Banks can't handle $40M in loan repayments!!

Mark Murphy39 said:We need to do exactly what the Icelanders did—just let the banks go under!

I find myself in agreement. It is truly unfortunate that their approach isn't discussed more frequently in our news cycles or online media...

Furthermore, it would be a significant gesture if everyone were to withdraw their capital—their savings and hard-earned assets—from the banks all at once, just to contribute to their eventual downfall.

And here is a little trivia question for you: How many truly domestic American banks actually exist where massive amounts of capital aren't being funneled straight overseas? 😁

Nicole James said:Remind me again—what’s the actual limit on FDIC insurance for individual savings accounts these days?

Well, you could always just spread $12 million in savings across 30 different banks and call it even.

swiftsurfer27 said:I find myself in agreement. It is truly unfortunate that their approach isn't discussed more frequently in our news cycles or online media...

Furthermore, it would be a significant gesture if everyone were to withdraw their capital—their savings and hard-earned assets—from the banks all at once, just to contribute to their eventual downfall.

And here is a little trivia question for you: How many truly domestic American banks actually exist where massive amounts of capital aren't being funneled straight overseas? 😁

What "big money" are you even talking about? Since when is someone not allowed to spend their own paycheck however they damn well please? 🤷 How would I know if some big-shot CEO at a major US bank isn't heading abroad for a ski trip?

briskdrifter3 said:Are you planning on throwing families—people with actual children—out onto the streets? Because there are thousands of them out there... just waiting for a break. And how exactly do you intend to explain that to a five-year-old? "Look, kid, your old man was just being a greedy idiot when he signed those mortgage papers, so now you have to leave your bedroom behind. Take your teddy bear if you want..." It’s just... well, it's beyond absurd.

Look, if you’re going to stand there spilling nonsense about contracts, banking regulations, profit margins, and the sheer depth of human stupidity—then honestly... just keep it to yourself.

My suitcase is practically overflowing with nothing but excuses from the banks—just endless, hollow justifications for their blatant highway robbery...

Just five years ago, everyone was laughing at losers living in their parents' basement, and now suddenly we're hiding behind stuffed animals and pure pathetic sentimentality.

briskdrifter3 said:And then there are the other geniuses—the ones who think it’s perfectly fine to slaughter the chicken just to get one golden egg. They can act surprised when, after driving thousands of citizens—and even worse, thousands of businesses—straight into bankruptcy, the banks wonder why nobody wants to take out loans anymore or why business has completely dried up.

Go check out the thread on housing developments and subsidies. You'll see a whole crowd of people waiting at the starting line because they already spent everything on their big teddy bear.

briskdrifter3 said:And then there are the other geniuses—the ones who think it’s perfectly fine to slaughter the chicken just to get one golden egg. They can act surprised when, after driving thousands of citizens—and even worse, thousands of businesses—straight into bankruptcy, the banks wonder why nobody wants to take out loans anymore or why business has completely dried up.

The whole economy is basically just a massive bubble built on debt from the government, corporations, and everyday people alike. So, let's get real—if you were in charge right now, what exactly would you do? How would you actually fix a crisis like this?

briskdrifter3 said:And then there are the other geniuses—the ones who think it’s perfectly fine to slaughter the chicken just to get one golden egg. They can act surprised when, after driving thousands of citizens—and even worse, thousands of businesses—straight into bankruptcy, the banks wonder why nobody wants to take out loans anymore or why business has completely dried up.

I’d love nothing more than to see the banks instantly revert the exchange rate back to what it was two or three years ago, just so everyone with a mortgage could see their monthly payments drop from, say, $6,000 down to $4,500.

Why do I get the feeling that would only help the 5% who actually can't pay their debts, while the other 95% would still be stuck in the exact same mess, unable to make their payments anyway?

In other words, it isn't the banks being greedy; it's the people who thought they could pull off owning a house, a car, luxury snacks, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and daily coffee runs on a total household income of $8,000$3.25 while debating whether they should upgrade to a new iPhone or a Nokia...☕

I feel for those who are losing sleep over everything happening right now, really, but I’m curious if they’d finally stop complaining if the banks just scrapped interest entirely and left them with only the principal. Or would it then be the government's fault for not providing free housing so they didn't have to buy it in the first place? Or maybe it's just bad luck because someone else got a house and they didn't?

Jamie Newman5 said:In other words, it’s not that the banks are greedy, it’s just that people assumed an income of $8,000$3.25 per household would be enough to own a home, drive a car, hit the beach, wear Ray-Bans, and sip lattes every single day while debating whether to upgrade to a new iPhone or a Nokia...

There is a lot of truth in that... people just grab everything being offered to them without ever stopping to consider how expensive it will be to pay it all back... you can't teach an old dog new tricks.🙂

But still, the banks are greedy and they are cruel.

With this kind of policy where they squeeze America under the guise of instability, keeping interest rates high for so long... they've shown just how much of a difference there is between loans in Italy or Canada compared to what they charge us here in the States.

By failing to invest in the actual economy, they have done the most to make this situation worse.

So what if nobody is taking out car loans now and they're facing problems? They’re sitting on unsold homes because they refuse to lower prices or drop interest rates?

Honestly, who cares about them, let them fail... some other bank will just step in. They are private entities, just like all the others they destroyed through foreclosures. Now it’s finally time we turn the tables on them! ☕

Laura Brown7 said:There is a lot of truth in that... people just grab everything being offered to them without ever stopping to consider how expensive it will be to pay it all back... you can't teach an old dog new tricks.🙂

But still, the banks are greedy and they are cruel.

With this kind of policy where they squeeze America under the guise of instability, keeping interest rates high for so long... they've shown just how much of a difference there is between loans in Italy or Canada compared to what they charge us here in the States.

By failing to invest in the actual economy, they have done the most to make this situation worse.

So what if nobody is taking out car loans now and they're facing problems? They’re sitting on unsold homes because they refuse to lower prices or drop interest rates?

Honestly, who cares about them, let them fail... some other bank will just step in. They are private entities, just like all the others they destroyed through foreclosures. Now it’s finally time we turn the tables on them! ☕

So, how exactly should they be investing? 🤔 And why on earth do you think this instability is just an excuse?

Laura Brown7 said:How exactly is that supposed to drive investment back into the economy? And why on earth would you assume this instability is just some superficial issue?

Think about how many small business owners are hitting a wall because they can't secure financing, whether from a major commercial bank or even from federal programs...

They just get turned away because the current climate makes them look too risky to back. All those lofty promises the Secretary of Commerce makes about supporting entrepreneurs... they're nothing more than fairy tales at this point.

Then, you turn to the big banks, and they hit you with their own loans, but the interest rates are astronomical because the US market is viewed as too volatile for steady investment.

If you think the uncertainty is just an excuse, just look at those massive commissions they rake in, which are built entirely on those inflated interest rates.

Why would they ever stop squeezing us while the money is still flowing???

Laura Brown7 said:There is a lot of truth in that... people just grab everything being offered to them without ever stopping to consider how expensive it will be to pay it all back... you can't teach an old dog new tricks.🙂

But still, the banks are greedy and they are cruel.

With this kind of policy where they squeeze America under the guise of instability, keeping interest rates high for so long... they've shown just how much of a difference there is between loans in Italy or Canada compared to what they charge us here in the States.

By failing to invest in the actual economy, they have done the most to make this situation worse.

So what if nobody is taking out car loans now and they're facing problems? They’re sitting on unsold homes because they refuse to lower prices or drop interest rates?

Honestly, who cares about them, let them fail... some other bank will just step in. They are private entities, just like all the others they destroyed through foreclosures. Now it’s finally time we turn the tables on them! ☕

Back in the mid-nineties, things went crazy in Albania, and suddenly you had these beat-up boats washing up on the coasts of Italy, packed with Albanians who were looking around like they were searching for their lost Ferraris or some massive villa with a pool. Poor souls spent years glued to Italian satellite TV—every single house back then had a dish—and they naively thought that was just how life worked in Italy. I remember seeing our media outlets gloss over the whole thing, while Baker was basically filled with anecdotes at their expense.

Then, in the middle of the last decade here in America, every TV station and newspaper was flooded with ads telling people that banks were their best friends, suggesting all your life problems could be solved with one swipe of a credit card. You’d see some reality star who got kicked out onto the street by her boyfriend, only to show up the next day in a huge, designer apartment thanks to a three-story bank building... funny how nobody really questioned those setups, even though there isn't much difference between that and those poor guys from the start of the story.

with policies like that, they squeeze America by keeping interest rates high under the guise of "economic uncertainty." They've shown exactly how much of a difference they make with loans in Italy or Canada compared to what they charge us here in America.

I travel through Canada, Austria, and Italy pretty often, and from what I see passing through, everything seems even more depressing than it is here.

Anyway, this didn't just pop up on Broken yesterday; it's kind of interesting how Americans find this hilarious because most of them can totally see themselves in it:
http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleim...tcardhead5.jpg

driftingtinker said:Back in the mid-nineties, things went crazy in Albania, and suddenly you had these beat-up boats washing up on the coasts of Italy, packed with Albanians who were looking around like they were searching for their lost Ferraris or some massive villa with a pool. Poor souls spent years glued to Italian satellite TV—every single house back then had a dish—and they naively thought that was just how life worked in Italy. I remember seeing our media outlets gloss over the whole thing, while Baker was basically filled with anecdotes at their expense.

Then, in the middle of the last decade here in America, every TV station and newspaper was flooded with ads telling people that banks were their best friends, suggesting all your life problems could be solved with one swipe of a credit card. You’d see some reality star who got kicked out onto the street by her boyfriend, only to show up the next day in a huge, designer apartment thanks to a three-story bank building... funny how nobody really questioned those setups, even though there isn't much difference between that and those poor guys from the start of the story.

with policies like that, they squeeze America by keeping interest rates high under the guise of "economic uncertainty." They've shown exactly how much of a difference they make with loans in Italy or Canada compared to what they charge us here in America.

I travel through Canada, Austria, and Italy pretty often, and from what I see passing through, everything seems even more depressing than it is here.

Anyway, this didn't just pop up on Broken yesterday; it's kind of interesting how Americans find this hilarious because most of them can totally see themselves in it:
http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleim...tcardhead5.jpg

And what you mentioned there... I guess they obviously weren't factoring in credit card debt or bank overdrafts when they calculated the total non-performing debt. It’s not like our situation is some isolated incident, either: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freee..._card_defaults

Well, at least we're finally catching up with the rest of the modern world, I suppose. 😂🤣

My wife and I are both working, and we just looked at a mortgage for a place around $115,000.

Monthly payment is $800.
Total you hand back to the bank? About $240,000.
Term: 25 years.

I look at my buddies and they're all drowning in debt without a clue, then I sit down and run the actual numbers.

$115,000: 25/12 = $383.33 per month.

Basically, if I just rented an apartment for $400 a month for 25 years, I’d still have money left over after paying interest.

What's the point of chasing these loans when the place isn't even truly yours until it's paid off anyway?

Just rent, stash the extra cash, and hope interest rates and wages don't stay this garbage forever.

Honestly, I don't even know if I'll have a job in two months, let alone twenty-five years from now, so why bother with a mortgage?

redfox57 said:My wife and I are both working, and we just looked at a mortgage for a place around $115,000.

Monthly payment is $800.
Total you hand back to the bank? About $240,000.
Term: 25 years.

I look at my buddies and they're all drowning in debt without a clue, then I sit down and run the actual numbers.

$115,000: 25/12 = $383.33 per month.

Basically, if I just rented an apartment for $400 a month for 25 years, I’d still have money left over after paying interest.

What's the point of chasing these loans when the place isn't even truly yours until it's paid off anyway?

Just rent, stash the extra cash, and hope interest rates and wages don't stay this garbage forever.

Honestly, I don't even know if I'll have a job in two months, let alone twenty-five years from now, so why bother with a mortgage?

You only live once.🙂

redfox57 said:you end up paying back $220,000 to the bank in total

Exactly... and when you look at those numbers, if you take that extra $350—meaning you’re spending $250 less on rent and $100 less on utilities—you could basically rent an apartment for 52 years straight with that money.

Plus, if you factor in saving that hundred bucks because you'd be covering your own utilities in a home you actually own, you wouldn't even break even until year 74... 🙂 and I don't plan on living to be 150...

Just a side note, mortgage rates in places like Italy or Canada are significantly lower... you aren't essentially paying the bank double what you borrowed.

At the end of the day, by setting interest rates this high, banks are just sabotaging their own future because nobody wants to touch these loans... so who is actually winning here? Let them fail...

Try posting this theory on a thread about Swiss people and see how fast you get eaten alive 🙂
Look, I don't really want to waste my breath here, so I'll just give you the cliff notes version:
- Landlords are straight-up sadists, and being a renter basically means you're moving your entire life every few months
- Once you're stuck renting, you're automatically seen as some broke nobody; you won't just end up homeless one day, you'll be doing it with a zeroed-out bank account
- You aren't going to have anything to leave your kids when they grow up. And honestly, if you have more than one kid, or when they actually want to start their own lives and need a place to live, where are they supposed to go? I'd love to hear an answer for that
- With a mindset like yours, you’re definitely just some provocateur, a Wall Street vulture, or whatever else they call people who don't get it 🙂

When an economy takes a hit for years on end, banks eventually run into trouble. It doesn't matter how well-capitalized they claim to be. Assets always outweigh capital. The real question is how much of that profitability they’ve been reporting lately is actually legitimate.
And once everything hits the fan and they suddenly find themselves holding a mountain of foreclosed apartments and commercial properties without any actual cash on hand, you'll see some incredible buying opportunities. In Spain, they were offloading stuff at an 80% discount.

Looking at the latest Federal Reserve bulletin, most of the bad debt is sitting within corporations—it’s basically a quarter of them being uncollectible. As for consumer mortgages? Honestly, given how things are going, those delinquency numbers are a joke.

As for this whole "love is all you need" sentiment... you might want to take that advice elsewhere—perhaps hang it on a hook in the hallway. The reality is that banks offer savings rates that barely scratch the surface of actual inflation, if they even manage to keep pace at all.

redfox57 said:My wife and I are both working, and we just looked at a mortgage for a place around $115,000.

Monthly payment is $800.
Total you hand back to the bank? About $240,000.
Term: 25 years.

I look at my buddies and they're all drowning in debt without a clue, then I sit down and run the actual numbers.

$115,000: 25/12 = $383.33 per month.

Basically, if I just rented an apartment for $400 a month for 25 years, I’d still have money left over after paying interest.

What's the point of chasing these loans when the place isn't even truly yours until it's paid off anyway?

Just rent, stash the extra cash, and hope interest rates and wages don't stay this garbage forever.

Honestly, I don't even know if I'll have a job in two months, let alone twenty-five years from now, so why bother with a mortgage?

You also gotta factor in that by the time you actually own it, you’ll have a 25-year-old building you paid $240,000 for, and who knows what it'll actually be worth. And honestly, based on how bad construction has been over the last 20 years, I'm not even sure it'll still be standing.😁

briskdrifter3 said:As for this whole "love is all you need" sentiment... you might want to take that advice elsewhere—perhaps hang it on a hook in the hallway. The reality is that banks offer savings rates that barely scratch the surface of actual inflation, if they even manage to keep pace at all.

So what, because interest rates suck, we should just go out and blow our cash instead of saving?