Paying off debt should be straight forward. Yet so many people fail to pay off their debts? If you go $106,000 into personal debt, and pay it off in 5 years, you apparently get the Professional Achievement and Counseling Excellence (PACE) 2009 Graduate Client of the Year Award. I was hoping for a longer award name, but what a great nugget to put on their resume!
The kicker? The Hildebrandt's decided to dive back into debt with one year left on their pay back plan by buying a house! Furthermore, they took advantage of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. The article ends with sage advice from the Hildebrandt's saying, “Get out of debt, it's a choke-hold.”
We should be paying off debt
One of the greatest things about America is free speech. It's never been paying off debt! Good or bad, we are a society that coddles fragile self-esteem and rewards people for situations they shouldn't be in from the onset.
Although The Hildebrandt's aren't practicing what they preach, they've got their award and are living the American dream. Congrats guys! We can't wait for your next award.
Meet The Hildebrandt's and read about their great achievement.
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I didn’t say I thought it was a good idea :).
I agree, why didn’t they just finish off paying down their debt? Most people don’t think that housing prices will increase in any significant way over the next three years, so why not wait to buy a house then? Or just wait 5-10 years?
I’m with Robert Kiyosaki when he says that homes are liabilities, not assets. They don’t generate wealth.
@Geek Sure, however, if there’s a family who makes under $100,000 and can get into $106,000 worth of debt, I think it’s just too risky to give them credit again. I’m assuming the house costs at least $150,000.
The one good thing about housing though is that it forces them to spend within their means, otherwise, they will lose their house and likely go bankrupt.
Despite recent bubbles, housing debt is still considered “good debt”, and to most people does not count. The family is not unique in thinking they are doing the right thing
Personally I just want to shake my head and sigh though.
I don’t think buying the house is necessarily a bad thing. It shouldn’t be thought as an investment, but who knows maybe it’s lower than their monthly rent?
That’s true Larry. The details of the article are vague. But, if they had 1 year left to pay off the $106,000 (so say $20,000 left), and they then proceed to take out a mortgage with money down, then I don’t think it makes sense. Of course, they could have put zero money down, so they could still pay off the $20,000 in debt, which I think is nuts too.
Either way, it doesn’t make sense to dive back into debt once they spent so much effort getting out of debt. They didn’t learn anything and that’s ok. We the people will bail them out again.