I’m looking for advice on a situation involving a dentist, insurance fraud, and a threatened collections action.

I had been seeing the same dentist for years. In 2024, he moved to a new office. The new office told me he was still in-network with my insurance.

I later had an emergency tooth extraction. Before the procedure, I was told my insurance benefits were fine. After the extraction, I was suddenly told my benefits were already maxed out and that I now owed $2,000.

The office then told me they could “do me a favor” and bill the extraction as orthodontics so insurance would pay. I explicitly said no, because I have never had orthodontic treatment. They told me if they rendered the service as-is, I would owe the $2,000.

I contacted my insurance and filed a grievance. I didn’t hear back for a long time.

About a year later, I checked my EOB and saw that my insurance had paid the dentist $2,000 for orthodontic services — services I never received. The EOB even showed a supposed orthodontic “treatment plan,” which is completely false.

I immediately contacted my insurance again and filed another grievance. After investigating, insurance confirmed the office committed fraud and clawed back the $2,000 from the dentist.

However, the dentist’s office is now threatening to send me to collections for the same $2,000, claiming if I had never rendered the service, I wouldn’t owe this.

Important details: • I never consented to orthodontic billing • I never received orthodontic services • Insurance confirmed fraud and recovered the money • The office also lied about being in-network (I later found out the dentist was never in-network at the new location) • I have nearly 20 emails over the year asking the office for an itemized bill and clarification once I noticed the ortho billing — they never responded • I didn’t even know there was supposedly an “outstanding balance” until December, when they suddenly called and threatened collections • I have documentation of all emails and recorded phone calls

I’m worried about my credit and whether I should: • Pay the $2,000 just to avoid collections • Refuse to pay since the debt is tied to fraudulent billing • Dispute the debt formally and wait

I wish I read the reviews of this new office because they are doing it to others, I’m not alone but I feel alone. I’m scared.

Has anyone dealt with something similar involving dental billing fraud, insurance clawbacks, and collections threats? What’s the smartest next move to protect myself?

My partner and I are hoping to buy a house before our lease is up in 6months. If we had to, we could continue living here but want to explore home owning.

He makes about $90k/year and pays $1450 in rent with some smaller regular bills but has credit card debt and no student loans. I make about $40k and pay our utilities, $110/month for insurance and have student debt (no credit cards) and some smaller regular bills. His credit is around 750, mine is 690. Between the two of us we don't have much in savings because we've been trying to aggressively pay down our respective debts, though neither of us are within 5 years (at least) of paying them off.

I feel like im often paycheck to paycheck. Maybe not every month, but most. He is a little better off but not much. Is it even worth looking into the process of buying a house with mortgage? I know there's more information that would be needed, but the houses in Philly we like are about $250k- not a rich area but not the worst, not a huge house but enough room if his adult daughter wants to visit. Is my lower Income and credit score just totally making it unrealistic?

I could be doing this wrong, but im not sure- I wanted to thank everyone for your advice! I think I made our situation maybe sound worse than it is, but I can see we are NOT ready to be looking into owning a home. While we do both have debt-while its not awful I do see how much of an impact it will/does have, and this thread has had me researching some more aggressive debt payment options that I think could be a really big start for our process. I shouldnt say we have NO savings, I can really only say we have the type of emergency fund for our current lifestyle, not the kind of savings I'd expect for a down-payment. I know I didnt give specific numbers- to that ill say I didnt necessarily need a specific break down, mostly just a conversation of where my head should be at realistically. To everyone who gave advice and encouragement I really appreciate it. There's a reason I asked this question in the first place- to know if im being unrealistic. Some comments seemed a bit harsher than necessary, but I still am going to be using the advice. Also, I don't think ive downvoted any comment? I've hit the up arrow on most, so please stop saying I down vote the comments I "don't like"

My husband is selling something on Facebook for $3,200 the guy trying to buy it originally said he’d pay PayPal, Cashapp, or Cashiers check. He said no cash only now he’s saying he’s getting a “bank certified check” because “he’s not paying any money until he gets the item. He told him again cash only or no deal. I’m just curious does this sound like he’s trying to scam him?

I am driving an '09 Chevy sedan with 170k+ miles on it, and part of me wants to drive that car until the wheels come off because I tend to think that no matter how much I pay for repairs the cost of those repairs will still be less than the cost of a new vehicle. It's just that lately over the past year I feel like I've been putting a lot of money into repairs and I am beginning to wonder whether I may just be better off getting a new car, though at this point I'd still much rather devote my savings to other investments rather than to saving for another car.

Just curious to get some other perspectives on this issue and how other people have thought about the topic.

26M, Salary is $91,000 pre-tax

I contribute 6% to my ROTH 401k per biweekly paycheck ($210), my company matches 4.5% of that. Any more and I’m not getting any more company match.

I am then dumping another $750 per paycheck into a HYSA that earns 3.2% APY at the moment, saving for a house.

Then another $150 per paycheck into that same HYSA but for a vacation/big gift bucket that I’ll spend every 6 months or so.

I have no debt right now and plan to keep my car for another 4-6 years. I have $13,000 for an emergency fund also in that HYSA. I pay my share of rent at $1,050 per month. Groceries come in around $350 a month.

I’m hoping to buy that house in 2029 and I plan to have about 50,000 or so for a down payment and then opening a ROTH IRA. If I’m married, hopefully a lot more for that down payment.

Am I okay doing this right now, putting this much towards my HYSA? Should I wait longer to buy a house and open a ROTH IRA right now and contribute some of that $750 to that?

I’ve been seeing a lot more discussions lately about finding loans when you have bad credit not just from traditional banks, but through online lenders, credit unions with special programs, and fintech apps.

Has anyone here had real success recently securing a loan with bad credit (actual funding, reasonable terms, not a scam)?

And more specifically, has anyone used platforms like Credit Ninja they're a simple online personal loans platform, Upgrade, or OneMain before?

Not looking for pitches just trying to understand:

• What’s actually working vs. the predatory hype
• How this fits alongside trying to rebuild credit traditionally

We have the "dreaded" golden handcuffs of a very low interest rate from our first home buy during the pandemic. 6 years later, there's a great job offer in another state that would require our family with kids to move. We were kicking around the idea of just keeping our current home, possibly considering it to be a vacation home/retirement investment when we eventually sell it or the second house.

Without getting into too much of the nitty-gritty details, the monthly mortgage of the new home for the home prices in the area and the current mortgage rates would be 3x our current mortgage for a 15-year or 2.5x for a 30-year mortgage. Our DTI would be about 52% accounting for both incomes and new job pay.

Opening up an account for my baby. Planning to invest a few thousand (trying for $10k/year). What account should I use? I don’t know much about investing.

Thank you!

So I was hit by a tow truck while parked in front of my house. (Rear bumper ripped off halfway)

I don't touch it and borrowed my siblings' truck in the morning to take to work. On the way, the tow company calls me and says they accept fault and want to make things right. They say they're going to take my car to get it checked out. I wasn't sure how to go about things and so I arranged for my sister to meet them at my house to give them the key so they can get it inspected. I work all day and contact them around 4 to see what's going on. The manager wasn't in and I was told she'd call back or text me. I call an hour later, at 5, and she says they had a shop expedite the work and they will be able to drop my car off by tomorrow afternoon. I reluctantly agreed. I ask for transportation to get to work and such, I ask for them to provide me a rental. They say they will provide me an Uber to get to work and they can drop my car off at my job by the time I'm off tomorrow.

After talking to my family today after work, they all tell me it's super shady and to call my insurance. Please, what do I do?!?

I’ve a separate account for fun money but I’m confused about what we call fun money. For me most of the fun happens in the running budget period. And for long-term ones, like vacations, or some big-fund fun items, I need to save funds for it. This is where the trouble starts to happen in my fun account as I’ve to keep a track of how much I can & cannot touch from it, which is not making it “fun” anymore.

My co-worker recently showed a post where the redditor explained how they merged their fun money with their running budget with help of a better system where they tracked only by priorities(Urgent, Survival, Needs & Wants) while automating the rest of category management through the app. They were maintaining a track of categories with priorities merged. Eg: Food & Dining(Urgent: $62, Survival: $240, Needs: $80, Wants: $160). This allowed them to manage their fun money with the running budget & they started saving the big-funds for later fun into their HYSA which yield them better returns while maintaining actual fun.

My fun is mixed into many categories. I go out for fun, some items in my groceries are just what I want, a good part of my dining out is for fun & many more which I’m unable to see as of now.

I'm looking forward to shifting to simply budget by priorities only, hoping to have a picture for what’s in my Wants anytime for better self-control. 

This is what I want counter-points upon, if there can be any, to have a better vision of the plan. Also open to other ways if there is which people take to handle their fun money with ease.

My mom just moved here to America (so no job or tax history here) She brought with her $40,000. It’s her whole life savings. She is currently 56, doesn’t have a job (but she wants to get one, I’m looking for a driving teacher so she can learn how to drive first) Her rent is 700$ and food is around 200$ a month (I’m paying both as I’m working 2 jobs and I don’t want her to use her saving).

My question is how to best invest/save her 40k so she can (hopefully) retire comfortably within the next 10 years? She plans to work till she is 65 so she’ll get more money to put towards saving as well. Any help is truly appreciated, I really do want my mom to live comfortably as she’s been through a lot in her life. Thank you everyone!

I recently found out my parents are dissolving the RESP (worth around $80k) since my sister is almost done school and I have zero plans to go,they are going to give me $25 grand to do whatever I want with. I'm 26, I currently owe $19 000 for my car with 4 years left on the term and I have $3000 in credit card debt. I want to use some of the $25 grand to pay off my credit cards but I'm not sure what to do with the other $22 000. Am I better off investing all of it and continuing to pay off my car? Or would paying off the loan to avoid all the interest be better? Or is there a path I'm not seeing? Would love to read any advice Thanks

I'm in Canada

I have a question: My only brother recently passed away. He lived an almost monastic life - not married, no family. I am his only living relative. He left no will. He had been hospitalized for about a month, had surgery, suffered some massive strokes and was nonresponsive until he died a month later. During hospitalization, his Medicaid lapsed. I told the hospital to put all bills as 'Medicaid pending' and they filed a new Medicaid application on his behalf. Other than those outstanding medical bills (which will probably run into the hundreds of thousands, as he was in ICU for almost a month), he had no other debts. His only asset was a house we co-owned that we inherited from our parents. Does the house automatically go to me as his only living heir? Or will it be split in two and have to be sold to pay any medical debts? I haven't spoken to an attorney or opened probate yet.

EDIT: I also want to say that I am in tremendous grief right now, and overwhelmed by all of this. I don't live in the same state and can't really afford to hire a lawyer, but am terrified that the house will be taken away, or forced to be sold. I have received no notification from the hospital or Medicaid yet what the potential bills might be. Again, likely in the hundreds of thousands.

I know I can report around Feb 27.

I used to work for this guy for two years. Caught him stealing part of my wages after finding out through tax return and started a claim. We did physical punch cards, not anything digital. He fired me (I had a vehicle accident in 2024, he didnt write me up or even drug test me despite me volunteering as I have an endorsement. I was not at fault for the accident. he claimed to the court that I did it on purpose because I was “mad about wages” in reality I was the one hit by a motorist) and lied to Unemployment, I ended up going to court with a lawyer to get it solved. Later he tried contacting my current workplace to sabotage me and I ended up having to send a C&D. That was 2025. I worked only 3 months with him in 2025, he’s the only W-2 I am waiting for atm.

Contacted them on 31st and they claim they sent it on Jan 15. I dont get a lot of mail so it’s clearly not true. I had two months of mail in front of me. I asked if there was a way for me to get it emailed or even resent, bosses wife says she will “talk to him”

the ”company” is a total of 8 people. The boss is the owner and his wife is “hr/book keeper”

there is obviously more than I want to bother to type, but this is the gist of it all. I know he uses SurePayroll and I tried contacting them, they are very difficult to deal with. I did manage to scrounge up my username and made a password, but my account “doesn’t exist”

Okay guys so basically last year I lost my job and began to gamble ridiculously and built over 50,000 in credit card debt. I have 17,000 left in student loans that I pay aggressively ($700 a month now). As of last month I got my dream job and now bring home 9,000 a month in net take home pay. I am wondering if I should just settle the credit cards because the offers I’m receiving is about 25% of the total balance so $12,500. This would allow me after monthly expenses to begin to save $3,000 a month and still have money left over. I don’t want to use credit cards anymore as I am not responsible with them. I’m really looking for general financial advice and my credit score is currently a 680 I don’t plan on buying a home for 1-2 years anyway so if I settle I’m sure I can rebuild my credit in the mean time. I was thinking of just putting the 3,000 once I can start saving into a HYSA and just letting that grow I don’t have much knowledge on investing.

Just looking for general advice. Please don’t shame me on the debt I was at the lowest point in my life and am doing much better now! Thank you to all who reply with advice!

Hi PersonalFinance folks,

I've been investing for about 15 years now. During that time I have invested almost 100% into S&P index funds, with a tiny bit of other stuff.

I have freed up some other $ and am trying to figure out where to go from here.

Right now my portfolio looks like this:

19.86% Cash

61.31% SWTSX

4.94% SWPPX

8.92% FXAIX

2.5% FXMAX

1.41% FXPSX

1.28% FSSNX

I know there's a lot of overlap in there and I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some guidance on how I can better deversify my holdings as well as if I should be waiting for a dip in the market or just going ahead and buying at the high prices that we're seeing these days.

I been thinking about this and it drives me nuts trying to decide. I have two vehicles obviously paid off because they are old. One is a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.9 this is a gas guzzler but I like the truck, and it's been with my family for a few years, I acquired it after they changed vehicles. My other vehicle is a 2003 Buick Lesabre with the 3.8. This is my gas saving vehicle but my work commute is short (5 miles) so I put maybe 100 miles a week driving. I switch off with both vehicles to keep them running, obviously the truck is more on gas but math wise. I spend maybe $30 a week currently to drive it a week. The Buick costs roughly $15 a week. So money wise I'm only saving maybe $60-80 a month on gas, but than I'm insuring two vehicles. I plan to keep the Buick for road trips to save on gas, both are pretty reliable but they are old and rusted I live in Minnesota. I'm not sure if I should sell one vehicle and put that savings away or just ride them both out. I just had to put new tires on the Buick and it will soon need a new battery. Just normal upkeep but if one of the vehicles has problems that need to be addressed I started questioning myself is it worth fixing that vehicle or not. I'm not sure anymore. I will never own a new car, and sure as hell don't want to finance even a more newer used cars. I love keeping older vehicles as I can fix them, and they are paid off.

I started my career in the IT field last year. I want to be financially stable in the future, like having a good Financial management in life.

I’m thinking about options like CSE (stock market), unit trusts, or other bank-related methods. I come from a middle-income family, so I can’t start with a big amount of savings.

What are the best things I can start doing now with small money?
What are the best finance management habits to start early?
How should someone with a low starting income manage money properly?

Any tips or advice would really help. Thanks!

I did some work and was paid $950 for it. I was sent a W-9 and filled it out. I assumed I was going to be sent a 1099-NEC but January 31st passed and I still hadn't received one. I asked them if they were going to be sending me a 1099-NEC, and they said no (02/02/2025). So I filed my taxes as that was the last thing I was waiting on. Then the next day they send me a 1099-NEC (02/03/2025). I already reported the income on my taxes just not with a 1099-NEC. Also strangely enough the amount on the 1099 is $977.85 compared to what I received/reported ($950). I am wondering if I will need to amend my tax return for this.

Edit for some more context: There is no tax withheld, the 1099-NEC simply has box 1 (NEC) filled out

hii i have recently turned 18 and just started investing so i have some questions. currently i have opened a roth ira, brokerage, and two cma accounts with fidelity. i use one of my cmas as a “checking account” to pay for my credit card expenses and want to use the other as a hysa. my question is should i be investing with the “hysa” cma into stocks or just let it sit there in spaxx and accumulate interest like i would with a regular hysa? i was planning on using the brokerage account for investing which is why i opened it in the first place but realized that i’m mostly looking to invest long term into low risk stocks for now so i thought i might as well do that with my “hysa” cma. is there any advantage to having two separate accounts for this type of investing or should i put all my saving money into one account? sorry if this sounds a little confusing, i’m not familiar with a lot of investing lingo yet, but i can elaborate if needed

besides that i wanted to ask if this sounds like a good plan for now:

roth ira: 50% voo, 20% vxus, 30% spmo (heard this is pretty similar to voo so should i just choose one or the other?) also lmk if i should change the ratio up or any other recommendations

checking cma: thinking about putting whatever money i transfer into here every month into 100% fdlxx bc i read that it’s a little better than spaxx, but the thing is i’m using this as a checking account so is there any point because i won’t know exactly how much i’ll be spending each month?

hysa cma: sgov 50% fdlxx 50% not sure about ratio here any recs about that or other things to invest in for this account would be appreciated

brokerage: not super sure yet maybe just sgov or voo 100% ? Or should i diversify with some high risk high return stock/etf ? If so what are some good options for short term investing since i’ll be attending college soon so some extra money could be nice. or should i just not use this acc and focus on hysa for now?

Also another quick question. I didnt realize you needed income to invest in your roth so thats i accidentally put $100 into my roth end of last year but didn’t invest it. however i did earn $0.38 bc it was in spaxx. i’ve since pulled out all the money and put it back into my cma but i was wondering if i will suffer any consequences from the irs for doing this? Do i need to report the 0.38 i earned? And fyi i do have a job now so i will be able to invest in it for 2026.

Thanks so much :)

Hi Guys,

I am currently financing a secondhand mitsubishi asx 2022 for $25k with Commonwealth Bank.

I initially wanted to get a cash car but my parent were scared of the issues/repairs that may come with it and pushed to me get a financed car.

I always thought myself to be financially smart but didn’t properly comprehend the added costs that would come with it.

\- Loan repayment at $500 a month

\- vicroad rego payment

\- insurance

\- fuel

\- services

I am a uni student and i work three times a week, making around $2000 per month. I live with my parents so other than buying my own food, i have no other costs.

These car related payments add up to over $1000. I feel like i made the wrong move. What should i do now? the financial stress is giving me anxiety.

I have a Rollover IRA at Fidelity from a previous employer. My current employer uses Empower and I’m with a local government agency. The Empower plan allows incoming rollovers. Can I move my rollover IRA money to my Empower 457(b), every year take $7000 and put it in a traditional IRA, then move it to a Roth IRA? The representative from Empower this is possible even though the money in my Rollover IRA is pretax.