#RisingRents #housing #HousingOptions #homeownership #economy
Metro Atlanta’s home prices have gone ballistic in the last decade.
Rents are following suit.
Michael E. Kanell, business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussed this in an article published Jan. 1, 2021.
In fact, renters pay more in Atlanta than in any other Southern city, Kanell quotes RentCafé. Atlanta ranks 10th highest nationally. The median rent for a two-bedroom home has surged 65 percent to $1,474, Kanell writes. That compares to $3,680 in San Francisco and $2,235 in Washington, D.C., the article says.
Just a decade or two ago, new houses were plentiful, Kanell writes. The default for young professionals was to buy. They would move however far into the suburbs that they had to to find affordable houses, Kanell writes.
But the median home price has gone up 98 percent since 2009 to $251,125, the article quotes Rent Café.
Though the metro Atlanta economy has added more than 650,000 jobs and drawn a steady flow of young residents – many with good jobs and good pay – many are choosing to rent rather than buy, Kanell writes.
In breaking this down, we find that the American Dream of homeownership is being shattered. Many young people, even those with the means to do so, are electing to rent rather than buy. This is probably true in places other than metro Atlanta as well.
It’s a lifestyle, rather than a financial decision.
Financially, a home can be an investment that can appreciate over time. Yet, renting gives people more flexibility should there be a sudden change in employment. It makes a young person, or young family, freer to move elsewhere should a job opportunity arise, without the hassle of having to sell a house.
At the same time, real estate, like any other investment, can have its ups and downs. Renting can free a person from those ups and downs.
Ask yourself this, when deciding whether to buy or rent: do I want the responsibility of homeownership? Is it worth my financial investment to do so? Would I rather have the flexibility to move on short notice should something come my way?
If money is an issue, whether you want to buy or rent, there are many ways out there to enhance your income by investing a few, part-time, off-work hours a week. To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Rising rents go along with rising home values. If you find yourself unable to afford the housing you want, you may have to boost your income.
If getting a second, traditional job doesn’t suit you, look for other ways to put more money in your pocket.
Buying a house can be like paying yourself, rather than a landlord. But it comes with responsibility. Renting also comes with some responsibility, but to a much lesser degree. Choose the housing option that best suits your life.
Peter
Author Archives: pbilodeau01
IS AN ECONOMIC BOOM LOOMING?
#EconomicBoom #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #MothersDay #WomenInWorkforce
Some experts are predicting a post-pandemic economic boom.
And, after we have just celebrated Mothers’ Day, experts are saying that women workers were hurt the most by the pandemic recession.
Fareed Zakaria predicted on his GPS show May 9, 2021, on CNN that he sees the beginning of an economic boom because of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and things getting back to normal.
He said that the money put into the system through government aid packages, plus our learning how to do things differently because of the pandemic, is producing conditions that could send the economy soaring.
Certainly, we’ve seen signs of that as businesses reopen and beat the bushes to find help.
The aid has helped businesses and individuals stay afloat during the pandemic, allowing, as they get back to normal, for the potential to prosper.
Meanwhile, ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” featured a Mothers’ Day panel discussing how the pandemic recession affected women in the workforce.
One notable statistic from the recent jobs report says 165,000 women have left the workforce since the pandemic.
The panel, including Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, Lareina Yee, chief diversity and inclusion officer at McKinsey & Co., and Fatima Goss Graves, CEO and president of the National Women’s Law Center, discussed how women have had to make hard decisions and sacrifices during the pandemic.
As pandemic restrictions ease, the panel said the choices women have had to make was to go back to work – many cannot work from home – or stay home with their children, who may not yet be back in school full time.
The women also discussed how the trend of women leaving the work force has increased since 2000, well before the pandemic, largely because of a “care crisis” that leaves many with no one with whom to leave their children while they work.
As we watch these trends emerge, or continue, many of us will have decisions to make. If you are not seeing the potential for an economic boom from where you sit, you may want to look at other ways to earn an income – even one that could dwarf whatever income you could make at a job.
Or, if you are a woman who hesitates to go back to work because of child care or other issues, there are many programs out there that can allow you to earn a potentially sizeable income from your home, particularly as technology improvements make that task easier.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
Obviously, the economy’s performance will depend on whether the pandemic subsides enough to kick everything back into high gear.
It could also depend on whether resources could be provided to enable more women to work outside of the home.
It will depend on how many people get one of the proven vaccines against the coronavirus.
It will still be an individual decision on whether, and what type, of work you could return to. The good news appears that there are more options out there than anyone may realize.
It may also depend on whether you see yourself as an optimist or a pessimist. Here’s a hint: optimists are more likely to succeed.
Peter
ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR KIDS TO TAKE RISKS — OR NOT?
#TakingRisks #security #ancestors #parents #LessonsfromAncestors
In an Ancestry.com TV ad, the leading lady says, to paraphrase, our ancestors were the kind of people who took risks.
And, it implies, she wants her children to know that their ancestors took risks to come to America from wherever they came from.
Such inspiring parenting leads to the question: does this same lady want HER kids to take risks? Or, did her ancestors take the risks so their descendants wouldn’t have to?
In generations past, even though the elders came from risk-taking stock, parents taught their kids to look for security. Work hard, but keep your head low. Make sure that if you get a job, it provides you with what you need for a comfortable life.
In other words, they were taught to look for and settle for contentment. After all, taking risks would jeopardize your comfortable life.
So, are today’s parents teaching their kids what their parents taught them?
To paraphrase Andy Andrews, the Greatest Generation may not have been the greatest. Their parents may have been the greatest generation, because they raised the Greatest Generation.
We all want to raise our children to be responsible adults. But, in today’s world, what we used to call responsibility is harder to come by.
There are no safe, secure jobs and work environments – or, at least, very few of them.
In past decades, progress in the workplace plodded.
Today, progress can be instantaneous.
And, progress can interfere with the secure, safe, contented life parents of yesteryear wanted for their children.
Today, we hear teachings that say things like: be innovative, be creative, dream big and follow your dreams.
In the past, dreams interrupted contentment. Today, contentment is hardly good enough to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
So, where does that leave you? Are you merely content? Or, do you go to work each day waiting for the next shoe to drop?
Either position is, or will be, untenable in today’s world.
But there are programs out there that can move you to the next step in a changing world. You just have to be willing to check them out. Also, they may involve doing something you would have never thought you would do – or, perhaps, have been taught by your elders to avoid.
These programs don’t care about your education, background or experience. They just want you to open your mind, get out of your comfort zone and be coachable.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
Today’s world requires flexibility, desire and a willingness to be uncomfortable. Finding the spot that gives you a content, comfortable life – nothing special – is fraught with peril.
Don’t settle for contentment. Instead, go for prosperity. Explore new ways to channel your energy into a life that not only benefits you, but also can benefit others.
A life with purpose can breed prosperity for those who continue to evolve, explore and, when they find the right thing, pursue it with consistency.
Peter
ARE YOU AN ‘ESSENTIAL’ WORKER? ARE YOU BEING PAID AS IF YOU WERE?
#EssentialWorkers #jobs #employment #employers #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
In the last year or so, some workers have been labeled “essential.”
For this argument, we will not include health care workers, who, indeed, are the ultimate essentials.
We’ll focus on those workers who produce and sell food, utilities. fuel and other things everyone needs to survive.
Because of what they do or provide, they MUST go to work, regardless of conditions, and risk their safety, and that of those with whom they must interact.
While deemed “essential,” generally, they don’t get paid a lot.
How can someone be so ”essential, ” and make so little?
There are arguments one can pursue here related to education, skills etc. In fact, some of those who work in health care who do jobs that don’t require higher education would undoubtedly put themselves in this category.
The fact remains: if we all can’t live without these folks’ work, why are they so underappreciated, at least financially?
Posing this question brings us to today’s scenario. The COVID-19 crisis, though still a crisis in many places, is showing a few signs of abating in many locales. Businesses are gradually getting back to their operations prior to the pandemic.
However, these businesses are finding out something. The workers they employed, and suddenly may have had to put out of work for the better part of a year, are not necessarily in a rush to come back.
Perhaps they have found other work in the meantime. Perhaps the pandemic has created complications in their lives that work interferes with.
Many of these workers may not necessarily be deemed “essential” in general, but they apparently are essential to their employers.
One argument for this phenomenon goes like this: people are making so much with unemployment benefits that they would lose money by going back to work.
That devolves to arguments about laziness etc. Very likely, however, unemployment benefits do not cover all the “essentials” these folks, and their families, need to live. If those benefits don’t cover all the essentials, and work pays even less, why go to work? the argument goes.
This is less likely a question of ambition and more likely a question of economics. If you are a business that depends on workers, and you are having trouble finding, or persuading, those workers to work for you, just pay them more. If you pay them properly, they will come. If you pay them properly, they will work.
The good news here is if you are a worker who doesn’t want to go back to your old job, or your old job is not worth going back to, there are ways you can not only meet your required expenses, but you can potentially prosper beyond what you had ever thought you could.
There are many programs out there that will allow you to do that. Yes, they do require work, so those without ambition need not explore them. And, they don’t require specific education, experience or background. But, they DO require that you look at something you may have never thought you would do.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
The argument for higher pay to attract workers is old. Businesses generally fear that paying workers more would mean higher prices for their products or services, thereby a reduction in demand. Most companies who make good products would find their customers would pay $1 more, or some nominal amount more, for their products or services, knowing they are paying their workers properly.
To be “essential” and poor makes no sense. Workers may also be thinking that I may be “essential” today, and gone – again – tomorrow. Putting financial pressure on people with few means makes little sense, in the long run. So, it’s up to employers, not government or anyone else, to solve this. They don’t do so at their peril.
Peter
BOSSES SEEM CLUELESS ABOUT EMPLOYEE HAPPINESS
#bosses #CluelessBosses #coronavirus #FlattenTheCurve #COVID19
The majority of workers feel they are struggling in pandemic working conditions. Many are thinking about leaving their employers this year.
Meanwhile, most business leaders believe they are “thriving.”
So says a Microsoft survey of global workers. Bloomberg News discussed the survey in an article also published March 23, 2021, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Employee burnout is widespread, the article quotes the survey. Some 54 percent of workers say they are overworked. Some 39 percent say they are exhausted, the article quotes the survey.
Many employees are working remotely, and being overlooked by their managers and company leaders, the article says.
Meanwhile their leaders say they are doing great, the article says.
Gen Z workers – those 18 to 25 years old – are faring worst, the article quotes the survey. Researchers believe those younger workers’ feeling of isolations are higher because they are more likely to be early in their careers and single, the article says.
Industry leaders are mostly men. But the survey found women, front-line workers and new employees reported challenges in the workplace, the article says.
“Leaders are out of touch,” the article quotes Microsoft Vice President Jared Spataro. “Sixty-one percent say they are thriving – that’s 23 percent higher than the average worker, so there is a disconnect there,” the article quotes Spataro.
So, are you thriving during this pandemic? If so, more power to you. If not, don’t fret. There may be solutions out there for you.
We can make comments about out-of-touch bosses, but the pandemic has likely made many of them more out of touch. They don’t see you. They don’t have face-to-face interactions with you. They may see you on a screen every so often, but that’s probably it. You, as the worker, have no idea what your boss is thinking about you.
That can undoubtedly produce paranoia: is he thinking that I’m at home collecting a paycheck and doing very little?
If you feel underappreciated, and don’t want to go back to your job even when it becomes safe to do so, there are solutions you can pursue.
There are many programs out there that allow a person to put in a few, part-time, off-work hours a week and not only augment his or her income, but potentially dwarf the income he or she earns at a job. They require a person to think outside their comfort zone, and look at perhaps doing something he or she may never thought he or she would do. And, you can do it remotely if conditions require.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has changed most of our lives. Some of those changes could become permanent. If you didn’t like your work situation before the pandemic, chances are the coronavirus outbreak made them worse.
Many talk about jobs coming back, but will the one you have be worth going back to?
Many new jobs will be created, experts say, and working conditions will change. You may not know until the changes come whether you will be better off.
It may be a good time to start creating a Plan B. Chances are, when changes are made because of a situation you, as an employee, cannot control, they will not be for the better, when it comes to you.
Wouldn’t it be better to walk out of an untenable situation with a smile?
Peter
INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN MAY FORCE JOB CHANGES
#infrastructure #industry #technology #TomBrady #ElectricVehicles
Imagine Tom Brady as a middle linebacker.
In the debate over the proposed federal infrastructure plan, a working person chimed in that there was little in the infrastructure plan that would help him or her, and the job he or she does.
He, or she, said something like: You can’t say Tom Brady, a Super Bowl- winning quarterback, can now be a middle linebacker because he’s a football player.
To translate, the infrastructure plan is attempting to look at industry in the future. That may mean that jobs some folks are doing now are going to change. Those who don’t change with them may be left behind.
No one wants to see anyone left behind, but technology is changing industry rapidly. Instead of making cars with internal combustion engines, automakers are, and must, move toward electric vehicles and other alternative-fuel transportation. So, the person who has been an engine maker, for example, may have to switch gears.
Certainly, it likely won’t be easy to do that, but there isn’t much choice. It’s not as if the government wants to intentionally leave people behind, but trying to protect outdated industry will leave the country at the mercy of other countries who have more robustly embraced the change.
Retraining workers for new industry certainly has its pitfalls. Once a person is retrained, there’s always the danger, even likelihood, that new technology could make his or her retraining obsolete quickly.
And, there is the issue of how, say, new vehicles are going to be recharged. Electric charging stations are still rare in this country, and an abundance of electric vehicles on the road, with stations that can charge a vehicle fairly quickly, will put a big demand on the country’s power supply. So that would be another problem to be addressed.
In short, existing infrastructure is crumbling. Much of it needs repair and/or replacement. Internet access needs to be expanded to areas where connectivity is difficult.
But, technology IS changing how we do many things. We have to be ready for these changes so that jobs can be tailored to them.
The infrastructure plan is likely to create more jobs than it eliminates. It would be up to individuals to roll with something new.
If you are the type who is looking for something different, perhaps because what you’re doing now is expected to go away before you want it to, there are many programs that allow a person with any education, background or experience to create an income stream that could, potentially and eventually, dwarf whatever income he or she may earn at his or her job.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Obviously, football will need quarterbacks and linebackers. A player who is good at one position may not be good at another.
Tom Brady will always be a quarterback, as long as he plays. He will never become a linebacker.
But as the economy shifts, workers, as well as companies, have to become more nimble and flexible to reflect rapid change.
Your parents’ generation likely never saw change that moved at this pace. We all have to accept reality and move with it.
Tom Brady doesn’t need to, but, perhaps, you do.
Peter
AMERICA’S GRAND REOPENING?
#ReopeningAmerica #COVID19 #coronavirus #FlattenTheCurve #BoomingEconomy
Wes Moss thinks America is headed for a great reopening of the economy.
Moss, who writes a “Money Matters “ column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and has a radio show by the same name on WSB in Atlanta, sees four things that prompt him to see the boom coming. His column on this subject appeared in the March 28, 2021, edition of the newspaper.
He likens what has been created to “the most powerful locomotive ever built.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to ease – most public health experts, however, warn that it may be too soon yet to let our guard down, though there is a light at the end of the tunnel – here’s what Moss sees:
• Stimulus packages have been approved, putting money in many empty pockets.
• Pent-up demand for goods and services after most of us have been locked at home for a year.
• Record savings rates among Americans over the last year, because people haven’t gone many places or done many things to spend it.
• Herd immunity, prompted by the creation and inoculation of vaccines.
Not everyone would agree with Moss, though it would be grand if he were proved right.
You hear lots of talk about government trying to do too much. Remember, lots of folks lost jobs
during the pandemic. As a result, many are having trouble paying rent and mortgages, some are even having trouble feeding themselves and their families.
The stimulus will help with that temporarily, but now these folks have to go out to find work.
A hopeful sign is that as many restaurants and other establishments begin to reopen, they are, and will be, looking for help.
Regarding pent-up demand and record savings, we have to be careful here. If people have saved as they haven’t for some time, they should take care on how they spend their money. Certainly, going out to eat on occasion or going on a vacation will help cure cabin fever, but, as Moss would likely advise, don’t spend that money frivolously.
The vaccines will help ease the fear of going out and about, but we would still be advised to use caution. For example, perhaps you could dine in a restaurant at times when it will be the least crowded. Hopefully, the restaurant management will stagger seating so people are not crammed in.
When you are not sure you can keep your distance from people, wear a mask. Eventually, we’ll get an all-clear signal from health officials to put away our masks, but we are not there yet.
Perhaps you’ve lost a job and it has permanently disappeared. Or, the job you had was not worth going back to. If you are in that situation, you may not see Moss’ optimism.
If so, you should know there are many programs out there that allow you to spend a few part-time hours a week (you still may need to get a job, at least for a time) and earn an income that could potentially dwarf what you would earn in a W-2 job. These programs require people of any age, education, background or experience to look at something they may have never thought they would do. And, if they see the potential, allow themselves to be coached.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
If the economy takes off the way Moss sees it, in a few years the government will get back the money it’s investing now – and, perhaps, more.
It’s tempting for us to go hog wild as the restrictions ease, but it would be wiser for us to ease back to normal gradually. Those with pent-up demand should exercise discipline in unleashing it. Those who have saved more than they have been should continue to save while, at the same time, treating himself or herself once in a while.
Peter
LIFE DEPENDS ON CHOICES
#choices #decisions #options
Sink or swim?
When we analyze most choices, we generally put the worse option last.
In this one, it’s always better to swim than to sink.
TD Ameritrade’s variation, “Think or Swim,” perhaps puts the better alternative ahead of the worse.
Fish or cut bait?
This, too, has the better alternative first. It’s always better to fish than to cut bait.
The point of this analysis is that life is full of choices. In some cases, there are no good choices and we have to pick the lesser of evils.
Sometimes, there are all good choices, and we choose the best.
The problem with us as humans is that we don’t always choose the best, or even the good, option.
We fear something might be too good to be true. Or, we see the good choice as more work than we want to do. Sometimes, we find the bad choices just more fun, even if we know we will pay for that choice later.
Sometimes, also, the choices we make in our youth can determine how we will live as adults. For example, spending on frivolous things, rather than saving, can exact a cost later in life, in terms of how you will survive.
Many don’t realize, or understand, that choices, not circumstances, are the driver of life. Each choice one makes, whether it’s choice of job, workplace, lifestyle etc., often creates one’s circumstances.
When a bad circumstance arises, how one chooses to respond to it will determine how, or whether, he or she overcomes it.
This begs the question: what choices have YOU made that have enhanced your life? What choices do you now regret? And, if you are hit by circumstances, how will you choose to respond?
If your financial situation is not where you want it to be, for example, instead of waiting for someone to help you, you COULD choose to help yourself.
Sometimes, you have to look for better choices. Other times, when better choices are presented to you, you take a look at them.
If you are looking for better choices, there are many programs out there that can give you some financial options by spending a few, part-time, off work hours a week. But, you have to be open enough to look for them, and at them.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
A good exercise might be to list some of the choices you’ve made in life, and how they have affected you. We’ve all made good choices and bad choices. If good choices outnumber bad ones, great.
If not, it’s probably not too late to rethink, and re-choose.
You may be surprised at the available options from which to choose.
Peter
DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING?
#JazzSinger #opportunity #ChangingWorld #RegularJobs #schools
In the 1980 movie version of “The Jazz Singer,” Neil Diamond’s character’s father, played by Sir Laurence Olivier, tells him, to paraphrase: You have to know where you came from to know where you are going.
That’s a very loaded statement, as we’ll describe throughout. The background is that Olivier’s character wanted his son to be a cantor in the synagogue, not a “jazz singer” – or, in Diamond’s character’s case, a pop singer.
Olivier’s character had a proscribed life for his son. His son had other ideas.
Diamond’s character admits later in the movie that he knows where he came from, and now knows where he is going – to fulfill his dream of being a pop singer. He even decided to divorce the nice Jewish girl he married to connect with a woman who encouraged his dream. That woman was played by Lucie Arnaz.
This story illustrates how the children of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were raised. Their parents taught them to look for safety and security as they grew. They discouraged dreams. Meanwhile, schools taught kids, in large part, how to be good employees.
They taught this by establishing routines, enforcing schedules and enacting discipline for violating the norms. They were told when school would start, when it would break for recess and for how long, when it would break for lunch (and for how long) and when it would end for the day.
That would teach kids the rigor of regular employment. After all, regular employment was the goal every parent had for his or her children. Higher education goals came in later, but top priority was regular employment.
Today’s world turns that upside down. Thinking outside the box is generally rewarded, provided it’s done with good in mind. Kids that can solve problems, or make generational wrongs right, are considered successful.
Regular employment used to mean prosperity over time. Now, it barely signifies survival, in many cases. The once steady jobs are not so steady anymore, usually through no fault of the employee.
Companies have to be nimble. They have to find ways to succeed in a changing world. Sticking to long established routines just won’t cut it anymore.
So, where do you fit in? How are you going to find success in a world that changes by the minute?
Fortunately, if you are willing to work and are willing to check out something you may never have thought you would ever do, there are many ways to prosper, or at least augment your survival, that are available to anyone, regardless of education, experience or background.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
We all, or at least most of us, know where we came from. That may have nothing to do with where we are going.
We were all taught that America was the land of opportunity. We just weren’t always encouraged to take advantage of opportunities available to us.
But we can ALL change that. We just have to be willing to look at different things. We all can’t be pop singers, but anyone with the talent can certainly go for that.
We may not want to sing the same tune our parents taught us. We may have to find a sheet of music that will suit us better in a world playing in a different key from our parents’.
Peter
HOUSE OR WEDDING: THE CHOICE IS YOURS
#weddings #homebuying #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #choices
If you’ve found the love of your life, and you both decided you would get married, your first decision after agreeing to marriage might be: do we spend what we have on a big wedding, or use it for a down payment on a house?
Netflix has a series out titled “Marriage or Mortgage,” which explores that question.
Consumer finance columnist Michelle Singletary discussed the series in a March 5, 2021 column for the Washington Post.
Obviously, she would recommend the couple buy the house, rather than splurge on a big wedding.
The choice comes down to an emotional decision vs. a practical one.
Let’s break down the choices. Sure, it’s great to have a wedding in which your families and friends could celebrate your big day with you.
In the days of COVID-19, big weddings have been a no-no. Many couples are either postponing weddings, or getting married but postponing the reception/party to a later date.
But the coronavirus has made the choice more difficult. Is one day of happiness and celebration worth more than a lifetime roof over your head that, by the way, could increase in value over time? (As a separate calculation, you could figure in the gifts you might receive from a wedding, but they won’t matter in this case.)
People spend way too much on a wedding, Singletary would argue. Among flowers, photos, over-the-top bridal gowns, lots of food and open bars, that one day of celebration could cost a couple tens of thousands of dollars easily.
And the next day, the celebration is over, albeit some couples opt for multiple-day-long weddings). Certainly, you’ll have a lifetime of memories, but was it worth dumping all that cash, or, worse, going into debt, to have the big wedding?
What if you could have a much smaller, intimate wedding, minus the expensive trappings, and have enough left over to buy your house?
Singletary writes that she thought about throwing her shoe at her TV watching the choices some couples made.
It’s understandable to think that one may NEVER have a big party like that ever again. But, are the memories it will produce worth the regret you may later have when it becomes difficult, or impossible, to afford a house?
Certainly, it’s entirely possible the couple may never want to own a house, and that’s OK, too. But what if you could invest the money you put into that big wedding into something that will give you a nest egg for retirement, when that day comes?
It comes down to this: it might be better to treat yourself later as you invest now.
Of course, there are many programs out there that could allow you to do anything you want, eventually. These programs require a minimal investment in time and money, but could, if you work at them diligently over time, pay for your wedding, house and/or retirement nest egg.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has made financial survival difficult for some. We all should begin to rethink some of our spending choices. We can celebrate achievements or life changes, but we should remember that frugal fun is still fun.
The Netflix series is wrongly titled. The marriage is still happening. The wedding, or mortgage, is the real choice. When faced with such a choice, choose wisely.
Peter