[PRCo] Re: Europe ....

[Schneider Fred]

John:

You and I both paid our mortgages off early.   You and I both are the  
kind of people who loan money to banks instead of borrowing it.   We  
are in the 24 percent that has no debt.   The average American owns  
$73,000 and I suspect that is consumer debt and excludes mortages  
because the average U. S. home is over $200,000 today.

Fred

On Oct 15, 2008, at 7:55 PM, John Swindler wrote:

>
> Fred once mentioned that bad news is good news from the media  
> viewpoint, and we seem to be getting a lot of that now.  And the  
> media also looks for "poster children" to try to prove their point.
>
> As Derrick mentioned, neither has my credit card company ever  
> called for a payment.  Likewise, I had an adjustable rate mortgage  
> 15 years ago, and even though the rate went up one percent a year  
> during first three years, monthly payments declined.  I'll let Fred  
> figure out how that happened after reminding him that I was in the  
> reserves.
>
> Price of gas?  Not a problem.  The run-up last summer was a  
> "bubble" which has collapsed, just like the housing bubble, the dot- 
> com bubble, etc.  Gas prices will fluctuate, but the long term  
> trend is up.  But not as fast as those who preach fear would want  
> us to believe.
>
> As for jobs, what is the unemployment rate today vs. what was it in  
> 1981 after Carter?  What is the inflation rate today vs. what was  
> it in 1981 after Carter?  But that doesn't make headlines.
>
> As Fred said, bad news is good news.
>
> But I do have a concern which is best illustrated from a 'Murphy's  
> Law list:  "If you think the problem is bad now, wait until the  
> government solves it."
>
> Cheers
> John
>
>
>>> On Tue, 14 Oct 2008, Schneider Fred wrote:> > > Then gasoline and  
>>> mortgage each mushroomed by $1,000. The credit card> > issuer is  
>>> calling demanding payment. The mortgage is past due.> > I don't  
>>> understand why people still answer the phone pretty much ever.  
>>> And > no one is calling me over bad debt, either.> > > Finally it  
>>> closed with a young couple in one of the new condominiums> > in  
>>> South Pasadena talking about living with the video store, the  
>>> drug> > store and the convenience store within walking distance  
>>> and the light> > rail to downtown Los Angles taking only 20  
>>> minutes.> >> > Will that be our future? For some. My sister  
>>> claims that is why> > she lives near Wilkinsburg. She wants the  
>>> urban convenience and a> > condo. She grew up in Penn Hills and  
>>> later in Lancaster in those> > suburbs. She rather likes a  
>>> smaller place. But she and Don never> > had kids.> > The people  
>>> next door have a place about 2/3 the size of this one, and 4 >  
>>> people. We have 2. We're full but dea!
>  ccessioning things rapidly. It's all > about knowing what you  
> actually need.> > > Will it be our future? None of us want to rush  
> out and sell our> > homes now.> > Speak for yourself. Mine's on the  
> market.> "Ask me how many houses I own"> > Derrick>
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