Uncle Scrooge teaches his grand nephews about monetary history and economics. In 17 minutes they learn more about the subject than modern kids learn the first 10 years at school.
Heck yeah man! I bet this cartoon would go over the heads of a middle schoolers social studies learning. I loved these silly old cartoons but they were truly educational. Cartoons these days are a vehicle to sell toys and video games.
Francisco's Money Speech is my favorite. I'd post the video (18:58 minutes) but I'm sure someone will pop up and be offended.
Excellent! I wish our government and all college students would learn this. I am grateful to have been taught some basic finances from my parents. At 28, I own my own home and have ZERO debt. There is no car payment, mortgage, credit card debt, or student loans. While my parents are giving a couple thousand a year toward my schooling, I am otherwise paying my way through college, and I have never made over $55,000 a year. It bugs me how my generation sees money and their own entitlement.
General location, timing and circumstances of the home purchase, if you don't mind sharing? Around here, the median home price is around $425K. Being mortgage-free by age 28 in this market is a pretty heavy lift. (Although I guess if you made $55K every year from birth...) And then there's college tuition. I started school in 1980. The cost of living has gone up by almost four times since then -- but the cost of tuition, room and board at my alma mater has gone up by TEN TO TWENTY times. (I earned a scholarship for $1500/year, and as I recall that covered nearly all of tuition, room and board. This year, it's closer to $30K.)
Absolutely. My wife and I bought the house in February of 2020, which was barely pre-covid. The house was a reverse mortgage and sold cheaply at $80k, a small two bedroom house on five acres in Newport, Maine. While I had been preapproved for a mortgage at 2.75%, three individuals I knew heard about me going that route and offered to loan me the money interest free. That was a tremendous blessing, meaning all the money went straight on the house and not to the bank. We paid off our last friend in June of last year. We are thereby able to Airbnb our house to help with living costs while I am in school, plus the work I do on the side and during breaks. I am not going to an expensive school. Each semester is about $7,000 and I receive scholarships that mostly cover it. I pretty much just have living costs. I realize we have been incredibly blessed. I don't want to blow my own horn, but I believe that if you live within your means, work diligently, live honestly and with integrity, debt should not be the huge weight it is for many people. I understand different parts of the US will vary, and even in Maine the housing costs have greatly increased. I daresay our home is now worth around $160,000. My wife is an incredible saver, having been raised with very little, and I owe a lot to her.
I know with my above post it may sound like I should have more saved, and I probably should, but I spent two years in Ghana as a volunteer English (TESOL) teacher that was self-funded. I got married at 23 with very little saved. We then rented a house from 2018 until we purchased a home in 2020. Having three children now doesn't help the bank! I'll shut up now.
You are to be commended. I am sincere. My only concern is...who in their right mind wants to proudly claim they are living in Maine? What the heck is wrong with you?
LOL I am an Army Brat and have lived many places. Many states are..... let's just say going downhill. I fear for Maine, but there are still many good people living there. We have too much liberal California and Massachusetts influence. The old timers are hardworking, family oriented, and loyal to the core (and many are veterans). The younger generation is a different story. Many have left because it can be very hard to find work. The Fed is hard on our fishing industry and logging (paper included) industry, and we have few other natural resources. In the end, we must rely on tourism and the people who have summer homes.
Well don't send them west to NH - we don't want them either I've spent a good amount of time in the Ellsworth area over the years.
