You can believe what you want but it’s wrong. There are uninsured vehicles and drivers all over the place driving around and there is no requirement that insurance companies are required to force coverage on those vehicles.

The DMV receives insurance information from insurers. Insurers are also regulated by the state DOI. Don’t take it from me though, do your own research.

At $143k of income with two kids you’d expect to owe about $$13k in taxes. You paid about $10k in taxes. It all looks correct.

How did you and wife fill out your w4?

I can claim 2 children. My 3 year old and my 1 month old son (born on 12/31/22).

I just looked at that. Last year they withheld $11,500 in federal taxes.

This year only $5,988 was withheld and I don't know why!

So you should have one child to claim on your taxes for the credit correct? That being said you did under withhold by that $3K amount according to what we know right now

Looks like you both selected married filling jointly on your w4 and failed to complete step 2

Numbers check out as such.

I made way less than you and my employer withheld $8k in taxes last year for federal income tax.

I would compare this year's taxes with your taxes from last year to figure out the difference if you made the same the past two years.

I put $300 on a transit card two years ago from a commuter account. I use the train all the time and I still have $100 left on the card. I figure anything you would use anyway, you might as well do tax free if possible. That last $90-ish in train rides is essentially free.

Thank you, sir.

It's possible they could, yes. That's another reason why all of the "just file with your insurance" comments are absolutely horrible advice. There is no reason at all to file with your insurance at this time. Let the at fault party's insurance finish their investigation and go from there.

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Insurance companies are required to provide an up to date listing with local enforcement and have a real time validation. You both misunderstand what the “card” is and what it represents.

You still refuse to understand that an underwriter is required to insure a vehicle for at fault claims. That’s the deal for being allowed to exist within that regulated environment. Leaving a third party without a means of payment for a vehicle you insured is a violation of that regulation. If you have a stipulation between yourself and the insured, go after them for that stipulation afterwards. At no time should an insured vehicle on the road leave an aggrieved third party without means to be made whole.

I would normally recommend getting out of debt asap, putting savings (besides 401k) on hold but now you’re expecting a significant risky life change. Pregnancy and childbirth are very common but are also very dangerous when compared to not being pregnant and delivering a baby. So, save save save.

Someone else mentioned this but do NOT buy ALL the baby things. Cannot stress that enough. Plain onesies, diapers, receiving blankets. They don’t even need a crib or changing table if you don’t get one as a gift or hand me down from a trusted source.

You could quite possibly end up on bed rest with longer unpaid maternity (you don’t have paid leave, so you?) leave than you expected - or other circumstances much more significant financial impact, we don’t need to get into details. Stack up your cash. Everything will quite likely go very smoothly, boringly smooth is what we hope for, and worse case scenario you have a bunch of cash to throw at the debt.

Good luck and congrats!

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Would this be more advantageous to have the money sitting in cash management to get interest versus the brokerage account?

Yeah, you’re probably right.

You could not be more inaccurate in your assessment.

Every policy is a contract between the insured and the insurer. In that policy contract the insurer outlines the terms of the coverages and any exclusions. These policies are reviewed and approved by each state in order for the insurer to use the policies.

Let me use an example for you. A person purchases insurance and pays the first monthly installment of their 6 month policy. The insurance company then mails the insured their proof of insurance for the 6 month policy period and declarations page. Coverage is contingent on the insured continuing to pay their monthly premiums. Let’s say the customer doesn’t pay after the first month and their policy cancels due to non payment. Should the insurance company be on the hook for the remainder of the original policy? The answer is no, the policy cancels due to non payment and there won’t be any coverage after the cancellation date despite what the proof of insurance says.

I recommend pinning down exactly what your medical expenses are likely to be. It's been a minute since I had a baby, but I remember being blindsided by the fact that I had to pay 2 copays for the hospital admission. Find out now exactly what counts toward any deductible, your individual and family out of pocket maximums etc.

Read the side bar, specifically the prime directive

The step after meeting the bare minimum for your employer march is to then pay down high interest debt

There’s no point putting in money for 8-10% returns when you have CC debt charging you 20% interest

No it’s not I just read that it was the standard. I guess I could pull back on that a little for now

How does your employer matching work? Is it required you put in 8% for that 3% match?

This might be terrible advice but stop paying your credit cards if you can’t afford to live

See this is why I'm so lost. I appreciate your patience very much ;_; thank you

1. Do not borrow from your 401k - that money will grow better in the 401k and, if you don't repay it, you get a nice tax hit. Just don't do it unless you're going to die if you don't.

If you don't have to pay state income tax, you should be bringing home a little over $4,300 per month. I see about $2,300 in bills, leaving you with about $2,000 free. Don't spend anything extra and you can pay it off in 3 months. It's not gonna be fun, but you'll be done.

> Should I even be looking into an IRA if I don't have a retirement fund?

An IRA is a retirement fund