Entries Tagged 'credit' ↓

So my dad wrote a comment on my earlier post saying that there is good and bad debt, and not having debt doesn’t mean you are good at managing your money.  That is definitely true, and I feel like I need to address what I think the nuances between good and bad debt are.

First of all, I am pretty sick of people telling me that a mortgage is good debt, because it is not that simple.  I think a mortgage can be good debt if the property you purchased  generates cash flow. In the case of a primary residence, this means that the cost of your monthly mortgage is less than the cost to rent a similar home. In the case of a rental or investment property, this means the rent you collect covers your mortgage and maintenance costs.  Additionally there is the possibility of asset appreciation, but that is an uncertain factor that should be measured conservatively.  A mortgage is definitely bad debt if you can’t afford it or if you have to  stretch your finances extremely thin to afford it.  If you are losing buckets of money by taking on a mortgage, then it is bad debt.

Another iffy type of debt is student loans.  A lot of people consider them to be good debt because they financed an education, but I think student loans can also be bad debt if the education was never put to use or if the interest rates are extraordinarily high.  Then again, it’s hard to gauge the future when you are young, idealistic, and have a passion for learning. However, it is possible to figure out the approximate salary you could potentially receive by finishing a certain degree.

Credit card debt is another thing that could be good or bad.  If your credit card debt has 0% interest, it is possible to leverage that money into safe investments and pay the credit card company back.  In fact a whole group of people have taken advantage of this in the past few years when bank interest rates were high.  However, most people who have credit card debt are in a situation where they are paying extremely high interest rates on purchases of useless items.  That is extremely bad debt.

So what’s the bottom line?  I think good debt is basically debt you could make a profit on and bad debt is the debt that make you have less than what you started with.  It is hard to figure out which is which in some situations, but when you realize you have bad debt you should work on eliminating it as soon as possible.

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Welcome to the March 17, 2008 edition of credit report stories. This is a fairly new blog carnival that doesn’t have many submissions. The following are the submissions I found useful.

B. Duncan presents TV Station Puts Identity Theft Protection Companies to the Test posted at Identity Thoughts - Identity Theft Protection, Identity Theft Prevention. I thought this article was rather interesting. Apparently some identity theft alert services do work.

Raymond presents Best Business Credit Card For Your Small Business posted at Money Blue Book.

Jay Medina presents The easiest way to establish good credit posted at HelpfulAdvisor.com.

William Blake presents Are You Balancing Your Bank Statements Every Month? posted at Becoming Debt Free.

That concludes this extremely short edition of the article. Submit your blog article to the next edition of credit report stories using the carnival submission form if you have useful articles about credit cards, credit report, and identity theft!

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When I first moved to the United States in 1992 the country was recovering from a widespread recession and I was totally unaware of it since I was only nine years old. Then ten years later another recession occurred and I was attending college and once again lived through it without caring too much. Today there is a lot of talk about the coming of the next recession and I am sure it will happen again since the economy is cyclical. We are already seeing a slow down in employment and massive losses in the financial industry and the stock market has come down about 10 to 11% since the October high. So what will I do in this coming recession?

1. Stay Invested — I am not going to sell all my investments just because it is going down right now. Panicking and selling long term investments is probably not the best thing to do since I really don’t need the money right now. I will also continue to contribute to my 401k despite the volatile market. The reason for this is that eventually a recession ends and the market goes up again. Selling a stock or fund at a low is never really a good strategy.

2. Look for Bargains — I will be looking for cheap investments to buy if there is a recession. There are many great companies that will survive through a recession but their prices may be depressed by the general mood of investors. So I am sure there will be bargains. Additionally the real estate market is falling almost everyday and if there is a reasonable bargain I may purchase real estate. Basically, I will keep an eye out for things on sale.

3. Be Indispensable at My Job — The general consensus is that the tech industry is still fairly strong, but a recession could change the outlook rapidly and there may be a great Silicon Valley Job Massacre again. I think the key to keeping your job is to be good at it, and I will try my best to be “unfirable”.

4. Formulate a Backup Plan — Sometimes being a great employee is not enough and people still get axed because the horrendous economic situation of their company just can’t be salvaged. This is why I think everyone should have a backup plan to survive. I’m not sure what I would do yet, but I imagine I could be a consultant or just blog full time. I also have a pretty big emergency fund that could help through a period of unemployment.

5. Stay Debt Free — When times are lean, it’s even more important to be debt free because it may be harder to reduce debt with less income. I will make sure I don’t take on any debts I can’t pay back.

6. Cut Expenses — If our income falls drastically we may need to cut expenses. There are many areas where we can be more frugal right now, but since we’re doing fairly well in savings we’re not living an extremely cheap lifestyle. For example, we could move to a smaller apartment, but it would be less comfortable. However, if we really had to downsize we would be fine with a smaller and cheaper apartment. I think many people live in houses that are way too big for them and if times are lean that’s where they can save the most. They can rent out part of their home or just move to a smaller apartment.

7. Continue to Donate — I read an article some time ago that said charitable organizations receive less donations in recessions. This is understandable because if a lot of people lose their jobs they would be unable to donate. I will try my best to maintain my donations.

Anyway, my outlook for the next recession is that it probably will not affect me and the hubby very much and I probably do not have to change much of my lifestyle. If we both happen to lose our jobs I think we are still fairly well prepared to live through it. What are your plans for the coming recession?

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A couple days ago I read an article that stated more than 80% of Americans are happy with their personal lives and America is the happiest place on earth! The article gave many reasons to the bliss of Americans including wealth and religion. (I do agree with the reasons given.) I personally think that the general ignorance of Americans about current events and their own personal financial situation also makes them happier than the rest of the world. After all, ignorance is bliss, right?

When I was three or four years old I had very little knowledge about how my parents paid the bills. I didn’t worry about money because I was unaware of my need for it. I think that’s a big reason why children are generally happier than adults. Children aren’t concerned about making money, responsibilities, or the future. For children the ignorance of adult affairs such as financial management is normal, and I think it is quite fine and healthy for a child to worry more about the next episode of his or her favorite cartoon than fussing over paying the rent. Unfortunately I think a lot of Americans carry this blissful ignorance well into adulthood and are happily irresponsible about their money.

For example, I have read quite a few articles from multiple sources on how most Americans are not saving enough for retirement. The numbers of American adults reported by the press as not being well-equipped for retirement ranges anywhere from 100 million to 150 million (this is roughly 50% to 75% of the adult population). The question is, how many of these people actually know that they don’t have enough for retirement? I imagine not many actually know the extent of their financial health. The simple fact is when people do not know that they are not saving enough for the future they won’t save more. The bigger problem is that some of these people won’t believe you if you tell them that they will not have enough to retire. I don’t think this type of stubborn ignorance is healthy, but at least most of them have time to correct their course.

It really seems that Americans are happy as long as there is enough to live on in the current moment. This is why the minimum payment on credit cards is such a psychological trap. The minimum payment is only 1 to 2% of the entire debt and almost anyone could afford it from month to month. Meanwhile, the interest piles up and the debt follows the minimum payment customer forever. If you watch the Secret History of Credit Cards you will see how clueless most consumers are about how credit card companies make money. The banks bank on the consumers’ ignorance, and keeps them happy with low minimum payments.

Additionally, ignorance also played a huge part in the housing bubble. Many people wanted a home and didn’t do adequate research on their purchases and loans. A great number of these homes are going into foreclosure, but some of these people who bought homes at the inflated prices are still happy homeowners because they’re unaware of the current housing crisis and they can afford their homes. After all, the easy loans gave  people an opportunity to own huge new homes, and a good number of people don’t read the news and don’t really care that their property has dropped in value. Quite a few of these homeowners are also extremely optimistic about their home values in the future. I think in general optimism is a good thing, but I would never endorse the act of falling into financial ruin due to ignorance.

I would count myself as one of the happy people living in America, but I think my reasons for being happy is more due to religion and family. I would argue that even though ignorance can be bliss at times, knowing as much as you can about the world around you would better prepare you for the times ahead. None of us know what will happen in the future, but to be completely clueless and happy in a disheveled financial present is not the path to a enjoyable future.

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This story about an unlucky Guatemalan made me so mad and sad that I had to write about it.

For 11 years, Pedro Zapeta, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, lived his version of the American dream in Stuart, Florida: washing dishes and living frugally to bring money back to his home country. Two years ago, Zapeta was ready to return to Guatemala, so he carried a duffel bag filled with $59,000 — all the cash he had scrimped and saved over the years — to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

But when Zapeta tried to go through airport security, an officer spotted the money in the bag and called U.S. customs officials.

“They asked me how much money I had,” Zapeta recalled, speaking to CNN in Spanish.

He told the customs officials $59,000. At that point, U.S. customs seized his money, setting off a two-year struggle for Zapeta to get it back.

I am not a supporter of illegal immigration, but I think this hard working man was robbed in broad daylight. Currently he faces deportation and a Floridian judge has concluded his case and decided that the United States government is entitled to $49,000 of this man’s sweat equity. I personally didn’t know there was a law that says I can’t carry more than $10,000 of my own money out of the country without telling the government. If I did carry more than that amount, would the government also confiscate my money? Another thing I don’t understand is why didn’t they just inform him that he had to sign a form? He has not gone out of the airport and he should be able to obtain a form and fill it out. At first they detained him as a drug runner and held him on drug charges until he produced pay stubs proving he earned all the money through work. This means that even if Pedro declared his money the government probably would still have held him on bogus drug charges. How can any immigrant transport his/her own savings back to his country especially if it’s a country without a very secure banking system?

It makes me sad that Pedro is treated this way, and the fact is many immigrants in this country, whether legal or illegal, face many financial injustices. Here are a few of them that I am quite familiar with:

1. Taxes – In the CNN article it stated that Pedro never paid income taxes, but actually I think taxes were deducted from his pay because the Floridian Judge found that Pedro paid more taxes than he should. In the case file the judge states:

The Court rejects the United States’ argument regarding tax evasion or other law violations allegedly committed by Claimant. As noted above, Claimant has not been charged with any crimes, and the evidence indicates that some taxes were in fact paid, when perhaps they did not need to be paid.

Pedro’s income was very low and Florida does not have state income taxes, so he probably did not have to pay any federal income taxes if he did file. Like Pedro, a lot of immigrants pay more taxes to the United States coffers than they should. For example, if any immigrant is paying for social security and medicare taxes and intend to go back to their home countries then they will forfeit 100% of their money. A lot of immigrants are also not extremely knowledgeable about taxes and do not file their taxes either out of fear or ignorance. In fact, if they did file their taxes some of the lower income immigrants will get a return. I also think it’s an injustice that the Internal Revenue Service can classify you as an US person for tax purposes while the Immigration and Naturalizaion Service has not yet given you permanent residency or citizenship. Myself and others I know have been in this situation where we paid all the same taxes that a citizen pays without knowing whether or not we can actually stay in this country. I don’t think it’s fair that immigrants facing uncertainty about their ability to stay are paying for the social security benefits of the current American retirees.

2. Wages — Outsourcing and H1B visas are hotly debated topics in the United States. The immigrants and foreigners are almost always painted as the villains that steal jobs from hard working Americans. The fact is that corporations are always looking out for their own bottom line and wants to hire immigrants because they are more likely to accept a below average wage. No one denies that most of California’s agricultural workers are illegal immigrants and most of these immigrants are paid below minimum wage. Additionally, a lot of construction positions are filled by day workers who are illegal. In the Silicon Valley, an H1B visa is usually a way to keep a high tech worker working for a company for below average pay. It is pretty much legalized indentured servitude because the deal is that the foreign worker works for a company for six to seven years and hopefully earn the right to stay in the United States. When the internet bubble burst in the beginning of this decade many immigrant workers were laid off from their companies and had to go back to their own countries. California is an at-will state and that means a company can fire a worker at any time so an H1B worker isn’t always guaranteed their American dream. It is true that the law states when a company helps a worker obtain a green card they must pay the worker a certain wage, but there is a prevalent abuse of this law since the H1B worker can be fired at anytime and isn’t likely to complain about their wage. I have heard cases of companies that do not consider American workers because they know they can keep an H1B worker longer and pay them less. It is completely illegal, but it’s quite a common practice. In Pedro’s case, we do not see that his employers suffered any legal consequences for hiring an illegal immigrant. That seems like quite a double standard on the part of the United States government.

3. The Banking and Credit System — The banking and credit system in this country isn’t very friendly to immigrants who do not understand much English. From my experience, a lot of immigrants also have an inherent distrust of the banking system and end up keeping a lot of cash in their homes. Pedro actually kept all of his money in a sack around his home according to the judge’s case file. Usually you can’t open a bank account, investment account, or obtain loans without a valid social security number so illegal immigrants tend to keep simply cash. It’s very dangerous to do this but they have little other choice. The credit system is another odd beast. It seems that in the recent years it has been so lax that many immigrants were victimized by shady loan peddlers.

Immigration is an important source of people and income for this country and I do not understand why it is so hard for the United States to accept all the hard working honest immigrants. My personal experience with immigration is so bizarre and dramatic that it deserves another few blog posts. If you speak to me in person you’d think that I was just another young American born Chinese woman, but the truth is that for a long time I was so jealous of all my friends who were born here. I got my green card just two year ago after growing up in America for the last fifteen years. In many ways, I am more American than I am Chinese, but when I read stories like Pedro’s it just makes me sick how immigrants are treated in this country.

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