[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by LateNiteCruisin

I hear the same thing.. My friend lives in Proximity to FFU. Less than half mile. He mentioned there are 25 houses for sale near him. That doesn't sound good at all. Last time I went to see him ,about a month ago I saw many realty signs myself. Ct seems to be purging in myop.

CT Yank and yourself are right on the money. Ditto. A very good friend has been trying to unload his parents home there since the spring, same area. Started in the mid 7's, dropped to the low 6's, little to no showings. Has someone interested in renting it out. Another guy in the Bronson area, bought a few years ago $1.3M, now on the market in low 9's, no showings. A divorcee, the husband took off, can't get showings same area, same figures bought over $1M, on the market at 8. Nobody wants big yards and do kitchen and bath renos anymore.
Millenials only want the cheap small stuff with small yards in denser neighborhoods. The biggest issue hands down is the lack of high end personnel moving into the area from out of state. These are always a topic of discussion in our hoity toity social gatherings.

[Fuele]

Jonathan Guzman and Mayra Finol earn about $130,000 a year, combined, in technology jobs. Though that is more than double the median, debt from their years at St. John’s University in New York has been hard to overcome.

The two 28-year-olds in West Hartford, Conn., have about $51,000 in student debt, plus $18,000 in auto loans and $50,000 across eight credit cards. Adding financial pressure are a baby daughter and a mortgage of around $270,000.

“I’m normally a worrier, but this is next-level stuff. I’ve never been more stressed,” Mr. Guzman said. “Never would I have thought with the amount we make I would have these problems.”

They no longer dine out several times a week. Other hits to their budget were hard to avoid, such as a wrecked car that forced them to borrow more.


Ms. Finol hasn’t used her T.J. Maxx credit card in more than a year. She makes the minimum monthly payment on its balance of approximately $7,500. Her monthly statement says if she continues at this pace, she will need about 23 years to pay it off.

Earlier this year, Mr. Guzman put his credit cards in a Ziploc bag with water and placed it in the freezer. In May, however, they went to two weddings, and needed a card to cover the cost of a gift and a rental car.

Mr. Guzman removed one of the credit cards from the freezer. “A lot of things came at once,” he said. Since then, he’s taken the rest of them out, too.








https://www.wsj.com/articles/familie...ss-11564673734

[davwve]

Sounds like they do a poor job at managing their personal finances.

[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by Fuele

Jonathan Guzman and Mayra Finol earn about $130,000 a year, combined, in technology jobs. Though that is more than double the median, debt from their years at St. John’s University in New York has been hard to overcome.

The two 28-year-olds in West Hartford, Conn., have about $51,000 in student debt, plus $18,000 in auto loans and $50,000 across eight credit cards. Adding financial pressure are a baby daughter and a mortgage of around $270,000.

“I’m normally a worrier, but this is next-level stuff. I’ve never been more stressed,” Mr. Guzman said. “Never would I have thought with the amount we make I would have these problems.”

They no longer dine out several times a week. Other hits to their budget were hard to avoid, such as a wrecked car that forced them to borrow more.


Ms. Finol hasn’t used her T.J. Maxx credit card in more than a year. She makes the minimum monthly payment on its balance of approximately $7,500. Her monthly statement says if she continues at this pace, she will need about 23 years to pay it off.

Earlier this year, Mr. Guzman put his credit cards in a Ziploc bag with water and placed it in the freezer. In May, however, they went to two weddings, and needed a card to cover the cost of a gift and a rental car.

Mr. Guzman removed one of the credit cards from the freezer. “A lot of things came at once,” he said. Since then, he’s taken the rest of them out, too.








https://www.wsj.com/articles/familie...ss-11564673734

Outside of the fact the family resides in CT I am not sure what this has to do with the state's economic climate?

These folks make a good amount of income, they just seem to not know how to manage their money.

[Fuele]

What’s left: a bifurcated economy that produces wealth but doesn’t spread much of it out. Connecticut boasted the nation’s highest per capita income in 2017, at $70,121. From 2009 to 2015, the income of the top 1 percent in Connecticut grew by 22.9 percent while incomes for everybody else dropped by 1.8 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank. The institute ranks Connecticut the third most unequal state in the country, behind New York and Florida, in its most recent study.

Economist Mark Price, who worked on the Economic Policy Institute inequality study, said financial industry hubs in Connecticut and New York exacerbate inequality in those states, but he noted that disparities are present throughout the U.S. economy. Unemployment numbers are improving nationwide and since 2015, Price said, there has been “broader and healthier growth” that is more widespread. “But that doesn’t reverse the overall 36-year trends where a tiny fraction of the folks at the top capture a significant share of income growth.”


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conne...b0de86f49100ad

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by J. Fiction

Outside of the fact the family resides in CT I am not sure what this has to do with the state's economic climate?

These folks make a good amount of income, they just seem to not know how to manage their money.

Did you read the article? They are talking about the middle class. They are middle class here in CT.

West Hartford ! Isn't that a highly suggested place to move to ?

[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by Fuele

Did you read the article? They are talking about the middle class. They are middle class here in CT.

West Hartford ! Isn't that a highly suggested place to move to ?

I don't have a subscription to WSJ, so I only read what you posted. Is there something specific about the economic climate in CT that caused them to be bad with their money?

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by J. Fiction

I don't have a subscription to WSJ, so I only read what you posted. Is there something specific about the economic climate in CT that caused them to be bad with their money?

From the link. I would say it is specific to CT in many aspects. Housing costs here stands out the most.



The American middle class is falling deeper into debt to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.

Cars, college, houses and medical care have become steadily more costly, but incomes have been largely stagnant for two decades, despite a recent uptick. Filling the gap between earning and spending is an explosion of finance into nearly every corner of the consumer economy.

Consumer debt, not counting mortgages, has climbed to $4 trillion—higher than it has ever been even after adjusting for inflation. Mortgage debt slid after the financial crisis a decade ago but is rebounding.

Student debt totaled about $1.5 trillion last year, exceeding all other forms of consumer debt except mortgages.

Auto debt is up nearly 40% adjusting for inflation in the last decade to $1.3 trillion. And the average loan for new cars is up an inflation-adjusted 11% in a decade, to $32,187, according to an analysis of data from credit-reporting firm Experian.

[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by Fuele

From the link. I would say it is specific to CT in many aspects. Housing costs here stands out the most.



The American middle class is falling deeper into debt to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.

Cars, college, houses and medical care have become steadily more costly, but incomes have been largely stagnant for two decades, despite a recent uptick. Filling the gap between earning and spending is an explosion of finance into nearly every corner of the consumer economy.

Consumer debt, not counting mortgages, has climbed to $4 trillion—higher than it has ever been even after adjusting for inflation. Mortgage debt slid after the financial crisis a decade ago but is rebounding.

Student debt totaled about $1.5 trillion last year, exceeding all other forms of consumer debt except mortgages.

Auto debt is up nearly 40% adjusting for inflation in the last decade to $1.3 trillion. And the average loan for new cars is up an inflation-adjusted 11% in a decade, to $32,187, according to an analysis of data from credit-reporting firm Experian.

Again, none of that is CT specific - these are all nation-wide phenomenon.

In the case of the couple you posted, what specifically about CT is causing them to be in so much debt? The answer is nothing, they simply are out-living their means. Which again, is hardly unique to CT - if you think it is, just tune into Dave Ramsey's show for a few minutes.

My household income is quite similar to the couple in the article and we too have a young child, we too had plenty of student loan debt. But we made paying off our loans a priority and we are currently completely debt free. We put off buying a home until we are financially prepared to do so. It appears, at least given the scant information in the article that this couple did not. So again this is simply a case of a couple mismanaging their finances and speaks nothing to the current economic climate of the state.

[beerbeer]

I have been in favor of this idea for a year. I've sent letters to the Courant, HBJ, and email members of CCEDA (now called CRDA). This is simply common sense. Le's hope it prevails.

XL Center could be sold to tribes under new proposal that would add gambling in Hartford

https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-...l24-story.html