Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Money and financial

Would you guys recommend to buy MOTORS LIQ CO (MTLQQ)?

omaralarifi — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:32:31 -0800

Can I buy MOTORS LIQ CO (MTLQQ) AKA General Motors stock? If yes, Would you guys recommend to buy the stock? Whatever your answer I need to know the reason. Thank You

Credit card charge off: pay in full or accept settlement?

Nickel — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:11:15 -0800

Credit card charge off: pay in full or accept settlement offer? My 23 year old sister racked up some credit card debt during a low point in her life a few years ago and is now looking to tackle it and get her credit back on track. I am in a position where I can help her financially and would like to help her make the best decisions.

All of her credit card debt (~$7000) is charged off and sold to debt collection agencies. The agencies are offering settlement deals for a little less than 50% of the original amount owed.

1. I'm assuming that "charged off - paid in full" looks better than "charged off - paid a settlement" on a credit report. Is that right? Is it a significant difference or should we save the money?

2. How would these options actually be listed on her credit report?

3. If she does settle, can she ask that they remove the information from her credit report as a condition of settling?

4. If she pays in full, can she have the charge off removed from her credit report?

5. If I add her as an authorized user to some of my credit cards, will it raise her credit score? Will it lower mine?

NB. She talked to a credit counselor about a year ago, but couldn't afford the minimum due so they couldn't work with her. If you can personally recommend any counselors in the SF Bay area, I would appreciate it.

any MS Money 2007 users?

royalchinook — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:05:27 -0800

In MS Money 2007, I am able to open my MS Money 2002 file and everything is great except for one difference that is causing me fits. I like to put all my Bills in the bill section and then I can easily see what the balance is going to be in my account after all those bills go through to make sure I have enough money (Shift+Click), but it seems that starting in MS Money 2006, that functionality was taken away. I am not aware of a way to select multiple bills to see the balance after paying all of them.

Reason for upgrading to 2007: I recently installed a new hard drive and my MS Money 2002 backup file would not open for me anymore (it asked for a password that I didn't have, seems that's a 'feature' to get you to upgrade).

Apologies: I know I should probably find a forum more specific to Microsoft and their software's problems but there is so little help there so thanks for indulging me on this active site.

I've spent some time googling and here's what I found:

Someone asking this same question with no real responses on eggheadcafe

List of features removed from MS Money over the versions, my problem is similar to this one (although I am able to see my balance, but just after the single bill I have selected, not multiples).

I see in the eggheadcafe question the guy seemed to answer his question with making the bills online payable but I've looked around and I don't think the banks I use support paying online (I'm in Canada).

I guess I'm asking if there's a way to find out what my balance will be after a bunch of bills that are scheduled to be paid are actually paid and if not, other recommended financial software; this is a deal breaker for me if I can't get it to work.

Financial Coach

Elsie — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:58:12 -0800

Are there online financial coaching services—not investment financial planners or debt counselors--for debt-free people fed up with researching every personal money decision? I’d love a subscription to a financial coaching service, along the lines of a personal shopper—they know what’s in someone’s closet and can tell them what to pull out of the closet or buy for a wedding/job interview. I’ve already done all the heavy lifting—no debt; downsized; funded the IRAs and just happened to be in cash already; sold the house before everything tanked. But I am sick of researching everything to death. I’d supply my financials and personal profile to this coach and ask boring stuff like:

--Given my situation, should I rent or buy?
--What’s the maximum I can spend on a rental/house purchase?
--What’s the best health network in my location and what plan of theirs should I get?
--How much should I be paying a tax preparer?
--What’s the best car insurance company and how much deductible should I take?
--Should I split up my IRAs (now that I’ve consolidated them on one place!!!) for safety reasons? If so, where?
--Where should I park proceeds of the house?
--What’s the most affordable communications package in my area for all phones, internet, cable?
--How much would you charge to work up a budget for me knowing my thrift level, income, savings, and splurges?

Metafilter is great, but I have too many questions. I’d like a financial hand holder who has my personal profile and financial information and can just give me answers. I’ve already read all the Oprah guru books, seen the shows, etc. They worked. Thank you. But now I want to personalize my everyday financial decision making with somebody like me, who’s not me, who can do the research while I enjoy life.

Do I accept a Greenpeace Internship? But first, $4000 More Student Debt!

Risiko — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:58:50 -0800

I'm an Environmental Policy & Planning Major (3rd year). I've been applying to internships over the past weeks for Spring and Summer positions. Great news: I've already been accepted to Greenpeace's "Organizing Term" and I have two other positions I will soon hear a yes/no on for Spring. Bad News: The Greenpeace Organizing Term program will cost me $4000. The program itself is an intensive mix of activities, virtually on a full-time basis (for 2 months of summer, out of 3), including classroom trainings, expeditions to other states (as well as another country for meeting with other international activists), media trainings, and some readings. All of it is included with the cost (including flight/transport/food for a week). What to do? (More in the extended explanation): My Dilemma: I want to be a part of this program for several reasons. But the most salient ones are: (1) This seems like it would be excellent experience, whether I choose to go on a career of political advocacy or otherwise -- environmental consulting, or non-profit office-type work, or government agency type work, or what have you. I know that my public communication skills will undoubtedly improve through the program. By undertaking the program itself, it shows initiative and passion. The not only improves my skillset in a personal sense, but it enhances my job prospects post-graduation too. Moreoever, while only 15 people are accepted for the program each summer, "hundreds" (I'm told) have applied. Might there be a prestige factor that helps my future prospects? Keep in mind, I plan on relying on internships more than most because my GPA is relatively mediocre (I'm working hard to change that though) (2) But also importantly is that I know I'll learn a lot from the experience, and will therefore very likely enjoy it, in general. And, if I find that I don't like it, I will have learned something very useful about myself also, and plan for my future accordingly! (3) Frankly, I have a lot of passion for environmental protection, especially the more I've study it. My generation and even progressively more so, future generations, will have to work harder to protect what is here for us.

On the other hand, I don't want to be a part of the program for the following reason: I don't have the money. Nor do my parents. Trust me, I've pleaded. Moreover, I have almost nothing to my name (despite that I am a sprendthrift compared with most of my peers.) I've worked part-time for part of my college experience. My student debt scares me but my parents have pledged do cut it down dramatically from where it will stand, so I am hopeful. So they're doing all they reasonably can already. Nor can extended family help, as far as I'm aware, but I plan to find out anyway for certain, through 'fundraising' that Greenpeace suggests financially-strapped acceptees to undertake. I've never independently fundraised before, but it'll be a learning opportunity. I'm hoping to scrounge $500 (with wide error margins) that way. Maybe I could do more, who knows -- but my relatives are middle class, and they're getting hit like everybody is now. I can also work part-time from March-May, so that'll net me $1000 more. Beyond that, I've been looking for scholarships through my University and otherwise. The program doesn't qualify for what's available, and there isn't much available right now anyway (says my University Counselor). So there is a big gap. I'm still exploring options, but that leaves me at a shortfall.

So.

I thought some sager advice, over and above my parent's significant uneasiness about it, might be out there.

Which path do you suggest?

When No More Debt really has to mean No More Debt.

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:57:57 -0800

Someone near to me has recently recognised, and begun to address, a serious problem with debt. The debt is not a result of extravagant spending; it seems to stem from persistently bad decisions about consumer credit, and a habit of repaying loans with other loans. So... once the debt has been consolidated and the credit cards have been destroyed, what measures can this person take to ensure they never, ever get into debt again? Is it possible to voluntarily ban oneself from being offered credit? The person is in Australia.

Where to invest during a financial meltdown?

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:30:25 -0800

I recently inherited about $100k. I'm pretty dumbfounded. This is the largest amount of money I will probably ever have to figure out what do with, so I want to be safe and smart and invest in the long term. I have no debts. I'm 30 years old and single. I know no one has a crystal ball, but what are your best guesses for what I should do with this money in light of our current financial meltdown? (I haven't even deposited the check yet... my bank is Wamu and I wasn't sure if it would fold).

divorce-filter: protect friend from his wife financially

evanrodge — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:24:54 -0800

divorce-filter: protect friend from his wife financially, her secret bank accounts, hostility, etc I have a close personal friend who I think is on the verge of a divorce (although he doesn't think so) and I am getting all the warning signs.

His wife is hostile towards him non-stop- yelling at him over things he has no control over, picking fights at random times over past incidents. I'm pretty sure (very sure actually) that this fighting and hostility goes well above and beyond normal marriage quibbling. The reason I say this is because it happens every day, all year long. Also, the man in question is very quiet and intellectual and holds a well paying job. It should be noted that the she threatens divorce in several arguments that she can't win.

Where things get hairy is as follows: His wife is just about to finish her nursing degree. She has set up a bank account without him knowing to deposit the money she earns from her hospital work directly into. The reason my friend doesn't know about this is because his wife "handles the money" in the household.

My question is, how can my friend protect himself financially when the sh** finally hits the fan. I suspect that my friend will be left with his wife's school debt (as well as her other debt...) after the divorce happens. Also there is the issue of who gets custody over their two teenage kids. He is an excellent father who should get the kids, but courts almost always favor women.

Thanks ahead of time for any help you guys can offer.

The Economics of Financial Domination

divabat — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:18:21 -0800

How do financial dominatrices make their money? A comment on AskMefi some time ago talked about financial dominatrices, and I've been fascinated by their business ever since. From what I could gather, all they have to do is put up a website saying "You worship me! Give me money and stuff because I know you want to!" - and it works. One site had her Internet bills paid off. Many ask for regular tithes and offerings, and have application processes.

How does this work? From what I could tell, the buyers don't actually get anything back for their cash - it's up to the dominatrix if she wants to give them something or not. (Usually they don't bother.) It's not like she's selling pictures or anything (though I did see one with videos) - it pretty much seems like they're paying money because it gets them off.

How does one get established in the financial dominatrix business? Is there some sort of Financial Dominatrix Directory where they get listed and people just scroll through to see who they like? How do they get attention, and how do they get people to pay? Are there any male dominators, or any women that would pay for such "services"? How would you keep your identity secret to collect cash (and avoid a situation like this mess - link NSFW)?

If you would like to comment anonymously, send me an email at dominatrix.economics@gmail.com.

Personal Finance Software for Mac Question: Deluxe 2008 Edition

harkin banks — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:13:51 -0800

Mac switcher / Intuit hater question: Is there a good alternative to Quicken for the Mac? My wife just got me a new MacBook as a pre-Valentine's day present (yes, she's awesome.) There are obvious equivalents for all of the applications I have on my old desktop (running XP), except one: Quicken.

I know there's a Mac version of Quicken, but from what I hear it lacks a lot of the functionality of the Windows version. I also know that I could run the Windows version via Parallels, but that doesn't appeal to me for two reasons: a) the only reason for me to install Parallels/XP would be for Quicken, which makes the whole thing rather expensive, and b) over the last few years I've come to hate Intuit with the proverbial heat of a thousand suns just as much for their product-sunsetting, privacy-invading ways as for their insecure software. (Bastards.) So Quicken in either form is right out.

Our requirements are fairly typical, I think. Our financial life is not crazily complex, but we've got investments and a mortgage so I think we need something more than an spreadsheet or an "envelope-based" program (like Budget). Some budgeting and forecasting capability would be nice. Being able to download transactions from online banking is a necessity. Whatever I choose, I don't want to be locked into a proprietary format, so the ability to use or export to a common format is vital. (Ability to import our previous history from Quicken is NOT important. I haven't been keeping up recently, so our Quicken file is pretty out of date at the moment -- I would be OK with starting over in a new program.) So, what personal finance software for the Mac should we look at?

There's this thread asking the same question, but it's almost three years old, and the situation has probably changed. Mentioned in that thread are Liquid Ledger, iBank, and Moneydance. I also know about GnuCash. Any opinions about these four programs? Are there other alternatives I should look into?

Online financial resources

meghanmiller — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 09:59:20 -0800

What are the best online financial resources? I've searched old threads and found a lot of information about how to save money, but I know how to do that. What I want, at this point, is to *read* about saving money, or about eroding debt, or developing/maintaining a budget.

My family has a budget and a savings account -- neither is especially extensive, at this point, but it's something that we're working on. Because I find the subject interesting, I want to read more blogs and websites about finances, as well as examine other types of financial software, calculators, and spreadsheet setups. Google returns so many hits (and so many of them shady-seeming) that I'm overwhelmed, so I turn to the wisdom of MetaFilter.

Possibly relevant information: I have no financial background, save for a few years working customer service for a credit card. I started looking into this sort of thing a few months ago, and I had to look up what a money market account was--we're talking about personal finance for morons, here. I'm not especially interested in stocks, simply because it's not something that I have the means to explore at this point. We are not homeowners, nor do we plan to purchase a home any time soon.

I have a five-year-old child, a partner with whom I share finances but to whom I am not married, two cats, and debt that, while not insignificant, is not out-of-control and is being paid on.

Currently, I read a handful of blogs, have an INGdirect savings account, have an unfortunate-looking budget that I made with my (very limited) Excel skills, and have just downloaded PearBudget.

What are your favorite online resources? (Online is important here, as well--I have a stack of personal finance books that I'm making my way through, but I have more downtime sitting at a computer than I do downtime sitting around where I can easily read.) What would you recommend to someone learning about personal finance?

How should I complain about this?

GrooveStix — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 19:11:33 -0800

Help me write a good complaint letter so I can get my $99 back. The billing department in my college failed to notify me that they changed their billing practices for the payment plan I use - a four installments plan.

In the past, when my financial aid passed, it respectively cleared the installments of my payment plan. This provided me enough time to gather enough funds, to pay what was left if my aid was short. It usually cleared the first three and I paid the last one.

In this semester when the financial aid passed, it was disbursed onto each payment equally, which left me with a due date in the beginning of the semester.

Now, had I known this, I would've saved and not spend cash on silly things during the summertime, but the problem is that I didn't know AND I wasn't notified about it when I signed up for the payment plan. It ultimately led me be late for three of the payments and pay $99 in late fees, which I believe belong to me. I have never received ANY late fees in my life (yes, I am young. I know. lol)

My question is, what arguments can I use to write a good complaint letter, besides the obvious inconsistency with their past practices. Is this legal? Is there a policy or an act that forbids things like this from happening? From an ethical point, it seems very unfair but I do think that our MeFi hive will have a better idea than me. Please help!

I'm here, my money's there

like_neon — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:47:37 -0800

Can anyone recommend a financial advisor who specializes in clients who live overseas? - I'm a US citizen living abroad (UK), for a non-fixed period of time with possibilities of living somewhere else.
- I'd like someone to help me with my taxes. My first attempt at filling out the 2555 made me want to cry so I'll gladly pay someone to sort it all out for me from here on out.
- I have money in a 401k that's just lying around because I never had a chance to move it to a rollover IRA account or whatever you call it. I'd like someone to do that for me and then manage that fund.
- I also want to set up some long term investments that fit my goals.
- With the time difference it's also hard for me to reach anyone via the phone so I need an advisor who can competently communicate via email.

I've looked around NAPFA but without a fixed location it's very difficult to select one person. Motley fool is nice but it's has very little that can help with my specifics. Thanks!

Is it possible to entirely remove a charged-off debt?

doomtop — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:44:28 -0800

What is the best method to resolve this debt? Is it possible to have it removed from my credit history entirely? About four years ago, I moved from California back to Vermont. I had a cell phone in California through Sprint PCS. When I moved back, I stopped using my cell phone and also stopped paying the cell phone bill.

This racked up about $150 in unpaid bills, at which point they terminated my contract and assessed an additional $150 in termination fee. My total debt to Sprint PCS: $309.82.

At the time, I wasn't able to pay the debt and so I ignored it and eventually they stopped trying to collect and sold the debt to a debt collection agency named NCO Financial Systems.

NCO offered me several enticing settlements, around 50% of the total debt. I ignored these offers as well and left them in the dark as to whether I would be ever be paying this debt.

Eventually they stopped bothering me and several years passed.

Around a year ago, the company I work for began selling Sprint PCS phones as a Sprint Authorized Reseller. Employee contracts were offered a greatly reduced monthly cost.

I was interested and we asked Sprint if I would qualify. They checked and reported that I owed money to Sprint and would need to settle this debt in order to open a new contract.

So I left it at that for the time being.

A few months later I received a letter in the mail from NCO again requesting payment of the debt.

I was concerned about my credit history, so I got a free report through Equifax which showed that NCO had just recently reported the debt on my credit history. I was surprised that there was nothing on there from years ago and the only report was this recent one.

I continued to ignore the situation. (sigh)

Now today I received two letters in the mail from Genesis Financial Solutions, Inc. (GFS). They are offering me a pre-approved credit card onto which the balance of my debt will be applied with 0% APR and once they receive the first payment the charged-off account will be considered paid in full.

They label my debt as: "charged-off SPRINT PCS account, owned by NCO Financial Systems"

What is the best way to settle this debt in terms of my credit report? I am prepared to pay the debt in full at this time, if that is the way to go.

It doesn't seem like a "settled charge-off" is very good, nor does a "paid charge-off" even seem very good. Obviously, I would prefer to have the whole thing removed completely. Is that even possible at this point? Would it be possible to contact Sprint, who seems to have information on the debt still, and have them remove it completely from my history?? Or would NCO be able to do this??

What is the best approach here? I am clueless on this.

Investment options for the young and the restless?

killdevil — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:03:32 -0800

A friend needs to find a good place to park some money that will ultimately be used for house down-payment purposes. Help me come up with a few good investment options. My friend has around $100k sitting in a low-yield savings account. It pains me to see the cash left there when better options are legion.

Key points: the money will be invested for around 1-3 years. I think one or two good mutual funds would be a reasonable choice, but am not really an investor myself so I don't have specific funds or fund families to which I can point my friend.

Other options are welcome, of course, provided they are relatively conservative and are low-maintenance (i.e. they do not require active monthly monitoring; keep in mind that my friend is relatively young and is not an experienced investor).

Thanks!

Bad Credit Mistake, Good Person

mammamia — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 13:35:05 -0800

I have a question about resolving an issue with my credit that is keeping me from opening a new bank account. I was overdrawn at Washington Mutual in California. The amount is around seven hundred dollars. It went to a credit agency a while ago and now shows up on my credit report. I have moved to Pennsylvania and when I went to open a new bank account, surprise surprise was not allowed to. The bank employee told me that what I needed to do is call the credit company and tell them that I will pay the full amount, (which I want to do, and thankfully, can now), if I get them to agree to send a written confirmation that I have made good on my debt and that the matter has been resolved. He said that is the only way that I will ever get to open an account at any bank. A few weeks ago, I went through metafilter with a fine tooth comb to find advice on how to go about this, but didnt find the answers I need. These are two of the more helpful threads about credit issues that I found.
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/49726

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/34048

I went to the websites suggested by the metafilter community but didn't come out any wiser. Basically, I dont want to screw this up and do even more damage to my credit. How do I get the creditors to agree to send a statement before I make a payment. What exactly should I ask them to state? What would be ideal, and what is realistic to expect? How do I avoid paying the money and not getting any letter, or getting a letter that the bank wont find satisfactory enough to let me open an account? Help! Signing over paychecks to my mom to cash is getting old.

Where can i find interest rate listings of banks in NYC?

TwilightKid — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 08:01:12 -0800

Rather easy question with a long explanation behind it. What is the website where I can look up what different banks are offering as interest rates? I'm in NYC and considering switching banks because of a potential problem I see developing...More inside.... I currently have my checking account with 'WaMu'. My savings is in the mid-five figures, and I am currently getting a pretty decent 3.92% interest rate, which is alot better from random advertisements I see from other bank ads.

I am also currently set up with their free bill pay service. Where I simply log onto my account, and tell them to pay the bills, and 'WaMu' will print out a check, deduct from my account, and send it off.

About 2 months ago, I go in and pay 3 bills, all with plenty of time for the checks to arrive to their destination. Starting last month, I started to get my new bills in the mail, and I realize that the three bills from the previous month are deliquent.

I check with each account, and they inform me that payment was never recieved. I check with 'Wamu', and find out that due to some sort of heat wave or fire in their West Coast headquarters, that some of their computers were damaged and the bill pay stuff got screwed up.... (to date, it is still not functional)..

'Wamu' credits my accounts with the funds that were taken out to pay the original bills. I then proceeded to write out checks to clear up all the old balances....

Now the problem: With two of these accounts, I was given late fee penalties totalling $85 dollars.

I spoke with a 'Wamu' representative and asked her if I would be credited the $85 dollars because the whole ordeal was not my fault. I dont remember the full explanation she gave me, but she tried to tell me, that it was not directly their fault either, and it was one of those 'act of god' situations, and they wouldbnt be able to credit me for the late fee's. She also mentioned all the terms of service, yadda yadda, stuff i agreed to when i signed up... I call B.S...

Granted, the heat wave or whatever knocked their computers offline wasn't directly their fault, it certainly wasn't mine either. I followed the correct procedure to pay my bills through their service, and 'Wamu' didnt deliver. I dont care what the terms of service say; why should i lose out on the $85 for somethign that fully wasn't because of my doing.

Attempts to speak to a higher up didn't work. 'nobody' was ever available by phone. so I am going to go into a actual branch near me, and speak to the highest up person I can...

I plan to stay civil and polite, cause I know the people I am dealing with werent at fault, but I am also going to make it clear to them, that I will be prepared to pull my mid 5 figure account out of their establishment should we nt be able to come to a mutually beneficial solution. I'd be even willing to split it with them.

So, I'd like other options to put my $$ into, in case iI need to walk.

thanks for reading.

Invest a half-million

five fresh fish — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:06:11 -0800

What's the best way to invest a half-million dollars? Say you win the lottery tomorrow and end up with a half-million tax-free bucks in your pocket. Being a sensible sort of person, you wish to make this money the sort of thing that sets you up for life. What do you do with it?

(The half-million is just an arbitrary figure.)

Student loan collection fee elimination?

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 00:05:51 -0800

So this idiot "friend" of mine defaulted on his student loans, and the collection agency in charge of, well, collecting them has tacked on about $5000 worth of fees. Now that he's paying them back and rehabilitating his loan, is there any way he can get those fees eliminated? The collections agency says the best they'll do is deduct about $1000 after rehabilitation, but I'm convinced there must be something more he can do. Thanks, as always!

Financial Advice / Investment Community sites, forums etc

ataraxian — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 07:08:56 -0800

I am looking for good, active websites for financial advice, tips...community run unbiased sites where members are free to post their views would be good. I did a search and cannot find anything interesting. I am already aware of fool.com. Any others?