SVT
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Post by SVT on Apr 10, 2011 19:19:06 GMT -5
The sky's the limit!
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formerexpat
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Post by formerexpat on Apr 10, 2011 19:23:22 GMT -5
If you are a taxpayer, it appears that your debt limit is over $1m + the personal debt you carry.
That is, after all, the amount of unfunded liabilities per taxpayer in the US right now.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2011 19:24:51 GMT -5
Could you post me a link to that please... thanks expat...
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formerexpat
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Post by formerexpat on Apr 10, 2011 20:13:05 GMT -5
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Apr 10, 2011 20:26:58 GMT -5
I haven't looked at the debt clock in months. I think it would make me throw up. As a person who came from poverty and achieved a certain amount of sucess, all I can say is WTF??? You had all these resources and you ended up here??? Doesn't have to be this way. But it will hurt to get us back on track.
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formerexpat
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Post by formerexpat on Apr 10, 2011 20:52:44 GMT -5
It is a shame how much the entitlement spending/promises have exploded over the past four / five decades. I too grew up from nothing and it's sad to see the entitlement complex that many in the country have [adults and children alike]. We need to cut these entitlements quick so the following generations aren't so reliant on the government, or expecting of a certain lifestyle that is going to be tougher and tougher to keep with globalization and >2bn+ people who want the same lifestyle that Americans have now...or even a quarter of that lifestyle. Have you seen this Malarky? images.businessweek.com/mz/11/10/1110_mz_49meekerusainc.pdfSomeone just posted it here recently. Awesome read and spot on from a person that understands finances. The country is in for some pain...more extreme the longer we wait.
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Apr 10, 2011 21:39:21 GMT -5
I actually am one of those suburban moms who is woefully uninformed because I have so much to do between my kids and my job, that I don't have a lot of time. I am not nearly on top of things as I would like to be, but at the end of the day I have to sleep to work another day and pay taxes. The only thing I have on my side is common sense. I don't begin to understand the finances of this country. The country is vast and I only live in the northeast corner, I have no concept of what it's like to be a native of Iowa. Things I do know? We all enjoy an enormous amount of freedom, gained by the sacrifices of others. I can, as a citizen of this country, hold any public office. There are a whole bunch of clueless people in Congress who have not the merest hint of how to run a household, let alone be responsible for billions of dollars. When you run out of money before you run out of month, you cut back, do potlucks, do without. YOU DO NOT CONTINUE SPENDING!!! Please continue formulating the country's budget, given these guidelines.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2011 1:47:14 GMT -5
"There are a whole bunch of clueless people in Congress who have not the merest hint of how to run a household, let alone be responsible for billions of dollars."
They are not clueless; but their priorty is getting re-elected and not dealing with reality. If they are honest and tell us what needs to be done to balance the budget we won't re-elect them. I'm a moderate Republican and am just plain embarrased that the Party which claims to want minimum government won't touch SS or medicare because those are the folks who vote.
The demos are equally bad by supporting unsustainable programs with an idea of sticking it to "the Rich". There just aren't enough bodies to fund the programs.
We've created this monster...
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Apr 11, 2011 5:44:08 GMT -5
We seem to have gotten off topic the last few posts.
i have ZERO debt tolerance. Paid off my house 6/06. Bought my 2007 car for CASH 12/06. As I am now retired/fired (8/10) I plan to keep debt that way.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Apr 11, 2011 9:05:02 GMT -5
DH and I were talking about the government and these message boards this morning. Someone, somewhere on here mentioned that the Feds may increase the debt limit and DH was explaining it to me. (I hate all things politics and don't keep on top of this stuff). So he says that our personal debt limit is $0 since we have no debt. I think about it ... and realize that's not really true. Our personal debt limit is probably $10,000 since we'd be willing to take on a car loan in that amount if something happened to one of our vehicles. So assuming we do take on a $10,000 car loan. And then the other car dies. Do we increase our debt limit to $20,000 to take on more debt? Or do we pay cash for another car, probably a beater of some sort?? I'm not sure what the answer is since we're not actually in that position. But it's something to think about. So, our of curiosity, what's your debt limit? To me, the phrasing of this makes me think that our personal debt LIMIT is the total of everything the bank and cc's will let us borrow. Which would probably be around $150K. This is very different from one's personal debt comfort level though. DH and I owe about $83K (house, vacation land, car and HELOC) and we're slowly inching downward on that. And maybe I'm just playing with words here.
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trytofindbalance
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Post by trytofindbalance on Apr 11, 2011 11:18:24 GMT -5
Hmmm...very interesting question. I would say that I am very debt adverse when it comes to anything besides my mortgage and car payment. We have two vehicles, but only one car payment. We owe $385,000 on the mortgage (at 5.25%) and a little under $20,000 on the car at 3.9%. I'm ok with that debt. It was planned debt and at the time of the purchases, it was very reasonable, given our incomes. I don't think I would pay either one of these debts off earlier. I would rather invest my extra money in post-tax accounts, as I am already maxing out my 401k.
Currently, we have about $10,000 outstanding on zero percent credit cards. I could pay these "loans" off at any time, but I prefer to keep the money in our emergency fund and investments. The balances were purposeful, because we preferred to have access to cash for business start-up costs and living expenses during that time. We decided to put DH's schooling on a zero percent card and we also put over $5000 in truck repairs on one as well. I despise credit card debt; however, I know that there is a plan here, so I am doing my best to keep my anxiety under control. Normally I pay the credit card off each month (I haven't paid any interest in over 20 years), but due to DH being in school and working much less, we thought this was a good temporary solution to our current financial situation. We are in the process of paying it down and we've tightened our belt dramatically on all other spending to get it paid off asap.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2011 12:19:20 GMT -5
A debt is a sum of money that I know is greater than I can pay off in a month, which is why I willingly signed a contract to pay that greater amount off in X monthly installments. Like a mortgage, or a car loan, or a boiler / furnace loan. I don't think I agree with this. It is possible to have debt and still have money sitting somewhere else, that could pay off the debt anytime the person chooses. I am actually becoming less debt adverse and starting to take a more "Phil" philosophy on debt. The real eye opener for me was when I ran the numbers on paying down the mortgage amount on a house I inherited.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2011 13:54:54 GMT -5
hmm... So according to that debt clock thing, (whose premises for calculating 'unfunded liabilities' can be challenged at least in part...) Assets per citizen are $249,509 Liability per taxpayer is $1,019,516 So if you'd just give me the assets coming to me and my kids... i'll go ahead and pay the liability for our one household taxpayer...
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Post by debtheaven on Apr 11, 2011 14:30:24 GMT -5
It is possible to have debt and still have money sitting somewhere else, that could pay off the debt anytime the person chooses.
Agreed, Pooks. I should have said that I can't and / or choose not to pay off. My point was that I don't consider a bill "debt".
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2011 10:11:04 GMT -5
To be fair, shouldn't we really be discussing this as a % of gross household product?
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Apr 12, 2011 13:25:52 GMT -5
To be fair, shouldn't we really be discussing this as a % of gross household product? Oh man, I'd be screwed. Moody's would have to invent a new rating that falls below junk status. We'd be at right around 300%
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