save the money up first then buy stuff. the loan isn't free, it'll have interest. also you don't have a job yet. how are you going to pay off a loan without your job?

Did you want to rant or are you actually interested in asking a question?

You don't need a tax expert to know how to fill out a W-4.

Without a lot more info, there’s not much we can help you with. I’d reach out to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling www.nfcc.org and talk to a professional that can help you with your budgeting and putting a plan together to address this. 20K sounds like a lot but it’s not the end of the world. If you dial back your expenses (and are making good money), you can get this paid off in full in a few years.

This comment honestly means a lot. Where I'm at in life isn't making me happy, and I really want to move but throwing away 2k in rent every month is holding me back which is what has ultimately lead me to question and learn about my finances. I rented for a year after college, which is normal and most people do it for years and years, so maybe I should consider that again instead of stressing, and instead hold off on making any big decisions...

First off, never leave anything in cash in your Roth IRA.

Second, you can withdraw any contributions you have made.

You cannot put that money back in unless you put it back within 60 days.

Your friend is right about the fact that you should be using your money for necessaries first. Save for taxes (figure out your actual tax rate) and other necessities (rent, utilities, food, etc after minimizing them a much a possible), part the minimums, save a small emergency fund as quick s possible, and then once you have it throw all extra funds at your debt.

If you can't pay the minimum payments and your necessities at the same time it may be time to consider a second job or bankruptcy.

In today's environment if you have marketable skills then moving (even within a year) raises nary an eyebrow. Also, it's def possible to throw shade (politely) at said employer when you interview for a new position. But don't waste time being unhappy if there's something you can do about it.

I don't think this plan makes sense. What will you do about the late credit cards? You'll need to pay them eventually, probably with that money you paid yourself first, except now there's additional late fees and interest.

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Workout a few deals with dealers and see what works best for you. Dealers are interested in financing because they get incentives from financing. But they maybe open to a cash offer

Growth in Roth IRA is completely tax-free assuming you only do qualified withdrawals.

Growth in traditional IRA is tax-deferred until you withdraw or convert. Then it's treated as ordinary income when you withdraw or convert.

Also, since you use Vanguard, did you know Roth conversion is as simple as clicking "Convert to Roth IRA" on the traditional IRA? It'll lead you to a page where you select what things to convert to Roth IRA. You can convert money or shares without needing to sell.

Feels like you just had some wide range of research onto this though.

Any refund check you get from the state is going to be considered paid to you, so might as well deposit it. It won't have any major impact on your ability to dispute an adjustment, it'll just be factored into your overall tax situation. If you thought you were due $1200 and they sent you $1000 instead, if you can get that fixed they'll just send the missing $200. You don't have to undo / cancel the "wrong" $1000 check to get the full $1200.

As for why the refund amount changed, that's harder to guess. When did you file? When was your return accepted and refund check sent? Government bureaucracy can sometimes cause communication to lag behind money moving around. I've had explanation letters show up a couple weeks after the check. But if it's been more than a few weeks since you got that lower refund check, that feels like time to start pushing harder on them for answers.

I’m 28 and that’s exactly how I still budget and I use excel to track things (inefficient tbh, I know I could find something better).

Imo you’ve made an amazing start with how you prioritise things:

• Bills first
• Savings
• Then your day-to-day money

I think this would be good to live with for a few months and see how it suits you.

After this you’ll know about adjustments and how realistically you can stick to your budget.

Imo, your next step would be to find a saving scheme with some sort of interest. Don’t be put off by numbers, 1% is still more than 0% and is free money at the end of the day.

I have three save schemes: an ISA, a savers account that’s limited in how much you can deposit but the interest is 6% and I also keep some cold hard cash (because I get tips in work).

I do this because I want a savings account that I don’t touch, a savings account for surviving for 3 months if suddenly stopped being paid and an account to save for fun stuff.

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Just follow the flowchart and otherwise live your life how you would most enjoy it instead of overthinking it

We are interested only in new car. But not much of a deal by financing either.

Rate is above 5%. So not really worth it.

From my knowledge, it’s advantage would be you can get your money sooner and reinvest it into something else after, and maybe rates get higher up after those 10 months.

Unfortunately can't wait that long :(

I’d go so far as to say most of America has a lack of knowledge on how taxes work, which is why we end up paying tax experts to handle it. As I went on a tangent I was saying there shouldn’t even be a need for “tax experts” when as a W2 (see I learn quickly) employee the government knows how much I make already. But that was besides my main point of, if I don’t have the letter via snail mail in my possession what is my next step to even knowing what was written on it? And if the phone number doesn’t connect to anyone but Siri how can I communicate my situation to anyone but Reddit?

I do find it odd that a 401k plan managed through Fidelity is offering Vanguard's funds. Most bigger brokerages stick with just their own "in house" funds. Could just be something with your particular employer's plan.

But for a personal IRA, while you might be able to buy Vanguard's TDF in a Fidelity IRA, Fidelity is going to charge extra for it, usually through transaction fees. You can bypass those by just sticking with the "Fidelity Freedom Index 2060", their version of a target date fund. But make sure you get the "Index" version, they have an actively managed TDF with a higher expense ratio.

While they're issued by different brokerages, there is very little practical difference between a target date fund through Fidelity and one with Vanguard. Almost all TDFs follow pretty similar guidelines around asset mix vs. time. So a 2060 "Fidelity Freedom Index Fund" won't be too different from Vanguard 2060 "Target Retirement Fund".

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Can you expand on why you want the growing to happen in the Roth? Is that more optimal than the high yeild of the money market fund in the traditional?