Hello all!
I am a newbie, and joined over the weekend. I spent the rest of the weekend trying to get familiar with the terminology and all of the rights that I am supposed to have. Now I think I am more confused than I was before I started. So here is my situation, and then I will see if someone can tell me where to start.
About two years ago, I was laid off my job that I had worked at for nearly 6 years. I didn’t even see it coming. Unemployment in Texas only goes so far and I had three priorities, (1) to pay for the many medications that I was on, because I wouldn’t be able to get the COBRA insurance, (2) to keep paying my home equity loan, and (3) to do everything in my power to keep my car.
I had problems finding a job, and eventually decided that one of the reasons for this was because I never got my degree, and was stuck in really crappy jobs. So before I was laid off I had applied to a university, and been accepted. I went ahead and enrolled thinking I would go part time while I was job hunting. I didn’t have any luck, at least not with anything more than what I was making on unemployment. I eventually was hired on with a company doing customer service as an independent contractor, which is what I do now.
I had many bills besides the basic before I was laid off, and ended up with a lot of charge offs.
I will be graduating with my B.S. in MIS in about a year, and I need to begin the process of trying to get my credit together, so that it doesn’t affect my job search after I graduate.
For a while there, when I was getting collection calls and letters and they were driving me to have to go see a psychiatrist. I found out about C&D, and that was before I lucked up and found this site. So I sent out a bunch of those to get the calls to stop. In following that, I may have shot myself in the foot, because I don’t know if I will be able to do validation or the “1, 2 Punch” now.
Someone please help me and tell me where I start.
I have:
?3 Capital One – Credit Card Accounts – All Charged Off, as of 9/2005
?CBE Group – OC DirecTV (service was off for a month in 2001, never got a call or letter from them, shows Opened 5/2001, Last Reported 3/2001) – This is showing Paid, Closed/Collection Account
?Financial Control Service – Medical Bill – Collection Account – $354 Balance as of 5/2005
?HSBC NV – Credit Card Account – Charged Off, as of 10/2005, $783 Balance
?Portfolio Acquisitions – OC Alliance (Don’t know who this is, may be from HSBC NV), Collection account, as of 11/2005, Balance $784
?Quantum Collections – Medical Bill – $126 Balance as of 10/2004
?Capital One – Credit Card Account (This was my mother’s account, and she passed away 2 years ago and I was only an authorized user, but not responsible) – Charge Off as of 6/2005
?2 NCO Medclear – Medical Bill – Collection Account – $86, $97 Balances, as of 2/2005
I have been getting letters from collection agencies regarding the Capital One accounts, but the only ones that show on the reports are the OC, not those agencies.
Can someone give me a hint as to where I should start?
Best Answer: The Full-Year NoteBook(R) System.
Standard investment advice is that you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stocks, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.
You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Highly knowledgeable people can buy a properly balanced portfolio, but most folks have a difficult time balancing things on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Back in 2000, Some people bought all internet stocks; they got burnt when they all crashed together. You have to diversify across industries. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds.
If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.
I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.
Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.
Sources:
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planni…
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetalloca…
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin…
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics
Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/…
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebOb…
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx
Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)
529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com
Newbie Cpa Profits
Reply:Hey, down-the-street/crosstown neighbor, another welcome to CB.
First of all, ^ ^ ^ what they all said, and then some. I've only been around here since late May; have become enlightened about a few things, but have MUCH MORE to learn. I still have a few things to clean up and work out, and need to do more about positive TLs.
You're right about TX unemployment *ugh*. I don't have my bachelor's degree yet and know that's probably hurting me on income. At least I have 2 jobs and that's what's getting me by for now; one of these years, I'll get that one magical job that pays as good (or better) than the 2 I have now.
Between the newbie section, PsychDoc posts, the new FAQs list, and the helpful search button, you should have some knowledge at your disposal.
Good luck with the credit improvement and the job/education hurdles.
Newbie SEO – SEO for internet marketing newbies
Reply:It looks like some of these are still within SOL, so you should be careful about DVing those that are.Here is a thread that IDare talks about weighing that option.
http://{$MySite}/forums/index.php?s…t&p=1685621
cPanel for newbies.
Reply:
Have you received any collection letters???
94
Way too many to count. They're here in a stack on top of the file cabinet.
Quickly though, go through them all and pull out ANY that have been mailed to you in the last 30 days (basically July).
Newbie Marketer – 10 Video Series Training Course
Reply: Hello all!
I am a newbie, and joined over the weekend. I spent the rest of the weekend trying to get familiar with the terminology and all of the rights that I am supposed to have. Now I think I am more confused than I was before I started….
Can someone give me a hint as to where I should start?
It's normal to be more confused than when you started. Heck, FWIW, I think that means you're actually reading, and that's a good start!
I don't think one weekend is enough (for most folks) to get ready to "get started."
I'd give yourself *at least* one more week to read, re-read, and read again. Read the newbie forum/threads, roll around this forum and read whatever interests you, play with the search button…
(Check out the embryonic new )
I just don't think it's particularly realistic to go from 0 —-> starting in two days.
Welcome to CB though, you're in the right place.
Forex Trading for Newbies
Reply: Have you received any collection letters???
94
Way too many to count. They're here in a stack on top of the file cabinet.
6 Figure Freelancer
Reply: Hello all!
I am a newbie, and joined over the weekend. I spent the rest of the weekend trying to get familiar with the terminology and all of the rights that I am supposed to have. Now I think I am more confused than I was before I started. So here is my situation, and then I will see if someone can tell me where to start.
About two years ago, I was laid off my job that I had worked at for nearly 6 years. I didn’t even see it coming. Unemployment in Texas only goes so far and I had three priorities, (1) to pay for the many medications that I was on, because I wouldn’t be able to get the COBRA insurance, (2) to keep paying my home equity loan, and (3) to do everything in my power to keep my car.
I had problems finding a job, and eventually decided that one of the reasons for this was because I never got my degree, and was stuck in really crappy jobs. So before I was laid off I had applied to a university, and been accepted. I went ahead and enrolled thinking I would go part time while I was job hunting. I didn’t have any luck, at least not with anything more than what I was making on unemployment. I eventually was hired on with a company doing customer service as an independent contractor, which is what I do now.
I had many bills besides the basic before I was laid off, and ended up with a lot of charge offs.
I will be graduating with my B.S. in MIS in about a year, and I need to begin the process of trying to get my credit together, so that it doesn’t affect my job search after I graduate.
For a while there, when I was getting collection calls and letters and they were driving me to have to go see a psychiatrist. I found out about C&D, and that was before I lucked up and found this site. So I sent out a bunch of those to get the calls to stop. In following that, I may have shot myself in the foot, because I don’t know if I will be able to do validation or the “1, 2 Punch” now.
Someone please help me and tell me where I start.
I have:
?3 Capital One – Credit Card Accounts – All Charged Off, as of 9/2005
?CBE Group – OC DirecTV (service was off for a month in 2001, never got a call or letter from them, shows Opened 5/2001, Last Reported 3/2001) – This is showing Paid, Closed/Collection Account
?Financial Control Service – Medical Bill – Collection Account – $354 Balance as of 5/2005
?HSBC NV – Credit Card Account – Charged Off, as of 10/2005, $783 Balance
?Portfolio Acquisitions – OC Alliance (Don’t know who this is, may be from HSBC NV), Collection account, as of 11/2005, Balance $784
?Quantum Collections – Medical Bill – $126 Balance as of 10/2004
?Capital One – Credit Card Account (This was my mother’s account, and she passed away 2 years ago and I was only an authorized user, but not responsible) – Charge Off as of 6/2005
?2 NCO Medclear – Medical Bill – Collection Account – $86, $97 Balances, as of 2/2005
I have been getting letters from collection agencies regarding the Capital One accounts, but the only ones that show on the reports are the OC, not those agencies.
Can someone give me a hint as to where I should start?
Welcome. I know all this can be overwhelming, but just keep reading and I promise it will get easier. Have you read the newbie section.
You should also opt out as well.
http://{$MySite}/forums/index.php?showforum=15
http://{$MySite}/forums/index.php?showtopic=154763
As far as the authorized user, just disputed it with the CRA's. You shouldn't have any problems with that on since it isn't your account.
With the medical collections, you can read up on Whychat's HIPAA process.
http://{$MySite}/forums/index.php?showtopic=175055
Have you received any collection letters???
94
Success Magazine – Design Your Best Year Ever
Reply: First of all Welcome and Im glad that you found this board. I am also very new only joining earlier this month. What I found very useful was to read Psycho Docs transcripts. He has a step by step of what to do, including how to dissect your reports so you know how to deal with each creditor. For example you deal with medical collections different than regular agencies. There is also a separate forum for that..
I was going to post that too. He has a great section on "triage", but really you should read it all.
Also, don't forget the importance of reading the FCRA and FDCPA. You can write all the letters from copying/pasting here, but in order for this to work, you really need to understand WHY you're doing what you're doing.
The newbie section, has lots of great info which I think also helps to devise the right plan for your situation.
I am now where near an expert, but IMO these are great places ot start.
I've been at this since Oct and still reread the newbies section regularly. It's amazing what pops out at you that you don't remember seeing before.
Also, read all threads (if possible), it's amazing how threads you didn't think would be pertinent to your situation, contain useful information.
Organize your bookmarks early – it's a pain to go back and do it after you've bookmarked 40+ threads.
Viral Marketing Newbies: Basics of Creating a Viral Marketing Storm
Reply:First of all Welcome and Im glad that you found this board. I am also very new only joining earlier this month. What I found very useful was to read Psycho Docs transcripts. He has a step by step of what to do, including how to dissect your reports so you know how to deal with each creditor. For example you deal with medical collections different than regular agencies. There is also a separate forum for that.
Here is the link:
I am still in the beginning stages and still feel very overwhelmed! But I am learning that organization and reading is the key. Doing a search for collection agency's REALLY helps so you know what you are up against.
One more link that I found really helpful was the one concerning validation, which is really important. I want to make sure that if I am to pay anybody anything, I want to make sure that I am paying who I am suppose to pay and this disscussion really says why. [url=http://{$MySite}/forums/index.php?showtopic=56494&st=25
The newbie section, has lots of great info which I think also helps to devise the right plan for your situation.
I am now where near an expert, but IMO these are great places ot start.
Good luck with school! I am completing my last year in my Master's program.
Lose Weight – 6 Week Body Makeover
Reply:Thanks for your quick response.
Well I guess that's one positive. I don't have any inaccurate information as far as personal information goes.
Anyone have the next step.
Reply:Hi and welcome to CB!
First thing to do is go through and dispute any old and/or wrong addresses and other personal info, including any mis-spellings, do this with each CRA. EQ & TU are easy with this, but EX it's like pulling teeth.
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