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Posted on 07/21/2011 2:04:51 PM PDT by CSM
Mom has her bags packed for a guilt trip!
Dear Dave,
My mom makes $20,000 a year, and without telling me she took out a Parent PLUS Loan for $16,000 to help me with college. She’s saying she can’t pay the loan, and it’s been in deferment. Now, she wants me to pay it. I’ll be making good money a few years after I graduate, but I don’t have the money to pay the loan now. What should I do?
Jill
Dear Jill,
A Parent PLUS Loan would not have your name on it, so you have no legal obligation to pay this bill. The real question is this: How much do you want to help your mom after she screwed up big time?
She’s obviously done a horrible job communicating with you and managing her own situation. Under the circumstances, I’m sure that leaves you torn between your loyalty to her and being angry that she messed up. In these cases, I think the best thing is probably to sit down and have a good heart-to-heart talk with her about what she’s done and how to fix things in her own financial world. I know you love your mom, but she’s done a really dumb thing here and gotten herself into a mess. Now, she’s trying to lay a guilt trip on you. That’s not cool.
To be honest, I wouldn’t feel a lot of guilt if I were in your position. If you get yourself in a good financial situation after college and want to pick up part of the tab, just to say thanks, then that would be fine. But don’t get dragged into some kind of dysfunctional family drama and end up paying something out of guilt that’s not your responsibility!
—Dave
Who is Murphy?
Dear Dave,
I’ve just started listening to you and trying to clean up my finances. Who exactly is this “Murphy” you always talk about?
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
The Murphy I talk about isn’t an actual person, or even a real family. There’s an old adage called Murphy’s Law, and it goes something like this: “If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.” In other words, if you’re alive and walking around, bad stuff will happen to you sooner or later. It’s not even about being pessimistic or negative, it’s just a fact. Sooner or later it’s going to rain, and that’s why you need an umbrella.
I tell people all the time that having an emergency fund of three to six months worth of expenses saved up is great Murphy Repellant. Think about it. A lot of your big problems seem to leave when you have $10,000 to $15,000 sitting around. An emergency fund can turn a disaster into nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
So, it’s just a saying. But there’s still a whole lot of truth in that little saying, Jennifer. If you’re properly prepared, you can keep Murphy away from your door!
—Dave
OK, I am posting and running, but wanted to finally get something out to you all.
Dave Ramsey Fan Ping List.
If you would like to be added to the “Live like no one else, so that you can LIVE like no one else” list, feel free to Freepmail me.
www.thegreatrecovery.com Tonight at 8PM EST
Jill obviously did not study economics or she would have wondered where the moneu was coming from. DUH.
I went to high school and graduated with Dave in south Nashville. Class of 78.
How do you view it without signing up as a church leader or FPU coordinator?
Sorry....Didn’t notice this until now..... I’m not sure... I was a coordinator, so i didnt really have to sign up....Sorry....
Does anyone have a synopsis of Dave Ramsey’s “The Great Recovery”? I had kids in Vacation Bible School, so I couldn’t attend.
Very cool! Of course back then he was probably a geeky skull full of mush! We all were, so that’s OK...
;-)
I don’t. I’ve been working like mad and am so far behind on everything that I can’t think straight. I did send the information to the churches in my neighborhood, so I hope that they took advantage of it.
If I do see a follow up opportunity on his site, I’ll post it on FR and ping my list members.
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That’s awesome! Thanks for posting it..
OK, ladies, put yer tongues back in yer mouths....
;-)
I saw the video. Dave Ramsey’s “The Great Recovery” needs to go viral.
Excellent! Thank you for the heads up.
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