JetBlue’s Future

Rushing to pay off a mortgage that's at sub 5% interest isn't really great advice so long as that money is earning at a higher rate.

Like all things, depends. I’m doing a 30 yr mortgage to be done in 3.5 yrs. I’ll take this 3.5 yr pause, for 26.5 yrs of financial security and mental peace of mind. P&I for me is 7 grand. If this pilot job goes belly up, it would be nice to not have a mortgage payment over one’s head.

Granted, I’m in at 6.625% but I would do the same for even 3%. I’ll have the remaining 26.5 yrs mortgage free (of the 30 yrs) to invest like crazy and make it up. Sure, I lose out on these 3.5 yrs but whatever. To me, it’s worth the mental peace of mind.
 
Ramsey is an idiot who got rich off of idiots.

I would t say he’s an idiot, but an outdated way of saving for the future as most items have doubled since his advice started. I laugh so hard at the 1000 emergency fund, that needs to be atleast 3000 in today’s money. You can even get your car fixed for less than a grand anymore.

The debt snowball was a good idea imo. Had a few friends follow that advice and got out of financial trouble in a few years. Again, pre COVID economy
 
I would t say he’s an idiot, but an outdated way of saving for the future as most items have doubled since his advice started. I laugh so hard at the 1000 emergency fund, that needs to be atleast 3000 in today’s money. You can even get your car fixed for less than a grand anymore.

The debt snowball was a good idea imo. Had a few friends follow that advice and got out of financial trouble in a few years. Again, pre COVID economy
Snowball is cute for people that don’t understand compounding interest and the big picture. Avalanche is the only method that anyone should talk about. Again, he’s great for people that can’t do math. Someone once told me there are those that understand compound interest and those that pay it and that stuck with me early on. The reality is it’s a whole lot more complicated than Dave would have you believe. I guess I’d you need it dumbed down he’s great.🙄
 
Someone once told me there are those that understand compound interest and those that pay it and that stuck with me early on. The reality is it’s a whole lot more complicated than Dave would have you believe.

I think this is the gist of it. That advice/axiom is true, but even armed with that knowledge, it can be very difficult to move from one category to another. And that there are some situations where it is cheaper to pay the interest to someone else, while letting your other $$$ compound at a greater rate elsewhere. I think his standard advice about "you can't afford this unless" is often still true. It is just perhaps somewhat conservative, and is largely unattainable for most average folks. There is also something to be said about enjoying life a little while you still have it, when it comes to discretionary spending, that I think he probably doesn't preach but likely practices. I'm positive his daughter does. Which makes the whole message a bit inauthentic IMO
 
I think this is the gist of it. That advice/axiom is true, but even armed with that knowledge, it can be very difficult to move from one category to another. And that there are some situations where it is cheaper to pay the interest to someone else, while letting your other $$$ compound at a greater rate elsewhere. I think his standard advice about "you can't afford this unless" is often still true. It is just perhaps somewhat conservative, and is largely unattainable for most average folks. There is also something to be said about enjoying life a little while you still have it, when it comes to discretionary spending, that I think he probably doesn't preach but likely practices. I'm positive his daughter does. Which makes the whole message a bit inauthentic IMO
Exactly this and that’s my problem with his whole shtick. The terrier answer is probably closer to “it depends” for 99% of people.
 
Snowball is cute for people that don’t understand compounding interest and the big picture. Avalanche is the only method that anyone should talk about. Again, he’s great for people that can’t do math. Someone once told me there are those that understand compound interest and those that pay it and that stuck with me early on. The reality is it’s a whole lot more complicated than Dave would have you believe. I guess I’d you need it dumbed down he’s great.🙄

I do have pretty dumb friends 😆😆

And I ain’t the smartest one of the bunch. Luckily I’ve steered clear of bad debt besides a killer divorce, still paying back 401k loans on that one along with my dumb auto loan because I felt like I needed a gift after it all went boom.
 
I do have pretty dumb friends 😆😆

And I ain’t the smartest one of the bunch. Luckily I’ve steered clear of bad debt besides a killer divorce, still paying back 401k loans on that one along with my dumb auto loan because I felt like I needed a gift after it all went boom.
Honestly man that's the other reason I hate Ramsey. If you followed his advice you'd never spend money on anything. Life is short. Live within your means but take that vacation. Buy that truck. If you wait until retirement you're gonna be too old to enjoy your money.
 
He used to have an enjoyable show back in the AM days but something shook loose in his head and I kind of just want to bully him now.
 
Honestly man that's the other reason I hate Ramsey. If you followed his advice you'd never spend money on anything. Life is short. Live within your means but take that vacation. Buy that truck. If you wait until retirement you're gonna be too old to enjoy your money.

Not gonna take it with us!
 
It boggles my mind that the zeitgeist of the internet is that a company with $8 billion in cash and assets is going to declare bankruptcy by the end the year.

Is bankruptcy eventually a threat? Yes. Does that threat exist right now? No. Does JetBlue hold a significant amount of debt? Yes, close to $9 billion last time I looked.

But United has $30 billion in debt and American has $35 billion in debt. United has no trouble servicing that debt because of their strong results over the last few years, but American made $100 million on $54 billion of revenue. Those numbers are atrocious, but nobody is talking about the perilous situation American finds itself in.

Which tells me that most concerns regarding JetBlue's financial position is based on vibes and not data, otherwise the discussion would be about the overwhelming amount of debt American and United are holding instead of upgrade times.

When it comes to vibes, I get it. Spirit just liquidated, we're about to hit one of the worst oil shocks we've ever seen when strategic petroleum reserves run out, and it generally feels like the world is on fire.

But vibes are not data, and corporate finances are not run like household finances. Corporations have more levers to pull than the average person, and the idea of wiping out institutional investors to make JetBlue's books look better for a possible merger borders on insanity.

United and American are "Too Big To Fail"

They'll give "C" level multi-million dollar bonuses then go CH11 and screw over everyone else, cancel contracts and reset the clock.
 
He used to have an enjoyable show back in the AM days but something shook loose in his head and I kind of just want to bully him now.

His co hosts are more annoying. The younger guy with glasses seems so condescending I just want to choke him out when I hear him tell people they suck. I stopped watching all together, besides the hot clips of “help me, I’m 67 and have zero saved!”
 
His co hosts are more annoying. The younger guy with glasses seems so condescending I just want to choke him out when I hear him tell people they suck. I stopped watching all together, besides the hot clips of “help me, I’m 67 and have zero saved!”

Yeah, it’s become the boomer-version of the Caleb Hammer show.
 
Ramit Sethi (I Will Teach You To Be Rich) is like an anti-Dave and fun fact I met him in person a long time ago. But there’s a personal finance subforum for this..

…back to the topic of JetBlue… I don’t •in know. Like I said above, being squeezed between active attempts to quash large portions of the travel industry and fuel costs doubling overnight, none of us are in a great place right now. But hey, at least yall didn’t bet the house on a big expansion into widebody international flying…
 
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