my savings or investments. This is a new area for me, so I’m eager to hear your thoughts.
What’s the best way to invest $300 each week to use towards a down payment in the future?
My wife and I are in a decent financial spot. 32 years old, No debt (save for our mortgage, 3.375%, $459K balance). About $60K in the bank, her 401K is at about $150K, mine is about $100k.
My question is in regard to my 401K. My company does a 100% match up to 3%, and a 50% match for the following 2%. I currently set my contributions to 5% to take advantage of this. I’m starting to wonder if I should be setting aside more. My wife and I would strongly like to retire by age 55 at the latest.
We currently have one child, and are hoping for at least one more, so college funds will need to be started soon and will have to keep in mind increasing child costs if/when we have a second.
Also important to note is that my wife will be receiving a trust from her father. We do not know the details of this nor do we like to consider it in our financial planning, but it is important to consider.
The way I see it, keeping my 401K at 5% gives us flexibility with the rest of my income. We’ve done some home renovations, gone on trips, etc. We also set up life insurance for both of us. We’re starting to also allocate more to personal investment funds.
Is there any real reason to increase my allocations towards my 401K at the moment?
I have a 457b with my employer (county, safety net hospital system,nonprofit). If they go bankrupt, would my 457b be seized or are they protected ? Thank you
I have money in a Vanguard Roth IRA. Some is in a Target Retirement Fund and some is in VTWAX. If I wanted to get in all in VTWAX would I just do an exchange on Vanguard?
I started a new job 3 weeks ago. I am married and I file jointly every year.
I did not enter my wife’s income at any point when I filled out my W2. My tax withholding has dropped from 18% to 12% now despite getting a big raise, although it was only for 1 week of pay.
Did I do something wrong?
Need an HYSA that gives me checking and routing number for autopay on bills…
I would like to get a HYSA with high rates and that gives me checking and routing number so I can auto pay my bills.
Also would like it to allow unlimited transfer into and out of it.
I have PenFed savings online account which gives me all these features but it’s at 3%.
I’ve been told about Cit, Wealth front and others but haven’t been told about the features I require if they have it.
Thanks guys
I have an IRA with Acorns rn, but I’m thinking about moving to Robinhood because of the 3% cash back. It would only be about 2000 dollars and I’m contributing about 2k a year. Should I do it?
Hello, my wife and I see looking at buying a house. We have a gross income of $80ish K, have around 20,000 for a down payment, and are looking at a 250k house, but we might be able to get 240k. We have no debt. Interest rate around 7%
Can we afford this?
My mom turns 70 this month. She lives happily with my sister to help out with the kids. She has very few bills (basically just car insurance) and lives very comfortably on only her social security (about 2600/m).
She recently sold her old house and came out with about 170k that she immediately put into a HYSA. Is that the right move for her?
My sister and I are trying to convince her to spend the money on vacations, restaurants, and other enjoyable things while her health is still good, but her social security seems to be covering all of that and more.
She honestly doesn’t NEED for the money to grow, which is why I’m trying to get her to spend it. But alas, she’s always been a bit stubborn and “cheap”.
Neither my sister nor myself need the money. So there really isn’t any self-interest here. I really just want to give her good advice.
i have a capitalone debit card and am able to see how much money goes in and out of my account a month. does anyone know if the “money out” number counts funds being sent from checking to savings?
Looking for Young Adult Investment Advice- Roth IRA
Background: I’m 24, no kids, just cats. I have 15k in a high yield savings account, and about a year or more ago, I put 3K into a Vanguard Roth IRA with a 32% return as of today being reinvested (98.5% stocks, 1.5% short term- i honestly don’t know what is best to put my money into).
My situation looks like this: I work FT while doing PT school and earn just over $2200 each month. My expenses are rent, pets, gas, school, and groceries. I could use to do less impulse buying. Some future goals- ideally by the time I’m 30, I’d like a house and kids. I will also be applying to a Master’s program in Jan 2025- this will cost roughly 20K total over the course of about 2 years- have already gotten the okay from parents to borrow money from them to pay for school and pay them back ofc.
Questions: Should I be putting $ into my IRA knowing I will be having major expenses (school, eventually house) in the near future? If so, should I diversify my portfolio from just stocks? I think I am in the Vanguard 500 index fund. Is it best to let the 15K sit in the high yield account? Is there somewhere more profitable to put it? Am I missing out on something that I could be doing?
I’m about to start having an additional $1k a month in income due to my kid going from pre-k to kindergarten. I was planning to either put this towards my car principal with a 4.5% interest rate or into my HYSA with a 4.5% interest rate.
Since they’re both the same interest rate, does it actually matter, or will reducing the interest paid on the car loan have a better longer term effect due to increasing the efficiency of my regular payments? For reference, I have 3.5 years left on the loan at $700/mo and enough in my HYSA to cover 4 months of bills.
Would it make sense to open a brokerage account and put a small amount of money into a S&P 500 index fund (like VOO) for medium term investing? I contribute to an employee sponsored 403b, and my own Roth IRA. I wanted to invest some additional money on the side in addition to retirement.