r/personalfinance 6d ago

Other New to /r/personalfinance? Have questions? Read this first!

4 Upvotes

Welcome! Before making a post, please check out some of the great resources that we've provided to answer your questions:

We have a simple guide answering most questions about what to do with money and how to prioritize your finances: Click here: How to handle $.

We have a wiki covering dozens of topics: credit, debt, retirement, investing, and more: Click Here: Personal Finance Wiki.

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Also be sure to check out our regular series:

Weekday Help and Victory

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When posting here, please treat others with respect, stay on-topic, and avoid self-promotion.


r/personalfinance 2d ago

Other Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of July 20, 2026

4 Upvotes

If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.

This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:

  1. Please make a top-level comment if you want to ask a question! Also, please don't downvote "moronic" questions! If you have not received your answer within 24 hours, please feel free to start a discussion.

  2. Make a top-level comment if you want to share something positive regarding your personal finances!

A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions!


r/personalfinance 5h ago

Other Parent owes me Thousands of dollars

373 Upvotes

Hi, I'll make this post as short as possible.

I gave a loan to one parent a few years ago, about $20,000 with them promising to pay me back once they had it. I was doing quite well at the time and was happy to do so since it was to help purchase an asset. Long story short, they gave me back half. Its been almost 5 years now and I kind of 'forgot about it'.

Im currently living with both parents and struggling financially. I contribute towards the rent every month etc. When I brought up the fact that they still owed me money and that I would like me $10,000 back, they went crazy and denied its even mine and stated its theirs now. One important thing to note is that this person isn't struggling financially, they're moreso paranoid about money. The asset i helped them purchase has been bringing them consistent income for the past few years.

I've now stopped paying rent and also my phone bill (that I used their name to purchase). What should I do? They keep screaming and shouting that I should send them money for the bills and how im being so unfair and irresponsible. I have zero dollars to my name and recently become insolvent (yay!). Im a little ashamed to apply for government assistance...


r/personalfinance 1d ago

Employment My full time job did not accept my resignation but instead cut my hours to 6 a week. Am I able to file for unemployment?

2.8k Upvotes

(If I'm in the wrong place, let me know and I'll delete this)

I've been employed at a food place for almost 9 months. On the 4th, my car broke down unexpectedly and I did everything I could to get my shifts for the week covered because I couldn't make the commute using public transit alone. One of my covers got sick and my store manager gave me a No Call/No Show.

In response to that I typed a very long resignation letter and sent it to my district manager, who promptly emailed me back asking me not to leave and for us all to talk this out. My store manager called me and asked me to stay as well, saying they'd remove the No Call/No Show and give me the weekend off. Sure. I've already started sending out applications but I'll stick around til something solid happens.

I go back to work, nothing crazy and certainly not my full time because they hadn't scheduled me at all, so I'm only picking up shifts and coming in when called (less than 12 hours a week) but it's fine because my Store manager promises to schedule me this week (20th-26th) with my full hours.

He did not. He scheduled me 0 hours and so I messaged him asking whats up and reminding him that we agreed I'd be scheduled this week. He completely ignored my message. I'm hoping to get him on paper acknowledging the agreement to schedule me so it's clear my resignation was not accepted and I'm still an employee (which I am, they're just treating me as an on call worker).

I know abrupt cuts to hours are grounds for

unemployment but since I sent in a resignation, I'm not sure if this counts as me quitting? I have emails of them asking me to stay and me agreeing, as well as shifts worked after the resignation so if I'm still employed, would I be able to file?


r/personalfinance 3h ago

Other So much due and I can't pay everything. I am scared.

27 Upvotes

61F - I lost my job last month and have since found another one, but it was a setback and I have so much due and my first check won't cover everything. I don't know what to do. My check will be about $ 657.00 which I will receive on 7/30.

Rent due 8/1 $ 500

Title loan on car due 7/31 $ 308 (I was already granted an extension. At this point, I am worried about repossession).

Bank account overdrawn, bank said account will be closed if balance not paid by 7/31. $ 340

I think I should prioritize rent and pray my car does not get repossessed. 🤔


r/personalfinance 4h ago

Budgeting Need a way out. Sell my house? Let them repo my car?

23 Upvotes

I want to sell my house and buy a condo in a different area. I’m 58, employed full time. I owe $200k on my older house, could probably get 545k. I’m co-signer on parent plus loan for my kid for $80k that I haven’t been able to make the $500 a month payments. I’m in credit card debt $38k from house repairs, vet bills, car repairs.utilities,house taxes, groceries & gas. I’m behind on credit card payments and they won’t work with me. I have a 2022 car that I have 6 more years of payments & owe $19k.

I make about $56k a year. I also do side hustles, but very small amounts. Zero savings. No one to borrow from.

What should I do? I want to be out of debt but this is a vicious cycle.


r/personalfinance 8h ago

Investing I have an extra $2,000-$3,000 a month to save. Where am i putting it?

24 Upvotes

For context i have the following accounts To put money into
- Fidelity ROTH
- Fidelity Traditional
- HYSA
- Savings
- Checkings

How should i go about putting the extra money a month?


r/personalfinance 19h ago

Other My car was just broken into and my paycheck was stolen. Any additional advice?

176 Upvotes

My car was broken into and my paycheck with the stub attached was among the things taken. It had my name, date of birth, address, and the last four of my social on it. I have already asked my work to cancel the stolen check and issue a new one and frozen my credit on the three major agencies. Is there anything else I should take action on or anything else to be aware of?


r/personalfinance 7h ago

Taxes Tax liability if I pay off fiancé house

14 Upvotes

My fiancé and her son have moved in with me. We are keeping her house. Due to past poor financial decisions she has a horrible rate on her mortgage and bad credit. I am thinking of refinancing my mortgage and taking out $100k in equity and paying off her mortgage. Will do an ARM as we are planning on selling both houses in about 5 years and moving to another state. This will save approximately 800-1000 a month. Would there be a tax penalty on the 100k used to pay off her mortgage?


r/personalfinance 4h ago

Other how can i avoid PayPal’s high commission when converting from USD to EUR?

10 Upvotes

im from Spain and im 17 (im a minor so i cant open a bank account in my own name). i usually receive $1,000 from a company into my PayPal account, and when I convert it into euros € to transfer it to my bank account (in my legal guardian’s name), they take 3–5%, which means theyre taking around $34 just for the conversion. is there any legal way to reduce that fee? perhaps by using a different bank, etc., bearing in mind that only my parents can manage the bank accounts?


r/personalfinance 1h ago

Retirement Advice on current retirement predicament

• Upvotes

My father, 64M, got this call from the retirement fund management part of his company months back and was essentially talked into transferring his 403b out entirely into what I believe are IRA funds; he does not speak English very well, and none of the rest of the family were present at the time, so I’m fairly certain he didn’t 100% know what he was agreeing to at the time. Now, they’ve closed his original account and are now forcing him to open another account with a different company that costs money to reset up, and then has a monthly maintenance fee? Is this normal? Or is there something we should be doing to help?


r/personalfinance 2h ago

Retirement Selling Mutual Funds/ETFS in Personal Account to move to Roth IRA?

5 Upvotes

My past self was not well versed in investing and had purchased mutual funds and ETFs in my personal account. I would now like to move those into my Roth IRA.

The current gains that I have on them are:

SCHD - ~$200

SCHF - ~$150

SCHB - ~$1000

SCHG - ~$200

VOO - ~$300

SWMRX - ~$250

SWYHX - ~$500

Should I sell and move to my Roth IRA? Any advice will be helpful! I understand I goofed...


r/personalfinance 4h ago

Investing Should I sell my personal investment to invest in Roth Ira?

9 Upvotes

I(25M) recently started my first full-time job in July with an annual salary of $85,000.

My current plan is to:
Contribute 6% to my 401k to receive the full employer match
Max out my HSA ($4,500)
Then contribute to my Roth IRA
I also have a Fidelity taxable brokerage account that I opened about 3 years ago during an internship. I initially invested about $3,000, and the account has grown to roughly $6,000. The portfolio is split 50-50 between individual stocks (mostly tech-related holdings such as AMAT, GE, TSM, AAPL) and VOO.

I'm considering selling the taxable investments and using the proceeds to fund my Roth IRA. Inside the Roth IRA, I would likely use a simple two-fund portfolio consisting of 80% sp500 and 20% international. Part of my reasoning is that, since I only started working in July, my income for this year would be halved. Because of that, I believe any capital gains from selling the brokerage account may be taxed at a lower rate this year than they would be in future years when I have a full year of income.

On the other hand, I would still have enough cash flow to fully fund both the HSA and Roth IRA without selling the taxable investments.

Given that, would it make sense to sell the taxable account and move the money into tax-advantaged accounts while my income is temporarily lower, or would it be better to leave the taxable investments alone and simply fund the HSA and Roth IRA with new contributions?

Edit:
Thanks everyone for your advices.
My income this year will be about $42.5k and after accounting for the standard deduction, 401k contributions, and HSA contributions, my taxable income is low enough to qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains tax bracket. Some commenters have referred to this as "capital gain harvesting". I could sell my taxable investments, realize the gains without paying federal capital gains tax.


r/personalfinance 1d ago

Budgeting Owe a $27k plumbing bill. Have the cash to pay but it’s no interest and no payments for a year.

526 Upvotes

Pay it now or put the money in a HYA and collect interest for 11 months?


r/personalfinance 8h ago

Auto I put aside a set amount for savings and debt, but don't know whether I should be focusing on savings OR debt.

11 Upvotes

Added the auto flare because this involves my car loan.

Hello all, I tried to set myself up following the 50/20/30 rule and realized that it's unrealistic for me. Instead, I do 55/20/25.

My 20% for savings/debt is about $440 a month, $110 weekly. I have consistently put this towards my savings, which has now reached $15,000. My monthly necessity amount is $1,240 so $15k covers me for 12 months.

My auto loan's monthly payments are about $430 a month and I have consistently been paying $700 since I had credit card debt to pay off for a while when I first bought the car. My principal is currently $18,555.

Should I be focusing that $440 I allocate for savings and debt towards my auto loan debt, or should I be doing a fraction? My APR is 11.49%.


r/personalfinance 3h ago

Investing Early Career Finance Strategy

2 Upvotes

Hi!

I am a 22 year old recent college grad and I start my first full time job in a week. I am trying to gain literacy in my personal finances/investments so I can make the most of my salary. So you can give me an informed recommendation on strategy, let me give you a rundown of my situation. My starting salary will be $62,000. My job offers a 403(b) retirement plan, and they match at 6% after 1 year of employment. For the first year, I plan to contribute 4%, but once I am eligible for that 6% match, I will move my contribution up to that. They also offer a program that will help me pay back my student loans. They will contribute $100 a month to my payments that are due to start in December. I currently owe $29,500 in student loans, and that is my only debt right now. As for expenses, I am lucky to be living back at home with my parents so I will not owe rent, and expenses beyond gas are fairly minimal.

With that said, I was wondering what my next steps should be in terms of my personal finances (Yes, I have already been studying up on the personal finance flow chart but I always value a differing opinion). Should the Roth Ira be next? HYSA? Establishing emergency fund? Paying off loans? A combination of things?

Looking forward, I would love to move out in a year or two but I want to be very secure financially first. I hope that info gave some helpful context into where I am at right now. If I can give additional context let me know. Just trying to figure it all out the best I can. Thanks!


r/personalfinance 1h ago

Retirement 401K A and Roth 401k both from employer?

• Upvotes

Im very new to investing and attempting to figure things out. For the last 5 years ive been working at a large hospital and they've offered a 401k A that matches 4% (maybe 6% ill have to check) either way im contributing more than the match. I am vested at this point as well.

They now offer a Roth 401k option and my financial adviser recommended I max them both out if possible and attempt to work on maxing the Roth 401k first.

All of this is through fidelity.

My question is, after I did some changes to my contributions (about 2 months ago) I have not seen any way on my fidelity account where I can see my Roth 401k? I see the % contribution to that account as well as the transaction history showing how much is going to 401k A and the Roth but I dont see anything anywhere on my account regarding my Roth 401k lile total balance? Its like this money is just vanishing into nowhere.

Like I said I can see through fidelity that contributions are going to both but I dont know where or how to track my Roth 401k? I apologize if this is a dumb question, like I said im very new to this.


r/personalfinance 1d ago

Other Utz Buy-out - What does this mean for me?

243 Upvotes

I'm not a trader, so this is likely a remedial question ... but I have a small stake in Utz as I liked the brand and the 3+% dividend. Since it was announced today that they were being taken private and the deal would close at the end of the year, what does that mean for me and my brokerage account? Will the stocks just disappear and money come to my account or do I need to sell them?


r/personalfinance 17h ago

Budgeting Am I spending too much??? I feel like I’m not saving.

28 Upvotes

Recently moved to Birmingham Alabama for work and bought a house. I feel like I’m not able to save any money. Any recommendations?? I have a couple side hustles here that can make a little bit of money but nothing significant. I have an extra room that I might rent out to someone, but idk anybody here.
Am I doing something wrong? Are my expenses too high for my income??

Net monthly income: $5000
Edit: (Post taxes and TSP)

Necessary payments:

House: $1675/mo

Car insurance: $150/mo
Gas: $150/mo

Utilities: $500 total
Sewer bill: $160
Internet: $60
Water: $80
Electricity: $160

Food: $400/mo
-includes: going out to eat aswell

Haircut: $50/mo

Refrigerator: $120/mo (1 year)

USAA: $26/y

Monthly consume for bare minimum: $3047

Left over: $1953

Non-essential:

Game pass: $23
Spotify: $15
Apple storage: $10
Extra subscriptions: $20
Apple security: $140/y 12/mo
Amazon prime:$140/y 12/mo
Gym: $288/y $24/mo

$116 for subscriptions so far

After everything: $1837 of left over money.

Fun money: $500

$1337 saving money SHOULD be to increase my wealth.


r/personalfinance 5h ago

Employment Does moving jobs financially make sense?

3 Upvotes

I have an opportunity to accept a new job with higher pay, but I'm currently vested into my State's (NC) retirement. I need some help thinking this over.

Current job: Roughly $31 an hour, no overtime and tons of time off. I'm 10 years into being a NC employee, so I have retirement built up and the possibility of having lifetime health benefits if I stay for another 15-20 years. I've been lucky enough to grow and get promotions/raises, but I've pretty much hit my ceiling.

new offer: $33 an hour M-F with some on call weeks (once or twice a month). This is the healthcare field. Being on call pays $300 extra and overtime pay when I need to go in. Mileage traveling to sites.

I'm torn on if a raise of $2 an hour and $300 on call pay is worth the move. That's roughly $600 more a month at least which would be huge to help the family.

My biggest dilemma is retirement.


r/personalfinance 10h ago

Planning Financial first baby step for baby’s future

7 Upvotes

New or seasoned parents (or anyone who can imagine having kids): Considering today's economy, what's one practical step you'd recommend to help set a child up for financial stability?

If you can, share how to do it, too. One example might be freezing your child's credit with the three major credit bureaus until they're old enough to use it—though I honestly don't know if that's a good recommendation or if I'm just being an overly cautious parent.

I think once dad and I learn that first step we might figure out maintenance.

Much appreciation in advance!


r/personalfinance 5h ago

Housing How much rent can I afford ?

5 Upvotes

Hi 👋 I lived in an apartment for almost 2 years and my base rent was 1,025 (included heat, water, trash, sweater, and pet fee) so I only paid electric out of pocket which was typically between 40-60. My internet was 30-45 (they upped it on me after a year lol) I was able to afford this making 21 an hour and I averaged about 30 hours a week but I was STRUGGLING and went into debt. I moved out, moved in with bf, broke up with bf, now I’m home looking for a new apartment.

I make 22 an hour now, and work 33-36 hours. Biweekly pay.

Here is my monthly expenses:
$276 car payment
$150 car insurance
$40 phone bill
$20 Netflix
$6 Spotify
$30 gym
$130 in total towards three credit cards
Total: $652

Obviously have to factor in gas, food, vet care (thank god I’m in the field), savings, other utilities, and fun.

I really don’t want to live at home but I really don’t want to stretch myself thin.

Any advice appreciated!


r/personalfinance 5h ago

Other Options for Receiving Unexpected Money

3 Upvotes

Good morning,

I’m about to receive an unexpected sum of money (€10,000) from the sale of a family property. I should mention that I’m Spanish and live in Barcelona.

I’ve been investing since October 2025 (all in TR), and right now my portfolio allocation via ETFs is as follows:

Portfolio:

€8,100 in ACWI (75.9%), IE0003XJA0J9. I contribute €256 per month through a plan.

€1,400 in Small Cap (13.1%), IE00BF4RFH31. I contribute €44 per month through a plan.

€700 in the Stoxx Europe 600 (6.5%), LU0908500753.

€470 in Gold (4.4%), IE00B4ND3602.

Liquidity:

€15,000 in TR’s interest-bearing account for liquidity and potential short-term expenses. Every month, I deposit my paycheck, and after expenses and my savings plan, I have about €500 left.

After the summary, I was writing to see what you would do with the money I’m about to receive. It’s true that my partner and I are planning to buy an apartment in about 5–6 years (since that’s when our current lease ends). It’s also possible that in a couple of years we’ll start trying to have a child, which is something to keep in mind.

Would you keep it in an interest-bearing account, or would you look for some fixed-income investments for these 5 years? If so, what fixed-income investments do you think would be best for my situation? Or, on the other hand, would you increase the current monthly contribution of or, on the other hand, would you increase your current monthly equity investment plan?

Best regards, and thank you in advance for your help!


r/personalfinance 9h ago

Investing Inheritance from distant relative deed of variation

6 Upvotes

I have a distant relative who I knew fairly well and visited semifrequently as I live in the same city they resided. My parents and rest of the family live abroad in spain. After they died we never expected any inheritance as they were very frugal and assumed they spent remaining wealth on care.

Much to our surprise they died with a large amount in the bank and my parent was given a large sum. However as they live abroad (as well as rest of the family) they would be hit with a huge tax bill if they directly inherit, hence as I am the only one in the UK they have suggested doing a deed of variation to me.

However, they want to have a say in what happens with it. Based on my research (which is mainly from AI) I understand that they can't legally maintain control of the funds if they do the deed of variation. I also understand that technically they should still be liable for tax as they were the original receiver so would be counted as their assets? Not totally clear on that but seems a grey area. There is a certain time period (4 years or something) for which it could be tax liable but after that it's not?

I do not know this stuff clearly, but anyway they originally wanted to have access to the funds via me i.e. hold a debit card but after discussing further and highlighting I don't think this is legally right, we discussed they could be a financial advisor and could advise on how to invest the fund but ultimately I make the decisions on how it's spent. We plan on having a bit of a discussion but they want to put it all into bonds or ISAs and then split the interest between myself and the other family members who are abroad (I assume transferring it to them as a gift). Anyone know if this is legal? I understand it would make it fair and probably our relative would have wanted that but impossible to tell since they left zero detail in the will.

They also want to keep all of it long term into savings in case in their old age they need access (i clarified they wouldn't legally have access I would administer it for this purpose if i saw fit basically but it's an option I suppose, but how does this benefit me now? For context my parent has more than they need and more would be more hassle to them they've already asked in the past to hold money temporarily for them. I highlighted they didn't count on these funds they were a surprise and they have more than enough in other funds)

Obviously I have a personal interest in the funds and would like to use on our mortgage which could end up saving us as much as we'd me making if it's invested but my parent would prefer it's recoverable funds and be able to split it.

For context, my parents have already given my sibling a huge amount towards their first home (I have received nothing so far but they have placed a large amount of assets in my name and plan for me to inherit a bunch of property when they pass but doesn't serve me in the present, unlike it has for my sibling). I made the point they have an opportunity to show an equitable approach by giving me the funds with no strings like they have my sibling but my parent sees the future inheritance as an equal approach, I agree it's a lot but it's not useful to me in the present)

Any ideas on what would be a fair way to administer the funds while keeping it legally sound? Initial thoughts because I'd legally be the sole account holder that I get to keep 10% and put in my mortgage. We have also agreed a proportion to go into dedicated funds for my children (sibling has no children), but there is still a large amount remaining which I would be up for my parent advising on how to invest and monitor but not have any actual control (are there any accounts you can give view only access to someone?). They want control so I will get push back on that and they will probably not want to give me the 10% towards mortgage, And then how do we administer the interest on what goes in savings - who should get it? What is fair/legal?


r/personalfinance 7m ago

Debt Medical debt question

• Upvotes

Realistically, how bad is it to let your medical debt go to collections? What are the repercussions?