Bill O'Reilly
People want black and white.
Good and bad.
“You get what you deserve.”
Because if that isn’t the case, bad
things can happen to anyone, and who wants to believe that?
We were home owners for over twenty
years in two different homes. Then, my husband lost his job of a quarter
century, when a 110 year old business closed its doors. Our nest egg,
retirement plan disappeared in a ‘short sale’ after our home lost over half of its
value.
We were lucky enough to sell…no,
wait. ALL of the programs to help people are for those who lose their home to foreclosure.
The first advice we were given was
to stop paying our bills, but we were responsible people. So, we paid all of
our bills through months of unemployment…until the money ran out. It didn’t
take as long as it should have, because even with a severance package, the
government took half in taxes. YES… half of our severance.
We THOUGHT we would get the money
back at the end of the year.
No, years earlier, when life was
great, and NOTHING could go wrong, we co-signed our children’s student loans~three
children. That is what good parents do.
One has graduated with a good job and is paying her loans back. One has
graduated and can’t find a job that earns enough to pay those loans back.
And, saddest of all, the last had to
drop out of school, after three years, when my husband lost his job. The loans
still come due on minimum, part time work.
The tax return we were planning on
to pay our bills, was taken by the government to pay past due student loan
bills. The worst part is, thousands were taken and it didn’t even count as a
payment. So, they were still counted as behind on their payments.
The system is set up to screw everyone.
We have a new job on the other side
of the country. After having lost everything, we have yet to find our own
footing. Helping our children out, isn’t even a possibility. We, however, get
threats, as well, because, of course, good parents co-sign student loans. We
can’t afford money taken for our paychecks with three additional adults and a
teenager still living under our roof.
As we balance on maybe enough to
survive, I still do guilt spending money on groceries. We can’t think about retirement,
when we don’t have enough money to pay next month’s rent and it’s the 31st.
Young adults are not the only ones
caught up in the Student Loan mess.
Just don’t forget, it’s all because
we are LAZY.
