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The plan generally looks good to me. Don't forget to minimize minimum payments so you can make your money work harder at the high interest loans- either through IBR or graduated repayment. If you have equity in a car, I'd also consider financing it at 1.74% (PenFed) to pay off higher interest studen...

I know that one time experiences are not always good indicators of future results, but I had a terrible experience with LabCorp and will forever avoid them in the future. There was a billing error, but the company did not realize it until over a year later. In the meantime, I would call in every mon...

Back to the original question . . . Is she doing public-interest work, i.e., nonprofit, prosecutor's office, indigent criminal defense? If so, has she pursued the loan forgiveness programs available for lawyers who choose such paths? If loan forgiveness is not an option, would she consider taking a...

Are you a member of a credit union? If so, I would drop by and talk to them about getting a credit card. You might be surprised that you don't even need to start with a secured card. I shopped around all over for a credit card right after I got my first job at 16, and I remember being disappointed i...

Yes, once the interest capitalizes, interest is charged on the interest as well as the principal balance. If I could go back and change my own student loan situation, I would have paid off that accrued interest before repayment began for this very reason. If I were you I would seek every option to m...

Dave Ramsey is probably best in this situation. He offers classes too- I think they are called Financial Peace University. He has his flaws, but he is very persuasive at selling his ideas.

a couple of things... gains are taxed as income and not capital gains if you dont plan to leave any money behind at your eventual death then any permanent insurance is hard to justify especially since you seem to indicate you currently dont have any insurance need at all and if you did that these p...

Thanks for the replies. I will cancel the 2 today, and take some time to think about the 3rd.

Thanks for the correction on how it will be taxed- just goes to show you that not everything you read on the internet is true .

I have 3 whole life insurance policies (I know, I know), and am considering whether to cancel 2 of these policies. The first was purchased for me at a very young age by relatives, and the other 2 were purchased in 2006 and 2009 by my relatives when I was in college and grad school. Now that the prem...

29 here. Just crossed into the black this year. I'm at about 25k net worth, with my EF and 401K outweighing my low-interest student and auto debt. I consider myself extremely fortunate to discuss things with the wise people on this forum, and am forever grateful for the advice they have provided for...

I practice in federal court, and we are required to disclose applicable insurance policies early on in a case. They are part of what we call "initial disclosures." See Rule 1(a)(iv) here: http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_26. Whether you would have to disclose insurance informatio...

A couple of thoughts: You can open a 529 for yourself as well. If I were you, I would put the cash earmarked for use in my 2nd year in there in 2014 in a stable fund to get the match, as opposed to taking out a student loan in order to start a 529 for my child. Will you still qualify for that progra...

Hi Kevin, Welcome to the forum! You've made a great first step in simply realizing the importance of saving at 22. That alone puts you in the top decile of your peers in terms of financial outlook. The only thing I would add is you should revisit your reluctance to part with your car loan. Holding ...

I'd stick with the traditional health insurance plan since it sounds like a good deal. I only do HDHP and HSA because it is cheaper than the normal HMO plan for me at work, and so that + the extra tax space works out for me. I'd also add TIPS as the other poster suggested. I wouldn't try to tinker m...

I'd go for the Roth. I'd also refi my auto loan at PenFed for a 1.49% rate.

If I were you, I would actually take a different approach then you are. First, I would take an auto loan on my car(s) at PenFed to tap into any vehicle equity. They have loans at 1.49%, which could give you money to pay off higher interest debt or to boost your EF. Second, I would also be concerned ...

Thanks Grt2bOutdoors. Can you explain why you recommend contributing to the Roth first, and contributing into the 401k each paycheck? With respect to the bond funds- isn't putting any potential downpayment money into a bond fund risky? It was my understanding that bond funds can go down, and that ma...

Thanks for all the tips ladies. I will definitely check these out! Juniormint, I am 5'5", but I have often had to shorten dress pants myself. I have found that pants from The Limited, Banana Republic, and United Colors of Benetton were the most tailor friendly, in that their shape made them sti...

Hi, I am about 4 years into my career, and I did a financial review here last year (see http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=89731). I got some awesome tips that I hadn't thought of and am very appreciative- thanks everyone! I try to post the helpful tips I received for others her...

Be careful if you want to change account owners- the NY plan does NOT allow ownership changes to the account. That made it a dealbreaker for me (an aunt), who is opening the account but may want to change ownership to the parents in the future depending on our situation. I decided to stick with WI, ...

I will be opening a 529 for my nephew for his 3rd birthday shortly. It will probably receive contributions from a fair number of people- a little from grandparents on both sides, perhaps a little from his other aunt and uncle, and probably a decent amount from me and the parents of my nephew. Just t...

I am a member of CreditKarma (a free service that shows you an estimated credit score, simulates actions to tell you how you can improve your score, etc.). I only mention this because it has a feature which advertises credit cards. While that itself is not that useful (you can find great suggestions...

Congratulations, that is a great accomplishment! Would you be willing to share more details of how you got there? For example, at what age did you start? How long did it take? Did you get any windfalls, like an inheritance or gifts? I would also love to hear more details. I recently just joined a d...

Awesome. Thanks for the "idiot check"! 2) Yes, I'd like to increase our emergency funds to 6k. I realize many people would advise to put more, but 6k would be exactly 3 months of expenses. Our jobs are really really stable and flexible, so if we're not worried about job loss, is there ano...

I just started working 3 1/2 years ago, and am slowly building up my staples for my wardrobe (mostly biz casual, sometimes I have to wear suits). I have been unhappy with the quality of many of my purchases and was hoping for some suggestions from those of you who may have found some great alternati...

Remember that due to your age, you will be unable to withdraw any earnings on the Roth for your daughter's college without a 10% penalty. If I were you, I would instead fund a 529, because then you can withdraw both the contributions and the earnings for her college expenses without any tax penaltie...

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. It is extremely helpful! One further question I had: when I said wait to convert until April 2014 for 2013, I actually meant is there an advantage to waiting to open the tIRA and then converting immediately. I know there was this year, as I still got the ta...

Hi, These are probably basic backdoor Roth questions, so I apologize in advance. Thanks for any help you can provide! I did a Roth conversion in 2011 (my income is too high to contribute directly), and I would like to contribute again for 2012. First, when I convert from the non-deductible tIRA that...

If I were you, I would focus more on retirement savings as opposed to debt reduction. The reason being that time is very helpful for retirement savings (10 years can make a big difference in the long run), and because with your wife home, your retirement savings will be all your family is saving. Th...

Do you get any match on your 401k? If so, I would contribute enough to get the match.

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I have flown with my kitties 3 times cross country (my poor cats). I have both sedated them and foregone the sedation. From my experience, I think the medication actually stressed them out more because they were unfamiliar with how they were feeling. It didn't make them go to sleep, so imagine being...

I do think a higher EF is necessary if you own a home, because you are responsible for maintenance and upkeep, and those can be very high charges. Example: roof, furnace, windows. I don't have to pay for any of those things since I rent, but I would have to plan for the possibility of paying for tho...

If I were you, I would wait. A couple of reasons that would factor into that decision: 1. You only have 9 months of paying the loans to be debt free. That will fly by, and it would be so nice to be debt-free. 2. The Feds have said they expect to keep rates very low until at least mid-2015. While not...

Don't be emotional about investing. So even a first investment should not be exciting. I disagree with this completely. Feel free to be wildly excited, so long as you don't try to market time and are investing in well-diversified assets. I get excited about every student loan I pay off, every contr...

I paid around 1200 for my sectional sofa and I love it. It is not fancy by any means, and needs to be taken care of well and needs a little fluffing to keep it looking newer, but I think it will last us at least another 2-6 years (we have had it about 3 or 4 years now). I got it at Living Spaces. Yo...

How much do you plan on spending in your retirement years? Are you aware that the limits on 401k next year is 17.5k, not 17k? I didn't know they increased the 401k limit to 17.5k. I plan to spend $50k/year in living expenses during my retirement years. I was planning to sell assets as I need the mo...

There are many benefits to opting out of arbitration, particularly as a consumer. There has been growing evidence over the years that arbitrators have connections with the companies/industries they do most of their arbitration work with. In other words, Arbitrator Joe knows that Amex won't send any ...

I've done this before and it was not an issue so long as I paid quickly after the due date (I think it was within a month, probably within a week or 2). It never showed up on my credit report. When I called about it, they said it is standard for most companies not to report to the credit bureaus unt...

How much do you plan on spending in your retirement years?

Are you aware that the limits on 401k next year is 17.5k, not 17k?

Those are my initial thoughts, until I have more time to process the rest...

If I were you, I would: 1. Fund Roth IRA 5k each year (VG Target Retirement is great) 2. Fully fund 401K each year (17k this year, 17.5k next year) or at least 11,250 (15% of income) (I prefer the first option because time is very helpful in growing retirement accounts so the more you can do now, th...

I saw an interesting article on dollar cost averaging vs. lump sum investing on Vanguard today. Thought it might be of interest. Sorry if it has already been posted. https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/article/dollar-cost-averaging-102012?z_rl=FB12439&utm_content=sf75631&utm_medium=spr...

October Update: We were able to stay on track this month and came out $50 below our $1,000 non-bill budget. We paid an additional $3,861.60 of principle this month which knocked ~7 months of payments off. Remaining principle balance is now $144,567. The aesthetically pleasing ascii progress chart, ...

If you are looking for a higher CL, I would avoid Discover and consider Chase. I have always been given a pretty generous CL at Chase, but was given a very measly CL by Discover (in comparison to all my other cc providers). PenFed, USAA, and credit unions have given me CLs above Discover, but below ...

If I were you, I would contribute 17K to 401K and aggressively pay as much as possible on my student loans. Are all of your loans at the same rate? If not, you may want to consider changing your plan to the 25 year repayment plan, and/or to the graduated repayment plan. I did this, to accomplish one...

Question for everyone- I tried out the Vanguard retirement calculator that someone posted a few days ago. I had the same problem I always do when I am looking at these calculators- I have no idea how much income I will need in retirement. Mostly because it is so far away- I don't have a house, a spo...

I looked into Prosper when I was beginning to invest. Although I decided not to do it for now, since I am just starting out, I did notice one other drawback: the income you get is taxed at your normal income tax rate (aka no capital gains tax rate).

Almost makes me want to join Facebook or twitter. But not quite. Should make it accessible to oldsters. E-mail still works. Ah, but you're under the mistaken impression that Vanguard's primary goal of this effort is to open the channels of communication between itself and the shareholders. If that ...

If you have a job, your best option is probably to open a Roth IRA with a low-cost vendor. I would go with Vanguard if I were you- just pick a target retirement fund, set up an auto-deduct so the money automatically goes there every month, and forget about it. If you think you will need that money f...

I just wanted to chime in and share a story. I have a very bright, hardworking friend, who was doing very well in the workforce. She is in her 20s and is very healthy- eats right, exercises regularly, etc. This past year, she was just diagnosed with a disease that has completely changed her career o...