Hard times
January 26th, 2009 |Ben Stein in the NYT last Saturday:
Not long ago, a woman in California called me for advice. She is divorced, with two children, and has a series of interlocking financial problems.
She lives in a lovely home in a stylish inland enclave. It has an interest-only mortgage of about $2.2 million that requires a payment of $12,000 a month, very roughly. It was last appraised at $2.7 million, but who knows if it’s now worth anything remotely close to that price.
The woman, whom I’ve known since she was a teenager, has no job or other remunerative employment. She has a former husband, an entrepreneur whose business has suffered recently. He pays her $20,000 a month, of which roughly half is alimony and half child support. The alimony is scheduled to stop this summer.
She has a wealthy beau who pays her credit card bills and other incidentals, but she is thinking of telling him she is through with him. She has no savings and has refinanced her home repeatedly, always adding to indebtedness and then putting the money into a shop she owns that has never come close to earning a dime. Now she is up all night worrying about money. “Terrified,” as she put it. She wanted me to tell her what to do.
Wow, what a sad story.
Maybe you know someone who owns a money losing business and is living in a two million dollar house with a $12,000k monthly mortgage payment with a boyfriend who pays all their credit card bills.
Yea, me neither.
Lady, you should be terrified, fantasy life is over. Time to get a real job, move into a cheaper house and start living a realistic lifestyle.
Ben Stein wants us to feel sorry for this woman?!?
9 Responses to “Hard times”
I always wonder what these women have going on that scores them boyfriends that pay their credit card bills and ex-husbands that pay them $20K a month. It’s clearly not her business acumen!
Silly woman, how did she think she was going to survive, milking handouts from rich lovers? I am so happy that I had the business sense to invest in amateur bicycle racing promotion. I have it made.
California is probably full of those instances! When I left 8/9 years ago, the houses in my area were goin’ for about 6-$800,000 for maybe 1500 square feet!! They were being advertised as “cottage style”. Stupid.
Maybe we need a bailout for ‘kept’ women in Orange County? Ha!
Did you read the whole article?
I just read the article and it’s worth reading, there’s a few good lessons in there. Although I hate Ben Stein, I want his money.
I think she needs to find another sucker and have another kid – problem solved.
why do you hate Ben Stein, he speaks very highly of you.
@dew: hate is such an ugly word.