I read an article this morning about a survey done by the Pew Research Center concerning working mothers and their desire to work full time. Now don't get me wrong, I am in favor of women working, especially those with husbands sitting at home all day not earning a dime, like me. Poor Mrs. Sneed leaves home at 7:30 am most days, and does not return home until 10:00 pm. She works her nurse gig from 8 am to 5 pm or so and then hustles to her counseling deal. This is a level of industry that is foreign to me, but I digress. The survey showed that 60% of working mothers would like to work part time in an ideal world. This is one of my favorite topics, because many, many women who think that they have to work to help support their families, are just plain wrong. To be sure many mothers do have to work to help make ends meet, but too often they are working to support an SUV or some other toy. Toss in daycare cost for a kiddo or two and a bit of cash for other dependents such as Uncle Sam, buy some gas and insurance for the buggy and soon it is costing money to have the job, or at least not improving the family finances that much. While I'm talking finances, these mortgage lenders and credit card guys continue to surprise me with the depths to which they sink. They are basically all bottom feeders. I got an envelope in the mail today from my mortgage company, Chase Mortgage. The outside of the envelope said "New PIN Enclosed". I was immediately suspicious because I don't have anything with Chase that requires a PIN. When I opened it I was greeted by the following sentence; Based upon our review of the Pima County Mortgage Records and the latest loan programs, it appears your current mortgage payment no longer conforms with the Tucson area. That sentence is totally meaningless. Kind of a non-thought thought. First of all, there is no entity called Pima County Mortgage Records, although their use of capitalization would lead one to believe that there is. The letter is actually an offer to refinance the house. They would like to loan us money at 2.9%, amortized over 30 years, with the 2.9% rate fixed for five years, after which it adjusts. Since 2.9% is about four points below the current market, the loan has to have high fees or some other catch. Beyond that though, this is a sucker deal. The danger with any adjustable rate loan is that it is a good deal only if things work out exactly right. Many people take them with the idea that they will refinance again or sell the place before it adjust. Unfortunately life doesn't always work out that way. People lose their jobs or the housing market goes bust. I heard a caller on yesterday's Dave Ramsey show who owed $225,000 on a house in Stockton, California and was entertaining offers in the $160,000 range for its sale. Two years ago Stockton was among the hottest markets in the West. This fellow finds himself upside down in a house that was a "can't miss" deal just two years ago. He needs to sell at the most inopportune moment. Another problem with this type of mortgage is that people take a bigger loan because the interest rate is lower than what they currently pay. In the example in my offer today, I could reduce my house payment by $400 a month, according to Chase. Many people would look at that and figure they can get a lot of equity out of the house and still maintain their current payment. Something like 80% of people who roll credit card or other debt into a house, get right back into the debt. Debt consolidation almost never works because people don't change their behaviors. So anyway, I will be giving my friends at Chase a call to tell them that I think they are skunks. This strengthens my resolve to pay the bastiches off. Oh yeah, and the PIN enclosed turned out to be some bogus offer number that I was supposed to reference should I be interested in pursuing their offer. Did I mention that they are bastiches? Lastly, I went to see Son Sneed tonight and I think the Electro Convulsive Therapy is doing some good. He was the most normal that I have seen him in awhile. He says he is reconsidering whether he really wants to move out on his own. I don't know whether that is good or bad for him. I guess we'll see. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky Tag: Daily Life Personal Finance Humor