4. Foreclosure Rescue – According to the US Government Accountability Office, the two main types of foreclosure rescue and loan modification scams are advance-fee loan modification schemes and sales-leaseback schemes that promise the world for a fraction of your monthly mortgage. In either case, victims desperate to save their home fall prey to those that have set up shop only to step on the backs of people who are already lying face down. Unfortunately, this again is where financial education comes in. Although I wholeheartedly sympathize with many who have undergone mortgage default and foreclosure, many of us truly bought homes we could not possibly afford in the first place because we trusted someone else’s word and did not perform our own due diligence. When times got tough, again, we were so busy calling on the Lord, it’s been estimated that more than 50% of us didn’t pick up the phone to even discuss our circumstances with our lender. The Lord provided customer service representatives to help us, but we instead trusted someone else’s word and allowed scoundrels to make a bad situation worse.
5. State Lottery – There are very few ways that you will get rich quick unless your name is Cam Newton and you just won the Heisman, yet 15% of Americans believe their retirement will come from “hitting the lotto.” Most of us will have to work diligently and plan efficiently. I know more people who spend $20/week or more on the state lottery and swear they don’t have $25 a month to put toward their toddler’s college education. The notion that if you hit the lottery, everything will be fine is crazy at best! If the average lottery addict put that money into a mutual fund or even into pursuing their own hustle, they could get a much better return. The small high that comes each time a $1 scratch off produces a $5 win is ridiculous when you think about the $80 that probably went into getting that one “lucky ticket.” And, no, I’m not buying the “I’m supporting the school system” theory through playing the lottery either! How about you read to the kids and support the school system that way OR better yet, pay your property taxes!
Understand that I am not insensitive to the daily grind and struggle that goes on in the ‘hood. How could I be when I’m grinding with you? We all have been caught in a jam at one point or another and face tough choices, but at what point do we stop falling for the Okie doke? Yes, the circumstances suck, but we can no longer continue to pass the buck. At some point, we must take responsibility for our actions and what we’ve allowed to take place in our community. Are we exposed to these schemes disproportionately? Yes. But, can they only stay in business because we single-handedly remain their number one consumers? Absolutely
Official website; http://seekwisdomfindwealth.blogspot.com/
This Article First Appeared in The Black Truth News Volume 2 Issue 3 March 2011