Why is number 2 part of your savings rate calculation?

None of that sinking fund should be involved in savings rate at all, it’s all an expense, none of it is income or savings.

One method of doing it is:

At the time the expense occurs, you have an expense of $y from the vacation, and a reimbursement of $y (a negative expense) from the sinking fund.

When you add $x to the sinking fund, you have an expense of $x.

There are other ways as well, but that’s my preference.

What state are you in? Some states convey a limited capacity to contract to minors for the purpose of opening bank accounts

My last card had a pass phrase like that. This one legit asked for my password which came as a surprise.

get him hooked on finances and saving and the security you feel from a financial saftey net and itll all work out. this tax thing is interesting thats square one then get him a real bank account. there is a financial flowchart in the wiki somewhere he should conquer step by step.

I'm not a financial advisor, I just give out random advice on r/pf and help people with taxes, but my small pea-brain says you should use disability insurance for disability insurance, use life insurance for life insurance, and use retirement accounts for retirement. Using the financial vehicle designed to replace wages in case a car breaks your hip as the same one to give you tax advantages to allow you to retire just doesn't seem sensible.

What's most likely is your mom's financial advisor is making a commission on these products they're trying to sell.

>Now my major question is because the 403b match is trash and the vesting is 3 years should I even put money into the 403b?

Yup, because a trash match is still free money. And if/when you leave, you can just roll over your money into an IRA. Even if you get no vesting, we're still talking about retirement money which means no capital gains, no taxes on dividends, and the option to defer income taxes.

You are not factoring in that OP may have a spouse with income as well. That makes maxing retirement accounts much easier where it is a dual income home.

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Sinking funds aren’t savings. They’re delayed spending. Is that your issue?

If you save $500 a month for a year then spend $6k on vacation, you’d just record the $500 per month as the expense. The actual incurred expenses and the transfer out of the sinking fund to pay off your credit card would be transfers and ignored in your budget

Timely filing laws mean most offices have a year from the date of service to bill insurance and receive payment. (VA hospitals have longer) That’s why the provider is dicking you around and lying about having sent it.

Your insurance company also won’t do anything (editing, I meant won’t pay them) because legally the office can’t collect a debt over a year old.

But you do have insurance and if that provider accepts your insurance, they are legally obligated to bill them before billing you. They’re contracted into a set rate by the insurance company.

I would call your insurance company and ask the rep to stay on the line and conference in the provider to discuss this. I’ve had to do it before and the insurance reps are usually good at getting to the bottom of it.

All the best!

Yea, I tried that once or twice (with real numbers) figuring it might but nothing yet.

No it is 17%. Thinking about it in thousands, assuming 100k salary, let's assume he went for the max percentage that's match eligible, so 12%. So that's $12k. So for the first 5k (ie, 5%) they match it at 200%, meaning they put in double that, so 10k. So already his total is at 15k (5 him + 10 them).

Now for the rest, 12k - 5k = 7k. So that 7k (which is the 6-12% range), they match 100%, so 7k.

So in total, we have 12k from him, and 17k (10+7) from them. Or, 12% and 17%. So yeah, 17% is the maximum match he can get.

An IRA is a type of account. Think of it as a box or wrapper, inside which you can own different investments. An IRA provides special tax benefits to investments owned within it, but there can also be tax penalties when money is withdrawn from the IRA "early".

You said that you own variable annuities within your IRAs. Variable annuities are hybrid insurance/investment products which sometimes have fees when you cash out (or "surrender") them early.

So there are two steps to getting cash from your IRAs, both of which will incur taxes or fees:

1. Surrender the variable annuities owned within your IRAs. You may pay surrender fees to do so. After surrendering the annuities, you will be left with cash (dollars) inside of the IRAs.
2. Withdraw those dollars from the IRAs. This will incur income taxes and possibly an "early withdrawal penalty" as well.

If these steps can executed separately, then your best strategy is to surrender one or both of the annuities, but then only withdraw cash from the IRAs as you need it. This will minimize the taxes you pay for removing your money from your IRAs.

As others have mentioned, you are allowed to withdraw your Roth IRA contributions without incurring taxes or penalties. Assuming you need to take money from these accounts, the best order may be:

1. Surrender annuity in Roth IRA, withdraw up to the dollar amount which you have contributed to this Roth IRA (actually any/all Roth IRAs) in the past.
2. Surrender the annuity in the Traditional IRA, then continue withdrawing as needed from the Traditional IRA.
3. Only withdraw "earnings" from your Roth IRA if/when you have completely removed the money in your Traditional IRA.

Can I assume that your IRA is not held at one of our preferred brokerages (Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard)? If not, I'd suggest moving whatever IRA funds you don't withdraw to IRAs at one of those providers, and then invest in low-cost index funds in the future: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/iras/

Good luck!

I was in a position to do this in 2022, my thoughts on your bullet points…

>If I get laid off, I'd miss out on any potential matching from a new employer

Unless you're in a volatile industry/company or in an industry where 50% - 100% no-limit maxing is common, 1) what's the likelihood and 2) how much money are we really talking about?

>I get to have a 'full' paycheck the rest of the year

But don't get too used to it, because it will go back to a less-than-full paycheck next year. (Unless the bonus is a fairly certain thing and you'll use it to max each year.)

>Unsure if there are any tax implications from maxing via bonus when bonuses usually are withheld at the maximum amount?

Nope. Bonuses aren't withheld at the maximum amount, they're withheld at the supplemental amount. 40% suggests you might be in CA so anything not sent to the 401k will still be withheld at the 22% and 10.23% supplemental rates for fed and state.

>Technically, money is in the market longer

Negligible over the decades-long time horizon, but fun to say "I've maxed out my retirement accounts" early in the year.

>Are there any other obvious pros/cons that I'm missing?

Not really. If you're definitely, absolutely, no doubt about it going to max your 401k for the year then there's almost no con to doing it early and in a lump sum. If you're stretching yourself to max it, it's probably safer to spread it out in the event things go sideways.

>When I pressed about the previous visit, they said they submitted it over 7 months late.

Then they should be SOL. Call your insurance company again and reiterate that an in-network provider (if that's what they are) is trying to collect from you after they failed to file a timely claim despite having your information. That should get them to bring the hammer down and settle this on your behalf.

If not, contact your state health insurance regulator.

Are you already vested for the pension? That’s the first thing that came to mind.

Do you have a parent who can help you set up an account?

Most banks have student accounts or similar, but many will require a guardian for you to open one (or it makes it significantly easier)

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/teachme#wiki_banking

Go to a local bank or credit union near where you live (a credit union is basically just a customer-owned nonprofit version of a bank). Many of them offer free accounts for students. You will probably need to have a parent or guardian as a joint owner of the account since you are still a minor. Once you turn 18 you can go back and open your own individual account, transfer the money over, and close the joint one.

Don't forget you may also owe taxes on the money you earn, depending on the total amount.

I know it's wild I was shocked too. And when we first got together he was basically spending it as fast as it came in. But we got that under control. But he has no debit card or credit card. He has a Venmo account and a debit card linked to that but that's it. I just found out he keeps the money hidden all over his house. Funny enough for a stretch of years he was in and out of jail in his early 20s so we don't have to worry about taxes there. Also from what I gather he doesn't even know if he has a credit score. The place he rents now he pays his landlord cash for. We definitely need to sort this out before I legally tie myself to him in any way. I've spent too long build my finances up. I love him but no one ever taught him any of this and he's very lost.

I'm always wary of counter offers. If I liked my job then I wouldn't have been looking, but now since I've given a notice, even if I accept the counter and stay around, they know I was looking. Next time cuts come around, I know who's on top of that list. And the other offer may not be there when I need it.

I'd totally take the salary... you'd start lower on the totem pole, but there's no place to go but up.

The 401K match is reason enough to switch in my book. The COLA is also a fantastic perk. All signs point to you leaving.

If the market goes up, doing it all right away is better.

If the market goes down, slowly throughout the year is better.

It's anybody's guess for what happens next year, the choice is yours.

Play now, pay later.

Pay now, play later.

Your choice.

How do the HSA custodian or anyone validate this? Especially if the clam comes decades later or the HSA funds have long been transferred to other custodians that was never connected to your health insurance?

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You may find these links helpful:

• General Information on Rollovers
• 401(k) Fund Selection Guide
• Retirement Accounts
• "How to handle $"

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