'Baby Boomer' credit defaults soar (NZ)

[Emeline]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10601798


"The statistics show the lifestyles of the Baby Boomers are coming home to roost - they are defaulting on debts mounted up over the years which they can now no longer service - the recession has seen many Baby Boomers lose their jobs while others have had their wealth eroded," Veda Managing Director John Roberts said.

However, Roberts said Boomers were also back seeking mortgage money during 2009. "Figures for the first nine months of the year to September 2009 show an 18.6 per cent increase in mortgage applications from Baby Boomers compared with the previous year," he said.

[Doomerific]

On more than one occassion I have been advised by a baby boomer that the smart thing to do is to refinance your mortgage when rates are low, roll your credit card debt into the mortgage, and then run the credit cards back up, rinse, repeat.  I didn't even know what to say to these people.  They're all now retired and guess what, they all have huge mortgages, house payments, and it's all Obama's fault. 

GFC people get a clue!

[DimLightbulb]

On more than one occassion I have been advised by a baby boomer that the smart thing to do is to refinance your mortgage when rates are low, roll your credit card debt into the mortgage, and then run the credit cards back up, rinse, repeat.  I didn't even know what to say to these people.  They're all now retired and guess what, they all have huge mortgages, house payments, and it's all Obama's fault. 

GFC people get a clue!

And just wait.  They will "demand" that something be done to recover their retirement money.
I was also reading that they are so close to retirement age that this is a complete shocker to some as their money was in their home and the stock market and they will have to keep working and downsize their ritzy lifestyles.

[cz]

On more than one occassion I have been advised by a baby boomer that the smart thing to do is to refinance your mortgage when rates are low, roll your credit card debt into the mortgage, and then run the credit cards back up, rinse, repeat.  I didn't even know what to say to these people.  They're all now retired and guess what, they all have huge mortgages, house payments, and it's all Obama's fault. 

GFC people get a clue!

Yeah, during the entire life of my mortgage, I refi'd *once*... I'd paid off almost $20K of the principal, and the company I was at was getting bought out, so I was uncertain about the future - so I refi'd to another 30yr and cut my payment by like $250/mo (1-3/4% lower interest too, $1200/mo -> $950/mo), which made my mortgage "probably coverable" by what I'd get on unemployment.  Didn't lose that job, and I kept paying the $1200/mo ("extra" if I could) and had it paid off 10 years after that.

Rolling CC debt into your mortgage is the *worst* thing you can do - you are exchanging unsecured debt for secured debt, if you default on the secured debt they take your house.  If you default on the CC they take... umm, uh... your credit rating (a phantom number).

[jerrypenguin]

On more than one occassion I have been advised by a baby boomer that the smart thing to do is to refinance your mortgage when rates are low, roll your credit card debt into the mortgage, and then run the credit cards back up, rinse, repeat.  I didn't even know what to say to these people.  They're all now retired and guess what, they all have huge mortgages, house payments, and it's all Obama's fault. 

GFC people get a clue!

And just wait.  They will "demand" that something be done to recover their retirement money.
I was also reading that they are so close to retirement age that this is a complete shocker to some as their money was in their home and the stock market and they will have to keep working and downsize their ritzy lifestyles.

Shocking as it may seem, a minimalist life style is possible.  Without gross destructive consumption and external symbols, an individual can lead a fulfilling life.  The person can experience abundance, health, intellectual satisfaction, adventure, campanionship, spirituality and more. 

[BigFatherA]

Rolling CC debt into your mortgage is the *worst* thing you can do - you are exchanging unsecured debt for secured debt, if you default on the secured debt they take your house.  If you default on the CC they take... umm, uh... your credit rating (a phantom number).

If you have to declare bankrupcy (or are forced into it). of have a judgement against you they can still take the house if you have any equity in it. (at least in Canada)