Fatwallet.com Finance

Sweat equity in LLC

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:07:35 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: michelclark
Views: 132 Replies: 3

Hi All,

I have a question regarding sweat equity in an LLC. Let me tell you this first, I am really new to this LLC & sweat equity. I have not been an owner or partner of any kind of business. Some of my questions may be very basic & silly, but as I said before I have no idea about LLC, sweat equity etc, I am trying to get as much knowledge from you guys.

I will try to explain as much as I can.

I am a software developer. I work full time with a company & also do some freelance work. I recently started talking about developing software for a guy who just stared an LLC. He offered me a compensation for the work I am doing (slightly lover than what I used to get) + sweat equity in his LLC (X% first year growing up to Y% (yearly 1% increment) in 5 years).I can see a lot of potential for this software. Its going to be used by a selected group & it will help them immensely to reduce their workload (5+hr job reduced to 30 min). I believe it has lot more potential once the software is fully developed. From the meetings so far I have with guy from LLC, if this get to a good start, they have future plans to expands & go for IPO etc. I googled out a bit to see if there is anything similar available which you can buy from other companies & I didnt find anything remotely close to what we are going to develop. So I think this is an original concept.
The question I have is what is the risk involved in accepting the sweat equity part along with the compensation. Usually as a consultant I do my job & get compensated, thats all. This is the first time someone is approaching me with this sweat equity option.

Foloowing are my primary concerns. Any ideas suggestions will surely help me to make a right decision.

1)Is this 1% increment a good Idea? Should I ask for Y% from the 1st year itself?
2)Usually how much % people ask as sweat equity for this kind of work?
3)Any legal issues I should be concerned?
4) If something goes wrong with the LLC, will that affect me as well?

Sorry for the long post. Please advice me.
Thanks in advance.

Personal Finance Deals

What to do with property in Florida?

Fri, 24 May 2013 05:41:30 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: Vaslo77
Views: 466 Replies: 3

All,

My father bought a plot of land in Vero Beach Florida in the 60's. He passed away about a decade ago and left to me. It's around 7 miles from the beach, so not ultra-close but not too far. I've been sitting on the property (which is basically just three smaller lots combined to make one bigger lot, which in turn looks like any woods near your house in the middle of a mix of houses and plots of land with similar overgrowth.) All I really pay is taxes on it.

My questions are:
1) What would you do? At the peak of the market I received an offer for 100k - that ship has sailed. Taxes have dropped like a stone and you can guess why. Do you sell it at the lower price or wait?
2) Anyone with personal knowledge of this area? Is it an up and comer or bound to always be a sleepy little beach community. I visited around the time my dad died and nothing knocked my socks off about the town, but perhaps it's changed?
3) If I keep, any thoughts about putting an inexpensive house on it? And what is the upkeep with that? Sounds like it could be more of a hassle than its worth.

Thanks!

New User Question Deals

Seniors investing in condo to collect rent. Good or Bad choice?

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:16:44 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: Luser
Views: 575 Replies: 19

Hello all FWF Guru.

I am a long time reader of this forum. I need to seek advise from this informative community.

My retiring parents are planning to use most of their life savings to purchase a $300K condo. It will be an all cash purchase. The reason to collect rent as supplemental income to Social Security. They do not have any other retirement income except for social security. Also the purchase will put under my name. They already own a house, and debt free. I own a co-op and debt free. We live in New York City if that matters. Any advantage or disadvantage of their decision?

Any constructive advise will be apprencated.

Real Estate Deals

Advice needed in selecting title and settlement company in IL

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:18:08 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: fogler
Views: 547 Replies: 4

I am in the process of purchasing my first home in IL and I am going with BOX home loans. Box prefers Linear title company but the seller wants to go with different title company. Seller chosen company, Prairie title, is three times more expensive than what Box estimated title costs ($2000 vs $700). Does any one know how Box handles closing on a new purchase? My RE lawyer is telling me that we need to do the settlement at a physical location. Neither Box nor Linear has any physical office in IL. I asked Box about this and they said it can be handled. I want to let the seller go with their company and I will go with Linear as it is much cheaper. Please offer me whatever suggestions you could.

Personal Finance Deals

Move over Vic? Economic Case for EVs

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:57:50 -0500

Rating: 1 Posted By: Satriani
Views: 1856 Replies: 50

Article states EVs have a cost of near zero:

WSJ - use Google if paywalled

Anyone have EVs and share their financial (and other) experiences? Eliminating gasoline expenditures sounds good to me, but how do electricity costs compare, especially in high cost areas like California/PG&E? Any strategies for minimizing electricity costs?

Discussion Deals

Can the Appraisal Fee Be Increased?

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:51:32 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: welookgoodcom
Views: 670 Replies: 7

Mtg Broker told me Appraisal would be $460, put it in Good Faith Estimate, and put in a request
via e-mail. Now they asked for $500. Are they allowed to change amount?

While $40 is small, if this changes, other fees can change. Plus it's the principle.

Curious other experience with this?

Personal Finance Deals

Buying a car at a fair price, within KBB value

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:24:34 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: olvrtw
Views: 1050 Replies: 9

I'm in the market for a used car. Preferably a 2008-2010 ML350. I'm willing to pay more for a 2010 if I can get at least 1 year of manufacturer warranty, otherwise I would rather get a 2008 or 2009 at the low end of the blue book value. I'm looking at the private party kbb.org value, I had a quick peek at the kbb suggested retail at a dealer and its usually a good $4-6k higher than private party value and I'm just not willing to pay that Vs the recent sale prices I saw on eBay or the cars that are no longer available at dealers which sold at or below kbb..

Why is it so hard to find/get a fair price? Yesterday I was disuaded from even negotiating when a dealer was giving me prices $6-7k above the highest private party kbb value (he said those were his rock bottom prices), what negotiating tactics should I use? I never purchased a car from a dealer before, I had better luck on eBay getting a fair deal, but its not easy to find the right car on eBay all the time.

Question Deals

Buying a Property in Las Vegas NV

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:56:19 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: MarkVittaker
Views: 1391 Replies: 27

Hello Folks,

I respect each and everyone here that gives great advice!Its a great place to learn a lot of things. I am in a situation and I need some inputs from you.

My situation:
Place: Las Vegas NV
Myself: 29 YO, Married, no kids yet!
Pay: ~150k/year together
Current monthly expenses about $2100

Currently, we own a small SFR property. We bought this in 2011 for a good price and I believe prices have gone up to a decent level where if I sell this, I can nett about ~$45k.

Currently, we feel we need a bigger house (>2500<3000 sq.ft) house. The prices are raising day by day and the houses this size in nice neighborhoods are in the range $350k-$400k.

We have saved up some money and I for sure want to put at least 21% to avoid the PMI crap!

I see that prices are going up just because of low inventory and not really because of great economy (my opinion)??

Questions:
1.Is this the right time to buy a property? Will we see any more dips to buy, stability in price in latter part of the year? (Its Las Vegas NV!)
2.Should I sell my current property and put all profits from it into the other or keep my existing (save more for 21%) (current monthly mortgage is $600)? Can rent it for Say $1000/month
3.The interest rates are low now, if I wait for say a year will it remain low? or is it poised to go up and I would feel I missed the boat?
4.Having a rental property and primary residence will also help us take mortgage interest deductions, we already pay quiet some taxes!
5.Or stick with my current low mortgage and invest savings in ETFs/Mutual funds/REIT's and Stocks? Not sure about the stock market's direction either!
6.Wait for 2 more years and save lot more and buy something like this @31, afraid, if the prices would have gone up considerably!

We like the idea of a bigger home, but we also enjoy our current $600 mortgage and saving money! As we are not that old we are not sure what the future holds for us.
Ultimately, I do want to have a place for myself and not loose money by doing so.

What is best in long term?

New User Question Deals

Tax question on selling stock

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:40:16 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: PRO710
Views: 802 Replies: 8

First off I hope I'm allowed to post this in the general finance forum.

Are there any tax professionals on this board? If so can I please ask for your help?

As part of a bonus one year my employer gave a certain # of company stock to each of it's employees. That was back around 1995 and I held on to it ever since. It was currently valued at about $1100.00 / The account that it was in was setup to reinvest all dividends and I paid tax/declared the dividends on my taxes each year up to current.

The price of the shares at this point with current stock price is around $1700 and I would like to get rid of those shares/account.

1) If I sell the shares, what is the cost basis that I enter at the end of the year(I do my own taxes via TurboTax)?

2) What portion of the stock sale do I owe taxes on and does the fact that I paid taxes on the dividend reinvestment lower my overall tax bill? If so how do I find that out since I paid about 18 years of dividend reinvestment taxes?

Thanks in advance!

Tax Deals

Employee Benefits - Section 125 to Pre-Tax or not

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:50:54 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: Pez
Views: 505 Replies: 5

My wife is starting a new job, since she is eligible for subsidized healthcare, I now either need to pay a penalty to leave her on mine or have her enroll in the one offered by the school where she'll be working. We'll likely have her move to their plan, but there's a form asking for a choice:

_ I would like to pre-tax my current medical, dental and vision premiums
--or--
_ I would not like to pre-tax my current medical, dental and vision premiums

I can't seem to find out what the difference is, my guess is that we want them pre-tax, but the fact that they ask makes me wonder if there is a reason I may choose not to.

Thoughts?

Personal Finance Deals

Make $39,500 in entry level job. Getting promoted. How much to ask for?

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:23:50 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: fatwallet102
Views: 2117 Replies: 23

Got the job in January 2012. Second job out of college. I was at the first for less then a year before landing my current role.

I got hired in one interview and everything went pretty quickly. I accepted the first offer they made to me ($38,000). The company has across the board performance reviews in August. I got a $1500 bump at that time (August 2012). I also have gotten like $2000 or so in bonuses sporadically in the time I was working there (including $1000 in February)

Everything is going very smoothly and I recently learned that they want to promote me. My superiors have talked with HR and the ball is now rolling on that. They are interviewing for a replacement and are going to switch me over to "training" mode and go very light on the workload at first. work with other people doing the job, etc, etc

So the question is, what would be reasonable to ask for when it becomes time to discuss compensation? The average for someone in the role is in the $60,000s. I should also point out that there is minimal growth opportunities after this promotion takes place. I am likely to be in the role for 5+ years

Personal Finance Deals

car rear ended and fled, insurance question

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:19:18 -0500

Rating: -2 Posted By: anicraj
Views: 1186 Replies: 14

Sorry this is not related to finance, but i thought i'd ask a question as am new to this. I got rear ended couple of hours back and the lady who hit fled. Filed police report and now insurance says they will pay from collision, is that right? its a brand new car and i have $500 collision deductible, am really upset that it had happened.

Question Deals

Should I drop hurricane coverage on Florida HOI policy?

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:31:20 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: atikovi
Views: 1409 Replies: 60

This is a house in Sarasota I inherited and which I visit for a few weeks total, two or three times a year. Its about 20 years old, worth around $300K and is paid off. Renewal for homeowners policy is $2700, up from $2150 last year and I never had a claim. It was under $1000 just a few years ago BTW. I see that hurricane coverage makes up $1000 of the premium. Since this part of Florida isnt susceptible to, and hasnt had a direct hit, from a hurricane in 60 years as a neighbor said, what do you think of dropping that part of the coverage? Anybody here from that area that has done that?

Personal Finance Deals

Internet Bank recommendation

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:28:01 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: CELO
Views: 900 Replies: 19

I have Fidelity and after an experience today, I am not happy with them anymore. Too complicated to get a wire transfer from another bank. It goes to Chase, then it goes to their account, then you have to put a note in the transfer to make sure you receive the transfer. Also a BofA account holder CANNOT do this online because there is no field to put that info. It must be done at BofA location.

Anybody can suggest me an Internet Bank that they are completely happy with? Like no ATM fees, no minimum balance, no service fee, etc. Thanks.

Deposits Deals

Beware(?) AMEX Pay over Time feature

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:16:33 -0500

Rating: 1 Posted By: BenH
Views: 1744 Replies: 9

(FYI - My initial findings detailed in this post seem to have been incorrect based on bad info from AMEX initially. See my third post down for the resolution and a better analysis.
TL/DR at the end is Pay over Time is likely superior...so probably don't need to "BEWARE")

So - maybe this was common knowledge...but I just discovered it.

I saw some charges on my AMEX Platinum card over the past few months. Basically these were small amounts of money credited to my account, and then a reversal debit on the same day. These looked to be internal charges so I called AMEX to figure what was up.

After investigating, the agent informed me that these were indeed internal and used for AMEX book-keeping purposes. I asked why I had only just started seeing these on my Platinum and why, for instance, I didn't see them on my Gold or Blue cards. I said they were kind of annoying because they got downloaded in my financial software and needed to be removed or categorized.

She advised me that it was happening due to the "Pay over time" feature I selected when I called in to activate my card. Basically, the way they billed the Pay over Time feature to me is that it makes the Platinum (and other AMEX) "charge" cards (where the balance is normally paid off monthly) to more of a traditional "credit" card - where I have the option of making a minimum payment and paying off over time.

I pretty much always pay my bill in full each month on my cards. The only time I don't is when I forgot to set up auto-pay, or have switched it over and might miss a month, etc. But, I figured, I might as well have this Pay over Time option since it sounds like it gives me the flexibility if I need it.

-------------------------

But, this little accounting nonsense made me question how their fees work. After questioning the agent I was told:

Without the Pay over Time feature - if I leave a balance on my card I am assessed a flat $25/month fee. This means if I charge $10,000 on a card and don't pay it off for 3 months...I will owe another $75 in late fees.

With the Pay over Time feature - I have to make a minimum payment of 1% of new charges. I am charged ~18%APR on the rest. This means if I charge $10,000 and pay back 1/3rd over 3 months...I will have paid over $300 in interest.
Additionally, I will have *had* to have paid my minimum 1% and if not, I would also have been assessed a late fee for the unpaid minimum.

Which sounds better to you?

Now this all depends on balance and how much you plan to pay off monthly. There are certainly scenarios where the APR will be less than the $25 carry over fee.
I suspect most AMEX charge card holders are good with their finances and expect to pay off monthly. Or, at least, aren't paying off only a few hundred dollars on a multi-thousand balance over time.

In my situation, I suspect that I will continue to pay off every month and not be impacted. However, if I have say a $3K balance that I forget to pay off for a few months...I will come out better with just the $25 late fee.

I do suspect however that AMEX doesn't want you to abuse the charge card late-fee and if you carry a balance too often or too high, they might cause a fuss...but this was all about protecting me "just in case" and I think the better option is the standard "charge" card scenario.

Has anyone else had experience with a prolonged balance on a charge card ($25/month) or been told anything different by AMEX reps?

Oh, and incidentally, when I asked to cancel the feature they told me that it was only offered to selected/preferred applicants and that if I cancel now, there is no guarantee I can get it back in the future. I took the chance...

Credit Deals

United MileagePlus Explorer Card - No Foreign Transaction Fees as of 6/1/13

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:27:45 -0500

Rating: 2 Posted By: NoMoneyInMyWallet
Views: 653 Replies: 2

Just rec'd an email with the following:

The United MileagePlus Explorer Card is enhancing your travel experience with a rewarding new benefit. Effective June 1, you pay no foreign transaction fees on Card purchases outside the U.S.

Credit Deals

Need Input: Deciding between job offers

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:43:11 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: vickssenn
Views: 1329 Replies: 18

I have mulled over this for the past week and would appreciate any additional insight. I even made a decision matrix and it appears both rank equally. I am fresh out of college but cannot tell which one is a better deal for me.

Job Offer 1:
+ Operations at a small/medium investment bank. Goal is to move into business/research side over-time. I have interest in current events.
+ Work will be operational (finding pricing mistakes, researching prices on securities, improving processes). I will learn more VBA in this position.
+ 46k (guaranteed 46-50 hours per week).
+ Education paid (after one-year).
+ Employee paid healthcare.
+ 401(k) - 50% match (4 years vesting period).
+ Culture: Bit strict (pant, shirts, maybe tie).

Job Offer 2:
+ Real estate purchase and leaseback at a small firm. It's bit like venture capital/private equity where they buy, operate, lease the real estate properties.
+ I will be analyzing properties, risks, financial statements. Sounds interesting.
+ 55k (plus 10-20% bonus). (At max 40-45 hours per week).
+ Employer paid healthcare.
+ 401(k) - 4% match dollar to dollar.
+ Culture: No dress code. I've seen employees in jeans and t-shirts.

Which one would you pick? Should I always take the job that pays more? Am I risking too much by hoping I will overtime have the opportunity to work on the investment side? What else would you consider overall?

Question Deals

New to Investing with 2k - Buying S&P 500 tracking ETF - Good idea?

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:16:52 -0500

Rating: 3 Posted By: Vimak
Views: 2715 Replies: 44

I am a college student, but have managed to save up several thousand dollars. I want to set aside about two thousand so that it can grow and add money to it whenever I can. This isn't my emergency fund, and I am willing to be exposed to some risk. After doing some reading, I think that an ETF or Mutual fund would my best bet. I dont have enough money or interest to invest in stocks, and I think (correct me if I am wrong) I can expose myself to more risk then CD's, and bonds.

I started looking at mutual funds, and it was difficult to find one that out preformed the S&P 500. Since Mutual funds charge anywhere between 0.5 to 2 percent a year to be managed, that takes a chunk out of my money. The only benefit I can see of having a mutual fund is that since its managed, it could prevent me from losing less if something goes wrong. However, I'm not even sure about that.

Learning that only 11 percent of Mututal funds outpreformed the S&P 500, I decided to look at an ETF that tracks it. If I buy SPY, which just tracks the SP 500, it will preform better then mutual funds, pay dividends, and charge less for management.

Is this good reasoning? I realize that the S&P 500 is at all time high, but Goldman Sachs predicted it would continue to grow to steadily grow till 2015. My other reasoning was that even if it took a dip, its bound to go up again in the long term (3-5) years.

Also, I signed up for E*Trade after reading some good reviews of it. I couldn't find anything that was wrong with it, anything I should be looking out for?

Personal Finance Deals

Ideas for dressing up for office without paying full price

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:12:01 -0500

Rating: 12 Posted By: puddonhead
Views: 5388 Replies: 146

I used have a pretty cavaliar attitude about office dress when I first graduated and started working. Eventually, I wised up. This thread is about dressing up conservatively and appropriately for office and keeping the cost at a minimum. Hopefully, I will get a valuable tip or two from the responses.

My own contribution can only be done with men in mind. I am totally clueless about women's formal dresses and how/where to get them on the cheap. Female FWF members, please chime in.

Components of Men's dress (in the order of importance as I see it):
1. Shirts
2. Shoes
3. Pants
4. Belt
5. Tie
6. Suit

Shirts:
I need a wardrobe of about 10 good quality shirts to pull me through. People can do with a lot less, or may need a lot more. If you dress formally - you will likely need less (3 shirts X 2 Suits X 3 ties = 18 distinct outfits).
Getting the size right is very important (and often very frustrating for some people). It took me almost 1 year since I started caring about good fit to find the right sizes from the right vendors.
The Shirts I use are Brooks Brothers (off-the-shelf), Charles Tyrwhitt (off-the-shelf) and Indochino (custom). Custom obviously fits best, but costs me around $80 per shirt. BB can be had for $44 during their annual sales. Charles Tyrwhitt has a deal right now where you can get the shirts for $30/shirt. I personally think that BB material is better (more comfy, durable, looks sharper), while CT has superior tailoring.
I have never run the hard numbers, but think my net expenses have decreased from the "get random clearence shirt from Macy's" days given the durability of these shirts when properly cared for.
Some BB's will do some customization for you. The price runs to around $200/shirt. I don't want to pay that much out of my pocket. I'm working towards some cc bonuses that will net me around 200k of AMEX MR points that can be converted to $2000 BB gift cards. Once I get that - I will probably get a few of their custom shirts.

Shoes:
I used to buy random $30 shoes from Target most of the time, and would get a $80 pair of rockports when I wanted to splurge. Recently (1 year ago) I switched to Allen Edmonds
, and they are hands down the most comfortable pairs I've ever owned.
AE's cost approximately $350/pair initially, but can be had for ~$200/pair if you wait around for a sale. It is almost essential to have at least two pairs and preferrably three, because you should let the shoe breathe between two wears.
With good shoes, I dont anticipate my net cost to decrease (the re-sole costs $125 and is required every 2-4 years, even though the shoe itself usually lasts decades). The difference would be in comfort (once you break into it) and how sharp they will keep looking for decades with good care.
I considered upgrading to a shell cordovan (Alden or even AE) that is supposed to last the wearers lifetime - but could not conjure up sufficient fortitude to shell out > $600 for a pair of shoes and lifetime guarantee. If you want the boasting rights - it may be a good idea .

Belts:
I still have a stock of the $15 generic belts found on clearence from Macy's/JCP/Target/Kohls. Once they run out, (or start looking really crappy) I will switch to "Saddleback Leather" or "Leather Goods Connection", two small leather goods makers with strong recommendataions, for belts in the $50-$90 range. Brand name belts supposedly with similar quality are way too expensive for my taste.

Pants:
Never really paid much attention and wore whatever fit me and looked okay. I got them either with suit pieces or bought them at generic places.

Tie:
Usually purchased on some offer (buy a shirt and a tie free).

Suits:
I've tried low end stuff (Men's Warehouse, K&G, Macys etc.). The money was pretty much thrown away with these. They look aweful after one wear and are completely destroyed after one road trip. The couple of wearable suit sets I have at this point are from Jos A Bank. I plan to upgrade to a pair of Indochino custom-made suits once their travelling tailor makes his way to my town next time. Eventually, I plan to have about 3 good quality suits that should last me for a decade or more.
The better suits are full-canvassed and not "fused". Full canvassed suits usually cost > $1000 a set. My Jos-A-Bank set is still fused. The Indochino suits (that I want to upgrade to) are in between full and half canvassed (body full canvassed, hands half) and are claimed to be as durable as the full canvassed ones. They cost between $500 - $700 a set.

Hope my tips help you. And please post your tips that can hopefully help me :-D...

Personal Finance Deals

Haven't had a Tree Branch Fall Thread in a while

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:18:36 -0500

Rating: 6 Posted By: corporateclaw
Views: 1806 Replies: 38

Hopefully this is a bit of an olive branch of reiterating the "general principle" of who is supposed to pay for damage in this situation given the stuff in the Midwest the last few days and given the time of year, plus a little twist that I guess I have.

Had some bad storms here yesterday morning (Missouri, not the Oklahoma stuff) and a big maple tree on my rental lost a bunch of huge branches which somehow managed to all end up in the neighbor's yard doing the following:

1. Smashed a fence that I'm pretty sure is mine;
2. tore down a wire running from his house to his carport for electricity at the car port (luckily the wire running power to his house was on the north side of his property and didn't get hit); and
3. has basically filled his yard with more branches than I previously could have imagined.

My understanding from doing some research (including searching through all the old "tree fell" threads here on FWF) is that if it was a "healthy tree" generally defined as "the neighbor never hired an arborist to send you a letter that your tree is dying and a danger to his property" and it goes down in a storm, then the neighbor where it landed needs to have his homeowner's insurance pay for it. Obviously the pragmatic side of it has always been that coming to some kind of compromise makes for good neighbors.

Fortunately, while this situation sucks, we got a little "lucky" in that those three things are the only damage -- falling a little to the west would have crushed an above-ground swimming pool and/or his deck and a little to the East would have crushed his car port (and been frown town for the car in the car port). I tried to explain this to the neighbor and told him that I'd have a guy come and look at the branches, since I'd want to have the breaks from the tree cleaned up so the tree doesn't die anyway. Instead this guy called HIS insurance company and (not surprisingly) they said they'd fix it and bill me.

The houses are in the City of St. Louis which has giant dumpsters in the alley for yard waste and branches (and lets you drag this stuff to the street for pickup after storms like this). I kept trying to explain to him that I'd be willing to pay for a tree guy to come out and chop up the branches (and fix my tree, since I think that climbing in my tree is probably the lion's share of that cost anyway) if he would take care of re-wiring this wire out to his car port (I don't want to pay an electrician for it, especially since I'm pretty sure that "run wire out your window to your car port" is probably not up to code) and if he would take care of smashing the limbs into the dumpsters and/or dragging them to the street.

However, obviously neighbors never want to pay anything when this happens (I don't know that I blame him for that, since it seems weird that this would be his responsibility) and given that his is hispanic and doesn't really speak english, no matter what I say I just get "You Pay" from him. His wife and brother don't speak english very well, either, and while his oldest son speaks English very well, he is like 9 or 10 and so trying to explain this to him to translate is not working (he may be younger, I'm horrible with estimating age).

At this point, I'm gassed and pissed off -- just full of hate -- I hate this house (it's a constant money sink), I hate this city, I hate this neighbor, and I'm tired of dealing with this. I could probably get this whole thing cleaned up for right around my $1K deductible, so it seems stupid to make a claim, but on the other hand, if the insurance company would handle MY damage (the fence and cleaning up the tree) along with dealing with my neighbor, so I can stop dealing with this, then it's worth well more than the $1K deductible, IMO.

So, the question, I guess, is what do insurance carriers typically do here? I tried calling mine and the guy just kept asking if I wanted to make a claim, and I kept asking "If I make a claim for this, will my damage and my neighbors issues be handled as one claim with one deductible?" and he kept saying "do you want to make a claim and find out?" Seems like a fairly easy question, but I cannot tell for sure and would like some advice from any of you that may have dealt with this before.

Personal Finance Deals

New to HSA. How much to put in? Financial info inside!

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:21:01 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: yorkie345
Views: 1078 Replies: 11

I just took a new job that has a HDHP and offers an HSA and am wondering how much to put into it.

I am married with 2 kids and we are in great health.
My company puts in $1300/year. Deductible is $6000 and OOP max is $12k.
$85k/year salary
I am able to max my 401k and Roth IRA. My company puts in $10k/year into a pension so total retirement savings in 2013 will be around $34,000. Current retirement savings = $120,000. We are 31 My wife stays home so she does not contribute to retirement.
Have ~ $15k in checking/savings.
Only liability is $100k mortgage on $150k house, 15 year @ 2.875% which is around $750/month

After everything is paid and retirement savings we have about $20k/year left, after taxes.

I am reading a bunch of conflicting stuff online on how much to put in. We are done having kids and don't see any huge medical costs in our future but who knows what the future holds.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Personal Finance Deals

Help! Should I buy this investment property?

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:13:48 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: simonng926
Views: 1583 Replies: 25

Hi my fellow FWers:

I am in search of investment properties. The bank has approved the shortsale. I need to decide whether this is a good investment option. I need to pay previous owner deliquent HOA and spend money repair and repaint. Below is the property cost & info.

Property location: California, 94806
Purchase price $260,000
Appraisal Value $260,000
Zillow value $271,000

Loan Amount $208,000
Down Payment(20%) $52,000

Closing Cost: $4,000
pay delinquent HOA: $4,200
1-time Repair & Paint:$7,000

Sum of down pay plus above cost: $67,200

I will rent out the property. Monthly Income and expense breakdown:

Potential Rent: $1,900

Mortgage @4.25% $1,023
Taxes (2.1%) $498
Insurance: $65
HOA Fee: $100
Waste Mgmt: $35

Total monthly cost: $1,721
Cash flow(Rent minus cost) $174

I plan to collect rent for a period. And when the house value increase to a certain amount, I will sell it to make profit. In case of tenant vacancy, I have $10K saving set aside to cover expense.

Can my fellow FWers advise whether this is a good investment decision?

Personal Finance Deals

Strange Amex Backdating dilemma. Need advice...

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:37:44 -0500

Rating: -2 Posted By: ztnjpv
Views: 1217 Replies: 34

Hi. I have been an AMEX member since 2012.....AFAIK.

On my account homepage, under my name in the upper right area, it says "Thank you for being a cardmember since 1993". I think this suddenly changed when I regsitered my Gold Biz Card the other day. I had never noticed it before. Thing is, my Gold Biz Card says member since 2012. Now, I just got my new SPG Biz AMEX in the mail today. It says cardmember since 1993!!! Just like the website! Wow.Something obviously happened here. I was just on the phone with the rep about this card (unrelated matter) when I suddenly noticed it and began to fumble my words and hesitate. I was about to ask her about it and decided to not say anything.

Anyone ever had this happen before? I'm quite confused here. I'd LOVE to be backdated to 1993 but don't remember having a card back then. I would love to call and ask to have my other two AMEX's remailed with the backdating to 1993 but I don't know if that would work or if it would raise red flags and get corrected.....mainly because I don't know how clear, concise and organized backdating is. I mean, do the reps just see my 1993 backdating and go off that without verifying it?

My ultimate goal would be, if I can really keep the 1993 date, to get a personal card...which I still don't have...and give my AAoA a serious jolt in age.

Personal Finance Deals

Credit Card Churner buying investment property soon

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:52 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: flyalexair
Views: 1085 Replies: 4

Hello everyone,

I know there are tons of information out there regarding credit card churner and I have been in the game long enough to know that it hasnt negatively impacted my credit score. Sure, the mortgage brokers will ask me why the hell I applied for 6 credit cards in the past 6 months but thats water under the bridge now and I'll let them know.

My question is how do you guys explain massive cash deposits/MO's in your bank statements.

From my understanding, they like to ask for 3-4 months worth of statements from all your bank accounts. Mainly to make sure you can afford it which is fine but sometimes I deposit massive amounts from MO's from buying beans and ACH deposits from other methods.

How does one get around it or do I need to cool it for a good 3-4 months before applying? So theres just normal acitivity going on.

Personal Finance Deals

Chargeback/Warranty questions

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:34:49 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: Lasso2013
Views: 1193 Replies: 26

I'm not certain if this is the correct forum, but I'm looking for advice as to how to proceed with this warranty-related issue.

In late March, I spent over $1500 on repairs from a Goodyear Service Center, which included, among other things, a new radiator. A few days ago, as I was driving in a rural area 300 miles from where I received the original repairs, my car broke down. I had it towed to the nearest garage, and they determined that my radiator was defective, and it would have to be replaced, but it required a transmission fluid flush which could only be done at a dealership located 10 miles from this garage. Before agreeing to anything, I contacted Goodyear's warranty department to file a claim and get everything approved. They discussed with the mechanic and agreed that my car should go to the dealership. There was no Goodyear service center within reasonable distance that could perform the required repairs, apparently. They were opaque about the actual reimbursement amount, but assured me that most everything would be covered.

The next day, I received a call from the dealership informing me that the repairs would cost around $1000, but Goodyear was only willing to reimburse around $400, citing that warranty policy only covers "costs up to the original repair." After some protesting, I was able to get them to increase the reimbursement amount to around $550, but they were inflexible about anything more, stating that policy would not allow them to budge. I also have a $300 tow bill that they will only reimburse up to $50 (not to mention the hotel/rental car, which I am not optimistic about). They advised me to go through the Goodyear Service Center which performed the repairs to seek any additional reimbursement.

As a result, since I'm still within the 60 day period, I filed a chargeback on the original repairs, and I am planning to seek the difference between what the warranty will cover and my total bill. Is this a tenable strategy, or should I continue to push for more coverage from the warranty department? I charged the original repairs to my Chase Sapphire, so I am going through their dispute department. Any advice on how best to minimize my financial burden or a link to a more appropriate forum would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Personal Finance Deals

Pointless argument with Bank of America about checking account fees.

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:27:12 -0500

Rating: -8 Posted By: burgerwars
Views: 1373 Replies: 14

I have a spare regular checking with B of A. I was charged a $14 monthly maintenance fee last month even though my minimum balance was over $1,500 (it was over $1,800 with only one small transaction last month). I re-checked their personal schedule of fees to make sure nothing changed about their fees in California. Nothing has.

I call up customer service and told the representative I don't understand the fee. He then reads off the ways I can avoid the fee:

To avoid the monthly maintenance fee, meet one of the following balance requirements during
each statement cycle:
Minimum daily balance in checking $1,500 or more
Minimum daily balance in linked Regular Savings $2,000 or more
Minimum daily balance in linked money market savings $5,000 or more
Average daily balance

I told him to just stop as I met the first qualification. He then reads the fees again to me. I said what's the problem. He says he's telling me how to avoid the fee in the future. I told him it didn't work in the past. I finally got through to him when I said, "The last time I checked, $1,800 is more than $1,500. Did anything change?"

He finally got the point. He credited my $14 back. I told him to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. This is comical. I'll check next month to see if the fee isn't there. If not, I'll call back with some math lessons for B of A.

General Economics Deals

Parking ticket sent to collection agency

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:04:57 -0500

Rating: -8 Posted By: brucesprings
Views: 1520 Replies: 40

6 months ago I had a $125 parking ticket sent to collection agency which has affected my credit score with it affecting 2 of the 3 credit report agencies. Besides paying the collection agency (i have the money but I would not pay this ticket for town that issued can kiss my rear) how long will this affect that score ? Will it gradually disappear or stay the same for all 7 years and then 100% drop off?

Question Deals

How to best pay for a high-dollar Ebay purchase

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:56:14 -0500

Rating: -4 Posted By: stevento
Views: 1463 Replies: 12

I started a similar thread a couple of days ago, but this one has a slightly different angle.

I recently bought a $46K item on eBay (specialized piece of equipment that goes for $100K+ new).
All the DD checks out fine. I'll travel to the seller on May 31 to kick the tires on the unit before I pay for it, but based on the conversation with the seller and the unit rep who's been servicing it, I don't expect any issues whatsoever.

On the auction, the seller indicated he prefers PayPal.
I have several choices to pay for this unit.

1. Pay with one of my existing cards (standard FW assortment - Chase Inks, various color AmExes), and then pay the CC balance with my business equipment purchase line (around 5%)
2. Quickly open 2-3 credit cards with 0% on purchases for 12-18 months, split the payment among them, and either pay it off in that time period or put in on that line.
3. Work out a price reduction with the seller in lieu of PayPal fees (around 3% of the price), pay with a bank check or wire drawn from that line.
4. Just pay for it and call it a day.

I don't need to meet any minimum spending requirements on any of my cards.
While $46K is a lot of money, I usually spend more than that in 2 months in regular expenses, so meeting spend minimums isn't an issue.
With possible exception of Delta AMEX Plat or Reserve, there aren't any cards that I need at this time.

What's the FW way to pay for this purchase?

Question Deals

$125 bonus for New Regions LifeGreen Checking Account (AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA)

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:38:22 -0500

Rating: 4 Posted By: ThiftySpender
Views: 1264 Replies: 10

Just saw this online:

Become a new Regions customer and get $125 when you:

Open a LifeGreen Checking account online using promo code 125, and
Within 60 days:
Make 10 purchases on your Regions Visa checkcard, and
Have direct deposits totaling $500 or more

With Regions LifeGreen Checking, you get:

Online Bill Pay
Mobile Banking
Option to receive Regions CashBack Rewards
Visa CheckCard

Plus access to over 2,100 Regions DepositSmart ATMsSM

For questions, call 1-800-4PC-BANK (800-472-2265)

Link

Should work for the following states: (AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA)

Deal Deals

Brokerage accounts?

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:11:58 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: bluebag
Views: 676 Replies: 4

I'm looking to start investing. I have some money (<$10K) to invest. I am trying to find a good broker with tools and reasonable costs. ETrade sucks. I was looking at Tradeking and they surely seem cheaper. I am looking to make <10 trades a year. Any suggestions?

Also, I am ideally looking for one with tools that I can just plugin the investment amount, securities, their allocation and it'll buy the appropriate amount of numbers of securities to match that percentage allocation. This is similar to what vanguard allows one to do (you just specify the asset mix and they'll buy the appropriate shares / funds). Any suggestions?

Question Deals

Outragous credit card late fee

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:27:06 -0500

Rating: -87 Posted By: ThankThoseWhoShare
Views: 2732 Replies: 53

I have a master card that I use very occasionally. Unlike my other credit cards, it doesn't automatically draw money from bank account. To make things easier, I had my bank send a monthly check of fixed amount, which caused the card company to send me a check every so often. They apparently don't want me to leave money in the account. Last year, I changed this fixed amount to $10, thinking this was enough for my card usage.

A few months ago, I had a balance of $45 debt and have not incurred any charge since. I didn't notice the minimum payment was $25 and the late fee was $19 per month In 4 months, I've paid $40 into my $45 debt, and yet my total debt ballooned to $73, mainly due to the outrageous late fee per month.

Yesterday I gave the card the authority to get money from bank to pay the entire balance. But then I'm not happy. Apparently they prey on people like me, who dislike the hassle of tending monthly bill. Is there anything I can do to get part of my money back?

Personal Finance Deals

AICPA Group Variable Universal Life Insurance (GVUL) 4.1% APY Fixed

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:58:36 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: KKRS
Views: 868 Replies: 7

Hello,

I recently read a couple of threads about VUL here and the general consensus seems to be that the AICPA GVUL is my best bet for a life insurance. A bit of background about myself: 24 years old CPA, employed at a Big 4 accounting firm (AICPA fees paid by work). I am currently paying ~$17 post-tax a month for ~$700,000 supplemental life insurance coverage through work. I took a look at the prospectus for AICPA's GVUL and surprisingly, the rate for $700,000 is only ~$19 a month (only $2 more).

The one aspect which really intrigued me is the so called "The Fixed Account." From the prospectus: "You may invest all or part of your Certificate Fund in the Fixed Account. The part of the Certificate Fund that you invest in the Fixed Account will accrue interest daily at a rate that Prudential declares periodically. This rate will not be less than an effective annual rate of 4%. Prudential may in its sole discretion declare a higher rate, though we are not obligated to do so."

I also took a look at the "Fees" section but the only fees which seemed to be applicable if I was to go all in the fixed option is the Withdrawal Fee of $10 or 2% (max $20). There are no administrative charges or whatsoever.

The prospectus is located here: http://www.cpai.com/pdfs/20120730_AICPA_2009_GL_2012_106_%28web%...

The question: I am thinking to get a $1 million policy and stuff ~$30k there and let it sit earning 4% tax deferred annually. Am I missing something?

Thanks for the help.

EDIT:
Clarified potential benefits in the title.

Fixed policy limit according to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7702

b) Cash value accumulation test for subsection (a)(1)
(1) In general
A contract meets the cash value accumulation test of this subsection if, by the terms of the contract, the cash surrender value of such contract may not at any time exceed the net single premium which would have to be paid at such time to fund future benefits under the contract.
(2) Rules for applying paragraph (1)
Determinations under paragraph (1) shall be made
(A) on the basis of interest at the greater of an annual effective rate of 4 percent or the rate or rates guaranteed on issuance of the contract,
(B) on the basis of the rules of subparagraph (B)(i) (and, in the case of qualified additional benefits, subparagraph (B)(ii)) of subsection (c)(3), and
(C) by taking into account under subparagraphs (A) and (D) of subsection (e)(1) only current and future death benefits and qualified additional benefits.

Correct me if I am wrong but my interpretation is that this is a present value calculation with FV = Death Benefit ($1million in my case) and 95-24 = 71 as time horizon with minimum 4% as the discount rate. That results in ~$61k limit for a $1million policy at the age of 24. I am not an actuary though. Can someone with Insurance background clarify please?

Personal Finance Deals

Checkout by Amazon - Holding Funds Past 180 days - Anyone have this experience? How did you get it resolved?

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:45:25 -0500

Rating: 4 Posted By: jcohen73
Views: 2155 Replies: 63

I had used checkout by Amazon for the better part of a 2 year span to churn some of my 5% credit cards and conduct some transactions with relatives. Back in November they closed my account. When they did that they said they were placing a hold on my funds for 90 days. I immediately started issuing refunds so I wouldn't be without those funds available for those 90 days. While refunding them, they blocked my access to the account and now have no ability to even access that account, see my balance, etc. Guessing there is about 15k still being held by them. They now say they are holding the funds for 180 days. So I then wrote to the BBB to see what my balance is and when I can even expect those funds. The response I got from Amazon, appeared canned

What concerns me is their response claims I might have used stolen credit cards and the remittances and payments may be permanently withheld. All credit cards used belong to me and relatives.

"Amazon retains the right to immediately prevent or restrict access to our site. We removed this user's access to our site and placed a hold on any funds in their seller account because an investigation of their account indicates they may be using our site to engage in fraudulent activity. We believe this seller used stolen credit cards to place orders with their own Amazon seller account.Due to the proprietary nature of our business, we do not provide details on our investigation methods.In accordance with the terms of this seller's agreement with Amazon Services, we will not be transferring any funds to the seller. If we determine that a seller account has been used to engage in fraud or other illegal activity, remittances and payments may be permanently withheld."

It is impossible to talk to anyone regarding this issue on the phone. Emails get ignored. My letter to the legal department was ignored as well. It would be easy to prove that no stolen credit cards were used as I was an authorized user on each credit card used, balances on those cards paid in full, and not a single charge back/dispute. Problem is there is nobody to talk to about this. My last email and response was after the 180 days that just stated they won't remit funds to me. Yes I can file a lawsuit, but that is my last resort as that will just cost lots of money.

I am curious if anyone else has had such an issue with Amazon and how did you deal with it?

Personal Finance Deals

Need help with a massive dental quote

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:58:16 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: Chiron
Views: 2514 Replies: 74

So I went to the dentist today for the first time in 3 years. Yes, I know, it was an atrocious oversight that I will never repeat. Several things immediately turned me off about the place. First is that they ask my occupation on the in-take form. I know this is common on medical forms, but why is this relevant? I feel like this is only to gauge a patient's ability to pay. Second is that the hygeniest peppers me with questions about my job, what part of town I live in, etc. Again, maybe she's just extremely chatty (and I know they are trained to interact with patients to keep them calm), but why the personal stuff?

After many x-rays and examinations, I am told that I need a) 13 fillings, the cost of which will be, at $192 per, almost $2500, and b) Invisalign and a retainer to fix my bite, which will be $6600. I looked at all the x-rays and the dentist explained most things pretty thoroughly, so I'm not too worried about being charged for unnecessary work/procedures. However, should I get a second opinion?

Assuming I need all this work, should I 1) negotiate the bill down, and if so what strategies should I use other than offering to prepay all the fillings in cash (which the web site says will offer a 5% discount), or 2) go overseas/to Mexico to get the work done? If anyone has experience with the latter, I would love to hear about it. I could even make a vacation out of it because I have boatloads of airline miles/points, so that aspect of the cost is not a concern.

Personal Finance Deals

MB Trading 1000 free trades offer - StockBrokers.com

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:05:32 -0500

Rating: -1 Posted By: falkinpro1
Views: 877 Replies: 8

StockBrokers.com has an exclusive offer for 1000 free stock and option trades with any new MB Trading account.

Offer is featured on the MB Trading Review page on the StockBrokers.com website.

Condition: Open a new account with MB Trading using any StockBrokers.com link
Requirements: Fund with atleast $5,000
What you get: Up to 1000 free trades, good for the first 60 days of the new account
Offer ends: July 15th, 2013

Deal Deals

Will my credit score bounce back quickly after paying down my card?

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:28:01 -0500

Rating: -2 Posted By: iamtrout
Views: 832 Replies: 4

My score used to be around 730. I have a $10k limit card that I put $7500 on for business expenses since it is a 0% interest card.

I got an email from Experian today saying my score has changed. Now, I haven't logged in to see how it has changed, but I'm willing to bet it was lowered because of the high balance on the card. I just paid off $2500 on the card immediately after getting the email. I can pay off more. Will my score bounce back relatively quickly? Like in the next month? Or is this one of those long lasting downgrades?

Personal Finance Deals

Roth 401k to Roth IRA Can I withdraw?

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:21:46 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: welookgoodcom
Views: 763 Replies: 14

I transferred my Roth 401k to Roth IRA 3-4 years back. My first Roth IRA was open a decade ago. Can I withdraw contributions without penalty?

Or do I need to wait 5 years from the initial transfer (Roth 401k) for the withdrawal?

Tax Deals

Want to get a second closer gym membership...IN CASH

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:04:30 -0500

Rating: -3 Posted By: itzcuzimuslim
Views: 1243 Replies: 26

Since my first one is closer to my older house, a bit of an inconvenient drive, but since I didn't move more than 25 miles away from my old gym, I still have to pay $20/month contract.

I want to get a second gym contract. It is $175 for the year, which is cheap, but if I wanted to ask to pay a one-time lump sum in cash what hurdles would I go through. Would the owner/sales person typically up the fee because of a cash only payment? Also other than asking for a receipt and a contract signature, is there any other way of making sure I have proof that the owner signed the contract, in case he tries to pull anything fishy?

Mixed reviews, many stories typical of any gym, posted here:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/forum-fitness-club-bayonne

General Economics Deals

Oakley Capital Sponsoring Scammers

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:19:29 -0500

Rating: -5 Posted By: saderc
Views: 421 Replies: 3

Oakley Capital is sponsoring falsehood peddlers. Oakley Capital owns Intergenia, a company that hosts the domain ForexBrokerz.com that is associated with reputation assassins. These are article writers hired by ForexBrokerz to create libelous references to companies that are considered competition to their sponsors in the Forex and Finance industry.

There are a number of false Scam Alerts that are posted on the Forexbrokerz.com site none of which are true. The author Sonya Ninova is a shady figure hired by ForexBrokerz to assist in their dissemination of financial disinformation and various scams.

One would expect that a company of Oakley Capital's stature would seek to distance themselves from such falsehood peddlers but so far all the emails I have sent to the following executives have gone unanswered and they are not picking my calls; Matt Wells, Charles Price, Sandra Garvey, Tell Ritterbach, Thomas Strohe and Christian Jaeger.

Anyone in the Finance sector should therefore be very careful when dealing with Oakley Capital, Forexbrokerz.com, Intergenia AG or Sonya Ninova.

General Economics Deals

About handling collection letters

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:20:05 -0500

Rating: -4 Posted By: lifeofpig
Views: 652 Replies: 7

Hi Folks,
I am not sure if this is the right place to discuss this topic, if not, please delete. I would appreciate it if someone could point me to the right place.
Here is the story:
I cancelled all my ComCast service in early April, and returned ALL the ComCast devices to the local branch office. The clerk processing my return said I didn't owe them anything at that time. But then in May I received a call from a collection agency saying I owe ComCast some money. So I checked my latest ComCast bill, and it says I have an "Unreturned HSI Equipment". That is weird. During my ComCast service period, I only used their remote and a cable box that had been returned to the local branch office (and I am still keep the return receipt with the device SN). I was using my own modem that is by no means a ComCast property.

Now I have a collection letter to handle, and my latest ComCast bill says I need to pay the "Unreturned HSI Equipment". How can I dispute the whole issue? Where to begin with? Thanks.

Personal Finance Deals

Need Advice on Running a Law Firm while Employed

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:18:36 -0500

Rating: -4 Posted By: metoome
Views: 1570 Replies: 25

Note: I'm an old time FWer since 2000. Created a new account to protect my privacy.

Here is my situation:

I recently received my license to practice law after working many years as an IT consultant. I currently work for a company that has nothing to do with the legal industry, and I enjoy my work and it pays well, so I don't planning on quitting. However I do want to establish a solo law practice on the side for extra income, and perhaps later devote fulltime to it once I get more business. My questions are mainly tax related since this is not my area of expertise.

1. Are there any tax benefits setting the business as an LLC from the get-go? Pros and cons?

2. I foresee for the first few years I will be in the negative with more expenses than income, especially after hiring a paralegal. Can I offset my income from the day job against the business expenses incurred by the practice under the LLC setting?

Thanks!

Personal Finance Deals

Angel lender

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:36:01 -0500

Rating: -8 Posted By: charlierin
Views: 1040 Replies: 9

Does anyone know how I can find an angel lender for a $180,000 first mortgage 2 year loan on a 9 lot residential subdivision in north central Connecticut to replace an expiring bank loan? 50% LTV.

General Economics Deals

Disputing something on credit later affect ability to get credit with said creditor

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:43:56 -0500

Rating: -3 Posted By: Silverthunder
Views: 765 Replies: 4

If I dispute an inquiry that Citizens bank has on my credit report, will Citizens bank hold that against me when I am later trying to apply for a credit card with them?

Citizens said that the credit inquiry would be a "soft" pull. Yet, it shows as a hard pull on my Equifax credit report.

Probably, readers of this wont know Citizens bank's policy specifically but what would be the policy on this in general?

Question Deals

Manheim auction/used car dealer license question

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:34:58 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: elbee
Views: 933 Replies: 7

Hi all,
I'm in the process of getting my wholesale used car dealer license in California and I've seen people discussing the Manheim auction here and I'm hoping I can find other dealers to get advice from. Like I said I'm in the process of getting my wholesale used car dealership license. I just took the 6 hour pre-licensing class yesterday. I had a question about buying a car at auction for my own personal use. The instructor of my class said that if I have a friend who has a retail license I would need to sell the car to them and then buy it back from them. That sounds great, but the problem is that I am just starting out and I don't have that relationship yet. I'm sure I will with time and experience, but I don't now. I really need a car as we are about to have a baby soon. I'm looking for something very specific and I could wait until one comes up on craigslist or autotrader, but I know it doesn't happen too often. I'm sure that Manheim will have a handful of them on any given auction day. I know that if I waited I could buy it from a private party for either the same price or even less than the auction (I've been to the auction before and I found the prices for popular cars in great condition to be NOT any cheaper than the private party cost). Since I am pressed for time and would like to get something fast, could I as a wholesale dealer buy a car at auction for my own personal use? If so, what is the procedure? We keep our cars on average 10 years, so this is something I would be doing once every 10 years (although in 10 years I'm sure I will know someone with a retail license, so really this is just something I would do once).

Personal Finance Deals

Tentative financial plan....have a few questions and need critiquing

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:37:55 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: seanbill1
Views: 1620 Replies: 27

Hi all:

I am new to the forum, although i have done some reading on here (still an obvious newb):

So my story is I have just graduated with my MBA and will be starting a job in july (salary 107k, 10-15% bonus). So, as a 26 year old, i htink its time i start actively planning my money and funds.

I guess I'll start with my monthly fixed expenses
Rent+utilities = about 1000 a month
Student loans (40k total)=around 500/month
Car insurance 65/month
Phone 110/month

So thats around 1700/month fixed expenses
I figure (due to paycheck calculators) getting around 3k per check (2 a month) for 6k a month. The way I'd like to do this is to keep it to spending one check for expenses (so add food/entertainment to the 1700, i dont see myself spending 1300 on that a month though hah).

So that leaves me with about 3k a month With this i have a few goals.

Create a 6 month emergency fund (fixed expenses x 6=10,200)
Max out my 401k (employer matches 4% of pay so I would have to come up with about 12k/ a year)
Invest whats left over in an index fund or mutual fund (any advice here? I was thinking index fund as i am pretty risk averse and would rather have a consistent 3-5% return type fund that i add to as much as i can...Was thinking about a vanguard fund)

NOTE: Bonuses will go for the most part into investing as well (should have 10-15k bonus this year and on)

Lastly youl want to kill me here, but I really want an audi a5 in 2 years or so......now any saving for this will come from that 1300/month i have for variable expenses (save the money left over for this indulgence of mine)

ANy thoughts, critiques? Thanks guys. Look forward to learning from you all

Personal Finance Deals

Angie's List: a Colossal Scam?

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:59:16 -0500

Rating: 138 Posted By: tolamapS
Views: 10758 Replies: 119

I hope this is the right forum for this type of a post.

I just want to post on my experience of using Angie's List, and what I have learned.

In summary, I believe that unlike what is advertized, Angie's List is not a Consumer Friendly Review Site. It operates a rather sophisticated marketing machinery, and primarily is a paid Yellow Pages type service, using internet and direct mail as marketing channels, while disguising itself as a consumer friendly website.

First, my experiences.

On three different occasions, in three different metropolitan areas (Minneapolis / St Paul, MN; Indianapolis, IN; and Northern NJ, NJ / NY), I signed up for Angie's List. In all three cases I was looking for local business reviews, and each case, a google search for a SPECIFIC business resulting in a link from Angie's List to be at the top, advertising (falsely, as I will find out) that Angie's List has reviews on THAT SPECIFIC local business. The businesses searched were: (a) gutter cleaner and mold cleaner in Minneapolis, for a really needed service, (b) kitchen contractor in Indianapolis, as a test, and (c) mortgage broker in Northern NJ, for really needed service.

In each of the three cases, based on Angie's List claim that they had reviews for a specific contractor, I signed up, paying for the 1-month fee ONLY, in order to have access to the full website. In all three cases, it turned out, that they did not have ANY reviews for the specific contractor, despite advertising so earlier. Bait and switch? You decide.

Having paid for the monthly service in the first two cases using a one-time credit card, I simply let the memberships expire (easy enough, right?). However, both during membership, and after membership, Angie's List relentlessly spammed my (already-spammed) e-mail account, sending tons of unsolicited ads from various businesses I had no interest in dealing with. In the first two cases (Minneapolis and Indianapolis), I had signed up for relatives (I myself live in NY / NJ). In the third case, I signed up with my own address.

In the third case, I had to make a phone call to cancel, as (a) the auto-renew option was forced on me, and (b) there was no easy way to cancel otherwise. I canceled within about 20 days of signing up. First of all, cancelation was not that easy. Second, they did not extend the courtesy of refunding the entire amount, but rather, only pro-rated for the remainder of the month, even though I explained to them that I got ZERO value from them. And third, after I told them that I firmly believed that they had done a bait-and-switch for the third time, they had nothing to say, kind of like it was not news to them at all.

About a month after canceling the third service, I received a paper brochure from Angies, "Angies List New York City and New Jersey Edition, May 2013", which is basically a collection of unsolicited advertising.

There are basically 2-3 completely USELESS "articles", and then after that, we have page, after page, after page of relentless advertising from local businesses I have ZERO interest in. You want some examples? Here we go:

- Laser Skin Rejuvenation from Dr Glenn K* of T* F*, NJ,
- Implants and Dentures from Dr. Edgar A*, DMD, of some town in Middlesex County, more than 50 miles away,
- tons of kitchen remodel advertisements (I have a brand new one),
- tons of painter advertisement (I don't need painting),
etc.

So my conclusion is as follows: Angie's List is a sort of a new age Yellow Pages / useless Entertainment Book type of service, but CHARGING consumers anywhere from single digit to double digit dollars per month, while claiming to be a consumer focused business review / referal system. I can't comment on the quality of actual reviews, but you are welcome to search the web with appropriate search terms, and reach your own conclusions.

I thought this would be useful for FWF community to know, given how much house maintenance / repair, mortgage broker discussion topics we have.

Discussion Deals

Calling all FW expatriates re:Living Abroad Expenses

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:14:01 -0500

Rating: 17 Posted By: superdrew
Views: 2013 Replies: 16

I've just returned from spending 8 months of travelling around the world (6 continents, 26 countries on mostly frequent flier miles and hotel points) and I'm working on adjusting back to live in the states. I'm back to work and starting the process of replenishing the travel fund and working on a new goal. I'm thinking that working for a couple years and then taking a stint abroad would be amazing. This time staying long or semi long term in one place vs hopping all over the place might be more attractive.

After reading GotRocks post in the Financial Considerations of Expatriating Early (For Fun and For Profit) thread:

In Cyprus I pay:
0.26 Euro/kw-hr (pretty high) but you don't use electricity to heat your water here - it's heated with a solar panel. My total electricity bill for 2012 was 525 Euros.
My water bill ruins me around 30 Euros for 3 months.
Gasoline is currently 1.36 Euros/liter
Bread is around 1.50 Euros a loaf (less if you buy village bread)
Milk is around 1.30 Euros for 1.5 liters
Sugar is 1 Euro/kilo; flour is 0.80Euro/kilo
Butter is 1.80 Euro/250g
Chicken breasts cost about 6 Euros a kilo
Eggs are 2.50 Euros a dozen
Pork is really cheap and abundant - varies by cut but pork chops will cost around 4 Euros/kilo
Anything imported will be expensive.
Cypriot wine is good and inexpensive. you can pay 5 Euros and get a bottle of good red wine.
Fruits and vegetables are very inexpensive and very fresh as almost everything is grown locally. I can go into a fruit and veg store and come out with 2 big bags of produce and pay only 8 Euros.
Medical insurance is around 1400 Euros/year for very good coverage for one person. You can buy minimal coverage for around 200 Euros/year. A visit to the doctor/dentist will cost you 35 Euros and medications are reasonable.
I own my house, but right now you can rent a 3-bedroom villa, furnished, with a pool for 500-600 Euros a month.

I spend about $24k a year to live here in Cyprus. That includes insuring and maintaining 2 cars and a motor scooter and 4 cats. I live quite comfortably in a 2-bedroom villa.

I'm curious about other fatwalleters living abroad and what their expenses are like. I realize that there are websites that list the information seperately, but I think many of them are trying to sell you something and therefore not as unbiased nor may they be frugal minded like many of us here.

So, if you are living abroad currently, post your expenses in a similar manner to Gotrocks. I think we could all learn from this.

Discussion Deals

Newbie here - BOA Bill Pay questions

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:04:04 -0500

Rating: 0 Posted By: quizzer25
Views: 856 Replies: 3

I have never done Bill Pay before. I want to start paying my apartment rent through Bill pay as this is my only payment I have never done online (always check till now).

1.Will BOA send a physical check or is it electronic?
2.If I choose 6/1 as the date of payment, will my APT office receive the payment on this date? Will my checking account also be debited on this day?
3.6/1 is a Saturday - is it a biz day for bank?
4.Any other things to be considered for rent payment using bill pay?

I will appreciate if fellow FW'ers respond to the above questions on BOA bill pay.

Personal Finance Deals

Deleted - double post

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:57:13 -0500

Rating: 1 Posted By: quizzer25
Views: 495 Replies: 0

Deleted - double post

Personal Finance Deals

Help .Fidelity shut down ????

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:39:51 -0500

Rating: -16 Posted By: fenygirl
Views: 2828 Replies: 84

First ,Excuse my bad English .I'm an immigrants .

Here is my story :
I had boa card since 2011.i opened Fidelity last month,Yesterday i asked to move some of credit form my BOA to Fidelity account ,however that still cost me a HP ,after the hard pull the rep said my BOA card is a student card they are unable to trans the limit to Fidelity card ,WTF ,It cost me a HP/I was mad .I want speak to the manager.but said have to call me on Monday ,fine .after i hang up .I applied Chase ink ,decline ,AMEX SPG Pending and i called to canceled ,USAA　instance approved 7K .late the night ,I check my Fidelity account has been closed !! No way ,call the number back of my card ask been to call back on Monday speak a Credit AXXXX ,however it justtemporary hold ,not shutdown ,I wonder what could happen ? I don't find any case said Fidelity don't like people opened new account ,they are not sensitive as Barclaycard .so what could i happen ?
Thanks

First off ,As you know ,I don't speak English well
As my other post ,Last week i ask move some of my credit limite for BOA to Fiedlity ,It not only didn't approved .It's get my account be hold not able to use anyone .I just call and speak to a credit Anlysiet this monring ,They told me i have too many credit inquired on my account ,they have to shut down my both Fiedlity and my oldest credit card ------------------BOA credit card ,what can i do ....sounds no thing i can do .I'm very upset about that......It's going to hurt my credit report?
update :

Credit Deals