micro-loans

[TexasFreedom]

I'm not sure what else to call these. See:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mi...from-bed-sheets-to-concert-tickets-2017-08-14

'Millenials' aren't using credit cards as much, but are individually 'financing' small purchases. I keep seeing the Paypal Credit. You can buy a $5 item and finance it! But these micro-finances come at painfully high costs, up to 30%. Not a smart way to live... if you can't afford it, don't buy it. Or more specifically, if you do not have the cash NOW to buy it, you can't afford it. I'll exclude a house, but that should be true for anything else: cars, boats, RVs, bed sheets, etc.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I'm not sure what else to call these. See:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mi...from-bed-sheets-to-concert-tickets-2017-08-14

'Millenials' aren't using credit cards as much, but are individually 'financing' small purchases. I keep seeing the Paypal Credit. You can buy a $5 item and finance it! But these micro-finances come at painfully high costs, up to 30%. Not a smart way to live... if you can't afford it, don't buy it. Or more specifically, if you do not have the cash NOW to buy it, you can't afford it. I'll exclude a house, but that should be true for anything else: cars, boats, RVs, bed sheets, etc.

Agreed. I wonder what the bankruptcy rate is, or will be, for the "I want it now" generation. I agree that paying cash is the best way to go for most purchases. If you don't have the cash, do with out.

 

[TexasFreedom]

It's not just the young that are making bad decisions.

Close to me is a family selling the farm, been in the family maybe 30+ years. Parents getting older & needing some help. Son (retired military/PTSD) moved in a mobile home a couple of years ago to help the parents. Good guy, maybe 50, but makes bad financial choices (hard working but bad strategies every time). Now he's convinced his parents to sell the property (maybe $1milion) and move into a house with a MIL room in town (I'm guessing $300k?). Parents only have the ranch to support their retirement/care. He's been borrowing and borrowing more from his parents. My fear is that he's going to burn through the $700k like water, leaving all of them in trouble.

I'm never amazed by folks who make one bad decision after another after another. A lifetime of savings may soon be running through their fingers. Truly sad. That's even worse than borrowing.