How much do you owe?

I have been looking at the US debt clock and frankly I fill poorer than I actually am. Your share of the debt, if you are merely a citizen of the US, is $45,009. What really sucks is, because so many people don't pay taxes, the ones that do pay have to pick up the slack. So If you are a tax payer, CONGRATUALTIONS!!, your share of the debt is $126,869.

My curiosity has gotten to me. How much debt do you have? Loans, credit cards, spouses, etc...

I'm currently rocking an IOU of around $19,700. That includes my truck, my fiancés car, credit cards and department store cards.

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eMeS

erpadmin wrote: »

.but I have had people flake on me (like 2 people out of 50)

I guess I've been lucky. In the ~5 years now I've been involved in Prosper I've never had anyone flake, and I've increased my investment over time. The good thing about lending through a site like Prosper is that your risk is so spread out that even if a few flake on you then it's not going to have much impact. I also don't mess with the super-risky "E" rating, 30% yield loans....

I've managed since getting involved in Prosper an average ~16% annual return, which isn't that hard to do at all through their platform with minimal risk.

It's good stuff..I think more reliable people need to get out there and request loans...sometimes I run out of profitable places to put my money.

erpadmin

eMeS wrote: »

I guess I've been lucky. In the ~5 years now I've been involved in Prosper I've never had anyone flake, and I've increased my investment over time. The good thing about lending through a site like Prosper is that your risk is so spread out that even if a few flake on you then it's not going to have much impact. I also don't mess with the super-risky "E" rating, 30% yield loans....

I've managed since getting involved in Prosper an average ~16% annual return, which isn't that hard to do at all through their platform with minimal risk.

It's good stuff..I think more reliable people need to get out there and request loans...sometimes I run out of profitable places to put my money.

MS

I have to focus on getting out of the small debt that I have before I go back into investing. Short of winning the lottery or getting a job that will give me ~30k more than I make now (which is more doable), I can't do any savings/investing right now. My house is severely underwater (before the fire) and I have a particular contractor attempting to play reindeer games with that. The only thing I was able to do without fail was max out my 457(b) with my Union imposed raises. Once I get out of my car loan, that will help a lot and I made it a point not to take anymore pension loans (which is better than borrowing from the 457/401/Roth because whether or not the investments on the pensions are good...the taxpayer guarantees my ~64% of salary when I retire...

) Once my current pension load is done at the end of the year, that's and extra ~200 a check that I can divert into finishing off debt/investing in whatever investment vehicles.

This is all on the assumption I will stay where I'm at for ~20 years. If a better opportunity comes along, whether it's private or public sector, I'll have to weigh that against slogging along the same job for 20 years. Nothing is written in stone.

eMeS

erpadmin wrote: »

...the taxpayer guarantees my ~64% of salary when I retire..,

This is amazing to me...Glad I don't pay taxes in NJ.

What's even more amazing to me are the number of people that do 20 years in the military, retire and draw a pension, and immediately jump into a federal job, do that for 20 years, and then retire and draw another pension.

And yet everyone complains that taxes are too high and that government spends too much money....

MS

erpadmin

eMeS wrote: »

This is amazing to me...Glad I don't pay taxes in NJ.

Hate to break the news to you, but just about every state, including the Great Fiscally Conservative State of Texas (and I'm not being sarcastic...I actually love that and is one of the reasons why I want to migrate there...) has a pension system, and where there's a pension system, there's a taxpayer that's on the hook for it. I would rather not turn this thread into a Fox News rant though.

However, if it makes you feel any better, many states, including NJ got hip to the game, and have now gone to a tiered system that basically means newer state government employers will have to work longer before they retire...and the retirement benefits aren't as good as those who started before certain dates. Tier 1 (which is mine...) still get to retire at 55 with full retire medical after 25 years of service. Other tiers have to wait until 60. Of course, they can still go at 50+, but the benefits get reduced. Texas' pension is very similar to NJs. Texas also got wise and have increased the retirement age/terms as well based on dates. You can compare the two here:

http://www.ers.state.tx.us/retirement/pyr/documents/pyr_booklet.pdf

http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/epbam/exhibits/handbook/persbook.pdf

What separates you and me though, is that unlike me, you don't pay state income tax, on top of of sales tax and property taxes. (Yet another reason why I love TX). NJ taxing the crap out of it's citizens is pretty much why many of us want to leave...and in droves.

eMeS wrote: »

What's even more amazing to me are the number of people that do 20 years in the military, retire and draw a pension, and immediately jump into a federal job, do that for 20 years, and then retire and draw another pension.

And yet everyone complains that taxes are too high and that government spends too much money....

MS

The military pension isn't anything to write home about. And those who served our country to deserve first crack at federal/state jobs (especially if they served during times of conflict...which most veterans have). That's why the feds/states have a "Veterans Preference." I'm a lifelong civilian, but I won't knock the veteran for getting what he/she feels is due. In fact, after reading so many threads about "clearance", I actually wish I had enlisted in the Marines...seems to be alot easier getting clearance if you enlist, then doing it the long and hard way....lol.

eMeS

erpadmin wrote: »

Hate to break the news to you, but just about every state, including the Great Fiscally Conservative State of Texas (and I'm not being sarcastic...I actually love that and is one of the reasons why I want to migrate there...) has a pension system, and where there's a pension system, there's a taxpayer that's on the hook for it. I would rather not turn this thread into a Fox News rant though.

Yep, I know that, but the one in Texas is different from those in states like NJ and NY.

You'll get no Fox News rant out of me...What tends to bother me more is the inherent hypocrisy that many people exhibit. e.g., people saying that taxes are too high, and that people shouldn't live off the government teat, when they are drawing multiple pensions.

BTW, Texas is fiscally conservative when it's politically expedient to do so. Where about to have a huge issue with all of the "fiscal conservatives" cutting education budgets.

erpadmin wrote: »

What separates you and me though, is that unlike me, you don't pay state income tax, on top of of sales tax and property taxes. (Yet another reason why I love TX). NJ taxing the crap out of it's citizens is pretty much why many of us want to leave...and in droves.

Yeah, we'd have armed rebellion if they tried to impose a state income tax.

That's kind of my point though, our state government is funded in a completely different way than most other state governments.

erpadmin wrote: »

The military pension isn't anything to write home about. And those who served our country to deserve first crack at federal/state jobs (especially if they served during times of conflict...which most veterans have).

I beg to differ here. It depends on the level at which they retired. I'm mixed about whether or not veterans deserve a first shot at federal/state jobs. I'd rather see everyone evaluated on their individual merits.

We do pay them while they're serving, and if they retire, we pay them a pension. These people that are entitled are many of the same people that I hear complaining about how high taxes are.

The benefits don't bother me, the hypocrisy does...

MS

msteinhilber

I hate threads like this because they remind me about all the work I have ahead of me, and at the same time I like them for that very same reason.

I've got a fair amount of debt to deal with, primarily student loans, a couple credit cards, and remainder of my car. The vast majority of it is student loans as I was in a situation where I was incredibly frustrated with my current job, feeling a lot of heat from the wife (at that time) about starting a family which my current job and the obscene amount of hours I put in wouldn't facilitate devoting much time to my family - so as a result, already somewhat tight on cash, I financed almost all of my bachelor's degree. It was a hard and painful lesson I continue to remember each time I send in another payment, because for a few years prior to deciding to shoot for my bachelor's I was bringing in almost 100k a year and basically we were blowing it all instead of saving or investing any of it (and to top it off, a bulk of that time we were still renting so we blew a LOT on pointless crap).

Since then though, I'm happy to say I enjoy a much more frugal lifestyle. That started out of necessity after my divorce process started and I went from the dual-income household to a single-income. Racked up the bulk of my credit card debt at this time paying my way through the divorce industry (to get more time with my son) which basically leaves you shammed anyways unless you have tens of thousands to blow in lawyer fee's, or your ex is completely psychotic (and even completely psychotic doesn't always make it work to your favor). I grew fond of the frugal lifestyle, material possessions to me now are almost a burden after having to size down from a good sized home to a 2 bedroom apartment. Now I enjoy just enough material objects to be able to lead the life I choose and enjoy the simple things. Each month passing is another month closer to being debt free and I'm not missing out on much living more frugal either.

jamesp1983

mikedisd2 wrote: »

Just a mortgage. I don't believe in personal loans and credit card debts. Can't understand buying things with money I don't have. But this is a way of life for some people so each to their own.

im with you here.

Plantwiz

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

cant answer this poll, no option for completely debt free

+1

I thought the same thing.

I enjoy being weird

Congratulations to you Forsaken_GA!

ATL-TECH

Just got to pay him back

Plantwiz

za3bour wrote: »

Man if you're not married and have to kids then you don't know the *REAL* thing. It's just so different than being a single. I used to save 75% of my income when I was a single and man I was living really well.

Now I'd be happy if I save 25%(which I'm not) and I'm NOT living as good as I used to live although my income now is 300% what I've used to get.

It's not just the bills that goes up when you are married, the whole thing just get out of control no matter how smart/organized you are.

There is no reason one cannot live as well or better being married with kids than they did when they were single.

The same rules apply. Live on less than you make. Give every dollar a name.

We do it.

I know several families I've counseled who now do it...and other here are doing it.

RockinRobin

About 20K for me. around 5K for my wife.

Should be completely debt free (except mtg.) by around June 2012.

citinerd

Just a mortgage.

I have been lucky enough to work for places that have good tuition reimbursement plans. My last company i worked for (Pre IT work) paid 100% up to $8k a year. Current company pays only $3k, but still better than nothing.

nel

i have zero debts from uni. I worked full time whilst doing it part time to pay off the cost whilst learning. Its taken longer in terms of time but now im debt free i will have no worries like other people

...i think more people should look into this as sadly the UK's tuition fee system is getting out of control and starting to mirror some of the crazy costs seen across the pond.

Pash

I am debt free, I appartment share at the moment. Have little savings, I am young and ticking over......but yeh it's boring.

Maybe this year might knock some rope-a-dope's in though, who knows :>

Pash

skyline

Mortgage and some student loans which will be paid off in a few months

erpadmin

erpadmin wrote: »

Owe about

$224k in a mortgage
$10k autoloan (paid by the end of the year if all goes well) GONE!
$3300 in a Prosper loan GONE!
7k in CC debt (which will be paid off by the spring) GONE!
Also leveraging currently $3700 in student loans...to be paid off shortly.

Except the mortage, all that debt will be gone within a year or so....I plan on piling on more student loan debt though, but it's cool because if I stay working for the government for 10 plus years after my last loan, the balance after my 120th payment is forgiven thanks to Public Service loan forgiveness.

I received an insurance check due to my house fire for the contents in my home yesterday. I'll be honest with you, I've gotten five digit checks before, but never in this amount. I had visions of all week benders....lmao. When reality set in I crunched the numbers and took into account I'll receive a sweet tax refund check, which would have been applied to my CC debt. By the end of next week, I will have a paid off car, NO CC debt, and the Prosper loan will be paid off in full. (Which should make investors happy that they got their principal and a little interest from me...but they knew that going in that I had always planned to pay off the loan earlier than three years).

With the exception of my student loans for WGU, which I'm leveraging because I can and it's only for one year, and my mortgage, the grand majority of my debt is GONE. I did not make this decision lightly. I only did it because I spent money on what I got from contents, which I can replace myself over time. CC debt and car note debt is bad debt, because I can't deduct interest from it. At least I can do that with student loan debt (up to $2500) and mortage debt.

It feels so good to have a car (I bought it new...2007 Saturn ION [ugh!!]) that I don't have to pay monthly for! The CC debt was always going to be temporary...if it wasn't now, it would have been by April...May at the latest.

The lessons learned here though is to have rainy day money and not depend on windfalls. I will be putting that car note money away so that I can get my Benz YEARS down the line, and paid for (mostly) in cash money. (That's the dream, anyway...lmao). Using debt is not evil or bad, regardless of what some millionaire from Tennessee tells you. Using debt improperly, making late payments on anything that reports to one of the major credit bureaus; that is bad.

In my case, I had gotten a really &*&ed up car loan, because my credit score was like sub-600, back in 2008. I got the F-you rate (double digits...high double digits). I had no choice though, because I wanted to improve my credit score. But I was in a rebuilding phase and the loan did it's job. I spent just as much time on credit building forums as I do here.
I'm above 700 now on all three now.

I have three credit cards that amount to a respectable five digit limit. (Compared to three digits back in 2008...lmao.)

I just felt I should share this with you all. I am very happy now, and will be sleeping very soundly tonight!

Monkerz

Congrats Dude!