Comments on: Did Michelle Singletary Go Too Easy On Mr. Richie Rich?

By: wealthy_1

wealthy_1 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:10:12 +0000

Here’s what I think. Somebody needs to tell Mr. Richie Rich that it’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep. Then they need to offer him some cheese with the whine!

By: Rob In Madrid

Rob In Madrid — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:46:33 +0000

The main point of people who advocate renting over owning (even a paid for home in retirement) is that people underestimate the cost of home ownership. When you compare the two side by side (paid for home vs rental home) the rental always comes out ahead. Investing the difference will gain you more long term.

This makes more sense if you live in an area where the price of housing is insane. Usually rents are half or less the cost of a mortgage (even with a large downpayment)

For my wife and I renting makes more sense becuase we don’t know where we will be long term and the cost of buying a house (about 300,00 euros) would earn enough interest to pay rent. But our situation is unique

Having said that, for most people (I’d say 90%)buying a house combinded with frugal living is the most sure path to financial freedom. There is really no risk to living well below your means. You maynot become “wealthy” but you be wealthy in many other ways.

By: Web Favorites - Nov 13, 2007 » Finance and Fat | Debt Reduction, Personal Finance, Debt Snowball, Weight Loss

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:03:52 +0000

[...] Did Michelle Singletary Go Too Easy On Mr. Richie Rich? by The Dough Roller -� Interesting take on whether someone making $200K should complain about having money problems. I think our finance problems are all relative. I got into a financial mess because I didn’t know what I was doing with money. It just so happened that my salary was closer to $40K than $200K so I dug a financial hole that matched my income level. [...]

By: DR

DR — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:28:47 +0000

Rob In Madrid, your comment about renting versus buying is an interesting one. From everything I’ve read and studied, buying is usually the better option in the long term, although renting would typically lower your monthly expenses in the short term.

By: FourPillars

FourPillars — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:46:57 +0000

I don’t think he’s a whiner just because he asked for some advice. The fact is that he is saving in the TSP so that’s a good start. I’m not sure why he needed to ask anyone how to save money since it’s pretty obvious he has to make some cuts.

Hopefully he took the advice and is doing something about it.

Mike

By: Rob In Madrid

Rob In Madrid — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:51:24 +0000

I’ve always said that earning more won’t make a difference. Earn more spend more. Simple, besides that I’d say the problem is two fold. Big expensive house. And two private education. They could save alot of money by renting rather than owning (google millionaire mom next door for more on that). Still get the big fancy house at half the cost or less.

As mentioned they do put alot of money into savings but you have to wonder what would happened if one of them lost there jobs.

BTW how do average slobs like us survive on a mere 100 grand a year, I’ll never know

By: FinanceAndFat

FinanceAndFat — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:22:41 +0000

I definitely think that these finance problems are all relative. I got into a financial mess because I didn’t know what the heck I was doing with my money. It just so happened that my salary was closer to $40K than $200K so I dug a financial hole that matched my income level. It would be hypocritical for me to say that I would have done better had I earned $200K. I only would have dug a bigger hole!

By: The Saving Freak

The Saving Freak — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:15:25 +0000

Mr. Richie Rich is not a whiner. He is poor at prioritizing his spending and in short he is an American. He is doing a nice job saving for retirement (15% in thrift is awesome that works out to over 20K per year with the match per spouse) but only because he has made that automatic. If he were to do that with the rest of his finances I think he would find money to save.