Dr Seuss Gives Financial Advice

G’day Scott,

I’ve been seeing so many ads on Facebook from people spruiking ways to pay off your mortgage in 7 to 10 years. Is there some secret I’m not aware of? We are a young family with two boys and are worried about our repayments when our fixed interest rate ends. It’s been a challenge to save the last year with prices going up and some health challenges on my part. One of our cars has just died too, so we are pretty stressed. Should we take action?

Tenille

Hi Tenille

Last Saturday morning I was with my kids in the Lego store in Melbourne when I got a text from a friend: “Someone is impersonating you on Facebook and running a scam to fleece your readers!”

Alarmed, I immediately called my assistant, and she was like: “Yeah, that happens all the time, it’s like whack-a-mole, Scott.”

Now the ads you’re looking at aren’t a blatant scam, but they may as well be.

Here’s their pitch, which is as old and smelly as my trusty Gray-Nicolls cricket box:

“So you want to get out of debt, right? Well, if you borrow a heap of money (through me) and buy some Gold Coast apartment (also through me, which I get a $50,000 kickback on), then when it (cough, cough) doubles in value, you’ll be able to pay off your home loan in just 7 to 10 years!”

It’s like a freaking Dr Seuss book.

“To get out of debt you’ve got to get into more debt. Debt, Debt, Debt!”

Tenille, focus on the two things that will really move the dial: getting a lower rate, and making extra repayments. Oh, and delete Facebook.

Scott.