Should I file a claim on a plumbing/mold issue in home? Long story short- the stack going to an upstairs bathroom needs to be replaced ($2,500). Realized problem when we found water in basement. Mold remediation will be $3,000. Tile wall will need to come out in bathroom to make repairs. No idea the cost of this cosmetic issue. It’s original 1959 tile, so probably a decent amount of money to take it all out and replace on entire bathroom. Our deductible for homeowners insurance is $3,000. I’ve heard horror stories about insurance denying claims (especially due to plumbing/mold), and policy premium still going up. Also trying to gauge exactly how much our policy goes up even if the claim is handled by home owners. We have the cash to do the repairs. Is it worth it to make the claim and save the money? Or not in the long run? Thanks

I adopted my kitten in 2018, which is when I also signed up for Healthy Paws. The monthly premiums started at $24.57 and went up reasonably every year so it's now $43.17, but I just got a notice that premiums are doubling to $86.60 in 2 months. I see there are many reports of insane increases, esp. in CA where I am, so I don't know if that's why or if it's bc she hit 7 years, but I thought I'd check - is $86 reasonable for her age? The policy has been 90% w/$250 deductible. She's been pretty healthy w/only annual check-ups, so I was thinking I could change to 80% w/$500 to make it more reasonable.

I attempted to enroll my wife in a Pennie health insurance plan with a July 1 start date, even though she won’t physically arrive in the U.S. until July 8. She’s entering as a lawful permanent resident, and as I understand it, that status only becomes official when she enters the country and gets the I-551 stamp or green card. When I called Pennie, I expected them to tell me to wait until she arrived. Instead, multiple reps told me I could start her coverage as early as June 1. They said as long as I uploaded her green card by the September 18 deadline, everything would be fine. At the time, I followed their advice. But now that I’ve gone through the actual policy language from Pennie, I’m second-guessing the whole thing. From what I can tell, coverage can’t legally begin until someone is lawfully present. That would make July 1 an ineligible start date since she won’t even be in the country until July 8. It also looks like coverage normally starts the *first of the month after enrollment,* which makes me think August 1 is actually the soonest possible date. So now I’m stuck wondering what happens if I submit her green card later and it clearly shows that she didn’t become eligible until after the start date I selected. Will the system flag it? Will coverage be denied or quietly canceled? Do I need to withdraw and reapply once she arrives? I’m looking for input from anyone who really understands how Pennie processes these kinds of cases—ideally someone with inside knowledge, or a rep who has seen how this plays out in practice. Any analysis or clarification would help a lot.

I had a fsa in 2024.. before the plan expired I submitted two big expenses that were “authorized”.. however, money never got deposited to my account. Now they are saying the claim was valid but the amount was paid toward “unverified” receipts. Now that the plan year is closed they are refusing for me to submit receipts. The claims that were “unverified” were hospitals and doctors. Is this normal? Anything I can do? This is over $1200 in lost money

Car loan— 12,000 to pay off, interest rate is 7.8% Federal student loans— 6,000 to pay off, interest rates average about 4% I called Wells Fargo, as this is what my auto loan is through and they told me their is no benefit to paying off my car early (as in I won’t save any money) very confused as I know this is a “fixed loan”. Obviously it is better to pay off the higher interest rate, but if it’s a fixed loan does that matter?? Any advice on which to pay off first??

I had some large expenses come up that I couldn't afford, so I used the "Plan it" feature on my platinum card. Basically, you pay a fee, and then Amex lets you make installment payments on the charges. What I did not know at the time is that you pay interest on these payments in addition to the fees! The fees themselves were a couple hundred bucks, and I picked a 6 month payment plan under the assumption that I was paying the fees instead of interest. Am I overlooking something, or is the payment plan completely useless? I would have just carried the balance if I'd known what I was actually signing up for Edit: I confirmed with amex that I am using the "plan it" feature and not "Pay over time" so I shouldn't be paying interest, but because I have carried a balance that isn't part of the payment plan, I'm being charged interest on both. This feels pretty scummy and deceptive

We bought our home just outside the Twin Cities area in mid last year, and at the time our Travelers homeowners insurance premium was around **$1,680/year**. This year, our renewal came in at **over $3,300**. After some back and forth, I changed the deductible to match last year’s, but the total was still around **$2,800**. I contacted a few other insurance companies, and their quotes were all in the same \~$3k range. I was told that **all homeowners insurance carriers in MN increased rates significantly this past year**. Has anyone else experienced this? * Do you know *why* rates jumped so much in Minnesota? * Are there any strategies to cut this cost beyond just raising the deductible? Any insight would be appreciated. As a note, there were several homes in our area that had their roofs replaced about 2-3 years ago, because of hail damage or something like that, I would have imagined that it would have caused the price hike last year, not this.

Hi guys ! I'm considering switching pet insurance plans for my 6 year old mini Aussie. I currently have MetLife Pet Illness and Injury, but with one minor shoulder injury - maxed out my benefits after one visit. As my baby gets older - I want to make sure I have the best coverage for him - especially with ortho treatments ( ie. PRP injections) Any Recommendations would be very appreciated !

I'm in a little bit of a conundrum. I have both a Roth IRA and an Individual Brokerage Account with Charles Schwab. I also had a retirement account worth $15,000 including a Roth 401k with John Hancock, but then I changed jobs. I decided to roll the money from John Hancock over to Charles Schwab to make things more simple by having everything with the same institution. They said they would send me two checks made out to Charles Schwab. I looked today at my John Hancock account and it now says my balance is $0, so I'm guessing they have issued the checks. John Hancock said there will not be a 20% tax because it is a rollover. However, I called Schwab and they said there would be a 20% tax. I kept asking questions about it, but the gentleman said to consult a tax specialist. I don't have a tax specialist and I'm not trying to spend a lot of money to consult one. Also, Charles Schwab said the checks need to be for the exact amount going into the Roth, and the exact amount going into the Individual Brokerage Account. I never gave those numbers to John Hancock. What would you guys do in this situation? I really don't want to lose $3,000 due to taxes if I can avoid it. Also, can I trust Charles Schwab to give me the best advice for me here since they have a personal interest in getting the money into their bank?

So I recieved notice today that Statefarm is canceling my insurance because of three accidents going back to 2022. Two were not my fault, I was rear-ended in both. Is this typical? What insurance company you recommend? TIA!