Thank you so much for this explanation!!

I had a dealer try to pull this on me at one point. They were sitting on a last model year car. They listed it for $8k off, so it was $29k.

I went in and drove it. They started trying to convince me to take a bath on my trade. They wanted me to eat $3k.

So they bring me the paperwork to show me the total cost of the car. They wanted me to pay $42k.

Now $29+3 is $32. Tax is around $1800, so even rounding up it should have been $34k.

I asked to see the contract and didn’t make it past the second line before I saw they were tacking on shit.

I started arguing with them about it pointing out shit they were trying to force me to buy and the sales manager ripped the contract out of my hands and went “well it sounds like we’re too far apart on this.”

Haven’t patronized that dealership since.

appreciate it!

Was the itemized list of costs from your actual sales contract that you signed, or was that from something unofficial that they gave you as part of the buying process? Because they can only hold you to what you signed, so hopefully you have the original sales contract. If your itemized numbers are correct, your remaining balance should be 41k, not 51k! That's a huge discrepancy. It's definitely not normal, and there aren't a lot of add-ons that could cause that, so if they're trying to tell you that's the bill, they either didn't give you the price they said they would, or they've sold you a more luxury model of the same car (or at least charged you for that).

By the way, since you're new to the USA, it's worth knowing that here we use commas (,) to separate thousands, and dots (.) to separate decimal values or cents. So your price would hopefully be 49,000 :).

Lol! I said the same thing when ETH was at 1200 in 2017. It’ll be back. I can only promise you that. I would move to the CD to offset risk assets such as crypto or stocks in that matter. Times are unsure right now, I’m thinking more turmoil is in store. But what do I know.

Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

For many people there is no next level. You just do more of what you’re already doing.

Sending the contract does not lock you into the the rate. You have to give them permission to lock. You will also need to sign disclosures saying you want to move forward with them as your lender. Even if you do all of this you are under no obligation to get the loan thru them as all you would need to do is send an email saying you have decided to use a different lender.

Reality is, all lenders are going to have about the same rate and fees. If someone was that much better then everyone would used them.

Your best bet is to find a broker and go with them. Brokers typically have a little bit better pricing than mortgages companies (such as Rocket), credit unions and larger banks.

Not a lot of income/budget info, so:

The increase in your escrow is an interest free loan. If I were in your shoes I would avoid stretching it out longer with a loan which would add interest.

In short, I'd look to cashflow it as much as I could with current savings and within my current budget.

The overall shift in mortgage payment from 1100 to 1650 (after you cashflow the shortage) is the longer term question.

If you don't budget, I'd start. It will answer a lot of questions about options down the road.

Beyond other comments, are you sure the $51K is not the value of principal + estimated interest over the life of the loan? Is the $51K actually, only the principal?

>I want all of those things and they sound so exciting to me, but financially, they seem near impossible to do - especially back to back. How do people navigate so many major financial milestones at once?

We managed by spreading these milestones out over time. We got married in our late 20s, had a kid in our early/mid 30s, bought a house in our late 30s. It gave us time to adjust our lives and our budgets to the new normal before we stepped into the next phase.

So I guess my advice is to do one thing at a time.

oh trust me, I still hate myself for not pulling ETH out at 5k. I’m honestly not sure how long it’ll take (if ever) for it to reach even near that point again. I guess it was a learning mistake, definitely won’t make it again.

I’m thinking about taking the $700 out of Acorns and putting it into my CD. It’s a much higher rate of return I think (at least for the next 12 months)

Are you sure that's the principal amount and not a total cost of financing? Those would be different things.

There has to be more to it than that.

You should have received a bunch of paperwork with the car. One of the items is a large sheet, normally physically larger than the rest with a full breakdown of all pricing.

It will show the car cost, Any add ons, taxes, and down payment as well as amount financed.

I agree but it sounds like they already have a budget category for that, and have a hard time deciding to use it.

I've been with the company for four years but I never paid much attention to my retirement account. I just went on today to see my balance and noticed this. The wording is so confusing.

look at your contract that you signed. all of this should be in your contract. if its in there and you signed it, then you're out of luck.

if it's not, then yeah you've got a problem.

> I paid significant State and Federal (USA) Supplemental Income Tax based on the Fair Market Value (FMV) at the time.

Are you talking about alternative minimum tax?

Because otherwise, there are no taxes on exercising of ISOs, only on sale is tax applied.

Assuming you are talking about alternative minimum tax, you gain a credit for the excess taxes paid in every year you are not subject to AMT.

Since it’s now been 2 years since exercise, you are free to sell whenever, and you’ll eventually recoup the AMT (unless you are always subject to AMT, in which case you are still free to sell whenever and the AMT tax rates are just what you pay).

Have you looked into a local credit union? Also here is a good link for more options: https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/best-lenders/best-mortgage-lenders/

Not a problem I ever had but maybe create a monthly budget item for Miscellaneous Pleasures (how is that for a title), 😄. Could do the same for Annual Vacations. Then, maybe it will feel less like you are “breaking your discipline” as you are just spending what you’ve allotted. Just a stupid thought to share.

My interpretation of that is your company puts in 5 percent no matter what, but will match up to an additional 3 percent if you contribute that percent. The wording isn't clear though. You might be better off asking HR.

You lost. You didn't pay the debt when you had the chance, and now owe it plus fees and interest. Best to speak to the collector and arrange a payment schedule. And stick to it.

They can also garnish your wages.

What does your bill of sale/sales contract list?

Sounds like you paid for a bunch of add ons unknowingly. Whether or not that's on you or if the dealer was shady is tbd

No, it means they will contribute 5% regardless of what you do, and they will add another 3% to match.

You put in 0%? get 5%

You put in 3%, get 8%

You put in 1%, get 6%.

The normal terminology for the 5% they are putting in is "safe harbor".

You may find our Taxes wiki helpful.

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