Sally Herigstad, CPA

I am a former career woman that has gone through a lot of changes in the past year. I married a man in the US Navy and we have a 10 month old son. We have just moved to Hawaii. Up until I had my son, I made a really good living in Florida. We currently own a home in Florida and have it rented but it has no equity. My problems are: since moving to Hawaii, I cannot find a job that pays more than $40,000 a year. We have $51,000 in unsecured debt and lose $300 a month from our home in Florida due to the horrible housing market there. My renters have decided not to extend their lease agreement past July of this year. Hawaii is very expensive, daycare is almost impossible to find, and taking a $70,000 pay cut and trying to make ends meet on my husband's $30,000 salary makes things really impossible. I am now behind on credit card bills by over 60 days now and feel we will never get out of our dilemma. Should we file for bankruptcy?

Miserable in paradise

Hi, I am at a loss as to how withholding works, and am concerned that too much is going to be withheld from my summer paychecks. I am a student, but will be working at a law firm for 12 weeks in the summer. The pay rate is $3100/week, which would put me into a high tax bracket. However, the money made in those 12 weeks is the only money I will make all year, for a total of $37,200, which would put me in a much lower tax bracket. I am concerned that money will be withheld as if I'll be making that much all year long, as if I am making $160,000. Is that the case? Is there any way to prevent that from happening?

Sam

I am 55 and my wife is 53. I still work making $50k a year and my wife is an out-of-work realtor who is waiting for the market to get better. We just inherited some money that's all in the stock market. Since the market is in a slump which may get a lot worse, would it a good idea to pay off the $135,000 mortgage (5.95 interest rate)? That would leave me with a nice amount to keep in the market or put in CDs. We also have a car loan at 7% of $16,000.

I originally had the idea that I'd put my money in the market and it would pay me enough to only work part time, but that hasn't worked out. I want to make the right decision, can you help?

Thanks
RS & BS

Hi Sally. I heard you on Marc Pearlman's show and now I'm reading your book. I am a single woman of 45 who has always lived paycheck to paycheck. I have no savings, $7000 in credit card debt, and about $20,000 in an IRA (which I know is very little for my age, but I've had problems keeping jobs). I rent, don't own a car, and my immediate goal right now is to get out of debt, become a saver, and change my lifestyle of always being broke. (Thinking of buying a home or condo is a distant dream right now.)

I started a full-time job 2 months ago and I make $65,000 a year before taxes. Here's my question: I wonder if I should have my W-4 adjusted so that I have less money withheld from my paychecks and can pay my debt off faster? I've already done my 2007 taxes and got a $2,600 refund. I think the refund was so high because I only worked half the year (June to December).

Right now I only take one allowance. I tried to use the IRS withholding calculator on their site, but the link is unavailable temporarily, and it looks like I can’t have more than one allowance because I’m not married, haven’t bought a house, have no kids, etc. Thanks for the information and the great advice! I am going to use your budget sheets. By the way, from your picture on the site, you don't look old enough for your daughter to be 20! Thanks and best wishes. Cynthia, Chicago, IL

I have a question. I just purchased your book, and I'm about $20,000 in debt not including mortgage and car payments. We make over $117,000 a year. I'm going on a budget and have printed your worksheets. I have no savings, only $9,000 in our 401(k) plan (we are going to max out 401k this year to help taxes). We pay a lot of taxes - over $20,000 a year. My husband and I need help. I'm getting back $4,500 for taxes - should I put it in savings or pay off credit cards? Any tax break ideas? Thank you - enjoying your book.

Elizabeth

Does a beneficiary need to give the deceased's CPA their social security number?

Peggy

I have a home equity loan that I used to finance a portion of the purchase of an expensive car. The loan is about 1/2 paid off, but now I have enough money to pay off the loan. I am not sure if I should pay off the loan now (early) to save on paying the additional interest (6% on the loan) vs. should I keep the loan and use it, as I have been doing, to get a nice take deduction each year since I am in the 36% tax bracket?

Mike S.

Is there a way to pull up a list of all of my debts off of the internet?

Kim

I am married and have an 11 month old daughter. I have spoke to a lawyer and we qualify for Chapter 7. We own a home, but it is a struggle to make the monthly payments. It is mortgaged for about $10K more than it's worth. We also owe $38,600 in unsecured debt, not including $20K in student loans (which I know can't be included in the bankruptcy). I am behind with all my creditors, some 120+ days. We have about $900 in medical debts. My husband brings home about $3000 per month - more than half goes to mortgage, quarterly real estate taxes, and homeowners insurance. I'm a stay-at-home mom, but I'm starting up my own business, plus my husband is trying to make add'l money on the side. We don't qualify for consumer credit counseling because our budget is short by about $1800 according to them. A debt negotiation company has said they can reduce our unsecured debt by negotiation to around $21K and we can have that paid off within 3 yrs with $600 per month pymnts, which is $271 dollars less a month than the credit counseling pymnt. If we don't claim bankruptcy, we will continue to experience financial hardship for several more years. Can you offer some advice? Thank You!

Lori

Response to 6 Reasons Not to Save for Kids' College http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SavingForCollege/6ReasonsNotToSaveForKids.aspx

You might want to look back into your figures. College is far more expensive than that in the metro area of DC. Some community colleges cost about 12,000 a year and state colleges cost between 25-30k a year. Most kids cannot afford to pay off the loan since minimum wage is incredibly low compared to our current economic state and the interest is high.

Brian - DC Metro area