House Republicans Want To Block Predatory Lending Protections For American Troops

[who?]

Humans are made to be optimists.We all think that we are special and aren't going to wind up screwed like everybody else.

 

[who?]

That friendly salesperson wouldn't screw me over, he's my friend.

 

[ivwshane]

We had a life math class in high school 20 years ago. We discussed how to balance checkbooks, investments, bills ect ect. Real eye opener on compounding interest.

Any particular lesson you learned from that class that you have applied in your lifetime?

 

[Genx87]

Any particular lesson you learned from that class that you have applied in your lifetime?

Invest early and often.

 

[ivwshane]

Invest early and often.

So you actually learned how to invest in school? That's pretty useful in my opinion.


Eskimospy, have you found the links to that study you were talking about?

 

[Mursilis]

Studies have been done and those classes have no effect, sadly.

I've seen the same results, and it's just mind-boggling. So much of basic finance seems to be self-evident and shouldn't need to be taught, yet even when people are taught it, they don't seem to "get" it. If the market were truly rational, society wouldn't need laws to shut down predatory loan places - they'd fail due to lack of business.

 

[Mursilis]

So you actually learned how to invest in school? That's pretty useful in my opinion.

I don't remember ever having any sort of useful class on personal finance at any level, and I attended public schools from K to grad school. It just seemed sort of obvious not to spend more than I made, minimize debt, and save for retirement and/or unexpected expenses.

 

[PokerGuy]

these lenders prey upon people when the chips are down. Its not that people cannot u nderstand this but when you need cash to feed a family, pay a mortgage and run a car to get to a job sometimes....a Faustian deal is made and these lenders are there to provide this service at a predatory rate and terms. These "lenders" are scamming not only returning troops but the public at large. And the industry lobby for these scammers hace succeeded in reming this protection. And the government stands ultimately for whom in the end?? The person with the most money?

Because when you see someone (or an industry) purposely preying on and by their very business model and training trying to victimize people, its just a decent thing to do? You couldn't pick a sleazier industry to be championing.

You guys are arguing against those evil predatory lenders, but that's a whole other discussion. If you think the 'predatory practices' need to be stopped etc, that's fine. Some argue that they fill a gap in the market and provide short term lending for those with few other options. Regardless, I'm not championing any industry. For good or bad, there are regulations in place that currently make it possible for such 'predatory' lenders to exist and do business. What makes it more important to protect military people from them than the public at large?

I agree and I still can't believe that high schools still don't teach a "life" class. Seniors in high school should be required to take a class that will prepare them for the real world once they leave high school. It should teach things like, how to apply to college, how to apply for student loans, understanding loan terms, understanding credit cards, how to apply for rent, how to apply for a job, how to vote, how to save money, how to budget, how to shop, etc, etc.

I've always thought the same thing, but I've seen several studies that show that people who have participated in such classes (whether in middle/high school, college or after) don't do statistically better in terms of understanding basic finances and financial logic (or even financial literacy). It seems counter intuitive to me though

 

[highland145]

I've always thought the same thing, but I've seen several studies that show that people who have participated in such classes (whether in middle/high school, college or after) don't do statistically better in terms of understanding basic finances and financial logic (or even financial literacy). It seems counter intuitive to me though

Partially, I think it's because people have wants that over ride logic. I have customers that have way nicer electronics than I do.

 

[Genx87]

So you actually learned how to invest in school? That's pretty useful in my opinion.


Eskimospy, have you found the links to that study you were talking about?

Not how to invest. But the advantages of investing early in life.

 

[fskimospy]

So you actually learned how to invest in school? That's pretty useful in my opinion.

Eskimospy, have you found the links to that study you were talking about?

There are a number of them, and I don't remember the exact ones I was thinking of. Here's a more recent paper that discusses the limited impact of financial literacy classes:

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication Files/13-064_c7b52fa0-1242-4420-b9b6-73d32c639826.pdf

Interestingly enough they find that just more general math seems to help, although I have no idea if other studies have replicated this result or not.

 

[fskimospy]

Not how to invest. But the advantages of investing early in life.

You don't need a class to learn how to invest. The answer of how to invest for normal people is one sentence:

Stick your money in a low fee index fund and leave it there.

That's everything you need to know.

 

[Genx87]

You don't need a class to learn how to invest. The answer of how to invest for normal people is one sentence:

Stick your money in a low fee index fund and leave it there.

That's everything you need to know.

How many 15-16 years olds know that? And it wasnt how to invest as much as showing the power of compounding interest of doing it earlier in life than later.

The class dealt with more than just investing. That was just a single example of something I used in life from the class that was very useful.

 

[PokerGuy]

There are a number of them, and I don't remember the exact ones I was thinking of. Here's a more recent paper that discusses the limited impact of financial literacy classes:

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication Files/13-064_c7b52fa0-1242-4420-b9b6-73d32c639826.pdf

Interestingly enough they find that just more general math seems to help, although I have no idea if other studies have replicated this result or not.

I've seen other similar studies with the same conclusion. There's no strong discernible long term impact / benefit to the financial literacy classes, which is very surprising to me.

 

[PokerGuy]

How many 15-16 years olds know that? And it wasnt how to invest as much as showing the power of compounding interest of doing it earlier in life than later.

The class dealt with more than just investing. That was just a single example of something I used in life from the class that was very useful.

The people who would learn and benefit from that kind of information are probably the people who figure it out along the way anyway. The people who lack basic financial literacy or the ability to understand financial concepts are apparently no better off down the line after taking such courses.

 

[Genx87]

The people who would learn and benefit from that kind of information are probably the people who figure it out along the way anyway. The people who lack basic financial literacy or the ability to understand financial concepts are apparently no better off down the line after taking such courses.

That may true. I'm providing examples of a class that was very interesting to me that applied to real life finances.

 

[DrPizza]

This isn't a big deal for the most part, in the Military (Army at least) we place emphasis on new soldiers and these types of things.

Most E4 and below are told to go see ACS (Army Community Services) prior to getting any sort of loan or when buying a car. They have people who actively monitor those things and provide serious no bs guidance on what you can and cannot afford and what is a good loan.

They also have programs and services to provide interest free loans in extreme circumstances.

If that's true, then WHY would anyone go out of their way to insert additional language into a bill in order to further protect soldiers? Are those protections going to cost the government a lot of money? No? Then why?

 

[fskimospy]

If that's true, then WHY would anyone go out of their way to insert additional language into a bill in order to further protect soldiers? Are those protections going to cost the government a lot of money? No? Then why?

My strong suspicion is that plenty of soldiers ignore that advice. The Navy does something similar but I remember when I was a lowly E4 at Naval Station San Diego I would be walking around the area just outside the base and you would literally have salesmen who would drive around the base outskirts, lean out the window, and ask you if you wanted to buy a car.

The fact that I saw this so many times strongly implies to me that it must have worked now and then. I pity those poor fools.

 

[Moonbeam]

Anybody for using the military to go after predatory lenders?

 

[ivwshane]

There are a number of them, and I don't remember the exact ones I was thinking of. Here's a more recent paper that discusses the limited impact of financial literacy classes:

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication Files/13-064_c7b52fa0-1242-4420-b9b6-73d32c639826.pdf

Interestingly enough they find that just more general math seems to help, although I have no idea if other studies have replicated this result or not.

Just as I suspected, the study was about school mandated classes that are more focused than what I was asking for. When you have such a specialized class most will simply do the work that gets them a passing grade, only those that are interested in the subject or are or plan to get into the subject of the class, ie they plan on investing soon.

My idea of a "life class" is more general and more akin to what most adults would find as common sense. For example, the class would teach things as basic as coming to an interview prepared (ie dresses properly). Most people learn these things by either asking people about their personal experience or by trial and error.


It's kind of like sex education, teaching how a baby is made doesn't prevent teen pregnancies but teaching kids about protection, birth control, etc does help.