A Financial Health Quiz

Overseas jobs-the reason

Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock ( MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6am. While his coffeepot ( MADE IN CHINA ) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor ( MADE IN HONG KONG ). He put on a dress shirt ( MADE IN SRI LANKA ), designer jeans ( MADE IN SINGAPORE ) and tennis shoes ( MADE IN KOREA ). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet ( MADE IN INDIA ) he sat down with his calculator ( MADE IN MEXICO ) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch ( MADE IN TAIWAN )&n bsp;to the radio (MADE IN INDIA ) he got in his car ( MADE IN GERMANY ) filled it with GAS from Saudi Arabia and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN J OB At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his Computer (Made In Malaysia ), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals ( MADE IN BRAZIL )poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE ) and turned on his TV ( MADE IN INDONESIA ), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERI CA .....

Jennifer of TX @ Feb 05, 2008 15:00:35 PM

Young Gun Spending

I think there is a solution for young people like me, because thats where the problem starts. When you young if you can see the money you spend it. I know im 21 I make roughly 30 k a year. I have no money in my savings. 3 digits in my checking (already spent on bills). A truck thats cost 17k and is worth 12k. And am 3k in debt from a broken lease.

As i read your comments and look back on my decisions. I've come to the conclusion that the only way i can save money is if i didnt see it. When i see my money i think of what i can spend it on and then i do it. And i end up with neg balances and scrounging to pay bills that pop up.

So ive decided to start Filing 0 on my taxes. Meaning ill get less money each paycheck. But a nice check at the end of the year. what about prepaying my rent when i get a nice bonus? Or the easiest one to do Overpaying on my truck payment by 20 maybe even 40 dollars to principle a month. These force you to save for the future. And the best part is you dont see the money saved!

When we are young we think about the here and now. Ive decided to start thinking about my future.

D Mitchell of TX @ Feb 05, 2008 14:31:04 PM

The suggestion on ways to save money; taking a Bubble-Bath was first on the list. I was expecting some real answers to saving money.

This is the best the Financial Advisor could come up with. Elderly people living off Social Security are eating cat food, gasoline has gone up 400%, jobs are lost to overseas companies because they can work children for nickles, my electric bill this month was $450.00 and the

same time last year with the same weather was $150.00. So Diana

maybe you have been luckier than most but debt is not always for things people don't need, it sometimes is the only way to feed their

familes. Washington is out of control with the national debt that we have borrowed money from China!

One more venting; John Edwards who was always pleading "poor" and what we should do and how can we help, he lives in a

280,000 sq ft house. You don't understand living from paycheck to

paycheck until it happens to you and then I sure as hell don't think

taking a "Bubble Bath" is going to make it all better.

Chris Ingler of IN @ Feb 05, 2008 14:20:00 PM

Government Interaction

A sub prime loan is a type of loan that is offered at a rate above prime to individuals who do not qualify for prime rate loans. Quite often, subprime borrowers are often turned away from traditional lenders because of their low credit ratings or other factors that suggest that they have a reasonable chance of defaulting on the debt repayment.

The loan is called sub prime because the person being loaned to is a higher risk then the bank would usually loan to.

For instance, Bonqueesha has 5 kids and is on welfare making $28,000 a year from the government. Other then that she has no income. She is in credit card debt $3,000 because she wanted her 5 kids to have a fun Christmas last year. She drives a 1996 Chrysler Van worth $600, and it is the most expensive thing she owns.

Before 2003:

Bonqueesha went to the bank and wanted to get a $150,000 loan for a house. To see if she qualifies for a loan, the bank goes through her finances and does a credit check. The bank realizes that with her current income, there is no way she can pay back a $150,000 mortgage so she is denied the loan, or given an interest rate higher then usual to compensate for the risk of her defaulting on the loan.

2003: The United States called in most of the major banks and tells them to stop denying people loans and do not make them pay higher rates, even if they are higher risk.

After 2003:

Bonqueesha went to the bank and wanted to get a $150,000 loan for a house. To see if she qualifies for a loan, the bank goes through her finances and does a credit check. The bank realizes that with her current income, there is no way she can pay back a $150,000 mortgage and considers her an extreme risk. The United States government said that the bank has to give Bonqueesha the loan, even though she is an extreme risk, so the bank gives her their $150,000. Bonqueesha can not pay back the loan because she only makes $28,000 a year. After 6 months of impossible payments, Bonqueesha defaults on the loan and the bank loses the $150,000 they did not want to give out in the first place.

It is the governments fault, not the banks fault the sub prime loans are crashing now. The banks did not have a problem until the government started thinking they could run the bank better then the bank can run the bank. The government is seizing power in all parts of every Americans life, and it needs to stop now!

Vote against government control. Vote for freedom.

VOTE RON PAUL 2008!

Brandon McArthur of TX @ Feb 05, 2008 14:15:06 PM

Where we are today

I agree with many of the comments made including the fact that jobs go overseas because Americans do not want to do field labor or work in factories for low incomes. I also agree that some companies are greedy and uses cheap overseas labor because they want to live in luxury with no regard for the economic health of the USA, the country which made it all possible for them. That said, there's much to be said for our poorer counterparts, such as India, where young people are taught the value of a good education and where being brilliant in school is seen as a positive and students are not mocked and shunned by their peers because they do well in school. All too often US companies look overseas because the labor force here does not have the math and science skills required to get the job done correctly and in a timely fashion. Our government has not been the best, and the homeland policies that should have been implemented to help US citizens improve their lives were thrown by the wayside or watered down due to ill conceived plans to undertake a war that was not worthy of the lives of our soldiers. However, we do have an obligation to educate ourselves in everything we do, such as making sure to read the fine print before signing unfavorable mortgage loans, and ensuring our children have the skills they need to better the citizenry of this country. We need to change our habits of spending every penny we have, and even those the creditors offer to us, and consider what my grandmother used to call a “rainy day” because that “rainy day” inevitably will come. I believe if we all start there we will be well on our way to being the successful nation we want to be.

Rita of PA @ Feb 05, 2008 14:07:20 PM

Amen Mike!

Thom of FL @ Feb 05, 2008 14:05:27 PM

Financial Responsibility

To anyone with a financial or accounting degree all of these comments are simply conservative retorhic. What credit cards do for you is provide you with free money. What people do not do with them is ues the free money and get money with thier cash. For those of you who do not pay off the balances with your cash from yrou job, then you are doing it wrong. Here is the basic. Save yrou money in a high interest savings account and allow the money to sit to earn you interest. Use your credit card to pay bills, pay for groceries and eat out. At the end of the month PAY OFF the credit card with the money you saved in the savings account. Oh Did you forget to save the money. That is how one makes moeny with the cash they earn every month. But since people are not educated about how to spend money, or save money, or maybe even live within a budget credit card companies are making a fortune. If I owned a credit card company, I would probably earn enough money to buy a tiny island in the Bahamas too.

C.M. of VA @ Feb 05, 2008 13:45:45 PM

QUIT WHINING

The majority of the comments above are FAR too simplistic in their approach, and it seems to me that everyone wants to blame their problems on somebody or something rather that take responsibility for their own actions. Don't get me wrong, I have many of my own complaints regarding the government and big business, namely that the former seems to run by the latter via lobbyists, instead of being a goverment "...for the people, by the people..." However, (in most cases) they are not to blame for anybody experiencing financial hardship. A claim such as "the problem with this country is all the jobs are going overseas" is just plain ignorant.

Look. I'm still a relatively young guy (late 20's), and I'm in a very large financial pinch myself. BUT I DID IT TO MYSELF. I over-extended myself and tried to live beyond my means, and now I'm paying for it. I have virtually nothing, my credit is trashed, and I am faced with the arduous task of basically starting over and rebuilding my life. I'm not blaming the government or corporate America; its MY OWN FAULT. The comment repeated above of "wake up America" should be directed at all the whiny, lazy, individuals in this country who were never taught to take responsibility for their own actions. Quit blaming YOUR problems and YOUR short-comings on other entities. If you don't like your situation, then change it. Maybe if more people in this nation would lose the "entitlement" attitude and work for something once in a while, we'd all be better off. Have some character; have some substance.

Mike of IL @ Feb 05, 2008 13:42:38 PM