[DMCForum] Re: Paying for college

["ryanpwright" <yahoo1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, mike clemens <rmclemns@xxxx> wrote:
> Took a while to get back to this--just been darn busy.

I know how it goes. :)

> Concerning Para: 3,
> 
> a.   Nope----57 years old
> b.   Nope----decisions have always been good--see next
> c.   Nope----been retired for 10 years
> d.   Nope----paid going rate for car
> 
> You see what I mean, you jump on something without
> knowing all the facts.  People can be "above the
> poverty line" and still live a good life, if they've
> invested properly along the way.  What they have put
> away and what they earn each year are two completely
> different things.  If you understand that statement,
> then you're starting to get the right drift.

When you say "invested properly", what are you talking about? You do
realize that investment income is income, and if your investments
allowed you to retire at 47 then it's highly doubtful you lived "just
above the poverty line." Retiring as early as you did, you almost
certainly have 6 or 7 figures sitting in a bank somewhere, either that
or you're just barely surviving on government aid of some sort, or a
spouse's income, or something.

How many kids do you have? I'll assume you have 4, that's higher than
average. The 2004 poverty line with 4 kids is $18,850. "Just above the
poverty line" in my opinion would be no more than ~$22k or so. This
goes up as you have more kids, but at any rate it's always a very low
number considering your family size.

So you lived in near poverty, barely scraping by on ~$22k a year
(+$3,180 for each additional kid), and yet you retired at 47 and can
afford to own a DeLorean? 

I don't mean to intrude on your personal life, so feel free to tell me
this is none of my business, but I'd be really curious to know how you
managed this. I can only assume you put away every nickel you could,
made the decision to retire early and are now living on very little
money by choice. While there's nothing wrong with that, I don't think
it's right to say "those of us slightly above the poverty line" in the
context that you did. It comes off as, "You (meaning me) are just a
jerk who makes too much money, and there are some of us who aren't so
well off." 

Now, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you retired at 47 due to an injury or
other circumstance beyond your control and are barely scraping by
through no fault of your own. If so, I apologize. Stuff like that
happens and I can't even begin to imagine what it feels like. 

I still think my original point stands. Most people in this country
can afford to spend a hundred bucks here and there on hobbies and
other passions, and their spouse should not be controlling them to the
point of stopping this unless they have real financial problems.

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