So I have 2 copies of Quicken (Home & Business 2013) to giveaway, that has been donated to me, and I was trying to figure out what criteria I should use, and then I read a very interesting post on Reddit, that I am going to steal as the test concept:
In a comment for this post, in two sentences write the most terrifying personal finance story ever!
Two sentences only, but it has to be financially horrifying. A simple example might be:
Quicken Giveaway
He knew it was the biggest mistake he could make but he needed the money to get her ring back from the pawn broker. Slowly he turned the knob at the Pay Day Loan store.
Duh, Duh, Duh!!!! That is horrifying to me at least.
The two best two-line horror stories (as judged by a Blue Ribbon Panel) that are left as a comment to this post before Midnight Wednesday August 14th 2013, will be mailed a copy of the software (yes it’s actually in a box). You must leave a valid E-mail address to win (if I can’t contact you, you can’t win). If you don’t reply to my e-mail about winning by the Friday, another comment will be chosen.
He: I know our marriage is in trouble, and we are already spending both our salaries, but we will be happier if we buy this big expensive house that is my dream house. She:, uuhh, OK.
So sorry to hear you lost your job, but I can definitely help you invest your severance and pension – and we can increase your returns by tapping into the equity in your house. The loan will pay for itself, you can write it off on your taxes and leave money for your kids – win/win!
“As your financial advisor, my recommendation is to finance your investment of ABC Mining Solutions with your credit card, and invest in as many shares as your credit limit will allow,” he said, his deep, resonant voice lulling me into a trance. “Since you’re borrowing to invest, the interest is tax-deductible, and at a low price of only $3.10 per share, the price has nowhere to go but up.”
She said to herself, “Whew, I finally have some hard-earned savings after I lost everything I had in that dot-com crash a few years ago. Well, it’s the mid-2000’s, so I think I’ll put it all into the red-hot market of Las Vegas real estate!”
Bro-in-law loans $25k to employer without an agreement and doesn’t get repaid when owner sells company. Wife is steamed so bro-in-law repeats step 1 with new employer.
I should have learned from my Nortel experience and not bought Research in Motion a few years ago. iPhones are a passing fad, right?
“My total debt service ratio is only forty percent, and the interest rate is only 2.99%? Where do I sign”?
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
He had a regular middle-class life, with a mortgage, credit card debts, car loan, and almost no savings. Then he suddenly lost his job, so he took his severance package and payed himself a nice trip to Europe.
Oh man, you are killing me!!!! I spat my coffee out while reading that!
I once received a free copy of Microsoft Money via an employer. Then I received a reorganizational sacking, a year later, to make my numbers easier to add.
That was so scarey my SPAM filter caught it!!!
I knew it was the biggest financial commitment I would ever make in my lifetime. Can we afford the mortgage and other financial commitments of a $2,000,000 house?
What comes with it ? a gold egg laying goose ?
The Debt Collector snarled, “Pay up now; you know we are just going to keep calling until you pay us!” Sure you will, right up until I declare bankruptcy, that is!”, I replied.
It was late in 2007, I had just been retired, the decision was to keep my pension plan or get paid out. Adviser said “we can beat those returns”, yah right!
Bought Nortel @ $10 (after it went down from $100). Still “own” it.
Dear Lord, I am still shaking!!!!
“Gold can never go down,” said my broker.
I took his advise and put my life savings into gold at $1,944.
Yikes… that’s scarey!!!
He smiled as he handed over the cheque that was the payout for his corporate pension and benefit plan. He had a hot tip that this investment was supposed to be a sure thing, and he thought “who better to look after my pension but me?”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! HIDEOUS, but I couldn’t look away… good start!