Hello. I am 24, homeless, living in my car in a state where it's illegal to live in my car. I have used up all of my savings over the past couple months simply paying for gas, and food. I have applied everywhere I could. Mcdonalds, gas stations, you get the jist I hope. I am unhirable. I have tried joining the military, and I have been turned away from every branch. I've tried temp agencies, but because I am living in my car, they will not allow me to work because I have no address. I cannot pay for a box at the post office. I have tried EVERYTHING. I am on half a tank of gas. I have 0 friends and 0 family willing to help. I feel cornered into selling the car. I don't know what to do, I don't know if I am truly able to do ANYTHING. I have nothing of value I can sell. I have nothing.

Even if I manage to get enough money to cross state lines, where would I go? What can I even possibly do? I am severely autistic. It feels like to me that I truly have no options left at all. Please help.

Edit: I have considered everything everybody here has told me, and I will work to try and do better. I will be contacting various shelters, churches, and the sorts today for help and resources. I am going to apply for various jobs in Nashville, hopefully securing something. I will not be selling the car. I will be closing reddit for the time being while I do all of this and get my morning started, so I will no longer reply until much later. Thank you all for the help.

I know this sounds horrible and the straight forward answer is you don’t but I am looking to get a car as I will need one soon to get too and from work but am not in the best financial position currently.

My credit is a work in progress as of right now and currently my score is 537 due to several poor financial decisions in my early 20s, currently 24.

I was wondering what the best way to go about this is, what I will need in terms of a down payment, and lastly if a credit union or dealership would even let me finance?

Edit: my income is roughly 2300 a month but I have relatively no bills

Hello!

I'm at a loss for next steps and would appreciate some guidance.

Back in late May I took my daughter shopping, she tried to use the card on Apple Pay at the terminal. The transaction failed. It was not declined, it failed. The worker said to try again. I didn't have the physical card with me, so I pulled out my AmEx and used it to pay. My receipt shows it was paid by Amex.

In June, I noticed that the charge was on my Citibank card. that's the same charge that failed at the terminal. I have a receipt showing I paid with my AmEx. I started the dispute process with Citibank, and I could not find my original receipt at the time however I did have my AmEx statement showing the charge and then I had the Citibank statement showing the charge. that is what I turned in, and they went through their process and said that I was responsible.

I found my receipt took pictures, called Citibank and they said to submit the receipt, which I did. This opened another dispute, but this time the receipt was there with the date, store, exact amount, and showing it was paid with AmEx.

Today I see that they've said I'm responsible again. I'm quite irritated and want to escalate this. It's $132 that I've now paid twice.

What are my options?

This is my first dispute and I'm disappointed at how it's worked out, and I'm really frustrated with Citibank.

Thanks for any suggestions.

23,
82,000 in HYSA 5% interest (savings for a house deposit)
32k super (host plus)
1500-2000 (after tax) a week income depending on overtime
Salary sacrificing 5% of gross pay every week
Started investing 500-1000 a week (started this week) into stake investment account.
Wanting to maximise my money, should I keep all of the 82,000 in HYSA, or keep some and invest the rest? I won't be able to buy a house for at least a year until my rental agreement is finished.
Currently renting, 250 a week.

What should I do? Appreciate any insight/advice!

I just got hired at my new nursing job and noticed on my first paycheck that 6% was deducted for a 403(b). I honestly don't remember signing up for it, so I'm assuming I was automatically enrolled.

For now, I'm planning not to contribute because I have around $40k in federal/private student loans that I want to aggressively pay off first. I'd rather use that extra money from each paycheck toward my loans and start contributing to retirement again later.

The problem is I can't find anywhere on ADP Workforce Now to change my contribution to 0%. It doesn't show under Benefits, and searching “retirement” or “403(b)” doesn't bring anything up either.

Has anyone dealt with this on ADP? Do I need to contact HR/payroll to opt out, or is there a separate retirement portal where I can change the contribution?

Also, if I was automatically enrolled, can I just stop future contributions without closing the actual 403(b) account?

Thanks!

trying to figure out the actual process here, not the "is it worth it" question, i've already decided i'm doing it, more like the actual mechanics of how you put a case together. got my assessment notice about 2 weeks ago, assessed value is around $61k higher than what i actually paid for the house 14 months ago and ngl i just sat there staring at it for a good minute like there's no way that's right. now i've got the appeal form open in another tab and i'm stuck on what actually needs to go into the packet. does it usually require a formal licensed appraisal (which from what i'm seeing runs like 400 500 dollar depending on who you call, not cheap) or are recent comparable sales enough on their own if you can find close enough matches. and if comps are enough, how many is actually a case, is 2 too thin and you really want like 4 5, or does that depend on the county too bc every forum thread i find says something slightly different and none of them agree lol. also trying to figure out the deadline situation, my notice says something like 45 days from the date on the letter but i've seen people mention 30 day and 90 day windows elsewhere so i'm assuming that part isn't standardized at all and i should just go by exactly what my specific notice says instead of googling a general number and hoping for the best. mainly just don't want to submit a weak packet and get an automatic no on the first try when i could've just included one more comp or something obvious i didn't think of. tia to anyone who's actually done this

Hi,

I’m 16 with Capital One and my local CU, CU have a savings and a money market account, below is a tiered balance and I have about $1.7k in savings and I want to know if I should get a different account at 18, I used to use Capital One’s 2.50% account but I hate depositing cash and withdrawing cash in a store because it makes me feel unsafe. I also got my parents credit cards and HELOCs at the credit union as well.

I’ll also post their fee schedule here, of course blocking the name out.

I like my credit union because they give my paycheck 2 days early, I get check writing, my limits go up, if I deposit a check, I get all or partially the same day, I get instant issue debit or credit cards free at a branch (costs money to have it expedited to a residence, about $15-$25). My money market (Investor’s account) also gives free checks, checking account checks are like $29-$30 which isn’t terrible but my mom paid for them for me because she’s awesome like that.

Thank you all!

https://imgur.com/a/CS3JDnu

So I already have a bank account. While it is under my name, my parents always make me log in to view everything.

I’m in Canada and I want to make a bank account at a different place. As of now, I don’t have a proper job and just help with my family’s business.

I want to put aside small amounts of that money into a different bank account and save up. The goal is to get a job and move out

I have a few questions about that though

If I do open a bank account, how would I file taxes for that?

Since I’m not really getting paid properly, what do I tell the bank?

I feel like it would be weird to deposit small amounts of money without a proper reason

So couple things, I got a dental loan offer of 20k (420 bucks a month) to fix my teef. Nothing hurts yet, but it’s quite bad.

I have no debt, save 1000 a month and 500 for retirement out of my paychecks. Right now, I have 2000 in savings, but I was hoping to build to 10000 before reducing it and shoving the difference into retirement.

So essentially, if I cut a slice out of savings, or stop retirement contributions, I won’t be affected in my life other than having a lesser saving rate for a while.

With autopay and banking on my job being around, should I take the loan and fix my teeth or save until 20k and then do it when I have enough money

Not sure if this is the appropriate sub but I figured I would start here.

I work for the US division of a multinational corporation. My US company headquarters is in PA, I work In a sales/business development role “in the field” and I am based in Oregon. My company offers 3 months of paid leave as a benefit to its workers and I have recently utilized paid leave for Paternity leave following the birth of my second child. Prior to my child’s birth I contacted my company’s HR department in regard to taking leave and was instructed to submit a claim with our companies 3rd party leave management company. My plan was to split my 3 month leave in half, 6 weeks after the birth of my child and 6 weeks after my wife returns to work from her maternity leave. The 3rd party leave administrator contacted me regarding my split leave and at no point was I informed that I needed to contact the state “Oregon paid Leave” and submit a claim with them as well. I was only required to submit proof of birth of my child and my leave was approved. During the first 6 weeks I was paid normally via direct deposit from my company payroll. It was mentioned by my HR that my paystub would mention that pay was administered by the 3rd party leave admin. I returned to work after the first half of my leave this past week and was paid this Monday 8/31. My pay was a fraction of what was expected(I am salary). I contacted my HR contact that had been working with me to take leave regarding the pay discrepancy. They reached out to payroll and contacted me this afternoon and explained that I had been double payed and that because I was collecting leave from the state of Oregon(I haven’t collected a dime because I never submitted a claim) I now owe my company for the pay I collected during my leave. This call was the first mention that I needed to have contacted my state leave program. I have been instructed that I have until 12/15 to reimburse the company for the overpay and that I need to contact Oregon paid leave for a claim for the upcoming 6 weeks of leave. I feel extremely blindsided by all of this and don’t know what to do. I tried calling Oregon paid leave this afternoon but I was on hold for over an hour before giving up.

I spoke briefly with my boss regarding the matter. I’m not a super high earner but I owe my company 7800 dollars for what they are saying is over pay. This is my career and I’m worried about making a big stink. I guess I need to get the ball rolling with state leave but I’m worried that back pay will take long to be approved and my wages will be docked. I feel like my company and the 3rd party leave admin completely fucked up and I’m stuck holding the bag.

TLDR: I took company benefit paternity leave, company and third party admin approved leave without mention of needing to submit claim for Oregon paid leave. I was paid by company normally during leave, this last paycheck since returning to work was short and upon questioning payroll they realized they shouldn’t have paid me and are now expecting me to pay back wages for time on leave. I’m completely blindsided by this.

Any help or assistance is appreciated

I’m 21 and currently in college. A few years ago, I inherited some money from a relative who passed away. I put most of it into CDs, and my total savings/investments are now around $52k.

Currently, about 90% of my money is in CDs, which will mature within the next few months. I also have around $5k in checking/savings. My undergraduate expenses are covered by scholarships, and I don’t have much regular income right now. I typically receive around $2k per semester from scholarships after my expenses are covered. I also live with my family and am currently unemployed because I want to focus more of my time on my classes. I am taking all of my classes online which helps me from paying for gas.

I feel like having 90% of my money in CDs is probably too conservative given my age and the fact that I don’t expect to need most of this money anytime soon. Once the CDs mature, I’m considering investing around 40–60% of my total money into VOO and keeping the rest relatively safe and liquid.

Does that seem reasonable? How would you allocate the $52k in my situation? Is there anything else I should consider before investing a larger portion of it?

Hi all, I'm 30 year old and single living in a HCOL city in California. I make $140k base (not accounting RSUs and bonus).

I'm trying to decide if buying a home in the next 5 years is a smart financial decision if I want to increase my overall wealth portfolio. Should I reduce my retirement contributions to max out my Roth IRA and 401k match for the next 4-5 years and increase my overall salary to buy a home or continue renting and aim to max out my retirement accounts and just simply wait to buy a home? I work in tech as a product manager, but the job market is pretty volatile which makes me hesitant on buying a home as a single person.

Making big financial decisions as a single person has been weighing on me a lot ever since I've turned 30 so looking to this thread for any input or advice is welcomed!!

Number breakdown:

• No debt
• Aiming to increase salary to $180k-$200k
• Buy a home in the $800-$850k range
• 401k + Roth IRA: $280k
• Down Payment Liquid Cash (in HYSA): 75k
• Down Payment Invested: 82k

EDIT:

Path 1: Save for a home for 4-5 years

• Aim to save 275k for my down payment, emergency fund, closing costs
• Increase salary to $180k-$200k
• Save $11,200 for Roth IRA + 401k company match / my contributions

Path 2: Contribute only to retirement and continue to rent

• Max out 401k + Roth IRA

I just turnt 17 years old and since my brother discovered a bank account that our father left us(rip)
we are looking to get 70-100k each and i know i have to make the most of it somehow,its not life changing money to where i can just buy houses and live off the rent but its a good headstart,
I do not own a car and should probrably get one with that money
House needs some work
want to spend some on myself and going out,i dont find that hard bcus i dont really spend much,being broke teaches you a lot lol.
ill be reading yall any questions go ahead

I'm a 22 yr old female who within the last 2 to 3 years has struggled with being quite tight with finances.

I'm currently unemployed but studying full-time for a masters and job seeking (with limited luck). So overall my only income is investment returns and interest.

My outgoings are limited, with most going towards petrol and food, however I don't remember the last time I actually bought something for myself. Perhaps a $15 candle or something a few months ago.

I need new clothes and shoes but can't convince myself to spend the money as what I currently have is fine although ill-fitting.

The main issue likely stems from my account division being basically 100% to savings and taking anything out obviously feels horrible.

Anyway, the point is that I'm not sure how to balance savings and spendings appropriately.

It seems as if there's such a large splay within my generation of those excessively spending and those overly concerned about finances. I feel as though I'm missing out on enjoying things due to my constant concern over expenses as I'd love to travel and care more for myself without being excessive.

Has anyone dealt with something similar?

How did you manage it so that you don't feel guilty every time you spend on yourself?

Edit: For context, I have ~$20,000 in high-interest savings, investments, and overall liquid assets. Almost all my previous wages have gone into savings etc. My field is tough to get into post-grad so I'm currently in that annoying stage bridging study and long-term stable employment.

Hey all. I am 40, making 95k/yr with bonuses on top of that, but I’ll just stick to the 95k for now.

I am at 8% contribution to 401k with employer match of 100% up to 4% and then 50% up to 6%.

I also have my Roth IRA that I max out.

Car is almost paid off, have 4K left on that and it will be paid off in a total of 2 years, was really aggressive with the payments.

I have a HYSA with 10k in there.

What else should I be doing with my money to maximize any returns? I will also have an additional 700 a month to use once the car is paid off.

My wife makes about the same as I do, but she does not have any retirement set up. I feel like this could be some thing that needs to change and what could put us over the top.

Live in Illinois and taxes are outrageous otherwise I would be having a surplus of money to move around with.

Edit: have about 95k in Roth IRA and about 107k in 401k

I’m a male in my late 20s with a credit score of around 800. I own my car (2020 BMW X3) and live in Texas.
I have 3 incidents on my entire driving record:
- At-fault accident in 2017
- Speeding ticket in 2022
- Rear-ended (not at fault) in 2023

My current monthly premium with Progressive is $293. When I lived in California, I was paying around $150/month. Why did moving to Texas basically double my insurance premium?

Is Texas really that much more expensive for car insurance, or am I missing something?

And yes I shopped around, other companies quoted me similarly high rates

Hi I just got a big boy job with a 401k match that I plan to max out. My question is, why do many people suggest maxing out your Roth IRA after hitting your employers contribution match, wouldn't putting those extra 7k in the 401k increase your gains over time a lot more, since the 401k will have a larger amount of money. In 5 years 401k would have 70k from my contributions + employee match, then if I put the money I would out in a Roth IRA it would sit at 105k. Conversely, due to the cap the Roth IRA a would be sitting around 35k. So wouldn't the 401k be earning a lot more? Let me know if I'm missing anything.

Hey guys not sure what other group can really help me but as the title says my wife was getting personal training and after a injury she couldn’t really commit as much as she wanted too we requested a cancellation but we needed a doctors note and we kind of forgot about it until I checked my credit card statement saying they charged me 3 separate times we gave them the doctors note and now they’re saying we can’t refund it because the doctors note was turned it late

Edit: charges were on a credit card and reading our contract our basic only out was due to medical reasons

I’m working on paying off my credit-card debt, the interest rates are really high. After I pay all of my regular monthly expenses and minimum payments, I don’t have a whole lot left over to put toward the balances. I just started a new job that offers a 4% employer match on 401(k).

What would you do in this situation? Would you take the 4% match and pay the debt down more slowly, or skip the match temporarily and focus on the credit cards? I would appreciate any feedback or advice.

Hi everyone. I am a 41yo male in the US. I currently have about $42,000 in student loan debt, zero in savings or retirement, and no assets. I also have zero expenses. I am about to start a job which will allow me to live on the road and save/invest $90-100k a year for retirement. I was thinking that I should pay off my $42,000 debt first, of course, and then begin investing the $90-100k a year into a broad-market ETF, such as SPY. Now, I would like to retire in 6 or 7 years. My main concern is minimizing my tax burden. I will need only about $150k to buy a home. My question is, how do I position the ETF to minimize the tax burden on the $600-700k so I can live the rest of my life off of that? I have no wife or kids or any other financial responsibilities. I am EXTREMELY frugle with money. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I keep around 20,000 in my checking account at all times, and usually around 500 in my savings. My checking gets .365% APY and my savings account is .04% APY. I am currently a student studying Mathematics with a focus in Actuarial Science and Insurance/Risk Management. I support myself and help my mom because she's really bad with money. Even with the money I send her and the obvious fluctuations in my spending, the least money I've had in the past two years is 16,000, but I try to keep it around 20,000.

Should I be saving more? Investing it somewhere? I started my retirement with my job at the University but I'm not entirely sure what all that means like irl.

Hello,
I am 29 and preparing to physically separate from my spouse of five years. We are both high-earning tech professionals in California.
Throughout our marriage, my spouse handled all household financial logistics—utility bills, rent, joint accounts, credit cards, and investments—while I simply deposited my paychecks and focused on work. Because of this, I have never managed household finances completely solo, and I need a practical checklist to ensure I protect myself legally and financially during this transition.
Here is what I have already planned:

1. Opening an individual checking and savings account at a completely new bank solely in my name.
2. Rerouting my payroll direct deposit 100% to my new account.
3. Signing my own studio apartment lease and setting up my own utilities (electric, internet, renter's insurance).
4. What else do I need to prioritize right now?
5. How do I request and document copies of existing joint accounts, tax returns, credit card balances, and brokerage/retirement assets without escalating conflict?
6. Should I pull my own credit report immediately to see if there are any joint debts or authorized-user accounts in my name?
7. Any common blind spots people miss when separating finances prior to formal legal filing in a community property state (California)?
8. Any advice or practical checklists would be greatly appreciated.

35 and 40 years old

My wife and I just got married and are trying to figure out the best use for a large amount of cash we have sitting in a HYSA.

Basic info:

Me: 35, $105k salary + annual bonus (typically ~$28k gross)

Wife: 40, $110k salary

Combined take-home: ~$10,123/month

No debt besides our mortgage

Illinois

Current investments:

Me:

Brokerage (VOO/QQQM): $67k

401k: $207k

Roth IRA: $8k

HSA: $16k

Wife:

401k: $114k

Roth IRA: $50k

We're both contributing heavily to retirement. I contribute about 15% to my 401k and get a 6% match. My wife contributes around $22k/year to hers.

The mortgage:

Balance: $356,105

Interest rate: 6.625%

~25.75 years remaining

Monthly payment: ~$3,479 including taxes/insurance

Current principal + interest: ~$2,408/month

The big question:

We have approximately $155,000 sitting in a HYSA, plus about $12k in checking.

We're considering:

$50k lump sum toward the mortgage

$50k into our taxable brokerage account

Keep approximately $67k liquid in cash

The mortgage payoff goal would be around 10 years by also paying approximately $300 extra per month and putting $10k/year from my bonus toward the mortgage.

My concern is whether leaving ~$67k liquid is enough. We own a house, have two dogs, and my wife has some minir ongoing medical expenses. If we both somehow lost our jobs and immediately had something like a $20k roof replacement, that cash could disappear quickly.

So if you were in our situation, what would you do with the $155k?

Put more toward the 6.625% mortgage?

Invest more?

Keep significantly more cash?

Something completely different?

Just looking for outside opinions because I'm having a hard time deciding between the guaranteed return of paying down the mortgage and keeping/investing the money for flexibility and long-term growth.

Hello all! Right now I am looking to upgrade and get a bigger/nicer apartment, but I’m unsure if I can afford it. I am looking for an apartment (2 bedroom) that would roughly run about 1000 a month including utilities and pet rent ($50 for each pet). Currently, I pay $772 with pet rent in 1 bedroom.

My month to month income varies (I’m a contractor). On average I would say I make around $4000 a month BEFORE taxes, but summers are slow.

Here are my monthly bills:
Health insurance $491 🥲
Car insurance: $155
Phone/apple watch+ service: around $213
Monthly subscriptions: $50
Internet: $60

Gas: probs $50 a week
Groceries: probably the average amount for 1 person, plus cat food and litter for my 3 cats.

Could I afford an apartment that cost, and still have money to spend on wants?

Thanks!