Play Mind Tricks
But wait!
At the back of your mind, you are thinking – is there another option? Options? You are thinking – I think I may have heard of something.
There is one: through a short sale. But again, it is not that simple.
Where Angels Fear to Tread
In your mind, okay, I will let go of the house. I cannot pay it anymore. It makes no sense to pay for a steep mortgage when the value of the house has gone down by half. No sense. Everybody is doing it anyway. I should be fine.
You do it, sign the papers, let the bank foreclose and rest on your laurels.
Then while sitting on the living room of your new rented apartment, you get a bill, a huge tax bill because – guess what – you have made money on the foreclosure of your home. Money? But where is it?
Another Day
Indeed why wait for death, or why imagine that your children are waiting for your death, before giving your children what you are thinking of giving them anyway? But this is for another story and for another time.
In the year 2009, the world was rocked by stories of foreclosures, foreclosures which have been instrumental in bringing down the single most powerful economy in the world – that of the United States.
Semblance of Order
In reality, this is not implemented all the time and it is evident from the statistics which tell us about innumerable mortgage delinquencies. How then will you avoid deviating from the “old saying”?
Effective money management skills are called for.
Mortgage loan calculators can be of good help along with judicious spending habits. (please take note of the combination)
Under the Sun, Playing
It’s a funny thing. I have known Monopoly since I was a young kid. I enjoyed it, yes, and tried hard to get playmates to play with me but we usually get bored early in the game so we end up, always, not finishing it. We did not even care who won. But I did not know it could have such an impact on me. It was just a board game, after all, and board games do not really teach skills. Apparently, this one does, and I learned to look at Monopoly – and games – in a new light.
Fast forward to 20 years after. I read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Kiyosaki said in that book that one can learn the basics of finance with Monopoly, such as “trade four green houses for one red hotel.” I could not believe my eyes as I was reading, I know this game! I immediately downloaded it to my Treo and played, and played, and played.
At home, at night, at traffic when my car is at a standstill – every chance I got, I played. And then, finally, I got it.