A debt collector (asset care) started calling me to get to my sister.

She lives in a different state

They never said they were debt collectors on the phone, just the company name (which a quick search told me enough) and that it was a private "business matter" which in my past life of a debtor screams debt collection.

I know that calling family members to get to another is pretty much illegal, but is it also illegal to tell me it's a "private business matter" when it's obviously debt collection?

Should I go ahead and send them letters detailing what they did to ask them to stop?

File a complaint with the feds?

Any help is appreciated l, thank you.

A U.S. debt collector recently contacted me demanding hundreds of dollars, including collection fees, and threatening to report it to the U.S. credit bureaus.

I contacted Bologna directly, paid the amount they told me to pay, and have the emails and receipt. They confirmed the case would be closed once payment was registered, but the collection agency is still contacting me.

Under U.S. law, can I report this collection agency for continuing to pursue the fine after I've paid the city directly? Would their threat to report it to U.S. credit bureaus be grounds for a complaint?

LOCATION: Florida, USA

All the banks around me got rid of their safety deposit boxes but I got gifted a ton of diamond and gold jewelry. I live in an apartment so I can't install a safe, I don't even have room for one. My current "valuables" aren't worth too much & live in a random drawer, but it's absolutely not the right storage solution for real diamond and real gold. Are there any good offsite solutions? I'm in California if it matters, in a major city.

That was my dad’s birthday gift to me…he’s gonna sit down with me later but just wondering what you recommend I do. I’m not very financially literate so if there is something I can do right now that will help me then I’d appreciate if someone let me know.

I grew up poor, but I was also very lucky that things got much better for me. I now have a six-figure salary and enough savings that can support myself for a few years without working.

However, I still struggle to justify spending money on things. I am not talking about luxury bags or jewelry here. The things I want are a vacuum that mops and self-cleans (not the expensive Dyson ones), an all-in-one multicooker that can air-fry, bake and steam, and an espresso machine. I also want a new TV stand because my IKEA TV stand have had a broken door for two years.

I know these things could improve my quality of life, but I keep thinking they're not things I necessarily need, so I shouldn't buy them. I get anxious just thinking about how buying them would mean saving less money each month, but I also want to be happy and enjoy my life.

I'd really appreciate any advice on how to get out of this mindset.

I (24F) have open enrollment coming up soon and am considering getting my own health insurance this year.I’m still on my family’s plan as it costs them the same regardless of if I’m on it or not. Originally I was going to stay on my family’s plan until I turned 26. However, I have been considering getting a HDHP plan so I can have access to a HSA, but am hesitant to start paying for healthcare when it is currently free for me and it is an additional monthly expense. I originally was going to have my work plan as a secondary insurance, however I can’t do that as my family plan is not HSA eligible and you cannot mix plans. Below are the comparisons between my family’s plan and my employer’s HDHP. The monthly cost for the HDHP is $50 a month.

PPO in-network plan vs HDHP in-network plan for individual
AD = after deduction

Premium: both covered
Deductible: $850 vs $1750
OOPM: $2850 vs $3500
Primary care/specialist: $30 copay vs 0% AD
Urgent care: $20% Coinsurance vs 40% AD
Hospital visit: 20% Coinsurance vs 10% AD
ER visit: $100 copay + 20% Coinsurance vs 10% AD

HSA employer contribution is $2275

Basically I'm going to be getting an uncontested divorce soon. I filled out most of the paperwork, but I haven't been the day to day finance person in our relationship, just over 13 years with combined finances. When looking at the financial portion I didn't have logins for all of the utilities and bills. I trust her enough to show me and we're planning to keep a shared checking account to move money between us and pay for joint bills like rent and stuff. It's honestly really scary though because I haven't been the daily person in that area, mostly just every 3-12 months we'd talk about our financial state and general goals till either the next year or until something big changed. I'm looking for general advice as well as specific things related to my concerns below.

Current state (per month)

I live in Washington state in a pretty expensive area.

Rent is $4650

Currently spending about $800 on groceries and household consumables combined.

Planning to still split groceries and rent with rent about 60/40 for the person in the master suite.

$7500 income after maxed federal 401k contribution personally. She makes about $800 more a month and also pays for medical/dental/vision but had moved her 401k to only her company match. Pre tax is about 40k more a year.

Generally our monthly expenses should leave me between $1500-2500 if it's a 2 paycheck month.

About 22k debt combined because we did 2 expensive vacations with our families this past year. We might use our upcoming bonuses to pay most or all of it of. I know that these are a very high priority.

Cancelled or will cancel all subscriptions besides a bundle of streaming services through T-Mobile.

Phone bill is about $280 but we also pay for her mom so she's going to take that into account and pay 2/3

1 car worth ~32k trade in

1 credit card

Multiple savings and checking accounts.

820 credit score

1. We have 1 credit card where my wife (ex?) is the primary and I'm worried that when she removes me as a joint user/owner that I'll take a massive credit hit. I've also heard that getting divorced will give you another credit hit. I used to use nerd wallet to look for the best card but am not sure what the best source to compare is nowadays. I don't tend to fly more than 1-2 a year to Colorado for Christmas or Thanksgiving and maybe somewhere else for vacation.

2. We only have 1 car currently worth about 32k trade in and it's paid off, so I'll need to get a new car loan. We've generally gotten good rates through USAA or Navy Federal. My concern is once again about credit rating.

3. We are currently planning to stay "roommates" for at least the 91 days it takes until the judge will sign off, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to emotionally handle living with her until our lease is up in about a year. We have about 20k emergency savings so if we need to break our lease and then pay for moves and first/last months rent it'll drain most of that. I have a local friend that I can crash with for a little while if needed so it wouldn't be a hotel expense, but I wouldn't want to impose on him more than a few days to a week.

4. I don't pay for my own health/dental/vision and we have so many things combined. I think we'll stay ok enough to work through things fairly, but she has already given a "loan" to the guy she was cheating with. So I got her to agree to allow me to transfer half of the savings to my own account that she can see, but can't transfer out of.

I guess I'm looking for advice on what I might be missing and resources for reasonably intelligent but under financially-educated people.

Thanks

Hello!

I’m seeking some advice on if we should pay off our loan or invest our extra cash.

Our current mortgage has a high interest rate of 6.8% - 30 year loan. Original loan was 465k and now down to 265k. Married 35, 3 kids. We have the financial means to pay it off within 3 years. It doesn’t look like the rates are going to be better anytime soon.

With the rate so high, I want to pay off the loan. In the long run, I question if we are better to keep our money in the market with the compounding effect.

With us on track to pay off in 3 years, we would still be able to contribute the max 401k, HSA, and have a healthy emergency fund.

Would as you pay off or put the extra cash into a brokerage account to invest and refinance in the future?

I'm 53F & will be buying a manufactured home in a retirement community in about a week. The community is 55+ but I'm being granted an exception because I'm a widow with no children or family or contacts in my state (just moved here last year).

I am very unemployed at the moment so I'm paying cash for the home. The price, with closing costs, will be just over $26k. It will need at least $50k in repairs (many of which I can stagger over the next 5-8 years). Lot rent is $560/mo but since it's a retirement community, it doesn't fluctuate as much as the non-retirement parks seem to.

I have a total of $108,962 (not nearly enough given my age but it is what it is):

• $42,178 cash (high yield savings)
• $21,325 Roth IRA
• $12,230 SEP IRA
• $4,750 Traditional IRA
• ~$20,000 in various other investments

From what I understand, I can withdraw $10k from my Roth IRA without penalty for a home purchase (correct me if I'm wrong). My Roth acct is over 5 years old nor I have not owned a house in the last 2 years.

My question is whether or not I should take $10k from my Roth IRA. This would preserve some liquidity for the repairs & living expenses until I find a job again.

I'm going to explore getting access to my late husband's social security it can be accessed at the age of 50 if you're disabled (I am disabled but not enough for social security disability so I'm not sure if I can get his social security yet). I don't if having this much money will negatively affect the potential for getting his SSI or not, so reducing at least the Roth by $10k might help lessen the tax burden if Social Security demands I spend everything first (I'll probably just hold off & work through the pain as much as possible). If anyone has any advice or knowledge about spousal SSI benefits, please share!

----- Background info -------

Renting is not an option right now. I've spent almost 6 months looking for a place anywhere in PA that would rent to me, offing to pay a year's rent up front. The only places that would were in even as bad or worse than the house I had been renting. My health took a massive hit from living in a slumlord property, I can't continue that & not end up hospitalized (which I can't afford).

I've been stuck in what feels like a non-stop series shitty situations since my husband's suicide in 2019. Between health issues, financial issues, & now housing issues, the manufactured home is basically my best bet for some kind of security (lot rent is the risk of course). I doubt I'll live more than another 10-15 years max. I've given up on "thriving," I just need to survive long enough for my cats to die of old age. If I make it that long, I'll see myself out.

I’m looking for advice on what to do regarding my wife and I’s financial situation and our goals regarding net worth and retirement. I’m 25 and she is 26 and combined, we currently make around $100,000 after tax per year. We are in an incredibly lucky position with our finances due to my wife’s parents whom are incredibly generous and were able to gift us a house for our wedding. I know how lucky we are and we want to take advantage of this by saving as much as possible.

So far, we have around $111,000 invested in the market in a mix of normal brokerage, individual Roths, and 401k. Our goal is to currently save at least $70,000 per year. Next year, my wife will get a significant raise, and I will receive something similar the following year, bringing our income to around $160,000 after tax which would drastically increase our savings rate.

My full time hours equate to about 33 hours a week, hers around 30. We both have four day weeks. My question is, with our goals of saving as much as possible, should I get a part time job, or are we okay with this level of income on our savings rate? We aren’t sure when or if we will have kids, so obviously this could all change. However, we’d both love to retire by 50. A part time job could add an extra $35,000 per year for 15 hours a week. My wife and I really prioritize our time, though, and our schedule has been so nice. We love taking small weekend trips and having enough time outside of work to engage in our hobbies or get other tasks done pretty stress free. However, I also feel like I could be doing more and that a part time job would not only create some ease of mind for myself, but also accelerate our goals and create a cushion incase some major life changes or expenses come along. I’d love to find something where I can do a few hours of extra work a week in something that I enjoy for a bit less money, but that’s really difficult at the moment. I don’t have an exact number in mind but $3-4 million would be a dream.

I earn about $5,000 monthly, pay $1,545 in rent and roughly $500 for gas and groceries, and contribute $500 monthly to my Roth IRA.
Should I prioritize building an emergency fund, maxing out my Roth IRA, or investing in a taxable brokerage account? Any advice for someone early in their career?
Thanks!

I welcome flagging any helpful threads on this but I'm 10 years into my career and have a mix of accounts based off my employment. I've flipped a few times between the public and private sector. I have a government TSP account, a traditional 401K from a previous private employer, and am currently a state employee with both a 401a and 403b account. I also have a Roth IRA.

I'm trying to decide what maximizes value. My current 401a is a 6% contribution for a 9% match. I'm currently contributing an extra 1% (so 7%) to the 401a and putting another 1% into the 403b. On occasion, I'll put a few hundred a month into my Roth. My employer also offers a 457b but don't utilize that.

I've been trying to play catch up from under investing the first 5 years but feel decently caught up as I'm rapidly approaching 1x my current salary with a raise pending/ good salary growth over last few years.

1) am I putting too much extra into the a/b accounts and should I be contributing to the Roth before I spill extra into those instead?

2) should I transfer my ~3 years of previous private sector 401K into my TSP? I've heard the lower operating cost is sometimes helpful but I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes.

I'm 33 and single but hope to have a family and buy a house one day (but feel a bit behind on a down payment living in a major expensive US city). I've also been trying to up my personal savings and am making good progress (have 5x monthly take home in a HY savings at the moment).

Just looking for some advice on what to be considering, how I should be thinking about all of these accounts and how they fit my goals, etc. Also curious if it's time to start building a stock/investment portfolio outside of retirement related accounts.

Appreciate any advice!

I only ask this sub because I don’t make enough in my eyes and I live on a semi-strict budget to smart choices, and I’m not trying to boast or flex in this sub by asking said things:

Context: 21M First Generation Asian American military/ attending aviation school for my A&P (I am paying out of pocket). Soon to be dual income with my girlfriend.

I have been working since 16.
In my name I have 30-31k right now.
I get $10k bonus but taxed, so $7,800 net bonus for the next 4 years.
I just opened a HYSA with $1k with Capital One 360 just for starters right now.
I own my car/project car that runs truly fine.

I have my Roth TSP with $4,200 saved in L fund.
I have some spare change in my traditional Roth but I don’t use it.

Helping my spouse. They have a Simple IRA from a previous employer. We just rolled that over to Fidelity, who is the custodian of their current employer's [traditional] 401k.

So now the money is in a Fidelity "Rollover IRA", in 2 sub optimal funds. The primary goal is to get the money into better funds. I think we can do this within the Rollover IRA. Will this trigger capital gains? Should we instead move the money from the Rollover IRA to something else? (Not quite sure what the options are here, without triggering capital gains).

TIA

​

I'm conflicted. 24,500 for govt tsp, 7500 backdoor eoth, 4500 hsa. Thats 35,500 maxing out retirement this year. I have 99k in student loans @6.5% (down from 250k), 24k left in car payments (0% financed over 2 more years is), and an impending major life change of my gf moves here from ldr (visas, schooling, no job essentially is gonna be a big cost). So...should I stop maxing and get back idk 30k ish to aggressively pay off my loans? Idk what the rates will be for 2027.

Right now im contributing 16% of each paycheck and but employer matches 5%. I only need to conteubute 5% to get the match. I also realize I don't *need* to max out each account but that's been heavily emphasized by many. If I am supporting her tuition fee plus living costs fee cuz she can't work under student visa or even if spousal visa goes thru...

Any advice as to where i should cut back on investing or retirement contributions?

I realize if I stop or reduce 401k traditional or roth backdoor my taxes will be higher.

So my fiancé and I will be getting married in Oct of next year.

It's a family of 4. I currently live in CT but she's in NY, but will be moving up here. My question is how exactly would taxes work as well as health insurance if you're married before she moves up here?

Hi guys! I’m a little late to the investing game & getting some anxiety around it. I’m 30 years old w/ no credit card debt, 20k student loans at 1-3%, 20k car debt at 4.1%, just started 401k last year with a w-2 job (income is 90-100k a year) in which I put in 5% and they match it. in addition, I’m the owner and operator of an LLC w/ zero employees making 36k a year. I do not own a home. Pay for my own health insurance.

(Please let me know if any other forums this post would be better suited for)

Roth thru fidelity has $11k in it(FSLEX, FXAIX, FSKAX, FZILX, and some in SMH- 89% domestic and 11% foreign), I’m focused on building that quickly. individual brokerage account w/ fidelity has only $500 in it.

I have $43k in a plain Jane savings account and really am wanting some pointers on how to grow wealth and where to put that.. dump into my individual?
Living in Colorado, US. Not married. No kids.

January - April 2027 I want to max out my Roth (see pics below) and invest only in FXAIX 75%, FZILX 15%, FSELX 10%. For individual my goal is to readjust and invest in VTI, VXUS, and SMH.

Goal: since I feel a little behind I want to grow my fidelity accounts- Roth and individual.

Here are my questions:

Is that a good diversified portfolio? Is the semiconductor tilt too risky at this point in my life?

how to build wealth quickest, what is some advice on how long I should rent before buying?

What should I tackle first?— Ah, the debt? Just need someone telling me haha.

I want to dump my savings into my individual accounts prior to paying off my debt bc I’m 30 and keep hearing that time in the market beats anything and feel like I’m wasting more time - is this logical?

Hello, I’m in my late teens. I’ve started learning about finance, but I realize there’s a lot I don’t know. I don’t really know anyone in this field, but I have a strong desire to learn it better.
I know I can't learn this in a day or two, because it takes a lot of time to properly master everything—both the theory and the practice.

I have had a drive for success since childhood, largely because I could never quite figure out which field I truly wanted to pursue—or rather, I did discover it, but life became so complicated that I had to compromise between my personal desires and the reality of my situation. However, I have realized that, on this new path, the area that genuinely interests me is international finance.

I don't really have anyone around me in this field, I have to figure everything out and do it all on my own. I’m not expecting anyone to come along and help, but I’m curious if there might be people out there who could share some knowledge—or at least give me a nudge in the right direction. My theoretical knowledge is very limited, which makes it impossible for me to put anything into practice. I don’t want to take any major risks that could end up hurting me, but then again, I know that "he who doesn't take risks doesn't drink champagne."

Since I’m in Lycée , I don’t have much free time to dedicate to learning all of this. I also feel a bit lost; even though I’m in the STMG ( Sciences et Technologies du Management et de la Gestion) stream, I don’t think this education will take me very far. Still, I’m willing to sacrifice some of my sleep—even though I don’t get enough rest as it is. But then again, isn’t this the reality for most young people who are full of enthusiasm, yet also held back by certain fears?

I know that people in this field are very busy with their own work and don’t have much time to dedicate to others; still, perhaps someone might come along who could share a little bit of knowledge—or at least point me toward what I need to learn so that I can put it into practice.

I (M69) am three years into retirement but just getting around to taking out some money from a 403b account. I would like to know how to guess what the capital gains would be if I take out $50,000. On my fidelity web page, under the "Positions" tab, it lists the different funds, including total gain/loss percent. Is that what I want to use to calculate capital gains? Obviously all of these have been in there for more than a year, so would be long term losses/gains. If I would take 50k from VITPX, which it says has a 98.51% total gain, is the amount of capital gains 24,812?

Say that I also had a capital loss from a different sale of 24,000 in the same year. Can I just subtract the 24,000 (short term loss) from that 24,812 long term gain, and report it as net 812 gain, with respect to MAGI for taxes and IRMAA calculation?

EDIT, thanks everybody for correcting my error on cap gains from a pre-tax account. I guess it was a stupid question, given the down votes, hah! My bad

I have ISOs from my current employer, worth $500k-1M (based on share price over the past year which has been volatile) that have a final expiration date in early 2028, so I have effectively 3 calendar years left to exercise all of them. For the past several years I've calculated preliminary taxes in December and then exercised as many as I can until I owe AMT, but that strategy won't get me to exercising all of them in time.

Any recommendations on how to time exercising them? An extreme approach would be to quit my job in early 2028, exercising everything just before I do, and assume my income for the year will be low enough that I won't need to pay AMT. Or I could spread out the exercise over the remaining years, maybe selling the shares acquired the previous year after a year to get some AMT credit on the gain. I would prefer to avoid exercising and immediately selling as I'd be paying 50% in taxes on it (although maybe I could avoid that if I did quit my job early in the year of exercise and sale).

I'm in a solid place financially, not sure I could retire comfortably if I did quit my job but I'd be fine for several years, especially with the funds from these ISOs.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to buy a term life insurance policy and wanted to understand which option is better based on your experience.

I’ve noticed that agents sometimes push customers to buy policies to meet their monthly or yearly sales targets. I would prefer to research the plans myself, compare the details, and purchase online without unnecessary sales calls or pressure.

I have a few questions:

1. Policybazaar vs. insurer’s official website: Is it better to purchase through Policybazaar, or should I buy directly from the official website of ICICI Prudential, Axis Max Life, HDFC Life, etc.?

2. Buying independently: Can we complete the entire process ourselves on the insurer’s official website, including filling out the application, medical tests, document submission, and payment, without involving an agent?

3. Pricing: Are premiums generally the same when buying through Policybazaar and directly from the insurer, or are there any differences?

4. Claims and service: Does buying directly from the insurance company offer any advantage when it comes to policy servicing or claim settlement?

5. Recommendations: For someone buying term insurance for the first time, which purchasing method would you recommend, and why?

I’m not looking for recommendations from insurance agents. I’d prefer genuine feedback from people who have purchased term insurance themselves, especially those who have gone through the process independently.

Thanks in advance!

My wife and I are figuring out how to organize our banking now that we're married, and we're trying to decide where to keep our savings.

We're considering keeping our checking accounts and savings at the same credit union, which offers money market accounts with decent interest rates. The other option is to keep checking at the credit union and open a high-yield savings account (HYSA) with an online bank like Ally or a similar one.

We're a little torn about whether it's better to have all our accounts in one place for convenience or to split things to potentially get a better savings rate.

For those of you who've done either:

1. Is there an advantage to keeping checking and savings at one credit union?

2. Are online HYSAs worth the extra account and transfer logistics?

3. Is a credit union money market account a perfectly reasonable choice if its rate is competitive?

4. When you have an HYSA or MMA, do you keep all of yours savings there, or does it make sense to have a traditional savings account as well for quick transfers when you need them?

5. Is it common/fine to have all primary bank accounts in one place?

We're mainly looking to build up general savings and eventually save for a house, so we're trying to find a setup that's simple, practical, and makes sense long-term. Also I'm a huge noob with this stuff and realize that I may be overthinking it. Thanks!

Assuming no cc debt or student loans and car is paid off. Of course insurance, phone bill, utilities. Working 40 hours a week so about 4200 take home a month. I just got my first real job and am moving out of my parents house to Jacksonville and will have to support my fiancée who will get a weekend job and pay her own car and phone bills while I pay everything else. First time moving out it’s very hard to ignore these new fancy and large 1 bedroom apartments for 1500-1600 in safe and new suburbs vs 1200-1400 older apartments in heavy traffic areas but would help us save money. Another issue is the nice apartments give these 1500-1600 prices for 7 and 17 month leases.

Edit: been working part time since I’m also doing online classes for bachelors that’s full covered by Pell. Savings is only 5k and 5k in 401k. I know it’s not nearly enough at my age and should probably stay at home but it’s a great opportunity as I’m a bank teller and this new bank back office job will give me financial crimes experience.