There's been quite a bit of confusion and concern about Lissa Cunneen's mortgage over the last two weeks. Today, the former administrative assistant for WaMu's home loan department tries to explain—and admits to having been confused herself.

Last week I decided that I should seek professional advice concerning my mortgage rather than continuing to wring my hands. I fully expected to have all my worst fears confirmed but this was not the case! True, my underemployment makes me less than the ideal candidate for a refi, but as it turns out I don’t really need one.

For those following along with calculators and critiques at the ready, here's the deal: At the time I bought it, my condo went for $250K. Brand new properties in my complex are now listed at around $200K to $225K, but no one is buying. I put $100K down and owe around $150K now.

I was under the impression that my loan—which is one of those interest only adjustable rate mortgages that has a fixed rate for an initial period—was going to begin adjusting A LOT sooner than it is, and was relieved to find out that I have until 2017 before that happens. I was also under the impression that my condo had lost a lot more value than it actually has. That was me being panicky and not looking into it closely enough. I regret to say that math makes me need to lie down.

I am so glad that I did the research. While the value of my condo has certainly gone down, theoretically if I were to sell it I would not be underwater as I had previously and erroneously supposed. If, of course, anyone was buying. Which they’re not. Not even brand spanky new condos. But still, Yay!

Additionally, my existing loan, it turns out, gives me flexibility that a 30-year fixed would not. I can pay both the interest (which is currently 5.75 percent) and a little of the principal every month, just as I always have, but if other expenses need more immediate attention (like, oh, I don’t know, the cable bill) I can just pay the interest without worrying that I will be digging myself into a huge hole.

In 2017, assuming my situation is similar then, I could refi into a 30-year fixed at whatever the interest rate turns out to be—and, of course, would have to start paying a set amount of the principal as well as the interest. If the interest rate then is lower than 5.75 percent, woo hoo, I win. But my payments will go up either way since I will have to pay down the principal rather than just having the option to. Worst case scenario, the interest rates will be much higher than what I have right now and my payments will be huge. This is why it is so important to always pay even a little bit on the principal every month now so I don’t have to pay so much interest later.

Now, that’s all well and good but I still have to pony up a fair chunk of change each month, not to mention my home owner’s dues, which amounts to an additional $250 a month. So this week I will take a serious look at accessing my savings, by which I mean my IRA. I would really rather not touch my IRA if I can avoid it, for a number of reasons. One, because I’ll take a tax hit for it, and who knows if I’ll have the money next year to pay a big tax bill. And two, at my age, this strategy amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul.

This money was supposed to make sure that I would not be destitute in my old age, and I feel the clammy breath of my old age upon my neck a bit more acutely than many of you feel yours, gentle readers. I’ll be 46 on Monday, and my IRA, not big to begin with, is quite a bit smaller now due to These, Our Troubled Times™. That scares me. A lot. Of course, the fact that I have an IRA to draw upon, let alone angst over, is a privilege that many—including, it seems, my fellow unemployed posters—do not share. It means that I probably won’t have to face the decision of which family heirlooms to sell off like some. At least, not in the near future.

The more distant future is murkier, and that impending gloom informs the decisions that I must make today. I don’t just need a job. I need a job that will keep me from that cardboard box I mentioned in my first post. I mean, we can’t all marry money now can we?

So I will keep looking for a job for which I am qualified, not because I think I’m too good to work minimum or near-minimum wage. (Been there, done that. Oh wait! I’m doing that now!) But because I do not have that luxury. Being poor sucks. Being old and poor sucks more by an order of magnitude. I’m not there yet. I have options, which makes me insanely lucky, but as things get worse and worse out there in the big wide world, and more and more middle class people start their unimagined descent into poverty, I wonder if there will be enough luck to go around.

I hope that this crisis will bring people together. That those who can will continue to help. That compassion rather than judgment will be the first impulse. Not necessarily compassion for me. As I’ve said, I’m one of the lucky ones in this mess. But for those who may have been a little unwise, or a little too trusting of the forces of the marketplace. I hope that we can remember that old union song that speaks to not just the need for bread, but roses, too, and not begrudge people the little things like text messaging, or nice produce or, you know, cable. We’re all in this together.

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