Isn’t it obvious Gabler is just using this to get attention for his article, and I’m sure there’s an upcoming book about this he’s just finishing? Sounds like a book tour to me.
^ I bet he his paying more then I am and if he can’t come up with $400 for an emergency- how the heck can he pay his tax bill?
I think you are correct @emilybee. Wrong messenger. Just a few simple changes could have made a huge difference for him. He could have purchased a less expensive house on LI that was still in a great school district; but he wanted the 1.5 acres in the Hamptons. He could have had “the talk” with his daughters, and they could have attended (with merit aid) wonderful LACs at a fraction of the price of Stanford and Emory. His daughter could have gotten married in their backyard. He could have disciplined himself to finish more of the research on each book before seeking the advance, thus shortening the time he had to live off of that advance. He could have accepted more teaching positions that pay a regular wage. All of these things were/are within his power, yet he spent an hour today just whining that he “feels everyone else’s pain.”
I apologize @scout59 if this sounds like “righteous indignation.” But he had the opportunity during the interview today to say that he could have made better decisions. He didn’t do that. Instead he repeatedly insisted that he does not live a lavish lifestyle (“I haven’t taken a vacation in 10 years, probably more”) and refused to second-guess any of his decisions, implying instead that the world somehow owes him something (especially the “extortionist” colleges where he chose to send his daughters). The most interesting part of the interview IMO was the last caller, a black man from Nashville, who pointed out that he never had the opportunity to fall into Gabler’s trap because the banks weren’t willing to loan him money to begin with!
@MidwestDad3, I loved Carl’s comment!
“He could have had “the talk” with his daughters, and they could have attended (with merit aid) wonderful LACs at a fraction of the price of Stanford and Emory.”
The reality of his financial situation is really worse than this. If he had actually paid for his daughters’ educations then I would still think it was an unwise financial move because he couldn’t afford it. But the truth is he didn’t even pay for the vast majority of his kids’ education (thanks grandma and grandpa!) according to what he wrote in his article. But he’s still in this financial mess at age 66 without having shelled out for the college bills himself.
@Bestfriendsgirl – good for your son to have a job out of college – the “paying your dues” phase is hard, but he’s young, full of energy and slowly but surely he’ll get the better shifts/positions. Meantime, good luck to both of you 
Adults who have parents who can swing two elite college tuitions aren’t “middle class.”
@doschicos, I think he tried to sell his house for $1.85 million and there were no takers at that price.
He wants to be the posterboy for the struggling middle class. Sorry. He’s not middle class by a longshot.
He is or was a struggling upper middle class guy. Maybe he is no longer upper middle class. It happens.
It seems to me we celebrate the successful risk takers and blame the ones who crash and burn. Usually it could go either way. Friends of my parents had a kid who asked to be supported for a year to write instead of going to law school as his parents advised. His year’s project was hugely successful. You would recognize his name. He never had to go to law school. If he hadn’t sold his writing, local folks would have all gossiped about what a very bad idea it had all been and the waste of resources. Instead they begged to be extras in the movie.
His writing is good. Lots of good writing goes unrecognized. He was lucky. That isn’t the local story. The local story is that he’s a genius. Of course, he is.
I don’t really care all that much about the author in the OP. I’m just interested in the different ways we decide to live our lives.
And I’m trying to be supportive of my risk taking kids.
That’s still a lot of clams, @dstark. Sounds like he hasn’t kept up with home maintenance based on the article and NPR radio story.
@alh I’d consider supporting a child who had a well thought out idea be it a book, business, whatever for a year, especially if they were young and not tied down yet with other commitments like a family. It’s cheaper than going to graduate school. As a young adult, its a good time to swing for the fences and take a little risk when there is less to risk.
@alh,
I think you are 100% right.
I hope your kids are well rewarded for their risk taking and if they aren’t, I am not going to trash them.
I think risk taking is fine–as long as you are responsible and able to handle the consequences without whining and expecting bailouts and handouts from others who plodded along. Many of us have taken risks–some work out better than others.
Many of us just object to the whining and entitlement. Most of us pay taxes without whining–it’s part of how we have the services our nation offers.
I’m not blaming anyone but can’t muster much sympathy for folks who have assets and significant income (even if it fluctuates) but can’t learn to live below their means.
doschicos: They planned to pay for law school after paying for the year of writing. No one expected he would make money. with the writing. Probably he was whining a lot about not wanting to have to go to law school and be a lawyer. But what else was he going to do with an English degree?
Getting rich with your writing is a fantasy. We all know that. However, it worked out for him.
eta: I recognize I’m talking about circumstances where parents (or grandparents) have the means to bail the risk takers out if things go south. That is also luck.
Let’s say an income of $125,000 is upper middle class. If you have that same income 20 years from now, that is going to be middle class income. A lot of jobs don’t pay more than they did 20 years ago.
Those people who have seen their incomes go nowhere are whining.
@alh - I like your story. And it’s smart that it had an end (one year) so it could be a trial instead of a long and lost ordeal.
Think of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They started as an obscure comic book of the genre known as “three adjectives and a noun” comics. I remember seeing a whole box of them in a comic book shop before the TMNTs became famous. There were the Grouchy Gangrenous Geriatric Gerbils too. What ever happen to them? Just imagine that poor lost dream…
Re: #230, #234
Seek some other job that hires college graduates but is not major-specific? I.e. similar to most of the other English, biology, history, etc. graduates.
But it seems like that year of his high risk venture need not have been that expensive for the family to support, since, as a new graduate, he presumably had not locked in a high cost of living (e.g. expensive housing) like the author of the linked article. If he lived like a college student while doing his writing project, that year likely cost a lot less than a year of law school.
Yes, when one lives a frugal lifestyle, a year of time to follow a passion can cost lodging + utilities + food and incidentals, plus any loan/interest payments that start becoming due.
This guy is a very successful writer - he just is very dumb and foolish with his money.