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Mayber she was (I don't watch TV), but I'm sure I would have heard about it.
For example, Suze's advice to people looking into home ownership for the first time to "Play House".
I'm pulling from memory on the specifics but if I remember correctly, what she means by this is she has them pull their FICO score and, based on the find the highest interest rate for a mortgage of that amount. Take the monthly payment of that imaginary mortgage, multiply it by 1.2 to account for taxes and upkeep. Take your current utilities and multiply them a bit to account for more need for heating, a/c, etc.
Now, once you have that amount, you know how much that is going to cost for this house per month. Subtract your rent and current utilities from that amount you figured and put it in a savings account. Do this for at least six months if not more. If at anytime you experience a financial crunch and/or do not like the cutbacks you have to make, then you cannot afford the house. If you can comfortably live without that money stashed away, then by all means start looking at houses. The good part too is that with the money you've placed in the savings account, you can put that towards the down payment.
Just imagine if some of these consumers had done something as simple like this. Yeah home ownership is a great thing and Suze sings its praises quite a bit but not everyone has access to it right now and they still need to be responsible when pursuing it.
I have no background in economics but the available information from people like her and some popular blogs caused me to pull 100% of my 401k rollover account out of stocks and put it into a 5.5% CD over a year ago.
And yes, I have personal experience with such a bank who would authorize you to buy a $5,000 TV if you had only $1 on the account. When my gym membership, which was MY error for not remembering to switch it over to my new bank debit card, I still got charged the fee and I still had to pay the negative balance as a result.
Because from the sound of your posts, you want to let consumers off the hook and blame only the lenders.
http://tinyurl.com/4ny3br
Oh...wait. Forget it.
Oh, did I mention, this same friend said that without deregulation we wouldn't have all the computers, laptops and cellphones that we now enjoy. You know, the "internets".
Now the the stooges realize what they were used for, and they are pissed. They want to kill something. Anything. Thier hatred is going to go someplace. Watch out stray-cat people...
http://bloggerinterrupted.com/2008/10/video-mcc...
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/09/news/companies/...
I had a sign from the primaries, but someone took it.
Your neighbor is outrageous!!!
I saw this nut who owns a dirt parking lot somewhere in the South. He will not allow anyone with an Obama sticker to park on his lot. He has that right, but man, does he look like a dumbass.
The banks were giving out bonuses to employees who got people signed to loans they couldn't afford. The banks were in the business of SELLING the mortgages, so of course they wanted to have more product (mortgages) to sell. And there were many more incentives built into the game. I am sure everyone in the mortgage business knew all about this, didn't they? Why didn't anyone blow the whistle IN A BIG WAY? Well, I am sure the media would never cover it in a way that really educated the public anyway. No one has incentive to warn the people about the truth. But still --- those in the know DID have the choice to tell us what exactly was going on. They were making a moral/ethical choice when they kept silent or when they gave advice that encouraged us to play the game, not worry, the underpinnings of the economy were "sound".
If doctors were getting paid to prescribe drugs they knew were killing people, and people were urged to invest in these drugs, and the entire medical system depended on this scheme.... my God. Not a perfect analogy, of coure, but still.
Our culture/society is a hyper-consumer society. Duh. Everyone knows that. We are all guilty of overspending and overconsumption. But I when I compare the spending habits of myself and my friends and family to the bankers/CEO's/wealthy professionals like doctors and lawyers in this country, it is a joke:
I have a lot of credit card debt, but what it is mostly from is health problems, vet bills, a new coat for winter every few years, house improvements, education etc. I go out to eat very rarely, I buy all my clothes at Goodwill or resale shops, I don't even buy lots of books that I know I SHOULD be reading. Without family help, we wouldn't even be making it on my husband's high school teaching career (oops! our bad! wrong career choice!) We do spend money on our hobbies, but that is so we can stay sane. We travel rarely, but do put it on a credit card. Christmas presents... again, very modest... often get charged. This is all because we live paycheck to paycheck but still want to be part of society! And "being part" means getting educated, traveling, giving gifts, and taking your dog to the vet.
But the spending of the "spending class" is just outrageous! There really is no comparison. I am tired of the blanket statements that paint us all as over-spending dumbasses who don't know how to stop living beyond our means. Sure, lots of middle and low income people have spending problems, but not all of us are out of control. And who can blame people for wanting some nice things in their lives? Personally, I detest big obnoxious TV's (I don't even own a TV at all) but hey if people really want one and they put it on credit.... honestly, I feel like they are just trying to enjoy life a bit.
Getting a mortgage you can't afford is a really dumb idea, but I the "sell job" was enticing, I suppose.
Sorry, I am going on and on but it just makes me want to cry that this entire thing was SUCH a phoney game, and soooooo many people knew it (well-educated Harvard types, ya know) and they didn't have the scruples to really say "this is going to screw everyone over, we need to stop". It was/is a CRIME! They were lying, stealing, cheating. It was naked greed unchecked. It was all on our backs. Did bankers really not understand the phoniness of the game that they themselves were peddling?
People like Suze Orman need to come clean as to why they were always "teaching" us how to "behave" financially and how to "win" in the "this economy" need to fess up big time. Explain yourselves!!!!!!
... But look out, The world markets are going to TANK tonight ,big time, and tomorrow, will be one of the craziest days on record for the Market here at home.
why the "F" anyone would have money in the market now is beyond me...
Coming soon: "Dr. Phil Talks Y'all Off the Ledge of Despair"
And action for financial stability should be accompanied by the wider international economic co-operation such as that which began on Wednesday with co-ordinated action on interest rates.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/column...
Will a multinational watchdog group keep the markets clean, or will the watchdogs again be co-opted?
Too many folks gambled that overheated markets would remain hot forever.
It was people with spouses and children and grandparents, evil people with spouses and children and grandparents, vile, evil, greedy people who are, as we blog, escaping the just fate that should befall them as it befell Musolini, dragged through the streets, strung upside down on a meat hook, and the carcus thrown into the river. Anything less is permission to pillage again.
The root cause of all of this is the Reagan Revolution: Supply-side Economic Policies + Laissez Faire/deregulation equals 2008.
All of these kinds of disasters happen on Republican watch: The great depression, the saving and loan debacle, the 1987 stock market collapse and now this.
(This is why the first Bush had to take back his 'read my lips' pledge.)
When wages don't keep up with productivity growth and wealth is concentrated, real demand eventually contracts. Families borrow money as a bridge to maintain lifestyles until things get better. Wealthy people can't build factories because demand is soft, so they loan money to the families. This means that when the money comes due, the financial system is brought down with the rest of the economy. Eventually the bridge never makes it to the other side before the bills come due, and its, well 2008.