Insurance License Suspended over failure to pay College Loans

[Life Hawk]

My take is that some of my clients are staying home rather than working because the extended results of the Wuhan flu and the poor choices made to keep people locked down while paying for them to stay at home.

Reality is that when we teach people not to take responsibility for their debt or poor choices, we lead them into more debt and poorer choices. This sort of thinking is not undone in one generation. If left unchecked, those willing to work hard and take risks, will have to pay for those who were educated improperly.

The balance is the ability to feel for folks without making it easier to make bad choices. We are back to "fishing for" or "teaching how to fish".

The truth of the manner is that "home" is where much of that teaching takes place or fails to take place. We've placed too much importance on education outside of the home. Well educated folks who won't work, seeking more education will not make them work any better or provide anymore wisdom.

I cover people who haven't finished high school who could work circles around many well educated young folks I run into. These older people are by no means rich, but they seem happier and much more self fulfilled than many college grads I have met.

 

[scagnt83]

No... I was in grad school and it was flexible hours - I paid off undergrad while in grad school.

I also worked at Henry Ford's house part time.

It was in Michigan (just south of Detroit) from 2008-10. Jobs weren't exactly falling out of the sky in Detroit during those years.

It was not trying to put down your situation, just joking. My point was the massive inflation we have seen in many areas since then, especially the cost of rent. Its not the same paradigm as it once was.

My first apartment was $600/m for a 3 bedroom. 20 years later that same apartment is $2k/m.

300% increase in housing cost in 20 years.
40% increase in minimum wage in 20 years.

So 20 years ago, housing cost 24% of a minimum wage workers budget.
Today, the same scenario costs 57% of a minimum wage workers budget.

Thats just the past 20 years. Go back 40 years and its much much worse.

 

[scagnt83]

How much would you pay someone to bring your mail in for you everyday. $60k/year? No? But they're human beings!

For a single persons mail? No.
For a large group of people.... like what an actual job like that would be like. Yes, $60k sounds about right depending on the state/city.

People who drop the mail off make $50k-$60k plus extremely generous benefits. Why would someone who bring mail inside peoples houses make any less?

 

[scagnt83]

The balance is the ability to feel for folks without making it easier to make bad choices. We are back to "fishing for" or "teaching how to fish".

The truth of the manner is that "home" is where much of that teaching takes place or fails to take place.

The time period you say "teaching took place at home" had wages that allowed just 1 low income parent to work just 1 job and make ends meet.

Now, wages force both parents to work 2 jobs (minimum) just to make ends meet.

Meaning literally 1000% more time for parents to spend with their kids during that time period in history. Because they were paid fair wages.

As wages failed to keep pace with the economy, lower income families failed to keep up with raising kids and life in general. Now its creeping into middle income.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

My first apartment was $600/m for a 3 bedroom. 20 years later that same apartment is $2k/m.

I paid around 1500/mo for this place 20 years ago: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1426-Hermosa-Ave-Hermosa-Beach-CA-90254/20424994_zpid/

Thats just the past 20 years. Go back 40 years and its much much worse.

I did a similar comparison in my other post:

In 1970, the median wage was more than half the median cost of a home. Today, the median HOUSEHOLD income is less than 20% of the cost of a home.

I capitalized "household" because it's now often two incomes today vs. one in the 70s.

 

[Life Hawk]

As wages failed to keep pace with the economy, lower income families failed to keep up with raising kids and life in general. Now its creeping into middle income.

I agree. And now that single income families have become more and more a part of society as a whole, the burden both financial and social has added to what you are describing. The answers to these issues though are not financial alone... and this is where most folks don't want to go.

 

[Cornelius]

Throw in the position of a struggling professional losing their license due to student loan default.

Yes I know people should pay their bills or make arrangements but the after effect of the pandemic may cause some rule changes.

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

For a single persons mail? No.
For a large group of people.... like what an actual job like that would be like. Yes, $60k sounds about right depending on the state/city.

The "No" was enough, the rest is an answer to a question I didn't ask.

People who drop the mail off make $50k-$60k plus extremely generous benefits. Why would someone who bring mail inside peoples houses make any less?

Then why aren't there tens of thousands of people making $60k to bring people's mail in for them? Is it some great missed economic opportunity?

No, because people don't think that's worth paying for, and the fact that the people who would be doing it are "human beings" doesn't change the value of the work in anyone's eyes. Hell, more people would be willing to buy a robot that does it than pay for that service.

When you jack up of the cost of doing business like you're proposing, for a lot of small business owners (and some big), the $ left over becomes not worth running a business. Then the people who worked there have no job/$, and Amazon and Walmart aren't prepared to pay every able worker in the country a "living wage". So, what then?

If you think shrinking the job market to just giant corporations and the most profitable businesses is a good idea for the average Joe, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

Throw in the position of a struggling professional losing their license due to student loan default.

Yes I know people should pay their bills or make arrangements but the after effect of the pandemic may cause some rule changes.

I agree in the sense that taking away an insurance license shouldn't be used as a consequence to keep people from defaulting on loans.

As I see it, though, those types of decisions are also supposed to factor in protection of the consumer from being subjected to agents whose dire financial situations could be an incentive not to have the consumer's best interests in mind.

With that rationale, I'm not sure the reason/moral culpability for the agent's financial situation matters.

 

[Cornelius]

I agree in the sense that taking away an insurance license shouldn't be used as a consequence to keep people from defaulting on loans.

As I see it, though, those types of decisions are also supposed to factor in protection of the consumer from being subjected to agents whose dire financial situations could be an incentive not to have the consumer's best interests in mind.

With that rationale, I'm not sure the reason/moral culpability for the agent's financial situation matters.

It just isn't Agents who can have their license snatched. The post started about agents but as the thread has become more broad it isn't just about insurance agents.

Take away a specialized means of making income and say pay up before you can work in your field again.

Oh yea stay up to date in your continuing ed.