This "Recession" will not be over this, year or next year, or the year after. Even if we had all the Oil we could ever need, this contraction would take a minimum of 5 years to play out - but only if the government did nothing. The more the government does to bail out banks and stimulate the economy the longer it is going to take.
If you have not sold your house, the odds of you selling it now for more than your mortgage are pretty slim (unless you are one of the few Americans that lived in the same house for decades and never refinanced - personally, I have never met one of these people). If you have any other assets left, this might (might not) be one of the last opportunities to convert those financial assets into hard assets. Above all, if you have not invested in productive farm land (it is VERY rentable), stop what you are doing, get on a plane or get in your car, and go out and look for properties to acquire.
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Fairly interesting times to live in, wouldn't you say? Many of us decried "consumerism". My bet is we will miss it terribly - particularly consumers (women). In America, 85 cents of every retail $ is spent by women (Shopping and has become the NUMBER ONE past time for many American women - show me one straight man that feels the same way). I wonder if we backed out vehicles and hardware (Home Depot not computers) what that number would be... And when you consider that the top 5% of the population spends over 50% of discretionary retail spending... this very priviledged group has some serious adjusting to do. I can't even imagine being married to one of these "toxic wives" (I did not coin the term, just making the observation and the link).
Absent a prenuptual agreement professional, successful men married to these women have been enslaved by the legal system (the opposite is true for poor people where the women are enslaved by biology) - their wives are under no legal or social requirement to do ANYTHING, but at any time and for ANY reason the wife can sue for divorce and get the kids, home, half the assets, and a tidy income for life (still want to get married fellas?)... Now, dumb hubby has to come home and tell toxic wife that she must cut back her lifestyle? Boy, I will bet that's a fun conversation, (I live in Boca Raton, GROUND ZERO for the migration of toxic wives) but take heart fellas... There is much less to fight over, and there will be even less very soon. Her leverage is gone. After all, who the hell wants the house?
And what about those poor, poor divorce lawyers (on the grand scale of things a group of people only a step or 2 below child molesters)? They will be standing next to us stock brokers asking customers: "Do you want ketchup with those fries?"
Mentatt (at) yahoo (d0t) com
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2 comments:
Divorce is not about rational decisions; can you name one guy, other than John Thain, that makes business decisions the way men commonly make decisions in divorce court? Even when bankruptcy is inevitable couples will still fight over the house for the sheer joy of malice.
We have never met, but I own my house, paid off the mortgage a few years ago. It's 50 years old and a bit creaky, but all mine, at least until property taxes become overwhelming. I hope to leave it to my children. One or more of my adult progeny will be moving back in, they're working two jobs each and still barely keeping afloat.
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