A new study suggests that distressed borrowers using a simpler bankruptcy process are succeeding — and that more people like them should try.
The process which enables this was introduced during the Biden administration.
A new study suggests that distressed borrowers using a simpler bankruptcy process are succeeding — and that more people like them should try.
The process which enables this was introduced during the Biden administration.
Husband?
So a two income household.
Banking ?
Yeah that’s a corp job.
“Worked construction and did house cleaning and bought a big house”.
That’s not something most people with those two jobs could do. Even in a dual income household.
Unless perhaps you failed to mention he owned a construction business.?
Maybe 30 years ago. Sure. Not now.
I think you are unaware of a few things that have changed.
The cost of education has went up so much in 30 years.
Even my associates degree I paid $13000 for in 2008-2012 is easily now a $25,000 degree. At a community college.
As I said. Going to the next level , a state college, will be at minimum, $30k a year. (60k for associates, $120k for bachelor’s).
Also , if you have kids or disabled, you are eligible for “free” money for college.
I did not qualify for any free money.
30 years ago , heck even 20 years ago, you could buy a house with only 8 or 9k down. And the house payments would be ~700 a month.
That’s not how it is anymore.
Those same Homes are half a million now.
And the down payments needed are 30-50k.
This is why boomers are very much out of touch with the reality of American life now.
It’s not how it was in the 80s, or 90s.
College is so expensive that when you graduate you owe so much, that the interest will rise faster than you can pay it off. Meaning you will just keep owing more money.
Also as far as credentials. Every place that isn’t base like minimum wage jobs , requires a degree of some kind. With the exception of hard manual labor jobs. Like working in factories and warehouses. Hard labor. Hard on your body. And usually men work those jobs because of the physical demands being high. Destroying their bodies by 40.
And also. I never could afford health insurance at any job I ever had until I got a job working for the health insurance company.
There is no way anyone on minimum wage could possibly afford health insurance premiums.
I recall working at Pizza Hut 2006 before I got my corp job. $6 an hour.
After taxes I made about 700 a month.
Insurance premium was $250. For a young healthy 20 year old.
It’s way more than that now. ~$500-700 per month.
And anyway. Doesn’t matter. Couldn’t afford deductable or copays. So pointless to have.
Yeah, it all makes sense. I guess things really went downhill recently. My uncle and aunt didn’t own any business. They simply got a normal, fixed rate mortgage and bought 2 floor house. They lived at one floor and rented the other. That was 25-30 years ago but we’re talking two immigrants with no education. It’s crazy how much worse things are now.
Still, my uncle lived there until 5 years ago when he retired. Worked construction, didn’t die at 40, had enough money to go to doctors, rent apartment and send money back home. I visited him twice for summer and worked with him (illegally, don’t tell anyone). It wasn’t hard work. I was a skinny teenager back then and was able to handle it. Lots of nailing and cutting but not that much carrying heavy things. I mean I wouldn’t trade places with him but again, we’re talking about immigrant with no education beyond primary school, not speaking English and staying in the country illegally. So yeah, I still can’t really wrap my head around just how much worse things have to be now. Or maybe immigrants are just build different? They look for different opportunities, have different support networks, expect different things…
My grandfather never even went to high school. Though he was self educated.
He has his own home. Worked as a janitor for a hospital for a large chunk of his life that paid pretty decently.
But those years are gone.
If minimum wage matched what it did in the 70s with inflation, it would be $20 an hour. It’s half that.
Even when I was 20 (2005) working two minimum wage jobs, I was able to afford my own 1 bed apartment.
Wasn’t great. Was in a bad neighborhood. But I did live alone and was okay.
That’s not possible for people anymore.
And rent is insane. It’s probably went up nearly 30-40% in the last 10 years in a lot of places.
I’m from a very poor rural area where rent typically is $400 for a 1 bedroom.
My mom told me that rent now is like $800 for that area.
For a 1 bedroom.
That was the cost to rent a 2 bedroom house just a few years ago.
Corporations buying up everything. Even in small rural areas.
Trailer courts are also getting bought up and people are abandoning their trailer homes because the lot rental has doubled.
It’s very sad to see.
renting out part of the house probably helped with thier finances, ,my parents did the same, but they got lazy about like 10 years ago, and stopped renting, and things got piled one is a hoarder which make things worst.