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Sprout

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Sprout » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:51 pm

kalvano wrote:Does anyone here use TD Ameritrade? Thinking about switching to them.
I just opened an account there... I'm the wrong person to talk to though re: finances

eta: what are you opening it for? it's (apparently) really great for long term investing but shitty for checking/everyday use. (overheard in the office - not sure if this is tcr)

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by kalvano » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:22 pm

Sprout wrote:
kalvano wrote:Does anyone here use TD Ameritrade? Thinking about switching to them.
I just opened an account there... I'm the wrong person to talk to though re: finances

eta: what are you opening it for? it's (apparently) really great for long term investing but shitty for checking/everyday use. (overheard in the office - not sure if this is tcr)
Investment accounts - looking for a new place to have my brokerage account / IRAs. I need a place that allows me to aggregate all my accounts, see a total portfolio overview, compare funds, etc. It looks like TD Ameritrade uses a lot of Morningstar tools, so that's helpful. I was looking at Fidelity, but it doesn't look like they offer a tool to compare two funds and see any overlap in holdings, which is silly.

Although it looks like TD Ameritrade requires a separate log-in and password for each individual account, which is even sillier. Is that true?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Jmlstern » Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:53 pm

kalvano wrote:
Sprout wrote:
kalvano wrote:Does anyone here use TD Ameritrade? Thinking about switching to them.
I just opened an account there... I'm the wrong person to talk to though re: finances

eta: what are you opening it for? it's (apparently) really great for long term investing but shitty for checking/everyday use. (overheard in the office - not sure if this is tcr)
Investment accounts - looking for a new place to have my brokerage account / IRAs. I need a place that allows me to aggregate all my accounts, see a total portfolio overview, compare funds, etc. It looks like TD Ameritrade uses a lot of Morningstar tools, so that's helpful. I was looking at Fidelity, but it doesn't look like they offer a tool to compare two funds and see any overlap in holdings, which is silly.

Although it looks like TD Ameritrade requires a separate log-in and password for each individual account, which is even sillier. Is that true?
I use Schwab.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:16 pm

I am in a conundrum. I have 15k in savings that I need for next summer when I quit my job. However, I have two CC's (not my only ones) totaling 5k that I want to pay off asap so I can redirect my income to my other debt. Should I use the savings I have and just pay them off or keep the cash?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by unlicensedpotato » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:30 pm

kalvano wrote:
Investment accounts - looking for a new place to have my brokerage account / IRAs. I need a place that allows me to aggregate all my accounts, see a total portfolio overview, compare funds, etc. It looks like TD Ameritrade uses a lot of Morningstar tools, so that's helpful. I was looking at Fidelity, but it doesn't look like they offer a tool to compare two funds and see any overlap in holdings, which is silly.

Although it looks like TD Ameritrade requires a separate log-in and password for each individual account, which is even sillier. Is that true?
Yes, but you can link them so you only log in to the "master" account. I think it works well and has no commission on a lot of Vanguard ETFs (but not VOO). I haven't looked into like Robinhood or other no fee apps though. I don't use any of the tools so can't speak to those, just buy my allocated amount for each ETF. It is owned by the RIcketts family for whatever that's worth.

Depending on your income level, I like CapitalOne for my Roth IRAs because you can buy partial shares using sharebuilder so money doesn't get "trapped" in cash in the IRA.

It sounds like Personal Capital might be helpful for some of the items in your first paragraph.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Danger Zone » Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:59 pm

Anonymous User wrote:I am in a conundrum. I have 15k in savings that I need for next summer when I quit my job. However, I have two CC's (not my only ones) totaling 5k that I want to pay off asap so I can redirect my income to my other debt. Should I use the savings I have and just pay them off or keep the cash?
Transfer it to a 0% card or pay it off. CC debt is the worst
Last edited by Danger Zone on Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by kalvano » Fri Sep 15, 2017 1:54 pm

unlicensedpotato wrote:
kalvano wrote:
Investment accounts - looking for a new place to have my brokerage account / IRAs. I need a place that allows me to aggregate all my accounts, see a total portfolio overview, compare funds, etc. It looks like TD Ameritrade uses a lot of Morningstar tools, so that's helpful. I was looking at Fidelity, but it doesn't look like they offer a tool to compare two funds and see any overlap in holdings, which is silly.

Although it looks like TD Ameritrade requires a separate log-in and password for each individual account, which is even sillier. Is that true?
Yes, but you can link them so you only log in to the "master" account. I think it works well and has no commission on a lot of Vanguard ETFs (but not VOO). I haven't looked into like Robinhood or other no fee apps though. I don't use any of the tools so can't speak to those, just buy my allocated amount for each ETF. It is owned by the RIcketts family for whatever that's worth.

Depending on your income level, I like CapitalOne for my Roth IRAs because you can buy partial shares using sharebuilder so money doesn't get "trapped" in cash in the IRA.

It sounds like Personal Capital might be helpful for some of the items in your first paragraph.
I use Personal Capital, but it doesn't offer a detailed analysis of holdings and overlap and gain/loss, etc. I'm not really worried about partial shares. I think I'm going with Fidelity - I can buy a lot of funds at no trade fee, and for any that do charge a fee, it's only on the buy side, not the sell side. I also think I can just set up a new account (say for my kids) without actually setting up a new Fidelity login and password. They also offer a "household" statement that pulls in all your accounts and treats them as one.

Plus I'll get like eleventy-billion free trades for a few years.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by foundingfather » Sun Sep 24, 2017 12:01 pm

kalvano wrote:
Sprout wrote:
kalvano wrote:Does anyone here use TD Ameritrade? Thinking about switching to them.
I just opened an account there... I'm the wrong person to talk to though re: finances

eta: what are you opening it for? it's (apparently) really great for long term investing but shitty for checking/everyday use. (overheard in the office - not sure if this is tcr)
Investment accounts - looking for a new place to have my brokerage account / IRAs. I need a place that allows me to aggregate all my accounts, see a total portfolio overview, compare funds, etc. It looks like TD Ameritrade uses a lot of Morningstar tools, so that's helpful. I was looking at Fidelity, but it doesn't look like they offer a tool to compare two funds and see any overlap in holdings, which is silly.

Although it looks like TD Ameritrade requires a separate log-in and password for each individual account, which is even sillier. Is that true?
Vanguard

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by kalvano » Mon Sep 25, 2017 12:00 am

foundingfather wrote:
kalvano wrote:
Sprout wrote:
kalvano wrote:Does anyone here use TD Ameritrade? Thinking about switching to them.
I just opened an account there... I'm the wrong person to talk to though re: finances

eta: what are you opening it for? it's (apparently) really great for long term investing but shitty for checking/everyday use. (overheard in the office - not sure if this is tcr)
Investment accounts - looking for a new place to have my brokerage account / IRAs. I need a place that allows me to aggregate all my accounts, see a total portfolio overview, compare funds, etc. It looks like TD Ameritrade uses a lot of Morningstar tools, so that's helpful. I was looking at Fidelity, but it doesn't look like they offer a tool to compare two funds and see any overlap in holdings, which is silly.

Although it looks like TD Ameritrade requires a separate log-in and password for each individual account, which is even sillier. Is that true?
Vanguard
Shit customer service, virtually no reaserach tools, expensive trades - no thanks. Their funds and ETFs are great, but their investment options are limited and bad. They’re a great place to buy from, but not invest with.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Oct 01, 2017 3:28 pm

Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by WheatThins » Sun Oct 01, 2017 3:32 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?
I don't know about your stripper strategy, but generally you want to pay off credit card debt as soon as possible. Paying 18% interest on 60k debt is going to be really painful if you just make the minimum payments. Good luck with getting through this, whatever you decide.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Oct 01, 2017 3:43 pm

WheatThins wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?
I don't know about your stripper strategy, but generally you want to pay off credit card debt as soon as possible. Paying 18% interest on 60k debt is going to be really painful if you just make the minimum payments. Good luck with getting through this, whatever you decide.
The point was paying minimum payments PLUS all income we make off renting our house which should be around 1.5k per month. Is this a feasible strategy or not?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Oct 01, 2017 3:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
WheatThins wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?
I don't know about your stripper strategy, but generally you want to pay off credit card debt as soon as possible. Paying 18% interest on 60k debt is going to be really painful if you just make the minimum payments. Good luck with getting through this, whatever you decide.
The point was paying minimum payments PLUS all income we make off renting our house which should be around 1.5k per month PLUS minimum payments. Is this a feasible strategy or not?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by toast and bananas » Mon Oct 02, 2017 3:08 pm

Does anyone have experience with BBVA Compass' professional mortgage or any other lender's professional mortgage program?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 02, 2017 3:18 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
WheatThins wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?
I don't know about your stripper strategy, but generally you want to pay off credit card debt as soon as possible. Paying 18% interest on 60k debt is going to be really painful if you just make the minimum payments. Good luck with getting through this, whatever you decide.
The point was paying minimum payments PLUS all income we make off renting our house which should be around 1.5k per month PLUS minimum payments. Is this a feasible strategy or not?
I would consider trying to transfer the balance to a credit card that offers 1-year interest free transfers (Alliant Credit Union has a Visa that is one option; not sure if you would qualify) and then continue trying to transfer the balance each year as needed. Instead of, or in conjunction with this, I would take out a home equity line of credit or loan, which will still require you to pay interest but would be signif. less than whatever you'd pay on the credit card itself.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Danger Zone » Mon Oct 02, 2017 4:25 pm

That's not normal btw anon. You've got a very serious relationship issue on your hands if your wife thinks she can pull that kinda shit without your knowledge or consent. Are you certain the underlying issue is resolved?
Last edited by Danger Zone on Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:41 pm

Danger Zone wrote:That's not normal btw anon. You've got a very serious relationship issue on your hands if your wife thinks she can pull that kinda shit without your knowledge or consent. Are you certain the underlying issue is resolved?
Trust me I was furious. Still am but she is very adamant about apologizing for her mistake so I am trying to give her another chance and not throw 9 years down the toilet as this is the first major screw up she has made. The debt is all in her name so pretty much I'm telling her to either file for bankruptcy or we can begin negotiating a settlement with the credit card companies but there is absolutely no way I'm going to break my back for God knows how long just to make minimum payments especially if my credit score is not going to be effected. Our house is titled in both our names as tenants by the entirety so her creditors can't touch it. My credit score is mid 700s so my thinking is if one of us has a solid score we will be ok.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by kalvano » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:39 pm

toast and bananas wrote:Does anyone have experience with BBVA Compass' professional mortgage or any other lender's professional mortgage program?
Sort of. I think SoFi has one too. What information are you looking for?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by bk1 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:18 am

kalvano wrote:
toast and bananas wrote:Does anyone have experience with BBVA Compass' professional mortgage or any other lender's professional mortgage program?
Sort of. I think SoFi has one too. What information are you looking for?
Are these even worth it for most people versus just saving for a few more years to go with an 80/10/10 or 80/20?

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by kalvano » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:49 am

bk1 wrote:
kalvano wrote:
toast and bananas wrote:Does anyone have experience with BBVA Compass' professional mortgage or any other lender's professional mortgage program?
Sort of. I think SoFi has one too. What information are you looking for?
Are these even worth it for most people versus just saving for a few more years to go with an 80/10/10 or 80/20?
I think it depends on your overall financial picture. I think the biggest draw is that they don't overweight your student loans - they are a factor, but you can still get a loan at a decent rate with high loans and less than 20% down.

If you make $200,000+ and have $50,000 in loans, they probably aren't worth it. If you make $200,000+ and have $350,000 in loans, it's probably worth talking to them.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by AVBucks4239 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:28 am

Anonymous User wrote:Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?
Your credit card is what's called a "hair on fire" emergency. Screw the IRA and blah blah blah, you need to (a) get a little more into your savings account (three months expenses) and then (b) pay off that credit card debt with all hands on deck.

As others have suggested, look into transferring to a 0% credit card. That interest is slaughtering you.

I'd start working second jobs (Uber probably) and put every cent from that towards the credit card. I'd strongly consider it a dealbreaker with my wife if she racked up that much debt behind my back and then wouldn't work a second job to fix it.

Once you get that credit card paid off, you can take the money you've put towards that and you'll be shocked how quickly you can save money for more worthwhile goals (vacation, house down payment, retirement, etc.).

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:07 pm

AVBucks4239 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Hi. I can really use some advice on an issue I've been struggling with. So I am married. My wife and I are considered "young professionals" I'm a first yr associate at a small firm and she is a school teacher. Our combined household income is about $100k per yr. We make solid money and get paid weekely. We currently have about $3k in our savings to date and want to start an IRA soon. Hopefully by January. We both have over $100k in student loan debt but she is on IBR/PSLF and I'm on PAYE. Here's the kicker..... She racked up about $60k in credit card debt for reasons I don't want to get into and hid it from me (all debt is in her name only as we only share a joint checking and savings acct). Just know the thought of divorce has crossed my mind multiple times.... We hope to pay it off in about 4-5 years by making minimum payments monthly and all income derived from renting out our house that we currently own. We have no kids at the moment so downsizing isn't a big deal. My question is.... Is this a feasible strategy to pay this credit card debt off in that timeframe? She disclosed everything to me about 3 months ago but it still hurts. I can't still fucking believe she would spend that much money on something so fucking stupid. Sometimes I just want to fuck a stripper and leave her. I feel very angry/betrayed/boxed in by the whole thing. How can I deal with this and how feasible is our strategy to pay it off?
Your credit card is what's called a "hair on fire" emergency. Screw the IRA and blah blah blah, you need to (a) get a little more into your savings account (three months expenses) and then (b) pay off that credit card debt with all hands on deck.

As others have suggested, look into transferring to a 0% credit card. That interest is slaughtering you.

I'd start working second jobs (Uber probably) and put every cent from that towards the credit card. I'd strongly consider it a dealbreaker with my wife if she racked up that much debt behind my back and then wouldn't work a second job to fix it.

Once you get that credit card paid off, you can take the money you've put towards that and you'll be shocked how quickly you can save money for more worthwhile goals (vacation, house down payment, retirement, etc.).
She's open to just filing for bankruptcy so we're going to speak with a lawyer buddy of mine in a few days to see what happens there. She has no choice at this point than to face a really bad credit score whether by bankruptcy or we settle with the credit card companies. My credit score won't be affected she's going to have to live with the consequences of her actions and just eat it. I don't want to have to pay this back. Student loans are coming due next month

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Danger Zone » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:41 pm

Okay so how did she blow that much money? Only if you're comfortable sharing obviously.
Last edited by Danger Zone on Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by AVBucks4239 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:40 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Once you get that credit card paid off, you can take the money you've put towards that and you'll be shocked how quickly you can save money for more worthwhile goals (vacation, house down payment, retirement, etc.).
She's open to just filing for bankruptcy so we're going to speak with a lawyer buddy of mine in a few days to see what happens there. She has no choice at this point than to face a really bad credit score whether by bankruptcy or we settle with the credit card companies. My credit score won't be affected she's going to have to live with the consequences of her actions and just eat it. I don't want to have to pay this back. Student loans are coming due next month
I don't know enough about bankruptcy to give you advice as to whether to file or not, but this seems short-sighted and a good way to make your financial life pretty damn difficult for the next 7-10 years rather than just sucking it up for 2-3 years and dealing with this.

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Re: Personal Finance 101 for Young Lawyers

Post by Danger Zone » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:43 pm

AV it'd be her score, not his
Last edited by Danger Zone on Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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