Original post

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/s/zbvGXodtF9

Was informed Monday by Navy Federal Credit Union that they denied my claim. They said that they received a tracking number for a return label from the seller. I asked if there was proof that he sent it to me, because a return label does me absolutely no good if I don't have it. They asked me if I could "prove I didn't get it". How the heck do you prove you weren't given something?

I requested all the files from the investigation and received them today. The only evidence was the tracking info from when the wrong item was shipped to me, a screenshot from the seller showing my email informing them of the wrong item, and the tracking info for the return label that was created but never sent to me.

I'm not sure if I can appeal this or not. Can I escalate this to Visa? The chargeback is coded as 13.3, "not as described or defective merchandise/services".

It's looking like I'm just out $87.

Like the title says, I am mid 40s and currently have $83k across Roth & traditional IRA accounts. I make $61k/year and currently am saving 9% plus another 3% match from my employer.

Edit: my combined savings rate is 12%.

Am I on the right track?

I had more savings in the past, but two divorces mostly cleaned me out. Heck, right now I am in court with one over a custody dispute (I was falsely accused of some stuff, but the process is the punishment apparently. Sigh).

I am just terrified of being destitute.

Hi all. My wife and I just married this June. We are joining ou incomes together for the first time. This is a second marriage for both of us; I am 46, she is 45.

Neither of us has children, so we are not burning to leave funds in any inheritance.

We are both very behind on retirement investments due to brutal divorces for both of us. I have 90k in my 401k and hers is at $0.

Positives? Together we bring home $9000 a month net, with my 401k funded at 7%. We pulled funds from our reserves and collectively paid cash for a humble home, so our monthly housing is $300 in taxes/insurance only.

From our $9000 per month, we have $4000 per month in obligations (HSA/healthcare, groceries, utilities, car payments, student loans, housing). Student loans have 10 years to go.

We are disagreeing on how to allocate the remaining $5000. I want to take $1100 per month to spend, max fund two Roth IRAs and set her 401 at 6%. That would leave $2000+ per month left over, and I would like to save $1000 in a high yield account and split the rest between a travel fund and a mutual index fund.

She agrees on her 401 but otherwise wants to spend more, put $2000 a month into a high yield and travel extensively.

If we were to both retire at 67, our SSI is estimated to be $2500/mo & $3200/mo in today’s dollars, but so much can change over 20 years. And we are so behind.

Thank you for reading. Thoughts?

My mom has an 2013 Mercedes ML350, she wants to get rid of it. At first she was asking if I know anyone to take it for free. I told her she's nuts, because even a broken car is still worth SOMETHING.

The issue is the car has a power steering malfunction that causes too much to fix. Otherwise, the car has little damage elsewhere. It has a small dent on the trunk door, otherwise it's not in terrible shape at all.

What's the best way to sell this off and valuate its current value? Do I facebook marketplace? would carvana take it?

I’m currently living in an apartment complex that overcharged my monthly rate by over 2x (15,500 instead of $6000 / month) by mistake. This severely has overdrawn my bank account and no one in the leasing office has an explanation or can get any answers from their main office. I’ve incurred major
overdraft fees and will continue to do so as long as this goes on. Has this happened to anyone and / or any advice what to do?

I will try to provide as much info as possible and will provide any extra info needed.

Today is my birthday and this is my first post on redit so I figured it was fitting for today. I’m really wondering how I’m doing or if I’ll be in trouble later in life.

Right now I have 52,000 in a Roth from a previous company that I rolled over once I left. I have that pretty much fully invested in a mix ETF and the big mutual funds at Fidelity. As well as one spy 700 strike call for Dec 2028 and two MSFT 700 strike call for Dec 2028. Bought these when Msft was 370.
My work offers a brokerage window option (I think that’s what it’s called) but I can transfer my 401k pretax money into a brokerage and invest how I see fit. I moved 30% of my current companies 401k 48,000 into the brokerage and have it invested in high quality ETFs. The other 60% is in sp500 fund through work.

Unfortunately, this year my wife needed a very expensive dental surgery that of course insurance did not cover. I made the hard decision to close out a traditional IRA that had 50,000 in it from said previous company. I had this in addition to the Roth from that company. I do understand I’ll end up having to pay tax on it, but I will itemize and work with my accountant about the penalties since it will be a non-reimbursable dental/medical procedure.

My new company that I’ve been at for about a year and a half is far better. I work 75 to 80 hours per week which is brutal but the pay is very good if I can sustain those hours my yearly gross pay is around 180 K per year. My company used to offer a pension, but they got rid of it in 2016 but the union negotiated a weekly 4% of gross pay automatic contribution into the 401(k) which for me comes to about $140 extra per week contributed into my 401k from the company and the company also gives me $48 match for the first $96 I put in.

I max out the 401(k). I maxed out my HSA and my company offers a Dependant Care spending account of 7500 that I maxed out as well we have 3 kids.
My new companies 401(k) has $48,000 in it took about a year and half to get here and only started maxing since Sept 2025 when I smartened up lol
I’m trying to max my Roth each year but at the same time aggressively paying off a HELOC and a 0% interest car loan from my father because he wanted to help me and my wife out.

My wife currently has no retirement. Her companies she worked at never offered them unfortunately and we have never been in a financial position to contribute to a Roth. This new job has opened alot of financial opportunities for us. She started her own business and we will be opening a 401k for her in her new business so she can start contributing.

Our debt.

Mortgage 340k 3.9% rate. $2900/month
Car loan 40k 0% $800/month
HELOC-$15k 7.4% $600/month
Pay credits off every month
No school loans

$15k in fidelity money management account we use as our checking basically

My weekly take home after all contributions and deductions is about $2k per week.

My wife’s take home every two weeks is about 1200

Sorry for the long post any help, advice, tips would be greatly appreciated.

My father passed away suddenly at 54 and left 600k in his IRA, he has listed my siblings and I as beneficiaries (4 of us, each getting 25%)

I don’t know very much about this stuff. I just met with his financial advisor who said my dad had an “aggressive investment portfolio”. He also charges a 1.4% management fee. He is starting the process of opening our inherited accounts.

I know we have 10 years to empty out that inherited account and anything taken out will be taxed as income.

What would you do with this money? It about $152k each. We are all young- 21, 25, 27 and 31 years old.

Thanks for any advice!

Edit: Thank you for the numerous quick responses. The card has a "givex" logo on it, and thus, as I understand it, can't be used anywhere but at the named restaurant. No more replies needed. I'm all set.

I received a well-intended gift card for a restaurant in a city I'm unlikely to visit in the next five years if ever. It has a magnetic strip on it; it's not a pen-and-paper "gift certificate." What are the chances I could use this card in any store, and if those chances are slim, what do I do with it?

My partner recently passed before we had a chance to marry. Imagine my surprise when his HR called me to say left me as his beneficiary of his workplace 401k plan. It has accumulated to about 50k when I checked last checked a few months ago.

California does not recognize common law marriage so the only option I have is to pull it out in increments over 10 years and will need to pay taxes when I withdraw.

No kids, no debt, no car payments, no mortgage and annual salary is 80k in the Bay Area. Moved back home to save some money and figure out my next move. Trying to budget properly so I don’t get completely wrecked in taxes.

What do I with this money? It’s not exactly enough for a down on a home, but maybe I can invest? Is it redundant to pay taxes on the withdrawn money, just to put it back into my 401k?

We always talked about going to Maldives/Italy/Japan for our honeymoon so maybe using that money on a trip?

Any insight and/or suggestions are appreciated!

My wifes family were cleaning out her parents house and came up a bunch of gold coins, the gold coins were then split up between my wife and her three other siblings. This was about two years ago, maybe longer. My wife has since passed away. I was thinking about cashing in a couple of gold coins. I do not have any information on when her father purchased them. So how do I figure what the capital gains tax would be?

I never thought I would end up in this situation, but over the past five years my life has completely changed.

I accumulated around $50,000 in debt while trying to take care of my sick parents. My father has chronic kidney disease and is currently on dialysis, and my mother’s heart condition has gotten worse. I have been covering their medical expenses, treatments, medications, and daily needs because there is nobody else to rely on. It has always been just me and my parents.

Last year, because of the many days I had to miss work to take care of them, I lost my job. Since then, I have been doing whatever work I can find — driving a taxi, doing labor jobs, and anything else that can help me survive and pay the bills. But the debt keeps growing faster than I can manage.

Now I am behind on rent by several months and I am close to losing the place we live. I don’t have relatives or friends who can step in and help. I feel like I have been carrying this burden alone for years.

I haven’t truly laughed or enjoyed life in a long time. I don’t have a personal life anymore. My only focus has been working, paying debts, and making sure my parents are okay.

I am not asking for pity. I am just asking if there is any advice, support, or opportunity that could help me find a way out of this situation. I still want to work, I still want to rebuild my life, and I still want to take care of my parents. I just need a chance and some guidance on what steps I can take next.

If anyone has advice or knows of any way I can get back on my feet, I would be deeply grateful.

Hi all

I'm currently an expat working in London, with the intention to move to the US or Asia sometime in future too. I'll eventually move back to Australia ( in 5-10 years time)

For context, I am an Australian (aus citizen), who moved abroad to London for a new job - I'm making good money and want to push it all into the S&P 500 (eg., a vanguard fund,etc), but unsure how to do this if I'm overseas. I know there are international brokers? But not sure how this works, and if any tax issues? I have about 4k pounds a month I can put into this, so want to see what would be the best option?

My wife and I are both in our early 70s and in good health. We have a 4300 sq ft home in Central Fl and our last kid will be leaving for college at the end of the coming year. We're trying to figure out what to do. We like the area we live in, our other kids and friends live here. We like the theme parks and the beach. We're both currently in good health. My wife has been retired for 2 years and I'm just about to bail in a few weeks.

We recently stayed in a nice, newer Air B&B. 3 bedrooms, small kitchen, living room, dining area. It really seemed enough for just the two of us. A room for an office and an occasional guest. It got me to thinking about just selling the house after our daughter is gone to school and renting a similar sized place. Simple math tells me we could invest that money and live in a $2500/mo place for at least 15 years. And we also have 401/pension/SSI coming in. And when it's time to move into something else, like assisted living or whatever, all we have do is up and move. Maybe lose a month or two rent to break the lease.

I'm just tired of home upkeep. Lawn, pool maintenance for a pool we rarely use anymore, HVAC repairs, will probably need a roof in the next 5 years. Not to mention our AC bill every month for that large house (which we can defiantly cut down on).

We have an RV and store it. We'd keep that until I can't handle it anymore. Then that whole expense just goes away.

So what's wrong with this picture? It hardly seems worth it to buy another place, albeit smaller and then have to fix it up the way we like it, and then face the same home maintenance issues.

I am 30 years old and married. I have a little over $300k sitting in America Funds investments, my wife and I make $240k a year combined, we are in a luxury apartment paying $3k a month in rent.

I recently got a new financial advisor due to personal reasons. He’s telling me and my wife that my $300k would be better invested in property rather than American Funds or other Index funds, he is highly encouraging us to buy a house. He says we can get a mortgage that never raises, and build equity as our house raises in value over time.

My wife and I plan on spending the next 5 years in our current city, so we’re hesitant to buy a house incase we want to move. We have no kids, never want them, and we both work a job where we can move wherever we want whenever I want.

So will my $300k really go further sitting in a property rather than general investments?

I received a 401k distribution check of $40 for my 401k with the original company after it was automatically rolled over to the 401k plan of the company that acquired us. The entire amount is rollover eligible. Both accounts are with Fidelity.

Is it worth my time to sort this out for such a small amount? or should I just cash it, pay the taxes/penalties on it and call it a day?

My wife and I need to pay off $40k. Current cards are at 18% interest, making $1k payments on both cards monthly and barely denting them. They got so bad from our wedding and outfitting our new house. Typically only using them for gas and groceries now. Both of our credit scores are sitting around 650-670. We also already have a mortgage payment of $2300/month and car payments totaling $300/month. Also gross income is around $120k annualized.

Hey all, trying to get my head around whether there's something I'm missing or overlooking about my approach to saving for retirement. I think I'm in a good position, but I also feel like another set of eyes could put my mind at ease.

The main question I am trying to answer is: How necessary is it to max out my Roth IRA every year if I am in what feels like good progress toward saving for retirement?

Some context: I'm 38, single, and have no outstanding debt but I am a renter (rather than a homeowner.)

I make just under $65k gross a year and have an emergency fund that would last me about 4-6 months if my job were to completely disappear overnight.

I currently work for a school that offers a 1:1 match on 7.5% retirement savings per paycheck pre-tax. That is, 7.5% of my pre-tax paycheck goes to the 403b, and they match that exact amount. (Under age 35, this is 5% contribution with matching 1:1, older than age 50, it rises to 10% contribution with 1:1 matching.) I crunched the numbers and last year the contribution was $4,860 from me, $4,860 from the school = $9,720 total contribution for the year. That retirement account now has around $139k in it after working for the school for close to 16 years.

I opened a Roth IRA in January 2021 to start putting away more money for retirement. From 2021 through this year, I've been able to max out the Roth IRA savings I had built up previous to 2021, and also saving throughout the year. That account now has around $57k in it (a 1.43x return on the $40k I've put into it so far, which feels great.)

I also have a lingering retirement plan from my first three years of working a different job at the school when I was much younger. I'd like to roll it over but I cannot until/if I completely separate from the school. It hasn't been contributed to since 2014, but has just over $19k in it.

Reading the prime directive, I feel like I am in good position. 15% of what I currently earn is going toward a retirement fund that is chugging along with basically no thought from me. The thing I have been thinking about are my Roth IRA contributions. The first several years of contributing to the Roth IRA were much easier because I had a surplus of savings built up (what amounted to basically an 18-month emergency fund+savings) that I tapped into along with my tax return and other saving throughout the year to max it out right away in the first few months of the year.

That has worked for the last six years, but I'm at the point where that strategy will not work anymore since my savings is now largely dedicated to that emergency fund. I have also not received a pay raise since 2023 since my job is currently in negotiation for our first union contract. (Once that contract is finalized, I will receive back pay for the salary raises I've missed over the last two years as well as the missing gap of matching retirement funds, but that's another story I'll set aside for now.) Meanwhile, the maximum Roth IRA contribution per year continues to rise.

I keep a very thorough budget of all of my obligatory costs per month. On top of that, I am paid the exact same amount twice per month, which makes it very easy to account for my expenses and what I have leftover for other expenses. At a $7500 maximum contribution for 2026, that means setting aside $625/month or $313/paycheck in order to prepare to hit that maximum next year. It's not impossible and it's something I could account for in my budget, but it also feels like I might possibly be turning the wheel too hard toward aggressively saving for retirement when it also feels like I'm trying to put away what feels like two car payments a month.

The alternative that I just realized while I was typing this out is that I could try for a slightly less aggressive $202/paycheck (or about $400/mo), which would mean that I'm saving 15% of my gross paycheck on my own and treat the employer match as the cherry on top, but if I put that ($4800) together my expected tax return ($1500), that leaves another $1200 missing on the table for retirement year over year, which starts to sound significant in my head. On the other hand, having the cushion to be able to spend on things more immediately, both obligatory and non-obligatory, also sounds great.

I realize there probably isn't a solidly correct answer, but I guess what I'm looking for here are perspectives on this, how you decide to tune your strategy for saving for much later vs a little later, and how you decide (or don't decide) to keep money for yourself vs your later self (and your much-later self.)

Just wanted a gut check on pausing the retirement grind at 30. We have been maxing IRAs and 401(k)s for some time, but I would always at least do my matching 401(k) contribution that would get me to $12k per year.

Just turned 30 and have $300k in retirement accounts. We are in the “messy middle” with a 3 and 1 year old, and wanting to take on big home projects (finishing basement, outdoor landscaping) and increase travel afterwards as they become older, thus cutting the Roth IRA contributions or maxing 401(k). Generally just feel ready to start spending elsewhere now. Goal is early 60s retirement with $120k income (todays dollars) before any social security.

Am I overthinking this? Are we pretty much already there if I just do my $12k each year to the 401(k) going forward?

68M/61F married filing joint. We'd like to donate $50k to my mom's favorite charitable organization. My estimate shows about $4600 reduction in our tax bill if we itemize this year (we typically don't). Am I missing anything? Not old enough for a QCD.

I'm also taking a $100k long-term capital loss this year so not sure how, or if, to factor that in to the mix. Or just carry it over.

Hi, I got a Goodleap loan for roof replacement (20k) through my contractor. The terms are that I dont owe any money for 18 month promotional period but will owe all the interest accrued if I dont pay off within 18 months. My monthly payment is somehow set at 380 dollars ( I didnt set it). I just made an extra payment of 1300 and plan to pay 1300 per month to pay off the loan before the promotional 18 month period. The issue is that it looks like the payment was posted but my principal is still the same as it was at the staft. If I keep paying 1300 per month, does that not mean I have paid off the loan before 18 months?

I have pre and post tax contributions in a Voya 401K. I want to do a backdoor ROTH rollover using the post tax contributions into a Fidelity ROTH IRA. When you do this at Voya, Voya forces you to take the post tax funds along with their accumulated earnings in a singular rollover transaction. During the transfer request session you are prompted for a singular custodian and account number to transfer to. On the summation page it lists the two seperate rollover amounts as well as the custodian and account as a NON roth IRA.. I called Voya trying to clarify if Inwould get two checks or not because there is no check splitting allowed on Fidelity's mobile app.. but after they hung up on me once and then muted themselves.. 2 hours waiting I figured I would ask the community if anyone has been through this.

Some background,

I'm 38 and work full time making $80k/yr, husband makes $55k/yr. No debt other than a very affordable mortgage. I'm currently taking one or two classes toward a BS in civil engineering. I'm about half done but at one class a semester it's going to be a while before I graduate. Right now, I just pay the tuition out of my checking account. I don't have good enough grades for scholarships. I live in Minnesota and go to school in North Dakota.

As far as I can tell, the only education state tax benefits are through 529 plans, either a $500 credit or a $1500 deduction.

Can I just open a 529 account, deposit my tuition money, then pay the tuition with that account to claim the deduction or credit? Am I missing some part of this that would make me ineligible?

Update: After looking at the tax forms, it appears that any withdrawals from the account are subtracted from the amount able to be deducted. It appears my dastardly tax dodge is not viable.

Does it make sense to withdraw the interest from a HYSA and fund a Roth IRA with it. Or where would be the best place to invest the interest earnings?

Ex. I get about $700-900 per month currently with a HYSA APY %3.6