Look at this economic storm of sh*t

[mumon]

http://mumonno.blogspot.com/2004/11/economic-indicators-were-goin-down.html

Hopefully if you can invest money, it's on the bear side of things.

[killbotfactory]

1. Thankfully, my mortgage is fixed rate

Now to just get rid of those damned credit cards.

[mumon]

2. Mine too.

Yeah, get outa those credit cards. We only use AMEX, and we actually have a surplus on it.

[Warpy]

4. Got rid of the credit cards in 1991

when they all started charging junk fees. I decided 18.9% interesst should be enough of a charge for anybody, that they'd gotten greedy as hell, and that I didn't need the convenience of an instant loan.

A debit card works just fine for online purchases.

I haven't missed the credit cards, to tell the truth.

[whalerider55]

5. warpy

i'm no fan of credit cards, but unless the rules have changed, debit cards don't offer anywehre near the same safeguards as credit cards in the case of theft...

just something to be careful about

whalerider55

[rkc3]

6. VISA just had me dump my debit card for one with a new number.

There is an effort on their part to make them safer w/respect to identity theft.

[killbotfactory]

7. Banks are charging junk fees now.

I've lost thousands of dollars over the past three years because of their schemes. They stack debits and checks so that the biggest ones go through first, small ones last, and deposits after they charge you 200 dollars in fees for $10 dollars worth of purchases. Then they drag their feet on giving you the full amount of your deposit for as long as possible. I guess they figure poor people won't invest enough to make them lots of money, so they should charge ridiculous prices for overdrafts, atm withdrawals, low balances, etc.

I just moved to a credit union. Now I know that they don't hire people who's sole job is to crunch numbers and figure out ways to screw poor people out of money while nickel and diming them to death.

[On the Road]

8. Holy Shit!

Nearly half of new mortgage borrowing is at flexible interest rates, leaving borrowers much more vulnerable to rate hikes.

How can so many people be so dumb? I can tell you one thing -- when rates go up, a wave of bankruptcies and foreclosures is going to hit, just like in the 80's.

Not much we can do about it here. I'm just going to make sure I'm in good enough financial shape to pick up a couple of cheap townhouses to rent out. Seriously, check it out -- there will be opportunities, and there's no reason Republicans should be the only ones to benefit.

[killbotfactory]

10. I can't believe that either

What were they thinking? All of my parents and elders said "GET A FIXED RATE MORTGAGE YOU FOOL!" because they remember the 80's.

[mumon]

12. right now, my IRA

is almost entirely in foreign assetts.

Which is the funny thing about Bush's "ownershit" society: you don't need to invest in the US.

Even for a middle class guy like me.

[papau]

3. The sulution to large debt is inflation - drop in value of dollar - and

that is what Bush is doing.

Living standard drop will be large

but at least the rich got their tax cut

and the imvesting class has lower taxes

and government finances will be safer once the gov stops providing that expensive safety net guarantee - things like guaranteed social security benefit pay outs funded by taxes - - - not funded by more National Debt in lieu of any tax increase on the rich.

[On the Road]

9. I Agree -- I've Been Thinking for Years

that the only solution to the national debt is another round of double-digit inflation. But unless the budget is balanced again, it's not going solve the problem.

[mumon]

11. And for Repukes, another benefit:

Americans won't be able to afford to travel abroad.