Families go deep into debt to stay in the middle class (unemployment, gasoline)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a sneaky feeling, what happened with houses in 2007-08 is now happening with cars (car loans) today! banks and car manufacturers are KILLING IT right now, they have made it SO easy to buy a new expensive car, one that is way more than anyone needs to spend, of course, people are going to jump at the chance, even if they cannot afford it and stop making payments 6 months later...it takes about 3-4 months for a car to repossessed, so thats alot of free drive time in a car you cannot afford.
Its crazy, the longest term for a car loan years ago was 5 years, today, they can be extended out to 8 and even 10 yrs!! WOW,that is crazy for a car.
Subprime auto loans took a break during the Great Recession. They are back.
Subprime mortgages were sold on the secondary market, sliced, diced and repackaged as PRIVATE LABEL securities and graded by the independent credit rating agencies and many were assigned investment grade. This opened the floodgates to the most conservative investors, private and public pension/ retirement plans, insurance companies and corporations, including but not limited to FNMA and FHLMC.
Had the independent credit rating agencies correctly assessed the risks of these private label securities they would not have been assigned investment grade. Thus, the big conservative money would not have funded the darkest sub prime mortgages. Therefore, sub prime loans would not have inflated the bubble the way they did during the housing bubble.
Auto loans have been securitized for decades. Unlike a mortgage, the underlying asset supporting each loan continues to lose value and the securities are not assigned an investment grade rating.
Unlike a mortgage, one cannot suck the equity out of their auto and use it to live beyond their means.
Unlike a mortgage, repossession happens quickly. There are no state laws that protect the auto owners from prompt repossession.
Definitely. Middle Class is 2 people working their as*es off and paying large payments on house, car and education. It's really the struggling and almost dying Middle Class.
The middle class standard of living is a relative term that changes daily and differs WILDLY from location to location.
Most of the laments come from the major cities, almost always the liberal enclave ones specifically, where the price of housing went berserk long before Trump was President and wage growth couldn't keep up under any profitability model, so the middle class flees to the suburbs and outskirts.
Nobody "deserves" anything. We each have that which we earn/keep via our choices and behaviors.
We had debt going into the recession. I justified it because we has stock options that were in the money and we could sell them. Well, they evaporated into thin air during a blackout period so we will had the debt but no options. To get out of debt, I set up a detailed spreadsheet. If we couldn't eat it, we didn't buy it. I used Suze Orman's phrase "I can't afford it' and after I paid it off, I swore I would never carry debt again other than mortgage. I can't afford it is very liberating. More people need to use that.
There are not a lot of "how I got rich" stories where you hear:
" the wife and I got a tiny house and shared a 1999 Corolla while we opened up our dream business . We ate ramen, saved what we could, and paid our taxes so we could run an honest business, and I'll be damned if that sucker didn't just take off! Look at us now with our jets and our real estate fortune!"
Most people who write the rich people books say things like "debt is good. never use your own money- get credit from someone else. learn the tax loopholes" etc etc.
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.
Material people, have got to out do the Jones's. Not just keep up.
It's all well and good to shame these people for their decision making, but they're the norm and they've always been the norm. Most people are making some kind of "bad" financial decision. The difference between now and the last few generations is that wages could cover people's inefficiencies.
Now you have most people living check to check, to the point that half of Americans couldn't cover a $1000 out of pocket expense. And our entire economy is based on those inefficiency. Where do you think the economy would be if most Americans put 10% of their paycheck in savings, 15% towards retirement? If they didn't have kids until they were able to put 20% down on a house in the suburbs? If Americans spread out into the sticks bc they shouldn't spend more 20% on housing? As a country, we'd be f***ed.
The issue isn't American consumers/consumerism. The issue is wages and cost of living squeezing Americans on both sides.
This wins the award for the dumbest post of the day.
I consider myself middle class. I own my own home. I paid off my mortgage in three years. Every bit of extra money I had I paid down the mortgage. We paid off our vehicles. I have zero credit card debt. I don't get a new phone every year. I probably go 4 years with the same phone. I cut the cord with my cable. I am actually 100% debt free. I have one child. He attended the Air Force Academy. I gave him a check from the money I had saved for his college. I went to community college and I never took a loan. I have a financial planner and I invest my money into my retirement. it comes down in many cases to how you want to live your life. I live within my means. If I have the money to buy something than I do. If I don't then I wait until I do. Yes I could own a Mercedes. But what the hell does that prove. So I own a a Mercedes and I have hundreds of dollars in payments monthly. Or I just own my truck that I bought two years used and enjoy driving without payments. If you have to keep up with the Jones's I feel sorry for you. Honestly you should be happy with yourself.
Amen to this! I've never understood people who needed newer, bigger or better, or they couldn't be happy.
This wins the award for the dumbest post of the day.
I concur, but all of his posts are like that. We do not have a wage, inflation, nor COL problem. We have a decision making, and choices problem with many. They CHOOSE to be frivolous with their spending, and do not have the discipline like you to say, "I can't afford that right now".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
