Seriously. Marrying someone who earns about as much money as you do significantly improves your standard of living (on the principal of "two can live as cheaply as 1.6 or thereabouts"). Having a first child helps as well (mostly due to the earned income tax credit and other government assistance).
They crank the numbers in some detail in the book.
1. List your house for rent and let it be very reasonable
2. Move out to an apt., when you have a lessee (it would help if he is not the mafiosi)
3. STOP making the mortgage payments
4. ???
5. Profit!
Property Set
If you've collected an online property set:
FOR A LOW LEVEL PRIZE, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TO 'REDEEM NOW'. FOR A MID- OR HIGH-LEVEL PRIZE, WE NEED THE GAME STAMP BEARING THE CODE THAT WAS ENTERED TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION OF THE FINAL VIRTUAL MONOPOLY PROPERTY THAT MAKES UP THE ONLINE WINNING COMBINATION!
When you collect the final online property, a congratulatory message will pop up on your computer screen and you will also receive an e-mail confirmation with redemption instructions. Follow the instructions to claim the prize by 11:59 p.m. CT December 15, 2008. If you do not receive the e-mail, a copy will be in your My Monopoly Account.
Yes, I receive food stamps and will never be ashamed.
I'm in school and have to provide for my two blessings(kids) so my monthly food stamps come in handy and is much needed. I'm in my last semester and can't wait to work in my field but until then I go proudly to Walmart, Target, Family Dollar, and any supermarket that got sales with my food stamp card and can careless about what people think.
Times is hard and its a great thing that food is never a stress factor because of the help of our government. I make do with my food stamps each month because it clears my money for gas, electric bills, rent, insurances and etc. I know my masters will pay off and I will eventually have no need for this assistance but right now I NEED IT AND IS NOT ASHAMED...
Whenever I get the chance I do community work for the homeless or give out thanksgiving dinners from my church. I understand what others go through and its a blessing to receive and help others. People should be forever thankful that they can handle their own and it doesn't behoove anyone to knock the person down that needs food stamps or any other government assistance...
No one never knows when they may be in the same predicament...Count your blessings and be a blessing to others that may need help...Let's stop downing and rejecting those in need.
I would never buy clothes that I could not try on first. Why don't you just take a wad a dollar bills, get in your car, drive down the highway, and throw them out the window?
"Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s legal and financial advisers said Thursday they plan to hire about 200 professionals to help settle the more than 1 million derivatives trades the investment bank entered into before it collapsed last month.
Lehman attorney Harvey Miller said at a court hearing that advisers are working around the clock to understand Lehman's transactions in the wake of the "chaos" that resulted from its Sept. 15 bankruptcy filing "
Myth #7. Once it's paid off, you can live mortgage free. Wait, you still have insurance, maintenance and taxes. Free isn't really free unless you live out in the boonies.
Get into a field that does well even in a bad economy.
Sell all FOUR properties for what they are worth not what you want to get for them.
Where is the statement of "promise" that you were given at birth that if you did "everything right" it would all work out? Where is your written and signed "life guarantee"?
The problem is that Americans assume they have a RIGHT to own a home. Why? I bought a home because we had kids and we could not find any 3 bedroom apartments to rent in the area we wanted to live. But ... I did not want to own a home. I never understood the American preoccupation with home ownership. It's not even a good investment over the short or long term. The mortgage is only one of the cost of home ownership. You have insurance, repairs cost, heating etc. Take the money saved by renting and save it and over time that money grows faster than the rate of appreciation on the house.
But no one wants to hear that ... they want to dream.
I also bought my home 7 years ago but .... mine is worth almost double what I paid; based on what homes here have sold for recently. I'm in a town home. Home prices are not all down everywhere.
The bankers who illegally loaned to people who couldn't afford to repay the loans?
Or the people who in good faith believed in themselves and thought they could afford the payments and kept trying until they couldn't make the payments anymore?
"Most people" you accuse "most people" of being fraudulent. I disagree, I think most people are trying hard and believe in themselves and wanted to own a home for their families.
"Some people" commit fraud, and you don't think that your bank account with 10K in it would be taken into account when you put a hand out? It would, and you wouldn't get a hand out, they would accuse you rightly of fraud and might even sue you for trying to defraud the system.
I did everything right, as well. As a single working woman, when I bought my first home, I stayed well within the guidelines that your housing should cost no greater than one-fourth of your monthly income. I paid on time. I bought a modest home in a modest neighborhood. Then, I experienced a series of unfair circumstances.
First, I was laid off indefinitely from a field that thrives in a good economy and tanks in a bad one (do the math: it equals no job opportunities). Then, I became the 24/7 caretaker for my elderly parents. Then, they died, and I got stuck with not one but TWO extra homes via inheritance. In a good economy, this would be a blessing! But in a tough housing market, they become the three Albatrosses.
One was subdivided into three properties. I put my first home on the market as I was living in the mortgage-free parental home to take care of them (thank God). I now had FOUR properties on the market in this economy, no job, and limited savings.
Lot 2 sold. Lot 3 is finally pending. Lot 1 with house has had offers fall through and suffered a fire (minimal damage, thank God). My own home? In foreclosure, but I'm working on stopping the process. Jobs? Stagnant. I say this knowing it contradicts my commitment to positive thinking and my Law of Attraction Intentions, but let's be real. If I can get myself "rescued", PLEASE. Send it my way. If things shift and withholding my mortgage payments would benefit me, I might consider it.
I did everything right. This wasn't supposed to happen.
And if you think that letting people get foreclosed on and laid off just to "punish them" for their mistakes is going to help that housing market one bit, you're sadly mistaken.
I do understand the outrage - I'm a renter who hasn't been irresponsible and yet my tax dollars are going for these ridiculous bailouts - but SOMETHING has to be done or pretty soon nobody is going to be able to afford to buy any houses at all and the price of your home will hit zero. There are now houses in Detroit selling for under $9k - $9K! - because everybody is so flat-busted broke and nobody wants to move there because everybody is so flat-busted broke. And if you live in the suburbs, with more foreclosures in your neighborhood you could soon be looking at similar levels of crime & home abandonment.
I was just talking about this to my Mom. Talking about how thankful I am that I am smart and not greedy. Smart enough to do the research when we were getting our mortgage and to buy a house we could afford on one income (knowing I wanted to quit work when we had kids). Not everybody has the same kind of "money education" as others do growing up and usually end up making very bad financial decisions.
Granted, I am not condoning these decisions. They were greed-based. People don't want starter homes anymore. They want their dream home from the get go.
But, I am still thankful that I am not losing my home or anywhere near losing my home. I think the bailout is a stupid idea that will fix nothing, but I still feel better off and thankful that I am not stressed to the max everyday about where I'm going to live or how I'm going to afford the basics for my family.
The government isn't exactly taking our tax money and giving it to irresponsible people. The government would basically become the mortgage "bank" for those troubled mortgages -- and would allow the owners to refinance in a way that they can repay the loan. Overall, the government (meaning: us) would make money off this plan (if it buys the mortgages off the banks at their current worth and not the original worth), and far fewer people would be out on the street and throwing the economy (and your own housing values) deeper into a hole.
If someone was able to refinance their mortgage when the value of their home went up, why shouldn't people also be allowed to refinance when the value of the home has gone down? And, yes, it would be good if this were expanded for everyone -- but it's less a bailout for irresponsible buyers (other than letting them stay in their homes instead of becoming homeless) than it is a bailout for the mortgage banks who now want those mortgages off their books.
There's nothing wrong with not paying your mortgage. If your house only fell 15%, it won't be financially beneficial without some government handout that lets you remain in your home. If you'll qualify for a handout, you might as well take it since the government is the reason your house was overpriced 7 years ago.
I'm like you in shopping for food. Organic, hormone-free, local, etc. as much as possible. I go to local farm stands and supplement with Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Costco.
I find that the coupons for groceries at Safeway, for example, often come out more expensive per serving when you compare to buying in bulk. Yoplait goes on sale for $0.60 per 6-oz container at Safeway, or $0.10/oz; if you buy a 32-oz tub of 365 organic yogurt at Whole Foods, it's $2.50 or $3 regular price. You're still saving money, and probably getting a better product, at Whole Foods.
If your husband goes crazy over coupons, maybe you could turn over clothing shopping to him? There are a ton of deals out there on the internet and frankly I think I've saved much more that way than by clipping coupons for groceries. I know clothes are not as much of a necessity as food, but in terms of compromising, I'd rather do it with what goes *on* my body than what goes *in* it.
I also like the suggestions from previous commenters on donating to the food banks-- sounds like a good solution to me.
Why are so many people scapegoating homeowners who can't pay their mortgages? Last time I looked, they are not yet - and may never - get meaningful assistance.
The current Wall Street crisis was not caused by 1) Barney Frank, 2) Democrats forcing Fannie and Freddie to give liars loans, 3) poor people not being able to pay their mortgages.
So what might have caused the massive meltdown of our credit markets? A little gift from our old buddy Sen. Phil Gramm, the insanely hard to value, unregulated market in Credit Default Swaps. A Time Magazine article from March 2008 warned that the credit swap market was going to meltdown because people were investing in CD swaps. These are somewhat like insurance policies that back up other securities such as municipal bonds, corporate bonds or debt backed securities--without having any connection with the underlying security.
US Stock Market=approx. $22 trillion, Mortage market = only $7.1 trillion Swaps market????? more than $45 trillion. Gee, which of these is more likely to have been able to swamp the entire US economy? The biggish $7 trillion wave or the HUGE $45 Trillion tsunami?
I somewhat agree with you. People put off their bills because they don't want to deal with it, or don't have the money, so they keep putting it off with the pessimistic view that they'll never be able to pay it off. but that is the WORST thing you can do! Seriously, people need at least TRY to pay the minimum on their bills or set up some kind of payment plan instead of putting it off for so long that it just builds up and up until the stress is so much that it suffocates you.
Seriously. Marrying someone who earns about as much money as you do significantly improves your standard of living (on the principal of "two can live as cheaply as 1.6 or thereabouts"). Having a first child helps as well (mostly due to the earned income tax credit and other government assistance).
They crank the numbers in some detail in the book.
1. List your house for rent and let it be very reasonable
2. Move out to an apt., when you have a lessee (it would help if he is not the mafiosi)
3. STOP making the mortgage payments
4. ???
5. Profit!
Kotlikoff and Burns are Big Names so many readers will already be familiar with them.
As a lifetime near-minimum-wage earner, I have never enjoyed either a comfortable standard of living or the ability to save.
My standard of living has already been smoothed out of necessity.
What would Kotlikoff and Burns recommend for older workers like me?
You Do realize this was written in 2007 right?
Property Set
If you've collected an online property set:
FOR A LOW LEVEL PRIZE, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TO 'REDEEM NOW'. FOR A MID- OR HIGH-LEVEL PRIZE, WE NEED THE GAME STAMP BEARING THE CODE THAT WAS ENTERED TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION OF THE FINAL VIRTUAL MONOPOLY PROPERTY THAT MAKES UP THE ONLINE WINNING COMBINATION!
When you collect the final online property, a congratulatory message will pop up on your computer screen and you will also receive an e-mail confirmation with redemption instructions. Follow the instructions to claim the prize by 11:59 p.m. CT December 15, 2008. If you do not receive the e-mail, a copy will be in your My Monopoly Account.
I wouldn't look good in women's sweaters. Not that I look good in men's sweaters.
Yes, I receive food stamps and will never be ashamed.
I'm in school and have to provide for my two blessings(kids) so my monthly food stamps come in handy and is much needed. I'm in my last semester and can't wait to work in my field but until then I go proudly to Walmart, Target, Family Dollar, and any supermarket that got sales with my food stamp card and can careless about what people think.
Times is hard and its a great thing that food is never a stress factor because of the help of our government. I make do with my food stamps each month because it clears my money for gas, electric bills, rent, insurances and etc. I know my masters will pay off and I will eventually have no need for this assistance but right now I NEED IT AND IS NOT ASHAMED...
Whenever I get the chance I do community work for the homeless or give out thanksgiving dinners from my church. I understand what others go through and its a blessing to receive and help others. People should be forever thankful that they can handle their own and it doesn't behoove anyone to knock the person down that needs food stamps or any other government assistance...
No one never knows when they may be in the same predicament...Count your blessings and be a blessing to others that may need help...Let's stop downing and rejecting those in need.
Nice topic Lindsay...
I would never buy clothes that I could not try on first. Why don't you just take a wad a dollar bills, get in your car, drive down the highway, and throw them out the window?
I clicked the link and saw the 99 cent cardigan straight away, along with a $2.99 top. Are you blind?!
This is a post from last Halloween. I'm note sure they are doing anything similar this year.
Linsey
The only sweaters I found there were $29.99 (five sweaters) and $19.99 (one sweater).
You can't know how much I hope you're right. Time will tell, but time is what I'm afraid of... Don't know if we can let this go on...
Here's a quote from today's WSJ about the unravelling of Lehman Brothers alone.
.................................................................................................
"Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s legal and financial advisers said Thursday they plan to hire about 200 professionals to help settle the more than 1 million derivatives trades the investment bank entered into before it collapsed last month.
Lehman attorney Harvey Miller said at a court hearing that advisers are working around the clock to understand Lehman's transactions in the wake of the "chaos" that resulted from its Sept. 15 bankruptcy filing "
..........................................................................................................
My thinking is that they (the professionals) won't succeed.
my opinion only
Myth #7. Once it's paid off, you can live mortgage free. Wait, you still have insurance, maintenance and taxes. Free isn't really free unless you live out in the boonies.
-Lee from www.cheaplee.com
Get into a field that does well even in a bad economy.
Sell all FOUR properties for what they are worth not what you want to get for them.
Where is the statement of "promise" that you were given at birth that if you did "everything right" it would all work out? Where is your written and signed "life guarantee"?
The problem is that Americans assume they have a RIGHT to own a home. Why? I bought a home because we had kids and we could not find any 3 bedroom apartments to rent in the area we wanted to live. But ... I did not want to own a home. I never understood the American preoccupation with home ownership. It's not even a good investment over the short or long term. The mortgage is only one of the cost of home ownership. You have insurance, repairs cost, heating etc. Take the money saved by renting and save it and over time that money grows faster than the rate of appreciation on the house.
But no one wants to hear that ... they want to dream.
I also bought my home 7 years ago but .... mine is worth almost double what I paid; based on what homes here have sold for recently. I'm in a town home. Home prices are not all down everywhere.
So who is going to get away with fraud?
The bankers who illegally loaned to people who couldn't afford to repay the loans?
Or the people who in good faith believed in themselves and thought they could afford the payments and kept trying until they couldn't make the payments anymore?
"Most people" you accuse "most people" of being fraudulent. I disagree, I think most people are trying hard and believe in themselves and wanted to own a home for their families.
"Some people" commit fraud, and you don't think that your bank account with 10K in it would be taken into account when you put a hand out? It would, and you wouldn't get a hand out, they would accuse you rightly of fraud and might even sue you for trying to defraud the system.
I did everything right, as well. As a single working woman, when I bought my first home, I stayed well within the guidelines that your housing should cost no greater than one-fourth of your monthly income. I paid on time. I bought a modest home in a modest neighborhood. Then, I experienced a series of unfair circumstances.
First, I was laid off indefinitely from a field that thrives in a good economy and tanks in a bad one (do the math: it equals no job opportunities). Then, I became the 24/7 caretaker for my elderly parents. Then, they died, and I got stuck with not one but TWO extra homes via inheritance. In a good economy, this would be a blessing! But in a tough housing market, they become the three Albatrosses.
One was subdivided into three properties. I put my first home on the market as I was living in the mortgage-free parental home to take care of them (thank God). I now had FOUR properties on the market in this economy, no job, and limited savings.
Lot 2 sold. Lot 3 is finally pending. Lot 1 with house has had offers fall through and suffered a fire (minimal damage, thank God). My own home? In foreclosure, but I'm working on stopping the process. Jobs? Stagnant. I say this knowing it contradicts my commitment to positive thinking and my Law of Attraction Intentions, but let's be real. If I can get myself "rescued", PLEASE. Send it my way. If things shift and withholding my mortgage payments would benefit me, I might consider it.
I did everything right. This wasn't supposed to happen.
Just in the NYT today: Home Prices Seem Far From Bottom.
And if you think that letting people get foreclosed on and laid off just to "punish them" for their mistakes is going to help that housing market one bit, you're sadly mistaken.
I do understand the outrage - I'm a renter who hasn't been irresponsible and yet my tax dollars are going for these ridiculous bailouts - but SOMETHING has to be done or pretty soon nobody is going to be able to afford to buy any houses at all and the price of your home will hit zero. There are now houses in Detroit selling for under $9k - $9K! - because everybody is so flat-busted broke and nobody wants to move there because everybody is so flat-busted broke. And if you live in the suburbs, with more foreclosures in your neighborhood you could soon be looking at similar levels of crime & home abandonment.
I was just talking about this to my Mom. Talking about how thankful I am that I am smart and not greedy. Smart enough to do the research when we were getting our mortgage and to buy a house we could afford on one income (knowing I wanted to quit work when we had kids). Not everybody has the same kind of "money education" as others do growing up and usually end up making very bad financial decisions.
Granted, I am not condoning these decisions. They were greed-based. People don't want starter homes anymore. They want their dream home from the get go.
But, I am still thankful that I am not losing my home or anywhere near losing my home. I think the bailout is a stupid idea that will fix nothing, but I still feel better off and thankful that I am not stressed to the max everyday about where I'm going to live or how I'm going to afford the basics for my family.
The government isn't exactly taking our tax money and giving it to irresponsible people. The government would basically become the mortgage "bank" for those troubled mortgages -- and would allow the owners to refinance in a way that they can repay the loan. Overall, the government (meaning: us) would make money off this plan (if it buys the mortgages off the banks at their current worth and not the original worth), and far fewer people would be out on the street and throwing the economy (and your own housing values) deeper into a hole.
If someone was able to refinance their mortgage when the value of their home went up, why shouldn't people also be allowed to refinance when the value of the home has gone down? And, yes, it would be good if this were expanded for everyone -- but it's less a bailout for irresponsible buyers (other than letting them stay in their homes instead of becoming homeless) than it is a bailout for the mortgage banks who now want those mortgages off their books.
There's nothing wrong with not paying your mortgage. If your house only fell 15%, it won't be financially beneficial without some government handout that lets you remain in your home. If you'll qualify for a handout, you might as well take it since the government is the reason your house was overpriced 7 years ago.
I'm like you in shopping for food. Organic, hormone-free, local, etc. as much as possible. I go to local farm stands and supplement with Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Costco.
I find that the coupons for groceries at Safeway, for example, often come out more expensive per serving when you compare to buying in bulk. Yoplait goes on sale for $0.60 per 6-oz container at Safeway, or $0.10/oz; if you buy a 32-oz tub of 365 organic yogurt at Whole Foods, it's $2.50 or $3 regular price. You're still saving money, and probably getting a better product, at Whole Foods.
If your husband goes crazy over coupons, maybe you could turn over clothing shopping to him? There are a ton of deals out there on the internet and frankly I think I've saved much more that way than by clipping coupons for groceries. I know clothes are not as much of a necessity as food, but in terms of compromising, I'd rather do it with what goes *on* my body than what goes *in* it.
I also like the suggestions from previous commenters on donating to the food banks-- sounds like a good solution to me.
Why are so many people scapegoating homeowners who can't pay their mortgages? Last time I looked, they are not yet - and may never - get meaningful assistance.
The current Wall Street crisis was not caused by 1) Barney Frank, 2) Democrats forcing Fannie and Freddie to give liars loans, 3) poor people not being able to pay their mortgages.
So what might have caused the massive meltdown of our credit markets? A little gift from our old buddy Sen. Phil Gramm, the insanely hard to value, unregulated market in Credit Default Swaps. A Time Magazine article from March 2008 warned that the credit swap market was going to meltdown because people were investing in CD swaps. These are somewhat like insurance policies that back up other securities such as municipal bonds, corporate bonds or debt backed securities--without having any connection with the underlying security.
US Stock Market=approx. $22 trillion, Mortage market = only $7.1 trillion Swaps market????? more than $45 trillion. Gee, which of these is more likely to have been able to swamp the entire US economy? The biggish $7 trillion wave or the HUGE $45 Trillion tsunami?
h/t Firedoglake
http://tinyurl.com/4627p9
I somewhat agree with you. People put off their bills because they don't want to deal with it, or don't have the money, so they keep putting it off with the pessimistic view that they'll never be able to pay it off. but that is the WORST thing you can do! Seriously, people need at least TRY to pay the minimum on their bills or set up some kind of payment plan instead of putting it off for so long that it just builds up and up until the stress is so much that it suffocates you.