Reply #6: This WILL snowball into the rest of the economy....

[WestSeattle2]

because so many Americans live way, way, way beyond their means. How do they do it? On borrowed money. Where do many of them get it? Home equity loans. Home values plummet, no more home equity loans....which means no more new cars, no more vacations, no more new computers or Ipods, (that they couldn't afford in the first place but never the less), all of that borrowed money both by individuals, AND the REPUBLICAN federal government, will all come home to roost in the not too distant future. Talk about a house of cards.

For those with foresight and a habit of saving however, the next couple of years will be a grand opportunity to swoop in and pick up foreclosed properties for pennies on the dollar.

Keeping up with the Jones's using borrowed money is a foolish pursuit. Working people using "interest only" loans to buy hugely inflated 4,000 sq. ft. McMansions are playing with fire, and many are going to get burnt.

My father drilled the following into us: Live simply, save, invest, and prosper. Live big by borrowing, and you'll be begging....

BTW, he was financially independent before his 50th birthday, so I tended to listen to him........