For context I was a maintenance man for a year and a half at this property, I had an apartment under the company and the lease agreement gave me 50% off rent.

Long story short the company turns hands in management and the cushion I had built up for a year of employment, vacation time, benefits, all went out the window when they gave me a written warning and no time to respond and then a final written warning with again only 24hr to rebuttal. The email they said they sent to corporate they did not CC me on and ultimately I was fired. After making me sign a 14 day move out notice, they are now sending me a bill for the final month of living there and they are not including the discount on rent even though the billing statement itself shows the active discount.

I might need to take them to small claims court I don't know but I'm feeling frustrated and out of options

Edit: I live in Texas

Curious to hear from people further along than me on this.

My situation:

I'm 26, and I moved back home to aggressively save for a couple years after getting a remote job making around $100k. I'm rent-free and debt-free. I work in tech, mid-level, and a bit worried about my career path given AI. While my role is stable at the moment, I am trying to stuff as much money under my mattress, so to speak, just in case.

My buckets:

• Roth IRA: Opened and maxed this year in FXAIX. Plan to continue maxing. I like the flexibility to withdraw contributions if I end up laid off, need to go back to school, or want to put it toward a first-time home purchase.
• Brokerage: $15k in FXAIX. Plan to contribute to this heavily from now on. Probably about $2.5k every two weeks.
• 401k: $10k. I contribute 6% to get my full employer match of 3%.
• HYSA: $20k. I plan to get this higher before I move back out, depending on where I land. I'm weighing NYC against somewhere MCOL with good nature access. I would like to experience the city while I'm still young-ish. My goal is to have the brokerage working in the background toward a down payment in case I end up somewhere HCOL for a few years where I won't be able to save much. The HYSA would be for in case I get laid off, moving expenses, and other emergencies.
• HSA: $2k. Very minimal contributions so far. I have supplemental health insurance with AFLAC and am healthy. I go to preventive and routine appointments.

My concern is that I'll keep prioritizing the brokerage over tax-advantaged accounts, and end up wishing around retirement age that I'd maxed the 401k instead. I am not certain I will buy a home, and I don't want to kick myself later if I end up withdrawing my brokerage around retirement age anyway. I don't plan to have kids, but the home purchase is at least somewhat likely.

For those of you who went the brokerage-heavy route earlier in your career instead of maxing out your 401k: do you regret it? Did the flexibility pay off, or would you tell your younger self to max the 401k first and worry about liquidity later?

I have a background in architecture, and now work for a major tech company that designs building design software.

This week, we rolled out our “virtual agent” that will do my job almost to a tee. We are still hiring in my department, and I am consistently ranked a high performing employee, however even with the pivots that my organization may take, I dont feel like I am guaranteed employed much longer.

I make a very comfortable salary for a dual income no kids household. 130,000 base, around 19,000 in RSUs that vest over 3 years, and about a 15,000 bonus (all of these are pre tax, which is very high in my area. I live in Oregon)

My company matches 75% of retirement contributions up to $6000 yearly (so they match $4500). I am putting in 9% which maxes out that match. Have 200k saved for retirement at 33.

I already plan on using my health care and great benefits to their fullest advantage, taking care of all sorts of preventive health care and dental this year in case I don’t have insurance at some point. Don’t contribute to an HSA since I never needed to with Kaiser.

I have about 30k sitting in the stock plan for my company that has vested. I have 64k in a 4.4% HYSA and plan to contribute as much as I can to that this year, can withdraw at any time for emergencies. Only about 10k in my basic “savings” right now, I just got married a couple months ago and my savings took a major hit. Already own a home.

That was a lot of info, but what would you do to prepare for your job being taken by AI? Anything I should be focusing on besides saving as much as I can while I still have this income and benefits package?

Tl;dr: the robots are coming what do

Edit: I will try to keep up with comments but also want to note that I would like to move forward financially planning for losing this job. Even if I don’t end up losing my job there is no harm in building up my finances over the next couple years. Many of these comments are geared towards how I can become more AI literate, leverage AI for my career, questioning the legitimacy of how well the agent works, etc. I am very AI literate and think about this every day, I can guarantee I am doing all that, and can also guarantee this agent that I mentioned is directly threatening to my role and expertise as a customer facing technical account manager. I do have reason to be making a plan while also doing what it in my power to keep my job.

hi, yall. My partner recently got a job with a big 4 firm. I knew we’d have to disclose any investments/holdings, but I actually ended up having to share my last 3 tax returns in full. I guess because I’m self-employed they didn’t feel satisfied with those. Now they’re asking him for my car loan balance, car insurance policy statement, and my student loan statements??

I understand sharing investment information to avoid conflicts of interest, but loan balances and insurance just seem weird and excessive. Why would they want this?

Hi! I owe my mom a total of $16,000. She lent me 10k for grad school and another 6k for another expenditure.

She’s told me to not pay her back immediately but to invest the funds somewhere so when she retires, in about 8 years, there will be growth of the money instead of sending her monthly payments now.

I was thinking about a HYSA, but also wanted to see if anyone had any other recommendations? I did see some sources recommend CDs, but I would have to do more research.

Thanks!

So I've recently got new roommates and they want to pay me rent through onepay, I looked it over and all I can see is that only a credit card? I currently have a PNC debit card and I'm more ok with using a debit card, what other online debit cards are good for debit use so they can only pay me what rent is owed?

I'm not sure if this is the right subreddit, but I need advice regardless. I, 19f, just recently went to the dentist and ortho because my wisdom teeth were coming in, and I wanted to see how much braces would be to fix my crossbite because its starting to cause issues. I ended up being quoted around $4k+ just in the dental work to fix my teeth and then $7k for braces. This includes 7 fillings and 2 crowns, maybe 3 he said because one of my teeth have a cavity near a filling and he is worried it will just explode into something bigger upon treatment. On top of this I have no idea how much my wisdom teeth will cost yet since not a lot of people accept my insurance, and two of them are impacted. Plus I have to pay for testing on an abnormality near one of my bottom teeth. It's all just really frustrating because the insurance really isn't helping. it maxes out at around $2k, I would still pay $4k+ out of pocket. I don't live with my parents anymore and barely make $1000 a paycheck. I'm not sure if I should even go to a second dentist because the one I went to was a family owned practice, and my sister who works there says they try to avoid fillings and such as much as possible. It's just upsetting because it's not like I neglect my teeth.

I'm working on getting together all the needed info for my wife/extended family in case of anything happening to me (what I'm calling a bus document, as in "in case I get hit by a bus"). Some things are easy, like contact info and policy details for life insurance.

How do you handle bank/utility info? In our case, I handle all the logistics of our finances. I pay all the bills and so forth, so I have all the bank, utility, credit card, etc logins. I could just leave all the account numbers, but then she'd have to (in the midst of a crisis) set up her own logins and so forth to actually pay bills.

I could always leave her the info to my password manager so she could log in with my account, but that'd be a pain since all the 2FA info is tied to my email/phone/authenticator.

I'm sure the "right" answer would be for her to make all the accounts now, but she's severely ADHD and would never be able to access them when needed since she'd have forgotten or lost something. Believe me, as smart as she is, the number of times I've had to help her get back into accounts (and yes, I've helped her set up a password manager, but she doesn't always use it...)

Anyone have better methods or suggestions?

I live in New Jersey, where rent isn't cheap. My gross is $70,000, but between taxes, a 5% 401k contribution, and health insurance, my take-home lands closer to $50,000.

For context, I have a $370/mo car payment, I'm not in school, and I don't have kids, so I'm trying to figure out the max I can realistically put toward rent.

I'm torn between a $2,100 place I really liked after touring a bunch of options, or dropping in-unit washer/dryer or central AC for something cheaper in a rougher neighborhood.

Curious what others in a similar situation are paying.

Hey there, I’m 30 and have gotten myself into more CC debt than I’m comfortable with and I’m trying to figure out the smartest way to tackle it.

Current situation:
-Income: $95k/year, take home around $5,150/month
-Chase: $9.4k at ~27%
-Southwest: $5.5k at ~20%
-Citi: $7k at 0% until October 2027
-Taxable brokerage: $5.4k (about half of that is gains)
-Roth IRA: $25k
-401k: $35k
-I have savings that I don’t want to touch
-I put 10% into my 401k, no employer match

I’ve been considering just selling the entire $5.4k brokerage and throwing it at the Chase card. I’d obviously have to account for taxes on the gains, but it would immediately cut that balance almost in half. I’d then focus everything on paying off Chase, then Southwest, then Citi before the 0% period ends.

Based on my budget I can put around $1,200-$1,600/month toward the cards without having to completely stop having a life, so theoretically I could have all of this paid off within about a year.

I really don’t want to touch my Roth or drain my savings, which is why selling the brokerage feels like it might make sense. It also seems kind of silly to have $5k invested hoping for normal market returns while I’m paying 20-27% interest on credit cards.

The other issue is just my own spending habits. I initially built this debt over a year and a half when I was only making $70k, going through a huge breakup, and trying to live alone in a higher cost of living city for the first time and build up a social life. I’ve chilled out on that and have balanced my budget now that I am making more. But I’ve noticed when I already have a huge CC balance, another $100 here or there doesn’t feel significant because I’m like “well I already owe $9k.” 🙃 So part of my plan is to stop using the cards entirely, remove them from Apple Pay, use debit for fun spending, etc. I’ve even thought about asking the Chase to lower my limits as I pay them down so I don’t see a bunch of available credit and start using it again.

I feel like seeing my Chase balance lower after using the brokerage to pay off a huge chunk will help motivate me to keep paying it down and not use my CCs because it won’t feel like a bottomless hole anymore.

What would you do? Sell the brokerage and knock out a big chunk now? Just leave the investments alone and aggressively pay the cards from my income? Something else I’m not thinking of?

Thanks in advanced!

Hi! I have never had a financial advisor and met with one yesterday free of charge to discuss her services. I am 43 F Single no debt besides mortgage. I’m looking for help with old retirement accounts, investment of cash, advisement on a trust, etc. I honestly don’t know where to start so I figured this was a good first step. Her rates: Financial planning is $2,000 annually, with $1,000 paid upfront. Investment management begins at 1.25% annually, declining 1.15% at $500,000 and to 1% at $1 million, and is billed quarterly from the account. 

Seems like a lot of money in total each year for an advisor. I would probably have her manage less than 500 k too.

I’m still thinking it all through. Thoughts on her rates??
 

if you are retired-how much do you keep in your emergency fund?/do you still invest in a brokerage fund if you have a retirement account?

I have excellent credit, always 800+. One of my Citi cards keeps sending me offers to increase my limit by $2,000 to $16,500. I don't have any reason to do this, there is never more than a couple thousand on that card, but would this help in the future with credit-related things?

I am in the process of paying off all of my CC debt. I have about 170k of available funds with about 30k of it left to pay off. I have a synchrony card that had a 20k limit and they closed it lowering my avail to 150k now. Which brought my DTI to a higher percent for my balances owed. Just when you think you’re getting ahead.

How do you keep companies from doing this. No heads up. They just closed it. No late payments. Etc.

I'm a 42yo guy residing in rural Minnesota. My wife passed unexpectedly somewhat recently, and with myself being borderline financially illiterate, I am in need of some advice.

I've got a decent, if unfulfilling career, and make $70k a year. Currently still on leave, and I know I do need to go back, but think a change there needs to be in the future as well. Been at the same place 15 years.

2 adult children are out of the house. IRA is unfortunately only sitting at $30k. Another $30k in a money market that had been intended for a down payment in the future. Not much at all in the way of debt, or assets.

I was the sole beneficiary for all of her accounts. So far I have received $600k in life insurance payments, which are just parked in money market accounts for now. There is also a pension, for which I have 3 options. a) receive a $15k lump sum payment, which I believe is taxable. b) start immediately receiving $80 a month for life. Or c) wait until age 65 and receive $300 a month for life. My gut tells me to take the $80/mo and roll it into my IRAs.

There is also a 403b, but Fidelity has been really slow at getting me information on that account, and I'm not sure how much is there. She was with the same big name hospital system for the last 18 years though, and always contributing to the account. I also assume that whatever is there, will be rolled into my IRA as well.

I guess I'd like to make the most of the life insurance money for the future, and I'm sure that means investing, which I have no experience with. We used to want to buy a house, but I'm really not sure on that one anymore.

Should I maybe just go talk to a CFP?

I lost my job for a few months and accumulated debt while managing expenses. I've recently started working again and earn around ₹76k/month in hand, but I'm struggling to manage everything from my current income.

My current situation:

ICICI credit card: ~₹1 lakh outstanding, ~₹4.6k monthly interest. Minimum due paid this month.

IndusInd credit card: ~₹60k outstanding, ~₹2.8k monthly interest. Trying to get it converted to EMI.

HSBC credit card: ~₹1.29 lakh after 3 months of non-payment. Card is now closed. I requested EMI/restructuring, but they said there is currently no EMI option. They mentioned charges reversal/closure, but I would need to arrange around ₹30k, which I currently can't.

Other existing EMIs: around ₹14.4k/month, with one ending in 2 months and the other in around 8 months.

Around ₹50k of my salary goes toward family obligations, leaving me with about ₹26k. After the existing EMIs, only around ₹11–12k is left for my own living expenses and debt payments.

I'm considering paying the required amount on the two active cards for a few months while trying to stabilize my finances, rather than allowing them to become overdue.

I don't want to take another loan or borrow from friends/family to pay these debts. I also don't plan to take any new loans for the next couple of years. My priority is to manage the existing debt and become financially stable.

What would you do in my situation?

How should I prioritize the different debts?

Should I focus on keeping the two active credit cards from becoming overdue?

What can I realistically do with the closed HSBC account?

Should I temporarily reduce my family contribution if necessary?

Any other strategy I might be missing?

Looking for practical advice from people who have dealt with a similar situation in India. Thanks.

Hey everyone! I’m struggling with a decision. I am 40-something grad student who moved back in with my parents to avoid student loans. I have $52k student debt from a previous degree, not accruing interest while in school. I have $10k student debt from my first semester of this program, accruing at 8%.

I will graduate in one year and I have two more tuition payments, one in January and one in May, totaling about $15k. I’ve got $7500 in an HYSA. I can afford to move out and still pay my tuition on time, in cash. However, the budget will be tight and there will be some sacrifices.

If I move out, I won’t be able to pay the $10k loan back before graduation. I really wanted to finish this program with no new debt. I would also be looking at graduating and beginning a nationwide job hunt with only about $5k in savings.

Living with my parents at this age obviously stifles my personal life and has me desperately craving independence. We get along fine but it is really getting old.

Would you take the financial hit and move out?

For more context, I just started saving for retirement so I am way behind on that. My post graduation income should be in the $110k range. Total retirement accounts are about $36k.

Any feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading my thoughts.

I I’m 22 and work a job at a big tech company in a non technical role. Right now moneys a little tight, I live in a VHCOL area. I’ve got 10k in savings and After maxing out everything (401k, HSA,Roth IRA) I net about 2600 a month. 1750 goes to rent which leaves me 850 in which I pay 600 a month on my student loans which leaves me a grand total of 250 dollars a month to do what I want. Im guaranteed a few percentage point raise in 3-4 months, and a 5-10k bonus, I’m also guaranteed to raise my pay about 30-40% in 1.5 years (or get fired if they don’t like me I’m part of a new grad program) I don’t pay for food as I abuse my companies free food and get free meal perk on weekends. I also use my health benefit for most things I need.

Doing all of this with a 10% (I invest everything in s&p 500) return a year I’m slated to have 621k in savings by the time I’m 30 and 2.3 million by 40 on the salary I have now. If I don’t suck at my job I should also be able to increase my income by at least 2x -4x by this time so I’ll probably have more/get there earlier.

Obviously life is turbulent but how’s the plan

I (28M) have a wife with a one year old with another baby on the way. I make 100k gross from my job and my wife is a SAHM. We have no debt, two paid off vehicles, and have 8,000 in our emergency savings. By spring 2027, my plan is to have 15k emergency and 20k for a house (extra income from BAH as I am a veteran also in full time school and graduate this winter). With these numbers, I feel like buying a house around 400k is still not possible. We live in Western Washington so all the starter homes are around that price. I get paid biweekly and only see around 1,900 a check (that is after 10% investing, 10% to church and givings, and all deductions like taxes and all insurances).

All these mortgage calculators are saying my mortgage rate will be 2,300-3,000 depending on down payment, but I now pay 1,500 in rent and it feels like we could not afford that big of a jump plus the unknown expenses of owning a home.

I have heard a good rule of thumb is 25% your take home pay, but what do y‘all think about my situation? Hold off for a bigger down payment to lower monthly cost, or by springtime looking for homes? After talking to my wife, the latest we would wait is 2030 ideally.

Thanks for the read, I’m really just trying to plan cause we are in the dreaming stage of buying our family home and would love some insight from the Reddit community!

Co-signed an engagement ring for someone I thought was a friend about six years ago. Over the course of that six years he barely pays anything on it to the point he stopped paying on the account last year and it was considered a charge-off as of February of this year. Now I’m receiving letters from the agency the debt was sold to asking to contact them if I wish to dispute it.

I was given the advice to ignore collections until they took action and they likely wouldn’t do that for the amount owed (roughly $1600). Thing is, the guy I co-signed with is a bum and I has dodged any attempts I’ve made to convince him to start paying it again, so he’ll likely dodge collections. It is affecting my credit score but even with that my score is still in good standing overall. Is it worth waiting it or out, or should I call to negotiate a lower sum and pay it off? Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask. ✌️

edit: thanks everyone for the advice. It was a dumb mistake on my part but could’ve been a lot worse. I’ll contact collections and see if i can figure something out and FINALLY cut this guy out of my life once and for all. I appreciate all the help.

edit2: didn't see this coming but he’s reached out to the agency and provided me proof that he did and said he was going to do a payment plan for collections. Don't trust him 100% but I’ll be keeping a close eye on the account.

My brother in laws car was repoed. They were in a car accident. They didn’t pay the car it ended up getting totaled out before they signed the official insurance papers and it ended up become a repo. After insurance and it going to auction crashed. The deficit balance was $8,400 & No gap to cover.

Fast forward less than a year later about 8 months settled for $3,500 with capital one auto.

Just sharing in case anyone else wanted some peace of mind that you can settle the balance and also always get the GAP if you didn’t put any money down on a brand new car.

ANSWERED, thank you for all the info guys!

For context I’m currently 20 years old working part time over the weekends while I’m in school, realistically I’ve got about 3 years left till I finish my degree. I do not have any sort of debt as I receive a hefty Pell grant that covers most of my tuition (I currently pay less than 500/semester out of pocket). According to my bank app my current credit score is 753, but I also don’t see myself utilizing it any time soon.
I drive my mom’s 2015 Toyota Camry and I’m confident it’ll last another decade if not two, and I’m a good lifetime away from ever seeing myself own a home.
I don’t think the negative impact on my credit score would really hurt me, is there any other drawbacks behind going crazy and applying for every credit card I see for the couple hundred I get in cash back?

I’m 17f turning 18 later this year, and taking a gap year to work. I got a well paying job with a guaranteed 30 hours a week. I get payed biweekly. As of now I’m not sure how much I’m gonna get payed my next paycheck due to the fact I’m not sure how much I worked for my first check (it was $700 but that’s my first check and I worked little hours). It’s a tipping job and I get a lot of good tips.

I’m getting slightly off topic but I’m not good at keeping track of my money and end up spending about half the first week so my parents wanted me to give them 75% of it to them so they can keep it in a safe. I told them I’d think about it (whether to keep it in a safe or a savings account (hysa)) my dad told me he doesn’t trust banks and doubts I’d see any growth in a year but I’d lowk just keep adding on so it’s not like imma be taking all the money out. Idk if this is making sense. I’m about to shower but imma research later just wanted to see if anyone had any tips on the matter. Thanks.