The Official Milepoint Kiva Lounge Thread

Thank you!

Stay strong MissB, the right job will come along for you. I have a friend who is job hunting in Brissy at the moment and she is not having a lot of fun searching. Better to hold out for the right thing than take the wrong one and be miserable.

I'm glad it benefits some friends. But overall, as a guy who makes a good living, but only from his job income, it means that I'm getting hammered with taxes because I don't have any shelters. At barely above $100,000, I am well above the avg median income for the US, but I'm still shocked at how little is saved. I figure giving to Kiva at least lets me feel good that while $25 is half of a dress shirt here, it's a lot more over there.

That is one good reason why the system as it exists serves only the wealthiest, even though it requires lots of suport and votes from people who screw themselves. It takes a lot of ignorance to support this system.

bad news, I was there bright and early and they were closed! in fact most of Madison Ave was shuttered because of the Puerto Rico Day parade! but I will persevere and you will get the macarons!

I don't buy dress shirts on a regular basis as I am fortunate enough to be able to wear jeans and t-shirts to work if I want to. But yes, it's amazing how much money disappears anyway. $25 is probably less than my weekly coffee budget (home-brewed + coffee shop). Just made my very first loan (after finally checking off the "Join Kiva" to-do item in my endless to-do list yesterday) and it certainly feels good.

Thanks Toula!

There was an article on the News website yesterday - the PM is a knitter!

This discussion of the American tax system reminds me of my friends I stayed with in Atlanta. They are 45 minutes drive from the city and paid $78 000 for their house. Their mortgage is $400 a month but they won't pay it off quicker because of the tax deduction related to the interest they pay on the loan.

I met one woman who was about to have her loan paid off in the next six months. Her plan was to then blow the next repayment's worth of money in Vegas then invest future amounts. To me her plan made sense but she said her financial planner disagreed.

Welcome my friend. It's an awesome ride.

Thanks for finally signing up.

So, they're going to give the mortgage company $5000 so they can get $1250 in tax deduction. Real smart I'd rather give the $5000 to charity and get the $1250 back.

Their justification was the tax deduction. They couldn't seem to get past that. But if we pay more we'll have a smaller tax deduction.

Some people are too stupid for their own good. I'm working on paying down my mortgage. Once done, the "interest" portion of my payment will be going straight to charity. I'll get the same tax deduction, but the money-lending industry won't be profiting from it.

Getting back into the swing of things with a few more loans.Two of my loans are already fully funded. Very excited.

Financial institutions depend on this. Good for you and Peach. Under some circumstances your Schedule A deductions as a result of charity may work out better than the mortgage deduction. It certainly will give you greater satisfaction since you both enjoy helping others via Kiva.

There, I fixed it for you

I did not realize it needed to be fixed.

I really wish the US tax system wasn't a big mess. I also wish people didn't treat their house as an investment vehicle or a piggy bank.

Yeah... that piggy bank didn't work out too well over the past few years for most. Real estate can work as an investment, but not necessarily with one's primary residence. Lot's of people do good with rentals in the "buy low and hold" method, but they'll tend to pay cash and not do the strange mortgage vehicles that were available to us before the bust (and probably now, if one looks hard enough.)

This couple also bought a new car worth almost $40 000. I comented on their car costing almost half their house and they didn't seem to care.

I have been told that Australia is one of the few countries where paying off a home is the big goal. I'm fortunate that Mr and I have excellent financial role models in both sets of parents. My parents could afford for Mum to retire before retirement age meaning she had to wait till 55 to access her superannuation (like 401K I believe). I have to wait till 60 to access my money so I need to focus on investments that will give me financial freedom before then.

I think Canada is another. I read recently that most Canadians try to pay off early.

We just added $100 per month to our mortgage payment and it cut 3 years off our amortization.

Yay re the extra payments. We pay weekly and upped our repayments and the bank wrote to us saying we've gone from 30 years to under 15 years till we pay it off based on current repayments and interest rates. We don't have children so we are able to put alot more on the loan. We can access the equity we build up.

I glad there is at least one country where paying back the people you borrowed from is a priority.

Add Canada to the list.
I have paid off two homes....