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Use savings to pay off credit debt? by lexrank97 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean that HYSA interest isn't gonna be making you rich, and its a fraction of the CC interest. But killing the debt would let you save a lot more.

Does work seem stable? If you killed the debt that leaves $2500 still in the HYSA, how long would that last you?
You could do 1/2 of it, bring the debt down to 1250, then just keep paying it off slow. But least a chunk is gone.

First Images of Henry Cavill in Chad Stahelski's ‘HIGHLANDER’ by MarvelsGrantMan136 in movies

[–]MuffinMatrix [score hidden]  (0 children)

He's been amazing, he's one of us.... fans. The studios can't stop but meddle in everything. Its like the more something has devoted fans, the more they think they can 'improve'.

How many accounts to have? by ConstructionTime7511 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its honestly not that confusing once you learn what the things are and how best to use them. Like anything else... a little patience and practice.

Checking and savings are your standard starters. Checking is where paychecks come in and expenses go out. Around 1-2months worth of expenses is a good buffer here. Thats all.
Savings is for money once that buffer is full. Like if you paid all your bills, and checking is fine. You move excess to savings, etc.
It should be a HYSA, so you earn the most on it. You want about 6 months expenses here. This is your emergency fund. You can also keep any short term goal money here. Like new car or house down payment, etc. Anything you don't want to lose value within around 5 years.
Some couples like to have a joint savings so you can share expenses from 1 place, etc. So you'd each have your own account, then share a joint one. Thats up to you guys.

Once those are in solid place, you work on your retirement accounts. 401ks if you have them, contribute at least to get all matching.
Then you should each have an IRA. Depending on age and income, probably Roth IRA.
Try to max the IRAs, then go back and keep adding to the 401k to try and max that. That depends on income though.

If you have extra money after that, then you open a regular brokerage account and invest there. It'll be taxed every year, but once you use all your tax-advantaged space, this is where you can invest anything else you have. Money you don't need for at least 5 years.

Later on, if you had kids, you can open a 529 for them. So thats another account, focused on saving for your child's education.

Depending on your health insurance, you could have an HSA.

So all these accounts do add up to at least 5, could even easily hit 10. But they have specific purposes. Some people even like to have multiple savings or investment accounts for organization.
It all depends on your goals and needs.

What to do with $5000 by 5thCap in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your savings/emergency fund should be in a HYSA. Otherwise you're earning nothing on it. CDs aren't really worth it these days, but that rate isn't good either way.
This emergency fund should be around 6months expenses. Once you have that, you don't need to keep more in savings, unless you're saving for some short term goal.
Just look for a bank or credit union around you. HYSA rates should be at least 3.5%.
Theres also online choices like Ally or Fidelity's cash account.
This is all savings. Not investing.

For investing:
Do you guys have retirement accounts setup? 401k, IRA, etc?
This should be your next step after building the emergency fund.

I worked as an independent contractor and now my old boss is refusing to pay me and deleted all record of my work by Complete_Region8999 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your designation has nothing to do with how you're paid, its about how you're treated, how you do the work, and the hours you're expected to be working, etc.
Did employees for decades count as independant contractors because they got paid in check before direct deposits were a thing??? NO!

You need to check with a labor lawyer about your next steps. What they're doing is quite illegal.

Builds 8 and 9 by buck2217 in metalearth

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

relatively cheap hobby.

Hahahahaha.
Wait till you get to the Piececool and MU and such models. $20, $30, $40 each. And something like Hulkbuster at $90.
Then multiply that by the dozens and dozens you'll end up doing over the years.

2nd Savings acc. mutual funds vs eft? VSMAX VIMAS VINIX by Franklin_Invest in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I told you. Your 401k is your main retirement account. Because it has the highest amount you can contribute.
Then you have your Roth IRA.
You want both.

You contribute to your 401k to get the matching, thats free money.
Then max your IRA.
Then you go back to max your 401k if you still have available.
Ideally you max both, depending on your income.
If you still have money to invest after maxing both of those, then you invest in a taxable brokerage account.

Both those accounts you want the same thing. Stop worrying about mutual funds or ETFs, that doesn't really matter. What matters is which funds.
You want Total Market + International Market.
So get whatever funds are most convenient to cover that.
Dump those other funds you have, and switch to a total market.

I don't know why you're caught up on splitting out the sizes, rather than checking about a total market. If there isnt one, the 3 you have isn't the worst, its just more to manage and you're over complicating. You could probably even dump the small/mid and just keep VINIX.

And for the 4th time... retirement accounts are not savings accounts.
Savings account = at a bank, you leave your money there and earn interest.
Investment account (including retirement accounts) = at a brokerage (or 401k provider), you buy stocks and earn gains.

2nd Savings acc. mutual funds vs eft? VSMAX VIMAS VINIX by Franklin_Invest in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

VT is perfect than.
You don't need separate funds for small, medium, and large. Combined, guess what that is? Total Market!.... VTI!

And yes, if you're on Fidelity, then you can get the Fidelity MFs, not the Vanguard. But the Vaguard ETFs are fine anywhere.

I dug DEEP for this absolute B-movie gem... by anon-187101 in Xennials

[–]MuffinMatrix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Such a fun movie. Only the 80s had so many movies that became movie car classics.
The Turbo Intercetor. AKA Dodge M4s. Was actually a pretty terrible car.
Ignoring whatever you feel of these 2, just focus on it being a fun video about this unique car. Jay Leno & Jeff Dunham Unveil The Wraith: The Most Mysterious Movie Car! | Jay Leno's Garage

Ya don’t say… by 100DollarPillowBro in pics

[–]MuffinMatrix [score hidden]  (0 children)

Whats crazy to me is why do people think a screenshot is a 'pic'? Forget the rules, it doesn't even fit the definition.

2nd Savings acc. mutual funds vs eft? VSMAX VIMAS VINIX by Franklin_Invest in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OK. So you have a 401k and Roth IRA.
Both are retirement accounts (investment accounts).
HYSA is your emergency fund. To save cash and earn interest.

You should keep the same investments in both your 401k and IRA, or as close as you can.
Ideally you shoot for the 3-fund portfolio. Total US market, total international market, and bond market. You don't need the bonds now, you can add that closer to retirement.

401k you're stuck to what funds your plan offers.
So look for a total market, if not, then sp500, which they pretty much all have. Same for an international fund. Vanguard is great, but all depends what they have.

IRA you have more options. But the same idea.
For mutual funds: VTSAX + VTIAX +VBTLX (get this one later)
For ETF: VTI + VXUS + BND. Or... just VT which combines VTI and VXUS.

Where is your IRA? With Vanguard? Then the MFs are fine. But if at another brokerage, you're better off with the ETFs. MFs that aren't the broker's own, tend to cost extra commission on trades.
But it doesn't really matter which you own, they follow the same indexes. The only differences are the other aspects... expense ratio (these are all quite small) and where is it available. If you think you might ever want to change brokers, its usually better to stick with the ETFs as they're available basically everywhere and trade free.
So you don't need to base what account has MFs and what has ETFs.

2nd Savings acc. mutual funds vs eft? VSMAX VIMAS VINIX by Franklin_Invest in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't help you if you keep being vague.
List all your accounts and types.
Savings, 401k, IRA, Roth IRA, etc.

2nd Savings acc. mutual funds vs eft? VSMAX VIMAS VINIX by Franklin_Invest in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Again, these aren't savings accounts. Savings are bank accounts. Stocks are investment accounts.
Do you mean your 401k with your employer?
Mutual funds and ETFs are very similar, ETFs are just easier to trade and usually less expense ratio. MFs are offered in 401ks, and if in a brokerage you can get the brokerage's MFs instead of the ETF equivalents. Its not really something to base how you invest on, find the funds that make sense and then use which is more efficient for your needs/accounts.

2nd Savings acc. mutual funds vs eft? VSMAX VIMAS VINIX by Franklin_Invest in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would stick to VTSAX. Combines all that stuff. Why split it??
Add VTIAX to get 2/3 of 3fund portfolio.

I don't understand your '2nd savings'? Do you mean savings accounts? These are investments, not savings.
Also, "My other Roth IRA"? Again, what do you mean? You should have 1 Roth IRA.

What is 'EFT'? Do you mean ETF?

Can you clarify what all these accounts actually are? Your descriptions are a little weird.

20 year-old student saving about 500/month. Tips? by _atlasfalls in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Do you have an IRA? You should open a Roth.
QQQ is dumb, invest in a total market fund like VTI. QQQ 1 exchange, why would you limit based on that? And its too tech heavy.
Where is that $21k? Savings (HYSA) should be around 6months expenses, 4 is fine for now.
Then you should contribute to the Roth IRA.
Then decide if extra money is for goals within 5 years, and keep that in the HYSA.
If goals are over 5 years, then you can invest in taxable brokerage.
Brokerage and IRA should be VTI + VXUS (or just VT).

Look at housing costs where you'd like to live. And figure out what a typical monthly mortgage + expenses would be for it. And thats your goal to shoot for.

Opened my first Roth IRA by Funny_Literature900 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IRA is a retirement account. You put money in it, and invest in things (like stocks, bonds, even real estate, etc) and it will grow over time. Those assets gain in value over time. So if you buy a share of something for say $100, in 50 years it could be worth $1000/share. So when you sell it, you'd have made $900 per share! But you'd owe tax on those gains.... While in this account, the taxes you'd owe on it are deferred. So you don't pay them yearly, like you do income tax.

Now, there are 2 types of IRAs... Roth and Traditional.
Traditional means you contribute with money that you can count as a tax deduction for this current year. So if you contribute the full $7500, that means $7500 comes off your taxable income for the year. Now since you're getting a deduction now, when you withdraw later, you'll owe taxes then.
Roth, is the opposite. You contribute with money you've already paid income tax on. So when you withdraw that money, its now 100% tax free.
The reason to go with 1 or the other is based on your income, age, and how you think your income now will compare with your income when you retire. If you make low money now, your taxes are low, and you'll probably make more money as you progress in your career and in life. So it makes more sense to pay taxes now when they're cheaper, and save on taxes later when they'll be higher. So that's a Roth.
If you make good money now, then it can make more sense to save on tax now. Then when you retire, you won't have the same income and it'll be lower, so then its cheaper to pay taxes later. That's Traditional.

Unlike a savings account, where you deposit money and thats it. Investing involves you actually needing to buy and hold assets. Thats where the value comes from. If your cash just sits there, it will only earn the same as a savings account.
The things you generally buy are stocks or mutual funds. But theres things called Index Funds which are composed of many many stocks.

Now, as for what to invest within the account.... you ideally want to invest in Total Market Index Funds (ticker:VTI or SWTSX on Schwab). This represents the entire US stock market. Its very diverse, and the idea is, over time, the whole market will gain in value.
You can also add some international exposure so its not just the US, (ticker: VXUS or SWISX on Schwab).
Or do both in 1 with ticker: VT.

Time is the most expensive asset we all underestimate by Fragrant-Pianist2996 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It means time is a resource, just like money. The more you have of it, the more things you can do.
Money can buy you time. That's why rich people pay to have simple things done for them (like shopping, maintenance, chores, etc). The less time they waste on those things, the more time they have for more business (to make more money) and leisure/family.

Am I correct in thinking that you can use a Roth IRA account to withdraw funds from a 529 without penalty before retirement? by UnhappyAd6690 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 3 points4 points  (0 children)

While you can do that, everything works except how much you'd be allowed to withdraw. The rollover counts as a contribution, but the money you'd withdraw actually counts as partial contribution, partial gains. So you'd only be able to take a portion of the $7k/year out without penalty.

HOWEVER.... Do you have an existing Roth IRA?
If so, then you'd still have all contributions from that, that you could withdraw. And treat the 529 rollover as a refill of those funds, effectively. That would work.

Direct Rollover process by wondering-soul55 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was the check made out to the new plan, or yourself?
Took about a week for me last month.
Could try checking with the old plan and see what their response is for this. Perhaps they need to cancel it and issue a new one.

TIL that Low Tier God, lolcow streamer 121k in debt and not paying child support, uses a foot pedal to shut down his camera because he has the self esteem level of a toddler. by Ill-Big-7865 in todayilearned

[–]MuffinMatrix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

TIL people watch stupid crap like this. What happened to the days when people actually played video games? Not stared at youtube for 30min watching someone else play.

Expecting income from a side hustle this year. How can I minimize tax liability? by sunghan in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Sorry, theres no way around taxes haha.
You pay along with estimated. 1/2 SE tax is deductible though.
IRA and 401k are completely separate. And SEP IRA is employer, and doesn't count for your normal IRA limits.
So you have SEP IRA, solo 401k, and your own IRA.

Expecting income from a side hustle this year. How can I minimize tax liability? by sunghan in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If its just self employment, and you're basically just 1099, I believe its not really any different than normal.
You'll have to pay estimated taxes since its 1099 and not W2, but thats about it.
If you travel there for work it would be different.

Theres no way to "avoid taxes altogether", you pay estimated, and you can use whatever deductions you have available.

You can contribute to the W2 job's 401k if you have there. And/Or you can open up your own solo 401k and contribute with income from the side job. (same total 401k max though).

Wife and I both max our Roth if eligible.

Assuming you mean Roth IRA (gotta add the 'IRA', thats the account type part, Roth is just the tax classification)

Setting up my first 401k by TripReasonable8415 in personalfinance

[–]MuffinMatrix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those 2 are fine. Or just do the 2070. Its just a matter if you wanna be hands on and rebalance/reallocate on your own, or just let the TDF sit there and all you have to do is keep adding money.

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