The ones I have already given you. Passive index funds. Keep the expense ratio low. Avoid annuities. Avoid whole life, variable life or universal life insurance. Avoid "advisors" that work for insurance companies and banks. Read the links I provided. Those will provide good education.

Generally not a good idea to use secured debt (home equity loan) to pay off unsecured debt like credit cards. If you can't pay your credit cards nothing can be taken from you. If something happens and your ability to repay the home equity loan is compromised then bye bye house. Don't put your house at risk for unsecured debt.

Yes, you should have both. General advice is to contribute enough to the 401k to receive the maximum amount your employer matches since that is free 100% return on your money. Then, max out a Roth IRA. If you can afford to contribute more money for retirement then contribute more to the 401k up to the max. The more money you get invested at the youngest age possible the better so your money has longer to compound and grow. At 21 years old, every $1 you invest for retirement now should grow to something like $20-25 over the next 40 years. Wait 5 years to start saving and every $1 will only grow to about $15.

Roth IRA is just the type of account. Think of it like a box. You put money in the box. For an IRA the money into the box comes from your bank account. For a 401k (another type of box you get from your employer) the money comes from your paycheck. Then, once money is in the box you have to buy investments (stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds (probably not until you are older) with the money.

If you read and understand the information on these pages you will have better financial knowledge than probably 70-80% of the population...

https://www.fidelity.com/retirement-ira/roth-ira

https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/how-to-invest/risk-reward-compounding

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/1/401kplan.asp

https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/understanding-investment-types/what-is-an-index-fund

https://investor.vanguard.com/investor-resources-education/understanding-investment-types/index-funds-vs-actively-managed-funds

Do an IRA rollover at Fidelity since you already have other accounts there. Keep your life simple. I wouldn't give EJ more money. I would be looking to get that money out. If you can manage your IRA on your own why can't you do the same with EJ money? All you likely need is a total stock market index fund like VTI.

One other idea - I would write a short letter briefly describing the summary of your situation to your state legislators (mail, email, call - do all 3). Give your contact info so their staff can follow up with you for the details. You'd be surprised that sometimes politicians can actually get off their butt and do something positive/productive.

I would hire a local lawyer and have them write a "demand" letter to the state agency that administers the retiree benefits. Yes, you'll probably have to pay $1k or so to the lawyer, but it will be worth it to get the benefits.

Companies/governments tend to take letters from lawyers threatening to sue them more seriously than a front line call center employee answering a call from Jon Doe.

You could also file a complaint with the state AG office - not that this will necessarily get anything resolved, but it might just get your case file in front of someone who actually cares.

PS - the type of lawyer you want to search for is probably someone who deals with "administrative law" / deals with government agencies and such. I did a quick Google search and came across this firm. Not say you should use them, but I think this describes the type of firm I would hire.....

https://www.helmerlegal.com/practices/administrative-law/

https://www.lyonspc.com/administrative-law/

Ever is a long time. You have no idea what will happen in the future. no, you shouldn't cash in your retirement. The less money you have and the worse financial shape you are in I would actually argue the more important it is to not cash in your retirement accounts. Retirement accounts (especially 401k) are generally protected in bankruptcy.

As long as you had at least 20k worth of income.

https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/retirement/self-employed-401k

Out of curiosity I went back and pulled up the wills I did for family members last year to check the wording. Now I am not a lawyer so I cannot and am not giving legal advice, but this type of language is what can go into a will...

​

Digital Assets. My executor may access, handle, distribute, and dispose of my digital assets, and may obtain, access, modify, delete, and control my passwords and othis electronic credentials associated with my digital devices and digital assets.

For the purpose of this Will, “digital assets” includes the following:
Files stored on my digital devices, including but not limited to, desktops, laptops, tablets, periphisals, storage devices, mobile telephones, smartphones, and any similar digital device now or later developed; and
Emails received and sent, email accounts, digital music, digital photographs, digital videos, software licenses, social network accounts, file sharing accounts, financial accounts, banking accounts, domain registrations, DNS service accounts, web hosting accounts, tax preparation service accounts, online stores, loyalty program accounts, affiliate programs, othis online accounts and similar digital items, regardless of the ownership of any physical device upon which the digital item is stored.

You can put wording into your will / power of attorney to grant access to your digital assets. Some of the big companies like Google allow you to name someone. They call it Inactive Account Manager.

https://www.theverge.com/22812264/digital-legacy-death-estate-google-apple-how-to

https://www.suzeorman.com/blog/Revocable-Living-Trust-Do-You-Need-One

Another resource is Nolo. Nolo is an amazing publishing company that publishes books on a whole range of self-help legal topics. I've been following their stuff for decades. They have great educational content on their web site for free and excellent books / e-books you can buy on topics like wills, trusts (and a whole lot more). Today they are having a 40% of Cyber Monday sale too.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/living-trusts

Essentially there are 4 estate planning documents that you need: 1) a will, 2) a living revocable trust with an incapacity clause (helpful for everyone, really needed once you have a house and/or kids), 3) durable power of attorney for finance and 4) durable power of attorney for healthcare. Wills only come into play when you die. The much more complicated situations are when you are still alive but incapacitated (stroke, illness, accident, etc).

No, the fact the assets were held in a living revocable trust is of absolutely no consequence. It is just smart estate planning. The vast majority of adults should have a living revocable trust. People think a will is enough. It isn't.

You should receive a step up in cost basis since you inherited (a very good reason why just gifting family members assets like houses or stocks is a bad idea - because if it was gifted to you versus inherited you wouldn't get a step-up in cost basis). I'd A) confirm this with a CPA and B) fire your "portfolio manager" because you 1) likely don't need him or her and 2) obviously they are clueless. This is a rather basic, straight forward thing to know.

Sorry to hear that. This article explains how deducting medical expenses works:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/health-care/can-i-claim-medical-expenses-on-my-taxes/L1htkVqq9

Call WF and ask. Don't touch the money. Eventually the system will get sorted out and they'll take the money back.

Yeah, early 30s I'd be 100% stocks. I'm skeptical of what this "broker" is doing for you. Likely he/she is just adding fees that you don't need to be paying. Literally all you need to do is select a target date fund that your 401k plan offers or better would be a total stock market index fund. If you don't have either of those two options then an S&P 500 fund. If you are paying any kind of extra fee to this broker then I'd axe that ASAP. Fees, like growth, compound and add up over time. Paying an extra 1% fee over 30 or 40 years will eat up something like 30-40% of your gains over time.

FYI - you didn't say your age but unless you are in your mid to late 50s your "moderate growth" portfolio is likely way too conservative. In your 20s/30s/40s there really isn't any reason not to be 100% stocks. Certainly no cash. Cash would just be sitting there earning probably less than 0.05%. Why? You might feel more comfortable with a more conservative approach, but just realize being too conservative is actually a category of risk onto itself. You need the money growing and compounding to keep pace with inflation.

You are putting your money there because over time (10-20-30 years) the stock market has historically returned more than any other asset class. So yes, the market is down ~20% this year. A lot of technology stocks are down 60-70-80% this year. It happens. If you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s who cares? You should actually want the stock market to drop so your money buys more shares and over the long term (decades) more shares = more gains.

Retirement accounts have tax benefits like allowing your money to grow tax free. And if you are using Roth 401k or Roth IRA then not only does your money grow tax free but it is also tax free when you take it out in retirement. That is a big benefit.

So as long as you aren't a few years away from retirement and you are invested in a good diversified mix (hopefully a total stock market index fund or an S&P 500 fund or a target date fund) with low expense ratio then just stay the course.

PS - I would contribute to 401k up to the point of the max company match and then switch to maxing out a Roth IRA. Invest the Roth IRA in a total stock market index fund like VTI.

I wouldn't go cheap on tires. They are one of the most important safety features of a car.

This time of year can have some really good deals. Discount Tire is having a Cyber Monday sale today. Every time I looked at getting new tires they are usually among the lowest price and I've always had good experience with them (free tire checks, free rotations, free nail repair even when I didn't buy the tire there). Costco also usually has decent prices on tires.

https://www.discounttire.com/

No, because lenders are looking at your paystub for income from a job that will be continuing. Income from converting won't help.

Well of course the price is always going to be listed higher at a dealership. Check other places.

I suspect people might be asking 33k for a 2008 Accord with 160k miles but nobody (certainly not in their right mind) is paying 33k. And I'm not sure what data you are looking at because I just did a quick search and found dozens of 08 Accords for 5-10k.

Were you less than 30 days late making the payment? It won't show on credit as late until you are at least 30 days late. If both your names are on the mortgage I would expect it would show on both yours and spouse's credit reports.