What MM thing did you not know about that you learned here?

[imojoebunny]

Our babysitter, a great guy, very successful in his field, is selling his house.  He did not know that the gain was tax exempt.  He is a pretty sharp cookie, a teacher, but his dad told him he would have to pay taxes on the proceeds if he didn't buy a house within 60 days of selling, and he believed him.  

It really brought home how many people are not MM educated.   What are you shocked you didn't know, or that others don't know?  

[theblissisback]

I don't understand what that means OP. So I'm still learning.

I've learned a ton from the costs of housing, debt payoff, rent vs buy, budgeting, negotiate salary, the value of a quality partner, and so much more.

[Deleted]

This reminds me of my h's uncle thinking he had to pay the state sales tax (8.25%) on his new house.
My co-worker claimed his wife as a dependent on his taxes. I tried to tell him he couldn't but he argued that she is a sahw and, therefore, dependent on him.

[genet313]

May 3, 2016 16:48:03 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

Our babysitter, a great guy, very successful in his field, is selling his house.  He did not know that the gain was tax exempt.  He is a pretty sharp cookie, a teacher, but his dad told him he would have to pay taxes on the proceeds if he didn't buy a house within 60 days of selling, and he believed him.  

It really brought home how many people are not MM educated.   What are you shocked you didn't know, or that others don't know?  

Um....color me educated because I did not know this either. Is this just for primary residence?

[bostonmichelle]

May 3, 2016 16:59:01 GMT -5 genet313 said:

May 3, 2016 16:48:03 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

Our babysitter, a great guy, very successful in his field, is selling his house.  He did not know that the gain was tax exempt.  He is a pretty sharp cookie, a teacher, but his dad told him he would have to pay taxes on the proceeds if he didn't buy a house within 60 days of selling, and he believed him.  

It really brought home how many people are not MM educated.   What are you shocked you didn't know, or that others don't know?  

Um....color me educated because I did not know this either. Is this just for primary residence?

Those were the old rules so I wouldn't knock the dad too hard. The new rules are $ amount exclusion on the gains based on time tests (2 out of the last 5 years, etc).

[imojoebunny]

May 3, 2016 16:59:01 GMT -5 genet313 said:

May 3, 2016 16:48:03 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

Our babysitter, a great guy, very successful in his field, is selling his house.  He did not know that the gain was tax exempt.  He is a pretty sharp cookie, a teacher, but his dad told him he would have to pay taxes on the proceeds if he didn't buy a house within 60 days of selling, and he believed him.  

It really brought home how many people are not MM educated.   What are you shocked you didn't know, or that others don't know?  

Um....color me educated because I did not know this either. Is this just for primary residence?

www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc701.html

Primary residence that you have lived in for 2 out of the last 5 year years.  

[irene adler]

Well, I learned that people judge those who throw away your dog's poop bag into a random but not yet collected garbage can out by the curb on trash pickup day. I think if you all as I stare longingly at the readily available trash cans as I carry my dog's waste back home every Monday morning.

ETA – it took me until this morning to realize this question was specifically about mm things. To answer that, I have learned so much. I also raised the prices for my business upon your encouragement.

[imojoebunny]

May 3, 2016 17:59:15 GMT -5 irene adler said:

Well, I learned that people judge those who throw away your dog's poop bag into a random but not yet collected garbage can out by the curb on trash pickup day. I think if you all as I stare longingly at the readily available trash cans as I carry my dog's waste back home every Monday morning.

This is a big one in my 'hood!  We have special city trash bags, and if trash is not in them, they won't pick it up, so you have to fish the bag out of the bottom of the can (usually has rain water) and put it in the bag.   It is definitely a gross factor, and a regular neighborhood FB topic :-)

[konapoppy]

Um, a lot. Pretty much everything? Lol

[scout8]

That there are other options besides high fee financial planners. I only wish that I would have learned this 15 years ago!

[Deleted]

This is a great question! I learned a lot when MM evaluated my budget a few years ago when I started on my early retirement journey. It was more the value of having a second (third, fourth, fifth, etc.) set of eyes that I found invaluable.

While we didn't make all the suggested changes, many of the changes have made us more $$$ secure.

[scout8]

Oh I thought of another one. I had no idea that people negotiated job offers. I won't be using this info as I have no plans for a new job, but still very interesting!

[Deleted]

Mo' money, mo' problems

But really, when you make more money, it's like bills reproduce like rabbits.

Budgeting for sure was a new one. Why don't they teach this in high school?

[tacom]

Nearly everything. I was a broke college student when I started hanging out here.

Various retirement vehicles and the basics for prioritization, basic investment advice, leveraging debt, COL differences, state variances in income tax, etc etc etc

[raangoli]

May 3, 2016 17:59:15 GMT -5 irene adler said:

Well, I learned that people judge those who throw away your dog's poop bag into a random but not yet collected garbage can out by the curb on trash pickup day. I think if you all as I stare longingly at the readily available trash cans as I carry my dog's waste back home every Monday morning.

If it hasn't been collected then I'm ok with it. I'm not happy but I'll let it go. What I hate is the person that does that AFTER my garbage has been collected. No. You're a jerk.

[Pom]

So much, I don't even know where to start. I was so wrapped up in "survival" before I was married and working 60-70 hours/week. I felt like I didn't have the time or money to dig myself out of the financial hole where I was languishing. I've leaned maybe not all of the nuances of retirement, investing, shopping life insurance, tightening up household expenses (shopping auto/home insurance/cable/etc) but knowing the direction to go and where to look for relevant information.

[scm1011]

lol RockNVoll , negotiating mattress price was the first thing that popped into my head too. I definitely embarrassed DH and exasperated the dude at Sleepy's last time we bought a mattress (but I totally got a deal! )

I've been on this board (and the prior incarnation) 9 years and have learned a TON. I'm sure I would have become more MM savvy with age and because of my job anyway, but without this board I doubt I'd be saving 15%+ for retirement, and I'm sure I wouldn't be prioritizing savings to the extent I do now.

[aurora]

I wouldn't have made such a detailed budget, including tracking my every expense for 3 months to understand variable amounts, if I hadn't started hanging around here. Even though we don't budget precisely every month now, it's so helpful to understand our particular priorities.

I've also learned a ton about buying and selling houses. Both of our transactions were pretty drama free and I'm very thankful after reading the horror stories.

[cajunmom]

Honestly, the basics of creating a household budget has had the biggest impact. I learned that on that place-that-shall-not-be-named back in 2006/2007 (!!!) and it enabled me to not only get a handle on our spending but showed us that it was possible for me to start my own business and be able to make it. My business has been going strong for almost 9 years now and it wouldn't have been possible without that first excel budget spreadsheet I worked up on my lunch breaks.

[Deleted]

Pretty much everything I know about being an adult I learned on MM.

[UnderProtest]

I learned about the wonders of Sephora here.

[jwright]

May 3, 2016 16:48:03 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

Our babysitter, a great guy, very successful in his field, is selling his house.  He did not know that the gain was tax exempt.  He is a pretty sharp cookie, a teacher, but his dad told him he would have to pay taxes on the proceeds if he didn't buy a house within 60 days of selling, and he believed him.  

It really brought home how many people are not MM educated.   What are you shocked you didn't know, or that others don't know?  

The rollover rule was in place until 1997.  Your babysitter's dad probably hasn't bought a new home in a while.  

[raangoli]

Back door Roth contributions. It's much easier than I thought it would be!

[Wanderista]

I'm new to MM and only stop in periodically. I am definitely at the start of my learning process. The board is a healthy reminder to think sensibly about finances and my specific financial priorities. This is all stuff that I'm getting more interested in as I "grow up".

[Deleted]

Oh yeah, I had never really had the talk about retirement savings and what percentage. I'm still only at 10% except for maxing for three years in a temp high pay/high stress job. My job also comes with a pension but no 401K match.

I come at a weird time because we have seen the decline of pensions to almost non-existent. I truly thought people could live off just social security benefits. I STILL don't even know how 401Ks work or pay out after you retire.

I also found out people don't immediately try and pay off all debt.

[sfy]

I would have never had a budgeting spreadsheet or a net worth spreadsheet without MM. I also probably wouldn't have focused as much on saving and saving for retirement. So, I would say MM changed my life .

[Marmee]

To actively think about money, not passively. I credit MM & my DH for this. I never had money and neither really did/do my parents so I was mostly in the survive/live a day at a time mindset until I started hanging out on MM years ago.  Our finances are in a place I never in a million years would think they'd be--much less by 40.

[Deleted]

Switching my IRA out of my credit union and over to Vanguard. I've made 5x as much in interest in the past six months as I made in 18 months at the credit union!

[bostonmichelle]

How to go without cable.

I probably wouldn't have known how to figure out how much DH was underpaid at his last job by industry standards. And we probably wouldn't have negotiated as much on his current job without being on this board.

[busterpup]

Don't spend money to save money!

I used to buy something because it was a good deal even though I didn't really need it. The idea of really thinking about whether or not I need something instead of just looking at the price tag has translated into other areas, too, and has made my entire life more manageable.