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Cugel the Clever posted:What're the thread's thoughts on simply hooking up bills directly to the savings account where possible to minimize (or even outright eliminate) the amount of money sitting in the low-yield checking account? The Fed dropped the 6 withdrawal limit cap back in April 2020, so the only reason I can see to avoid it is if you want to limit the blast radius of other party not to gently caress up somehow and drain your account. I can speak to this. I didn’t get rid of my checking account, but I did have my savings account setup to “cover” over drafts. Which I never did, but it felt like a responsible thing to do. Then: my debit card got stolen. I logged in one day to see $1400ish withdrawn the night before and like another $700 that morning. Because I had the over draft protection enabled, it just kept pulling. I filed a dispute and thankfully Ally did fully refund me, but it took something like a week. That was def a stressful week. Anyway , for security / fire wall reasons alone I recommend a separate checking account. I keep like, $500-700 in it at any one time and just manually transfer if I need more.
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Jan 23, 2023 13:37
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Always decline overdraft protection. That way if your poo poo gets jacked it just gets declined if you hit zero.
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Jan 23, 2023 21:21
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Overdraft Protection is a way for the bank to protect its ability to charge you overdraft fees If you have $1 in your checking and you swipe for a $4.69 smoothie they'll reject the transaction and charge you a $45 insufficient fund fee, leaving your account at -$48.60 and you scrambling to move money over from savings and get back in the black. But if you have overdraft protection, they'll allow the transaction to go through, they'll charge you a $45 NSF, and they'll pull the $48.60 from your savings without you noticing. They will hope you grab a beer after work ($9 + another $45 NSF) and pick up some kitty litter at the grocery store ($14 + another $45 NSF) and maybe your Comcast bill for $80 also posts that day and pulls yet another $45. All right out of your Savings account. Many a Wells Fargo branch kept itself afloat in the late 2000s through NSF fees
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Jan 23, 2023 22:11
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While I can't say whether or not that's how it used to work, it has always been my understanding that the "protection" of overdraft protection is specifically protection from those insufficient fund fees. For what it's worth, here's how it works at Wells Fargo now: E: obviously this may have been due to new regulations as a result of the wild 2000s - I didn't even start banking until like 2004. marjorie fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Jan 23, 2023 |
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Jan 23, 2023 22:19
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Overdraft Protection is a way for the bank to protect its ability to charge you overdraft fees It's worse than this, and Wells Fargo was busted for doing this: - You have $90 in your account. - You buy a $4.69 smoothie. (balance: 85.31) - You buy a $9 beer. (balance: 76.31) - You buy kittle litter (balance: 62.31) - You pay your $80 comcast bill (overdraft) Instead of paying one overdraft fee for the comcast bill they will reorder your transactions for that day to make it have the greatest number of NSF fees, so instead of just one for your comcast bill you're gonn get hit this way: - $80 comcast bill (balance $10) - Kitty litter (first overdraft) - each other transaction as an overdraft.
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Jan 23, 2023 22:46
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Motronic posted:It's worse than this, and Wells Fargo was busted for doing this: comically evil 
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Jan 23, 2023 23:56
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They would also process deposits last, on top of that, so even if you'd topped off your account that same day they could still gently caress you. I think they've been forced to change both of those, though
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Jan 24, 2023 02:00
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Also you didn’t actually open the account, some dude inside the bank opened it for you to juice their numbers.
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Jan 24, 2023 02:31
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Jows posted:Always decline overdraft protection. That way if your poo poo gets jacked it just gets declined if you hit zero. Where were you 7 years ago to give this legit very good advice ?
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Jan 24, 2023 05:09
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Godzilla07 posted:Since this looks like the closest thing to a stupid questions thread: how much money should I keep in my checking account? I looked at my checking account balance and realized I need to at the very least, move some money to an HYSA. But I'm not sure how much money I should leave in the checking account. At the start of each month I make sure my checking account has twice my monthly budget in it, and keep at least my biggest bill (rent) in a savings account at the same bank that can immediately transfer over.
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Jan 24, 2023 15:07
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Duckman2008 posted:Where were you 7 years ago to give this legit very good advice ? I'm remain gob-smacked that they even have the gall to allow charges that you have insufficient funds to cover and then charge you for that privilege.
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Jan 24, 2023 15:14
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Motronic posted:It's worse than this, and Wells Fargo was busted for doing this: Holy poo poo, that is downright sinister. Even worse than when Bank of America charged me an overdraft fee on an overdraft fee that I incurred on a fraudulent charge that they reversed. 
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Jan 24, 2023 20:05
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I'm sure this is a real dumb question, but I've only been living in the US a couple of years, so the healthcare system is still a loving mystery to me. Last year my wife got a job which offered a fairly good healthcare plan, including dental and vision. We pay so both of us get coverage. I started a new job this year, and they also offer healthcare, including dental and vision. I don't have the exact details of each plan with me right now, but I'm fairly sure that our plans are similar or maybe my wife's plan is marginally better. I'm not forced to switch plans or pay for the second heallthcare, right? I can just not enroll and keep paying into my wife's plan? Or am I missing on some obvious benefit by not going with my employer's plan? FWIW, I believe my wife's job is more secure than mine, if that's a factor.
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Jan 24, 2023 20:33
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YeahTubaMike posted:Holy poo poo, that is downright sinister. Even worse than when Bank of America charged me an overdraft fee on an overdraft fee that I incurred on a fraudulent charge that they reversed. Yeah you can even modify that to include the deposit-ordering fuckery posted above. It's even worse. quote:- You have $90 in your account. You know it's not enough, so you deposit $20
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Jan 24, 2023 20:43
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dpkg chopra posted:I'm not forced to switch plans or pay for the second heallthcare, right? I can just not enroll and keep paying into my wife's plan? Or am I missing on some obvious benefit by not going with my employer's plan? You shouldn't be forced but I would still evaluate the cost difference. It seems like it is unlikely (but possible in our hellscape) that the cost to add you to your wife's plan is significantly less than the cost to have your own plan through your employer. I'd expect your employer to significantly-to-completely subsidize the cost for your personal healthcare coverage, whereas hers probably isn't subsidizing the cost to add a dependent by nearly as much.
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Jan 24, 2023 20:47
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I finally switched to an Ally savings account after barely getting any interest (maybe 1 cent per 1000 dollars) in my previous savings account. I should have done this way sooner
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Jan 24, 2023 20:49
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dpkg chopra posted:I'm sure this is a real dumb question, but I've only been living in the US a couple of years, so the healthcare system is still a loving mystery to me. No you can just deny coverage. I also believe that if your wife was to lose her job, you would be able to move her over to yours as a qualifying event, however that might depend on the company. Worth asking HR. Often times it is substantially more expensive to add a non-employee to a plan, so you should compare the costs of you having separate vs her adding you to her plan. It could change the math. Our insurance system is a nightmare. There are so many little variables (prescription costs, out of network costs, etc.). It takes a while to wrap your head around it.
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Jan 24, 2023 20:52
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dpkg chopra posted:I'm sure this is a real dumb question, but I've only been living in the US a couple of years, so the healthcare system is still a loving mystery to me. E: Sorry, some redundancies with the posters above since I took too long to write this, but I'll leave it since I think I have some additional details of things to consider. Assuming first that the plans are equivalent (which will end up being the more complicated thing to determine, and I'll address that later), then all you're really looking at is the difference in premiums (monthly cost). In my experience, it's significantly more expensive to pay for your spouse than yourself for a work-sponsored healthcare plan, so cost-wise, it'd likely be smarter to go through your company for your coverage. For example, at my current job, my premium is $0, but if I added coverage for a spouse, it'd be ~$350 a month. Stability of the job probably wouldn't factor in too much, as a change of work status of you or your spouse is usually considered a "qualifying life event" that enables you to make plan changes (like being added back into hers if you lose your job) outside of the normal cycle, but you'll want to double-check and also keep in mind there may be a bit of a hassle or brief period of non-coverage while you get it sorted. So returning to my parenthetical up there, evaluating plan similarities is a little more difficult, as there are lots of things to consider. Deductibles & co-pays, whether your preferred doctors are in- or out-of-network (and costs for going out of network), and specific coverage details (e.g., how much they'll contribute for various procedures\visits) are probably the big three. The provider matters too, as some have different policies or reputations regarding ease of working with them. marjorie fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Jan 24, 2023 |
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Jan 24, 2023 20:53
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dpkg chopra posted:I'm sure this is a real dumb question, but I've only been living in the US a couple of years, so the healthcare system is still a loving mystery to me. A lot of plans will charge you a $600 fee for having a spouse on your coverage who is eligible for their own employer insurance. This is still cheaper than paying for your own insurance, and if it's better insurance then it's a no-brainer to do your wife's coverage. Whatever you do, avoid having two insurers that both have you on their rosters. Having two insurers is, in my experience, the same as having zero insurers. Each one will refuse to pay and tell you to talk to the other, sending you in endless circles. Whichever you stick with, just have one. E: Previous poster and I have opposite perspectives. YMMV I guess!  Adding a spouse costs me very little.quote:Often times it is substantially more expensive to add a non-employee to a plan, so you should compare the costs of you having separate vs her adding you to her plan. It could change the math. Yep. Do the math.
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Jan 24, 2023 20:53
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Yeah for us spousal coverage is roughly 1.75x individual coverage so it's kind of a no brainer to add your spouse unless they have some cadillac coverage that's super cheap and subsidized. As with everything in US healthcare the answer is it depends. First thing is to determine comparability of plans as marjorie posted. Next thing to do is determine premiums and premium deltas for spousal coverage. The availability of such fun things as HSAs, FSAs, and DCAs could also influence the decision.
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Jan 24, 2023 21:04
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Yeah, I think our perspectives are aligned in general, Sundae. I was just saying in my experience it's cheaper to get your own, but of course do the math. Also, if paying $600 to be on a spousal plan is cheaper than buying your own through your employer, that....really sucks. Like isn't that right up there with COBRA prices (which are bananas)?
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Jan 24, 2023 21:06
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Thanks for the answers, I should've figured it wouldn't be so simple. I only have access to my plan premiums right now, but employee only is something like I'll try and get the details of my wife's plan and maybe run them by the thread, if that's ok. Edit: I was looking at the wrong column for deductions, those prices are what the company pays, not what they deduct, sorry. I'll just post everything together when I have it to avoid further confusion. dpkg chopra fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Jan 24, 2023 |
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Jan 24, 2023 21:18
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Just to further gently caress with you (because American Healthcare(tm)): "our plan costs $200." is that per month (*12) or per pay period (*12/24/26)? Does her plan cover a medication you need as a copay but yours is uncovered or at a much higher one? And then there is the covered procedure list which is a literal loving secret but is the literal value insurance provides.
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Jan 24, 2023 21:29
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Jan 24, 2023 21:32
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if you add a spouse at my work and they have the option for insurance at their work you have to pay a pretty big surcharge. (or lie on an affidavit I guess...) So like others say, do the math and it depends.
spwrozek fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Jan 24, 2023 |
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Jan 24, 2023 21:49
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marjorie posted:Yeah, I think our perspectives are aligned in general, Sundae. I was just saying in my experience it's cheaper to get your own, but of course do the math. $600 for a one-time annual fee vs per-paycheck premiums. If your employer isn't heavily subsidizing the employee portion of insurance, that can run well over $600 per year. COBRA on my insurance at Pfizer when I was laid off in 2011 was like $1300 per month, so I can't imagine how expensive it'd be now.
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Jan 24, 2023 21:50
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COBRA for me would be ~$24,000/year for my family according to my paystubs. (Since it's just Employer + Employee contribution.) It's nutso.
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Jan 24, 2023 21:52
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Sundae posted:COBRA on my insurance at Pfizer when I was laid off in 2011 was like $1300 per month, so I can't imagine how expensive it'd be now. What shocked me was that COBRA when I got laid off at the start of COVID lockdowns was actually affordable!
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Jan 24, 2023 21:55
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Goddamn, this collection of posts could go in the cursed thread. I don't even want to know what percentage of one's salary those premiums end up being. Anyway, to the OP, definitely feel free to throw any plan details up for your two options once you have them so we can try to help out. This stuff is a boondoggle.
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Jan 24, 2023 23:06
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I was recommended to repost this here from the credit cards thread:Splinter posted:My GF and I are trying to help her younger sister get her debt under control. First step has been to apply to Citi Simplicity to do a balance transfer to help keep interest under control while she pays down her card. She got approved but only for a $2k limit (she has around $4.5k total she needs to pay down). Her credit score was still decent (~720), but her usage was already high (IIRC her limit on the 4.5k card is 6k). That combined with a low income is why I'm guessing she was only approved for $2k.
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Jan 25, 2023 01:07
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Pay down your highest sources of interest first, and move as much debt to lower interest accounts as you can. That's it, that's how you reduce the amount of money you lose to interest payments.
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Jan 25, 2023 01:21
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Pay down your highest sources of interest first, and move as much debt to lower interest accounts as you can. That's it, that's how you reduce the amount of money you lose to interest payments. I mean yeah, but I'm wondering specifically about the optimal way they can handle the "move as much debt to lower interested accounts as you can" part over the next 6 months or so given their situation
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Jan 25, 2023 01:48
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Honestly, I'd be cautious and only transfer the first 2k until you know the new spending behavior has stuck. It's a hard change and opening up a bunch more credit to potentially fill up isn't great.
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Jan 25, 2023 02:08
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can anyone recommend an android app that lets you manually keep track of personal expenses?
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Jan 25, 2023 06:29
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As in a budget? Used to be most goons preferred YNAB but since it moved to a subscription model, it's fallen out of favor a little. I still use it and it's perfectly fine, it just lacks some reporting features that would be nice. Other apps I've heard of, with no level of preference, are Financier or Budget with Buckets.
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Jan 25, 2023 12:18
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Otherwise, Google Sheets or similar might do. You said manually.
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Jan 25, 2023 14:30
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What is the big draw for for using programs like ynab over manually in an excel spreadsheet? Is it simply just that they do the back end math for you from the variables provided or is there more to them?
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Jan 25, 2023 14:36
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There's a lot more than that. First there's the obvious auto-import feature, which you may or may not agree with, but is a big time-saver. Then there's just an entire UI dedicated to streamline most of the things that you'd have to use a million different Excel/Gsheets functions for. And finally, there's a philosophy behind each app that tries to help you budget. I mention this last because I know that I personally have never used YNAB according their "a job for every dollar" philosophy, but a lot of people do and say that it helps them a lot. That philosophy is reflected in the app UI, help menu, tutorials, etc. Edit: to be clear, if Spreadsheets work for you that's fantastic, but there's a lot of friction between opening Excel and having a useful budget.
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Jan 25, 2023 14:55
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My budgeting skills are complete garbage, so I need to be looking into options other than a spreadsheet anyways, good to know these apps do provide more than an easy interface.
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Jan 25, 2023 15:31
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Is there a standard list of expense categories to use while budgeting? Recently had a pedicure done, and I'm not sure what category to put it in.
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Jan 25, 2023 18:43
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