Millionaires feel cash-flow pinch

The San Diego Tribune reports:

Allen and Lori Hurst have come a long way since the mid-1990s, when Allen borrowed from his retirement savings to make the down payment on the family's Rancho Peñasquitos home.



Ally Hurst watched her parents talk on the new deck in their remodeled home. One of the couple's goals is to save for their children's college educations.
Now, the couple has five homes in five states: the home they bought for $232,000 in 1994, as well as rental properties in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Oklahoma and Florida. The run-up in real estate values nationwide over the past few years has landed the couple solidly in millionaire territory.

But as the Hursts' long-term financial picture got brighter, it also got more complicated. Despite their increasing net worth, servicing the debt on their investments made cash flow tight, and they wondered sometimes if they were kidding themselves that they were getting ahead.

"Things sure sounded good," Allen said. "But we didn't feel like we were OK."

American as apple pie.