Boston Gal's Open Wallet

The thing that gets me the most is that this guys home value did not actually decrease all that much ... he paid 575K for the home and it sold for 531K. Had he not been a moron and borrowed 100% of the home value PLUS an additional 200K, but rather actually put 20% down and took out a traditional mortgage, he would have broke even with the sale (probably walked away with a couple thousand, actually).

And the BS he's feeding himself about the mortgage being a BUSINESS CONTRACT instead of a MORAL OBLIGATION is exactly that ... BS. The guy is feeding himself lies to soothe his guilty conscience. He was not a good steward of his money and KNOWS it ... greed and keeping up with the Jones' will get you every time.

 

I gave up on page 3 of the article because I was so disgusted. Why would I ever want to get advice from someone that clearly fell for every financial trap that was available in the middle of the last decade?

 

OK, I'll give you it's bad that he probably wrote this to shill for his book on over-simplified graphs. That said, there was and still is a lot of misinformation in the markets that can lead one down the wrong path. Vegas was one of the hottest markets around, and I'm sure it would be difficult for anyone to not get caught in the hype. Many of the comments on that article are so mean-spirited. Yes, bad decisions were made, but it does not mean have to lose touch with our humanity.

 

SPEECHLESS! OUTRAGED! I live in an ordinary house I can afford and defer vacations and other luxuries when money is tight. Where's my book deal?

 

I liked his article. I agree with the previous comment about business contract vs moral obligation, but really, what was the guy going to do?

I guess I feel like that guy could be me. I bought into the housing insanity and got caught up in it too. The difference is that I have a steady pay check and a secure job and I'm making my payments.

I liked his writing style. However, I also agree with Bri: who would ever hire this guy?!!

 

I feel you Boston Gal on the whole book deal thing. I don't understand why the publishing industry again and again reward the screw-ups and failures with cash while ignoring the rest of the population.

I keep hearing these people who are being paid to air their dirty financial laundry say "I am doing this to warn others of what not to do" or something like that. Well you know what? I am tired of hearing these well compensated cautionary tales.

The next time I spend money on a personal finance book I want it to be about someone who has something new to teach me. Someone who can say they didn't get greedy and fund their business/life style with phantom profits and easy loans. Someone who pays debts and doesn't get paid to publish excuses.

Enough with the reformed financial sinners please book industry. Find me some true financial role models to read/learn from. Please reward them with your publishing contracts.

 

This goes to prove that it doesn't take much to become a "financial advisor" - a high school degree, a few months of marketing/sales training at American Express/Morgan Stanley/etc, and you become an "advisor"...

 

Shame on the New York Times for trying to pass off marketing drivel as journalism! Please, nobody reward this joker by buying his book.

 

well, i'm a bit confused. he can't possibly STILL be a financial planner, can he? In the science field, we often say "never trust a chemist who can't cook." (i.e. if he can't follow a recipe, how can he follow a reaction?) This story makes me angry b/c they acknowledge that they overspent, saw the red flags and ignored them. And what? I'm supposed to pity them? No. I don't pity you. I pity your clients and I hope they are getting really good advice from someone else.

 

I don't even think he learned the lesson. He's still portraying himself as a victim.