FDX Excess bid financial dilemma
#21
I've not done the math, but it seems to me that the difference between a junior widebody captain, on reserve, vs a more senior narrowbody captain, not on reserve, (and thereby with 4 or 5 additional days off a month to fly extra if it's available) is less than $2500 a month. You do have the choice, if you're excessed off the bus, to go to any seat your seniority can hold. You should be able to make the same, if not more, in the left seat of the Boeing. Granted you'd put in more time, but if the new house is something you just can't live without, that is an option. Personally, I'd look for a house I could more easily afford on a lesser salary, and then bank the difference.
What's making the house more expensive is that we want a 15 year loan rather than a 30 year loan so that it will be just about paid off when I retire, or at least turn 60.
BTW, didn't sign the contract. Still looking. However, we are looking out of state, so it makes the search more difficult.
#22
Actually, I may be less than 60 from the bottom but I've only sat reserve for 3 of the 10 months I've been checked out. I know that won't last, especially once the over 60 guys get checked out or when BLG's go back up.
What's making the house more expensive is that we want a 15 year loan rather than a 30 year loan so that it will be just about paid off when I retire, or at least turn 60.
BTW, didn't sign the contract. Still looking. However, we are looking out of state, so it makes the search more difficult.
What's making the house more expensive is that we want a 15 year loan rather than a 30 year loan so that it will be just about paid off when I retire, or at least turn 60.
BTW, didn't sign the contract. Still looking. However, we are looking out of state, so it makes the search more difficult.
I think a 30 year loan paid off in 15 years is about the same end result as a 15 year loan, except you can revert to the lower payments on the 30 year loan when things get tough. Make sure you have anything extra payments applied to the principal. Just a thought.
#23
The sky is not falling. No sense in going into a panic. Since when have a bunch of pilots started chewing their nails and climbing into the fetal position? Stop being such a bunch of wimps. We all had nothing when we started and none of us are taking it with us. Just be thankful we are still kicking unlike a lot of our brothers who have bit it along the way. If we have to we will all go broke and probably live happier lives!
#24
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2006
Position: Retired
Posts: 3,717
And here I thought you were looking for sympathy from us. OK. A 15 year mortgage is a good idea, but so is making an extra payment or two a year on a 30 year loan. Both will achieve about the same objective. As well, there are variable products out there that although they can and do go up in cost, their initial (sometimes for as long as 5 or 7 years) costs are so low that you can get a really good head start in paying down the principal, so that by the time their rates do go up, your principal owed is so low that it doesn't hurt. As well, you can elect to refinance. Point is that there are plenty of creative ways to get the job done. As Fr8Hauler said, "the sky is not falling." But try not to become house rich and cash poor, because that's the best way to loose it all when things really do go south. You might look at a 5 year variable rate mortgage, amortized over 30 years. That gives you stability for 5 years, during which time you can pay a bunch on the principal, then if at the end of the 5 years, if the rates are going up, you can refinance. We did that: got a rate of 3 & 3/4 percent (when 30 year fixed mortgages were going for about 5 & 1/2 percent), and paid off the whole thing in just under 4 years.
Last edited by Jetjok; 04-15-2008 at 04:45 AM.
#27
Had the pleasure of hearing another huge dilemma from a WB Capt while waiting for a JS...
buying another plane but couldnt pull the trigger, yet.
#28
Actually, I may be less than 60 from the bottom but I've only sat reserve for 3 of the 10 months I've been checked out. I know that won't last, especially once the over 60 guys get checked out or when BLG's go back up.
What's making the house more expensive is that we want a 15 year loan rather than a 30 year loan so that it will be just about paid off when I retire, or at least turn 60.
BTW, didn't sign the contract. Still looking. However, we are looking out of state, so it makes the search more difficult.
What's making the house more expensive is that we want a 15 year loan rather than a 30 year loan so that it will be just about paid off when I retire, or at least turn 60.
BTW, didn't sign the contract. Still looking. However, we are looking out of state, so it makes the search more difficult.
#29
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2006
Position: 767 Cap
Posts: 1,306
Well, after three furloughs and 2 chapter 11s, your worries are not my biggest concern, either. Everyone has their own, unique situation, and has to take care of him/herself and family first.
#30
Never, ever, should you be getting a 15 yr mortgage.
What you should do is get a 30 yr mortgage, you can then make payments on it as if it were a 15 year mortgage......and the difference in interest will be negligible.
The advantage having the 30 yr loan will give you, is that should your economic situation change, you can then fall back to the lower "30 yr" payment versus the higher "15 yr" payments you had been making.
Versus, looking for a new 30yr mortgage to replace the 15yr mortgage you had been locked into prior to your economic circumstances changing.
What you should do is get a 30 yr mortgage, you can then make payments on it as if it were a 15 year mortgage......and the difference in interest will be negligible.
The advantage having the 30 yr loan will give you, is that should your economic situation change, you can then fall back to the lower "30 yr" payment versus the higher "15 yr" payments you had been making.
Versus, looking for a new 30yr mortgage to replace the 15yr mortgage you had been locked into prior to your economic circumstances changing.
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