Try and blame it on Clinton??!! That's ridiculous, the economy was stable then. There is nothing wrong with home ownership as long as it is within your means.
The loans that are defaulting were written from around 02-07 well after Clinton had left. The Republicans deregulated the banking and housing industry, allowed the 'credit default swaps' to be written as insurance on the bad mortgages, and then when the defaults came the banks who had written the swaps couldn't pay the claims (see Lehman Brothers and AIG).
Is there a limit on how much you can buy in a given day? My wife and I never play these kinds of games but we stopped at Mcd on our way back from Florida and we peeled the pieces off of her sweet tea and she got Boardwalk. I think its worth spending a few hundred dollars to take the chance of picking up Park Place.
This was a great post. I've recently analyzed monthly expenses and learned that I spend $200 month on Cable TV, phone, and internet combined. But I can't see giving up any of these. Once you have the DVR it's addicting and you can't imagine life without it!
I'll bundle up in my thrift store sweaters and sit in the dark to watch my taped tv shows on the dvr. While eating my PBJ sandwich, of course!
Everyone has different priorities and it's always good to take a second look at those priorities.
We do have an old TV but we have the cable package that is below the one they will tell you about. It is the one cable companies are legally obligated to offer. I think we pay $10 or $11 / month. They had to send someone to the box outside the house and fiddle with it to get us this un-advertised package. This gives us about 20 channels.
For other programs that we don't get, there is nothing like http://hulu.com I love that site and my wife and I frequently watch a program or two in bed on a laptop. On a 15" macbookpro, you can watch these programs on hulu full screen and the resolution is perfect.
If you are a netflix subscriber, the netflix roku box is great for streaming those instant watch offerings. The roku is only $99.00.
To quote above, "How young is young?" - and not saying that the commenter feels this way, but it struck a nerve.....
It's so interesting to me that the baby boomers who have caused most of this mess, and have taught their children to perpetuate this mess still believe that they are "young" and somehow, not a part of the system.
Honestly, as a person in her late 20's who has never racked up consumer debt, who has paid off all of her student loans, who drives a 10 year old car - I'm supremely frustrated by the "me, me meeeeee" baby boomers who continue to ruin society with thier self-righteous greediness.
Of course, the response will be, "what about civil rights? where would you be then?" My answer to that would be that the call for civil rights comes with any advanced society. Sorry, you don't get a medal, and you need to take a look at history. My entire childhood witnessed a generation of people interested only in themselves - with the guise of protest. Protest got chic - that's where the numbers came from.
I could rant all day - but I'm tired of feeling guilty when I don't have a reason to.
Young people should be investing everything they reasonably can right now. It is amazing how people are so willing to buy when stocks are way up and are so willing to hide it all under the bed when the market crashes.
In the long term, the only people who lose are the people who miss the recovery (whenever it happens). THAT is when fortunes can be lost and it is easily preventable, all you have to do is not pull out or even increase your investments.
Have any of the people screaming to buy precious metals, mattresses and shovels actually looked at a chart of the market over the last 100 years? Guess what? It goes up in a steady curve, even during the Great Depression!
Blips like these aren't even a speck in the eye of the market in the long term. Buying now will only increase your share of the markets overall upward return.
The rich are alredy rewarded... by being rich. The poor, at this point, don't have healthcare, a quality education, quality housing, or quality law enforcement.
Therefore, they didn't get a free beer to begin with. They went to the bar, engaged in coversation, paid for a round of pool, and still got nothing in return.
Capitalism by nature creates more losers than winners. But why we beleive that the winners have to win as big as they do, and the losers have to lose as badly as they do, is beyond me.
And #43, I agree. It does suck owning a small business. But it sure doesn't suck running a huge corporation. Which administrations laws made it that way?
I don't need a handout from the government. I need fair wages, decent healthcare, quality law enforecement, sewer services, good roads, livable housing, and my fellow countrymen happy.
I believe there is an unjustice done here regarding baby carrots. and I believe, a lie.
Every carrot, whether large or small will have a core in the middle. Baby carrots all have a core,although not very noticeably because of their size.But just have a look next time you bite into one of these precious little tid-bits. And yes, they are tasty and crisp and I will keep on buying them because I don't buy into this lie.
Its the same advice most level headed advisors give and I agree with this. Another thing I'd like to add, stop watching the daily fluctuations, you'll just get spooked. Hold on and add to the strong companies you would like to hold long term. Now is a great time to have Cash, and cash should be used to invest long term.
Kitco is working diligently to fulfill all existing client orders. We apologize for any delays in order fulfillment which are a result of production and delivery delays imposed by certain mints and by our suppliers.
The following products have been temporarily removed from our Precious Metal Store until further notice due to production and delivery delays that retailers are currently facing; Gold Eagle 1 oz, Gold Maple 1 oz, Special Gold Maple 5 X 9 pure 1 oz, Gold Buffalo 1 oz, Gold Krugerrand 1 oz, Gold Bar 10 oz, Gold Bar 1 oz, Kitco Gold Bar 1 oz, Kitco ChipGold 10 g, Kitco ChipGold 20 g Gold Philharmonic 1 oz, Silver Philharmonic 1 oz, Silver Eagle 1 oz, Silver Maple 1 oz, Silver Bar 100 oz, Platinum Eagle 1 oz, Palladium Maple 1 oz, Silver Maple Olympic Coin 1 oz.
These products will be relisted and available for order as soon as fresh inventory is readily available. In the interim, we will focus on completing pending orders as our top priority.
The system is breaking down. Expect bank and credit union bankruptcies. Expect stock markets to take extended 'holidays'.
This is real.
I checked my credit union yesterday. They said they're very busy lately. People are withdrawing money.
There will be opportunities after the smoke and dust settles, but we're in for more rough times.
What you might do, sell your portfolio, lock in losses for future tax write offs. Then immediately buy something solid, like gold and silver.
Problem is - because of blatant government manipulation - you no longer can buy gold or silver coins. Especially scarce are U.S. Gold and Silver coins which don't have to be reported to IRS.
You don't have to believe me. Call any major coin and bullion dealer.
"When people get anxious, get greedy. When people get greedy, get anxious." Just like you said, Xin, now is the time for young people to invest. The stock market seems like a scary place to be, but one of the main principles of investing is to buy low, sell high. If you've got the time, ride it out.
I love to use baking soda to clean also. Just don't do this one dumb thing I did. Lots of places tell you to use baking soda and vinegar, followed by boiling water, to speed up slow drains. Well, I over did it, and made a pretty bad clog of baking soda that my sweet hubby was not too happy about. Took some serious disassembly to fix.
I keep old, splayed toothbrushes in a cup with my cleaning things, then use them for cleaning till they're really yucky. Then I don't feel guilty at all about finally throwing them away.
I always tend to have uncomfortable encounters with foreigners. It's a little strange having an old German man hit on you and rub your leg in front of your girlfriend. I guess I am lusted by both women and men alike.
If you buck the trend and buy when everyone else is selling, you will make money. If you sell when everyone else sells, you lose money. I think the Dow will bottom around 5800.
Fractional reserve system requires that a larger and larger proportion of our energy is spent servicing debt. This system requires perpetual exponential growth to remain stable. Unfortunately, we have finite natural resources...
See the problem?
This current system IS limited. Whether this is the final gasp or not before it all falls apart is debatable, but in the long term, say over the remaining lifetime of someone in their 20s, the system will not remain. Investing in something like that is ignorant.
I don't actually think you can peg much of the blame on the Clinton administration. The community reinvestment act didn't tell banks that they needed to lend money to people who couldn't pay it back; it just said that banks needed to serve their local community--which if more banks had done, they wouldn't be in nearly the trouble they're in now.
A big chunk of the blame needs to rest with the Fed, for taking interest rates too low and keeping them there too long--that made lending so profitable that it was possible to imagine that even if some loans weren't paid back, the rest could make up the difference.
Another big chunk belongs with the whole system of securitized lending, and all the people involved--loan originators, loan packagers, and the buyers of the packaged securities. They all behaved like idiots.
It's just sad that so much of the cost is going to end up landing on the rest of us.
How young is "young?" It really depends on when you want to retire. If you won't need the money for the next 20 years, then I'd stay keep it in there. But 10 years before you plan to start using it, start converting more and more of it each year to more conservative stocks and bonds so your entire portfolio is very conservative by the time you retire. Thanks for the voice of reason, Xin!
Yep, central bankers are just people. On average, they're about average. I don't have any expectation that they'll be especially clever or lucky. But sometimes, through luck, cleverness, or simply being the right person in the right place at the right time, you can get above-average results.
It'd be cool if they could manage that right about now.
Thanks for the encouragement. The bloggers on Wisebread are great, in large measure because of their diverse viewpoints. We readers use what we can immediately. Then run other ideas around in our heads to see if they spark solutions to our own particular situations. There's a real sense of being in this whole shebang together, that you all want to make our lives better too.
I feel badly for your friend who was shown on TV. I've received my share of "let them eat cake" advice as well.
Try and blame it on Clinton??!! That's ridiculous, the economy was stable then. There is nothing wrong with home ownership as long as it is within your means.
The loans that are defaulting were written from around 02-07 well after Clinton had left. The Republicans deregulated the banking and housing industry, allowed the 'credit default swaps' to be written as insurance on the bad mortgages, and then when the defaults came the banks who had written the swaps couldn't pay the claims (see Lehman Brothers and AIG).
Is there a limit on how much you can buy in a given day? My wife and I never play these kinds of games but we stopped at Mcd on our way back from Florida and we peeled the pieces off of her sweet tea and she got Boardwalk. I think its worth spending a few hundred dollars to take the chance of picking up Park Place.
This was a great post. I've recently analyzed monthly expenses and learned that I spend $200 month on Cable TV, phone, and internet combined. But I can't see giving up any of these. Once you have the DVR it's addicting and you can't imagine life without it!
I'll bundle up in my thrift store sweaters and sit in the dark to watch my taped tv shows on the dvr. While eating my PBJ sandwich, of course!
Everyone has different priorities and it's always good to take a second look at those priorities.
Best,
Shelly
We do have an old TV but we have the cable package that is below the one they will tell you about. It is the one cable companies are legally obligated to offer. I think we pay $10 or $11 / month. They had to send someone to the box outside the house and fiddle with it to get us this un-advertised package. This gives us about 20 channels.
For other programs that we don't get, there is nothing like http://hulu.com I love that site and my wife and I frequently watch a program or two in bed on a laptop. On a 15" macbookpro, you can watch these programs on hulu full screen and the resolution is perfect.
If you are a netflix subscriber, the netflix roku box is great for streaming those instant watch offerings. The roku is only $99.00.
I think your habits make you and expert. Like several others have said, if you have enough experience in something, you will eventually be an expert.
To quote above, "How young is young?" - and not saying that the commenter feels this way, but it struck a nerve.....
It's so interesting to me that the baby boomers who have caused most of this mess, and have taught their children to perpetuate this mess still believe that they are "young" and somehow, not a part of the system.
Honestly, as a person in her late 20's who has never racked up consumer debt, who has paid off all of her student loans, who drives a 10 year old car - I'm supremely frustrated by the "me, me meeeeee" baby boomers who continue to ruin society with thier self-righteous greediness.
Of course, the response will be, "what about civil rights? where would you be then?" My answer to that would be that the call for civil rights comes with any advanced society. Sorry, you don't get a medal, and you need to take a look at history. My entire childhood witnessed a generation of people interested only in themselves - with the guise of protest. Protest got chic - that's where the numbers came from.
I could rant all day - but I'm tired of feeling guilty when I don't have a reason to.
Young people should be investing everything they reasonably can right now. It is amazing how people are so willing to buy when stocks are way up and are so willing to hide it all under the bed when the market crashes.
In the long term, the only people who lose are the people who miss the recovery (whenever it happens). THAT is when fortunes can be lost and it is easily preventable, all you have to do is not pull out or even increase your investments.
Have any of the people screaming to buy precious metals, mattresses and shovels actually looked at a chart of the market over the last 100 years? Guess what? It goes up in a steady curve, even during the Great Depression!
Blips like these aren't even a speck in the eye of the market in the long term. Buying now will only increase your share of the markets overall upward return.
sadly you do not need the converter box. because you have cable
The rich are alredy rewarded... by being rich. The poor, at this point, don't have healthcare, a quality education, quality housing, or quality law enforcement.
Therefore, they didn't get a free beer to begin with. They went to the bar, engaged in coversation, paid for a round of pool, and still got nothing in return.
Capitalism by nature creates more losers than winners. But why we beleive that the winners have to win as big as they do, and the losers have to lose as badly as they do, is beyond me.
And #43, I agree. It does suck owning a small business. But it sure doesn't suck running a huge corporation. Which administrations laws made it that way?
I don't need a handout from the government. I need fair wages, decent healthcare, quality law enforecement, sewer services, good roads, livable housing, and my fellow countrymen happy.
I believe there is an unjustice done here regarding baby carrots. and I believe, a lie.
Every carrot, whether large or small will have a core in the middle. Baby carrots all have a core,although not very noticeably because of their size.But just have a look next time you bite into one of these precious little tid-bits. And yes, they are tasty and crisp and I will keep on buying them because I don't buy into this lie.
so stocks are like baseball cards, you can't get anything out of it expect you are able to vote at investor's meetings and you can sell it, right?
Its the same advice most level headed advisors give and I agree with this. Another thing I'd like to add, stop watching the daily fluctuations, you'll just get spooked. Hold on and add to the strong companies you would like to hold long term. Now is a great time to have Cash, and cash should be used to invest long term.
Notice from a national gold/silver dealer:
Kitco is working diligently to fulfill all existing client orders. We apologize for any delays in order fulfillment which are a result of production and delivery delays imposed by certain mints and by our suppliers.
The following products have been temporarily removed from our Precious Metal Store until further notice due to production and delivery delays that retailers are currently facing; Gold Eagle 1 oz, Gold Maple 1 oz, Special Gold Maple 5 X 9 pure 1 oz, Gold Buffalo 1 oz, Gold Krugerrand 1 oz, Gold Bar 10 oz, Gold Bar 1 oz, Kitco Gold Bar 1 oz, Kitco ChipGold 10 g, Kitco ChipGold 20 g Gold Philharmonic 1 oz, Silver Philharmonic 1 oz, Silver Eagle 1 oz, Silver Maple 1 oz, Silver Bar 100 oz, Platinum Eagle 1 oz, Palladium Maple 1 oz, Silver Maple Olympic Coin 1 oz.
These products will be relisted and available for order as soon as fresh inventory is readily available. In the interim, we will focus on completing pending orders as our top priority.
The system is breaking down. Expect bank and credit union bankruptcies. Expect stock markets to take extended 'holidays'.
This is real.
I checked my credit union yesterday. They said they're very busy lately. People are withdrawing money.
There will be opportunities after the smoke and dust settles, but we're in for more rough times.
What you might do, sell your portfolio, lock in losses for future tax write offs. Then immediately buy something solid, like gold and silver.
Problem is - because of blatant government manipulation - you no longer can buy gold or silver coins. Especially scarce are U.S. Gold and Silver coins which don't have to be reported to IRS.
You don't have to believe me. Call any major coin and bullion dealer.
"When people get anxious, get greedy. When people get greedy, get anxious." Just like you said, Xin, now is the time for young people to invest. The stock market seems like a scary place to be, but one of the main principles of investing is to buy low, sell high. If you've got the time, ride it out.
I love to use baking soda to clean also. Just don't do this one dumb thing I did. Lots of places tell you to use baking soda and vinegar, followed by boiling water, to speed up slow drains. Well, I over did it, and made a pretty bad clog of baking soda that my sweet hubby was not too happy about. Took some serious disassembly to fix.
I keep old, splayed toothbrushes in a cup with my cleaning things, then use them for cleaning till they're really yucky. Then I don't feel guilty at all about finally throwing them away.
So funny you said that... my husband remarked the EXACT same thing. A story for another day. :)
Linsey
I always tend to have uncomfortable encounters with foreigners. It's a little strange having an old German man hit on you and rub your leg in front of your girlfriend. I guess I am lusted by both women and men alike.
If you buck the trend and buy when everyone else is selling, you will make money. If you sell when everyone else sells, you lose money. I think the Dow will bottom around 5800.
Fractional reserve system requires that a larger and larger proportion of our energy is spent servicing debt. This system requires perpetual exponential growth to remain stable. Unfortunately, we have finite natural resources...
See the problem?
This current system IS limited. Whether this is the final gasp or not before it all falls apart is debatable, but in the long term, say over the remaining lifetime of someone in their 20s, the system will not remain. Investing in something like that is ignorant.
See: Money as Debt as a basic primer.
Might think about investing in useful things, precious metals, good hand tools, land.
I don't actually think you can peg much of the blame on the Clinton administration. The community reinvestment act didn't tell banks that they needed to lend money to people who couldn't pay it back; it just said that banks needed to serve their local community--which if more banks had done, they wouldn't be in nearly the trouble they're in now.
A big chunk of the blame needs to rest with the Fed, for taking interest rates too low and keeping them there too long--that made lending so profitable that it was possible to imagine that even if some loans weren't paid back, the rest could make up the difference.
Another big chunk belongs with the whole system of securitized lending, and all the people involved--loan originators, loan packagers, and the buyers of the packaged securities. They all behaved like idiots.
It's just sad that so much of the cost is going to end up landing on the rest of us.
How young is "young?" It really depends on when you want to retire. If you won't need the money for the next 20 years, then I'd stay keep it in there. But 10 years before you plan to start using it, start converting more and more of it each year to more conservative stocks and bonds so your entire portfolio is very conservative by the time you retire. Thanks for the voice of reason, Xin!
Yep, central bankers are just people. On average, they're about average. I don't have any expectation that they'll be especially clever or lucky. But sometimes, through luck, cleverness, or simply being the right person in the right place at the right time, you can get above-average results.
It'd be cool if they could manage that right about now.
I agree completely with your advice, though.
Thanks for the encouragement. The bloggers on Wisebread are great, in large measure because of their diverse viewpoints. We readers use what we can immediately. Then run other ideas around in our heads to see if they spark solutions to our own particular situations. There's a real sense of being in this whole shebang together, that you all want to make our lives better too.
I feel badly for your friend who was shown on TV. I've received my share of "let them eat cake" advice as well.
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