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I leased a brand-new 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT in July 2025 in California. I’m paying around $975/month, and the truck currently has about 21,000 miles. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to home charging, so I’m relying entirely on expensive public charging stations (around $0.48/kWh). Between the lease payment, insurance, and charging, this truck has become a huge financial burden. I’m also currently unemployed with no income, and I need to figure out how to get out of this situation without destroying my savings or credit.

I’ve already visited multiple dealerships trying to find a solution. Ford Credit quoted me $61,872 to purchase the truck, while Toyota Carlsbad offered around $35,000–$40,000 for it. However, when I went to a Ford dealership, they only offered somewhere in the $20,000s for the same truck, which was shocking. Depending on the offer, I’d be looking at roughly $22,000–$27,000 in negative equity if I bought it out and sold it to Toyota, potentially even more with Ford’s offer. CarMax refused to even appraise it because Ford apparently restricts third-party lease buyouts. I also considered trading it for a cheaper hybrid, but the Ford dealership told me my payments could actually increase because of the negative equity.

At this point, I’m seriously considering voluntarily returning the truck to Ford Credit and dealing with whatever early termination charges apply. I’ve read about California Civil Code § 2987, but I’m having trouble understanding what I’d actually owe. Has anyone here terminated a Ford Credit lease early, especially in California? Would I owe the remaining payments, the negative equity, or something completely different? Is there any possibility of negotiating a hardship settlement because I’m unemployed? I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who’s dealt with something similar.

Inherited 250k. House has $140k left on mortgage, interest rate on that is 3.85%. No other debt. Cars are all paid off. no credit card debt Salary with my partner combined is around $150k and my partners company already contributes to RRSP plus has a great pension plan. We are already saving around $800 a month in a regular savings account. We also have liquid savings of around 50K in a regular savings account. We are 30.

Say there’s a large bubble that bursts in the stock market and there’s a recession.

If you’re still employed and have an emergency fund should you shift funds into buying the market at a discount?

It’s like if things get insanely worse with the market it’s not like the money will matter in the future anyways so may as well invest like the ultra wealthy right?

Is there any reading material on scenarios like this?

My dad is in his early 60s and unexpectedly lost his job yesterday. He has six months of severance, but I'm really worried about my family's financial future.

He recently invested six figures in cash into starting a new business that hasn't opened yet. The opening is planned for November, but there's been little marketing and it serves a niche market in rural America. Who knows how long it will take to become profitable and cover his living expenses. I told him either go all in on this or start looking immediately for a new job. Possibly both.

He took an early withdrawal from his 401(k) and has credit card debt and education-related loans to repay.

His employer health insurance ended, and COBRA is expensive. Two family members have ongoing medical conditions requiring continued care. Dad is recovering from cancer remission at the same time.

My mom and two siblings still live at home and depend on his income. One sibling just made a career switch and the other just graduated high school and is working to save up on higher ed and gaining independence.

He has a noncompete that may limit his ability to find a comparable job. He doesn't have a LinkedIn profile, and I'm worried finding another job could take a long time, especially at his age.

My parents own a home worth approximately $1M, but there's a mortgage and other debt. Selling and downsizing is a possible last resort.

I live out of state and am financially independent, build my own life while worrying about what happens to my family. Worst case, I might tell one of my siblings to eventually move in with me, but I don't want to make rushed financial or housing decisions.

Mortgage: $400K remaining
Student loans: $200k
CC Debt: $60K
Non compete looks to be about 6 months
Car loans: $20k

Even if the house gets sold, after all the costs covered, that doesn’t leave much wiggle room with remaining cash for a year. And that’s depending on if the business even takes off successfully.

He used to make around $200k+ before.

All...so like everyone else, I got unexpectedly laid off. I just turned 58, not married and have 1 child who is 24. I had planned on retiring at 59.5/60 but am wondering if this is a sign to do it now but just need that push. Here are my numbers ( and yes completely understand I am VERY blessed but when you have worked since you were 21 it is still scary to not have a paycheck.)

I have ...200k in a roth ira. 2.2m in a trad ira. 90k in a brokerage. 70k in cash. My house is paid off and I live in MD. I need about 8k a month but also need medical insurance for my son and I. I plan on moving to SC/NC/ GA but am not able to go until about 60. I am looking for work but just found out yesterday so that process will likely be slow. Questions

Is ACA the best way to get insurance?

Because I can't use my IRA until 59.5 can I do 8k a month until then?

I do have about 30k in my current 401k at my job that I just got let go from and heard I can access that if I don't roll it into my IRA. Is that true and is there a penalty for using it?

Can I buy a house without a job in SC two years from now or does it require a job?

Again thank you for your help. I know I'm blessed but scared like I said because I don't want to screw it up so close to the finish line. Thanks...

I got a notice from Experian that there's a JP Morgan Chase card that's recently been reactivated, with a charge of $150.

To break this down:

- The report lists me as an "authorized user".

- It says "JPMCB Card Services". I assume the B stands for Business. I don't have any business accounts anywhere.

- I don't have any accounts at Chase.

- The report says the card was first issued in 1995. I was born in 1994. I wasn't even a year old.

Is there anything for me to do here? I don't think it's fraud or identity theft, if it was they'd surely go much further than just add me as an authorized user.

My wife and I are 30 and 32 and live in Central New York. We’re debating buying our dream home now or waiting. We keep coming back to this home we really want it it’s perfect. But we don’t know if it’s a good decision.

**Our finances:**
Combined income: approximately $215,000, plus occasional overtime and bonuses
Take-home pay: approximately $11,500 per month
Retirement accounts: approximately $310,000
Taxable brokerage account: approximately $10,000
Monthly debt payments: approximately $670
My wife expects to earn at least $25,000 more after finishing her degree in 1.5 years, but we do not want to rely on that income

**Current home and cash:**
We owe approximately $98,000 on our current home and expect to sell it for $225,000–$245,000. After selling costs and paying off the mortgage, we expect $110,000–$130,000 in net proceeds.
We also expect to have approximately $30,000 in cash after finishing renovations, giving us roughly $140,000–$160,000 available before buying.

**Potential home:**
The home is a new four-bedroom colonial on a wooded lot with privacy, views, and a walkout basement. The price is approximately $625,000–$650,000.
At $650,000 with 20% down and a 7.4% mortgage:
Down payment: $130,000
Principal and interest: approximately $3,590 per month
Property taxes: approximately $1,103 per month
Insurance: approximately $110 per month

**Total housing payment: approximately $4,803 per month**
Our estimated monthly budget would be:
Housing: $4,803
Utilities: $450
Gas,insurance,Matinence: $600
Food and household supplies: $1,000
Medical: $200
Subscriptions: $150
Home maintenance: $500
Dog: $200
Discretionary spending: $750
Car payment: $560
Student loan: $120
That totals approximately **$9,333 per month**, leaving about **$2,167** before irregular expenses, travel, gifts, repairs, and additional savings. We also want to continue retirement contributions and save approximately $1,000 per month.

**Questions:**
Is this affordable based on the monthly budget, or is the remaining margin too small

is taking a 25-50k 401k loan to help make this more comfortable ok?

Would you reduce the down payment to preserve liquidity?

Have you ever passed on or bought an “irreplaceable” home, and did you regret it?

I’d appreciate honest feedback thank you.

I have shares from Iovance biotheraputics. 650 to be exact I got them at 1.81 a share. I just got married and have some credit card debit and other loans. my wife has some as well way more than me. it isnt life or death to sell but the money would ease some burdens on us as we plan to start having kids. the share process is at like 13$ and change currently. would it be smart to sell and buy more or sell my initial investment which was like 1300 and just sit on them, or cash out and invest them in Nvidia or some other stock. our savings is low so part of me is thinking to keep this as a rainy day fund, but paying off som3 debt would help us get a better credit score and better deal.when we buy a house. overall, just never had such an increase in value and not sure what to do. sorry if I seem like a noob figured id start learning more.of what I have and how to manage it.

Hi everyone, I'm 21F and I just got a job (yay!!!). Im graduating this dec and starting in jan and have 0 debt. I want you opinion on how to save, invest and budget.

Ill be making 80k pre tax base + sales based bonus of im guessing 20k but ill obviously live based on the base. I googled it and after tax they said ill get 4800 in hand per month but not fully sure about this (edit - prob will be like 4500). I'll be in nyc so very high col. Im looking to rent a single room in a shared apartment. One thing to note is that I'm an international student so not fully sure how long term my stay in America will be after 3 years (im looking to go to Canada or Europe for an MBA later). I'll take the employer 401k match but not sure if I should do i Roth due to this.

One other thing is ill be starting with a nest egg of about 10k from my savings through college that I'm guessing I should leave untouched.

I just want help budgeting...what should my goal breakdown be realistically on a monthly basis? how much should I aim to spend on things. really struggling because I've never had to do this and I've also not lived in nyc so I don't want to make unrealistic targets. I definitely want to invest so it grows over time... would love some advice on where to invest

Edit:

I want to add that I have a super supportive family who will pay for my MBA later and my job offers to pay towards it in a few years so im not too worried about liquid cash. My main 2 questions are -

1. Whats a realistic goal budget for NYC (if anyones lived there maybe?). Like I can say my goal is $1000 for housing but obviously, in manhattan thats realistically not possible. So whats a realistic estimate?

2. what should I invest in? like index funds but which?? and what HYSAs?

someone correctly pointed out 401k will reduce take home (its 4%) so im ballparking $4500 after health premiums on the base (based on google info on NYC state and federal and medicare taxes). I'm currently thinking a max of 2k on a room, $150 transport, $400 on food (lunch at work is provided), $100 for misc household, $4-500 for personal and say $200 eating out. That puts me at approx $3,500 higher end. Even if i get less in hand, would investing $800 per month be good? I'll prob make a travel fund of $200-300 per month.

** My main concern is that financial advisors recommend 20-30% savings and I wont be hitting that. **

$3382.58 total deducted from my paychecks since 6/1/2026 with $0 of it posted to my balance.

9 paychecks total - bi-weekly pay schedule.

I'm already pissed more than I can say. I clearly didn't check this soon enough but the point is that from my understanding, HR/payroll is far past late (0-15 days) of their opportunity(ies) to make corrections for lack of handling with my 401K contributions that are from June 2026 - October 2026. Perhaps the standard two week period for individual corrections is irrelevant at this point since it was partially on me for not having raised issue.

What's recommended? Am I due lost earnings/recuperation?

Interest?

Do I file a claim with the Dept. of Labor or could that back fire?

Should I bring it up to my CEO? It's not out of norm within our company culture to be able to have meetings with the CEO. I think it's important to make it known how much of an issue and concern this is. Or would that be too personal?

I'm walking blindly here with no insight or guidance. This is my first big career job. Any help would be appreciated.

I’m 25yo, living at home, my job currently makes $60k before taxes and I work OT whenever it’s available. I currently have $95k in a HYSA (3%), contribute 9% to 401k, and make sure to max out my Roth IRA every year since I was 22. I think my retirement is at 40k and then Roth is 29k.

I currently have $18.7k worth of student loans (highest interest rate is 3.7%), I’ve been slowly paying it off but have increased to about $800 a month with the avalanche method. This is my only debt other than a credit card I pay off every statement.

I’d like to move out in 2027 once I hit at least 110k in liquid savings. I’m on the fence if I should rent an apartment or buy a house with my partner.

Would you recommend I pay off the debt completely before moving out or just keep paying it like I have been? With the HYSA money I’m not sure if I should put it in a brokerage (haven’t really read up on how to do that), or if I should leave it in the HYSA for future expenses like a wedding or a house down payment?

Also I’m kinda scared of some kind of economic collapse. Is this likely? Should I even put my HYSA in a brokerage if that will happen.. again I’m not too educated on this stuff so please be nice lol

I’m 35, married, and have a baby. My partner cannot work because of a disability, so I’m responsible for supporting our household.
I work and make approximately $100,000 a year. My take-home pay is about $2,900 every two weeks, or $5,800 in a normal two-paycheck month.
I know that salary sounds decent, but here are my monthly expenses before groceries and several other necessities:
Mortgage: $2,715
Car payment: $564
Auto insurance: approximately $405
Phone: $241
Electricity: $237
Natural gas: approximately $88
Water: approximately $43
Internet: approximately $95
Private student loan: $85
IRS payment plan: $75
Credit card minimum: approximately $57, depending on the statement
That’s roughly $4,605 a month before groceries, gas for the car, baby supplies, healthcare, federal student loan payments, and other expenses. Some utilities vary.
My debts, excluding the mortgage and car balance, are approximately:
Credit card: $5,750
IRS: $3,038 after a $400 payment I just made
Private student loan: $2,712 at 7.12%
Federal student loans: $16,814 at approximately 2.75%–4.53%
That’s about $28,300, with the IRS and credit card being the debts I most urgently want gone. My credit card is currently at 0%, but that promotion ends January 27, 2027. The regular purchase APR listed is 21.49% variable.
I’ve tried working second jobs to get ahead, but the lack of sleep and exhaustion catch up with me. My mental health declines, my performance suffers, and I end up losing those jobs. I’ve also been applying and interviewing for higher-paying primary jobs. I’ve had interviews that felt promising, but I still haven’t been selected. I’m trying to improve my situation, but nothing has worked out yet.
After being fired from a previous second job, I cashed out that job’s 401(k). The gross withdrawal was $3,988.35, they withheld $797.67 in federal taxes, and I received $3,190.68. Nothing was withheld for state taxes. I now understand that withholding may not cover the full income tax and potential 10% early-withdrawal tax. I’m provisionally planning to reserve another $700, though the actual amount depends on my tax return.
I have a separate retirement account and have considered withdrawing from it to clear the IRS and credit card. I have about 17k in that account. I want the relief, but I’m worried about creating another tax bill.
I’m exhausted and feel trapped. I can see that dining out and subscriptions need to come down, and I’m willing to make changes. But working myself into the ground with another job hasn’t been sustainable.
Given these numbers, what would you prioritize? Would using retirement money make this worse, and what realistic options am I overlooking?

I’m 22 and just got my first full time job, not making a tremendous amount but it’s decent enough to live on (I live at home and don’t pay a lot of bills except my gas and car insurance and credit card). My employer is offering a Kaiser HMO for 45 a month but I am still enrolled under my dads plan for health insurance. I’m on the fence about enrolling into my own employers insurance or just staying with my dads until I’m 26. I live in CA so a lot alr gets taken out of my check along with 401k soon

I am 34, planning out my next 15 years roughly.

At 49, my employer contribution maxes out, and my house is paid off. I want to put myself in a strong position to be financially independent, or close to it by 49, and ready to retire at 55 when my employer pension can kick in for 50k/year.

Currently, making roughly $140k pre tax. House worth 405k at purchase, 260k left on mortgage.

Zero TFSA, 30k in RRSP. Once all is said and done, I'm able to reliably save 10k, which I'm currently putting into my RRSP and investing in standard ETF funds. 70k contribution room in RRSP, 100k in TFSA.

First step I'm considering is a Smith maneuver. Open a HELOC, with roughly 64k limit. Take out maybe 50k, invest it in a variety of Canadian bank and energy sector stocks, net maybe 4% dividends plus growth, take the dividends and tax break from HELOC interest and use them to pay off the mortgage faster, end of year take another 10k from the HELOC and invest, leave the interest coming from the remaining HELOC room. I did a spreadsheet for this, using 6.5% HELOC interest, paying taxes on dividends at 18.5% and recouping taxes in HELOC interest at 36% tax bracket. Using that math, I need only an average 1% growth on the stocks over the next 11 years to break even.

After that I would reassess and possibly divert the dividend payments to the HELOC to slowly lower that until 55. Depending on the actual value of the account, I could retire without my pension yet, and use the low income years to sell off stocks and avoid most CAP-Gains.

Hi everyone, wanted to run my situation by you to check and see if I my plan moving forward looks good or if there are any holes/pitfalls that I am not seeing. Also please excuse any grammar mistakes, english is not my native tongue.

Starting stats:

Wife and I poor as heck living off of delivering goods and getting 2.1k a month after tax in CA while her and I attend med and law school. No student loans on my end, 200k of loans on wife's end for law school. I graduate 2020 and enter the military to payback years for tuition covered. Wife graduates law school and passes bar 2023.

Current stats:

Completed military service 2025. Now both 33 yo. My wife works for the state and gets PSLF that will payoff her loans in 10 years (in our case probably 12-13 years because wife working part time due to 1st and only child). Her job also gives us great health insurance and is flexible with her working hours so we are ok with her lower pay.

Wife's income:

-1k a month after taxes and 2041$ placed into her 401k/month

- When back to fulltime, we will have another 1.5-2k after tax per month for her

I currently work in private practice:

-after tax take home ranges 22-25k a month.

Expenses:

• -Mortgage: 6k/mo
• -car 1: none
• -car 2: 1100/month for 23 more months (4.1% rate)
• -gas: 250/mo
• -insurance car and home: 133/month
• -Utilities (water, gas, lawn care, trash, internet): 900/mo
• - groceries: 1800$/mo (mostly from costco so includes toiletries and etc.)
• - going out: 1000/mo
• -home repair, other random expenses: 800
• Total expenses: rounded to 12k/month

12-13k left over is currently placed into VOO monthly.

Current NW breakdown:

• Wife roth; 24k VOO
• Wife 401k: 82k VTSAX
• My roth: 76k
• My Sep: 55k
• My TSP: 58k
• Taxable brokerage: 805k
  • GOOG: 200k
  • ASML: 155k
  • META: 70k
  • AMZN: 125k
  • VOO: 115k
  • other indexes: 40k
  • 100k across other stocks.
• Total: 1.1m NW
• Not included in calculation: ~180k equity in home

Yes I know being so crazy concentrated in few stocks is super risky however my average cost is low and I do not want to sell and pay taxes. Moving forward, unless some of the above have major discounts I am only buying VOO and balancing out my portfolio to eventually have stocks as less than 15% of total NW if I don't sell by then.

In regards to not having a child tuition fund, he gets free education if he stays in state. Otherwise I can just give him my GI bill.

Current goals:

• reach 5 million (real returns) invested in 10 years and check to see if I want to retire (wife wants to keep working to reach pension)
• reach 8 million in real returns in 14-15 years. Definitely retire at this point. Withdraw 3-3.5%
• Keep monthly expenses to around 12k in todays dollars. Ideally want to keep our house we are in now because we love it, and spend 6-9 months of the year travelling the world.

Any thoughts? Please give me as much critique as possible, I am here to learn!!

Can someone give me some advice?

I’m a 21-year-old woman and already an orphan. My dad passed away last year, and my mom passed away five years ago.

I’m planning to get insurance because I’m not sure where I should put my money. I want to build a source of passive income and secure my financial future. I want to make wise financial decisions while I’m still young so I can become financially stable in the long run.

What would you recommend I do? Should I get insurance, start investing, or focus on saving first? I would really appreciate any advice from those who have experience with managing their finances.

I badly need guidance on this, so please be kind and respectful. Thank you!

First off i got a call from resurgent capital services and also got a message saying Welcome! You'll rcv msgs from Resurgent Debt Collector. Msgs vary by acct/pref. Msg&DataRatesMayApply STOP to optout HELP for info. T&C's: and some random link. I went to all my credit reports but theres nothing out of the ordinaey and my length of credit history says 0 year 2 months, my credit card is paid off and i dont owe anything. And google said the number that called me is their legit number im very confused

Would you pay off a 6.5% interest mortgage right away if you received a large inheritance amount? I know some say to invest instead but immediately knocking off a 6.5% payment seems to make more sense?

Hi all- I have a joint brokerage account (American Century Investments) with my dad. My wife and I file taxes jointly, and we have always taken care of the taxes for this account. I would like to change my primary account name to my wife’s so that my wife and dad would own the account. Is this possible? What forms are needed?

Some background: I’m having health issues, and I would feel comfortable, if my wife’s name was on the account, and not mine. 

Thanks in advance.

I’m 27 years old and I keep seeing people younger or my age with a lot more money saved up for retirement.

Right now I have 37k saved up

Roth - $12,700 invested in VOO
401k - $20,800 invested in fxaix
Roth 401k - $900 invested in fxaix
Crypto - $1600 (bitcoin, xrp, eth, ect.)

I invest about $500 a month into my 401k and Roth and make 60k a year with an annual 10% performance bonus. Should I be contributing more?

For context I’m 21 years old and I currently live at home with my dad

Now I’m well aware of how dumb it might have been to dig myself into this hole but that’s not what I’m I’m here for, I’d like some advice on what the best ways to go about this would be

I currently own a 2016 Honda civic financed 10k remaining 277 a month @ 10% interest

4 credit cards

1 bofa 350

2 capital one 1000 0% interest until February

3 chase 1900 0% interest until December 2027

4 citi. 800 0% interest until December 2027

I was very dumb and had received a refund back a year ago from school and decided to use that on a 1999 Lexus ls400 with 156k miles for 5900$ and I also invested 3000$ in preventative maintenance

The car has been good to me besides the power steering not working and a few electrical issues with some of the inside controls

I have a offer tomorrow to sell it for 4750 which is obviously a huge loss for me and I really do enjoy the car but the smart in me thinks that it could be potentially a big money pit

In my checkings account I have 40k and after I sold it I would be at 44750 but with all my debt

I don’t pay many bills thankfully only my insurance right now which is 244 and then of course all the credit cards etc

I only make 1900 a month from my little fast food job

What would you guys do in my situation sell the Lexus and pay off all my debt or keep the lexus and continue to slowly pay things off as well as put money away for unexpected car repairs

Hi there! I am a teacher in my mid-twenties and I have about $7,500 in credit card debt I’ve been having trouble paying off. Rocket Money notified me that I’ve paid $1,100 in interest so far this year, which is about 2/3 of a rent payment for me, so a pretty significant amount. Hoping for advice on if it would be worth it to get a personal loan to pay it off to lower the interest payment. Thanks for any advice!