11–20 of 27 posts
Wow, how did you get that far in debt? Law or medical school?
sounds about right for a decent university..$40k * 4-5 years
Yes, you can.
what's your interest rate? if you can get a good interest rate and have it locked, then why not? right now my 30k loan is locked at 2.86% - it's lower than inflation (I think)
The back of the Economist says yearly inflation is 12% and it's 40% for food.
I might be willing to buy a 12% number for inflation under some conditions, since there are lots of ways to calculate that number, and an emphasis on Gold/Oil prices and/or exchange rates might cough up a 12% figure. I'd still consider it unrealistic unless you were heavily involved in such things. However, the 40% for food seems fantastic, meaningless, or both.
what's your interest rate? if you can get a good interest rate and have it locked, then why not? right now my 30k loan is locked at 2.86% - it's lower than inflation (I think)
The back of the Economist says yearly inflation is 12% and it's 40% for food.
I believe the historic average rate of inflation in the US is closer to 2.5%.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The back of the Economist says yearly inflation is 12% and it's 40% for food.
Clearly those numbers are wrong -- otherwise a $5 loaf of bread today would've cost us about $.95 in 2002 (and about $.18 in 1997). I believe the historic average rate of inflation in the US is closer to 2.5%.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Clearly those numbers are wrong -- otherwise a $5 loaf of bread today would've cost us about $.95 in 2002 (and about $.18 in 1997). I believe the historic average rate of inflation in the US is closer to 2.5%.
OK, I misinterpreted their commodity-price index. However, it is a leading indicator of inflation and as that, it seems more reasonable.
Historical TTM: http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
OK, I misinterpreted their commodity-price index. However, it is a leading indicator of inflation and as that, it seems more reasonable.
No, you actually want the _other_ CPI (consumer price index). Historical TTM: http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The back of the Economist says yearly inflation is 12% and it's 40% for food.
Those numbers don't pass the smell test; Interest rates (e.g. mortgage rates) are nowhere near 12%, so if those figures are accurate, all sorts of lenders are paying you to take their money. Additionally, and FWIW, I've been obsessively tracking my spending for the past 6 years, and have seen little if any signs of inflation. My grocery bills from 2003 are indistinguishable from those from 2007. (Yes, I'm a geek.) I…
I don't know if my overall grocery bills are lower or higher since 2003 (on a quality-adjusted basis), but I know that my overall cost of living has increased significantly.
Also: mortgage rates have (unfortunately) little to do with the current inflation rate. It's not really fair to say that a current inflation statistic is wrong because the lenders have lost their minds....
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, you actually want the _other_ CPI (consumer price index). Historical TTM: http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical...
The CPI is influenced by the political winds (e.g. right now, it rather heavily weights technology items, and down-weights fuel and food costs, which are experiencing much greater price inflation). The commodity price index might just be a better indication of actual inflationary pressures for real people.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, you actually want the _other_ CPI (consumer price index). Historical TTM: http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical...
The CPI is influenced by the political winds (e.g. right now, it rather heavily weights technology items, and down-weights fuel and food costs, which are experiencing much greater price inflation). The commodity price index might just be a better indication of actual inflationary pressures for real people.