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Financial Jitters?
It's hard to write about healthy vision when I'm distracted. All that I can see these days is red ink!I'm getting queasy feelings.
Check this out. I just got done talking to my financial advisor about the current economic crisis. Most of the time this guy is a crackerjack, confidently recommending surefire investments that usually do well. Just as often he'll call to advise me when to make adjustments to my IRA. Simply stated, the fellow always had a quick answer.
Today he had no answers...not even predictions. I've never heard him equivocate before and this made me very concerned. 'Hey! If my financial advisor has run out of ideas what are the rest of us supposed to do?'
Are you having queasy feelings, too?
As of today the stock market has lost 35% of its value from its peak a year ago. Guess what? It's not as bad as you may think. During the 2001-2003 Internet bubble collapse stocks tanked 50%! Of course, the circumstances and the market dynamics are very different - tech stock speculators back then versus decimation of the national housing market today. There's no guarantee we will experience a similar rebound over the next 4 years, but I hope we do.
Fear can be misinterpreted as apathy. I haven't changed anything in my portfolio yet because I'm guessing that the future will be better than the present. Most of my stock investments involve blue chip companies that will still be around after the dust has settled. If I sell-off the stock I'll take a loss and have to pay a commission before I can reinvest the funds. Oh, reinvestment isn't free either. Then after everything improves I'll pay more commissions to get back into stocks. Ouch!
Some folks are totally cashing-out, buying insured CDs or US Treasury bonds. Nobody seems interested in the interest rates, they just want a safe haven. I hope they find it. A neighbor of mine has a big safe in his house and he has been hoarding cash over the past few months. Would you consider that wise planning?
I'd like to hear from others with their reactions to the national (er, global!) financial mess. Maybe with some smart advice I would become less distracted and feel a little less queasy.
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