Author Topic: Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story  (Read 2931 times)

SolarCat

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Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story
« on: December 25, 2018, 10:49:00 AM »
LOOK AT THIS.
This is my favourite article in a long time about spiralling debt and "wtf is going on with these people" in a long time:

Excerpt from part of the beginning, empahses mine:
Quote
Kate: I’m Kate. I’m 46. I have a law degree. I don’t practice law though. When I got pregnant with our first, I took the highest-paying job I could find that still allowed me to stay home and be close to my kids when they were growing up. So I work for an insurance company, paying claims. I make about $70,000 a year. We live in the suburbs of a city in the northeast of the U.S. We have three kids: ages 11, 14, and 18.

Tom: My name is Tom. I have a graduate degree in advertising. I’m 48 and I’m an insurance claims manager. I earn about $90,000 a year doing that, but I also work a second job as a bartender a couple times a week catering in private homes. I make between $100 and $250 a night doing that.

[...]

Tom: We bought our first house in 1997 for $195,000. It was fine, but then we tried to go big on the house we live in now. We bought a house that we probably couldn’t afford.

Kate: Our first house was perfectly fine, but I was pregnant with our third child, and we had three bedrooms in that house and wanted a fourth. And that house didn’t have a garage or a yard.

Tom: We built the house we’re in now in 2007. It’s a great house. But I knew from the beginning it was a stretch. It was the freewheeling times, and so they would do anything to get you into a house. They gave us a second mortgage that I’m paying right along with the original mortgage. We’ve refinanced the first mortgage a little bit, but we can never refinance it all together into one because it’s way too much. The house cost $360,000, and we have mortgages for just about $360,000.
I hate even knowing how much we owe altogether. I think the only reason we know it is because we have two of our kids in private school, so we have to fill out the financial aid forms. We had every intention of sending them to public school, but we weren’t very satisfied with the schools.

https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-ca/magazine/money-diary-couple-debt

IT ONLY GETS WORSE BETTER FROM THAT POINT ON!!!

everyone must read this article. please. i love it so much.
It's like every bad move they could have made.. they just did. They just dig in and make it worse.
 

Morning Glory

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Re: Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story
« Reply #1 on: December 26, 2018, 04:51:14 AM »
What the actual fuck? The saddest thing is that she has some insight into the situation but keeps making the same mistakes over and over. She seems to blame it all on the house but really the house was not that bad for their income. Maybe there is some addiction that is not being mentioned (gambling, compulsive shopping, etc.). And why can't junior get a part time job to pay for things like prom?

Nederstash

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Re: Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2018, 06:08:37 AM »
Oh my GOD

This reads like a sketch Monty Python would make because it's so insanely ABSURD.

You start reading and you're like 'well... that was stupid.' But then you read on and on and ON AND ON and it just doesn't stop! This is probably the most ridiculous article I've ever read.

Thanks for linking it. My faith in humanity has now shriveled and died.

Neustache

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Re: Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2018, 06:40:50 AM »
Shoot - my friend got her kids on a good online homeschooling program and worked full time while they did school.  They should look into something like that if they are worried about the public school.   Crazy!!

boyerbt

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Re: Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2018, 07:08:15 AM »
That is the most cringe-worthy debt story I have ever read. It honestly made my stomach turn how they "handle" their ever growing problems by ignoring them. I cannot even fathom how both of their parents will feel and react when they find out that they are now in an even worse place than before after receiving $60,000.

Dee

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Re: Wealthsimple Money Diaries - Debt: A Love Story
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2018, 05:11:31 PM »
That was, indeed, astounding.

One of the things that shocked me most: the difference between the sticker price for the private school and what the parents' are actually being asked to pay.

One of the biggest lies they tell themselves: the kids don't know about this. Of course, I believe they haven't told their kids about it, but the kids either know or are willfully blind to it all as a coping technique.

One of the things I am genuinely curious about: when they did credit counselling and the payments weren't being forwarded on time -- is that typical? Is there a solution to that? Is it just a matter of following-up with the credit counselling agency and the credit card companies and to keep at it until things get paid? If it is true that things weren't getting paid under that system, I do empathize with that aspect of things.

I would be really interested in a follow-up from them... is it just a question of time until they file for bankruptcy? Or can they sell their house, keep their jobs and find a way to live within their means and pay down their existing debt? Hopefully, they are wrong about life insurance being the only possible outcome by which this gets paid off.