Here's an earlier article where the guy is quoted as saying
"We plan to stay," he said. "God will provide. We'll say a prayer, turn it over to him, and he provides. It'll all work out."

didn't he say he has like 1000 a month for the upkeep of the cars.

those all have got to be suvs since they probably drive a different car around the house.

talljay said:Here's an earlier article where the guy is quoted as saying
"We plan to stay," he said. "God will provide. We'll say a prayer, turn it over to him, and he provides. It'll all work out."That's why you have to be so careful about praying...Satan can hear you just as well as God can.

It doesn't surprise me that many Americans don't understand basic finance.

Look at the statistics....I was reading an article on PIMCO's "Housing Project"

Click on the August 2006 article in the series (scroll to the bottom):

In the first quarter of 2006, Freddie Mac data showed that 88% of refinancing was equity take-out refinancing, which is about the highest it’s ever been. Even more interesting, and something we’ve never seen before, was the fact that in more than 50% of the equity take-out refinancings, the homeowner refinanced into a higher rate to take out equity. So people continue to literally use their houses as an ATM machine.

This does not sound very responsible to me....taking out equity by refinancing at a higher rate.

I'd like to see what happens after banks tighten lending guidelines....will Americans seek private high interest rate loans like prosper.com?

wow, these people are the DUMBEST people. As a former financial planner, I have seen people do some stupid stuff before but nothing as dumb (why is fatwallet not letting me put an "as" here) these people. I have never said this before, but I hope these people lose everything. Greed has no limits (and neither does stupidity)

swantz84 said:Just because he he can't kneel doesn't mean he can't work. There are plenty of jobs that don't require labor by bending over. I guess he couldn't fulfill his dream job of picking up men on the side of the road by bending over into their car window and asking them if they need a hot date.

He must walk around all day with the lights on and when his son comes home......he prolly just stares at him all day and night.

Bunch of losers and I am sure we will all feel the affects once his son goes on some killing spree because of a crazy childhood.

rofl

pretty obvious ol Don here just wants to sit on his butt all day, stay at home dad my petootie.

About the 7 cars, they might need one to go from the living room to the bathroom since the house is so big.

This just proof that there are no drugs that can cure Stupidity,
Oh yeah, winning money neither make you smarter.

codename47 said:
Don, 41, and Shelly, 38, have never slept in the master bedroom--it's too secluded. At night, Don obsessively checks a live video feed of Donald's room, two floors away from the bedroom they occupy, to make sure his son is okay.
For the record, their son is 10!!! This isn't a newborn, and he needs checking?
"Wakey, wakey. Hands off snakey."

These people are blessed!!! Even now! Education is what they need. They STILL can live anywhere they want in the U.S. and have choices and options. As in so many situations they are HOPING and WAITING for things to "come back" or "return." They still own two (2) properties that if properly managed could afford them a lifestyle better than 85-90% of Americans and 99% of the free world.

It burns me when people act as if they need $40,000,000 to change their life. Your life can change with $2000 extra per month if you are willing to WORK it. There are legions of women raising families ALONE of 5-6 on NOTHING. Even today, peole are still floodind our shores and FINDING better opportunities every day. Its all your attitude and perspective.

You can do anything you want anytime you want. This guy can find the true value of this home with some elbow grease or a $400 appraisal. His flaw, and we all have them, is that he is focused on what he HAD and not what he has. if he had taken baby steps on every phase of his life - porsche, house, business, - he could have still failed miserably and chalk it up to tuition. I know plenty of people who have lost EVERYTHING - wife, kids, business, career, credit - and bounced back.

I bet he is in a better financial (net worth) situation than 99% of FWFers, but he lack stones and sense - cpnsequently, nothing will save him. The sooner he gets to the floor the better b/c his history indicates poor decisions.

It burns me when people act as if they need $40,000,000 to change their life.
Even then, it isn't enough. How many entertainers and sports stars made tons of money only to be flat broke a few years later? Mike Tyson earned well over 100M in his career. Same for Michael Jackson. Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, MC Hammer, etc...

Incessent, wasteful, stupid spending will bankrupt the largest fortune, the best business, or the biggest economy (slight rant)

You simply can not spend more than you have coming in and just figure the rest of the equation will work itself out later.

For some people, 40M won't do it. 100M won't do it. No amount of money in the world can stop the power of conspicuous consumption, none. It is like the anti-compound interest.

Giving 40k to charity...why? So you can pretend to be a big shot? You aren't independently wealthy. 250k really isn't a heckuva lot of money when you owe 600k in taxes.

2k dog run? Why? Just let the critters poop outside and feed the lawn or get the $10 pooper scooper and toss it in the trash.

I really hate people that get a bunch of money and have no clue what to do with it. I'm not jealous, but people here and in the US work and strive so hard and for so long for that, then they get a dream life and piss it away. I just hate waste.

They probably could have made it too, if they had the slightest bit of financial sense. Take out a HELOC for 600k to cover the taxes. Invest the 250k in income producing assets, say 8% yield, say 20k/year.

Sell the first house, pocket say 100-200k.

Shelly works, makes say 30k. Hubby gets off his duff for a part time gig, maybe another 30k or so. That is roughly 5k per month + whatever you can make from the investments, say 7k total. Sell the Denali and get something reasonable, that's an extra 40-50k to pay down the tax bill.

It might be tight for a bit, but I think they could squeak by. Pay down some of the HELOC with the proceeds from the first home sale, work to cover most of the payment, have your investments throwing off some income. It would be sorta tight, but for me personally to live in a 2M home, I'd figure out how to make it work.

Of course, this doesn't include a 6k dog track, 40k to charity, 7 cars + 1k per month in gas, thousands on servents and 7k on electricity???? That doesn't even make sense...do the sleep with all the lights on? Maybe that is how much CCTV runs to spy on your 10 year old.

The two major expenses (car and house) were fully paid for, and they just didn't know what to do.

If they got the 5.5 mill by some miracle, they'd be broke again within a year.
Yup! There are some people that you could 100% redistribute their wealth (poor guy becomes rich, rich guy becomes poor) and within 5 years, nature would take course and they would be right back where they started.