My father always said, “If people knew how banks operated there would be a revolution tomorrow.” I think the last four or five years have shown everyone how banks operate, and of course there was no revolution. We are a complacent nation. I certainly fit in that category as well. However, I would like to point out something that most of us do not think about because we do have the privilege of buying our own home.

In 2006, a friend purchased property to build his dream home. He put $110,000 down for the property and spent over $200,000 building the home. Payments average $2,500 per month for seven years (2,500 x 12 x 7 = 210,000.) Interest was higher back then, so he did a mortgage adjustment loan to get it down to 4 percent and the payments dropped to $1,950, which sounds good. The loan is for 480 months (40 years). If he stays around that long and makes his payments, that $300,000 home will cost him $1,146,000. But he does have the privilege of calling it his own. Executives of some local banks that are no longer around took that much and more in yearly bonuses.

Gene Goosman

Mukilteo