Bankruptcy, stupid's best friend

If any of you have seen the Misery Index, an index that tracks the people affected by foreclosure or bankruptcy throughout the recession, you’ll notice that Nevada is the worst state to live in. One out of every 20 people living in the state suffered from such an event.

Bankruptcy is a process that will never make sense to me. Buy all the crap you want and then tell the bank you don’t understand why you just don’t seem to have enough money to support the extravagant lifestyle. It’s like a prostitute who doesn’t understand why she has crabs.

Someone I work with said it’s easy to become a millionaire. The way he did it? He took out loans, bought a bunch of cars, a massive house, and lots of other toys he had no business purchasing with his measly income. His mathematical formula for millionairism? Value of brand new truck, plus value of brand new Mercedes, plus value of brand new bullet bike, plus value of brand new ski boat, plus value of brand new house in the bay area, plus positive cash in bank accounts. Therefore it is easy to become a millionaire based on the assets that you accumulate.

The hard part was when he moved to Idaho. He didn’t sell the house for as much as he was hoping for and he lost about $15,000 on each of his five cars and trucks. The result, he picked up smoking to alleviate the stress. Good thing he picked up a cheap hobby. He could have picked up sky-diving but he went with the more cost efficient hobby.

On the other hand, some people don’t necessarily file fore bankruptcy because they lived the extravagant lifestyle. It’s because they just suck at managing their money. Another douche bag I work with told me his mother-in-law had to file for bankruptcy because her hours had been slightly reduced. Understandable I suppose until you realize that she lives in a house with two other families, and she only pays a third of the rent. She shares two cars with the other families in the house.

One of the families in this house is this particular douche bag. Money management skills must be hereditary because he is headed down the same road as his mother-in-law. He gets paid management pay, has a second job, sells his plasma, and still never seems to have enough money.

He only pays a third of the rent since his family lives with his mother-in-law, he only has one child, and he doesn’t own any cars, never has. In fact, the only set of wheels that he has ever owned was a Liahona bicycle that was given to him. He doesn’t have life insurance, no health insurance, no 401k, and no savings. In fact, for a while he would pawn off his guitar for $15 and then buy it back later in the week for $25 after he picked up his paycheck so that he would have enough money to put food on the table.

It must suck to be stupid.

The odd thing is that many of the people that file for bankruptcy show up at the bank with their iphone and drive to their hearing in a BMW. The poor money management skills aren’t a result of the economy; it’s greed, laziness, and ultimately self-stupidity.

Remember Bernie Madoff? He appeared to be worth a lot more than he really was. He lived a lavish lifestyle, and when it finally caught up to him, he received 150 years of free government housing. He lived a lie.

Those who ultimately file for bankruptcy are exactly the same. They live a lavish lifestyle that their inadequate income couldn’t support. They live as if they are worth a lot more than they really are. They live a lie just as Bernie Madoff did. Seems to me that the punishment should coincide.