How many of you have nest eggs built up for yourselves?

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I am 24 and basically have no savings. I am trying to rectify this situation as I have TH3 PH34R re: my general situation in life.

Do any of you have any kind of sizable nest eggs built up for yourselves, and if so, how did you go about it? Did you have one at my age? Before?

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Sizeable, I wouldn't say, but several, yes, all being added to quietly -- the two major ones are a life insurance policy via mutual funds and a separate savings scheme via the UC. (I don't own property as yet but frankly I have no worries on that front for several reasons.) The trick is to make sure to get something where the money is taken out automatically of your paycheck and that you can't/don't have any regular access to it and therefore cannot be tempted.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

(Life insurance policy started at 25 or so, UC savings at 26.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i keep meaning to start one, but then something else comes along and sucks up all my money. lather rinse repeat.

― jbr (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I've got a 401(k) account that will probably be worth about $1700 in the year 2045.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

ahahahahah. . . .no.

I've had a few jobs with retirement plans but I always end up withdrawing the money. Like I'm about to do here in a few weeks.

I just plan on working till the day I die.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't 401k because I don't know what country I will be living in when I am old and I don't want the government to take it from me.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Somehow Ive managed to save up a couple gs thats rotting away in my checking account. I dont have a budget or anything, I just try to be as cheap as possible for as long as I can and then I periodically splurge on stuff. Working 500 hours of overtime last year helps, too.

I have the 401k as well..

― Dude, are you a 15 year old asian chick? (jingleberries), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I did but spent it all.

I have a very sad little amount of savings now, but that is more saving to move rather than saving for the far future.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

So instead I have sold drugs and false passports and invested the profits in a bunch of Beanie Babies which I keep in a safe in a Walnut Creek, CA bank for when the market explodes.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.slickrock.com/images/hammock%20palapa.jpg

I can only retire in Mexico.

― andy --, Monday, 7 March 2005 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

For all I bitch about DC real estate prices, at least the equity in my apartment will provide something for the future. Plus I have an IRA where I rolled over my pension payout from the World Bank.

― j.lu (j.lu), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

what Ned said.

I started this some share option scheme at work when I was 24; it comes out from my pay before I get it. Won't be worth gazillions but will definitely give me breathing space when I quit work this summer.

(he says but he doesn't believe)

plus doesn't everyone get their parent's home eventually (presuming they owned it and you have a small number of siblings)?

― Tannenbaum Schmidt (Nik), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually this thread inspired me to check the current status of my UC savings and it's doing much better than I remembered, which is pleasing. Should I get the (long overdue) reclass I think the job deserves I'll squirrel away even more money into it -- I don't think it'll be a major amount at the end of it all but it will be a nice supplement to a lot of things as interest compounds over time, even after leaving the UC if I ever do (which is increasingly likely).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:22 (twenty-one years ago)

My mom sold it, xpost.

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

My parents haven't ever owned a home and my brother has four kids so I'm not expecting anything.

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

believe me, roxy, you are NOT alone for someone in yer age group. and being so young, you are in a GREAT position if you can afford to save anything. so do it!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:25 (twenty-one years ago)

as fer me -- i've managed to save away enough to keep me going should i get laid off or hit by a car. and i put away a % of my paycheck in a savings account -- not automatically diverted thereto (like ned does), but i've been pretty disciplined. nothing in a 401(k) or IRA, though.

my savings situation is not great b/c i went to law school relatively late (in my late 20s/early 30s) and had to use what savings i had for living expenses.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:28 (twenty-one years ago)

plus doesn't everyone get their parent's home eventually (presuming they owned it and you have a small number of siblings)?

Erm, well, *cough* thus my comment above (there's just me and my sister). I won't go into details but it's nice.

I just rechecked the retirement options as well via the UC -- holy heck. I think I've got a better job here than I realized! (Still need the reclass, though.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I figure I should be putting about 700 bucks away every month. I've drawn up a budget plan that allows for booze and records and all kinds of crap, and that amount seems feasible.

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

That's a lot of money

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

A nice amount to squirrel away, easily! I wish I had that flexibility. :-) If you can do that, by all means do so. Your future self will appreciate your forethought greatly.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:34 (twenty-one years ago)

that's a hell of a lot

― Ed (dali), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, and it's not just for the far future, it's also for emergencies, getting thrown out of houses, tire explosions, Isn't-that-a-nice-boxsets and damn-I-want-to-see-New-Orders.

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I have those (except the New Order problem). I use a credit card.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I WISH I had a special fund for them.

Actually I don't buy boxsets either.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually I don't really buy music.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Heheheh. :-) A fine way to do it! Roxy, if I may suggest -- break down that amount further, into part that goes into something 'untouchable' like I've suggested and then something that goes into a general 'to be used as needed' pile. I do that as well, with further monthly savings that get set aside in an account I can access as needed for vacations and the like -- accessed it just today to pay off my various European trips in July. How you want to break that down further is up to you, but I would diversify, it never hurts.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

And I doubt I'll ever be thrown out of my house.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I put 40 bucks a month into my 401k which is not matched by my employers. I'll probably cash it in and buy a new TV or something eventually.

― adam (adam), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

No credit card for this girl!

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you get tax relief on your 401k contributions?

― Ed (dali), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

This boy is not allowed to touch his credit card. This boy's wife keeps it hidden!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

invest everything in general electric.

― jurgens, Monday, 7 March 2005 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you get tax relief on your 401k contributions?

yes -- 401(k)s are funded w/ pre-tax $$, and funds in the 401(k) grow tax-free until withdrawn.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:42 (twenty-one years ago)

No credit card for this girl!

Most wise! :-) The one thing I would have liked to have told my past self is to have cut back and not spent so much that way, and I regret not having more savings as a result of past indulgences (I might well have purchased property by now if I had). But it could be far worse and otherwise I'm doing quietly well.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:42 (twenty-one years ago)

you may still want to get an american express card, though -- to rent cars and hotel rooms, if you need to do either. and you have to pay the amex off each month, like a debit card!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I've lived a full, crazy life and I have the bills to prove it. My children can pay them off.

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

yes -- 401(k)s are funded w/ pre-tax $$, and funds in the 401(k) grow tax-free until withdrawn.

Yup. Slightly different set-up with the UC savings deal -- I actually have three separate funds within the overall umbrella -- but same basic pre-tax function. For me it's a bit interesting in that I was first hired as a casual employee -- with a noticeable amount withdrawn each initial biweekly paycheck -- and then as career, with a different though initially smaller amount withdrawn and put into another fund. But interest earns on them all, and along the way the university has occasionally put in more money as part of a further payout (keep in mind the university could, in my opinion, be doing a LOT more...but this is why my union and the UC are currently in some rather bitter negotiations ;-)).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Same with pensions in the UK, more or less, here you pay from Net income but the government contribute what you paid in tax on that income (but not national insurance). It's very hard to get money out of a pension scheme before retirement, and you loose the tax relief plus whatever redemption penalty there might be. The downer is that you have to buy an annuity with the money realised from such a scheme and annuity rate are very poor nowadays and getting worse.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:45 (twenty-one years ago)

One thing I noticed in checking just now regarding pay after retirement is that there's a choice in my benefits for either monthly pay or a lump sum. Could be interesting depending on where I'm at as the time approaches (the earliest I could claim in on such a scheme would be if I continued working for the UC for another 16 years -- which may sound horrid but keep in mind the benefits carry over should I work in any other UC campus, which I'm not ignoring in terms of future plans).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

i would highly recommend the new GE/wal-mart credit card.

― financier, Monday, 7 March 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

penalties for early withdrawal (i.e., before age 59 1/2) from a 401(k), an IRA, or a traditional pension are also pretty steep.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:50 (twenty-one years ago)

i sure don't . . . but i think i'm going to open a roth ira in a month with some extra $$ i'll have.

― kelsey (kelstarry), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:50 (twenty-one years ago)

i got nothing. i'm old too. i bought a house a couple of years ago and now owe the bank $257,000. i'm fucked but i got a nice wife and kids.

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm still at the stage where all my spar cash goes into servicing debts, I do own a mortgage on my flat though and bricks and mortar are a fairly safe investment.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

401(k)s, invest the max people.

401(k) remnants from jobs I got fired from = about how much debt I have.

fuck.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

advice from my mom, who is a stockbroker:

1. when you're young, invest aggressively.
2. don't always assume a 6% return a la Bush, but historically the equity markets return over time.
3. "over time" is the key to the last sentence.
4. never take early withdrawal.
5. if you ever win some sort of settlement/the lotto/a trust fund/etc., never ever take a lump sum.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

With student debt, credit card debt, rent, basic necessities and crap, I figure I could.. MAYBE, save $100 a month.

I need to get a higher paying job.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

sound advice, h.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 7 March 2005 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 74 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I have no debt, and I manage to save some money every month.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 8 March 2005 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Yet, I couldn't afford a house/flat/box cupboard and pay of a mortgage in London. If I paid average rent I wouldn't save any money at all.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 8 March 2005 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I need to sort a pension. Any advice?

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 8 March 2005 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Ugh. Not a penny. I'm 41 and my wife is 49.

― Curious George Rides a Republican (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 8 March 2005 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I have no lump sum, and no pension sorted out. I'm talking to a financial advisor soon to see about the pension. I'm 40 this year - I meant to do this wjhen I was 30, but I've been fucking flat broke for most of the last 10yrs, after taking off all the bills, so I guess I'll eat it a bit when I'm older :( Britain has one of the lowest state pensions in the developed world. I'm in the process of selling a lot of money's worth of music gear - most of my analogue synths are getting cashed in, and I'm paying that money off the mortgage, that seems like the best thing to do. some of the interest we'll save, we're going to put towards pensions. Getting older sux0rz, doesn't it?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 8 March 2005 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

nine months pass...

as sad as it is -- 35 about to turn 36 in a few months -- only now am i going to start plunking money into an IRA and (later this year) into a 401(k). for the ira, currently considering and will choose one of four funds -- vanguard, t. rowe price, american century, or fidelity -- all of which have some funds specifically targeted for one's projected retirement date.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 5 January 2006 02:13 (twenty years ago)

i guess ira isn't referring to 'irish republican army' here

is there no compulsory employer superannuation contributions in the US and UK?

― gem (trisk), Thursday, 5 January 2006 02:18 (twenty years ago)

no. unless you count social security but then the employees pay into that.

I've got a few thousand in my retirement account but nothing close to what I should have 10 years out of college.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 02:44 (twenty years ago)

All of my investment has gone into buying a small business. Which is sort of a nice way of saying that I take all my extra cash and throw it into a beautiful and satisfying tiny well in my backyard.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Thursday, 5 January 2006 02:54 (twenty years ago)

I have an extra retirement savings plan and also save every month. Don't do much else. :-(

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 5 January 2006 02:55 (twenty years ago)

i have a super fund as super contributions are compulsory in australia, i think it has around $17k in it, which actually isn't a huge amount considering i'm almost 30 and have been employed for 13 odd years. i also saved up a stack of money over 2002-2004 but now i am squandering that on a second university degree. a bit like john justen's backyard well. i hope the well will spring forth with rewards of its own eventually though.

― gem (trisk), Thursday, 5 January 2006 03:01 (twenty years ago)

I plan on squadering money on a post-graduate degree here soon however I don't expect it to spring anything. I'm banking on the goat farm I plan on buying when I retire to support me.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 03:04 (twenty years ago)

I've got $50 and a pack of juicy fruit.

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Thursday, 5 January 2006 03:36 (twenty years ago)

my $25k 401k account will probably be depleted as soon as the baby comes to pay off our other bills. oops. hopefully when I die I won't leave my child with a mountain of horrible debt to contend with.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 5 January 2006 04:39 (twenty years ago)

According to my financial advisor (aka my drinking buddy) the $1200/mo. I'm investing now is supposed to turn into several million dollars by the time I'm 55. The math doesn't make sense to me though; I'm very well convinced that I'll work & save my life away only to die pennyless at 64.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Thursday, 5 January 2006 04:54 (twenty years ago)

Oh, this is a timely thread revival. Tomorrow I'm setting up a smallish money-market account to help me save up for the down payment on a home. (I live in a ridiculously overpriced housing market -- one of the nation's worst). After the first couple of months -- a trial period, in case I find I can't actually set aside as much money as I think -- it will be automatically transferred each month from my main bank account.

Apart from that, I have a very small amount of savings that I think of as emergency money I might spend at any time, and I have a retirement plan through my Univ. of CA job, which I've been paying into for 10 years now, so I think that's pretty decent but I have no interest in looking at the details.

xpost w/jay: that's the monthly amount I'm planning to put into this new home-purchase thing.

I really don't like money, although I like the things it buys. Sigh.

― National Roffle Association (Paul in Santa Cruz), Thursday, 5 January 2006 05:01 (twenty years ago)

hopefully when I die I won't leave my child with a mountain of horrible debt to contend with.

aye, this is causing rifts within my family even now.

saving $1200 a mth?!? shit I think I'm doing good when I don't go out and manage to save $40. My kids are going to be on their own, fuck.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 05:45 (twenty years ago)

i suppose there was a time, when I was in a $600/month rent controlled apartment and making the same as I do now, when I could have been saving $1200/month rather than taking vacations and buying shitloads of cds and computer equipment. i would have been wealthier, I guess. but a poorer person! with a worse record collection!

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 5 January 2006 06:15 (twenty years ago)

bah i'm sure i'd rather have records than savings. i suppose i might change my mind about that if i ever grow up and get all responsible and whatnot.

― gem (trisk), Thursday, 5 January 2006 06:34 (twenty years ago)

i have no savings at all.

― kingfish holiday travesty (kingfish 2.0), Thursday, 5 January 2006 06:49 (twenty years ago)

I feel like in America, we're going to hell in a handbasket. Am I wrong?

― Tomato Voyeur (Bimble...), Thursday, 5 January 2006 07:59 (twenty years ago)

That's "going to hell in a handbasket" meaning as fast as we can get there.

― Tomato Voyeur (Bimble...), Thursday, 5 January 2006 08:44 (twenty years ago)

you can give a gift of 11,000 a year to a relative tax free

It went to 12,000 this year. And it can be a gift to anyone, not just a relative, so TRY TO SAVE SOME BILLIONAIRE'S KID FROM GETTING RUN OVER BY A STREETCAR!!!!
And forget about the lotto lump-sum vs. installment payouts. Don't buy lotto tickets, period. Take the money you would have spent on lotto and put it under your mattress! Five dollars a week!
Seriously, though, 700 a month is too daunting. You set yourself up to fail.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Thursday, 5 January 2006 14:25 (twenty years ago)

i have $300 in savings! it's like, A MIRACLE!

i cant even fathom being able to save $700 a month!

after bills and crap, i have about $200 left over (which is pissed away on booze and other stupid things).

― POOP BITCH (Mandee), Thursday, 5 January 2006 14:31 (twenty years ago)

I don't have a nest egg. However, I have bought a house. When I retire, it will be paid off, and I shall remortgage it and leave my debts to my cats. The end.

― Ah! The Feinbos! (kate), Thursday, 5 January 2006 14:33 (twenty years ago)

I currently have $250 skimmed off my weekly paycheck and direct deposited into a money market. When the money in that fund reaches the minimum for investing in other funds (S&P 500 index, world growth, blah blah blah) I move it around. It does amazing, amazing shit for my peace of mind sometimes.

― TOMBOT, Thursday, 5 January 2006 14:36 (twenty years ago)

Oh God -- it's sad to me to see this thread revived and to think that when I started it I had the MONEY to even THINK about this shit. Today I am more like "How many of you have more than two cans of soup in your cabinet and how did you do that"

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Thursday, 5 January 2006 16:41 (twenty years ago)

I got my 401k shit set up a few days ago. Now I will not think about it for forty years, when SUPRISE! I will either have a few hundred thousand dollars in there, or not.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 5 January 2006 16:48 (twenty years ago)

I desperately need to sort out a pension. I had the presence of mind to use my entitlement in the one job where the employer has given me free money - the £2800 I invested is now something like £4800, so that worked out pretty well. It'll only give me something like £80 a month when I'm 65, though.

So I need to get a personal one, but even the thought of researching it does my head in. I can afford to save a couple of hundred quid a month if I'm careful, and at 31 I'm already a decade too late to start really, but hell. If any UK ILXors have recently done this I would LOVE to hear from you off-board.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 5 January 2006 16:49 (twenty years ago)

There was a really nice info session back in June or so that I attended re: my UC pension. I'm now extremely relaxed on that front.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 5 January 2006 16:50 (twenty years ago)

Something to not worry about - in the US, credit card debt is not inheritable. If you owe when you die, it comes out of your estate but if your name is the only one on the account (i.e. no cosigners) then what's left of the debt just goes away. So you may not leave your kids anything, but you won't leave them owing.

I'm finally in a job that has both a pension and a 401k plan, but my current plan is to leave it by the end of the year, so bah. No matter how old you are, if your employer offers matching funds of any kind, take full advantage of it! Don't pass up the free money. Mine is fully matching up to 5% and I'm fully vested in it, so when I leave I get it all.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 5 January 2006 16:58 (twenty years ago)

I have a work pension, if I get made redundant, I'll claim all the money back. I've no plans to start a pension. Most of the money I have is tinged with sadness really *sigh*

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 5 January 2006 16:58 (twenty years ago)

hmm, I don't think that's entirely true. if the person owned land or property in excess of $15K then it must be paid off. we learned this when my grandmother died recently. She had more credit card debt than we thought and they are holding my aunt liable.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:06 (twenty years ago)

That's from the estate though - the debt can't be passed to another person! Unless that new credit/bankruptcy legislation did more horrible stuff. I had just investigated all this a few months ago, damn.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:11 (twenty years ago)

i had about $7k in various 401ks that i cashed out last year (to a substantial penalty, i'm sure) so i could pay off some debt. kinda dumb, but then my earnings have gone down so far in the past couple of years that it was the only way to climb out, a little bit.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:12 (twenty years ago)

A question: if you die before you retire, what happens to your pension money?

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:30 (twenty years ago)

It'd probably just be added into your estate, the amount you had paid in (+ interest?). Something for the solictor to work out.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:32 (twenty years ago)

I think you designate someone as beneficiary in that case (dying early). I know I've got my brother down for mine.

xpost
Maybe it's the estate then. All I know is I was surprised her debt wasn't dismissed all together. Her land and house had to be sold to take care of it.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:35 (twenty years ago)

That's probably it. Debts are paid first out of the estate, then what's left can be distributed to heirs. I think that's what probate is pretty much about.

I did find out that debts in one person's name only are inherited by surviving spouses in community property states, which is a bummer as I incurred most of my debts before remarrying and don't want them saddled on RJM if I die first.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:42 (twenty years ago)

i have stuff through work. 401k similar.

otherwise, we're close to hand to mouth. we just started this annoying budget to force us out of debt as soon as possible. it's okay, but a little rough. we're doing an envelope sort of system for groceries and eating out. we put some cash in at weekly intervals and that's what we have for that thing.

"we need milk."
"the grocery envelope is empty."
"we've got 3 days left."
"suck."

― msp (mspa), Thursday, 5 January 2006 17:57 (twenty years ago)

ah yes I have used the envelope system.

Does your debt affect your spouse's credit when you marry in community property states?

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 18:51 (twenty years ago)

Does your debt affect your spouse's credit when you marry in community property states?

Supposedly only if you apply jointly. It seems very whacked to me. I know that community property laws in AZ allowed my first husband to get a nice big loan for a truck based on my income (since he wasn't working), but without my knowledge (until he showed up with said truck). It may be time to move to Oregon or something.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 5 January 2006 19:02 (twenty years ago)

my wife has had problems because of my bad credit in the past. my score has improved because of her help. i'm massively disorganized at times. in my mid 20s... (5 or 6 years ago)... i fucked up bad and racked up some 90 day, sent to collection type stuff. totally uncool. pretty soon, that shit will just fall off the reports though, which will be nice.

bad credit score stuff sucks. i remember being denied for the corporate AMEX at this one job i had. really embarassing.
m.

― msp (mspa), Thursday, 5 January 2006 19:26 (twenty years ago)

I have a 401k through work - nothing else, though.

― luna (luna.c), Thursday, 5 January 2006 19:30 (twenty years ago)

Hi Luna!

Yeah my credit is troubling us now. After my divorce (about six years ago) my credit tanked and now my rating is the kind that gets laughed at if you try to apply for anything. My BF has spotless credit. We want to buy a house and the market here (austin) just keeps getting more expensive. we're not sure if applying for a mortgage together would hurt or hinder. obviously two incomes are better than one but I'm not sure if my nasty credit would outweigh that benefit.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 19:54 (twenty years ago)

I have complete shit credit too.

― luna (luna.c), Thursday, 5 January 2006 20:11 (twenty years ago)

R. and I bought a car before we were married - tried to buy it together, thinking the 2 income thing would be a plus, but it turned out not to be. So it's in my name with a whopping interest rate, but it would have been whoppinger with both our names on it. We haven't tried to buy anything post-marriage.

Maybe you can just talk to the mortgage people and see what your best bet is? Do they make you apply before they'll talk to you?

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 5 January 2006 20:28 (twenty years ago)

I don't know. Probably going to go to a house-buying seminar/class first or something. Austin's running out of houses these days so you have to make careful choices.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Thursday, 5 January 2006 20:29 (twenty years ago)

with our home buying experience... they ran our credits... then the loan person tried to figure out what would fly based on that. we went through about 10 hoops until the loan was finally sent to underwriters for true approval, etc.

― msp (mspa), Thursday, 5 January 2006 21:19 (twenty years ago)

My credit, which was borderline during my first marriage, got whacked badly by the divorce (also about 6 years ago). Then I put the final nails in the coffin by starting a business and relenquishing the financials to someone else because I didn't want to deal with it. Which was stupid. I also cashed out all my existing IRAs etc to do this, paying the penalties (in so many ways). Things are getting back on track finally (3 years later). I've stuck fairly well to a cash-only basis. Until a few months ago. It's just damn hard. And I know the bit I've got in the 401k now will fund our transition at the end of the year, so I'll be back to nothing in the bank (at 46).

Miss M., I wish you all the best in your house hunt. I hope you find something perfect and that everything goes smoother than you could possibly imagine it.

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 5 January 2006 21:31 (twenty years ago)

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