My Personal Credit Crisis

[blahblahblah]

What strikes me as being conspicuously absent as of late, is the desire of many Americans to work at all. That’s where this magical thinking comes in. Invest in the internet and make millions! Buy a house and make millions! Stuff envelopes part time in your den and make millions!

Very true Allan. Of course the common man isn’t stupid. He knows that he will never be able to retire. He knows that he’s likely to be laid off at age 50. If he’s a technical person he knows that his job will probably be sent to India. He knows that his insurance company will deny his benefits should he become sick. He knows that social security will be scaled back before he can access it. He knows that unless you’re an “inside man” in some sort of scam industry like finance or real estate, you will have these same worries. His only hopes are to play the lottery or to join the scammers himself. In the very worst, most unlikely case he might do a couple of years in prison for lying on his loan applications or absconding with a bunch of unsecured loan money; however, if he robbed a bank directly he’d be in for life. Better to rob them indirectly.

The system is set up to reward crooks and scammers, not hard working people. Why are we surprised that so many are choosing to engage in crooked behavior (lying on loan applications, etc…) when this system is so obviously tilted in favor of crooks.

[ucodegen]

I read the article further…

The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments.

Holy crap. $120k/yr is $10k a month and almost half of it was going to alimony and child-support. Does his ex-wife even work? Want to work?

I am not condoning is purchase of a house.. he should have realized, particularly with his background, that the tax deduction on interest will not give him very much particularly considering that he is already getting tax deductions on the alimony he is paying. In addition, his SocSec/Medicare taxes will still be taken out weighted relative to his income of 120k.

“Don’t worry,” Bob reassured me, saying what almost everybody else in real estate was saying at that moment. “The value of your house will be higher in five years. You’ll be able to refinance.”

Several people fell for this red herring.. even some people that I know. Refinance to what? A greater debt load than you already have.. and that you are already having problems with?

I had a bad feeling about what the A.T.M. would reveal about my balance, but I was shocked when I looked at the receipt: $196. We were broke.
..
“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Umm.. he is in finance and he doesn’t even track his own expenses, cash burn rate?? He waits for the ATM slip to tell him his balance?

She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes. I was almost exactly the opposite. My answer to any money squeeze was to stop spending. I would skip lunch at work to save $7. If I arrived at the Metro just before the end of rush hour, I would wait for five minutes to save 50 cents on the fare.

.. and he waited for the ATM to tell him what his balance would look like??? Something is not quite right with his statements.. or this story. I am not going to keep putting excerpts from this point on in the article.. but if you read it, you might start wondering if this article is true. Not tracking your balance and running against the overdraft protection for a person who works in finance? Who warned about what was going on with Greenspan/Bernanke? .. I think some literary license was taken.

[ucodegen]

I read the article further…

The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments.

Holy crap. $120k/yr is $10k a month and almost half of it was going to alimony and child-support. Does his ex-wife even work? Want to work?

I am not condoning is purchase of a house.. he should have realized, particularly with his background, that the tax deduction on interest will not give him very much particularly considering that he is already getting tax deductions on the alimony he is paying. In addition, his SocSec/Medicare taxes will still be taken out weighted relative to his income of 120k.

“Don’t worry,” Bob reassured me, saying what almost everybody else in real estate was saying at that moment. “The value of your house will be higher in five years. You’ll be able to refinance.”

Several people fell for this red herring.. even some people that I know. Refinance to what? A greater debt load than you already have.. and that you are already having problems with?

I had a bad feeling about what the A.T.M. would reveal about my balance, but I was shocked when I looked at the receipt: $196. We were broke.
..
“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Umm.. he is in finance and he doesn’t even track his own expenses, cash burn rate?? He waits for the ATM slip to tell him his balance?

She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes. I was almost exactly the opposite. My answer to any money squeeze was to stop spending. I would skip lunch at work to save $7. If I arrived at the Metro just before the end of rush hour, I would wait for five minutes to save 50 cents on the fare.

.. and he waited for the ATM to tell him what his balance would look like??? Something is not quite right with his statements.. or this story. I am not going to keep putting excerpts from this point on in the article.. but if you read it, you might start wondering if this article is true. Not tracking your balance and running against the overdraft protection for a person who works in finance? Who warned about what was going on with Greenspan/Bernanke? .. I think some literary license was taken.

[ucodegen]

I read the article further…

The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments.

Holy crap. $120k/yr is $10k a month and almost half of it was going to alimony and child-support. Does his ex-wife even work? Want to work?

I am not condoning is purchase of a house.. he should have realized, particularly with his background, that the tax deduction on interest will not give him very much particularly considering that he is already getting tax deductions on the alimony he is paying. In addition, his SocSec/Medicare taxes will still be taken out weighted relative to his income of 120k.

“Don’t worry,” Bob reassured me, saying what almost everybody else in real estate was saying at that moment. “The value of your house will be higher in five years. You’ll be able to refinance.”

Several people fell for this red herring.. even some people that I know. Refinance to what? A greater debt load than you already have.. and that you are already having problems with?

I had a bad feeling about what the A.T.M. would reveal about my balance, but I was shocked when I looked at the receipt: $196. We were broke.
..
“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Umm.. he is in finance and he doesn’t even track his own expenses, cash burn rate?? He waits for the ATM slip to tell him his balance?

She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes. I was almost exactly the opposite. My answer to any money squeeze was to stop spending. I would skip lunch at work to save $7. If I arrived at the Metro just before the end of rush hour, I would wait for five minutes to save 50 cents on the fare.

.. and he waited for the ATM to tell him what his balance would look like??? Something is not quite right with his statements.. or this story. I am not going to keep putting excerpts from this point on in the article.. but if you read it, you might start wondering if this article is true. Not tracking your balance and running against the overdraft protection for a person who works in finance? Who warned about what was going on with Greenspan/Bernanke? .. I think some literary license was taken.

[ucodegen]

I read the article further…

The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments.

Holy crap. $120k/yr is $10k a month and almost half of it was going to alimony and child-support. Does his ex-wife even work? Want to work?

I am not condoning is purchase of a house.. he should have realized, particularly with his background, that the tax deduction on interest will not give him very much particularly considering that he is already getting tax deductions on the alimony he is paying. In addition, his SocSec/Medicare taxes will still be taken out weighted relative to his income of 120k.

“Don’t worry,” Bob reassured me, saying what almost everybody else in real estate was saying at that moment. “The value of your house will be higher in five years. You’ll be able to refinance.”

Several people fell for this red herring.. even some people that I know. Refinance to what? A greater debt load than you already have.. and that you are already having problems with?

I had a bad feeling about what the A.T.M. would reveal about my balance, but I was shocked when I looked at the receipt: $196. We were broke.
..
“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Umm.. he is in finance and he doesn’t even track his own expenses, cash burn rate?? He waits for the ATM slip to tell him his balance?

She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes. I was almost exactly the opposite. My answer to any money squeeze was to stop spending. I would skip lunch at work to save $7. If I arrived at the Metro just before the end of rush hour, I would wait for five minutes to save 50 cents on the fare.

.. and he waited for the ATM to tell him what his balance would look like??? Something is not quite right with his statements.. or this story. I am not going to keep putting excerpts from this point on in the article.. but if you read it, you might start wondering if this article is true. Not tracking your balance and running against the overdraft protection for a person who works in finance? Who warned about what was going on with Greenspan/Bernanke? .. I think some literary license was taken.

[ucodegen]

I read the article further…

The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments.

Holy crap. $120k/yr is $10k a month and almost half of it was going to alimony and child-support. Does his ex-wife even work? Want to work?

I am not condoning is purchase of a house.. he should have realized, particularly with his background, that the tax deduction on interest will not give him very much particularly considering that he is already getting tax deductions on the alimony he is paying. In addition, his SocSec/Medicare taxes will still be taken out weighted relative to his income of 120k.

“Don’t worry,” Bob reassured me, saying what almost everybody else in real estate was saying at that moment. “The value of your house will be higher in five years. You’ll be able to refinance.”

Several people fell for this red herring.. even some people that I know. Refinance to what? A greater debt load than you already have.. and that you are already having problems with?

I had a bad feeling about what the A.T.M. would reveal about my balance, but I was shocked when I looked at the receipt: $196. We were broke.
..
“How the hell could we have run through so much money so quickly?” I asked her accusingly.

Umm.. he is in finance and he doesn’t even track his own expenses, cash burn rate?? He waits for the ATM slip to tell him his balance?

She thought it wasn’t worth agonizing over nickels and dimes. I was almost exactly the opposite. My answer to any money squeeze was to stop spending. I would skip lunch at work to save $7. If I arrived at the Metro just before the end of rush hour, I would wait for five minutes to save 50 cents on the fare.

.. and he waited for the ATM to tell him what his balance would look like??? Something is not quite right with his statements.. or this story. I am not going to keep putting excerpts from this point on in the article.. but if you read it, you might start wondering if this article is true. Not tracking your balance and running against the overdraft protection for a person who works in finance? Who warned about what was going on with Greenspan/Bernanke? .. I think some literary license was taken.

[peterb]

It’s classic human behavior patterns. Denial is always the first stage.

[peterb]

It’s classic human behavior patterns. Denial is always the first stage.

[peterb]

It’s classic human behavior patterns. Denial is always the first stage.

[peterb]

It’s classic human behavior patterns. Denial is always the first stage.

[peterb]

It’s classic human behavior patterns. Denial is always the first stage.

[davelj]

[quote=lostkitty]Puke! This guy is no longer “stressed” because he has plenty of spending money now… not paying the mortgage = $thousands extra each month. He already “paid off” his credit cards, remember?
He talks of his boys and step-daughter all thriving in their schools etc… While making no effort to change his standard of living at all.

Who on earth would buy his book?

[/quote]

I will buy his book. I am most interested in the odd inner-workings of these strange human brains. I will learn much from this human’s story. I am already amused by this man and his “brainy” wife.

[davelj]

[quote=lostkitty]Puke! This guy is no longer “stressed” because he has plenty of spending money now… not paying the mortgage = $thousands extra each month. He already “paid off” his credit cards, remember?
He talks of his boys and step-daughter all thriving in their schools etc… While making no effort to change his standard of living at all.

Who on earth would buy his book?

[/quote]

I will buy his book. I am most interested in the odd inner-workings of these strange human brains. I will learn much from this human’s story. I am already amused by this man and his “brainy” wife.

[davelj]

[quote=lostkitty]Puke! This guy is no longer “stressed” because he has plenty of spending money now… not paying the mortgage = $thousands extra each month. He already “paid off” his credit cards, remember?
He talks of his boys and step-daughter all thriving in their schools etc… While making no effort to change his standard of living at all.

Who on earth would buy his book?

[/quote]

I will buy his book. I am most interested in the odd inner-workings of these strange human brains. I will learn much from this human’s story. I am already amused by this man and his “brainy” wife.

[davelj]

[quote=lostkitty]Puke! This guy is no longer “stressed” because he has plenty of spending money now… not paying the mortgage = $thousands extra each month. He already “paid off” his credit cards, remember?
He talks of his boys and step-daughter all thriving in their schools etc… While making no effort to change his standard of living at all.

Who on earth would buy his book?

[/quote]

I will buy his book. I am most interested in the odd inner-workings of these strange human brains. I will learn much from this human’s story. I am already amused by this man and his “brainy” wife.

[Author]

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