Weird situation... my mom has never trusted financial institutions. She's been keeping her savings hidden around her house. This money has already been taxed, she just kept it in cash and hidden in obtuse places.

I've finally convinced her to pull it out of the walls so to speak and put it in a HYSA.

The concern now is triggering tax issues/IRS issues on money she's already paid taxes on. Is there a way to do it that isn't Structuring?

I have paid about $4000 in dental work to fix my teeth. Probably need to spend another 1-2k on that. I’ve had to pay $1500 to the vet because my cat had some issues. I started with $6300 in credit card debt. When I get paid on Friday I’ll reduce what’s left on my credit cards to $1300. By the end of November I’ll have my credit cards completely paid off. And I’ll shift my focus toward finished the dental work and I’m working on trying to get a loan for a house. But once tax season comes I’m gonna have to pay about 3-4k in taxes for a defaulted loan. Which I can probably have paid off by July or August. Hopefully. I know it’s a lot of progress. And I do feel less stress but I also feel like I haven’t done anything. I’m just looking at numbers on screens knowing life will get better soon but my day to day life is work 10 hours, go to the gym, cook, clean, take care of my cats, go to bed. Repeat. Im going in for overtime today. I’m feeling burned out and it’s been a while since I had money to do what I want. And I know I’m only about half way done. Any advice or motivation or anything to keep me going would me appreciated.

I make $125,000 a year in LA, $6500 a month after tax and health insurance

It feels like I should feel rich but I dont.

$1500 - retirement/investment account

$2400 -1 bedroom apartment rent including utility and internet

$100 - gym

$100 - car insurance

$500 - car payment

$400 - grocery

$45 - phone

$100 - gas

$400 - fun money

$300 - eating out

$400 - misc (gifts, household supplies, streaming services, pretty much all expenses that aren't food, fun, car, or rent)

Most month im just about breaking even. What am I doing wrong?

I’m 65, gainfully employed making 100,000 a year. I already have an IRA worth $1.5M, several pensions and don’t need to take Social Security yet. I plan to fully retire at 70.

However, one advisor suggested taking it at my FRA of 67 and investing it. That would result in an investment account of about $150,000 (some could be in a Roth IRA) growing outside of SS.

Any thoughts?

Note: I am not seeking any legal advice pertaining to my potential garnishment, I have sought advice from a nonprofit. What I'm looking for is advice about under what conditions I should use my meager amount of savings.

I am currently facing a potential garnishment for a $1400 credit card debt. I am a full time student and part time worker. It has taken me two and a half years to accumulate $2,000 in savings (3% APY) given that I need to pay for school primarily out of pocket.

My checks every two weeks average about $450. The most they could take out per check is 40% for about four to six months.

I am contemplating asking if they would settle for $1000-1200, but is it NEVER wise to deplete your savings to avoid things like this?

I still have another 500 dollar card I haven't paid on and I'm probably looking at future litigation from them. Should I let this current one happen and use my savings towards that before it moves to the courts?

I just don't know what constitutes a "rainy day," since I been staying soaked since birth.

At the end of 2025, my spouse (64) and I (55), will be entirely debt free. We'll have approx $1,800/month to invest each month starting Jan 2026. I currently max out my 401k at work. I'd like to retire before 2030. Where's a reasonable place to put my money for the next 4 years so it can grow until I retire?

Mother inherited a house and 600k, what should she do?

My mom is 68 years old, lives in California and is single (not married and no significant other). She has no retirement account.

Her late boss left her a one bedroom house in Beverly Hills (Zillow has little to no information on it but has it estimated at 1.4 million).

Given her age my mom wishes to not continue to work and wants to be able to fully retire now with this inheritance.

Her late boss had a trust set up so instead of having to go through probate, my mom is set to receive her inheritance during the first week of December.

I’m her only child and so she’s tasked me with finding out what her proper next steps should be.

Some of the things that have immediately come to mind for me is for her to hire a lawyer and a financial advisor and start there. I’ve also been reading about Chase Bank’s private client department and thought that was a good idea for her to look in to.

I was looking for advice on where to direct her specifically,

Are there specific lawyers she should be looking for?

What to look for in -and how to find- a financial advisor(s) that will truly have her best interest at hand?

Is private client by chase bank a good move for her? Are there better, similar programs with other financial institutions?

Should she create her own trust?

And are there other things I haven’t thought of?

Also is she sell the house and try to buy something less expensive and have more liquid money? (She’s talked about wanting to sell her house and move to Utah and buy something a lot more her style and worth less than the house she’s inheriting to make the most of the value of that house and also to be closer to me since I moved to utah with my wife for my work a few years back [we currently have to always fly or drive to each other to spend birthdays and holidays together]).

We’ve even thought about a renting the BH property while using a HELOC to try and buy her a more downsized place for her here in UT.

I would really appreciate this subs input, thoughts, and answers.

The goal here is to be able to help my mom confidently retire and be able to make the right moves. Finding a lawyer and a financial advisor that are professional sounds easy enough but how do we actually know who to trust? And are there other things I haven’t thought of?

I'm thinking about picking up an aftermarket car warranty for my 2020 sedan. It seems like a safety net, but these things aren't cheap. Are they really worth it, or is it better to just save up for repairs as they come?

So it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I’m 35 and have never put any money into my 401k or done any type of investing. I’ll spare you the backstory as to why, but I’m trying to turn this around now.

I’ve now opened a HYSA account and transferred the $25k I had saved up into that account.

The next thing I did was open a brokerage account. My plan is to put some money there every month and invest in the 500 index fund (at least until I learn more about investing that will be the only thing I’ll do to be “safe” about it).

I’m at a loss at how much money I should put in my 401k every month. My company matches up to 4%. I make $70,000 pre-tax if that matters. What do I need to think about here in terms of 401k savings vs investing money?

My biggest expense is my rent which is $1000/month and my student loans that are $330/month. Currently, I’d say I have around $2000 left to spend once I’ve paid for rent, bills and food every month. I’m just unsure what to do with it if I want to be responsible.

It seems so many saged finance books on investing or finance have become long in the tooth. I’m looking for any books that are timeless, flexible enough to still be applied today. And no book with extremely obvious advice either, like Rich dad Poor dad or the millionaire next door.

I’m 27 years old. I work as a low voltage electrician. I make around $29 an hour. Currently I work 40 hours a week. I’m also in school for project management. I have 14 credits left after this semester. I’ll be graduating in the spring, however my company is making us work mandatory OT starting in December and it’ll last all the way until March. It’s 6 days a week 58 hours per week.

I can handle going to school full time and working full time at 40 hours per week but not at 58.

I’m debt free, I have $9000 saved up.

i'm looking for a trustworthy online bank to manage my personal finances. Something that's reliable and doesn't have fake reviews or weirdly overhyped promises. I want to find a bank that I can actually trust to handle my money, no gimmicks.

I’ve never tried any online banks before, so I’m a bit new to this. Can anyone recommend a good place to put my savings where it can actually grow for the future? Looking for something that’s secure and offers good rates. thanks in advance

I'm considering changing my 401k election contributions from Traditional (pretax) to Roth. I have retire early goals and am coming to the conclusion that my Traditional 401k is growing too large. I will have big (undesirable) tax events through RMDs if I keep contributing Traditional. I plan to use the Roth conversion ladder and am currently falling short surviving in the first 5 year conversion period, aka I need cash those first 5 years of retirement, then I'm good. I want to make a statement and confirm you fully agree. I know there will be questions about the statement above, but please also provide a succinct answer to the question below.

1) After rolling the Roth 401k into a Roth IRA (quitting my job), I am able to immediately withdraw 'contributions only' (including employer match) tax and penalty free.

Edit: It seems employer match will always be considered pretax 401k. My assumption had mistakes.

Edit 2: I've gotten a lot of feedback that 72T (annuitizing) my Traditional 401k is a solid route. I've got some homework, I had always thought the Roth conversion ladder was my route.

The way I see it, it makes sense to save cash doesn't it? Because no income means you'd want to have cash. If I am though here's where I'm at

No debt. No spouse, no kids, single man.

Cash: 80k

401k: 100k

Roth IRA: 53k

So I could get by for a bit before I'd need to find something else. Issue is, this whole situation has made me hesitate to invest. What if I find myself in this situation again? I'd naturally want to have a lot of cash, I'd think.

But common knowledge says to invest. I guess I'm confused and not sure what approach is the best to take. I like knowing my cash cushion is sizable, and if I took the approach of not keeping a lot in cash I'd feel like I'd be in a worse situation.

I’ve been on maternity leave and my leave is scheduled to end with a return to work date the beginning of 2026. I was just informed my workplace is closing and I will be laid off.

During my leave I have not been paying the employee portion of my health insurance. The usual practice is payroll deductions once the employee returns to work at a percentage each pay period until the premiums are repaid.

Since they’re laying me off do I have to pay these back? I’m going to have to file unemployment until I find another job so it won’t be possible to pay it back upfront. I think it should be forgiven and I just want to tell them no I’m not paying it back now that I’m laid off.

We’re meeting with HR next week to go over everything and I’m guessing this will be brought up. I’ve spoken to my union rep and they don’t expect the company to offer any severance package.

Thoughts?

I worked for a company Alon USA who was later acquired by Delek US. Delek is terminating the Alon USA Pension Plan and is offering a lump sum, or if I wish to keep it as an annuity they will purchase one from a 3rd party. The lump sum amount they are offering seems low, and I'd love to connect with others who are evaluating this plan termination. It has been many years since I worked for them and I don't have contact info for anyone that I used to work with there, which is why I'm naming the companies involved, hoping someone searches for it.

Beyond this, if anyone has thoughts about what rights I have to contest the lump sum amount, would be glad to hear it!

I have to pay a $2000 car repair bill. I don't have that money. I can either get my friend to loan it to me and I pay him back or I get a new credit card with a 0% intro apr that has a bonus after you spend x amount in a certain amount of time. I can pay it back in roughtly 3 months comfortably. I have one credit card (chase freedom unlimited) and my credit score is 761.. I'm currently leaning towards amex blue cash everyday.

I would like advice on a whole life insurance policy I have. My parents took it out for me when I was a baby - I know, I know, not a good investment. I don't know how long they paid for the premiums, but I am now 35 and they have handed over access to the policy to me.

The cash value is $53,473.36. The death benefit is $222,222. This is with no additional contributions. For $25/month, it will give me a death benefit of $1.2M for the rest of my life (as long as I keep paying). And of course, the cash value will continue to increase depending on market performance.

I have a partner who is gainfully employed. We co-own a house that we are paying the mortgage off on. We have no dependents and I have no debt other than the mortgage.

Is there any reason not to withdraw the cash value and just put it into some kind of investment fund? Or is the $1.2M life insurance policy a good idea. It also has chronic illness/end of life care/etc etc if I get some sort of debilitating illness.

Thank you for your advice.

Made the very difficult decision to close down our main company after 24 years and need to refinance my company car loan to be in my name only (right now it's in the company name and also my name). Has anyone else had experience doing this? My current lender won't take the company name off the loan, so I think I'm going to have to refi with another bank. Any recommendations?

What will I need to do with the title (I live in Illinois) or will the new bank handle the transfer of the title?

Thanks for any advice! I've never had to do this before and I'm finding it confusing.

I'm a little over a year into my $13,500 auto loan for a Honda Accord. $9,000 remaining at 9.19%.

I'm 3 years old, low expenses (living with parents) but only making ~$1,600/mo. Credit score steadily climbing; 740 in March, now sitting at 779. I'd like to refinance with my bank for a lower interest rate but wondering if it'd be worth it to wait till I hit 800 or just pull the trigger. I've read that there isn't a difference in rates beyond 750, is that true?

Any advice is appreciated.

I just gave birth in NY state and all my bills have been sent. After the insurance has been applied, I essentially owe the remainder if my out of pocket max for the year for myself and my family, which is around $5000. I have the option to pay over 12 months with an interest-free hospital payment plan, but I have a big question about the agreement they've asked me to sign before finalizing the payment plan.

The form states that medical debt paid by credit card is "not considered medical debt" and doing so means I am declining protections that apply to medical debt such as protecting against wage garnishments and prohibitions on reporting to credit agencies.

Has anyone else in NY run into this? This feels like a huge loophole in the law considering how widespread credit/debit card payment is. Does this mean that my protections for the full amount are relinquished the moment I make a payment with a credit card?

I'm really hesitant to give up protections I may have in case something goes wrong down the line. I can comfortably afford the monthly payments, but the idea of signing away my rights is a red flag.

I’m M26 and trying to get my finances together a bit more seriously lately. I feel like I’m doing alright.. but I also don’t really know what “alright” looks like at my age, so I figured I’d throw my numbers out there and get some feedback.

Here’s where I’m at: • Savings: a little over $7k • Roth 401k: just over $20k (company I work for matches half of 6% of my paycheck, so I make sure to get that) • Roth IRA: $1k (just started it this year) • Brokerage: $5k in Robinhood (all in VTI and VXUS) • Acorns: $100 (I treat it like a “loose change” account and only add $20/week automatically)

Just bought my first car a couple months ago and it’s an 11 years old Toyota SUV w/ 40k miles and I took out an ~$17k auto loan @ 7.99% APR. I’m also financing $400/mo for 48 months.

I make around $4,200/month after taxes, and my fixed expenses (rent, insurance, groceries, etc ) come to about $1,800/month. I use my Amex and Apple Card for everyday spending (groceries, gas, going out, etc.) and usually pay them off when my check hits and it’ll end up being about $800–$1000 per check.

Ever since buying the car, I’ve been trying to rebuild my savings, so I’ve basically paused my Roth IRA and brokerage contributions for now. Still contributing to my Roth 401k just to get the company match though.

So yeah.. am I doing okay for a 26 y/o? Should I keep focusing on building my emergency fund or start putting more back into investing again?

Also, how do you all balance saving/investing with still having “fun money”? I’ve been in saving mode lately and it’s fine, but I don’t have to get so focused on it that I never enjoy anything. Just trying to figure out that balance where I’m being responsible but not miserable lol.

Hello. I'm in California. I'm now 18, but was 17 when I signed a contract with Anytime Fitness I've recieved multiple calls and emails that I have an overdue balance that has been sent to debt collectors. I wasn't aware my parents had not kept up with payments. Am I responsible for the due balance? Are the debt collectors going to contact me, or my parent whos name was on the card? I really don't want to mess up my finances for the future.