Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 7/30/2012 12:47 PM, Han wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet wrote in
:

On 7/30/2012 7:12 AM, Han wrote:

Didn't know you were a Keynesian spendthrift grin! Spend and
inflate, or spend and tax? which will it be? While I do think
that just firing everyone who could possibly be missed might also
not be a good thing, going the Spanish route of (very temporary)
"prosperity" by borrowing and spending on all kinds of luxuries is
definitely a recipe for disaster. That is playing out in Europe and
Florida.

One can be frugal without being miserly, methinks. We are being
frugal by only having 1 car, a 2005 Grand (well ...) Caravan, but
we went on an Alaska vacation earlier this year ...



No need to be frugal if you have always lived with in your means and
planed for times like these.

My wife and I lived in our first starter home for 30 years. We
refinanced it 6 years in and paid an additional $300 per month for 6
years. The house was paid for in 1995 and as a result we have been
debt free ever since.

We always looked around us and wondered why we were still in this
same starter house 25+ years after moving in and saw people driving
very expensive cars and buying huge homes.

Well back in 2008 the answer came and as a result we were able to
finally afford/pay cash for a bigger new home.

We are still debt free.

It is a great feeling owing no one, but that only comes from only
buying what we can truly afford. I will add that we will finance
short term if the interest rate is "Zero" and if we can pay cash to
begin with. We have been very lucky to have had the wisdom and
patience to wait until we have truly earned what we choose to buy,
this methodology has been rewarding.

I am keeping the HELOC with $75K outstanding and 2.24% interest, for
the moment. I'm ready to pay it off when I decide to. That and the
revolving charge cards that get paid off every month is what I owe.
It is indeed a good feeling to not be in hock. Now I have to get the
kids in that same situation/frame of mind. Of course, we have been
very lucky with well- paying employment, but we did spend according
to income, while saving up for this retirement thing ...


If you pay it off today you will be earning 2.24% more on that money.

I am still getting 3.9% on my TIAA money ...


--
Best regards
Han
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