OT- The Finance Thread

[Hank]

Here's a financial tip - New Zealand plays Argentina in Rugby at five. 500 on NZ wins you 50 at Bovada. That's free money.

 

New Zealand 34 Argentina 13. Easy money.

[Andrew Amerk]

 

 

Remember that it is just an estimation and not a real score. In my story earlier, credit karma had me a bit higher than my wife.

 

If I'm not mistaken, they are directly using the information on your Trans-Union credit file.

 

You can always ask the lender or creditor which file they are pulling from (TU, Equifax, Experian, or all 3).

 

It takes 2 years for a hard credit check to be removed from your credit report.

 

Credit Karma was a serious help for me from going to zero credit and an apartment 2 years ago, to having an excellent score and a nice house today.

 

As an aside, anyone with negative things on their reports can request Equifax to remove them. I went 3 for 3 on these, as the collection agencies usually don't have the documents to refute the dispute. It takes 2 months. They removed a red light photo ticket that I didn't agree with, a medical bill that should have been paid by insurance, and some fake lawn care bill that wasn't mine.

[Iron Crotch]

As an aside, anyone with negative things on their reports can request Equifax to remove them. I went 3 for 3 on these, as the collection agencies usually don't have the documents to refute the dispute.

 

 

Absolutely right. It is a little know fact that when financial institutions sell the debt to collection agencies, they often don't provide the necessary paperwork should the claim be challenged. Go to general court on a Friday and you'll see case after case of "Financial institution vs. individual debtor." It is a shame the debtors rarely show up to challenge the claim. Some/many of them would win if they did.

[MattPie]

You actually need good credit for more than just that. Some employers will check credit before hiring someone, landlords, as well.

We have done the credit card balance swap forever. We've had over 15 cards over the past twenty years and our credit is really good. Assuming your credit is currently good and you are getting offers, you just have to wait for the right one, like 0% on transfers with no transfer charge (sometimes it's as much as 3%). Just keep on top of it and make sure you close the previous card.

 

If card longevity is a factor in your score, wouldn't it make sense to keep 1-3 "long term cards" and then just shuffle the balance to a revolving door of cards until it's paid off? Then, when you close that card all you have left are 1-3 cards that you've had for X years. That is if you can trust yourself to not use the long-term cards for anything that you can't pay off each month.

[SwampD]

If card longevity is a factor in your score, wouldn't it make sense to keep 1-3 "long term cards" and then just shuffle the balance to a revolving door of cards until it's paid off? Then, when you close that card all you have left are 1-3 cards that you've had for X years. That is if you can trust yourself to not use the long-term cards for anything that you can't pay off each month.

I'm not sure how much of a factor it is. Whatever it is, it is probably offset by the "potential debt" factor of having a bunch of cards open. I know that if you have 4 cards with a $20K limit, that's viewed as $80K of potential debt and can lower your score.

 

I'd have to ask the house manager (wife) about the particulars, but we've also had another card throughout that we rarely use, that either gets payed off whenever we use it or transferred to the 0% on transfers card. I think we've only swapped that one once.

Edited September 29, 2014 by SwampD

[Drunkard]

I'm not sure how much of a factor it is. Whatever it is, it is probably offset by the "potential debt" factor of having a bunch of cards open. I know that if you have 4 cards with a $20K limit, that's viewed as $80K of potential debt and can lower your score.

 

I'd have to ask the house manager (wife) about the particulars, but we've also had another card throughout that we rarely use, that either gets payed off whenever we use it or transferred to the 0% on transfers card. I think we've only swapped that one once.

Having a lot of unused credit actually helps your score as long as you actually use the cards periodically. Ideally you want to keep your utilization percentage under 20% but still active. People running your credit just take a snap shot of how much is currently charged not actual carryover balances. So even if you have the card paid off on the 15th of each month if they run your credit on the 13th and you have $3,000 charged against a $5,000 limit it shows up as a 60% utilization rate (bad) where if they ran it on the 16th you'd have a much lower utilization assuming you paid off your statement charges (amounts they actual start charging you interest on). I have 2 cards and basically charge all of my household bills against them so I applied for higher limits for my cards to ensure I stay below the 20% threshold with my general bills. If I make a large purchase by credit card though my credit score takes a small dip until I pay it off by the next billing cycle.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Drunkard

[dEnnis the Menace]

Having a lot of unused credit actually helps your score as long as you actually use the cards periodically. Ideally you want to keep your utilization percentage under 20% but still active. People running your credit just take a snap shot of how much is currently charged not actual carryover balances. So even if you have the card paid off on the 15th of each month if they run your credit on the 13th and you have $3,000 charged against a $5,000 limit it shows up as a 60% utilization rate (bad) where if they ran it on the 16th you'd have a much lower utilization assuming you paid off your statement charges (amounts they actual start charging you interest on). I have 2 cards and basically charge all of my household bills against them so I applied for higher limits for my cards to ensure I stay below the 20% threshold with my general bills. If I make a large purchase by credit card though my credit score takes a small dip until I pay it off by the next billing cycle.

 

So I looked at my credit score (and knowing how much of my credit card is currently being used), and it was a different percentage of utilization than I anticipated. Apparently, USAA automatically increases your credit limit as the life of the card ages, depending on your history etc. I had no idea they did this.

[Drunkard]

 

 

So I looked at my credit score (and knowing how much of my credit card is currently being used), and it was a different percentage of utilization than I anticipated. Apparently, USAA automatically increases your credit limit as the life of the card ages, depending on your history etc. I had no idea they did this.

 

That's good of them. I didn't know they did that either. I have USAA for car insurance and home insurance but I don't do any banking with them. I bank with Navy Federal Credit Union and they've increased my credit limits every time I've asked them to but have never done it automatically. I got my first credit card at 18 though and started with a $500 limit.

[bob_sauve28]

In the interest of paying down the card the fastest I would suggest doing a through review of where all your money goes and then finding ways not to spend as much. Keep looking for ways to stop losing money on things you do not need, cheaper ways of doing things, eating cheaper, etc. I've saved thousands a year simply by tightening up the ship, getting rid of waste and not taking for granted say a $50 a month bill, which is $600 a year, $6000 in ten years and a lot more if invested correctly. Put a few things together like that and you will increase your net worth. Do the math and come to know it. Do you drink a lot? Go out a lot? Maybe change that up and then record what you are saving so you know where your money is going. It's like getting a pay raise

 

I just got into stocks this year and still learning but feel like I had to start somewhere. I've only invested in canadian companies on the tsx so far but it's been a great start. I'm into dividend reinvestment plans to take advantage of the very low transaction fees myself.

Indexed mutual funds. Buy and hold and continue to fund.

[Drunkard]

 

Indexed mutual funds. Buy and hold and continue to fund.

I definitely agree with this. Most mutual funds are unable to outperform their target index and the majority of the remaining ones that do actually don't perform them when you subtract out their fees from your overall return. You're better off over time just buying the market index funds with the dirt cheap management fees.

[Derrico]

So anyone else own shares in Pengrowth (PGF)? It's been free falling for a couple of months now and is down over 50% YTD. This is when you say 'these are only paper loses' right? Right?

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/stocks/summary/?q=PGF-T

[Drunkard]

So anyone else own shares in Pengrowth (PGF)? It's been free falling for a couple of months now and is down over 50% YTD. This is when you say 'these are only paper loses' right? Right?

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/stocks/summary/?q=PGF-T

 

I don't ever research individual stocks so I can't speak to the company you are asking about but all drops in market value are just paper losses until you actually sell and them it becomes an actual or realized loss for tax purposes.

 

 

 

 

[Derrico]

This is true. I guess I'll just have to sit on it and hope it goes up at some point. Although it's times like these I wonder if throwing down a grand or so can really pay off. But is it really worth the gamble? I could never be a day trader.....

[Drunkard]

This is true. I guess I'll just have to sit on it and hope it goes up at some point. Although it's times like these I wonder if throwing down a grand or so can really pay off. But is it really worth the gamble? I could never be a day trader.....

 

Yeah, it's definitely a gamble. If the stock rebounds you'll be glad you held on to it and probably wishing you had bought more while the price was depressed but if it keeps going down or the company folds you can kiss your investment good bye. If it drops down low enough there's always a chance a bigger company in the same industry may buy it to expand their market share which could boost the value but if I knew what was going to happen with the stock mark, I wouldn't be at work right now.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

*liquidate entire portfolio* (stop)

 

*buy all PIONEER AVIATION you can* (stop)

[Derrico]

 

 

Yeah, it's definitely a gamble. If the stock rebounds you'll be glad you held on to it and probably wishing you had bought more while the price was depressed but if it keeps going down or the company folds you can kiss your investment good bye. If it drops down low enough there's always a chance a bigger company in the same industry may buy it to expand their market share which could boost the value but if I knew what was going to happen with the stock mark, I wouldn't be at work right now.

 

Hahahha I hear ya. Tough timing the market so maybe I'll put a little down and then wait out the storm and hope oil prices go back to over $80 per barrel.

[darksabre]

bump

[Weave]

Time for some mergification.

[Claude_Verret]

Not sure how I missed this initially.  

[darksabre]

Does anyone here invest using Vanguard?

[woods-racer]

Does anyone here invest using Vanguard?

 

I use to. Many years ago now. 

 

Always had low fee's and a decent return on their mutual funds.

[Claude_Verret]

Does anyone here invest using Vanguard?

 

I do.

[MattPie]

Does anyone here invest using Vanguard?

 

I'm fairly sure I do too. Wife handles it though, and so far just the IRA stuff.

[darksabre]

Got approved for a pretty nice balance transfer card today through Chase. Much better limit than the last transfer card from Discover. This one, coupled with an offer through my HSBC card, should have me paying no interest on the remainder of my CC debt until it's paid off. It's amazing how fast debt can pile up, and even when working diligently at it, you can still struggle to pay it down while still trying to live your life. I'm feeling a lot better about my finances than I was this time last year. B-)  I'm glad I took the shot in the dark at going back to school last fall, even if it cost me financially. My risk paid off. 

[ubkev]

Had credit karma recommend me a zero % balance transfer card with an estimated savings of $1200. So, I thought sweet! But it turns out after doing 3 seconds worth of math, they were figuring off of my minimum monthly payment. When I entered in the actual amount that I pay per month, the savings over the life of the debt was $13. Not worth the time. But, I do appreciate their recommendations.