A man lost his job and $150,000 in home equity when the 2008 crash hit. His $80,000 addition became underwater. Banks got bailouts while homeowners got nothing, and educated workers forced into lower-paying jobs crushed wages for everyone else.
2008 came around and next thing I know, I'm out of a job. The addition I just put on my house that had $80,000 in equity, now upside down, $150,000 in equity. And at that time, like, there was no help. There was no loan modifications, there was no refinances. The government wasn't coming in to say, here's cash, right? They were bailing out the banks, but they weren't bailing out the people. And I was screwed. And it wasn't just a housing crisis then, but it was an employment crisis. And because all those people that were more educated than me and higher ranked than me in the employment world, they were taking lower-end jobs just to make their ends meet to survive, which pushed me down even further.
Episode 575: Redefining Retirement as the Day All Your Choices Open Up with Doug Bennett
