Official Finance/Economics Thread

I guess I'll lurk here too.

 

Econ major here.

 

i like money

 

I could get down with this.

 

I'm assuming this is an appropriate question for this thread...

401k or IRA? I'm currently enrolled in a 401k through my employer, but my financial advisor really seems to have a thing for IRA's.

 

I think the general rule of thumb is to max out the employer contribution on your 401k, and after that it's on sort of a case by case basis. I max out the employer match on my 401k, but the fees are kind of high, so then I also contribute to a Roth IRA on my own through Vanguard.

 

You disgust me

 

Okay, interesting. My company's match percentage is incredibly low. With that being said, maybe that's why I'm being advised to switch?

 

Quite possibly. Even if their match percentage is low, I would still totally take advantage of it, as that's essentially free money. What is your company's match percentage, if I may ask?

 

I could be way off with this, but from what I understand its, "50% matching up to 2%." Does that sound possible? I'm almost certain that's what it is.

 

Yes, it's possible. That means that if you put 2% of your salary into your 401k, they will match 50% of that. Basically that means they will give you 1% of your salary over a year. It is a pretty small amount.

 

@ChiliTacos Yes, that is correct. Sorry, I'm new to this whole thing because I only recently became eligible. Apparently my company bounces back and forth with their percentage though. Recently, we've had some strong fiscal years so there has been talk of change.

 

subby subby

 

HUGE financial documents leak on offshore accounts. So many people hiding their money offshore.
The Panama Papers

 

subbed

 

Subbed as well- financial services industry professional + guitarist in a Philly band.

One thing I was curious about hearing from other economy-focused individuals on this thread was where people's heads are at in terms of candidates in this election. Currently, in my own view at least, none of the choices have really resonated so far.

I guess I'm somewhere in between moderate and libertarian when it comes to economic philosophy and left-leaning socially. I'm a staunch believer in free market capitalism with adequate regulation and negative externalities kept in check with a Pigovian-like tax system on businesses. I believe corporations, with unrivaled access to capital markets and specialized labor, are superior to the state in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship and benefiting society as a whole as long as they are properly regulated by a competent bureaucracy.

In terms of the candidates, Trump is a branding expert in the real estate world, but I would hardly consider him a gifted fiscally-minded thinker and his head-in-the-sand, nationalistic desire to expand prohibitive tariffs is not something I would support (let alone his well-documented, disturbing attitudes towards minorities, Muslims, etc). Kaisich doesn't have a viable campaign, and Cruz is the antitheses of what I would want in a politician; someone who prioritizes posturing over actual results and adheres to a socially conservative dogma that I don't identify with.

Sanders and Clinton both champion demand-side, redistributionist economic policies that are, I feel, short-term non-solutions to income equality caused by the adverse symptoms of globalization imparted on segments of the population lacking the proper skills/trade/education to compete in an increasingly high-skill/value-added services economy. I believe as a nation we need to make education our first priority, especially for kids in urban areas traditionally ignored. This would in the long-term narrow income inequality in a way that benefits all in my view. I do feel though that they are more in line with my views on the freedoms and rights of all Americans. However, Sanders' populist, anti-capitalist message conflicts with my core economic beliefs.

In short, I would love to vote for a successful, pro-business candidate who believes in the rights of all Americans and makes education of folks at every level of the socioeconomic spectrum a priority, particularly at K-12 age public schools which I attended before college. Rand Paul was in my ballpark, but hardly inspiring and I didn't agree with all of his positions. At odds with most in the Republican party, I also believe in some form of universal health care because it is an economic and moral necessity. A system of insurance companies handling routine care and government handling catastrophic care would be the best way in my opinion. We can afford to buy home owners' insurance because of FEMA, for example.

Anyway, I didn't mean that to be so long, but I've always found this community to be quite knowledgeable on things beyond music, so would love to hear some opinions. My bandmate and best friend is a far leftist/Marxist from Greece and we have healthy debates quite often so I always appreciate hearing perspectives from that side as well.

 

So I feel I have really the same views as you on this. Trump has no clue what hes doing as far as dealing with other world leaders, and not pissing everyone in the country off. Bernie has some ok Ideas, have to wonder if we can pay for them though. Clinton just.. uhh. Idk prob Clinton.. don't like her.. but I'd say safest pick.

 

Dude, your avatar is legit one on my favorite shows of all time. I just watched it the other day. Glad I'm not alone.

 

Haha hell ya man. Got into the band, decided to check out the show, great decision.

 

Where's a good place to check my credit score? I'm ignorant and think websites like freecreditreport are up to something.

 

I get one from my credit card company but I'm also wary of its accuracy.

 

My ccc had a link on their site for that but it referred me to a third party and I didn't want to sign up. The last time I saw my score was 2 years ago when a car dealership ran my credit. I don't want to go through that crap again to see if it's changed haha.

 

You're definitely entitled to free credit reports (one per year from each of the major places, I think) but I'm not sure what's the best, most legit way to get them.

 

AnnualCreditReport.com is the most legit way. If you spread your credit reports out every 4 months, basically one agency at a time, you can easily keep tabs on your credit scores throughout the year.