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That "something" you are signing means you are liable for the mortgage payments - yes, all of them - if he can't or won't pay at any point.
The limit on what the bank will lend him based on his salary is there for a reason - they don't expect him to be able to keep up repayments if they lend him more (or more precisely, there's a big risk that he won't). ...
293
There's an aspect to this question that I really love. In general, it's a question about consumer behavior that can be expanded to inquire about the purchasing profile of any luxury good. Who buys $500 pocketbooks, $1000 wristwatches, etc?
I can offer one observation regarding the car. Two close neighbors, both couples drive cars valued well above what my ...
237
This is a very generous impulse on your part. I'm going to criticize it, but please understand that I believe your intentions are great.
What can go wrong
You pay off her $40,000 debt. She is now debt free. You know what that means? Better credit. She can now borrow more money. This time she runs up $50k debt and is worse off than she was when you ...
175
Don't pay it, see a lawyer. Given your comment, it will depend on the jurisdiction on the passing of the house and the presence of a will or lack thereof. In some states all the assets will be inherited by your mom. Debts cannot be inherited; however, assets can be made to stand for debts.
This is a tricky situation that is state dependent.
In the ...
174
What are the risks, if any
The risks are exemplified by the outcomes presented on this website, including:
What can I do when the co-signer hasn't paid anything on the house in 7 years and now they want money?
How do I get myself out this disastrous situation
What can I do as a co-signer?
I signed on as the co-signer on a car loan and somehow ended up ...
163
Can I be debt free or should I file bankruptcy
There's no reason to file bankruptcy with $64k in debt and a $80K net salary. You can get out of debt in 1-2 years if you're willing to sacrifice. The harder you sacrifice, the less time it will take.
Please advise me how to reduce my debt.
Stop creating any more debt. Cut up all credit cards
Put $1,000-2,...
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How can people afford luxury cars? The same way they can afford anything: by finding it cheaply, saving for it, or adjusting their priorities.
Company cars - either paid for by the company, or as part of a bonus/compensation/salary sacrifice scheme. I have friends who drive luxury cars, but they pay £200/month - not much more than, for example, finance on a ...
144
A while back, I sold cars for a living. Over the course of 4 years ,I worked for 3 different dealerships. I sold new cars at two and used cars at the last one.
When selling new cars, I found that the majority of people buying the higher end cars honestly shouldn't have been—80% or more of them. They almost always came in owing more on their trades ...
136
How do you buy 1 house a year?
You save up the money you make from the rent for a down payment on the next house. Then you save up the money from those two houses and buy two more the next year (or one bigger one). Rinse, repeat.
what bank would be willing to give you that loan?
You'd be surprised... This is essentially a major cause of the 2008 ...
135
Should I take out a personal loan to pay off credit card debt?
Yes. 8% is much lower than 18%, so you'll save money.
Anything I'm missing or should look out for?
You might be missing the reason you're $40K in CC debt. We were $30K in CC debt because we didn't know where our money went.
Knowing that -- and strictly sticking to a budget while deep in ...
121
You need to change the way you think. First, understand compounding. Not just intellectually, but viscerally. You need to develop an aversion to spending borrowed money.
A debt with 22% APR doubles every 38 months.
Every dollar you pay down your debt, cuts the total length of time you will be paying that horrible interest. Every $1 you spend now ...
116
I personally have no financial problems
Are you in desperate need of a financial problem? Taking a loan to pay someone else's debt is the fast lane to a financial problem.
Unless this is your spouse, because their debts would be yours anyway, do not incur debt for them. If the debt is insurmountable, have the person file bankruptcy and be available to ...
107
EDITED after OP added more details.
no taxes have been taken out yet.
24% will probably be withheld, taking you down to 38K.
The organization that ran the sweepstakes must withhold 24%. It's the law, and of course you have to claim it on your tax return, whether or not they withhold anything. Because they'll withhold, they'll send you a W-2G saying ...
95
Some folks have touched on this, but I wanted to make sure I emphasize this. Getting a college degree does not require going into massive debt. In fact it doesn't require debt at all. Here are some options (this is US-focused):
Get your core classes out of the way at a community college. Community colleges are a significantly cheaper way to earn college ...
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But what should I be expecting? How much trouble am I in?
If you graduated with $134,181 in loans at a rate of 9.3% you'd expect a repayment amount of $1,722/month for 10 years. If you make $70,000/year you'd have ~$2,617 after your loan payments each month, and if the $1,800 monthly living expense you mention is sustainable during loan repayment then you'...
88
Between now and October, your $3,000 will earn $30 in your savings account.
If you are late on a payment for your 0% loan, your interest rate will skyrocket. In my opinion, the risk is just not worth the tiny gain you are trying to achieve in the savings account.
If it was me, I would pay off the loan today.
A few more thoughts:
There is a reason that ...
88
First off, your commitment to paying down debt and apparent strong relationship with your brother is admirable. However, I think you are overcomplicating your situation and potentially endangering your relationship by attempting to combine debts in this way.
You could consider a simple example where you have interest bearing at 5% and your brother has ...
86
You really have only three options (leaving out somehow legally forcing them to pay, about which I know nothing). I'm also assuming you're in the US.
Somehow get enough in scholarships and grants to pay for your tuition and living expenses.
Take out loans, which as you say may put you deeply in debt.
Put off college for a while, and work until you have ...
85
Your friend is basically doing "Credit Card Kiting". While not strictly illegal* (there are nuances), it's an expensive way to maintain debt.
Your friend would be much better off taking the time to consolidate his debt at the lowest possible interest rate and come up with a repayment plan. $35k seems like a lot, but it's doable and his current plan has him ...
81
Is your name on your account at all? If yes, you go to the bank tomorrow morning, open an account in your name, and move all the money over. Then tell your company to change their payments to the new account. After that, you explain to your wife. This is madness. (I’d recommend the same to your wife if a member of your family was on that account).
If your ...
80
Keep in mind your household income is in the top 20%, which does not translate to wealth. Given a healthy income, and no debt, other then a small house payment, you probably have a decent amount of free cash flow. This could easily be used to buy a car on time… which a lot of people do. Congratulations on being different.
Having said that, living as you ...
79
IMHO, you made a very poor choice with school selection. When we make poor choices as adults we have to write checks to solve those problems. Yours is one that will cost you well over 140K, and quite possibly more.
For the price of your last year, you could have attended a state university for 4 years and made a very similar salary. When one does not ...
74
It is normally a bad idea to cash in retirement accounts to buy a house, in your case it is a horrible idea because you are way behind on saving for retirement.
Other fallacies in your reasoning:
A house is not an investment, it is an expense.
Paying rent is not throwing your money away.
A cheaper house affects the resale value. That argument makes ...
73
The Federal Reserve website notes that creditors must accept cash for debts on services already rendered, but that businesses may refuse cash for services not yet rendered unless prohibited by local law.
The Treasury website includes examples of businesses limiting what cash they will accept:
For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in ...
73
David Schwartz's answer is great, I just wanted to add that since you have credit card debt, that $1,500 in rent could cost you a lot more due to interest. Average credit card interest rate is ~16%, that's $20/month in interest on $1,500 and more each month as it compounds.
If you are carrying a balance from month to month on a credit card I suggest you do ...
63
RocketLawyer has a brief review of how to place a lien. Searching Money.SE for 'lien' may also turn up some helpful information for similar situations.
You should exercise extreme caution when contacting interested parties about a debt, because it can be viewed as a confession of the debt, or renew the statute of limitation on the debt. But the company that ...
63
First, you loaning her money is out of the question. In my sternest Suze Orman voice, You Will Not.
Money is more intimate than sex, and there is a very wide gulf between "listening to her commiserate" and putting your own skin in the game.
Keep all liability firewalls up at full force
There are several types of liability shields which are built into ...
60
You've been tricked into an inappropriate lifestyle
And the student loan companies did it. Their motivation is the positively insane interest rates for loans which cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. You are their cash cow. You are doing exactly what they want.
Money is distributive. Money spent on something else is not spent on tuition, which ...
59
I think the heart of the matter is that you're misinterpreting both what comprises a credit score in the US, and how they are used. This is evident in your second to last paragraph:
A "credit score" in my country limits the extra debt you can take if you are already in debt. In The U.S. though, it seems that the "credit score" allows you to get even more ...
57
It is true that all else being equal, you will pay a lower amount of total interest by paying down your highest interest rate debts first. However, all else is not always equal. I'm going to try to come up with some reasons why it might be better in some circumstances to pay your debts in a different order. And I'll try to use as much math as possible. :)...
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