Comment by dublinben
5 years ago
NPR's Planet Money also bought some oil: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/08/26/491342091/plan...
5 years ago
NPR's Planet Money also bought some oil: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/08/26/491342091/plan...
I think Planet Money also bought a mortgage backed security a while back when things had already gone south.
They tracked the houses involved and their history.
It was interesting to see the investment tied to specific homes, and etc.
Also a junk/high-yield bond https://www.npr.org/2020/02/19/807544557/meet-our-junk-bond
Schwab allows retail investors to buy junk bonds. I bought one a few weeks ago.
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Toxie. Here are the relevant episodes:
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/06/01/131077279/toxi...
I've always wondered If I could just go out and buy like 10 mortgages or car loans in my area, and try to recover some of the money. I've heard that debt goes for pennies on the dollar, so I would think it would be possible to make a decent amount if you have the time.
I think in most states, if you are the original owner of the debt (i.e. you or your business lent the money), you can just go collect it.
But in a case where you're collecting a debt you did not originate, you'll need a debt collector's license in the state where you plan to operate. The license isn't hard to get, but typically there is a very large bond that needs to be posted.
And you're right: if you have the stomach for consumer debt collection and are good at being nice to people (being nice has a much higher success ratio than being a dick when trying to collect), and you're incredibly patient (the really cheap debt is almost uncollectable) it's basically printing money.
source: wife used to be a commercial debt/receivables collector and a long time ago I considered writing debt collection software.
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They also have a bot kicking around somewhere to buy stocks on Trump tweets. Pretty interesting stuff.
John Oliver bought peoples debt and released it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxUAntt1z2c
You can donate to RIP medical debt, and they’ll do this for you.