Accent on Action
I want to be very clear about something that is central to my Action Plan: You must commit to actually taking action. I’ll get to it.” If you care about financial security for yourself and your family, if you want to do everything in your power to protect your-self and your future, you will not get there with wishful thinking or procrastination.
| You cannot sit this one out, hoping that the storm will pass and everything will be just fine. If you do nothing, I am sorry to say you may be in even de per trouble in 2010. The fact is, the new reality requires new strategies. They will not necessarily be wholesale changes in every aspect of your financial life, but tactical actions to make sure you do not let the credit crisis knock you of course. Some of the most crucial actions require pushing yourself to stay committed to all the smart moves you have already made but may now be questioning. I know many of you are thinking there is no point in continuing to invest for retirement as long as the markets are down. Big, big mistake. Now is an incredibly smart time to invest for retirement, because the markets are down— assuming, of course, you have at least 10 years until you will need that money. Same goes for your 529 college savings plan for a young child. There is to be no curling up in a fetal position on the couch in 2009 hoping that when you emerge the crisis will have passed. No assuming that there is a government bailout or Wall Street rally right around the corner that will fix everything for you without any effort on your part. You will have to get of the couch and take control of your financial life in 2009. Make that commitment this year and you will build a solid financial foundation that you can stand on when everything around you is crumbling and that you can build on when the good times return. |
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We Will SurviveAs we continue to claw our way out of the credit crisis while contending with an economic recession, I need you to be able to se the big picture: though these are rocky times, our economy will be fine. Our markets will recover. We will all survive. That said, I want to be very clear: he recovery is not going to be quick or easy. |
| So if we’re not going to se a quick turnaround of the economy in 2009, why am I insisting that you take action? Precisely because we are in for tough times. You need to protect what you have. Protect your family. And protect your chances of still reaching your long-term goals. Let’s face it, in the past you didn’t really have to work too hard at building financial security. You plowed money into your 401(k) and IRA in the 1990s and you watched the market post an annualized gain of 18 %. At that rate, you figured early retirement was a distinct possibility. Then, in 2000, the real estate bubble began and you got used to annual price gains of 10 % or more. It was easy to feel like you had it made. And yet here we are. The major stock market benchmark indexes have fallen back to where they were in 1998. Home values, on average, have already slid back to their 2004 levels, and I expect we have more downside to get through before real estate stabilizes. My point is, you just can’t show up and expect easy market gains to get you where you want to go. The days of easy money are long gone. But, my friends, haven’t I always said that when it comes to your money, it’s not about doing what’s easy—it’s about doing what’s right? The plan in this book is going to help you do what’s right. You can read this book cover to cover, go directly to the topic that worries you the most, or skip around as you se it. No matter how you approach it, the goal is for you to make the right moves in 2009 to alleviate the stress, fear, and anger you’re feeling and replace it with the secure sense that you have done what it takes to protect yourself, the money you have worked so hard for, and the ones you love. |
