Interesting Statistic Heard Today

[Chubbs103]

I plan on running Tiggy until she dies of old age.

I really hope Tiggy is your car.

 

[NYlakesider]

Not all debt is bad. This country could have never been built without companies taking on debt to finance ideas and expansions. Some members here look at a mortgage as a scarlet letter. Anytime I can use somebody else's money at a reasonable rate I will. GM offered 0% for 7 yrs. Take it!!! You can pay it off anytime u want. It's free money. Yet some here would suggest it's ludicrous to finance an automobile for 7 yrs. If your leasing. Do it with nothing down. Total cost at end is the same. Why would you give them a down payment just to lower payment???? Buying appliances? If they offer 6 months same as cash. Take it!!! Not sure why any of this is so hard to understand.

Simple answer, other people have other priorities!--

 

[Bald1]

Lakesider, I understand priorities. We all have our own. And you are correct. But some post are adamant about their way being the only way. I'm not trying to convince anyone to do anything. I'm simply pointing out how many people do it and it's a viable option. Dare I say profitable option. That's all.

 

[rockquarry]

Not all debt is bad. This country could have never been built without companies taking on debt to finance ideas and expansions. Some members here look at a mortgage as a scarlet letter. Anytime I can use somebody else's money at a reasonable rate I will. GM offered 0% for 7 yrs. Take it!!! You can pay it off anytime u want. It's free money. Yet some here would suggest it's ludicrous to finance an automobile for 7 yrs. If your leasing. Do it with nothing down. Total cost at end is the same. Why would you give them a down payment just to lower payment???? Buying appliances? If they offer 6 months same as cash. Take it!!! Not sure why any of this is so hard to understand.

All our situations are different and your method or mine won't work for everyone, but I'm not sure I understand your last comment: "six months the same as cash" on appliances.

I've found you can almost always dicker on appliances, furniture, and other such items, up to twenty per cent off if paying cash. By "six months same as cash" do you mean you can offer twenty per cent less than the posted price and then request the seller to give you six months to pay your negotiated lower price? I doubt a business would do that (except on cars and that's outside this discussion) but maybe some of us aren't good negotiators.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

"If you owe your banker 1,000 pounds (sterling), you're at his mercy. If you owe him 1,000,000 pounds he's at yours." John Maynard Keynes

 

[Bald1]

"If you owe your banker 1,000 pounds (sterling), you're at his mercy. If you owe him 1,000,000 pounds he's at yours." John Maynard Keynes

That's a good one. I've never heard that.

 

[Bald1]

Rockquarry, six months same as cash means the retailer will give you six months to pay for your purchase interest free. As if you were pay cash upfront. Hence the saying "six months same as cash". Time frame changes some times. 90 days ,12 months etc….. has nothing to do with negotiated price, just the manner in which you pay. These offers happen a lot during the retailers slow time.

 

[rockquarry]

Rockquarry, six months same as cash means the retailer will give you six months to pay for your purchase interest free. As if you were pay cash upfront. Hence the saying "six months same as cash". Time frame changes some times. 90 days ,12 months etc….. has nothing to do with negotiated price, just the manner in which you pay. These offers happen a lot during the retailers slow time.

Agreed, they will likely do "six months same as cash" if you pay full price.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Recall a small article I read in the business section of the New York Times years ago entitled "The Changing Attitude Towards Debt", it quoted the noted Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman as saying "Nobody celebrates
paying off the mortgage anymore."

 

[rockquarry]

Recall a small article I read in the business section of the New York Times years ago entitled "The Changing Attitude Towards Debt", it quoted the noted Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman as saying "Nobody celebrates
paying off the mortgage anymore."

That may be because the mortgages don't get paid off. Few new home buyers nowadays stay in one home for fifteen, twenty, or thirty years, so they always have a mortgage payment. They see it as a permanent fixture of life, something that will always be with them. It's much like the seven-year car note and $800 monthly payment. Not many of these folks will keep a car until it's paid for so they learn to live with the perpetual car payment as well.

 

[LVSteve]

That may be because the mortgages don't get paid off. Few new home buyers nowadays stay in one home for fifteen, twenty, or thirty years, so they always have a mortgage payment. They see it as a permanent fixture of life, something that will always be with them. It's much like the seven-year car note and $800 monthly payment. Not many of these folks will keep a car until it's paid for so they learn to live with the perpetual car payment as well.

So are these indications of just how much most of us live beyond our means and it's a house of cards, or is it just economic reality?

 

[rockquarry]

So are these indications of just how much most of us live beyond our means and it's a house of cards, or is it just economic reality?

Both. There have always been people who live beyond their means and always will especially with the liberal credit sysytem we have. They've adapted to living amidst the turmoil and frustration of a perpetual house of cards yet manage to get by somehow.

Many make very good money and could do much better than to finance everything, but it appears they can afford the way they live and will continue to do so. They spend most or all of what they make but they don't live beyond their means, at least from a technical perspective. As long as they pay their bills and aren't a burden to others, I suppose it shouldn't matter to the rest of us, but, yes, such a lifestyle could easily become a house of cards as well.

 

[Bald1]

So are these indications of just how much most of us live beyond our means and it's a house of cards, or is it just economic reality?

No it is not. I have a mortgage. I have a truck payment my wife has a car payment. I can write a check tomorrow and pay all of it off. None of the loans are over 3%. It would be a mistake to pay them off with money that is earning at minimum 8%. Do people live beyond their means? Of course. But home and auto payments are not an indicator of financial stability……. Now if you want to talk about credit cards and revolving lines of credit? That's a different story.

 

[raljr1]

My mortgage is at 2.75% and my savings account is now generating 3%

Robert

 

[crstrode]

It could be that the vast majority without a mortgage are renting their home and never managed to save two nickels to rub together . . .

 

[crstrode]

My mortgage is at 2.75% and my savings account is now generating 3%

Robert

This only works if the savings account is much larger than the mortgage.

 

[Bald1]

This only works if the savings account is much larger than the mortgage.

??????? Why

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Yes, too many people don't understand debt, see it as unavoidable. Or they think inflation will allow them to pay it off in cheaper dollars.
The German Empire financed WWI through loans, the Weimar Republic repaid those debts with paper marks that wiped out their value.
I live debt-free, I find it gives tremendous peace of mind.

 

[crstrode]

??????? Why

If you need to ask, you don't have the ability to grasp the concept.

 

[crstrode]

Yes, too many people don't understand debt, see it as unavoidable. Or they think inflation will allow them to pay it off in cheaper dollars.
The German Empire financed WWI through loans, the Weimar Republic repaid those debts with paper marks that wiped out their value.
I live debt-free, I find it gives tremendous peace of mind.

I don't have debt, I do own debt.
Debt that is owed to me by the less informed.
Pays my bills with their money.