Originally Posted by eDave:
Having a family hurts savings initiatives. Notice the stark increase once the kids are out of the house and college is paid for. Still not a lot but enough to survive an emergency. I suspect those older peeps are invested.
I don't have $17K in savings and I'd consider myself in a great place financially.
I am assuming that graph includes retirement accounts as "savings?" Read the bottom of the graph. So this graph is including cash and investments, right? Which is fucking scary! [Reply]
Originally Posted by lewdog:
All of this is so mind blowing to me.
And no offense Hometeam, I think you clearly stated you weren't great with money, but it blows my mind someone can rack up debt like that in a housing area this is so cheap ($85k mortgage?). This seems to be a common trend across the country though.
I wouldn't worry about investing in anything outside of your 401k since you have never had one and have nothing saved for retirement. Take the highest contribution you can that maxes your employer match. Bump up your contributions after that according to getting your debt paid off. The 401k is a great investment vehicle for you to lower your taxable income on the higher salary.
When you have two 50k incomes with bills to match, and you lose one of those for four years, the other drops 10 grand, and you have a kid at the same time. Couple that with a edit: 16k bad business investment, and a 6k emergency, and its pretty easy.
Still have never missed a payment and have perfect credit. Plus I like to do racecar shit :/ [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi:
Not that this really matters as you shouldn't be opening new lines of credit anyway, but there's no way you have A+ credit carrying a balance equal to your yearly income.
I would be a tier 0 for any bank with a car loan, I am 750+ last I checked 3 months ago, I have quite a bit of debt, but I also have high limits and it has all come way down.
DTI was my only issue and that has now been erased. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Amnorix:
DaFace's post says it all in terms of the priority list. Get that CC paid off asap.
Once you pay off the CC and have started the matching 401(k), etc. what you would REALLY like to do is refinance the house and NOT pay PMI. This requires that you have paid down 20% of the house based on valuation. PMI is money out of your pocket solely for the benefit of the bank and is COMPLETELY BAD.
Here are your numbers:
So, what you're looking to do is (1) be certain it's worth $85K, and (2) cobble together $17K so you can refinance to get a loan for $68K at a LOWER interest rate and NO PMI.
That will save you quite alot every month. Based on your numbers, you already have $7K of that $17K, so you need $10K more to make it happen.
I am going to do this. I just switched jobs, so I want to get some time under my belt so I have something to show than a couple stubs, refi is high on my list. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
My understanding is that a credit rating isn't about your net worth or your ability to pay so much as it is your actual history of paying. A person with debt who pays on it unerringly is perceived as a very positive risk, even better than a person without debt who doesn't have a record of unerring payment.
This is it.
Banks knows I will pay. I havent missed a payment since I first took out a 500 limit card when I was 18. I have racked up and payed off tens of high dollar loans, and am way down from my total credit limits.
800+ credit vs 750 doesnt really mean anything when you look at the whole picture. The whole picture shows I pay, and they can make interest off me. They want to give me money.
Beyond that, my plan is to have my emergency fund in place by jan 1. I went ahead and did 6% on my 401k at the new job, but I dont get a match until 1 year, and im not vested until 5 :/
I have already been offered a raise at my new job, as I have taken on even more responsibilities than we initially thought, once we got into the heart of things and found out wtf was happening here behind the scenes. That raise goes into effect Jan 1 also. [Reply]
Originally Posted by hometeam:
I am going to do this. I just switched jobs, so I want to get some time under my belt so I have something to show than a couple stubs, refi is high on my list.
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Didn't you used to sell cars?
What are you doing now?
Im in the same industry. I took a management position as the head of the internet department (to put it loosely, but I wear many hats) for a 4 store dealership complex here in town. Officially I am the 'Internet Sales Director'.
Does it sound like a plan?
Real estate seems a more reliable investment in a long term as it is not affected by economic turmoil as much as stock markets. So you find somewhere in Barcelona apartments for sale since this city is crazily popular with tourists, buy it and rent it out on short term lease. Short term rentals promise decent returns - about 5-7% yields. Hiring a management company helps to avoid problems with finding new tenants. Its service costs 20−25% of the total rental revenue but the expenses will be rewarded with higher occupancy rates. Voila! You are rich (but maybe just after 15 years) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
PMI is a federal thing IIRC. Your house probably appreciated since you bought it and got you over the threshold. Credit score might have something to do with it but I'd bet the appraisal was what triggered it.
We discussed it before the house was appraised. It was one of the primary reasons we went forward with our refinancing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by hometeam:
Im in the same industry. I took a management position as the head of the internet department (to put it loosely, but I wear many hats) for a 4 store dealership complex here in town. Officially I am the 'Internet Sales Director'.
I just took massive action and signed up for reddit personal finance. It's that kind of massive action and desire and reading think and grow rich is why I am rich and wealthy. [Reply]
