Why Americans Are Going Broke

Re: trusty1two
regarding your daughter's tax refund...don't fool yourself...inflation is NOT increasing at 5% a year. there are 6-month and 12-month CDs that will give her at least 5% return on her money if she can part with it for that long. first and foremost have her apply the refund toward any debt that she has that exceeds an interest rate of 5% (ie. credit cards, auto loans, or anything besides a home loan) and if she has none and has one of the rare good heads of the country on her shoulders then have her put it in the said CD. standard bank savings accounts will only return around 3-4% and credit unions usually a bit more but CDs are safe in a volitile economy and will still outpace inflation.

here's a novel concept: don't spend more money than you make. today, everybody lives like they're wealthy...new cars, new or remodeled homes, second and third mortgages, and nobody is making more money than they were years ago before this disease started to infect the country. take a lesson from your parents and grandparents and don't buy stuff you can't pay cash for with only one exception...your home. otherwise, but used cars and run them until the wheels fall off. cars are the single most awful waste of money in the world today and made worse by the cost of fuel and repairs. don't buy a house if you can't afford to pay a conventional mortgage (principle and interest). interest only loans and the like are for the unwise and greedy, ask countrywide home loans. wise up folks and start living within your means! if you have to take a loan to buy it (and this includes credit card debt) then DO WITHOUT or save cash the old fashioned way before they had credit cards and second mortgages. we are shooting ourselves in the feet and creating a much worse economy for future generations (not to mention setting a rotten example) and we must get control of it.

big oil , banks, and taxes on gasoline and savings have all grabbed most of the excess spending cash we american have. this sounds like a socialist society run by government.
I remember Greenspan saying he was going to burst the bubble and get a soft landing,,,,,,,what ever that means. we must take a second look at where we are heading with the current type of politicians we are electing into office and put term limits to some of the offices. to much back door favors going on, such as why we cannot get a simple $800 rebate, why is our fate in the hands of overpaid and over aged politicians.

We need to have our people in debt. Some of the hardest working citizens in our nation's history were indentured servants. They worked off their debt and became the backbone of America. We are now returning to those glory years, where millions are truly indebted and will have to work hard for the rest of their lives to pay it off. Once unemployment is up, people will be willing to work for low wages just like India and China, and America will once again be competitive. True, many will live and die in poverty, and the gap between the haves and have-nots will spread, leading to civil unrest. But that is the way things have been since the beginning of time. It is obvious that people would rather spend their way into debt and then climb out of it rather than live more modestly and avoid the pressure. Deep down inside, they just know that they will not work as hard if they do not have that monkey on their back.

Why wouldn't we spend recklessly and lenders lend recklessly when our tax laws and financial experts encourage the mindless purchase of real estate at any price and our bankruptcy laws encourage lenders to extend credit without regard to the borrower's creditworthiness? Homebuyers believed that real estate is a risk free investment that will always pay off -- amazingly, so did their lenders. That's what happens when you don't teach history in schools.

Isn't it a wee bit odd when the primary equity for most Americans, their home, becomes a pawn in the Wall Street game? Of course Wall street was only capable of giving out $20 billion in bonuses this past year due to the homeowners being "greedy and irresponsible".. You steal peoples home and get a bonus: It smell a lot like criminal activity, organized criminal activity.

We are going to put our rebate straight into savings. We are now to the point where we only owe for house and vehicles--all other debts are paid off. Now we actually have money in the bank and will be putting extra toward the house and cars. I agree with the person below who said that none of the politicians will pay your bills. You have to do what's right for your household, and in many American cases, this means pay down debt or save it.

work hard and save your earnings. Shop Goodwill and clip coupons..... be thrifty. Just got back from eating out in a fancy restaurant ironically filled with young people. I probably was the only person who could truly afford to be there. But when you're young you have no time to wait for that trophy home, BMW, and all the things that I have , guess you'll have to keep hoping Uncle Sam keeps succoring you.
Stew

work hard and save your earnings. Shop Goodwill and clip coupons..... be thrifty. Just got back from eating out in a fancy restaurant ironically filled with young people. I probably was the only person who could truly afford to be there. But when you're young you have no time to wait for that trophy home, BMW, and all the things that I have , guess you'll have to keep hoping Uncle Sam keeps succoring you.
Stew

work hard and save your earnings. Shop Goodwill and clip coupons..... be thrifty. Just got back from eating out in a fancy restaurant ironically filled with young people. I probably was the only person who could truly afford to be there. But when you're young you have no time to wait for that trophy home, BMW, and all the things that I have , guess you'll have to keep hoping Uncle Sam keeps succoring you.
Stew

If the government encourages taxpayers to spend the rebate checks, but is fearful that the money will only be socked away, invested, or used to pay down personal debt, then the treasury needs a way to control how the money is spent. But how? Gift cards. Millions of them. They must be spent and generally can only be used to purchase goods and services. You want cash instead? You'll have to sell what you purchased. But all this stimulus is bittersweet. We know the government shouldn't afford it, and the IRS will want it back next year because it is income. Rob, St. Louis

what to do with your rebate.
1. Pay down debt
2. Save it
No mater who you vote for - NONE of them will be paying your bills.

s