Mortality by Mortgage

In relation to mortgage, is mortality too strong a choice of word?

I looked up synonyms, just to lighten the mood a little.   How about Transience or Impermanence instead?  They may sound a little better, but synonyms for these two new words include Briefness, Fleetingness and Temporariness. 

But the latter three terms are really antonyms for Mortality, not matching my original intent. And, this post is not intended to be an English language lesson - my own second language - but rather a financial life lesson. 

More specifically, about debt.  Contrary to conventional wisdom, the wages of sin is not death… but rather, the wages of debt is death! Of course, people may rightfully argue that if they died with a debt burden they wouldn’t have a care in the world... because settling the debt would no longer be of any concern to them.  After all, they’d be dead!

Now, student loans - the new U.S. debt bubble after the recent housing market collapse - has breached the $1 trillion mark.  And still American parents send their kids to college, financed with borrowed money… because without a good education, the kids won’t be able to get a job!  

Education is wonderful. It should be ever-present, ongoing and a life-long experience.  But, it should never be undertaken in conjunction with casual acceptance of any commensurate, extraordinary debt burden.

In fact, if you graduate with student debt, you’re just dumb and you shouldn’t have been allowed to graduate!  Yes, even if your major is something really worthwhile like history, or religious studies.

As with anything else in life, if you can’t afford it, you simply shouldn’t buy it!

But what about a house?  Few people could afford to pay cash for a house, right?  No, wrong… it’s your high expectations and willingness to accommodate debt that causes you to accept a life-long commitment to the forever debt.

In fact, people over the age of 40 should automatically be disqualified when applying for a 30-year mortgage.  At 40, you’re simply too old to accommodate long-term debt with a proposed future settlement date at age 70.  Are you kidding me?

That’s not even to mention the opportunity cost of that mortgage! 

In addition to saddling yourself with a debt burden that’s forever, you also surrender your mobility, a most precious commodity. And this during a period when your earnings potential - as a result of age, maturity and related work experience - will likely peak, especially if you’re able to work anywhere!

Instead, you willingly accept a life sentence, aka a mortgage. 

A life sentence of job reliance!  Monthly income and expenditures will be closely matched (for a few decades); preventing you from building any significant wealth for retirement.

You may respond with “but I own a house!”  And you’d be wrong.  The bank owns that house until you’ve paid the last outstanding $1 due on that mortgage.  It’s theirs… not yours… you are just renting it from the bank, while also covering all the operational expenses like decorating their house, paying their property tax, ongoing maintenance and upkeep, doing all necessary repairs, etc.!

And, as an added bonus, the bank, your boss and job own you.  If you get laid off, you’re screwed, because you won’t be able to pay your monthly debts.  And if you’re lucky enough to find a new job, and quickly enough, you may even earn more money… enabling you to buy more things you don’t need, like a bigger house!

Home ownership.  A foundation of The American Dream.  A system designed to impoverish the middle class.

The middle class becomes increasingly more impoverished because of debt.  That’s because they borrow money to buy things, like education, houses, cars.  The wealthy only ever borrow money to make more money, e.g. used for buying houses, for you to rent.  And you still wonder why the middle class is shrinking?

Really?

By keeping you snagged in your debt trap of student loans and mortgages, ownership of your adult life has been outsourced to banks, the government and your employer.  They won't bail you out either, because you represent their proverbial meal ticket!

But, then you die.  Mortality by Mortgage... phew... what a relief!