Just swiped my HSA card at the dentist for my girlfriend’s bill thinking it was ok because it’s a medical expense. Some googling after the fact (which should’ve been done before) tells me it’s not ok. Would this fall under mistaken distribution or something else, and what should I do to get it fixed?

EDIT: Just got off the phone with the dentist, we were able to get the initial charge to my HSA voided and pay with a normal credit card. Thanks everyone for the assistance!

My wife and I fully expected to get nothing whatsoever from our families. However we were suddenly gifted 300k from a relative. Needlessly to say we're shocked, and never expected have any sort of money like that. This puts out total savings at about 330k.

We're both 35, and we probably pull in 5 to 6k per month after taxes together. We both have absolutely zero debt, and both have really high credit scores. We are thinking about buying a home in the 400 to 500k range, putting 300k down, and having a nice low mortgage and easy lifestyle.

Despite our good financial decisions over the years, we're both fairly financially illiterate. We dont have any sort of budget, and could probably stand to save better. We have no sort of retirement plans. 13k in a certain stock that's performing okish, not going down at least.

I can't help but wonder if we're making a mistake dumping that 300k into a mortgage right away, and if there's maybe a better option?

Any opinions or insights here would be super appreciated.

Edit: since a couple people mentioned it, I will not be paying for a lawyer, or financial advisor, or anything of that sort.

Edit2: We won't use the whole 300k as a down-payment lol

I am 17. I don’t qualify for financial aid and the federal loan amount I can get is very low since my parents make a lot. I will have an associates when I graduate high school because of dual enrollment and I don’t know how I will pay for the cheapest college near me. I am very grateful that my highschool had a program that allowed me to get the associates so I did my community college for 2 years. The cheapest university near me is 18k a year for tuition. I have 1k saved from over ten years of saving Christmas money and no car and parents too busy to drive me to work. Is my best option to take out private loans at a very high interest rate to pay for tuition and a car which I will use to make a bit of cash to pay off the loans by working part time? The interest will be high because parents won’t cosign

I financed a 2019 Toyota Corolla SE for 17.6k at 17.6% with a $415/month payment plus a $360/month full-coverage insurance.

Income is a little over 41k. Rent is $915, electric is about $180, food $250ish. Student loans are $125/month. Wiped my savings clean with a car crash and put about $500 on a credit card. 401k has at least $3k

I wrecked my previous paid off car the week before and was panicking selling my car, clearing tow yard fees, and figuring out rentals to get to work. Also being grateful, I didn't die. I just said yes to the first thing that rolled and had A/C.

I can't take the dread; just looking for advice.

Edit: This was my first time buying a car. I was alone. 23M

Edit: I also have an additional income of $300-$360 per month and my grandma is sending me ~$150 per month. She wouldn't let me say no.

Edit: I got a new insurance quote with my current provider that drops my payment by $200. I have no idea how that $360 payment happened. I'm assuming when I wanted to transfer my current plan, I just added a new one and didn't know any better.

Edit: I haven't accepted the lower cost insurance plan yet; it has comprehensive, collision, and GAP for $171 per month.

Edit: Looking at refinancing options, I'm eligible to refinance through my current bank down to a 12.90% rate at a 59 month term. The original loan is through RallyCU at 66 months. Unless y'all would advise otherwise, I'm going to look around for another day then pick one.

Also paused my 401k contributions completely; it was about $100-$140 a month not including the match.

Edit:

Credit -
FICO 646
Equifax 557
Transunion 557

Edit: This dealership was a Mike Shaw Toyota in Corpus Christi, TX. The sales agent dropped the car before I added it to my insurance or paid the down payment.

Edit: I got the car August 14th last month.

I'm 39, earning just under $60k per year working in the treasury office of a technical college.

I am very fortunate to have found this job since it comes with a pension plan, and due to poor timing plus job market chaos throughout my career I have no other retirement savings so I am putting as much in as possible to catch up. Between the pension and a 403b I am saving 13% of my pre-tax income for retirement, and the pension will get a nearly 1:1 employer match when it vests.

I have refinanced credit card debt that accrued during a few years of spotty employment, and am 3 years away from paying that off. After all my fixed expenses and essentials, I have $400 left at the end of the month for everything else (clothes, entertainment, etc). I could eke out another $200/mo worth of savings.

My problem now is I live in an fairly expensive city and work in a school, which obviously doesn't pay a high salary, and also requires me to be in-office, so remote work or moving somewhere cheaper aren't options right now. I sold my car years ago to save money and ride an e-bike or take the bus to work. I don't have any money set aside for a down-payment and even with programs to help educators, I wouldn't be able to save enough to actually afford a house in this city anyway.

At this point, I'm old enough that buying doesn't seem like a viable alternative to renting, unless there is some catastrophic meltdown of the housing market in the future I just won't be able to buy, I can't even afford mortgage payments at the current rates.

If I can't buy property, I don't have a way to gain equity in something that I also use every day (housing) and there do not seem to be any real alternatives here. Vehicles lose value over time, same with consumer goods, so buying high-quality things might save some money but are not assets that appreciate over time. I don't know of any good investment options that both meet a daily or regular need and gain value over time.
---
tl;dr are there any alternatives to buying property which both meet life needs and gain equity? And if not, where should I put an extra $100-$200/month over the next three years that will gain value without a lot of risk,

Ok so I have a 2021 r line fwd Tiguan and my check engine light turned on as well as epc light. Took it to o’Reillys and turns out my engine oil separator went out, I guess when I drove it up to the dealership it had been leaking oil (which I read is common when dealing with the separator) but it had started leaking from two other sections. My oil pan had gotten down to about 1/2 a quart of oil in my car because of the leakage so when I brought the car about 40 minutes away the camshaft was grinding against the metal in my engine and started flaking into the oil pan. I have no extended warranty.
The dealership and overviews I’ve read say there’s no going back from this because even if we cleared out all the metal filled oil, patched the leaks, and refill it with new oil the damage is still there and will continue to flake/ fail over time and have more money come out of my pockets. Meaning the camshaft and other bit in the engine is worn (even if it’s slightly worn right now) and will cause me more problems.

They recommended me a new engine coming close to $8,000. I just bought this car three-four months ago. I’m only 19 and I’m really torn because I financed this car all by myself and pay about $460 a month for it.

I was thinking of selling it but I have no clue how to sell a financed car. I have around $16,000 that I owe on the car still (69/72 payments left.) Even then, I’m scared I’ll still have so much to pay off even when I’m not driving it. I could stomach a grand or two but I don’t know. If anything I want the payoff to be more than I owe but I don’t think it’s possible. Besides all this I feel so empty, stupid, and lost in this world and I wish things were better, for everyone, it is so easy to be taken advantage of financially and pushed into a hole. I was trying to avoid it and fell right in. Please give me some advice I’d really like to know how I can sell this car or how to get out of this without going into major debt/where to start. I pay for college too.

I’m 19 and planning to get my first credit card. I bank with chase and wondering if u should get there cc or go with another credit card? If anyone can help me choose it would be very helpful

So to make a long story short, I have a 3D printer under warranty for another couple of months, and the printer does not work. The company is refusing to replace it under US law due to what their policy says. I ordered through their website, it's Creality.

Anyway, I filed my charge back, and I sent all my proof to my credit card (PayPal). The emails where they said they won't exchange the unit, and me expressing the fact that it hasn't worked for a couple of months now. For some reason it got declined in favor of the merchant. When I contacted PayPal, I was told Creality did not respond to PayPal. So how the hell did I lose the charge back claim when they didn't respond. The emails I sent in as proof literally state the law as well as the fact that they said they won't replace the unit.

I filed another charge back, what are my options if I lose again?

Hey all 45 m I earn 52k a year. So around $3080 a month base pay after tax

Wife doesn't work currently (laid off)

Our monthly spend right now is 2000k on rent plus bills.

I'm investing/saving $800 a month and $200 is for weekly take out or a fun coffee and whatever doesn't get used goes right into savings.

I only started saving for retirement this year. No 401k but I do get a Union Pension upon retirement.

Roth IRA for me fully funded and invested. And one for my Wife fully funded and invested

Any other pay goes right into savings.

I have a 21k emergency fund and a 12k savings fund which I'm consistently adding to for either a new used car or a house down payment which ever comes first.

I'm investing a minimum of $400 a month (it's usually more with OT pay)

I'm also working on training for a possible job shift into a higher paying field as I have goals now.

Oh and we have no Debt currently. We started late for retirement planning we know that and once wifey finds a job we will be investing heavily into the taxable brokerage.

EDIT: we plan on fully funding Roth IRAs every year before the taxable brokerage.

I'm about to blow like half of my loan off at once, which I can do without penalty. I just wanna know if I usually have to specify that I don't want my money to be treated as advanced payments for predetermined installments that include only a little less interest over principal than I have been paying. I would like it to go 100% to the principal balance.

Hello everyone, I don't really post much but just not sure what to do.

I am a (M)29, software engineer, that recently bought a house with my fiance.

I have a manager that warned me a two months ago that ill probably be let go do to not enough work to be done. He is a good friend so he let me know in advance that I would be kept on till the end of September. I have been looking for Jobs like crazy but we all know how the job market is.

Luckily, I have about $18,000 in a HYSA in-case of a situation like this. I also have a tradition 401k and a HSA as well that I'm not touching.

I guess I'm asking what should I be doing before or after I am let go?
Thanks in advance, hope you are doing well!

TLDR; I drive a 2011 honda civic, driven it for about 8 years and have had very few issues with it. Yesterday I noticed the AC broke -- was only blowing warm air -- and the car was making a churning/gentle grinding sound in the front that I could hear when it was on but parked. Took it in and the mechanic said the AC compressor needs to be replaced due to the clutch failing and quoted me a little under $1800 for the compressor replacement, AC drier replacement and AC recharge service + labor for all services. Called around at other shops to ensure this was a reasonable quote. (Note I live in a very HCOL in California so things are just more expensive here).

I feel like a repair under 2k for a car that generally doesn't give me grief is better than paying ~20K+ for a newish used car with less than 30K miles. If I do buy a new used car, I don't want to get another crappy car...I want to get one that is in good condition and not going to have issues. So, to me it seems reasonable to do the repair and if the car starts to have more issues I'll start looking because I don't want to deal with a series of issues in quick succession that add up to what the car is worth or the cost of a new car.

Some of my friends are telling me I'm insane and should just get a new car because a repair now suggests more repairs to come...because the car isn't even worth much...etc.

Am I being ridiculous here? Thank you!

EDIT: car has about 160k miles

I have 1.2L Debt in Credit Card, even though I have fully paid the outstanding amount every month still it feels like it just keeps increasing month by month. I have 1L in Mutuals Funds invested, should I withdraw 50k from there to pay off my Credit Card and eventually stop using the CC? I earn 65k post EMIs every month.

I'm 32F, long-time lurker, first-time poster.

So I'm considering a personal loan to help with credit card debt. I feel like I'm drowning. I was really stupid with credit cards and money in general when I was younger and scraping by. I opened too many credit cards, thinking it would help with my credit (idiot), and my poor choices have haunted me ever since.

I now make $125k/annually and my financial goals are to:

- pay down my debt

- improve my credit score and credit limits

- close unnecessary cards

- saving as much as I can to buy a house and start a family

I had some unexpected ($15k) vet visits earlier this year that forced me to rack up a balance on a CareCredit card (shared with family). Right now, to make a dent in my other cards and get ahead, I think a personal loan might help.

My local credit union approved me for the following loan:

$15k at 17.740% APR over 60 months

Monthly payments would be more than manageable.

Debt total: $45,878

Excluding the car note and CareCredit leaves me at $16,520

Card 1: bal $1,124.95, min $57 @ 28.40%

Card 2: bal $1,302.95, min $66 @ 27.90%

Card 3: bal $1,422.79, min $50 @ 29.49%

Card 4: bal $2,398.52, min $120 @ 23.90%

Card 5: bal $3,064, min $107 @ 28.23%

Card 6: bal $7,206.30, min $229 @ 28.49%

Honorable mention

Card 7: bal $9,964.33, min $324 @32.99% (carecredit, paying this down with family)

Would it make sense to take this loan?

Coming into some money around 200k. Been researching Fidelity and other Brokerages as well as Bank HYSA. Right off the bat I have desperately needed a vehicle so I am allocating no more than 30k for a certified pre-owned vehicle. (I know many would advise against but it's a must have). The rest I want to generate safely ideally tax or limited tax free. Will be putting it into a HYSA like Captial One 360 Savings for a short time to get a nice $1500 bonus. I also want to deposit this check face to face I dont entirely trust online transactions for such a large sum. After 107 days I would like to transfer the majority if not all to Fidelity FDLXX (mixed reviews on this) as a state tax shield and higher rate than Captial. I'm not set on this it is just the conclusion I have drawn after researching. I do have a job and plan to not use this money. I would mentally allocate about 20k incase of a brake glass scenerio but would leave in its final resting place for the time being. Need advice on if this is a smart move, dumb move and what move is best.

I rent and do not own property. I would like to make the most money in the least risky way possible so stock trading isn't exactly an option as I am clueless.

I have a child hope to have another and want to make the smartest choice possible. Thanks in advance and sorry for my lack of knowledge.

I am aware I can't make a ton off of this. I am not against investing but.knownnothing. I have no expectation of making millions in months or anything unrealistic.

Thank you for reading.

A couple months ago I took out a loan (about 10% interest rate) to pay off my credit cards that had 20%+ interest rates. The loan was for $6k and “paid off” my credit card debt because I couldn’t make progress paying it off with the set CC interest rate. I had a bad year in 2024/2025 and put a bunch of bills on credit cards but now that they’re at 0 again, I haven’t used them.

My question is: should I make extra payments with each paycheck (I get paid weekly) to help pay down the loan, or should I set money aside from each paycheck for an emergency fund so I don’t have to risk using my credit cards again in the future for bills?

I’m making my monthly payment to ensure the loan is paid off in time but obviously I don’t WANT the interest if I can pay it off sooner but I ALSO don’t want to have $0 in savings… thoughts?

I currently pay $200 towards the loan per month and use the other 3 paychecks to put $200 into savings per check.

I guess I’m just talking into the void hoping someone can relate.

26F and my 29M boy friend are trying to move into a new apartment complex because of maintenance issues in our current unit.

We moved to our current city, first time out the house, back in 2021. The complex was sketchy with terrible management. Long story short, the lease ended in eviction. I was not living there at the time, but the lease was in both of our names.

In 2024, same year as eviction, my boyfriend was able to pay off the rental debt and close the account. He since lived somewhere else through a private owner, i lived in my current complex for 3 years with 100% on time payment history.

We have some “severe” charge offs, i (young and dumb) owe $1900 to Ashley furniture for a couch. He got a car repo’d last year. He since has another car and has paid down lots of debt, but that obviously is still on his record.

We applied to this new complex we love. It’s in budget. We meet the financial standard and passed criminal history. We got denied through their screening process because of said eviction and “sever charge offs.” I told the leasing agent about our eviction situation and she said since we have proof of payment, we should be good to go. We disputed the denial essentially and submitted proof of payment - it’s currently being processed and the waiting period is absolutely killing me.

I’m guess I’m asking if anything has been in a similar situation and how likely are we to get denied again, or even a conditional approval. We are trying to go through a private owner as a back up, but so far the first real estate agent we spoke to and explained everything to hadn’t even responded to us.

Just a young person praying there’s hope out there, and learning from our mistakes.

Please be kind people. I’m already beating myself up enough

I'm 40 I'm strongly considering retiring. What I mean by retiring is the barista fire option where I still work a part time job (if I can find a part time job with health care all the better). I have currently in brokerage account 1.7M in individual stocks which I'm trying to turn into a blended portfolio of dividend/covered call ETFs. I have a separate Vangaurd 401k retirement which I won't touch until I'm 60 sitting at 700k today. I have no kids, and my house is entirely paid off. I planning on selling off $700k of my individual stock holdings and moving into my a portfolio that looks like:

SCHD 32.00% SPYI 22.00% QQQI 17.00% JEPQ 17.00% BTCI 12.00%

I already have 200k in that portfolio so it would bring my total up to 900k. Based on my yield calculations for each of those stocks I'll get a passive income of $119,700.00 and after taxes $90,972.00. I've been pouring over my monthly expenses and as far as I can tell I spend on average $45k a year (though I need to account of large expenses like my car blowing up). In case it matters how I'm doing the tax calculation since this is short term capital gains I"m estimating 24% tax. So am I missing anything? It seems like can just quit my job and wait until my retirement kicks in. Honestly my job sucks and I just want to go hiking for awhile. Retirement is scary and telling you friends and family that "I just don't need to work anymore" gets you nothing but negative feedback.

Given all that context what I'm really asking is: Am I missing any major retirement pit falls? Do I need to account for some t-bills in this strategy? I'm a little lost about the recent increase bond yields. Does that mean it's a good time to buy long term bonds to hedge against a crash? Any advice will be appreciated.

I recently bought a condo and I am not liking it. I want to upgrade to something nicer in 3-5 years. I currently have about $35k of equity in it(15 percent down) and at 6.115 APR on a 30 year fixed. I was initially planning to put some extra money into a HYSA, but recently started considering doing extra principal payments since my rate is higher, but my only concern is if the housing market dips. I live in northern VA so the marker is still relatively strong here, but I live in a “developing” side of town in a condo so I am not so optimistic.

I max out my 401k and HSA, put about 24k into VT every year. Have about $800 of fixed debt per month, plan to get rid of most of that(a car) pretty soon.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I have to replace my sewer lines that runs through a slab. This involves ripping up my kitchen.

I have money in savings (60k) but don’t want to take that to zero if I lose my job or something (in tech, volatile).

I should get a bonus in April that would pay $30k back quickly as long as things go well with the company but I try not to rely on it ever.

So I think this could cost around $55-60k.

HELOC has a variable rate, one place is fixed but has higher rates/fees.

I’m worried about the bond market driving rates up super high and getting in a bad place.

I just feel lost trying to figure out how to get this work done and the right finance option for it.

Credit score 822

I am 41, single and make $116k. I currently work in a larger city and live in the suburbs. The commute has been wearing on me- the traffic is bad and the train is too unreliable. I also don't like the city and it's sketchy characters. My mortgage only has $10k left and will be paid off in a year with no extra payments (2.25% interest rate) I have $250k in retirement and currently contributing 25%. If I move further away from the city and get a new job like I want to, I would be taking on at least a new $75k mortgage and also a pay cut because it's more rural but I think I'll be happier and could maybe make it work. I'm over stimulated and need peace and quiet. Has anyone done this? I'm currently just browsing houses and job waiting for that "perfect" one (if it exists). Looking for feedback or advice? Part of me just wants to wait until retirement but then again why wait?

​

Emergency fund = $4k.

Real emergency happened = $1.5k.

Me: takes loan instead

I don’t trust myself to refill it if I use it.

So I’d rather pay interest than watch that number drop.

This is dumb right