article thumbnail

US Presidents and Personal Finance

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

I wonder if that could be part of our national debt problem. We toured Monticello in 2005 and learned that Thomas Jefferson, one of my favorite presidents died a pauper. He ended up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and only salvaged his estate by selling (after his death) his civil war memoirs. He earned 1.57

article thumbnail

Stay the Course Financially

Prairie Eco-Thrifter

Eventually they did a short sale to get out from under the mortgage, moved to the mid-West to take advantage of nearness of family and lower living costs and she took jobs as waitresses. personal saving rate bottomed out at around 1% in the third quarter of 2005. He was retired and unable to resume work. ” The easy money effect.