Quote from Anunakki:
The arrogance, elitism and simple ability to see shades of grey here is amazing.
Yes...a vast number of people are living beyond their means...they are not saving..they are paying more attention to Britney than their finances...all true.
But there are also plenty of folks that simply got handed a really bad set of cards. it DOES happen regardless of the chip-on-the-shoulder posters who feel everyone in a bad situation made it themselves.
My brother is 37 with a wife and three kids. Been an exec at a large corp for 9 years. Very responsible and doesnt overspend...has a savings.
Recently was told the company is laying off a lot of management and it is likely he will be let go in the next 90 days. So he's looking for a job now.
If he finds one before they lay him off, great. If not he gets a 6 month severance. If he doesnt find one in 6 months he has ~$50k in savings that will buy them another 7 or 8 months...but after that the debt would pile up so quickly it could be impossible to climb out without filing bankruptcy.
He can work 24/7 flipping burgers but that wont put a dent in his monthly living expenses. And lets face it...its not like you can sell your house in this market to help things out.
Fact is..bad things DO happen to good people.
get off your high horse you moron (you know who Im talking about) as one day it could be you.
Final note..I also grew up on very poor living in a trailer park. My family didnt have a car. My dad had two jobs and he took the bus... Im now fairly well off so I know all about climbing out of the gutter.
You mean to tell me that $50k would only last your brother's family 7-8 months?
And you're saying he didn't create the situation himself?
hahahahahahaha
Jesus Christ, that is my point.
Just because you have a good paying job doesn't mean you need to rack up $7-8K in monthly living expenses. No more than you should make monster leveraged trades in an account just because you have a big account.
If you're that fucking stupid to see the flaw in your logic, then that's too bad for you.
Sorry, but $7-8k in minimum living expenses consists of a shit ton of debt. You're looking at a $500-600k house, two beemers and some BIG TIME CC debt, EASY.
Sorry but that is still not responsible. Bzzzzt try again.
No disrespect meant to your family, but don't call me a fucking moron and think it's just gonna slide.
NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT, IT IS A MATTER OF HOW BAD YOU WANT TO SURVIVE.
Hey that's great that he had a good job and all that and I am glad he bought himself plenty of nice toys, etc "because we're worth it", but hey, the only way to mitigate the risk of it all going away is to be frugal and logical with your spending. Bottom line.
If I leverage the hell out my trading account, I could blow up with one small aberration. The only solution is to trade small. If you just have to have a big house and fancy cars, etc commensurate with your max debt to income ratio available, then hey, be prepared to be in the hurt locker if the shit hits the fan. The only solution is to spend intelligently and live beneath your means. All else is taking a big risk.
Don't come calling me a moron just because you can't be objective about it.
Shit I have a $150k 1900 sq ft house (In FL of all places), a Z4 Roadster and a Ranger. I own the truck outright and bought the Z4 off some clown who was hurting from credit problems for $7500 under book.
I have zero residual CC debt. My wife and I pay off any balances each month.
Every penny after groceries, misc expenses, mortgage, loan payments, utilities and taking care of our three dogs goes to building the trading account and saving for disasters. Oh, and charity donations.
You have to have a margin of safety or you have to be prepared to pay the piper.
Not my fault that your brother built up a 7-8K monthly overhead for himself. Don't spew venom in my direction over that. I live in FL where there are plenty of foreclosures and people hurting because they sowed to the wind. When you sow to the wind, you reap the whirlwind.