Watch 20/20 tonight.

[BikeRider]

Tonight 20/20 (at 9pm EST) is having a special about US consumers. I think it is titled “America, flat broke” or something like that. Should be interesting.

[BikeRider]

TV guide had this-

Episode Detail: Flat Broke: Begging and Borrowing in America – 20/20
A report on personal finance using case studies to focus on debt and how to get and stay out of it (including a segment on “cyberbegging”). Also: Brian Ross on debt-collection tactics; John Stossel on positive aspects of debt.

[Cow_tipping]

I wont totally cop to debt as a consumer only problem. Companies tack on fine print, insane charges for un heard of penalties, and constant changes to charges and surcharges etc etc … and guess what … if you dont like 1 aspect, you start renegging on the entire debt to that company. Like for example, a credit card tacks on late charges for receiving your check late and now your balance is higher and they start adding interest right from day 1 on that late charge when they never informed you (remember 45 days to pay any charge). OK guess what, I am not paying my whole entire bill. OK OK I fought them into submission. But the general idea is that. OK so lets see if 20/20 takes any serious look at that part.
Cool.
Cow_tipping.

[blackbox]

Wow, probably in there late forties early 50’s (if not, double wow), and there net worth is $3000.00. I think I had a net worth of $3000.00 when I was 20. Oh, oh, guys….I just paid off both of my credit cards monthly charges in full. Just joined the deadbeat society. So sorry Chase and BofA. I will try harder to be a true american and carry a credit card balance forever…..NOT!

[an]

I think most teenagers w/ a part time job have $3k net worth. I guess over 30-40 years, they went no where.

[Cow_tipping]

Yea … no dice … totally one sided IMHO … but maybe what I wanted to see is probably another “situation reporting” You know … like situation comedy … totally made up setting and what not.
Cool.
cow_tipping.

[BuyerWillEPB]

I watched the show last night and I found myself involuntarily yelling at the TV. Every time they showed the lazy, big spending wife, I would say, “Get a job, you dumb bimbo!”

The kids are old enough to take care of themselves. How about she get some gainful employment and be a part of the solution! What a concept.

[BikeRider]

I was disappointed in the program. They spent too much time on how people are using the internet to beg and show casing the porno guy. They could have explained better to people steps to take to get themselves out of debt. I listen to Dave Ramsey on XM and though the guy is a bit kooky, he has some good ideas. 20/20 didn’t give him but a couple minutes, yet they spent a lot more time on the frugal family. The first couple they show cased in money trouble, $60K in credit card debt, $100K time share, car loans, $4K a month house payment. Ouch. I taped the show and paused it on the parts where the money counselor had his charts up. He had outlined that they needed to sell their house, their rental, get a refund for some realistate course the wife was taking ($21K), fund $25K to an emergency fund. Anyway, from the profits from the home sale and the course refund they would pay off the $60K credit cards, cars, mortgages, fund the emergency fund, rent a home (not buy) and when all was said and done they would have $3k left over. But at least they would have $25K emergency fund when it was done. Their counselor said they were about five months from bankruptcy. But it all hinged on them selling their California home, in todays market. Quick shots of the home showed broken windows, worn out furniture and torn window screens. The couple didn’t appear to me that they knew what kind of trouble they were really in. The wife was looking like she wasn’t on board with the drastic changes they were being told to make. I’d like to know what they ended up doing. The show was interesting, but could have been much more informative.

[FutureSDguy]

That couple was definitely the kind who spent money as a distraction. Wife gets stressed… remedy was to take a cruise to the Bahamas. Their ethic made me sick and they deserved to have their little (err big) house of cards crumble.

I too thought the show should have focused more on the culture of debt servitude rather than spending so much time talking about the tactics of debt collectors. That’s a completely different topic and it was quite repititive: okay, they’re mean and not acting legally. Let’s talk about debt.

[gold_dredger_phd]

The overspending couple looked like they were just asking for bankruptcy. That generation, boomers, is going to have to learn what their parents or grandparents learned from the Great Depression. Their house will be sold out from under them, the guy might lose his job in an economic downturn, and they’ll have to go live with either his parents or his wife’s parents before they get back up on their feet.

I can understand the wife not working as the three children are still young, but once the oldest turns 12, they can be legally left on their own in a house and the wife can go get a job to help dig them out of the hole. When I was growing up, I was often left on my own in the house when I was 5.

The fellow was a software engineer and the girls will probably be going to college. How will they afford that?
They’d have to rent out the house and go live in some small apartment to pay for it all. I wondered what sort of a mortgage they have. People like this should not be in a 4000 square foot house.

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