General Adulthood, Planning for the Future: Business, College, Budgeting, Investments, etc! $$$ - General

Sure I'll take it, my adress is: Pleasegivemestufflane 19 Possesiontown 12 777

I've grown up working in my families business without really working a job anywhere else. Due to some circumstances I'm looking into a wielding job with a friend of my family, who says he can start me off at 28/HR, I just need to turn in a resume. My real issue is, I've never had a strict job before so I have extreme anxiety of what life is like with a dedicated job. I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight to it.

[QUOTE=ChicagoMobster;51674283]I've grown up working in my families business without really working a job anywhere else. Due to some circumstances I'm looking into a wielding job with a friend of my family, who says he can start me off at 28/HR, I just need to turn in a resume. My real issue is, I've never had a strict job before so I have extreme anxiety of what life is like with a dedicated job. I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight to it.[/QUOTE] I can't imagine its much different to other jobs, sure your family may be more forgiving than most bosses but if you mess up, you mess up with consequences to the business. Just relax about it, I'm sure you'll do fine.

Just ordered our new puppy from the breeder. Female siberian husky will arrive on feb 11! So hyped

What's the best way to start building credit? I was thinking about applying for my first credit card. I'm in my first year of college and have a pretty stable job making decent money on the side.

Getting a credit card from your bank is a decent idea. Only use it for emergencies or very small purchases. Pay it off quickly. Don't do anything that requires credit checks like buy a car or anything like that because the more times an institution checks your credit, the lower your score drops. Whatever bank you use, check with them. Typically they're more likely to give you your first credit card than an outside company. Keep your maximum low to begin with and try to never max it out if you can help it. I started off with a $500 credit limit and upped it to $700 after I'd had it for a year. I'm still at $700 because I don't need it for anything crazy just yet. Will probably increase it to $1000 when I move out just for car emergencies or if something in my place needs fixing.

[QUOTE=Exigent;51681636]What's the best way to start building credit? I was thinking about applying for my first credit card. I'm in my first year of college and have a pretty stable job making decent money on the side.[/QUOTE] open a secured credit card with whatever bank you like. If you have a history with them they've probably already offered it to you. If you've applied for other credit products in the past (rent to own things, phones on contract, etc), you may actually have enough credit to skip this step and apply for a normal card, but this is uncommon. It's more likely that you'll have to start with the secured card, which is where you make a minimum deposit of a few hundred dollars and they use that as collateral to "secure" your newly created credit card. The idea is, if you fuck up, your security deposit can cover the balance of your card, so it reduces the risk on their part when they loan you money initially. Eventually, after about a year or so of responsible use, you'll get promoted to a full on credit card and they'll probably even give you a limit increase. "Responsible use" is basically keeping your balance above zero but less than ten percent and otherwise not using the card, or paying it off immediately (but not quite zero). If you monitor your credit you can see when your utilization percentage goes above 10 percent you get hit hard. It's a game. Your "score" represents how much you've been able to manage without fucking up. The higher your score, the more opportunities they will offer you, giving you more chances to fuck up. You play the game to build credit. You lose by going into debt. It sucks.

I use my credit card for all normal expenses (ie food, gas, entertainment). Basically act like you don't actually have a credit card, act like you have a debit card. That way you'll always have enough to pay it off. Use it as often as possible because why not? Builds credit and you usually get a small percentage back. [editline]16th January 2017[/editline] But yes credit scores are built faster by not paying it off entirely but not having too much debt. Credit scores are an indicator of how likely you are to make credit companies money (someone who pays interest but is never in danger of default). It's pretty dumb. Honestly don't bother playing that game. Just always pay it off. You'll still build a credit score but it'll just happen slower.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51642693]I assisted with my first open house today -- at a friggen mansion. Five huge bedrooms, seven full baths, a movie theater, pool room, two full studies, massive foyer, three indoor balconies, blah blah blah. Six thousand some odd square feet. It was... Excessive. We had a family wandering the house for ten minutes today before we even realized they were there. I honestly don't understand how somebody could live in a house like that. It'd be so impersonal![/QUOTE] Why does it have more full bathrooms than bedrooms? I'd get half baths for outdoors or like, rich person ballrooms, but why 7 full baths for a house that has 5 bedrooms? [editline]16th January 2017[/editline] I'd have bathrooms that go unused for months!

One for each bedroom + 2 for general use? Dunno why you need [I]full[/I] baths for guests / general use.

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;51681801]I use my credit card for all normal expenses (ie food, gas, entertainment). Basically act like you don't actually have a credit card, act like you have a debit card. That way you'll always have enough to pay it off. Use it as often as possible because why not? Builds credit and you usually get a small percentage back. [editline]16th January 2017[/editline] But yes credit scores are built faster by not paying it off entirely but not having too much debt. Credit scores are an indicator of how likely you are to make credit companies money (someone who pays interest but is never in danger of default). It's pretty dumb. Honestly don't bother playing that game. Just always pay it off. You'll still build a credit score but it'll just happen slower.[/QUOTE] tbh credit scores just sound like a racket, i'd rather not have to owe money. idk, maybe i just don't know enough about them but from my reading it seems to make it higher you basically need to owe more??? maybe im just misunderstanding it all

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;51681940]One for each bedroom + 2 for general use? Dunno why you need [I]full[/I] baths for guests / general use.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I get having full baths for each bedroom if you got the money, I don't see the need of having a full bath off the living room or whatever.

[QUOTE=bdd458;51681944]tbh credit scores just sound like a racket, i'd rather not have to owe money. idk, maybe i just don't know enough about them but from my reading it seems to make it higher you basically need to owe more??? maybe im just misunderstanding it all[/QUOTE] No, the idea is to owe nothing but show that you have buying power. So like buy something, or like the other guy said pay your bills or just use it as normal, and they make money off the transaction processing fee so they're already covered and cool with that, and pay it off to less than 10% of the limit of the card but slightly more than zero. That's all. Zero is just slightly less desirable in its impact on your score than 0-10%. I don't know why that thing in particular is like that. But yeah it is basically a racket though, a high score means give me more opportunities to make my score lower. It's a balance game. Take on enough credit to actually manage. Open a couple accounts and keep them at a near-nothing balance so that you have a huge open utilization percentage. It also comes in handy to have these open lines for when you find yourself in need of emergency funds. You're less likely to be lent money if you're already in the emergency situation than if you apply now while you're good and secure.

[QUOTE=bdd458;51681944]tbh credit scores just sound like a racket, i'd rather not have to owe money. idk, maybe i just don't know enough about them but from my reading it seems to make it higher you basically need to owe more??? maybe im just misunderstanding it all[/QUOTE] If you ever want to buy a house or or a car credit is important. But again its not a score that says how good you are at making payments. Its how good you are at making the company money. Having $0 balance at each statement will make your credit score rise. It'll just make it rise [I]slower[/I] than if you had a (moderate) balance. But then you're paying interest. But that's why your score goes up faster - you're making the company money. [editline]16th January 2017[/editline] But yeah credit cards are also useful for emergency funds. Just hope you can make the payments quickly.

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;51682176]If you ever want to buy a house or or a car credit is important. But again its not a score that says how good you are at making payments. Its how good you are at making the company money. Having $0 balance at each statement will make your credit score rise. It'll just make it rise [I]slower[/I] than if you had a (moderate) balance. But then you're paying interest. But that's why your score goes up faster - you're making the company money. [editline]16th January 2017[/editline] But yeah credit cards are also useful for emergency funds. Just hope you can make the payments quickly.[/QUOTE] So you say too keep the balance at 10%, so like if the limit is 500, pay off 450 and gain interest on the $50 left over?

nah you could just leave change or dollars on there. or just pay it down to straight zero if it's a hassle for you to micro-manage dollars for a slight point increase over time it's like, I dunno, if real life were an RPG and you're grinding a stat that expands your potential to grind more efficiently. That's all it is. the positive benefits of having a good credit score (low percentage rates, more likely to get a loan, special deals, 100% financing, etc) are all simply tools used to entice you into purchasing more credit products, and every credit product you use is a chance to owe someone a lot of money. When you owe, your score goes down and now it's harder for you to get loans and you'll get them at much higher rates. If you are successful in paying it off, though, your score goes up and thus they entice you with more and more offers - more and more chances to screw it up. Some posters commented that they don't want to end up owing a bunch of money so credit isn't a good idea in general. "What's the point of owing money now so that I might be lucky enough to owe money in the future?" good question. the answer is, you don't actually want to owe any money, nobody likes debt. Proper utilization of credit and understanding of how the game works is crucial to avoiding debt and extra cost whenever you finally do have to use credit, which will happen eventually in some form or another unless you suddenly become fabulously wealthy. So you build good habits, and a good history, as early as you can and establish yourself so that a few years down the line when you buy your first new car or whatever, you actually get a decent rate, which means you could avoid paying (owing) thousands of dollars more over the lifetime of the loan. the trick in playing the game, I think, is to use credit only for things that you actually need or things that are already accounted for in your budget. This would mean they get paid off instantly.

Speaking of cards, I got my first debit card about two years ago. They offered me a plan that would let me spend more than I was allowed and instantly denied because I didn't want to give them any chances. I haven't used the card at all in those two years. Does that effect anything? [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] My dad has a bafflingly good credit score, so he's taught me small tricks to build it. He would buy things at stores, start an account or pay with his credit for things that could easily be paid in cash, and he would immediately go pay it off either right after or the next day,

[QUOTE=OvB;51681914]Why does it have more full bathrooms than bedrooms? I'd get half baths for outdoors or like, rich person ballrooms, but why 7 full baths for a house that has 5 bedrooms? [editline]16th January 2017[/editline] I'd have bathrooms that go unused for months![/QUOTE] Three bedrooms had their own full baths, two bedrooms shared one, there were two in the basement (one by the entrance to the pool), and one on the main level. All full, with either showers or tubs. Definitely overkill, but so was everything else about this place.

is taking a loan for a 7k euro car an awful idea as a 21 year old who makes ~1000 euro after tax? I don't really have expenses except for my car since I live with my parents, so I could afford it, but I'm not sure just how awful an idea it is.

[QUOTE=Psygo;51685300]is taking a loan for a 7k euro car an awful idea as a 21 year old who makes ~1000 euro after tax? I don't really have expenses except for my car since I live with my parents, so I could afford it, but I'm not sure just how awful an idea it is.[/QUOTE] Do you have a full time job? Is this your first car?

My fiancee's parents removed her from their health insurance plan, and didn't even bother to tell her until a month after her coverage had lapsed. Now, we're struggling to find her an adequate and affordable replacement plan. Everywhere that's not with the ACA is denying her coverage because she has a "pre-existing condition." She is on prescriptions for anti-depressants and anxiety medication, and sees a psychiatrist three or four times per year as a check up. Her depression and anxiety are fairly managed with the medication and occasional counseling session, but without either she becomes completely non-functional because of the crippling panic attacks. The only ACA plans she qualifies for cost several hundred dollars per month, have $12000+ annual deductibles, and extremely high co-pays. I don't know what to do. We can't afford the ACA plan, it's barely better than not having insurance at all, but the predatory healthcare industry won't cover her under anything else. [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] The only fucking plan we can actually get costs more than our mortgage... I honestly don't know what to do. This shatters our budget.

[QUOTE=Psygo;51685300]is taking a loan for a 7k euro car an awful idea as a 21 year old [B]who makes ~1000 euro after tax[/B]? I don't really have expenses except for my car since I live with my parents, so I could afford it, but I'm not sure just how awful an idea it is.[/QUOTE] Per what time frame? Hour? Year? [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] Wait I thought part of the ACA was that you couldn't be rejected for pre-existing conditions. And not just the insurance policies on the exchanges. Like legit outlawed across the board.

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;51686619]Per what time frame? Hour? Year? [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] Wait I thought part of the ACA was that you couldn't be rejected for pre-existing conditions. And not just the insurance policies on the exchanges. Like legit outlawed across the board.[/QUOTE] That's what I thought too, but apparently I was mistaken. Non-exchange plans can still refuse to cover anything related to the pre-existing condition. So, for my fiancee, that would include any and all mental health services, and for me it would include anything related to my respiratory or circulatory system, so... The absolute least expensive plan on the marketplace for both of us is $388/month, has a $13,300 deductible, and 50% co-pays (after we hit the deductible). It's absurdly expensive, and barely better than not being covered at all. Essentially the only thing it would protect us against is catastrophic medical emergencies requiring extensive hospitalization, and even then the entirety of the deductible first comes out of pocket.

Also to be fair your house costs next to nothing so something being higher than your mortgage isn't horribly overblown. Though idk what that means for your salary (low cost of living = low pay? hope not!). Back to conditions: [quote] But the mix-up raised a broader question: What about the requirement of the Affordable Care Act that prohibited pretty much all pre-existing condition exclusions as of Jan. 1, 2014? Under the law, the only plans that may continue to exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions after that date are individual plans that are "grandfathered," or haven't changed substantially since the law was passed in 2010.[/quote] [url]http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/06/02/318210356/are-pre-existing-condition-bans-for-health-insurance-still-with-us[/url] One would think three years later that these things have expired? [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] I'd talk to a lawyer or find some source that isn't the health insurance company. That doesn't sound right to me. But there's been a ton of misinformation on the ACA maybe this is just the other side of it lol [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] Everything I'm reading ([I]on the internet[/I]) says you can't be rejected. Are you looking at weird things that don't fit the definition of insurance under the ACA (ie short term insurance)?

To be clear, the payment on this would eliminate the entirety of our disposable income, and it comes at an extremely poor time considering that our savings were wiped out by our recent engagement and vacation. Granted, that second part is on us. Spontaneous, romantic dream vacations aren't the smartest financial move. In our defense, if we had any inkling whatsoever that this bombshell was waiting on the other side, we wouldn't have gone. Now our financial safety net is gone, and with the added expense of this ludicrous insurance plan there is little hope of rebuilding it short of big jumps in our respective incomes. I will have to cancel our life and disability insurance in order to make this work, too, which puts as in additional risk. The most frustrating fucking part of all this is that her parents have known for months, and simply never told us that her coverage was disappearing. Those neglectful alcoholics have truly fucked us on this one. Had they given some warning, we could have at least planned accordingly. [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=thrawn2787;51686656]Also to be fair your house costs next to nothing so something being higher than your mortgage isn't horribly overblown. Though idk what that means for your salary (low cost of living = low pay? hope not!). Back to conditions: [url]http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/06/02/318210356/are-pre-existing-condition-bans-for-health-insurance-still-with-us[/url] One would think three years later that these things have expired? [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] I'd talk to a lawyer or find some source that isn't the health insurance company. That doesn't sound right to me. But there's been a ton of misinformation on the ACA maybe this is just the other side of it lol [editline]17th January 2017[/editline] Everything I'm reading ([I]on the internet[/I]) says you can't be rejected. Are you looking at weird things that don't fit the definition of insurance under the ACA (ie short term insurance)?[/QUOTE] No, I contacted several different big-name insurance agencies. Blue Cross, for example, told me outright that they would not cover any treatment or expenses relating to our pre-existing conditions.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51686694]Health Insurance Issues[/QUOTE] Can your fiancee get insurance through her employer?

[QUOTE=Slithers;51686803]Can your fiancee get insurance through her employer?[/QUOTE] That's where timing has also been a bitch. Under her current employer, she [I]could[/I], but she only has a few weeks left there. She is interviewing at another location on Thursday. Hopefully that will also offer benefits, but in her career field there's simply no guarantee. Like me, she could technically be considered a consultant or contractor, depending on how this location structures its pay. I'll certainly breath a sigh of relief if it's an option, though!

Can you speed you your wedding and put her on your insurance?

[QUOTE=The bird Man;51685708]Do you have a full time job? Is this your first car?[/QUOTE] I have a full time job, where I'm making around 1000 euro after tax every month. it's not my first car, it'd be my first "nice" car though.

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;51689283]Can you speed you your wedding and put her on your insurance?[/QUOTE] Believe it or not, a client of ours just did this. Individually, they couldn't qualify for the mortgage they wanted, but our lender told them that they could if they were married. One impropmtu proposal and a brief trip to the license office later, and they had an approved mortgage on their dream home. :v: As for us, I don't think it's necessary. I can already get a joint healthcare plan through the ACA with her -- it just quadruples my premium and raises the deductible by 2000%.