Shellie, I can't help the title of the book, I have used a number of the books in the series myself. While I have done some dumb things, most people don't think I am a dummy;
I just suggested he get it from the library so it is free. The check may be on the way, but he can re-invest it without the penalties. Let's say the check is $5,000. He will pay $500 in penalties plus a minimum of $1,000 in taxes. So to get $3,500 he will pay an effective interest rate of 42.8% That is if it only takes him a year to get the $5,000 paid back to himself. A payday loan might actually be cheaper. Let's say he is 25 years old. If he just takes that $1,500 and doesn't send it to the government to waste and sticks it in an etf, when he is 65 it will be worth approximately $37,000. So to get $3,500 he will pay an effective 1,100% interest rate. If he puts the whole $5,000 to work the number is $123,000. When you contemplate throwing away $123,000 that should get someones attention.
So from the below, it looks like he has 2 car notes? I am starting to see why the mortgage banker may be a little frustrated. She's probably having some issues with the big picture getting only bits and pieces of info.
I don't mean it to sound negative, but people have to want to be helped. He came to you, you came here. You get cpa's, mortgage bankers, and other experts willing to help (for free) if you will furnish all the information. It still is a struggle to get good info from him. You say he doesn't have anyone in his life for guidance. You're there, we're all here and yet we're still getting dribs and drabs of the picture.
@Shellie wrote:While I really appreciate the help here I do feel that some of these answers are a touch on the negative side in relation to his "interest in getting help" and "home buying for dummies". I'm sure they aren't meant in malice but they do come off a little on the offensive side.
He is a young man with not much other guidance. He is reaching out for help by asking questions. He may not be asking the right question or asking the right person but he is reaching out for help. That's why we all end up here. He came to me and I came to you all. No one has all these answers until the questions arise. Those of you who are vastly educated in the process didn't start out there. You have all educated yourselves by some means. Be it schooling, going thru the process, self educating, researching your own questions etc. I ask that you think about this before you pass judgement by making comments implying his lack of knowledge and/or determination. -rant over-
Unfortunately, I don't have all the number in this scenario. I know that both the CareCredit and his store card both had a $0 balance. He made a small $20 purchase on the store card. He has already taken the money from his 401k, just waiting on the check to my understanding. This isn't a constant conversation between the two of us. If someone has a list of questions they would like me to ask him I would be happy to do so and report back here with the answers.
I know he has other stuff on his credit but in reality isn't stuff he pays. He carries the note on a car for a friend but that friend pays for it. I know that doesn't matter on paper tho.
