My wife and I are just at the end of a BRUTAL four years. I am now 54 (wife 51).
At 50/47 we were looking OK. Could always use more $$/investments, but we had some, along with a fair savings. Last of 5 children was a senior. We decided to put our house up for sale in N. MI and buy/build our "dream house". We did.
VERY long story short, both homes' mortgages KO'd by sloppy banking (dream house) and by predatory lending refinance (original home). We lost our entire portfolio and all of our savings in these two battles. Still proceding against the predatory lending case. That could take years as we have now probably reached an impasse.
We have purchased a new fifth wheel and a 2500 GMC pickup and we are currently living in that (the 5ver, that is...) full time. We owe approx $85K in debt. I have decided to negotiate with Workers Comp for a lump sum settlement. I was injured at work in the spring of 2004.
Applied for State teacher disability retirement Aug 05 - approved. Applied for SSDI Aug 05 - denied. Appealed Nov 05. Hearing scheduled for next Mon, 3/19. No guarantees, of course, but should be approved. Back benefits will be $15K-$30K, depending on any coordination with my W/C.
W/C negotiations have started with $170K (w/ some inside coaching). I was told they would like to move quickly on this - within 45 days. There is a 2 week waiting period after the Magistrate approval. This is tax free. My SSDI back benefits will not be and I will put 1/3 aside for taxes.
Our family base (parents, sisters, kids, grandkids) are in N. MI. Want to spend the summer there on Torch Lake. The winter months we want to based out of Central FL as we were this past winter.
We want to travel a little, obviously with our 5ver. We are not sure if we want to buy a small place up in N. MI for staying in the summer months, or if we would want to have a small single wide down here.
We love living in our 2007 40 ft 4 slideout rig with electric fireplace, central vac, and 2 A/Cs, so not sure if we want something permanent anyway right now - especially with the market values crashing throughout the country.
I will have approx $2500-$3000/mo from SSDI and State Teachers Disability Retirement for monthly expenses, vehicle/RV insurance, campground rent, groceries, gas, entertainment (med ins is very good through MI retired teachers union - extremely low co-pays). Wife is a waitress with no pension or SS - too young anyway. We can live pretty cheap.
I obviously would like to pay off all of this $85K of debt, including the 5ver and the pickup. I know I will probably have a money market with some amount in it, but I would like some type of growth investments, albeit small, that we could take full advantge of at our age/lifestyle.
The Predatory Lending company has one last offer on the table for a $95K out of court settlement. Others have pursued and all have won in U.S. District Court $5 mil to $6 mil range for the exact same charges as I will bring. This however takes years, which I have no problem with. If this last offer is foolishly rejected, I'll turn my attorneys loose and go about my life while I wait out these couple years. No guarantees in any litigation ever - just probabilities. Should win, but if I don't, it won't matter that much.
If I have this small $50K-$90K left (after debt payoff) amount of cash, what should I do with it in our situation?
I have discussed this with a banker and I am trying to get with a friend, who is a broker, but he currently is on vacation. Just thought I would throw this out here for your input...
At 50/47 we were looking OK. Could always use more $$/investments, but we had some, along with a fair savings. Last of 5 children was a senior. We decided to put our house up for sale in N. MI and buy/build our "dream house". We did.
VERY long story short, both homes' mortgages KO'd by sloppy banking (dream house) and by predatory lending refinance (original home). We lost our entire portfolio and all of our savings in these two battles. Still proceding against the predatory lending case. That could take years as we have now probably reached an impasse.
We have purchased a new fifth wheel and a 2500 GMC pickup and we are currently living in that (the 5ver, that is...) full time. We owe approx $85K in debt. I have decided to negotiate with Workers Comp for a lump sum settlement. I was injured at work in the spring of 2004.
Applied for State teacher disability retirement Aug 05 - approved. Applied for SSDI Aug 05 - denied. Appealed Nov 05. Hearing scheduled for next Mon, 3/19. No guarantees, of course, but should be approved. Back benefits will be $15K-$30K, depending on any coordination with my W/C.
W/C negotiations have started with $170K (w/ some inside coaching). I was told they would like to move quickly on this - within 45 days. There is a 2 week waiting period after the Magistrate approval. This is tax free. My SSDI back benefits will not be and I will put 1/3 aside for taxes.
Our family base (parents, sisters, kids, grandkids) are in N. MI. Want to spend the summer there on Torch Lake. The winter months we want to based out of Central FL as we were this past winter.
We want to travel a little, obviously with our 5ver. We are not sure if we want to buy a small place up in N. MI for staying in the summer months, or if we would want to have a small single wide down here.
We love living in our 2007 40 ft 4 slideout rig with electric fireplace, central vac, and 2 A/Cs, so not sure if we want something permanent anyway right now - especially with the market values crashing throughout the country.
I will have approx $2500-$3000/mo from SSDI and State Teachers Disability Retirement for monthly expenses, vehicle/RV insurance, campground rent, groceries, gas, entertainment (med ins is very good through MI retired teachers union - extremely low co-pays). Wife is a waitress with no pension or SS - too young anyway. We can live pretty cheap.
I obviously would like to pay off all of this $85K of debt, including the 5ver and the pickup. I know I will probably have a money market with some amount in it, but I would like some type of growth investments, albeit small, that we could take full advantge of at our age/lifestyle.
The Predatory Lending company has one last offer on the table for a $95K out of court settlement. Others have pursued and all have won in U.S. District Court $5 mil to $6 mil range for the exact same charges as I will bring. This however takes years, which I have no problem with. If this last offer is foolishly rejected, I'll turn my attorneys loose and go about my life while I wait out these couple years. No guarantees in any litigation ever - just probabilities. Should win, but if I don't, it won't matter that much.
If I have this small $50K-$90K left (after debt payoff) amount of cash, what should I do with it in our situation?
I have discussed this with a banker and I am trying to get with a friend, who is a broker, but he currently is on vacation. Just thought I would throw this out here for your input...