Jack’s Winning Words 10/25/17
“Just because there are checks in the checkbook doesn’t mean there’s money in the bank.”  (Quoted by DAZ)  A 2016 credit study shows that debt is “as American as apple pie.”  For the avg household, it’s $137,067, with $1,300 in yearly interest.  Trends show an escalation, so some are turning to financial consultants.  Bankruptcy isn’t always the answer.  Some go online to sites like NerdWallet.  Regardless, whenever you sense a problem, it’s best to seek help.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM TL:  Thanks for the practical reminder Jack.====JACK:  When my mother was working at Montgomery Ward her pay was cash in an envelope.  When she brought the envelope home, she would take out marked envelopes and put a part of the pay into each of them...food...rent...other bills...etc.  There was nothing extra. left over.  No credit card payments at that time.====TL: I say to myself, "it worked then, why wouldn't it work now?"====JACK:  My sister still uses that method when they go on vacations.  A certain amount put into an envelope for each day.  When it's gone, it's gone.  Not me.

FROM HONEST JOHN:  "Nerd wallet" is an unreal name.====JACK:  It may sound unreal, but it is real.  Google it and see.====JOHN: I don't think of nerds as financial whizzes....better at high tech....

FROM KZB (to her father):  My DAZ?!  Even if not you,  you were always an amazing saver Dad!  I learned well from you.  You always taught us to save before we spend.====JACK:  Are you teaching the same lesson in these days of "easy credit" and "online ordering"?

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  We are deeply thankful that we have enough!  Enough to pay the bills, send a little and give a lot.  It’s enough.  What we want??  No but it’s enough!====JACK:  There's an audio-book, How Much Is Enough?  It's a call for a moral approach to economics, drawing on philosophers, political theorists, writers, and economists from Aristotle to Marx to Keynes.  What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many ask themselves. This book tackles such questions head-on.====JUDY:  Sounds like a good book.  But the Bible tells us all we need to know about money.  How many do you think can actually tell you what’s in the Bible about money, the good life and the long hours working for money?

FROM HAWKEYE GEORGE:  One of the titles in my book is, Life is Reciprocity.====JACK:  Don't you have to buy "on credit" to stay in business these days?====GEORGE:  You do not have to, at least I never HAD TO DO SO.====JACK:  In business...You NEVER bought anything on credit?  Even machinery?  WOW!====GEORGE:  I misunderstood the writing.

FROM RS IN TEXAS:  Yep - help is good - just make sure the help source is knowledgeable and reputable. I have found a lot of so called experts don’t always have the best answers. I normally recommend getting several opinions.====JACK:  ...but, eventually you have to choose.  Even "no choice" is a choice.

FROM LBP:  Huh.====JACK: Huh (I agree!)  Right?====;LBP: It’s a statistic that needs more information. Technically I have more than that in debt because my mortgage is higher but I’ve got decades to make payments. That kinda of debt on a credit card or to a hospital would have much more immediate consequences. Also the 1300 per year is only 1% of the 130000 average debt which is a super interest rate! But that is still a lot of money.  Averages are tricky because they can be skewed by outliers. The average scenario may also be not observed in this context. Who has 130000$ of debt at 1% apr?  Scaled numbers or graphs give more information but aren’t always as easy to digest as simple numbers. I went to a talk this summer about communicating statistics to a general audience. It was certainly interesting to think about how to make information accurate and digestible.
But of course I expect the intent of the post was to think on the state of things that gets people into that kind of hole and how to help them out or to stay out ...  So many different scenarios ...  ====JACK:  House debt really isn't debt, if the house is collateral.  Right?  I guess it depends on the value of the house.  (It's interesting to read a stat answer from a stat person.)====LBP:  Hmmm... maybe I'm borrowing against the value of my property. But I still owe a bill monthly and am fined if I don't pay it. And when taking out a loan it's counted against you as money owed, right? I have a colleague who didn't own a home until he was able to afford to pay in cash because he didn't want the debt. So stat question number 2... how does the person who got the $130,000 estimate interpret debt? what 'counts'?====JACK:  As to "personal debt," I just Googled "personal debt in America for 2016," and the computer sit out the statistics.