Financial Joe

[roadcarver]

http://financialjoe.com/blogs/financ...t-recover.aspx

Very interesting read...

When will the market recover?
When it recovers! No one can predict it! I’m sick of hearing opinions based on a feeling. If anyone truly knew when the market was going to recover they could be a billionaire.

The market is driven by us. When people don’t spend it affects everything. Businesses can’t survive and shut down, which means employees get laid off and now more aren’t spending.

I look at the amount of people who are unemployed in my home state “Washington” and its mind boggling to think that the numbers would equal everyone who lives in the cities of Kirkland, Bellevue, Issaquah, Redmond, Woodinville, Renton, Bothell, and most of Kent is not working. Then you look at all of the businesses in those cities and think if no one is working whose spending? It’s easy to get caught up in that if you don’t look at the big picture.

I was sitting at a local coffee shop in Kirkland working, yes working. With financialjoe’s budget, office space is considered anywhere that offers free WIFI. Anyway I was talking to one of the Kirkland Firefighters and he made a very interesting comment. He said “The scary thing about right now is if people like me who have very secure jobs, still get cost of living raises, have the opportunity to make overtime without question, and don’t think twice about losing our jobs get conservative with our money, how bad does the economy really have to be”.

I asked him if he was married and if his wife worked and he told me that he was, and she had a job that was just as secure as his. I’m pretty knowledgeable on incomes in the area and I can assure you together as a couple they’re at least making minimum 125K a year. I asked if he would share with me how his family is being conservative with their money. He told me they wanted to replace one of their vehicles that's 9yrs old and take advantage of the manufactures offer of 0% interest. He also told me they decided to delay their family vacation to Disney till 2010.

I asked him why he thinks the economy is so bad, or where he gets his information from. He replied “it’s all over the news”. I said the news? And he replied “Yeah, the news. People are losing their homes, cars, jobs, and everything else”. I asked him if he was close to losing any of that and he said “No, not a bit worried about losing my job”. I asked him if he uses a financial advisor and he said “I have one, but we really don’t talk that much”. I asked him why and he replied “I don’t know, it would be nice to have an idea of what our investments are doing, or if we should sell them or make some changes”.

He asked me what I thought of the market, economy, and the local businesses that have shut down. I bluntly told him that if people like him, or in his financial position, are afraid to spend money when the economy offers them some of the greatest deals they’ll see once or twice in their life time, then we truly are in trouble. I told him that I would be out there replacing my old car and take advantage of paying principle only with no interest; especially where vehicle prices are. I told him that I just got back from taking the family to Disneyland and got the best prices we ever have in the four times we’ve gone. Not to mention the fact that Disney traffic is down by more than a third and we rarely stood in line for more than ten minutes. We also were able to check into our hotel at 8am because the hotel was only half full. We also never had an issue finding a taxi if we wanted go anywhere because there was always ten of them parked on the street desperately waiting for a fare.

So I told him he was crazy for not taking advantage of economic times that offer people in his position some of the best opportunities they will ever see.

I asked him one more question. I said look around right now and tell me how many people are in this coffee shop paying more for the cup of coffee they’re drinking than if they would have made it at home. He counted and said 18. I told him to look out the window across the street to another coffee shop and tell me if it was empty. He replied “No it’s pretty full”. I said then how bad are things really out there? Or, is it just the media focusing on the small percentage that are affected when most are not, yet they choose not to spend like him. He smiled and said “I think I’ll re-talk the Disney trip and car with my wife”.

My question is this? Why is it that a guy like that has to sit with a stranger to have an insightful conversation when he has a financial advisor?

What a disservice!


Cheers,

Shawn Tierney

financialjoe.com