Splak.net

I understand that AIG is more important to my dad, but is AIG more important than all of the other construction and small business owners that got screwed? I talk to my dad about it and he has told me that all of his friends in small businesses are fucked for maybe the next 5-10 years so. I meen I know a company is more important than my dad but are they more important than the small business owners of america?

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.:Splak|JamesBond

Yep, if AIG would of collapsed we would of gone into a full depression, like 10x as bad as it is now. I don't blame the banks though, they were FORCED to give out loans to people who had no way of paying them, if they didn't they were "discriminating"...

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-- .:Splak|StackableNut --

It's the peoples fault for taking out loans they could not pay back, they saw the opportunity and took a chance knowing they would not be able to fork out the money in the long run they looked for a quick easy way to what they wanted.

Some people blame the higher officials for leaving the rate as low as they did but in the end its not a case of blame the government when its clear that the people of the US took chances they knew they couldn't handle. Everyone wants the American Dream and something to call their own but when you disregard the common financial discipline you end up screwing yourself and the country over.

Yes, if AIG were to fail the outcome would not be pretty.

The world is fucked up, everyone knows it. But that's life, it sucks and sometimes it works for you or against you. All I have to say about your dad is keep looking forward, times might be rough now but staying with a positive attitude goes a long way.

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.:Splak|VexeD

People living beyond their means is just sad, but also pisses me off at their laziness and not caring about the consequences, a budget is so easy to do (even in your head)... but people losing their job and going under that way, that's another story.

Simple rules for financial independence:
1) Don't buy what you cannot afford. If you do not have the money in the bank, don't buy it.
2) Don't buy on credit what you do not NEED.

You need a car to get to work, groceries to eat (stop going out), and a place to call home.

If you have debt besides a car note, especially credit card, pay it off first. If you can't FULLY pay off your credit card every month, have a steady job, but too much debt, go to the bank, and get a low interest loan (if you can) and pay everything off, there are programs for this, then pay that loan every month on time.

Take 1/2 your take home (after tax) income, and put it to rent/utilities, car note, and food. If those 3 things are MORE than 1/2 your income, time to find a cheaper place to live, a cheaper car, and start buying cheaper food. The other 1/2 of your income and put it in the bank/savings. Take your savings and half that (so 1/4 of your take home money), this is your allowance, buy whatever you want with it, the other 1/4 of your money is savings, for car maintance and other stuff. About 1 of every 4 months you will have to spend this 1/4 on something (car tires/brakes appliance breaks, whatever), trust me, shit happens.

So if you bring home $2000 a month (and no debt):
$1000 for rent + groceries + utilites + car note (and insurance)
$500 for personal spending
$500 a month savings/rainy day fund

After a year if you put away 500 75% of the time, you will have almost $5000 in the bank. After 2 years of this, start putting some into a roth IRA if you have no retirement set up and have no debt or car note by this point.

If you can pay off your car, you now have only rent/utilities, and food you have to buy, you now have more money for savings and personal spending.

I followed this plan right out of college, and after a year I was able to buy a motorcycle cash, after 2 years had over 10g's saved up, all on a salary of ~30k.

Young people tend to spend more than they have, they see a check of $2000 and flip out and spend it, not realizing that $500 is all they should be able to spend. My parents never taught me this, but I will be teaching my kids.

P.S. NEVER buy something on a credit car unless you have the cash in the bank and will pay it off the next month, I have never once had a cent of interest on any of my credit cards, think before you buy, do you really "need" this item to survive.

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-- .:Splak|StackableNut --

Man I'm glad I'm not in the "workforce"

I make around $1300 every two weeks due to my time in service and pay grade. I buy food, gas, interwebs, and phone credit. DOD pays for everything else; thank you, tax payers (Note: I'm one too so tuck your lips back in). Once my next paycheck comes around What I have left from the previous paycheck gets put into savings ie... Savings account, Roth IRA, and CD's. With my spending it's usually around $900. So that's around $1800 that gets invested each month.

Like Cole said but for lack of better words, Don't be stupid with your money. It's money you earned for your hard work, you should let it work hard for you as well.

As the credit card goes think of it this way, If you can't afford it with regular money don't use it. When I buy stuff with it it's used on big things that I pay off in a few months. The way to get a good credit score is to show Mr. Credit card company that he can make money off of you with interest while paying off your debt. The best way to make him smile is pay him over the minimum requirement every month on time and slip a little extra cash into his front pocket in the form of interest. Like say I buy a $500 gun (Somewhat hypothetical LoL), I'd pay it off in 5 months in $100 increments plus the $14 interest for every month. In the long run there's really no need for me to have a credit card but it is good to have a good credit score in case of an emergency later down the road.

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Thats up for debate a trip to Britain dont mean you can say American is a better place to live it depends on what kinda business your into etc.

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American is my homeland my good sir.