I don’t dispute that there are traps and everyone should be careful.

Do you know any millionaires? Ask them if they became a millionaire by playing games with credti cards. email me if you know a couple.

All these and more are the reasons that so many people are poor and will stay poor in this country. Ignorance and pretending to be an expert when you can’t even use a caluculator or common sense to arrive at the correct financial conclusion. Sheesh.

Good post. I personally think that state colleges are fine for some areas of study: e.g. Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is up there with the best private universities. As long as you know which university is strong in which field. Although if you are not lucky enough to live in the right state, it’ll be pretty expensive too, but still cheaper then some private universities. Also, for engineering one can go to a state university as an undergrad, than go to a private university for graduate school on an assistantship. Doesn’t work for all fields, but in some cases doing a little research and finding a state university that is really good in a specific field may save money.

good luck to those who try this route.

Credit

1. Pets make you healthier
According to the American Medical Association, the average household with pets is approximately 80% healthier. Further, people with pets live longer and happier. You do want to live long and be happy, don’t you?

2. Rattle snakes protect you against robbery
You might think that rattle snakes introduce you to more harm but I’d argue that they also protect you against robbery and in other ways as well. Let’s say you buy something online and it is delivered in a condition other than what the company originally portrayed it as. You buy new and it comes refurbished, you buy a higher end model but get the lower end model, or you bought red and they sent you black… but the vendor isn’t willing to talk to you anymore or has disappeared into the ether? Have your rattle snake settle the issue while the vendor sleeps.

3. Rattle snakes are safer than fluffy bunnies!
Would you rather be carrying 5,000 fluffy bunnies around with you in your pocket or a small snake that gives you access to thousands of dollars worth of threats and protection? If you said the fluffy bunnies, you’re just asking for trouble! Being able to threaten ne’er-do-wells without actually carrying a gun very important, that’s why pet shops exist, and so why would you put yourself in the position of danger just to avoid using rattle snakes?

4. Rattle snakes are valuable in emergencies
This is aligned with reason 3 in that you can access fear in your attackers you don’t actually have. Let’s say you are stuck in a foreign country and you need to buy an airline ticket back to the United States. Do you have enough cash on you? If you do, great; if not, well you’re out of luck unless someone wires you money… or if you have a little snake to threaten the airline with.

5. Rattle snakes provide protections, warranties, etc.
Okay, this is the last one about rattle snakes… rattle snakes will actually give you protections and warranties just for using them. If you use a rattle snake to make anti-venom, many hospitals will offer payment or kickbacks; if you use a rattle snakes to make anti-venom, many hospitals offer to keep some on hand just in case you need it later; if you use a rattle snake to barter for a loaned car, many friends offer the car use for free. These are tangible benefits with actual cash value that can save you money in the long term. Fluffy bunnies offers none of these benefits.

The second thought I liked is #8. Some debts, mainly student loan and mortgage, are investments for the future. Not only are you investing in yourself, even the Government is investing in you by subsidizing your loan’s interest. As usual, a little discipline and foresight must be thrown in… you shouldn’t max out all your financial aid loan offers just because they’re offered to you. And you should examine the terms of a mortage or be careful about taking out on your home’s equity to ensure that you can bear the payments for the life of the debt.

2. & 3. Agree.

4. Agree, but there are times when having a few hundred dollars trumps having credit cards. Being on a back highway out of gas and the only gas station takes cash only comes to mind. Some cash is always good to have around.

5. Having rented a car recently, the CC does provide insurance, but the car companies are pushing ‘additional’ insurance to cover what the CC insurance doesn’t. I’m not quite clear on what that is, but seemingly there is some gap.

6. Agree.

7. Somewhat agree. Private colleges don’t necessarily educate better, they have the ‘prestige’ pedigree that you’re paying for. You can learn just as much at a state college as an Ivy League if you try, but the gee-whiz factor is much lower for people looking at your degree. (Ever talk to anyone that was proud of their Univ of Phoenix on-line degree??)

8. Agree to disagree, Business is about leveraging Assets. Debt if used correctly can be an asset. If not, it can bring down businesses. If you look for an example, the Subprime meltdown is good.

9. Agree, but your credit score is only good for getting more credit (for the most part). It’s a Catch-22. You need credit to get a credit score to get credit to get a credit score, etc. Many people have sworn off credit entirely and done just fine (Dave Ramsey brags about his ZERO Fico score).

10. WILDLY disagree. If I pay someone $10,000 interest to get a $3000 tax abatement, that’s just backwards. I’d just rather pay the $5000 taxes and take home the rest. If you’re that close on the fringe between being able to get Roth and not, make a charitable contribution instead of paying interest.

Sorry for the long post, but this EXCELLENT article deserved a more in-dept response.

Steve Herman

This is a great post.