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links for 2006-12-20 Print
Wednesday, 20th December 2006 (by J.D.)This article is about Spare Change
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“The Schuetts have an enviable income. So why are they having a hard time making ends meet?” [Thanks, Tim!]
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“The Taiwanese government, media, retailers and banks all encourage young people to spend beyond their means. Now rampant consumerism is also creating serious problems.” [Thanks, Su Yin!]
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“Two years after graduating with a degree in theater, Townsend, 25, finds himself loaded with student debt and working at a job that doesn’t pay enough to make the payments.” [Thanks, Kristina!]
December 20th, 2006 at 4:08 am
The CNN article on the Schuetts is less a story of profligate lifestyle, but more one of the husband’s buying into the housing bubble with investment property purchases that are not panning out. If you look about 2/3s down the article, you’ll see that:
“A closer look at the Schuetts’ finances reveals, for example, that a big chunk of their income is eaten up by two rental properties. Brian purchased them thinking they’d generate extra income, but he has yet to find tenants.”
Cut that out — sell and accept the capital losses on sinking properties — and I’m sure they will no longer be living paycheck to paycheck.
The article is misleading: it’s not that their high income isn’t keeping up with what appears to be an upper middle class lifestyle, it’s that they’ve made bad investment choices and haven’t faced up to that fact. That’s a different personal finance story, but it doesn’t fit in with the author’s premise of a struggling high income couple just trying to live life.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:39 am
I agree with Cheng-Jih Chen…these people aren’t dumb, but their decisions lack timeliness. They definitely need to dump the rental properties…more thought, less infomercials!