Yup. I continue to be amazed at people who tell me that "morgages" are "good debt".
I hate to put on my tin foil hat, but looking at the last 10-15 years, it would seem that some big wigs were sitting around one day and had the following observations:
"We've already convinced people to spend, spend, spend most of their paycheck. What's left?"
1) Old people have a lot of equity in their homes they refuse part with, and leave it to their kids.
2) People in general put too much money in their homes.
3) People are getting a free ride on credit cards and check float.
So they said: "How can we snake people out of what's left of their money"
In evidence:
Reverse morgages: Cash out now, spend, leave debt to your kids instead of assets
Home equity loans: Take that pesky equity and SPEND, SPEND, SPEND.
Debit cards: Why give 28 days free money, when you can grab it right away?
There is no such thing as "good debt". Sure, you can deduct morgage interest, but you don't get all of it back. For every $1 in interest you pay, you get 0.33 back, and 0.66 goes to the morgage company.
If you OWN your home, you pay 0.33 in extra tax, but you KEEP 0.66.
And debit cards are just stupid. If you're too lazy to manage your money, then just live in a trailer park and mooch.
Nu
