Hi rivkadr, Okay, so some clarifying questions, then. I expect I will sound very stupid, but please recognize that I generally don't deal with money matters too much myself, so a lot of this is over my head. PUHLEAZE!!!! You deserve (and GET) my sincere respect for so MANY reasons!!!! A) You're willing to OPEN your MIND to serious financial topics (and not just swallow the emotional poop passed down from those who've never tried to understand!) B) You're willing to be completely OPEN WITH YOUR DETAILS (even if anonymously... you have no idea how many people are afraid of simply being real, even when nobody can know who they really are!!!) C) You are SO GENEROUS to do so out in the open on a public message board, where your learnings can be silently read and absorbed by others who WISH they had your guts!!!!!!!!! I cannot emphasize enough THE HONOR YOU DESERVE for taking this on, step by step, out in the open!!! TRUST me when I say, there are MANY folks who feel much "dumber" about their questions... and hate the fact they haven't had the courage to step out like you are. Your COURAGE trumps all... and it is the ONLY way anyone gets "smart!" OK, with your questions; 1) Itemize your current liabilities, and for each; Liabilities, I assume you mean things like student loans, mortgages, etc? i.e. stuff we owe money on. Exactly... make a laundry list for us here. If you have a recent credit report it will show much of what we are asking about... otherwise gather up your monthly bills. Example; $461,356 1st mortgage, (pull out your NOTE to check on the following,) 5 yr ARM in 3rd year, (amortized, or interest-only?) Start date was July X, 2005 Initial Fixed rate is X% Margin is 2.25 (or it is 2.75, or other?) Index is 1 month LIBOR (or 6 mo LIBOR? 1 yr LIBOR? Treasury index?) $45,356 Student Loan, consolidated from multiple loans, Interest rate is X%, minimum payment required is $YYY (or a % factor, if you know,) $12,486 Provident Visa card, 8.9% rate, 2% of principal minm payment (By the way... the 2% of principal is the standard minimum payment for revolving credit.) $8,594 Ford auto financing, 3.5% rate until 1/1/2010, then 8.9%. 8 year loan, minm req'd payment $x,xxx You get the idea... 2) Itemize your appreciating assets, and for each; What would an appreciating asset be? Are these like stocks? We don't own anything like that anymore. We have my husband's 401k -- does that count? Appreciating assets are real estate, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, cash-value life policies, pensions, annuities, securities held INSIDE your 401(k), IRA and ROTH accounts, and similar. Non-appreciating assets are your non-cash-value (term) insurance policies of all types, anticipated inheritances, business ownership, personal effects (tools, furs, jewelry, etc.) 3) What is your personal realistic exepected growth situation for your home over the next 10 years? Expected average annual rate of growth, 10 years? Total growth in dollars? I have no idea how I would estimate things like that :( I have no clue on most of your growth rate questions (except maybe our expected income -- I can hazard a guess on that). That is really *OK*!!!!!! When the answer is "I have no idea" it triggers some follow-on questions; (And its perfectly acceptable to "cheat" by asking realtor friends, checking Zillow, or Googling your local negihborhood name along with the keywords of "appreciation rates in Irvine" (or wherever.) Are you familiar with the past longterm trend of real estate in your area? If so, what was it? Do you believe that the future longterm trend will be significantly different? If so, in what way? 4) What is your estimated current NET Worth? Can you have a negative net worth? Unfortunately, yes... in fact the MAJORITY of the general public has a negative net worth. That happens when the total cash value of everything you own (and could sell,) is less than the total repayment balance of all the debts that you owe. I just reran our budget; due to my husband's job changes and a raise on my part, we're actually making an extra $3500 a month. Does that change your little form up above at all? That doesn't change the questions (especially the "divvy up your 1st and 2nd extra $1,000,) but it does give you some extra growth power, which is ALWAYS a good thing when you know how to employ it most effectively. ONCE AGAIN... I HONOR YOU FOR YOUR UP-FRONT COURAGE!!!! (I suspect you are "giving" people a great deal in this exchange!!!) Cheers, Dave Donhoff Strategic Equity & Leverage Planner

I haven't looked on this website for a long time. It was interesting when everyone was remodeling or building. Then somehow the posts changed and were less interesting and some got nasty and personal. I think that many of us have gone on to other forums and social networks that are more rewarding. Dave was always so informative and helpful. I also think these forums would have been a real success if it was easier to upload photos. Also one of the things that hurt it was the tech problems where it took forever to load. We have a T-1 and it should not have taken long.

Did he . . . leave the planet? Very sorry to see him go, and wishing him all the best in whatever vibrant form he now inhabits.

Thanks so much, Beth!!!! I can't say I was a huge fan of variegated roses in the past but there are some I really like now and want to grow - this being one of them. The name also has meaning to me. I don't know if it is still available or if I want to even try placing a second order but I will at least enjoy it through you! Thanks again!!!!