Thank you so so much, this is the exact reason and now I know! Was so frustrated and confused lol

>Due to the OP using the € I think they aren't playing by US rules at all.

Yes, I am a silly American and did miss that, thanks for catching and good explanation.

I am a bit horrified by how bad this sounds though. If u/TenDogsInATrenchcoat were to take this loan and try to sell their house before 38 years they would instantly owe six figures on top of the principle and be completely screwed, right?

Is it fair to say that this is a bad deal by European standards as well and OP should flip their lender the middle finger and do something else then?

That is a ridiculous deal for you. If you pay the loan early, you shouldn't have to pay all the interest. That's the whole point of paying the loan early. I'd check with your lender. If that's what they're actually offering you, I hope you haven't signed this deal.

If you're able to pay it off early, at the very least get a shorter-term loan so you don't have to pay so much interest. This is predatory. Is this how things are done in Europe? It's insanely immoral.

That’s the whole “takes money to make money” concept. It’s a snowball where it goes really slow at first, but as you build up more and more the interest/growth really takes off. Generally cash savings/CDs are not going to make you a lot as they are very safe. Stocks can make more, but even then, on average take about 7 years to double your money. So 10k would be $20k if you put in no extra after around 7 years.

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Yeah it sucks. Inflation reduction act has done? Some people should be jailed over greed. Many are making hire wages, which a company is paying and they will use that as a reason to boost rates.

Do you know, or do you think you'll ever make a back-door Roth IRA contribution? If so, I'd wait for the new job, and roll it into the 401k there.

If you paid around 13k on 70k income then that is around 18.5%. If they are asking you to make an additional payment of $1600, bringing total taxes paid to 14.6, then that would be close to 20%. Is the effective tax rate on your bracket about 20%? If so, then that's your answer.

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What exactly are you trying to do? Pay down debt? Decrease your utilization ratio?

Ahh I guess that's where things go wrong. I can't say how it works in Europe or whether that's common or not since I'm in NA and know more about how it works in North America but are you able to shop around to other banks for mortgages that do allow early payments against the principal? Is this early payment thing even common?

At the end of the day the bank still needs to make their money but you still need to get the best deal you possibly can so don't get pressured into taking a loan if you have time on your side.

Your total tax bill is your total tax bill. What was withheld during the year was an estimate based on how you filled out your withholding forms. You had too little withheld. You can increase your withholding. It won't lower how much you pay each year in taxes, but it will help you avoid a year-end surprise. Beyond that, you can try to make more money, advocate for lower taxes (and fewer government services as a result), or try to take advantage of more tax incentives.

These are my favorite ones for retirement:

• How To Make Your Money Last by Jane Bryant Quinn
• The Five Years Before You Retire by Emily Guy Birken
• How To Plan for the Perfect Retirement by Dana Anspach (The Great Courses)
• Retirement Planning Guidebook by Wade Pfau
• The New Retirement Savings Time Bomb by Ed Slott
• Living Off Your Money by Michael McClung
• The Wealthy Gardner by John Soforic

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Ah, that's possible, how silly of me to miss that Euro symbol. I think most of this sub defaults to assuming "American financial regulations" unless otherwise specified.

Just logically that seems like a horrible idea though. If you sell your house before the 38 years are up you are automatically deep underwater because you will instantly owe six figures on top of whatever is not paid off yet.

Right?

Seems crazy to me.

Doesn't make any sense. Clarify with the lender.

Maybe. The problem is that money has time value, so in practice paying down the mortgage faster will only save you money if paying down the mortgage happens to be the best investment for your money. It's possible, but it's also possible you will have the opportunity for better investments.

I'm thinking more on the home buyer's end. Just thinking about still having a mortgage into 70s when only 3x years old (unless they make extra payments).

I thought of this as well but they confirmed that the equipment was picked up when I contacted them after being charged the first time. Also, the fact that they issued me a refund on 3 separate occasion should imply that I was charged in error (but perhaps I am wrong on that). The strange thing is the charges on my account are months and months apart. I feel like if they claim the equipment was not picked up, the charges should have continued monthly.

Yeah it's a scam no Bank should not be able to make more than 5% profit off of a loan.

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You can set up automatic payment to zero the balance every month. It makes it easier to not forget to pay the bill.

Yep. With current interest rates and not paying extra payments to pay off early, people can likely pay over 100% of the mortgage loan amount in interest. Adulting is hard!

Fraud will still get you evicted with the additional possibility of criminal charges.

Start by sitting down and putting on paper the following: Your current income, what you have in the bank, what other monetary assets you have (stocks? crypto?) if any, and your monthly bills including your rent. Note how much debt you have and what it's from. Include info about unpaid rent.

Then share it here so people can give you real, useful advice.

You're suuuuuuper close to it making more sense to file Married Filing Separately. This is usually the best way to reduce taxes when one spouse has large medical bills. In fact the turbo tax article on the subject uses almost the same numbers as your situation to explain it.

Based on the info provided though there's no way we strangers on the internet could tell you which method will work out in your favor though. You need to get yourself a good tax software, I prefer Turbo Tax but I know many will hate on it. Run the numbers both ways for married filing jointly and married filing separately to see which method reduces your tax bill the most.