[quote=jpinpb]dave – not successful w/their original plan. No doubt. But in the end, it is working out for them. How does that saying go? Something like God looks out for fools.

No, they were not able to flip for profit. But as a consolation, they have nice cars, vacations, toys and live for free for over a year.

Meanwhile, I’m “smart” so I didn’t buy something I couldn’t afford. I am not living large. I pay my rent.

Who is ahead here? [/quote]

I would argue that you are ahead. It just doesn’t appear that way at the moment. Lots of folks thought they were really smart when the Nasdaq was at 5,000. And other “conservative” folks felt stupid. That eventually reversed itself. My point is that over the LONG term, intellectual capital will pay off more than short-term baubles such as vacations, toys, etc. You’re ahead. You just don’t realize it yet.

[quote=jpinpb]
Yes. I agree it’s by accident. Neverthless, I, as CBad, know a few people living for free, traveling, driving new cars and not suffering from this.

Will these folks not learn and repeat this again? Quite possibly. Certainly moral hazard is out the window and the new black is “bailout.”[/quote]

It depends on how and over what time horizon you define “suffering.” I think most of these folks’ lives are much more difficult than it appears from the outside (as they should be). I don’t care now nonchalant someone may be, there’s a lot of stress related to the prospect of being forced out of your house and having your FICO go to 500, with all that entails.