Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with finance

Finance Interview Questions

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:50:50 -0800

I am being interviewed for a Summer Internship position at an NYC bank tomorrow. I have some questions about this inside. Firstly, I will be expected to be very familiar with current financial news, market trends, etc. I have not been reading the WSJ every day, so I ask you: what are the most important current events in the financial world that I should make sure to review before I get quizzed about them? Which news stories should I make sure to know about?

Second, what are the kinds of questions that they would ask a math-y person without a finance background? What is the best way to answer them?

Third, do you have any other specific tips for me?

How to Make Plans For the Future?

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:16:24 -0800

I would like to go to grad school and further my studies in graphic design, but my financial situation is completely out of control. Has anyone ever been in this situation, and how was this situation handled? After a few years of working in the industry, I have decided I would like to further my studies in graphic design by going into a Master's program, and eventually go into writing and teaching design. The thing is, I have an out-of-control debt (credit cards, school loans, random debts including one to the tax man, which I am currently paying off in increments), one where my poor management has resulted in a pretty horrible credit score. I have basically no savings and no assets and live paycheck-to-paycheck in someone's house because I do not have a good enough credit score to rent on my own (not that I could really afford it anyway, especially where I live). I do not have family I could move back in with, or a significant other. I have friends, but none of them have space for me to move in, and it wouldn't be any more financially effective. I'm not sure how I can ever get financial aid or even do a grad program if I go into it with such a horrible financial situation. What would be the best solution to this?

Help! Credit card elimination or consolidation?

antipode12 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:31:20 -0800

Help! -- My credit debt is nearly $50,000, my mortgage is upside down by 25% and my fiancee walked out the door a month ago. I can't make my bills. I'm trying to sort out which route to go with the credit cards. A service like CCCS? Or some other route like Credit Elimination? Please help me understand this. Thanks

Financial crisis in the family, what can we do?

jrdnbaade — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:06:46 -0800

My mom was diagnosed earlier this year with diabetes, and thats where things started getting really bad. The insurance we have won't cover anything she's needed for it. She's doing tremendously better now, but it's been replaced by a deep depression because the extra costs are just too much.

She resorted to using credit cards to pay for her medication and supplies, and now that those are maxed we're even worse off because of those bills. She's been trying so hard to find some help but theres been nothing out there.

We applied for food stamps, but got turned down. She's looked for different insurance companies, but none will cover her because of the diabetes. She's been denied for loans to try and consolidate her debt. Even the debt consolidation companies she called won't help because theres no money to pay their fees. We can't even get a first mortgage because we don't have the money to pay for the application.

It's really hard seeing her so upset, and blaming herself for everything. I've gotten her to agree with my helping her budget to try and keep some safety nets, but that doesn't really help us until we get out of this hole.

She's a pretty timid person and I don't know if she's not being aggressive enough with the people she's been in contact with for help or what. She's been trying to find a new job too on top of all that because her boss has been treating her pretty badly and has recently cut her hours. It's been pretty rough in Michigan though as far as jobs come.

I thought I'd come here to seek out any suggestions to try to get us out of this mess. Any information on insurance companies that won't deny us for preexisting illnesses, any advice on getting ourselves out of this debt, even some budgeting tips for when we're in the clear would be greatly appreciated.

So I got these letters asking to buy mineral rights from me. What mineral rights? Scam or real?

mygothlaundry — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:55:52 -0800

So I got these letters offering to buy my mineral rights - for land in a state I've never been to, that I had no idea I owned and in fact can't imagine that I do own. Scam or preposterously possible? I got two letters today: one for me and one for my elderly aunt, using a c/o me address, which in itself sets off a few alarm bells, since she doesn't actually live with me anymore and we've only used my address for her in a couple of places: the hospital, the drugstore, etc. The letters are from a company called Enerlex, Inc, in Broken Arrow, OK. Googling has turned up their website and pages of businesslike results without anything that looks overtly underhanded. The letters are almost identical but not quite. Both of them had a document called a mineral deed enclosed and a postage paid return envelope. Both of them also had bank drafts attached.

Here's the text of my letter.

Enerlex, Inc., is currently purchasing mineral interests in Latimer County, Oklahoma. We would like to extend and offer to purchase the mineral interest that we believe you own in the above captioned county for $1,050. Two bank drafts totaling that amount are attached below.

If this offer is acceptable, please find enclosed a Mineral Deed, which needs to be signed, notarized and returned in the self-addressed stamped envelope. After you have returned the properly executed and notarized Mineral Deed to our office, please place the endorsed drafts in your bank for collection. Once the Mineral Deed has been received by our office, we will begin our title examination. Please note that the draft for $150.00 is yours regardless to cover the expenses and notary fees.

If you prefer, you may hold the drafts, thereby forgoing a collection fee at your bank. In that case, we will send a check for $150.00 immediately and a check for $900.00 upon completion of the title examination.

We would appreciate a reply within fifteen days of your receipt of this letter. After 15 days Enerlex reserves the right to rescind this offer. If you have any questions, please contact me at (800 number) or by my e-mail address listed below.

My aunt's letter is exactly the same except a) the amount is substantially more, although not, like, millions and b) my letter was signed in blue and hers was signed in black. Both of the mineral deeds are exactly the same.

I would just toss these, assuming they are some strange and convoluted Oklahoma version of a Nigerian 419 except for the fact that my mother died a year and a half ago. The estate was pretty simple and there was no mention of land or mineral rights or anything like that but I did inherit part of her IRA and some of her portfolio and, after removing the bulk of my inheritance to buy a house, I've left the rest of it alone and remained sadly ignorant of all things concerning money and finance (that is a whole other AskMe question for another time.) Is it possible, therefore, that these mineral rights do in fact exist and are part of my inherited IRA or invested (with Schwab, FWIW) money? I thought that was all less tangible stuff like stocks and bonds and, you know, that kind of thing. Is it possible that I inherited them without knowing about it? And where would my aunt have gotten these things? And, how did they find me and, more to the point, how did they find her? Any information would be great.

Life with online banking: possible?

chesty_a_arthur — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:52:17 -0800

Our money management software (Quicken) is constantly getting us locked out of our online banking accounts (Keybank). Keybank is no help. Has anyone successfully conquered this? So Quicken Online wants to get our information from Key.com. Fine with us; this is why we went through the elaborate security yadda yadda ya. Not so fine with Key -- they keep locking us out, and locking Quicken out. Having to log into Key to log into Key via Quicken kind of defeats the whole purpose. Key's money management interface seems lame, although using that is our BATNA right now.

Has anyone conquered this problem, especially with Key? They even have a dedicated Quicken team, which may or may not actually exist.

(Their corporate position seems to be that yes, there's a problem, and their temporary solution is to not do anything about it.)

Also, we've already abandoned Mvelopes and Mint at different times for having the same problem, although interestingly they had the same problem with different banks/credit cards.

Finally, this is the free Quicken Online. It seems like it accesses Key whether we log in or not, which is what triggers the lockout (X number of automated logins without a ... non-automated login.) I can't figure out how to change this, and I don't know if it would help.

Should I buy a home?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:16:38 -0800

I'm looking to buy a home, am I ready to finance this? I have about $35k in private student loans at 5.25%, no other debt. I've been pre-approved for $150k at 5% for a 30 yr fixed and I currently have about $25k in cash. The homes I'm looking for are between $140k-175k, with most being on the low-end of that band. On the high end I'd be paying just shy of 25% of my monthly take home pay, which seems like a lot.

I'm a first time buyer so it looks like I would get the tax credit along with being able to deduct interest payments.

I would only be in trouble if I were to lose my job within the year, as I plan on using all but $5k for down payment and closing costs. I'll still be saving around $300 a month. I'm young and single, I would expect my salary to rise in the field I'm in, but the economic collapse taught me that nothing is set in stone. Any thoughts on how if this is a good idea or not? Am I missing anything?

I Don't Like Money

Kippersoft — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:45:46 -0800

I honestly have no interest in money, but I'm constantly reminded to invest my money. I've tried learning about it with little success, presumably because of my uncommon beliefs regarding money. So how do I invest this stuff so that I can maximize my joy in life and minimize my reliance on money? I'm 21 and live in Canada. I'm going into my 4th year of university and yet I probably know less about money than a 15 year old. I was never taught anything about in school and I've never had any interest in it. We're working with an entirely blank slate here (to put it into perspective, I was asked by my bank cashier if I got money on my tax return last year and I didn't understand what she meant... I'm totally stupid when it comes to money :P).

I recently picked up a Personal Finance for Dummies book and a Complete Idiots Guide to Personal Finance. I also read The Wealthy Barber a few years back. All of these were totally over my head. Furthermore, I assume this is all outdated because of the recession or whatever. ;)

I think my problem is that I don't really care about money -- it just doesn't mean that much to me. I don't buy much, I don't have any debt, I don't have any real expenses, and most of it just sits around.

So, all that said, what do I do with this stuff? Which of the Bonds/RRSPs/RRIFs/GICs/ROFLs/BBQs accounts do I put my money in? Here are my basic interests:
- Lets make it an even $10,000 I want to invest
- I want to save for my retirement and use this compound interest thing
- I don't want to lose money. I'm happy with whatever I've got, but I want to minimize my reliance on money. I don't want to be working while I'm 65 just so my family doesn't freeze in the winter. The more time I can enjoy life, the better.
- I want the "set it and forget it" approach. I don't have enough interest to make this a hobby for me.
- I don't want to pay anyone and I want to understand and run things myself (I just need to know where to start)
- Locking 100% of my money away for retirement means I can't enjoy life while I'm young which is a waste. I want some money available for my often spontaneous ideas. ("Maybe I'll by a car tomorrow or go on a vacation next Thursday...")

I know a sound like a naive, 90-year-old grandpa still living out the Depression with his money buried in a coffee can in the back yard (I'm only one step above that... I don't even own a bank card yet), but I just have no idea where to start and not enough ambition to learn about financial stuff which changes from month to month.

I know these might be a unique situation (which is exactly my problem), but where would you begin? What would you do to make the ideal, simple way to invest $10,000? What are the only one or two concepts (RRSPs, etc.) I need to learn and use?

All ideas and suggestions are very appreciated! :D

Can I use a retirement fund to buy out startup stock options?

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:25:12 -0800

I'm about to leave a startup to go to a different company, and I need some help figuring out how to handle my stock options. I currently work for a startup at which I have accrued X stock options at a price of $Y. From the date I leave, I have 90 days to buy out the options. I don't currently have the cash on hand to do this, but I do have approximately X*$Y in my 401k, which I would have to roll over either to the new company's 401k or to an IRA.

I think I heard that you can buy out options like this in a retirement fund, but if this is true I need to better understand the details and mechanics of it. Is anyone familiar with this situation who can tell me what to look for? Are there specific types of IRAs or anything like that which would give me more flexibility? What do I need to know?

For what it's worth, I do believe the startup will succeed; I'm leaving because my job there is not what I want. Also, I'm in my mid-twenties. So I am not concerned about using my (currently minimal) retirement fund to buy these out.

Here's all my passwords dude

sarelicar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:52:12 -0800

Rudder or Mint? Is there a big difference between these two services? I'm an obsessive bank account checker and pay everything online. I like the idea of having one-stop-bill paying and budget fun.

Is my spending info sold to third parties/credit card companies/etc?

Is allowing a website to access my financials an obvious no?

Your personal experiences welcomed.

Pay down the mortgage?

acoutu — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:19:11 -0800

Should they pay down their mortgage? My friends, who think I'm a financial guru, have come to me seeking some advice on their mortgage. However, while I have an opinion, I thought I'd ask the folks here at AskMefi too.

Should they pay down their mortgage?

Due to several unexpected windfalls, my friends have about $100k in the bank. They have earmarked $25k for retirement savings, general savings, a trip, and so on. They have ample emergency savings and decent retirement savings funds already, as well as college savings. Their car is paid off. They have no debt outside their mortgage. They live on one income and use the other to pay down their mortgage. They have 2 children and one parent works part-time, while the other has a very good job. When the other parent returns to f/t work, their income will rise substantially, but they are already in a very comfortable household income bracket.

My friends can pay up to $65k as a balloon payment on their mortgage each year. They have previously made several balloon payments, but none this year.

Their current *fixed* rate is 5.89%, with 2.5 years left in the term.
Their marginal tax rate is around 35-40%.
Their mortgage payments are around $2050 a month.
The outstanding balance is now $275,000, down from $350k when they bought 2.5 years ago.
Their condo is worth around $600k and is in downtown Vancouver.

If they break the mortgage, they would pay an interest rate differential of about $17k.

They could refinance at around 4% fixed or 2.2% variable, give or take.

They have excellent credit.

My friends think they should pay down their mortgage by $65k, so that they get a 5.89% return with no tax. This will reduce the burden of a mortage (in a city where a house is $1M) and also mean that, when the term is up for renewal in a few years, they can shorten up the amortization or else benefit from much lower payments. They don't think it makes sense to break the mortgage ,since, over the course of the entire mortgage, they would actually save much more by applying the $17k penalty against the mortgage instead. Besides, they have money sitting in the bank.

Does it make sense to pay down the mortgage by $65k?

Thanks in advance.

Figuring out if a bank loan has been charged off?

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:43:58 -0800

Figuring out if a bank loan has been charged off? Is it possible to find out if one particular loan made by one particular bank has been charged off (or "written off")? The details, as much as I can relate: it is a single loan (not securitized), for millions of dollars. It is a mortgage loan, I checked the recording documents and can see that the mortgage has not been officially discharged. No news reports about Bank X writing off Big Loan, no analyst reports discussing it. I'm not turning up anything useful at the FDIC or OCC sites, but could be missing something. Nothing in the SEC filings for Bank X. Is there anywhere that would have a record of big loan write-offs? It seems like something that should be reported -somewhere- . I thought of credit reports, but Lendee is a company, not a person. This is in the US.

Does anyone have a Toronto bank that they love?

scrute — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:15:02 -0800

My bank has quit the banking business leaving me high and dry -what is your favourite non-TD or BMO banking option in Toronto? I have been a big fan of Citizen's Bank of Canada (not the same as the US bank of the same name) for years, but they have gone out of business. While they have sold mortgages and secured credit to TD, they are leaving those of us with unsecured lines of credit on our own (TD's choice I believe).

I need to replace my unsecured line of credit ($10k) and open a new account. I don't have much in the way of assets but have a stable, reasonable salary and a good credit rating. I also have a relative who is happy to co-sign on a line of credit, but most banks now refuse this practice and I do not want a traditional loan.

I am happy to consider credit unions or similar alternatives. I have had horrible experiences with Bank of Montreal and TD in the past and have no interest in banking with either of those institutions.

So, where can I get my line of credit with a reasonable interest rate and a good chequing account? Bonus points for affordable wire transfers and programs for New Canadians (my husband lives overseas (wire transfers) but will be moving here once we manage to sort out his visa (New Canadian programs)).

Does shorting the competition count as insider trading?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:15:31 -0800

I work for Acme Widgets, a competitor of WorldWide Doodads. I know that tomorrow we will be releasing an amazing widget that is going to completely outshine WorldWide's product lineup. Obviously, I can't do anything with Acme's stock - that would be insider trading. But what about shorting WorldWide's stock? Is that allowed?

MS in Finance Ranking List?

telsa — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:52:50 -0800

MS in Finance: Is there a list of top ranking schools for a MS in Finance? After finally deciding what I'd like to study, I need to look into schools! Google search has yielded me results that include MBAs, but I'm looking for a more in depth program with finance and investments.

How do I ace this interview?

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:09:14 -0800

How do I ace this finance interview? I have been lucky enough to win an interview with a Very Prestigious Bank's equity research division. I will be interviewing as an experienced hire for a junior analyst position. So far I have had two phone interviews and collectively I have spoken to the three team members with whom I would be working. I have not spoken to HR once; I have no HR contacts. I was selected by a headhunter who forwarded my resume to the team leader, who liked my background.

I now will be flying out to the bank's office to meet with more people. I would like to prepare for what questions to expect. I've done a lot of research but nearly everything I find seems directed to people looking for internships and entry-level jobs from undergrad/grad school. My intution tells me things are different for experienced hires. No more questions like "Tell me about a time where..." or "How do you react when..." Thus far I've been asked no "behavioral" questions. My questions have been more directed to assessing the strength of my modeling skills and my industry knowledge. Should I anticipate more ambiguous "HR-type" questions going forward, or should I generally expect things at this point to assess how well I will fit in with the team/company's culture? How do I best prepare to ace my interview? What is the process in general like for experienced but lower-level hires in the finance industry? Also, for anyone who is particularly famillar with research culture--does the ultimate decision reside with the head analyst or does a consensus generally need to be reached or what?

Should I quit looking in the legal field and become a stock broker?

xspot — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:41:33 -0800

Out of work law school grad thinking about looking into another career...looking for suggestions....how about a stock broker trainee...? Some background info. Living in NYC area. Recent law grad from 2nd tier school, crappy grades. Majored in finance as an undergrad. Failed the bar first time, worked for a year (non-legal field), out of work for another year before I retook and passed three state bar exams. Since then I've been out of work for another year+. I havent been completely out of work during those 'out of work' times but nothing that I'd put on a resume.
The legal job market seems esp. tough. Amazingly, I've interviewed with a couple of firms for entry level attorney jobs since passing the bar but I know for a fact that two of the firms hired people with 5-6 years experience. Ugh. Have also applied for a bunch of attorney fed/state jobs with no luck. I've known that my prospects for finding a an attorney job in this climate was slim, but I wanted to at least get licensed and was hoping for some luck but I'm now more than ready face 'reality'.... so I'm looking/thinking about a new career path.

Two main questions:
1.Suggestions on a new career path? I know this a ridiculous question to ask to strangers but I'd love to hear some new voices/opinions.
2. There've been alot of stoker broker trainee jobs listing recently...What exactly does a stock broker trainee do and is it worthwhile? Would my law degree/finance degree help at all at getting and keeping this job?

Looking for nonlegal work as a JD was tough, I imagine it'll be the same with a law license. Should I mention that I'm licensed to practice law or that I even went to law school? I definitely dont mind starting from the ground up in a new field but I'm hesitant to switch fields and 'waste' my law degree/license. How hard would it be for me with become an attorney again after working in another field for 4-5 years without any legal experience? Despite how it sounds I dont feel like I HAVE to be a lawyer, I just would like to give it a shot but I'm tired of waiting and not making steady income! I'm not necessarily looking for suggestions in finding legal work, but suggestions or advice would really be welcomed. Thanks.

She works hard for the money...

firei — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:05:20 -0800

A friend of mine wants to open a business, and is looking for information on business loans or grants specifically for women. I've been on the SBA and SCORE websites, but haven't been able to find too much info. Everyone always says that there's a lot of financial assistance for women looking to open businesses, but I'm having trouble finding it!

If it helps: I believe she is looking to open a dog grooming/training facility.

Specifics would be awesome, but general links would be alright as well.

Campaign stiffs campaign workers, won't respond. Solutions?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:39:54 -0800

Local political campaign reports a large surplus four days after stiffing its workers (I and dozens of other campaign workers are owed back pay, several of us in the $300+ range). Solutions? This was an unsuccessful bid for a NY City Council seat. (I'm not directly naming the candidate or any individuals in this post, just as a courtesy -- trying not to saturate people's google results with this because A) I don't know yet what happened and B) the candidate has done great things for the community and I still really believe in his achievements. But there's an article at nypost.com and several of the campaign workers are blogging about it, so it's not exactly a secret).

The campaign hired all its workers at $15/hr. On Election Day (the 15th of September), we were told to come pick up our checks on the 18th of Sep., with no indication that anything would be wrong with them (and throughout the entire campaign they were still actively asking us to bring new people, friends and relatives, to come work at $15/hr).

At 9pm on the 17th, we got a group email saying the campaign would only pay us $10/hr and we should not come in on the 18th; instead, the $10/hr checks were mailed. According to the article linked above, the campaign reported a significant surplus four days after sending out our partial-payment checks on the 18th.

The sole public statement from the campaign, given at the reporter's request for that article, was "Everyone has been paid or their check has been sent to them in the mail." That is, needless to say, an extremely disingenuous (and bad-faith) non-response.

Several campaign workers got together and wrote a formal group email to the campaign's email address asking for a resolution (there was no answer, and now that address is apparently no longer accepting emails), and started a blog with the basic facts, then filed a formal complaint with the Campaign Finance Board after it was clear that the campaign wouldn't respond (that complaint is now pending). Many workers have attempted to contact the campaign managers (using known-good phone numbers and email addresses), receiving no responses whatsoever. Only the Field Coordinator has been responsive, but she has no relation to the campaign's finances.

One thing I have not done is cash the partial-payment check they mailed me on the 18th, on the suspicion that cashing it could be seen as implicitly accepting it as correct payment. (Please share opinions re. whether that's a wrong suspicion, because I seriously need that money.) For me, and for at least a dozen other people who also started towards the beginning of the campaign, these partial checks sent on the 18th were the second or third of the weekly checks we received. Our earlier first checks were all correct, $15/hr, agreeing with our timesheets. I did cash my correct earlier check, as I think all of us did.

My own financial position means the money I'm still owed (several hundred dollars) is clearly worth time and effort in material terms, not just on principle. Are there steps to be taken while we wait for the Campaign Finance Board to review the complaint? And more importantly: would even the best-case result of that review produce money for us, or would it just produce something like censure or fees for the campaign?

Me Bad At ++

arniec — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:08:19 -0800

Not Homework Filter! Paypal Filter: Paypal charges me 2.9% plus $0.30 for every transaction. Someone needs to pay me X. What is the formula to determine how much they need to send with paypal so I get X and not X - (X * 0.029) - 0.30? This has frustrated me... I do favors for friends and they want to pay with the convenience of Paypal... but I can't figure out the formula to quickly determine how much they need to pay me. I end up spreadsheeting it and plugging in numbers until they match...

Say they owe me $100, I can't say $102.90 (which is 2.9% added to the $100) because 2.9% of $102.90 is higher than 2.9% of $100...

I guess I FAIL at Algebra today...

Bonus points if you show me HOW to calculate this so I'm learning something as well as the formula for how to do it. I mean, I have

X + (X * 0.029) + 0.3 = y

where X is what they owe me and Y is how much they have to pay Paypal so I get paid in full... But then I do all those algebra tricks, divide by X, etc. but haven't gotten it yet

How can I use a spreadsheet to track my accounts?

reenum — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:16:25 -0800

I want to start using a spreadsheet to track and reconcile my various accounts. How do I start? I've been using MS Money for years. Due to switching to the Mac, MS Money being discontinued, and generally hating the fact that my financial data is trapped in a proprietary program, I feel like I should use a spreadsheet to track my finances.

I have a savings account, two checking accounts, two credit card accounts, and a Roth IRA.

There are a couple of things I'm curious about: How does one reconcile accounts in a spreadsheet and are there any templates that have that checkbook entry system that MS Money has?

I've looked at some of the older posts on this topic and none seemed to answer my questions satisfactorily.

Links to templates, blog posts, howtos, general anecdotes, and anything else relating to this question are requested and appreciated. Thanks!

Car Conundrum

ecorrocio — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:32:42 -0800

TO CAR OR NOT TO CAR (buy that is). Help me figure out when to replace our paid-for-but-aging-vehicles. What's the best way to time this unwanted expense over 5 years, especially with a young driver in the wings. Here's the puzzle:

A. We have two paid-for vehicles - a Ford truck with 90K miles, a Soobie with 130K miles. They're getting old. The truck is probably not as safe as I'd like. But... I really like not having a car payment.

B. Our daughter will be 16 in 5 years. I want her to have a (safe) car.

C. I'd like to figure out how to best spread the expense of buying cars vs. the life of cars, keeping the impact on our somewhat tight budget as small as possible.

D. I'd like to get cars of reasonable quality and safety, but would not buy a new car. My wife and I both need a car.

~ Do I get one now to spread the expense (even though both cars are workin' fine)?
~ Do I drive 'em til they drop, and then face buying 1... 2 or 3(!) cars.
~ Do I work out some sort of rotation?

Companies that bargain down your medical bills for you?

El Curioso — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:09:20 -0800

Have you ever used one of those companies that bargain down your medical bills, then take part of what they saved you as payment? I'm wondering if it's a legit service, and if so what kind of results you can expect.

Best strategy for paying student loans?

yeoja — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:37:41 -0800

I’m in grad school and work full time. I have several Federal student loans in deferment, all of which are subsidized or unsubsidized with different interest rates. I have an extra $500 each month that I'd like to use towards my loans. If I want to have lower monthly payments when my loans go into repayment, should I make extra payments now towards the interest from unsubsidized loans with a lower interest rate or the principal of subsidized loans with a higher interest rate? Or is there a better approach? Background info: I have 1.5yrs left for school, and I’m 90% sure I’ll continue to work full-time until I graduate. Other than my mortgage and these loans, I have no other debt (car and credit cards paid off). I have ~6 months of savings in a high (well, 1.4%) yield savings account.

My loans are distributed something like this:

Loan A: Unsubsidized, 1.8% interest rate, $5,000 balance

Loan B: Unsubsidized, 6.8%, $12,000

Loan C: Subsidized, 2.8%, $6,000

Loan D: Subsidized, 6.8%, $3,000

Right now, I make $150 monthly payments on the unsubsidized interest on Loans A & B. My lender will let me specify how I want to apply the $500 each month (Loan A/B/C/D, interest or principal). I know the usual advice is to target the higher interest rates first (as discussed here), but I’m unsure how this applies with subsidized vs unsubsidized loans. For example, Loan A has a lower interest rate than Loan D, but Loan A has a higher principal balance and is unsubsidized.

I want to make the smartest decision with these payments. My goal is to get rid of my loan fast, but I also want to minimize my monthly payment amount when my loans go into repayment. Should I focus on the principal of Loan B since it’s so high? Or should I spread out the money across the loans? If I have the money to pay off Loan D, should I go ahead and do that?

Savings for convenience?

Raze2k — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:55:09 -0800

Should I bother with a savings account? I recently dug myself out of credit card debt and for the first time in years, I'm finding myself no longer living check to check. I've continued to use one of my cards for most of my expenses, partially for convenience, but mostly for the cash back rewards now in tandem with Chase Blueprint (specifically 0% APR on all purchases, as long as I completely pay my bill each month with extra points for having a Chase checking account).

Having said that, I now find the balance of my checking account growing and I feel as though I ought to be earning interest. The sticking point here is that I need the money to be very liquid and easily accessible. Most of my accounts are with Chase and I'd like to keep it that way. Unfortunately I don't have a high enough balance to qualify for their interest-bearing checking accounts and the interest on their savings accounts is currently a pathetic 0.01%.

Since I'm not sure of my financial needs over the next year and I want to keep my funds readily available at a moment's notice, is it worth bothering with a Chase Savings account -- if only to provide the convenience of separating theoretical savings from day-to-day funds?

I'm not at a point where I feel comfortable transferring funds to an online-only bank and, admittedly, convenience is huge to me. Are there any down sides to opening a new savings account (other than the obviously terrible interest rate)?

Note: Chase Savings accounts are free as long as you have a minimum balance of $300.