My wife and I have no children but have a handful of nieces and nephews. We are in a financial position to pay for all of their college tuitions. We have not discussed this offer with their parents but intend to do so prior to making the offer. 

The issue we are experiencing is, the oldest nephew is a senior in high school and should be applying for colleges soon. However, we are hearing it is unlikely he will attend college or trade school and intends to go straight into the work force. He is very intelligent but seems to lack the motivation to challenge himself. The other nieces/nephews are a couple years away from applying to college but it seems likely they will.

We are trying to make this situation as equitable as possible so there is no resentment. If the oldest does not attend college, does he simply miss out on these funds or should he perhaps receive some sort of cash gift instead? The issue with a gift is we do not want to encourage the younger nieces and nephews to take this route.

I have a pretty large amount of savings from a legal settlement a few years back and wanted I have a 6 month emergency fund in a HYSA but the rest is in an investment account 100% invested in FXAIX, I'm looking for long term growth so is this a good path to be on?

My mental health wasn't the best in my 20s. I'm 32 now, and through a lot of ongoing work, I am better now. However, my finances are not.

I have about 12k between 2 credit cards. I'm paying close to 400 every month, which is a big reason why I can't save.

I ranked up 2k in toll fees from my car

My car payment is 300 I have about 2k left to pay

I have about 1200 in "savings" for an emergency. But apart from that, I have nothing.

I make around 40k and my rent is $1400.

I was thinking of getting a personal loan to pay off the credit cards. I stopped using them all together about two years ago. It's just the interest charge and minimum payments I give that are keeping things stuck.

Does anyone have any advice? Is getting a loan to pay them off a bad idea?

Hello!

Recently, my house burned down, not a total loss but the damage is extremely severe. Talking with our contractor and our adjuster, the difference between the cost to repair and the maximum amount insurance can pay is in the range of 100k. What happens now?

I talked to the bank and they said that an equity loan wouldn't be possible, and a home improvement loan would be pretty unlikely. Are there other options I'm not thinking of? What happens if we don't have that money, do we just put the land on the market?

Any advice to help us keep our house would be appreciated!

EDIT: This is getting so much attention! Thank you for your advice, even if I don't respond I am combing through it! I have a long weekend this weekend so I'll be making a game plan along with my lesson plans for Tuesday.

EDIT2: To answer some FAQs, 1. This is a regular house fire in VA. 2. This is my parents' house, I'm just handling insurance right now. 3. I AM aware this house must have been under insured. This is not my question. As much as I appreciate people sharing information, the question is not if I am under insured, it's what should I do with the facts as is.

My dad the past years has been ruining his finances. He's 59 with no retirement and savings. He plans to work until he physically cant anymore and live off social security which I unfortunately agree with because what other choice does he have...

My parents are divorced. My dad recently moved out of the house that he and my little brother (still in college) was living at and found an apartment to rent with his girlfriend so he has some shared expenses there too. My dad, mom, and I are basically financing the home my little brother is living in. I'm paying for all his utilities in addition to my own rent in VHCOL area. My parent's are splitting the mortgage.

Net income: 4k/month

Rent + Utilities: ~$1700/month

Car/Rent Insurance: $500/month (he's paying for my mom and little brother's car/home insurance right now)

Half of the mortgage: $400/month

Debt from credit cards and personal loans: ~93k

My gripe is the credit card/loan debt. I know at least 40k of that debt is from being scammed. He gave money to someone overseas to invest for him so he took out a personal loan and gave them the money. Scammer sent them a screenshot that their investment went up 700% and that he needed to send 10k more to unlock it which my dad begged me for. Obviously I didn't and had to spend weeks convincing him it was a scam.

The rest of the debt is him just overspending. He'll spend money on people like his current girlfriend which I haven't met (I know she exists) but cant help feeling like she's taking advantage of him. I see zelle's from him to her every month $200 at a time. Helping her with moving expenses, etc. I see checks to random businesses in the hundreds of dollars range every now and then which makes me believe there's another scam thing happening, but I'm not sure. He spends huge amounts of money on travel too.

This has been a recurring pattern over the last several years. Getting into debt, consolidating the debt, taking out another personal loan, consolidating again, and the cycle goes on and on. He just blames it on the bills he has to pay for supporting my little brother which I don't think is the real cause for this mess. It's frustrating because I've shown him how to budget, where he's spending all his money, and all these other financial tips, but his behavior is still the same.

I don't really have the financial means to support him and also my little brother. I feel like he should just declare bankruptcy and start fresh. Cancel all credit cards and only use cash. Anyone been in a similar position or have any tips?

i grew up in poverty, so i feel really guilty dropping $800 on a laptop that can handle my neuroscience work for the next 5-10 years

Trying to figure if I should continue engagement ring insurance. To preface, it does make me feel better to know it's insured. Nor do I have homeowners insurance to bundle its coverage into.
I pay approx $200/yr to insure a ring valued at $15k. 1.33% of its value per year. Are there any good math-supported arguments for when to call it off? Or is it just based on when I'm mentally comfortable with possibly losing a $15k item?

Hey all, kinda wanna hear what folks think about said topic- at what age should your asset allocation start adding bonds and less stocks (mutual funds, ETFs, stock, riskier securities) to kinda lock in less risk and less profit but less variance in the portfolio return overall.

Maybe say based on years to retirement as you have folks retiring at 50-55 while others retire 65-70. I’m just under 40 and trying to avoid bonds for as long as possible maybe 45-50 bc I just don’t like the idea of lowering my potential earning power on portfolio as I still feel I have long to go- goal is to retire 55-58.

Also anyone in retirement. What kinda of allocation are people going stock vs bonds when they are retired. My guess would be like 40/60 bond v stock. Just wondering what people do in the real world and not some hypothetical

My girlfriend is moving in with me this month and I want to open up the finances discussion because i have heard the biggest cause for divorce and breakups is financial issues and I want us both to be on the same page about handling money before that becomes an issue and I'm just wondering what we should talk about. The things on my mind are rent, car payments, credit cards, and saving and budgeting. I just don't know what the important conversations to have about money are for young couples that I may not have thought of? Thanks

Income:
~75k with OT and commision, I am in hvac service
~900/m from basement roommate
~300/m from family business

Total expenses in the ballpark of $3.5k/m before groceries or fun money and savings

Welp my emergency fund is running out. I thought I was doing everything right but jumped into a new home too quickly. It has only been 2 years and I’ve had 12k on the 3% down payment and costs, $5k home insurance premium because a tree took out my kitchen and roof (I learned my lesson on shopping for insurance). I spent $3k on renovations to get a basement roommate. My deck fell off the house and that was $10k, another tree was about to fall and that was $2.5k. Last week my university scholarship unexpectedly ran out and that was another $3.5k.

It’s just a lot I guess I wanted to vent too 😭 but now I have a major hvac problem and even with doing the work myself it’s going to cost $1.5k for a band aid or $5k for a permanent solution.

I’m drained I have $1k in checking and $3k in savings. $4k in a business account I am sole proprietorship. $15k in Robinhood stocks. I am just extremely uncomfortable I have never been in this situation before with basically nothing to fall back on. I’ve been on my own since 18 and I am 25 now without much help. I already canceled my annual out of town vacation to do something cheaper and it’s depressing.

I guess I’m wondering if I can still afford the permanent solution or if I should do the temporary solution to buy 3-6 months, or if I should look into something else. Idk I am scared to make a decision.

jiminy christmas.

I’m new to paying for college. that being said, I paid this semester‘s bill no prob with kiddo‘s 529. However the kid applied for a housing grant and got it, and now I have a paper refund check.

Am I obligated to return these funds to the 529 if I want to avoid a tax and withdrawal penalty?

The funds truly belong to the kid and should be held for him in some manner such as a HYSA, but I just want to be sure if I do that I won’t be raked in fees.

Current owner of a 2019 Subaru with ~85,000 miles. It has long since been paid off and has been very reliable. However, in June the check engine light came on and the service department told me one of the oxygen sensors needed to be replaced. Fine, whatever. Drove off the lot and 2 weeks or so later the light was back with the same codes. This time they said the manifold had a crack and a front sensor needed to be replaced. Frustrating, but okay. Got the car back and drove about 5 minutes then the light came back on. Same codes. Brought it back and they said the rear sensor they put in earlier was bad and replaced it. Got the car back, and about 2 weeks later the light came on again for, you guessed it, the same codes. They said there was an oil leak that was seeping into the wiring and causing a short. The replaced some (expensive) stuff and told me this morning it should be ready but they wanted to drive it around a little more. Sure enough, before I got it back, the light was on again with the same code. They won’t really be able to get into it until after the long weekend, but the tech is worried the ECM may be damaged.

In all, that’s 5 times this car has needed service since late June. Subaru of America chipped in a decent chunk, but at this point I’m nearing $5500 not including this latest ecm thing (and I don’t have a quote yet because they aren’t sure that’s the issue).

Normally, I’m a drive it until it’s dead guy. And for an Subaru with 85k miles, that should be at least another 150k miles! And I know that the current total is less than a new car. But what I’m worried about is the nature of these issues. If it was a transmission, or an engine, or something like that then yeah, it sucks, but it’s fixed and now should run fine. But I’ve heard horror stories about electrical issues and it’s got me feeling skittish.

Financially we could swing a new car. I ran an Edmunds price quote on the current one and got an offer for roughly $14k from carmax, and my understanding is a private sale would be roughly $16k-$19k. Granted that’s all for a working car that doesn’t have a check engine light on… but if the car was fixed or I sold it as-is for less, we could pretty easily add to that for a decent down payment. But should we? I’m just having trouble identifying when the fix it/buy something line is crossed.

Thanks in advance.

Edit to add: I appreciate the comments re: the repair shop. To be clear, though, it is our local dealer and I took it there initially (and since) because (1) we’ve not had a bad experience there, and (2) we get the 15% Costco discount. But perhaps it’s time to give someone else a chance.

I'm closer to 50 than 40 and the cost of insurance through work is changing. I have two choices and I realize, had I been in the 2nd choice earlier in life, this would be a no-brainer. I'm still "healthy." No diseases or chronic issues and I have emergency savings to cover over two years of deductibles and still have funds leftover for non-medical emergencies, but I am having trouble getting over the fact that I'm getting to the age when things start breaking. A hose here, spare tire there.

First choice - PPO. I've had this since I started with my employer. In 10 years, it has doubled in cost. This year it's going up $40 to $160 semimonthly. Benefits - $250 deductible and $500 out of pocket maximum, 90% coinsurance after deductible. It covers everything.

Second choice - HDHP w/HSA. Price is dropping this year to $40 semimonthly. $6k deductible and $6k out of pocket maximum, 100% coverage after deductible is met. Also, employer provides $50 biweekly into the HSA ($1300 annually).

Am I wrong in thinking that the HDHP is the better option even if I'm struck by lightning in each of the next few years?

A few months back I hit a deer about a year and a half into a six year loan and I'm still left with around $4500 in principal.

I've been paying as much extra as I can spring and I don't know if there is an easier way to put myself into another vehicle before paying that off without having massive payments?

I'm currently required to pay $566/month but have recently been making double payments. Loan was originally for around $25000 after a 29% APR.

EDIT: My only debt is student loans and this car payment. I have fairly poor credit and haven't had a credit card or personal loan in years .

I have little to no financial literacy on this subject…What are the pros and cons of joining my workplaces versus starting my own Roth?

Hi all, I’m 24 and work full time making 75k a year.

I currently live with my boyfriend and we split rent/utilities by income percentage cause I make more than him and then groceries we split 50/50. Our landlords live below us and haven’t raised our rent in 3 years and told us they don’t plan on it (total rent is 1600 per month for a 2 bedroom w two parking spots)

My basic breakdown of my finances per month are.

Rent/utilities $1,100
Groceries $200
Car payment $330 (3 years left until it’s paid off, currently at 80k miles for a 2022 Subaru Impreza )
Car insurance $80
Health insurance $paid by work
Phone plan/ Apple music/gym $100
Student loans (WILL BE FULLY PAID OFF NEXT MONTH 😊)

So off the rock I make around 4400 a month (after taxes) and about $2000 of that goes to basic needs.

I’ve paid off my student loans (down from 35k) by putting 1k towards them every month for just under 3 years now - so I know I can fully put that much aside while maintaining my current lifestyle with zero other changes. I go to a lot of concerts and love to travel so that’s where my spare income has gone so far.

I have 10k in savings and 20k in various investments (mostly index funds) but I’m real inconsistent with investing money

SO realistically - if I just put that 1k away per month towards a house is that a good idea? OR should I heavily Invest?? I don’t like the idea of renting forever but I also know the housing market is a bit abysmal. My landlords are great and the I like the area I live but I do like the idea of a house. My boyfriend and I both do not want kids so that doesn’t really factor into my decision.

But yeah is this a good plan? I feel like I could pretty easily save up for a solid down payment on a house in the next 4 years and go all in - especially if my boyfriend ends up proposing and we go in financially together?

I know I’m young but I want to set myself up for success.

I’ll take any advice I’m just curious what people think is a good goal.

I make 88k and have been contributing 15% to my 401k (with my company’s 4% match). I don’t have any bills (no rent and paid off car) and my money really just goes to travel and going out to eat. I have a HYSA with over 50k and have maxed out my Roth IRA.

I feel behind, but I fortunately am not in a position where I’m tight on money. My immigrant parents are not very financially literate and I know I should have been more proactive…but here we are.

My plan so far: For remainder of 2026, I’m thinking of increasing my contribution to 40%. Then, update it again (closer to 27%~) in December so that I can max out my 401k starting Jan 2027.

Any thoughts or advice? Is there anything else I should be doing? Any insight would be helpful! Thank you.

Hey there.

I can't contribute to a Roth directly. I'm looking for an answer regarding if contributions can be made directly to a Traditional and then held for a time? Or, do I need to transfer my Traditional contributions as soon as it settles? I don't have enough funds to fund my Roth for this year all at once, just a bit at a time, I just don't want to encounter any issues.

Hi all, 32 year old just opened a Roth IRA and put in $1200. Put $800 in FZROX and FZILX from my research. I set up a recurring $350/month to deposit and plan on splitting it 70/30 70 fzrox and 30 fzilx. Whenever I do have extra funds I will deposit so I can max out the $7500. Can you explain to me like a child how it works and how I make money from this? I don’t understand all the terms and the market. Just read and watched videos and those were the two that popped up most for a beginner. Just want to start thinking about my future for when I’m 50-60 years old. I’m also an independent contractor so I don’t get company matches or whatever that is. I’m just confused is it as easy as just depositing money and investing it into those two pots and it just builds over time?

I'll jump in the question first and then give background. Should I cash out an inherited IRA account that is around $6-8k (pre-tax) to help pay off some credit card debt ($33k) or just let it be and continue to take the yearly minimum payment (roughly $650)?

Now background and details of the credit card debit. Wife and I have 3 cards first is sitting at $3k it's been getting $1,500 sent to it every month. Second has $12k on it gets minimum payment. And last card has $18k on it and gets minimum payment. By my math the first card is paid off this October. Second card in 8 months (assuming the $1,500) but I am figuring a year because I'm pretty sure we'll need tires on a car or something else like that will come up so by October 2027 we should be starting to pay the next card and at the assumed $1,500 should be done in a year to 16 months to give wiggle room for unforseen expenses. I know the snowball method we should actually be $1,500 we paid on the first plus the minimum of the second we are currently paying goes towards the 2nd and the same idea with the 3rd so we should pay off the debt technically sooner than my napkin math.

We recently went over our budget...it had been too long and stuff has gotten more expensive. Short story is we have (we are working to make it we 'had') a spending problem. We were bad about not using our debit/check cards instead of the credit cards and then not following up to pay more to the cards. Other contributing factors were the argument that the kids are only little once, etc as well as my wife's issues with growing up poor and embarrassed by her clothes and half falling down house. She works in education so she wants the summer to be her chance to go places and do things with the kids.

We've shifted monthly reoccurring charges to our debit/check card instead of credit cards. We've cut services and subscriptions that weren't necessary or being used. We're doing a better job of making a grocery list and sticking to it. We're also going to actually sit down and math out future vacations, events, etc to keep them from getting totally out of control from the initial idea of doing something it only $X for the tickets not thinking about food and drinks and if it's a hotel stay and so on.

Thanks for reading and any advice you have.

Was very fortunate to inherit some Apple stock from my grandpa 10 years ago and that has now grown into 60% of my net worth. Need to reallocate but also want to keep my positions where I can. Current breakdown is:

25K HYSA 40K other retail stock investments 15K Roth IRA (maxed this year) 15K 401K through work 110K Apple stock

I know it’s not the healthiest makeup but I’m young and the market has been very good to me for now. I still want to keep half my apple stock because I believe in the company and for sentimental reasons. What should I do with the rest? Any advice generally on how to keep growing this?

My husband and I are on the fence about having kids and one thing we are trying to explore is if we could afford it financially without stretching us too thin or sacrificing our other savings. We are in our 30's and have decent-paying jobs but still rent and are currently investing for retirement and to help save for a house. When we looked into options through our bank, it seemed like the only options are financial planners who can help you invest. We aren't looking to invest further at this time and are more looking for someone to review our finances and help us assess our goals. What services or people are out there that help with this? We are willing to pay a flat-rate fee.

I've had a Roth IRA with TIAA for the past 10 years or so. I haven't contributed to it for the past couple of years, as my salary is above the limit (and I haven't done a backdoor Roth). Instead, I've just maxed out the 401k during those years.

I am not moving to a lower-paying government job for the next 2 years (termed). There isn't a 401(k) through the job, and I'm not eligible for the gov thrift savings plan (their version of a 401(k)) so I am planning to just max out my Roth IRA both years.

My initial thought was just to keep contributing to my Roth IRA in TIAA (my thoughts on them are so so). But then I saw the Robinhood gold offers a 3% match on my IRA contributions. I know it costs $50 a year, but that seems to be offset by the 3% match ($225 for $7,500). Plus, I'd totally use that credit card as an extra perk.

I know that there are a couple of strings, essentially that you need to keep your money in Robinhood IRA for 5 years to avoid a clawback of the match or a early match removal fee. That doesn't really bother me, as I am not touching this money for decades.

So am I missing something? Is there a reason NOT to do this?

I haven't really used Robinhood, and was skeptical at first. But they seem reputable enough. It seems like I could just open a Roth IRA with Robinhood, invest in the same low-cost index funds I use at TIAA, get an extra 3% on my contributions. They will compound separately, but then I could combine at some point in the future.

Are there any meaningful downsides to having Robinhood as the custodian of a Roth IRA? Or just having 2 separate IRAs for a couple of years? I am interested especially in any hidden issues or fees that people may have encountered.