Debt Dumpers 2021

[imbatman]

First off: I’d like some advice. I have the opportunity to close a small pension account in February. I’d lose $1500 in penalties but could fund more than half of my HSA.

Drumroll please….
I am credit card debt free. Set up on a monthly pay off. Thank you all who have encouraged me along the way. It wasn’t comfortable or fun but I feel amazing.
And now, the dance:

 

[afan]

First off: I’d like some advice. I have the opportunity to close a small pension account in February. I’d lose $1500 in penalties but could fund more than half of my HSA.

Drumroll please….
I am credit card debt free. Set up on a monthly pay off. Thank you all who have encouraged me along the way. It wasn’t comfortable or fun but I feel amazing.
And now, the dance:

Can you role it into an IRA and not lose anything? I get the point of an HSA, I have one that I put money in so I get the money from my work. But debt free or not, I don't want to lose $1500 just to fund it, or anything really. I look at it as that's a year car ins, or almost a week at wdw, or so many other things. $150 maybe, not I don't see the benefit of doing it.

 

[imbatman]

Can you role it into an IRA and not lose anything? I get the point of an HSA, I have one that I put money in so I get the money from my work. But debt free or not, I don't want to lose $1500 just to fund it, or anything really. I look at it as that's a year car ins, or almost a week at wdw, or so many other things. $150 maybe, not I don't see the benefit of doing it.

I can. The problem is that this HSA is brand new. I don’t even have enough in savings to cover the deductible. So yes, I’d love to hang onto my own money, but I’m trying to walk through the upshot and downsides.

 

[afan]

I can. The problem is that this HSA is brand new. I don’t even have enough in savings to cover the deductible. So yes, I’d love to hang onto my own money, but I’m trying to walk through the upshot and downsides.

Mine was too last year when I started it and I've only done my payroll deductions plus my work contribution. And this was with minimal savings. I looked at what I might expect to pay in copays for any dr visits and the dentist. My vision coverage isn't great and I'm used to paying oop for my contacts and budget for it already. Look at what you can expect and see how long it'll take to get there. And will you need the HSA money for that stuff? I could have used anything from mine yet but know a lot of people use it for all their medical expenses. My copays and stuff didn't really change and my work covers 100% of our premium, which I know isn't normal any more.

But also you can always take money out of an IRA if absolutely needed and take the hit then.

Also is it just a $1500 penalty or will you need to pay taxes on it now if you don't roll it into an IRA.

If the only way you're comfortable with things is to have that much in your hsa and take the hit, then it's what you need to do.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I didn't even realize you could fund an HSA with money you already have - I thought it had to be payroll deduction because of the tax benefit of an HSA. I will say that the HSA is fantastic for us - I max it out through Payroll deduction - I think $2600 is the most we can put in, and I always use all of it even with having really good insurance. Between my contacts, DHs glasses and all our dental work we have to have done each year, it has been a life saver.

 

[afan]

I didn't even realize you could fund an HSA with money you already have - I thought it had to be payroll deduction because of the tax benefit of an HSA. I will say that the HSA is fantastic for us - I max it out through Payroll deduction - I think $2600 is the most we can put in, and I always use all of it even with having really good insurance. Between my contacts, DHs glasses and all our dental work we have to have done each year, it has been a life saver.

I think it's still based on the max you can put in that year. I remember reading about it when I opened mine but not all the details so I could be wrong.

 

[imbatman]

I didn't even realize you could fund an HSA with money you already have - I thought it had to be payroll deduction because of the tax benefit of an HSA. I will say that the HSA is fantastic for us - I max it out through Payroll deduction - I think $2600 is the most we can put in, and I always use all of it even with having really good insurance. Between my contacts, DHs glasses and all our dental work we have to have done each year, it has been a life saver.

I could take the money and roll my entire paychecks to cover the HSA. And since I have my kiddos on my plan, I can put a max of $7300 a year there. That isn’t even the full deductible.
I do have 2 other pensions. This was a tiny employer funded one, so I contributed nothing. So until I’m a couple of years in, I’ll be concerned about the costs.

 

[barkley]

i know nothing about ira's and 401k's (or hsa's for that matter) BUT a quick google search on investopedia finds that you can do a once in a lifetime, tax and penalty free roll over from an ira to an hsa so................

couldn't you roll the pension to an ira then roll the ira to the hsa? you would accomplish funding the hsa but not incur the $1500 minimum loss?


here's what investopedia's site says-


401(k) and 457 Plans
You may also be able to fund your HSA by rolling over money from other types of retirement accounts, such as a 401(k) or 457 plan. To roll the funds over from other retirement accounts, you must first roll those funds into an IRA. Once the funds are in an IRA, you can make your one-time, tax-free transfer into your HSA. This type of move is tricky and should be done with the help of a professional financial advisor.

 

[imbatman]

i know nothing about ira's and 401k's (or hsa's for that matter) BUT a quick google search on investopedia finds that you can do a once in a lifetime, tax and penalty free roll over from an ira to an hsa so................

couldn't you roll the pension to an ira then roll the ira to the hsa? you would accomplish funding the hsa but not incur the $1500 minimum loss?


here's what investopedia's site says-


401(k) and 457 Plans
You may also be able to fund your HSA by rolling over money from other types of retirement accounts, such as a 401(k) or 457 plan. To roll the funds over from other retirement accounts, you must first roll those funds into an IRA. Once the funds are in an IRA, you can make your one-time, tax-free transfer into your HSA. This type of move is tricky and should be done with the help of a professional financial advisor.

Since I now work for an accounting firm, I’ll be contacting HR next week to ask! Thank you!!!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Happy Thanksgiving y'all (to those who are celebrating). Work gave us each a bag with literally everything we'd need for dinner and a pumpkin pie, minus the turkey, so that was my only expense this year. Got a turkey and a ham. Holy moly the prices of those were insane. But, we have tons of leftovers, sent a bunch home with my parents, and put half the ham in the freezer for later.
Trying to decide if going out in the morning is worth it. I don't *think* there's anything worth getting, but you never know what you might stumble upon.

 

[imbatman]

Happy day after I-ate-too-much-day. I bought a few gifts for my mom today, for her stocking, since Dad is gone. My heart is heavy for our firsts and I’m trying to give her some joy. I’m hoping the hummingbird hanging nests will be something she likes.

I still haven’t found anything for the kids in the family. Not even mine. Seriously wondering if cash is easier this year.

Today I planted flower seeds and finished up decorating outside. Even knocked out a few chores. Same tomorrow. Maybe get gift cards and call it macaroni since 3 of the 4 are moving overseas in a few months.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Happy day after I-ate-too-much-day. I bought a few gifts for my mom today, for her stocking, since Dad is gone. My heart is heavy for our firsts and I’m trying to give her some joy. I’m hoping the hummingbird hanging nests will be something she likes.

I still haven’t found anything for the kids in the family. Not even mine. Seriously wondering if cash is easier this year.

Today I planted flower seeds and finished up decorating outside. Even knocked out a few chores. Same tomorrow. Maybe get gift cards and call it macaroni since 3 of the 4 are moving overseas in a few months.

I find that cash always works, especially as the kids get older and I have no idea what they're into.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Decided not to go to the 5am sales, but I did need to go to Walmart anyway, so I went around 10. Still managed to get the girls scooters, a hot wheels thing, and some craft stuff that was part of it. Then ran to Lowe's to grab a couple stocking stuffers for hubby and got a craftsman miter saw with table on sale for $99 (originally $180!). He's been wanting one so I grabbed that.
Over all, still in budget for Christmas and pretty much done now.

 

[jackers]

I think I am just about done Christmas shopping. Have some things ordered that should all arrive in the next week, some gift cards still left to get and a few stocking stuffers, then should have it complete. Now to just locate where I’ve stashed everything and get it wrapped. Not quite in the Christmas spirit yet, but I have a wine advent calendar waiting that I’m hoping will help.

 

[Carol_]

Just paid $5k on the student loans.
That’ll bring it down to $143,800ish.
That’s a little over half done.
Just keep swimming.

 

[pblack]

I don't have too much of a November update. I didn't pay any extra to our Camry loan like I wanted too, but that's ok. I also really didn't work out much in November, but not going to beat myself up about it. The last time I weighed myself I still dropped almost 2 pounds. I've been trying to watch what I eat and not eat too much.

You may remember my last update mentioning I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for my birthday. I really wanted to go to Disneyland, but didn't want to spend the money. Welllll.....Disneyland won out lol. I got a great deal on the hotel and we bought 2 day PH's. On our last day we ended up upgrading to the cheapest magic key (not the so-cal MK) because it was cheaper to do that for our May trip than buying new 3-day PH's. My in-laws want to do a big family vacation next year for their 40th anniversary and I thought we had settled on doing a cruise in July, but apparently that's changed to going to Disneyland for 5 days. I'm really annoyed by this for a few reasons, one of them being that had we known they were going to change their plans to this we would have went with the 2nd tier magic key instead of the lowest magic key. Now the 2nd tier magic key is "sold out" so we can't even upgrade to it at this point. My DH and I also don't want to do 5 days in the parks, especially since we'll be doing at least 3 days in May. So I guess we'll see what happens with all of that.

I've knocked a few Christmas gifts off my list so far. We're doing Secret Santa with my DH's siblings this year and I've already bought my recipient their gift. I need my DH to decide on what he wants to buy his recipient so we can get that out of the way. I don't have too many other gifts to buy since I'm trying to cut down on actual gift giving. We are also just under 2 months away from our January cruise and I sooo can't wait! I'm working on getting the little things I still need before then.

Hope everyone had a great November! Let's finish out the year strong!

 

[npatellye]

No real budget updates here. Life is busy. My father (who has no health issues) ended up in the ER on 11/4. On 11/5, they biopsied his heart and he crashed in the OR. They were able to shock him back. He ended up on a ventilator and ECMO 24/7. They started evaluating my then 69 year old father for a heart transplant on 11/9. At 4 pm on 11/12, they added him to the transplant list. At 3:40 am on 11/13, the surgeon called my mom and said he was going to go with LifeStar to get the heart and his other surgeon colleague on the heart failure team would do the transplant.

After the transplant, they kept my father medically paralyzed and in a coma because they were unable to close his chest after the transplant his tissue had swollen so much that it wasn’t possible. My mother turned 66 on 11/15 on my father turned 70 on 11//17. My kids made him a card and I put it up in his room.

They were able to close his chest on 11/20. However, he did not wake up when they expected. It seemed everything was going poorly after the transplant. He finally opened his eyes when I was with him on Thanksgiving day. On Sunday, he finally woke up and understood me and was able to respond by nodding or shaking his head.

For now, my father’s health and supporting my mother have taken priority over everything else. The hospital is about 45 minutes from our house and I often end up driving to be with my mother (20 minutes away) first and going to and from the hospital with her (about 30 minutes from her house) around my schedule on days I work from home. It’s one visitor at a time due to Covid restrictions so it makes it for long visits when we go, plus we add on time for getting gas and for getting in and out of the parking garage. I did buy a monthly pass on 11/9 so that has helped cut down paying $4-$5 per visit; the flat fee of $75/month is easier on my wallet. Gas is what it is and it doesn’t bother me. I’m just grateful to be able to arrange to see him so often on my 3 work from home days. The two days I work in person, I drive because there is no way I’m going to let a day pass without seeing him.

My 8 and 6 year old have taken on new chores to help out around the house. My husband is working on juggling the whole after school routine and activities. Next week, maybe I can start cutting down a bit and be home a bit more while my kids are awake. For now, I mainly see them in the mornings while I’m doing the morning routine with them before school. I try to touch base with them by calling my husband’s phone after school so they can tell me about their day or, if I’m with my father, I put them on speaker so my father can hear them.

Christmas shopping is done. I’m always an early shopper. My friends think it’s crazy but it definitely makes life easier for me right now. Hoping to get back to setting goals and making progress in 2022.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

@npatellye, I'm so sorry about your father. I hope he continues to improve and my thoughts are with your family.

 

[pblack]

@npatellye I am so sorry to hear about your father. I can only imagine how much of a tailspin your life is at the moment. Im very glad to hear he's a little better now and hope he continues to make progress.

 

[jen7233]

@npnatellye so sorry for this difficult time.