Dear Dave,
My wife is divorcing me, and we just had our first baby boy. I feel it’s my responsibility to take care of her until the divorce is final and afterwards to keep her and our child in a safe vehicle. Right now she’s driving a 1982 Honda Civic, and it’s so small any kind of wreck could be a disaster. I’m thinking about buying her a new car. What do you think?
Mike
Dear Mike,
I’m really sorry you guys are going through all this, especially with a brand new baby in the mix. I appreciate your nobility and attitude about the situation, but you need to realize that once you’re divorced, it’s no longer your responsibility to take care of your wife. Divorce carries a lot of emotional stress and worry for everyone involved, but I don’t think buying her a new car will solve anything. It may actually lead her to expect even more from you later on.
I’m going to take a wild guess that the truth of the matter is you’re worried about your child, and this whole thing is breaking your heart. This is natural, Mike, and it means you love that baby. But a “safe” car doesn’t have to mean a brand new car. You could put her in a 1974 Suburban and she’d be safe, because those things are tanks!
If it were me, I’d find a very large used car, one that either one of you can pay for with cash, and let her drive off into the sunset. But spend every second you can hugging and loving on your little boy, Mike. He’s going to need someone like you in his life.
Dave
Dump the mobile
Dear Dave,
I’ve got a mobile home that I still owe $28,000 on that I use as a rental property. It sits on an acre of land that’s worth about $10,000, and I paid that off a few years ago. I’m thinking about refinancing the mobile home, and going from an interest rate of 11.25 percent down to 8 percent. Do you think I should do this?
Karen
Dear Karen,
I’d refinance the mobile home, but you’ve got a bigger issue here. Should you keep the mobile home? And the answer is no.
Right now, you’ve got a big chunk of cash wrapped up in something that’s going down in value like a rock. I’d sell that thing in heartbeat, Karen. Otherwise, you’re going to see $28,000 worth of mobile home turn into about $8,000 over the next few years. That’s not a good investment strategy.
Dave
Piles of cash
Dear Dave,
You’re always talking about accumulating piles of cash. I’ve gone to church for several years, and the Bible says not to lay up treasures on earth. Doesn’t that mean that we shouldn’t accumulate wealth or be greedy?
George
Dear George,
The Bible also says in Proverbs that in the house of the wise there are stores of choice food and oil.
If you look back through Scripture, you’ll find that many of the major biblical characters were very wealthy people who understood they were not the owners of the money and wealth. They understood that their job was to manage these things properly for God’s glory.
I can appreciate your concern, George, but when I talk about piles of cash my frame of reference is that we’re to handle our money and other possessions for good and for God. It’s not about greed or buying bigger and better things for ourselves.
But you can’t do good if you don’t have the strengths to do good.
Dave
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