Debt Dumpers 2025

[Nettlelondon]

I wish I was that smart at 18, but back then I barely held down a job for more than a year at a time. I was the very definition of "young and dumb". I'm hoping to teach my kids to do better.

He is a pretty smart kid, thankfully. He recently split up with his girlfriend of 2 years, partly because of very different views on money. He decided that these could become more of an issue as time went on. There were also other differences on some big issues so best dealt with now.

And on the pension thing - pension savings are transferrable easily so you don't end up with loads of tiny pots.

 

[princesscinderella]

I wish I was that smart at 18, but back then I barely held down a job for more than a year at a time. I was the very definition of "young and dumb". I'm hoping to teach my kids to do better.

We have started custodial roth IRAs for our teens who now have wages. It’s the best time for them to contribute as they really don’t need the money and it’s literally tax free going in because they don’t make a lot and will grow tax free for their lifetime.

 

[Tygerlilly]

We have started custodial roth IRAs for our teens who now have wages. It’s the best time for them to contribute as they really don’t need the money and it’s literally tax free going in because they don’t make a lot and will grow tax free for their lifetime.

Mine are 9, 7, and 3, so they have a ways to go, but I do have savings accounts for them. Not much in there yet, but it's something at least.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I talked to a financial advisor that Dave Ramsey suggested on Friday. And he said since I've only ever contributed to a 401k/Simple IRA at work, then there's nothing he can do for me. He did tell me I need to find out where all 4 401k/IRAs are located. I called American Funds and requested my old IRA to roll over into my 401K (when I first started at this company, they were in a Simple IRA but we've since changed to a 401K through the same company). I also talked to one of my 2 former employees, they told me where our 401K was and I've filled out paperwork to roll it over. Called the other employer, but their HR lady was off for the day. So I have to wait until Monday to find out where that one. Once done, I will roll everything into 1 place. That will help me figure out what I need to do. I am going to continue contributing into my current 401K because I've grown accustomed to not having it in my paycheck. Might as well keep it that way.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We didn't stop contributing to our retirement accounts when we were paying down our debt. Dh was 55 when we started Baby Step 1. Since he didn't start saving for retirement until he was in his late 30s, he was (and still is) way behind me despite being 9 years older than me.

We can't change the past but we certainly can learn from it and change our future.

@WDW_fan_in_TX Glad to see you're taking control of your finances. It's never too late. Once you're out of debt and finish beefing up a real EF, not the DR mini/starter EF, you can add extra to your retirement accounts. After age 50, people are allowed to contribute more than those <50. The amounts increase slightly each year to account for inflation.

Good luck everyone! Just keep swimming!!

 

[Nettlelondon]

FIL should be out of hospital tomorrow with a Package of Care in place for the first little while. Basically within a few hours of him getting home a team should arrive to assess his house and install things like grab rails, bathing tools, ramps and so on - and possibly a hospital bed - and carers will come in 3 times a day. After a couple of weeks there will be a review of what he needs in terms of the carer visits.

His view is he doesn't need anyone, but he also thinks he is going to be able to go back upstairs to sleep in his normal bed. The home installation team can do a fair amount, but I don't think medical miracles is in the remit!

SIL and I spent Thursday cleaning his house (he has been a widower for 10 years and housework has not been high on his list of priorities). Then yesterday SIL and her husband, DH & I spent the day building some new Ikea furniture to make the living space more organised as he has been using his sofa as a wardrobe for the last year for example so we built a wardrobe in his entrance lobby. We also created a bit of order in the main bedroom which had become a bit of a dumping zone. A tiring day but it should help.

We have also installed a number of CCTV cameras so we can monitor what he is up to in case he has any falls etc. as he cannot be trusted to wear his fall detection/careline alarm pendant.

DH has gone to see him this morning and do a few more odds and ends like install a Ring doorbell camera as he claims his current doorbell doesn't work. It works fine, he just won't put his hearing aids in so doesn't hear it.

 

[barkley]

We have also installed a number of CCTV cameras so we can monitor what he is up to in case he has any falls etc. as he cannot be trusted to wear his fall detection/careline alarm pendant.

does he routinely wear a watch? if so you could get him an apple watch that would notify you if he had a fall. another advantage is if he has an apple phone you can co-ordinate the two so if his phone is not near him he could answer it from the watch and possibly avoid rising to quickly and taking a tumble getting to wherever the phone is sitting. my mom was not good about wearing her medical alert pendant but I think if these watches had been around she would have been willing to swap out her watch for one (they've got such a nice large readable face as well).

 

[barkley]

curious for those activly employed. as a retiree I don't have any personal knowledge of my former employers opting into it but I have read of the change to tax laws a couple of years ago that enables employers to have the same tax benefits of matching/contributing to an employee's plan based off their student loan payments vs. a retirement contribution. I think this is a fantastic way to get a jumpstart on saving for retirement during a point in time when a young person may be opting out of contributing in favor of repayment but I wonder how many employers are actually doing it.

anyone's employers offer/promote this option?

 

[afan]

curious for those activly employed. as a retiree I don't have any personal knowledge of my former employers opting into it but I have read of the change to tax laws a couple of years ago that enables employers to have the same tax benefits of matching/contributing to an employee's plan based off their student loan payments vs. a retirement contribution. I think this is a fantastic way to get a jumpstart on saving for retirement during a point in time when a young person may be opting out of contributing in favor of repayment but I wonder how many employers are actually doing it.

anyone's employers offer/promote this option?

Mine doesn't and I've never heard of it. I know mine does auto enroll in the 401k if you don't do or say you don't want to.

While we have a high deductible health ins, my work does cover it fully for the employee including dental and vision, which is great. Along with some other stuff I'm surprised work doesn't do something like this. I'll be curious of anyone's work does.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

does he routinely wear a watch? if so you could get him an apple watch that would notify you if he had a fall. another advantage is if he has an apple phone you can co-ordinate the two so if his phone is not near him he could answer it from the watch and possibly avoid rising to quickly and taking a tumble getting to wherever the phone is sitting. my mom was not good about wearing her medical alert pendant but I think if these watches had been around she would have been willing to swap out her watch for one (they've got such a nice large readable face as well).

I realize you weren’t asking me but just wanted to chime in with our experience. The reason we didn’t choose the watch for my dad, vs the pendant, is that he’d have to take the watch off to take a shower. So if he fell in the shower, he’d be SOL. The pendant can be worn in the shower.

 

[barkley]

I'll be curious of anyone's work does.

yes! I think it would be of great appeal to market in drawing employees. so many folks with student loans can't think they can't even begin to think about retirement savings yet this type of a benefit lets them start working on it while knocking out those loans.

 

[Nettlelondon]

does he routinely wear a watch? if so you could get him an apple watch that would notify you if he had a fall. another advantage is if he has an apple phone you can co-ordinate the two so if his phone is not near him he could answer it from the watch and possibly avoid rising to quickly and taking a tumble getting to wherever the phone is sitting. my mom was not good about wearing her medical alert pendant but I think if these watches had been around she would have been willing to swap out her watch for one (they've got such a nice large readable face as well).

No, he doesn't wear a watch as his hands and wrists are frequently too swollen to get one on. There are times he has been wearing the pendant, fallen and told the care company that he is fine when they have spoken to him. He was not fine, he was lying on the floor unable to get up! But in his mind he was absolutely perfect as nothing hurt.

 

[barkley]

No, he doesn't wear a watch as his hands and wrists are frequently too swollen to get one on. There are times he has been wearing the pendant, fallen and told the care company that he is fine when they have spoken to him. He was not fine, he was lying on the floor unable to get up! But in his mind he was absolutely perfect as nothing hurt.

been there. it's so difficult when it becomes the time we have to parent our own parents.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

1

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just as an FYI, with the currently climate of things I'm considering clearing out everything. It's a shame, since this group has helped keep me on track. If I disappear completely one day soon, you know what happened

I’m sorry. I’m not understanding you.
Why are you saying goodbye?

 

[Tygerlilly]

Just as an FYI, with the currently climate of things I'm considering clearing out everything. It's a shame, since this group has helped keep me on track. If I disappear completely one day soon, you know what happened

I understand where you're coming from. We've started stocking up on pantry items and personal items. Nothing outrageous, just an extra box or two of pasta, a larger pack of toilet paper than normal, extra feminine care products, etc. Things that I think will eventually be harder to come by in the near future. We still have whatever funds we have in the banks, but we've been keeping a little extra in cash around too.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

1

 

[Bellex917]

I don't want to start a political discussion (and I won't get pulled into that), so I'll just stick with a brief explanation. I'm Canadian, and this is a US site. And not just this site. I might be back after the dust settles, but right now that situation is starting to feel uncomfortable. I haven't made a final decision yet, that'll probably happen over the next few weeks.

I'm doing the same when I can swing it (in particular buying extra when things are on sale), and I'm also looking for alternatives just in case.

Also not political, but there are many of us Americans that know the value of the Canadian/American relationship. It's a shame. Don't leave us, the Disney magic is for all, and the debt advise makes all of our lives better.

 

[barkley]

Also not political, but there are many of us Americans that know the value of the Canadian/American relationship. It's a shame. Don't leave us, the Disney magic is for all, and the debt advise makes all of our lives better.

one of the reasons we chose were we live is it's close proximity to Canada-the closer to Canada the nicer people get

 

[firefly_ris]

Mine are 9, 7, and 3, so they have a ways to go, but I do have savings accounts for them. Not much in there yet, but it's something at least.

I don't have a ton of savings for my kids but I'm now actively trying to make the money work more as I have time to look into it. Their savings sat in a local bank savings account for years (they are 14, 13, 11) making basically no interest and I'm kicking myself for that. My in-laws have accounts at the same bank for each of them that they deposit money into each birthday, and they would get access to the account for their 18th birthday for education. I talked to my MIL and she agreed to instead close these accounts; I opened 529s for each and she is going to put the existing balances in each 529 and contribute directly to those. Late start for compounding too much, but I figure something is better than nothing, especially the .02% or whatever they were making.

The accounts I had for the kids, I did 6 month term CDs with that money -- at the end of each 6 month term I can decide to do the CD again or return the money plus interest back into the original account. I'm on the 2nd round of CDs -- after this round I'll re-evaluate; I won't put them back into the low interest savings either way, but could pursue CDs elsewhere, or HYSA, or money market. Just to get something out of it.

I also do small custodial brokerage accounts for each kid -- I've had them for a couple of years, they each have about 500 a piece in them. All I do is buy and hold index funds in these for long term gains. I'm pretty sure these work the same as the minor savings accounts -- when they are 18 they would get access to these brokerage accounts and my hope is they would just continue stacking index funds and they have free starting foundation.

Again they don't have oodles of dollars in any of these accounts besides the ones their grandparents have been doing, but making any decent interest is better than having money just sit in accounts that do nothing except lose to inflation. Once they all start getting jobs then I figure they will be able to help accelerate these.