For anyone thinking of taking out a loan

Mortgage is and isn't a debt. The writeoffs are nice, but lets be honest, not many can buy a house with cash. The alternative is rent which produces no investment and no tax breaks. That's probably the one gimmie.

I've bought a mechanically sound '66 Cessna 150 and a brand new factory order 400 horsepower fire breathing wingless type vehicle, both cash. I took a massive hit on the Cessna. The car you can pry from my cold dead hands. In one instance depreciation is a legitimate concern and in another it isn't. As I've said, in any instance, a blanket statement is a wrong one.

To each their own and woe be to those who make unsustainable decisions.

Yes, this. I'm not super thrilled with most of the radio and TV talking heads, but I still listen to some of them to see what the other side thinks, or to challenge my own beliefs.

If I could summarize that little bit by Dave Ramsey I would say; debt to income imbalance and unsustainable practices in aviation. By unsustainable, I believe regionals can't continue on with current wages and minimum tenures of a decade plus. I also think our civilian pilot training ground, general aviation, needs to be freed from the prison of uber legal liability. Also, the 100LL replacement quest should have began in earnest long ago. Finally, it is unsustainable to have higher education cost increases that *far* outstrip inflation. I'm sure other people have their own examples.
 
Fuel.

Housing.

Food.

Find me something that was cheaper now compared to 10 years ago. I'll give you electronics, they're way cheaper now overall for what you're getting.


Fuel
Up until a few years ago gasoline was consistently cheap. But even though that has gone up, other fuels (like natural gas) have plummeted in value.

Housing
The Case-Schiller index tells us that houses neither gain nor lose value over the long term.

Food
Food is very cheap in our modern times.
 
Finally, it is unsustainable to have higher education cost increases that *far* outstrip inflation. I'm sure other people have their own examples.

I'm surprised that bubble hasn't popped. It has to be a matter of time, there's really no way the average family can put their kids through school. It's pretty strange really... I had to work/pay my way through school and flight training. I graduated college in 2001, and started flight training in 2004. I would not be able to afford college or flight training these days. I really have no idea what I'd be doing if I was a kid starting out today... I'd probably have to take the Mike Rowe approach and do one of the trades.
 
I'd love to see a bunch of the 12% annual mutual funds that are supposedly laying around.
I'm by no means a genius, but when I opened a Roth 401K at my last employer I did a trial membership on Morningstar, picked some highly rated funds, and the statements I get from John Hancock keep telling me my meager portfolio has done better than that since it's inception.

Yeah, not a big window or sample size, but there you go.
 
I'm lucky to have been taught about how to work and use money wisely since I've been young. My parents made me get a job when I was 14 working at Safeway bagging groceries. From there I worked at pizza places, framing art, and at a pilot store. I went back to school doing what I loved to do and picked one out that was a reasonable price. From that education and life skills taught to me by amazing instructors I've been able to do pretty good. I was able to pop some magnum yellow labels with no debt to worry about. It was a great life being debt free.

Debt we have now is from my wife's doing and has killed my lifestyle since we've been married. For her she thought debt was a thing you were stuck with for life. Student loans for $30 G's and credit card debt of $10 Gs and wanting to buy a new car. For her my life was crazy and she thought the lifestyle came from my parents money. She didn't know how much debt can kill that lifestyle. For her nothing would really stick on how we need to pay off the student loans until I read Ramsey's book and passed it on to her. It is not the smartest method on paying off debt or investing but it does help her mentally get through the debt and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Since starting the method a few months ago for her we have paid off all of her credit debt and a few student loans. If I calculated it correctly the difference in doing the lowest amount versus the highest rate will cost us about $200 in interest. That $200 will be worth it to get debt free much quicker than paying minimums for decades.
 
A lot of parents don't teach their children about debt, credit cards and living within their means.

There's a particular generational spot where parents that grew up with very little "plastic" had children that they presumed would either marry well or be financially prosperous sprouted up in a period with easily accessible credit cards and "sign here, get something free, here's a frisbee… ITS OK, ITS FOR COLLEGE!" and they had absolutely zero knowledge of how debt kills dreams.

Now would I go into debt for a medical school? Absolutely. Dave Ramsey is out to lunch if he thinks the average Joe (which he is not) is going to be able to hand-fund medical school.

If I had a kid and she wanted to study Art History at Princeton? HAHAHAHAHAHA, oh I hope you aren't allergic to body glitter and like your name announced over bassy hip hop when you approach the main stage as you're going to have to work for it.
 
Having been one that paid/almost paid off loans for school I am a huge fan of paying for what you can afford. If little joey/Susie wants to go on to a ivy league school they better get their own loan.
Med school students are in the same boat if not worse than pilots. I work with a bunch of them and their first-forth year of residency is not paid well, starting about 40-ending about 55-65 depending on where you are at. Now if they have 300k from Harvard/Stanford med most of their income will go to that. Of course they can make larges sums down the road, but that is like pilots, they have to put in their time.
 
A lot of parents don't teach their children about debt, credit cards and living within their means.

There's a particular generational spot where parents that grew up with very little "plastic" had children that they presumed would either marry well or be financially prosperous sprouted up in a period with easily accessible credit cards and "sign here, get something free, here's a frisbee… ITS OK, ITS FOR COLLEGE!" and they had absolutely zero knowledge of how debt kills dreams.

Now would I go into debt for a medical school? Absolutely. Dave Ramsey is out to lunch if he thinks the average Joe (which he is not) is going to be able to hand-fund medical school.
Sure, but a little restraint is a good idea.

I have a friend who, between her undergrad (ends in *ford) and her med school will have somewhere around $750,000 in costs including loans and interest on said loans. I don't think freelance Planned Parenthood gynecologists (her chosen field) can realistically pay that sort of money back.

(Sure, borrower beware, but the lenders here need to have their collective heads examined.)

If I had a kid and she wanted to study Art History at Princeton? HAHAHAHAHAHA, oh I hope you aren't allergic to body glitter and like your name announced over bassy hip hop when you approach the main stage as you're going to have to work for it.
Oh snap.
 
Sure, but a little restraint is a good idea.

I have a friend who, between her undergrad (ends in *ford) and her med school will have somewhere around $750,000 in costs including loans and interest on said loans. I don't think freelance Planned Parenthood gynecologists (her chosen field) can realistically pay that sort of money back.

(Sure, borrower beware, but the lenders here need to have their collective heads examined.)


Oh snap.

Yes, and a very good point.

Education for altruistic purposes is good once you're established, but the world is expensive and she could always volunteer. If my kid wanted to go to Stanford for medicine and intended on living in a hut in Burundi, I'd laugh and suggest he or she do that during a sabbatical or after paying pops back the difference between their tuition and a public school tuition.
 
Having been one that paid/almost paid off loans for school I am a huge fan of paying for what you can afford. If little joey/Susie wants to go on to a ivy league school they better get their own loan.
Med school students are in the same boat if not worse than pilots. I work with a bunch of them and their first-forth year of residency is not paid well, starting about 40-ending about 55-65 depending on where you are at. Now if they have 300k from Harvard/Stanford med most of their income will go to that. Of course they can make larges sums down the road, but that is like pilots, they have to put in their time.
Except the part of changing employers doesn't have you start at the very bottom.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I learned too late about consumer debt and savings. My folks didn't teach me and it wasn't(isn't?) discussed in schools. My folks and are big "buy now, pay later" folks, so much that I fear where they are financially (both in their 60's.)

So thanks to stupid spending and pursuing flying, I had over 20k in consumer debt. Thankfully it was all low interest and/or rolled over to low interest cards. Thanks to my wife (opposite financial background) and busting my butt to pay it off, we have no debt now except for our house and cars. We pay our balances every month. That's not to say I don't buy something I really want, but I make sure I can pay it off. I only wish 36 year old me could have told 20 year old me how it works.

I use credit for everything I can though. The statements, available almost instantly now, helps me to track what I'm spending at home and especially on the road. I've always kept track of my money, even in my debt ridden days with Microsoft Money. Even if I had the cash for purchases, I'd still use credit just to be sure of where it all goes.

You have to find a system that works for you. Keeping track,spending wisely, saving where possible works for the wife and I. Reading the fine print helps a lot too.
 
Back
Top