The Asian markets took a hammering on Tuesday. Japan stocks were down 5.7% while Hong Kong posted 5.3% losses. With no resolution to the Lehman problem I'd say we'll have another down day on Wall Street.
So what can we do as out of the loop main street folks. Check out your banks' financial health. Do they have a lot of assets in mortgages? Have they set aside money to cover losses from mortgages?
Something I recomended in posts last year was to set aside 10% of your take home pay. Pay yourself first then the bills. When I first started doing this I was making just enough to get by but I found that as time went on it became easier and easier. Once you get a few thousand saved you can use that money as collateral for a car or personnal loan and pay much less than the going rate.
Always pay more than the minimun payments on credit cards. If you have more than one card try and pay off the one with the highest rate first. When the first one is paid off use that payment along with your regular payment to pay off the second. These are just some of the basics. The problem at the present is that there may not be too much time to prepare for long term bad times but for those interested here's a link to my post on surviving hard times.
Plans for surviving hard times
As I mentioned before the biggest problem at present is the funding of FDIC. If something doesn't change with that then you will see runs on banks and the Depression of the 30s will look like a picknic.
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8 comments:
Very good advice most of us will not follow. My wife and I are attempting to get our financial house in order. And we have made headway. But as both of us are self employed, the flow of money to work with fluctuates dramatically, making it difficult to plan.
The linked post was excellent BTW.
Mac
I found having been in a job for the last eighteen years that greatly fluctuates by time of year it's very important to save that 10%. It will put you in a far better position as time goes by. I'm sure you're looking ahead to retirement within the next ten years or so. Once your house gets paid for it's time to put that money aside.
Good Advice Demuer, I myself wish I had followed that very advice, given to me by My Father, whenI fist left home at18 to go away to school. I of course didn't but 4-5 years later, I finaly saw the sense of it and followed it. Here is a greatbook to read. check it out , "The Richest Man In Babylon", by George Samuel Clason.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Richest_Man_in_Babylon_(book)
Oh, I know how to survive through hard times just fine.
I owe the whole world less than two hundred bucks.
My property is free and clear and everything on it is paid for or was free. A lot of free stuff seems to flow to me.
Hell, I don't have room for anymore free stuff, I'm trying to get rid of some of it.
Hey, it's Constitution Day! Yippie! I assume everyone gets today off, right? No? Hmm. You would think it would be a holiday. Then again, it would only serve as a reminder of how much Bush has ignored it.
Gary - I don't need to read any more books on that. I was smart enough to learn from some rich monkeys how to avoid taxes, pay of all my bills, and not starve to death in the process.
Billy- I think you'll be around even after the cocroaches are gone he he he.
Robert - Let me guess Bush is giving out free copies of the constitution suitable for using in the bathroom. You think sheepskin is soft on your bottom? Pick up your free copy at Wal Mart made in China of course.
Want a free copy of the Constitution, eh? I can help.
http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2008/09/free-copy-of-us-constitution-can-be.html
Americans are SO not ready for this. The civil war that breaks out will not be aimed at the governmnet, but at each other. Bar your windows and buy a shot gun.
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