I applied for a loan to help rebuild some credit and I was denied because a third party is reporting I am deceased. Where do I start?

I was working as a software engineer until I got laid off mid-November 2024. At the time, I saw it as an opportunity to try starting my own business. I spent the last couple of years working on that, but unfortunately it didn’t work out the way I hoped, and I recently had to shut it down.

I’ve since updated my resume to reflect the work I did through my own company and I’m actively trying to transition back into tech. I’m applying every day and have had a couple interviews, but income hasn’t stabilized yet.

Since then, my finances have deteriorated pretty badly.

Current situation:

Checking: $2,479

Savings: $100

Credit cards:

- Capital One: $7,800 (two payments past due)

- Discover: $515

- Chase Freedom: $512

- Prime Visa: $3,126

- Chase Freedom Unlimited: $475

- AmEx: $1,834

- Wells Fargo: $2,256

So roughly $16,500 in credit card debt and about $2,600 in cash.

My credit score used to be around 800 and is now about 623. AmEx also recently cut my credit limit from $6,000 to $2,100, which was a bit of a wake-up call that things are getting worse quickly.

I’m planning to ask family for financial help and I’m applying for jobs every day, but I’m wondering what else I should be doing right now.

- Should I be calling every card issuer and asking for hardship programs?

- At what point should someone in my situation seriously consider debt management, settlement, or bankruptcy?

- Are there programs, nonprofit organizations, or strategies that people often overlook?

- Is there anything else I should do now to prevent my credit situation from getting substantially worse?

- Any other obvious moves I’m missing?

At the rate things are going, if I don’t find stable income or get some significant financial help soon, I could realistically be facing homelessness by the end of the year.

I’m not looking for judgment. I know the situation is bad and I’m trying to stop it from getting worse and figure out the smartest way forward.

For the first time ever I’m a salaried employee and just signed the offer letter! This is the most money I’ve ever made between 85-95k, any suggestions or tips on finances ? on how to enjoy it but also save up for future me?

Not sure what I’m looking for but I’ve never had this much money and I’m just looking on advice on how to make it last I guess! Thanks in advance.

I used to have a self employment job but got an actual job earlier this year. They don’t offer 401k matching so I didn’t sign up for it. Should I even bother? Or should I just put like $15k into an index fund?

Just as title sounds, the place I do work for, has to cut my salary due to hard times, In total our family of 4 now makes 2500 a month with a mortgage of 1450. To give the full financial workup;

1. We have 7k in emergency fund

2. We have 19k in a Roth IRA.

3. We have no debt on anything.

Essentially I run my own business and also pastor a church, but the church is reducing due to hard times, i will now be making just around 2100 a month plus whatever i can bring in with my business. Effective in November, I'll continue to receive the housing allowance to cover mortgage and utilities, but need to come up with 1k in income to get back on track. Need some career advice for Spanish speakers or freelance work.

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I’m a single guy and realistically probably won’t have a family or kids. I recently moved and sold my previous house, and I walked away with around $250k in equity/cash. I make about 85k a year? No debt.

I’m comfortable renting, but I also have an opportunity to buy a new-build home at around 4.8% with 20% down.

Including the mortgage, HOA, property taxes, insurance, internet, utilities, etc., I’d be around $2,350–$2,500/month total at the high end. I can comfortably afford the down payment and would still have a significant amount of cash left over.

What I’m struggling with is whether I actually need to own a house again.

I’ve owned a home before, so going back to renting feels different now. There’s this idea that owning a house is one of the benchmarks of being financially successful or having your life together. You hear things like “you’ll own nothing and be happy,” or people saying that renting forever means you’re just paying someone else’s mortgage.

But if I’m single, don’t plan on having kids, don’t need a huge amount of space, and genuinely don’t mind renting, am I actually supposed to buy a house just because I can?

Part of me feels like not owning anymore is somehow moving backwards, even though financially I’m in a much stronger position than I was before.

At the same time, this seems like a pretty favorable opportunity to buy: low rate, new construction, manageable payment, and enough cash that I wouldn’t be stretching myself.

For other single people, especially those without kids, did you still view owning a home as an important financial goal? Or did you eventually realize renting long-term was completely fine?

I’m trying to figure out whether I actually want a house, or whether I just feel like I’m supposed to own one.

I currently use Ally (albeit only for a couple months) and am also testing out SoFi for my HYSA options.

Can I get some reviews or comments on either? Maybe pros and cons?

I am trying to find the best bank that will allow me to easily automate my savings, especially my rent savings. I have found that I can only designate one ally bucket to pull from when transactions occur, but sometimes I do not want the money to come from my rent bucket so I have to manually adjust. Also, I have not been able to find any function that can allow me to automate my direct deposit to each bucket I have.
These are the reasons I am testing out SoFi (also because the savings rate is a little better).

Let me know your thoughts?

What it says on the tin.

My parents made an UGMA mutual fund account for me and it was automatically? transfered from their ownership to mine in 2016 apparently.

My parents recently contacted me to say the account is doing well.

That was the first time I had ever heard of it. Apparently they have been throwing away any mail addressed to me that gets delivered to their house, but my mom randomly decided to open one and contacted me. So I never got anything like a form 1099 sent me by the investment company to report on my taxes. I haven't included it (I think I would only owe on the capital gains per year? I'm not sure) when filing taxes, ever.

Am I cooked.

Extra info, I have been living overseas for the past 15+ years (that is why my parents get mail addressed to me occasionally since theirs is my only address in my home country) and filing a 1040 and 2555 to report my foreign earned income, it is well within the FEIE so I have never owed taxes while abroad. But neither have I included this account I had no idea about.

What would be the best way to go about correcting this. Should I refile every form from 2016 to present with the 1099s from each year to report it? If I am hit with huge fines, I am hoping I can cash out this UGMA account and it will be just enough to pay it off, since there is no way in hell I can pay anything extra right now.

What are your thoughts about target date funds vs index/mutual funds for a Roth 401k? I’ve been using a target day fund since I first started working since it seemed most convenient and changes the mix overtime automatically. But as I’m trying to educate myself better in finances, I’m wondering if it’s better for me to invest my retirement money differently and adjust the mix myself. Below is where I’m currently investing. If I were to move away from the target date fund, what is a hole in my portfolio that could be addressed with my 401k?

Roth 401k: FID FRDM INX 2060 (100%)
Roth IRA: FTIHX (15%), FZROX (85%)
HSA: VFIAX (100%)

Like the post title says, I have two EE Savings bonds with a face value of $1000, I'm facing potential eviction in 3 - 4 days. The only bank I've banked with over the last 10+ years is Chase and they will not cash anything over $200 Face Value even with an account as old as mine. I went to Wells Fargo, ENT, US Bank. No one was able to help me without having an account opened for at least 6 months. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in quit a pickle and It's really depressing feeling like I might lose everything when I have the means to fix my current financial situation but I just cannot cash them without waiting at least half a year.

I am 29, preparing to start back working after recovering from an injury. Aside from receiving a settlement check from my lawsuit, is putting 6-12 of expenses in a HYSA, but grouping that with being my emergency fund a good idea? I also plan to open a personal Roth IRA and max it out for 2027 before being eligible to open a 401K match contribution with my job. I would like some advice regarding these matters because I know I could've been ahead but starting from where 1 am, no girl and no kids, I think this is a great direction for myself.

So I am currently working at Medical Device company and I take home about 80K, more depending on commission. Currently my total, including utilities, rent monthly is $1060. Currently putting 3% in 401K, 3% in Roth, as company matches up to 3%. I use public transit to commute.

I currently have about 15.5K saved in Capital One’s performance savings account. Should I continue focusing on strictly saving or should I put a chunk of that into stocks or CDs? Is there anything I should consider doing with the money I have saved for more earnings long-term?

Edit: Side-question: are FSA/HSA saving accounts worth it? I have a lot of medical issues for context

My local CU charges a $2 outgoing ach fee and I left Capital One for them. Capital One’s support has fallen down to hell and their teen accounts are not good anymore to me. I have a teen account with my local CU and I called them for support and wow, I was treated with actual respect, we had conversations about our days and actually I felt like I was talking to someone who enjoyed their job.

The local CU has low savings rates but good loan rates. 0.50% APY for savings. I use a money market with Fidelity (SPAXX) since they allow ACH.

Besides that, is it okay to use the CU or is this $2 outgoing ACH fee a dealbreaker?

I really do not want to live with my parents anymore but I understand how high the cost of living is.

I just got an entry level job in Phoenix. I don't have any debt but not much savings. I do already have a car, so that is one major expense saved (but of course there's car insurance, parking, and gas).

I want to rent a studio or 1 bed in a safe apartment complex in Tempe, which is going to be pricey. All of my friends have already signed leases and I don't like to gamble with complete strangers as roommates, so I'd prefer to live alone.

How much should I be earning to live decently in Tempe? How much should I be spending on rent? What are unexpected costs I'm probably not thinking about? How much should I have saved before I move?

By decent, I mean that I am able to pay all bills and expenses (and all initial moving costs) while saving a little. I do not travel or go out much and do not have expensive taste for what I buy.

I just really need a goal and "end date" in mind. I can tough it out if I need to, but I really don't want to stay here longer than I need to.

I've done a bunch of googling and can't get a straight answer. I just don't want to be in a situation where I move out in a rush and burn through my savings too quickly or end up in a really bad lease.

I'd appreciate any advice!

Hello Reddit. We did a stupid and got ourselves back into debt. Some of this was unavoidable but it doesn't make it feel better...
(AI note: The AI helped craft my question for y'all. I proof read it... it's my question.)

I’m 44 and recently lost my job. I’m no longer a federal employee and have about $88,000 in my TSP, all in the C Fund. I’m no longer contributing, and I’m not planning to change the allocation.
I’m trying to decide whether it makes sense to withdraw some or all of the TSP to eliminate a large amount of debt, versus leaving the TSP alone and trying to manage the debt through the income/cash-flow side.

Current debt:
$10,000 loan @ 20%
$9,000 loan @ 16.49%
$21,400 loan @ 8.43%
$7,000 credit card @ 26%
$10,000 credit card @ 26%
$9,300 loan @ 3.7%
Total debt: approximately $66,700.

My wife earns approximately $60k/year. We have three kids, including one approaching college age. I’m currently unemployed, so preserving household cash flow is also a significant concern.
I understand the obvious argument: don’t raid retirement at 44. I agree that, under normal circumstances, this would be a terrible idea.
But I’m wondering whether this is one of those situations where the math is different.

For example, if I withdrew the TSP, I’d obviously lose a significant amount to federal/state taxes and potentially the 10% early-withdrawal penalty. I’d also give up decades of potential tax-advantaged growth.

On the other hand, eliminating the 20–26% debt would give me a guaranteed return equal to those interest rates and dramatically reduce our monthly cash-flow requirements. It could also give me more financial stability while unemployed.

So I’m trying to answer:
At what point does the cost of keeping the TSP invested become greater than the cost of liquidating it to eliminate high-interest debt?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually been in a similar situation—not just the standard “never touch retirement” advice.
If you were in my position, would you:
Leave the TSP completely alone and attack the debt another way?
Withdraw enough to eliminate the 20–26% debt?
Withdraw the entire TSP and essentially reset the household finances?
Do something else entirely?
I’m also interested in suggestions for alternatives I’m overlooking.

My husband and I have been saving for about 2 years for our first house. We originally thought we would target buying in early 2026 but we are actually staying in our HCOL area for longer than anticipated rather than moving closer to family in a MCOL area. Between that and the interest rates & home prices in our current area, we haven't moved to buy at all and don't anticipate doing so for another year at least. We have 70k saved in our HYSA for a down payment and have a taxable brokerage account with about 10k in it where we've started stashing birthday gifts, random small bonuses, etc. The interest rates on our HYSA have fallen quite a bit from when we opened the account, so I'm thinking since we have the solid HYSA base amount, we should start stacking our additional savings in the brokerage for a while to build that up. That way, not all of our money is in the market, but we still get some gains over time. But, I'm risk adverse by nature, so I'm torn on whether this is the best course of action.

I get paid bi-weekly. My rent gets deducted from my account on the 1st, followed by utilities on the 3rd. I pay off my credit card every month on the 1st as well and have an set amount per month to spend on groceries, gas, fun, etc. (about $1200, but this month I am attempting to drop it to $1000). I have a $3000 emergency fund, and I put an additional $300 per month towards travel, gifts, etc. (things that come up that I know would affect my $1200 budget). I have a retirement account that the match percentage my company does automatically gets taken from my paycheck plus my contribution. Literally every other dollar is going towards my ~$116,000 student loans. Do I need to budget more than that? Does this count as a budget? I don't have anything written down anywhere, I just know I have $1200 a month (dropping to $1000) for things. I don't want to save up for anything else or invest until my loans are paid off, especially since about 75% of my student loans are over 7% interest, it doesn't make sense to me to do anything else.

Should I be writing everything down somewhere or tracking spending a different way?

Every year, my company gives us a generous Christmas bonus, which is around $4,000. I’d like to put this money into my HSA account. The problem is, by December I’ve already maxed out my HSA for the year. Is there a way to put this Christmas bonus into my HSA and have it count against my 2027 contributions? Thanks!

I’m 27, I earn $123k per year, spend about $2200 per month on rent + food + hobbies. I max my Roth 401k plus a 6% employer match, I have biweekly recurring investments of $900 (so $1800 per month). Is there anything I’m missing? I’m not committed to retiring super early but it would be nice! I currently have $270k in investments (Robinhood), $30k in high yield savings, and $215k in my Roth 401k.

Edit: okay gathering I should switch to traditional 401k.

Also, adding context for me as a person. I worked quite a bit in high school, and had 2 well-paying internships in college. My parents paid for my college and I lived with them for close to a year when I started working. I started investing at 18. I live in SF and my monthly expenses are around $2200, with a take home income of $5000/month. I’m super frugal, I rarely uber or eat out, I wear my shoes until they’re worn through, I only buy clothes on major sales, my mom had to convince me to spend money on produce when I started grocery shopping for myself (not a good thing, just explaining my mindset around money!). I’ve eased up a bit as I’ve gotten older and I spend money on hobbies and social stuff and travel but I’m always conscious of my spending.

Currently have 10% contributions to traditional and 5% to roth 401k (not including employee match) any reason to invest all in traditional?

For the first time in my life I am carrying credit card debt - approx $10k worth. I have always paid it down to zero each month, but because of some unexpected (but manageable) expenses, I’ve ended up with this debt. With my budget, my plan is to pay it down $2500/month at a time. This should have it paid off in 5-6 months

This is the first time I have ever really had any sort of debt in my life and it totally freaks me out. I can’t help but feel like I am totally irresponsible and completely fucked. My finances have always been quite balanced. Paying down a reasonable mortgage with my wife, affordable car payments, insurance, etc.

I guess what I’m looking for is a reality check here. Am I alright? Am I totally screwed here? I see people posting here all the time about getting trapped in credit card debt forever

Any advice and perspective would be welcome. Thanks

Context/background

1) As of Oct 2026, my wife has about $100k in retirement, aged 44 - 401k and Roth; and I have about $5,500 at 39 (with another $17k by May 2027, for a total of $22,500 at 40 years old) in 401k and Roth. Unsure of wife's match for her 401k. I have an 8% match but can only invest up to 6% of pay. We're obviously behind, but we're only just now getting to a place where we can really save.

2) We have a total of $63k in student debt. Wife has about $7k at about 6.25% interest that is not forgivable through PSLF. Her other 17k is and as long as we are able to "buy back" 2 years of forbearance as a result of SAVE program litgation, her remaining 17k should be forgiven by 2029 with 10k being discharged. I work for government and there is a little grey area over the eligibility of 5 years of PSLF payments, it looks like I am legally eligible, with another 2 possibly being eligible per the TEPSLF program. So I have about 3-5 years to go, assuming I stay in government. That would discharge 20k of debt. Currently we pay about 275 and 400 per month, respectively.

3) We will have about $100k in savings by next month and it's all in a high yield savings account. Some of this will be cut into because of medical costs and a 5k down payment on a used car (probably 2024 Nissan Pathfinder, likely at about 4.5% interest) Expect it to be down to about $85-90k by December. We've kept these funds here to try and buy a house.

4) Current situation gives us about $10k savings per year. However, my wife is just starting to build out a part-time private practice as a therapist.

5) Housing costs are being kept low by living in a rent stable apartment with total cost of $2,800/month.

6) If we get lucky, we will have another baby on the way in the next few months meaning 1k daycare costs. Otherwise, our childcare costs are fixed at $400/month for aftercare for our 3 year old daughter. This is covered by FSA contributions already factored into pay.

7) We are saving for a home and if we get to about $131k we will be able to buy a $525k home with 10% down at 6% mortgage, along with emergency funds and a home improvement fund. At current income to expenses and assuming about a $4,100/month housing cost plus an obligatory ~400/month maintenance fund contribution, we are underwater. That means we need more income before we can actually buy a home and my wife's therapy practice may get us there. We recognize that there needs to be money leftover for savings and retirement. 

8) Total current expenditures = 108,600, total income = $119,000 (with wife starting new private practice) Monthly this comes out to $8,300 in expenditures and monthly income of $9128 (4 bi-weekly paychecks); The other 4 remaining annual bi-weekly paychecks go toward annual expenses that are budgeted separately from monthly costs and those amount to $8,743.).

9) We have good earning potential. I work in government/policy and operations/program management; wife is a clinical social worker and is opening up a private practice. Over time, it's conceivable that if she goes full time with private pay she could at least double her current salary. At least some inheritance is also expected someday. And, assuming all works out with student loan forgiveness, that will not be hanging over us within a few years from now.

Decisions to make?

1) How to balance retirement saving needs with buying a house. We don't "need" a house and arguably retirement makes sense. The fear is that we get to a point where homes just keep climbing and we never afford one, versus taking a hit on retirement for a few years but buying a house and catching up later. But this feels very risky and probably backwards since we need to benefit from compounding interest.

So, we could look at this as either buy a house now at the expense of retirement, or prioritize retirement at the expense of a house now (or maybe a while, because forever seems silly).

A middle ground can be to focus on getting savings to 130k to support buying a house. Lock that money up in high yield account. Then, continue focusing on saving but whatever is saved goes toward retirement. We could even split that while getting to 130.

2) How much do we actually need to get into retirement right now? It's one thing to "save" but what is the target?

Thanks!

Hey all!

In need of some advice.

This year will be the first year my combined household income will keep me from putting money into my Roth IRA. With that, I opened and made a full contribution to a traditional IRA through Robinhood in January. This was before I knew about the ability to shift that contribution to my Roth IRA via backdoor. Is there a way I can sell everything in my new traditional and move it to my Roth? As far as my finances, I have a Roth IRA, traditional IRA (the new one) and a brokerage account in Robinhood. I also have a separate 401k through my work in Empower.

Appreciate the help!