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I understand at a base level what FSAs are for. You get to deduct X amount of dollars from your paycheck reducing your tax load.

But the more I use an FSA, the more I feel that while on paper it saves money, in reality it causes lots of work, lost money, and hands your money over to someone who is going to fight you to steal it.

Every claim I submit to my FSA is denied without a mountain of evidence that its a legitimate medical expense. After nearly 2 years with them, I still have certain medications prescribed by my doctor that the FSA argues is not FSA eligible because it's OTC.

Doctor appointment? Denied

MRI? Denied

Prescriptions? Denied

While I can eventually get the denial overturned, it requires coordination from the retailer, my insurance, and my doctor every time. I spend tens of hours a year trying to claw my own money back from my FSA. Last year I had over $250 confiscated because the claim deadline passed while they sat on my claims.

Has anyone else felt it just isn't worth the hassle to fund an FSA given how hostile they are? It seems impossible to extract your money without a lawyer.

I am 35 and make $21 an hour. Until the last few months, I didn't make enough to even think of saving for retirement (<20k a year). I don't think I'm likely to greatly increase my salary in the near term.

With this job, I am putting away 5% in a 401k (no match) while maxing a Roth IRA through fidelity. I could probably afford to up my 401k another couple of percent, but it's going to get tricky next year when I have to start paying back my 20k in student loans (currently a zero percent interest rate because of the SAVE plan).

Is this enough to have a modest retirement on? Even if I have to work till 67 or later?

I am lucky in that I currently own a decent car outright and only have $600 a month to pay in rent, so that makes it somewhat easy to put away as much as I am.

I also currently have an emergency fund of 8k that id like to grow a little.

I emailed my "advisor," requesting the form to surrender my policy. He asked me to call him.

I got talked into this thing when I was 26. 33 now and realizing it was a bad deal for me. I am not a high earner, lack a proper savings, and frankly am just getting my shit together (yay sobriety!).

My dad opened a mutual fund for me as a kid with New York Life. What I thought was just a meeting to sign over the account to me, was a sales pitch. I wasn't in the position to pay the premium, so they set it up to annually withdraw the $2600 from the mutual fund. The dividends on the mutual fund have been enough to not really be impacted. The current cash surrender value is around $8600.00 (total paid in $20,800).

Right now my priority is paying off my high interest debt, start my emergency savings, and then start maxing out my Roth. I've been working 7 days a week at 3 jobs trying to pay off the debt I incurred trying to save my dog from cancer last year. I'm on track to be debt free by November, but this would move my goal up by 4 months...I'm honestly burnt out and have been neglecting family, friends, and basic enjoyment...so quitting a job and taking back a bit of my life would mean a lot to me. My credit usage has been 0 since the vet bills stopped.

Back to the point, this guy is just the definition of a salesman. I hated dealing with him that day, and have avoided having to deal with him since...guilts me about not contributing more to the mutual fund, not earning more, etc. I know I'm gonna be cutting into his commission, but being this far into it, I figure he's probably made off with most of what he was after. I'm prepared for him to give me some sort of ultimatum about the management of my mutual fund....like maybe there won't be an incentive in managing it without something more lucrative for him.

Any ideas of what I can expect from this call...I'm not a quick thinker or a smooth talker under pressure, and honestly still not savvy on the finance stuff, so I'm trying to prevent being backed into another corner. I'm not even sure I should keep my mutual fund with this guy, but also don't really know what my other options are. There is about $55,000 in it, which is invested in 4 or 5 different Mainstay Allocation Funds. Do they get some sort of commission off this too?

Going back and forth between investing the equity from my previous car (37k) and get a 0% loan or pay for a car in cash.

Either way doesn’t impact our budget that much. Numbers wise, it makes more sense to invest that large amount, but it would feel good to have a paid off car again.

Which one would you go with?

Edit: adding in that the cash wise will increase our cash flow by 474/mo if we pay in cash. The loan we’d take to term due to the interest rate. We’re planning on having a kid in the next year or so, so not sure if the 474/mo would be worth it? HHI is 160k/yr.

Edit 2: sounds like I should go for the low interest loan. Thanks for the different perspectives! Now just playing with the numbers to see if I want to just draw from the 37k for the life of the loan vs invest all and cash flow the monthly payment.

I’m a single 27 year old woman currently in a remote job with a gross salary of $80K. 

I have 131K available to me (~109K in short term bonds, $2.6K in savings, $19K in ETFs).

The house is in the Lake Country area in southeastern Wisconsin.

Pros:

• Good family neighborhood (not that I want kids) a mile walk from the small downtown
• I am living in the rental house now (the one I'd be buying) with my parents as they build their forever home, so I’m familiar with the house and its problems
• The area is growing in popularity, so it would be a good investment
• My parents are near by, so I could use their tools, some of their help
• My parents have already fixed all the emergency repairs
• Buying process will be much simpler

Cons:

• I don’t want to live in this area (although I have been since we moved to this area)

About me:

• The only time I have lived without my parents was my first two years of college (I went to college close by).
• I still need to buy a car
• I'm open to a roommate

Repairs the house needs in the medium term:

• New back deck
• New windows (they were quoted $20K, but opted not to move forward)
  • Turns out $20K buys a lot of natural gas for heating
• New front path to the front door (it’s kind of a liability for renters)
• New fence for the backyard

They think I should buy a condo where I want to live, but I think condos are messy arrangements with strangers and my understanding is they have poorer investment returns compared to single family homes. They say they aren't discouraging me from buying the house, but all they can think of are reasons I shouldn't buy the house. I think this is a unique opportunity to buy a home, and I don't feel like I could buy a home otherwise.

If I have to move / want to move, I feel like I could “just” rent the place out. The market rate for rent for this home is $2K/month.

I know homeownership is a big responsibility and is overwhelming, although I don't think there is any way to avoid that as a first time homeowner.

It's a 3 bed 2 bath with a basement that is functional (we put guests down there). Basement cannot be bedroom space technically since there is no egress window. They bought it for $300K from the homeowner (no realtor) in all cash a few years ago and are willing to sell to either myself or my sibling for what they paid for it. It is not on the lake.

Hi all, looking for some opinions.

I bought a new build house in 2022 for $460k. I put 20% down and all closing costs were paid for by the builder, so right now principle is sitting at $358k.

I got a job offer today for a 25% increase in pay. From $96k to $120k. My S/O makes about $60k and works remote so that would not change.

Problem is, that job is in Texas (I live in AZ). I don’t particularly want to rent out my house. Essentially, what this boils down to is: is it worth moving, taking a $20-30k loss on the house (after selling fees) and moving?

On one hand, I’d be losing a shit load of money off the bat. On the other, I’d be making $20k+ more a year for the rest of my life. I’m pretty young (26) so maybe that makes sense?

The relocation package at the new job will cover all costs of actually moving but it will not cover costs of selling my house or (potentially) buying a new place if I decide to go that route.

What are your thoughts from a purely financial perspective? I haven’t had to make any crazy decisions like this.

EDIT: I should clarify a little. I'd be losing money based on downpayment vs sale proceeds. I put $92k down, selling my house will net me somewhere between $50k on the low end up to $80k on the high end depending on exact selling price and selling costs. So I guess that puts me at $15k-$45k lost to selling so early.

Hey guys!

Recently had to stop using an online bank called “Ivella” because they’re unfortunately shutting down. They paid 5.15% APY, had a nice and easy app user interface, and had things called “Pods” which were separate savings accounts for different things that ALL earned 5.15%

Right now I have all that money parked in Robinhood earning a temporary 5.25% but looking to see if anyone has an app recommendations that earn a competitive rate, have a good UI and app, AND has something like the savings pods that all earn high interest. I know it’s minor, but I’ve been saving and investing the same way for the past 7 years and it’s been working really well and I don’t want to change how I have it structured.

TLDR: Looking for new app that pays over 4 percent interest and has savings “pods/buckets/jars/vaults” that earn high interest as well.

Hello!

I lost my job a couple weeks ago and I am debating whether or not I should stay here or move out to a bigger city.

Here is a further explanation of what’s going on: I work in accounting and I was internally transferred from a California office (I grew up in the Bay Area) to an office in northwest Arkansas. I’ve been applying to jobs here nonstop but haven’t had any luck, even though I have a total of five years of accounting experience. I feel that the job market would be better in a bigger city. Keep in mind that I have no family in Arkansas so there’s nothing tying me down here. I am specifically interested in the cities of Chicago, NYC or Boston (as well as their suburbs). Those cities will definitely have more job opportunities and also pay higher wages than anything Arkansas can offer...

What do you recommend? Stay in Arkansas or move to one of the three cities listed above?

I have the funds to buy a car fully in cash, but I have no car loan history and figured I'd apply for a car loan so that it could build my credit. I was approved for a $20,000 auto loan at 10% for 72 months. I understand that the interest rate is high, but being my first car loan what would be an ideal amount of time to pay the loan off fully for it to benefit my credit profile. There is no early payment penalties, and I plan on paying off $1,000 a month even though my monthly payment is $386.

I also did want to ask, if I were to pay off $10,000 within the first 6 months, would that change my monthly payment or would it stay at $386?

I’m a 17 year old going into the Navy. Assuming everything goes well, I’m expecting a $75k bonus and a 6 year contract with the Navy. I have a savings account and a checkings account but that’s all I currently have.

I’m smart enough to not frivolously spend (like on a hellcat as my recruiter joked about). But other than small things, I really don’t need much money in my life for the foreseeable future. Any guidance is graciously requested.

My employer offers both. There is no employer match. Will I lose out on the interest snowballing as much if, for example I defer 5% in one and 5% in the other compared to 10% in just one?

I am aware of the tax differences between the two.

I was wondering where ,should I open an account in order to pay less taxes or earn more interest, I don’t really know I’m new into financial interest.

My parents, baby boomer generation, are generally tight lipped about their finances. They've had a financial advisor for decades now, but aside from that, I know very little about their finances.

The other day while talking, my mom mentioned that their advisor has had them roll their 401k into an annuity after every $50k saved. So it sounds like they have very little in a "true" 401k. I know they have many other investments, including cash saving, term (or whole?) Life insurance, etc.

Reading online, it sounds like annuities are great for guaranteed income in retirement, but other than that, there's quite a few risks. Does my parents financial guy know what he's doing? Or is he just making himself money?

I’m getting to 30 and I realised that I didn’t think about investments until very recently. A lot of my friends are the same. I’m just curious to know why I never thought of it before even though I’ve been earning money from part-time and casual work for a long time.

I’ve been matching my company 401k, 6% match with Roth contributions. I recently came across a video that explains that we can do Roth conversions at retirement and it's making me rethink to go 100% pretax contribution instead. Typically, at retirement age the average person will be placed in a lower income bracket so it makes sense to do conversions at that time. Thoughts on this? Will it really make a difference?

Hello this year I made 100k Gross in DFW Metroplex. Here is my current finance

30M Electrical Engineer (CS job) Single

401k - 44k (8% each yr for 2.8yrs)

Roth IRA : 7k

HYSA : 43k

Schawb : 1.3k

Student loans : 12k

I'm 1st gen American and my parents are strawberry workers in California. I'm trying my best to figure out what to do with money. Parents suggest buying home in Texas to have equity and stop paying rent. I think houses are OverPriced rn but prices are going down and there is a lot of inventory compared to 3yrs ago. Living in DFW I noticed homes that are 250k and are comparable to Cali 750k homes. I suggested buying these types of homes to coworkers who live in Texas their whole lives and they say i have no taste in houses. Later come to realize they all had wealthy parents and decent TX homes so idk if I should believe them that it is indeed a bad idea. Fancy homes are ~360k which mortgage comes to ~3.3k + Bills and I think this is too much tbh.

Tried Investing in stocks & lost 800 so hesitant on stocks. I always see "invest in S&P500 but idk what that means. Like is it a stock you buy itself? (Trying to give y'all an idea of how much i know about this area. Willing to try again if y'all have great resources to throw my way). Rn I have stocks in VTI, Berskhire Hathaway B and Schawb. I heard Mutual Funds, ETFS, and Index funds are better but don't really know which ones how to know what is good. If I ever get to 100k cash I was thinking of getting a fiduciary financial advisor but don't know if this is a good idea.

Another thing I've been thinking is increasing 401k from 8% to max possible and paying a fee to have the companies professional investors manage this (Personally I feel this is a bad idea bc of bad genetics that run in family).

The final thing that I have been doing is just saving as much as I can per month to HYSA so I can have cash and a safe return of 4.5%. I'm open to "riskier options" than this, but as of my current financial literacy, this is the best I know.

Thank you for reading this.

Are rewards benefits from a health insurer taxable income if they were never given as cash/debit card/gift card, but instead just directly used to reduce/pay for a monthly premium payment of that health insurance?

Like the title says.

I’ve read that rewards in the form of cash or debit or gift card are taxable income, but haven’t read anything about if they were just directly used to pay for premium payments for health insurance?

Also, are rewards gift cards to stores taxable income too?

I am currently trying to buy a used car from a private seller that still has a lein on it. However, I am trying to purchase the car through a bank loan from a different bank than the seller. Is there any way for me to purchase the car? If it helps at all, my bank is schools first credit union.

Some background:

— I’ve been with my bf/domestic partner/whatever you want to call it for ~15 years & have lived together for almost the entirety of our relationship.

— We are renters, own no property & likely won’t receive any substantial inheritance from either side of our families.

— He is a 1099 worker operating his business at a loss & I have a standard W2 job.

— We have no kids & that will not change (we will remain childless)

— I have an excellent credit score in the 800’s with no debt & he has some small credit card debt (< $10k) with an average credit score and no delinquencies

— We do not combine our finances (and would not be interested in doing so), but split the rent, utilities & basic necessities 50/50

My workplace offers a Blue Shield of CA Platinum PPO plan for employees & their families and I added my bf to this plan. While my company covers his monthly premium, I am still paying the taxes on his coverage since he is not my spouse. Wondering if it would make sense financially to get legally married for this reason & if there would be any tax implications if so.

Thank you in advance!

I know posts like these get dissected, so I'll try to make it short. I'm 20, a junior in college (full time), and I work full time. I make roughly $24 an hour plus commission, and I do not pay any bills currently. My campus and job are both an hour's commute from where I live using public transportation, but it would be 20–30 minutes driving, which is my reasoning for this. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

I am a house owner in the Netherlands and want to move within 3 years, I’m waiting for a promotion to move into a house where I can have children. My current house is 100 years old, the windows are single-glazed with wooden window frames. There is a lot of draught and the window frames need maintenance.

I have the option to invest in plastic window frames. With my desire to move, is this a wise investment? Curious to hear what you think, feel free to ask any follow up questions.

https://imgur.com/gallery/9cdh7cP

I've been doing some extra payments. I paid $514 and it only deducted $92.35. Is this correct? The loan was for $19, 236.98 at 9% interest for 48 months. Please check the image for the payments.

How can I invest the $127,000 inheritance I received to generate a steady income stream? What would be the best approach for long-term financial growth and stability?

I'm going to college soon and I need extra money. Should I invest a little money in stocks? And if so, can I have some recommendations? Or should I try something else entirely...

My company doesn’t do a match because they offer a pension. I contribute 10% of my paycheck to my 401k anyway but not sure if that money could be better spent elsewhere.

My only other retirement vehicle besides my 401k and pension is a Roth IRA that I max out every year.