Flipping channels over the weekend I stumbled on the fabulous Suze Orman’s TV show. I could only stand watching for a few minutes, but in that time I got to see her give an overwrought soliloquy on the outrage that student loans
are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. She is working to fix this, she tells us.
I do not think she has as much pull in Washington as her followers imagine. But I am happy to throw my weight behind the effort too. I imagine that Suze would be alarmed at my motivations, but on this particular issue I find myself agreeing with her. Could be a first.
Discharging debt is the essence of the bankruptcy process. What the bankruptcy petitioner owes is either wiped out entirely (in Chapter 7) or has its terms and/or amounts modified (in Chapter 13.)
However, there are a few exceptions. Actually, more than a few.
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Dēmos is one of those lobbyist think tank organizations. I do not know if there is a better term for that kind of outfit, but I think we all know what I am talking about. They raise money, issue reports, and generally attempt, constructively or not, to influence debate on one or more issues. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them, filling a spectrum from far right to far left.
Dēmos (the bar over the e tells you it is pronounced deemos and that they are hugely sophisticated) describes itself as “a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization.” A quick scan of their website will make it clear that they are towards the left end of the political spectrum. That is not where you will find me, but this is, last I looked, a free country. They can write about the tragedy of declining union membership and the subversive nature of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and I can ignore them.
But last month they put out a “report” entitled The Retirement Savings Drain: The Hidden & Excessive Costs of 401ks. Sadly, it was not as universally ignored as it deserved to be.
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Turns out, that post from the WSJ’s Wealth Report that suggested that the rich work harder, which I discussed last month, was the last ever Wealth Report post.
I will miss it. Although not the largest producer of grist for my mill, it contributed its fair share. And I never did quite figure out who its intended audience was. Apparently, the blog aspired to being something for the
wealthy to read. I am betting that is what the WSJ editors, salivating over potential ad revenue, had in mind. But in practice it had more of a gawking tourist in Richistan tone.
It inspired posts from me such as The Truth About the Economics of Investment Help and Millionaires as Role Models. I even got a little mileage out of the Wealth Report’s shocking revelation that people who make $300K do not feel rich.
Alas, no more.
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The Consumerist headlined a post the other day It Could Take Years For Some Fuel-Efficient Cars To Be Worth The Savings On Gas. The title was enough to annoy me.
It seems that some car makers produce higher MPG versions of their already fairly fuel-efficient offerings. And, of course, these special versions are a bit more expensive. Assuming that all a consumer is interested in is money (and not greenness) the question is whether or not that additional cost is justified by the savings on gas.
And there is an accepted and well justified right way to answer that question and others like it. Basically, and I will get to details in a moment, you consider the extra cost as a potential investment with a projected return and compare that to other investments you might otherwise make with the money.
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are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. She is working to fix this, she tells us.
College, Suze Orman | Frank Curmudgeon | 
June 13, 2012 8:59 am | 
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