(I’m headed out of town for a funeral today, so I spent a bit of time Monday trying to write a few posts to keep you entertained until I get back. But should there be a day or so without posts, don’t worry. It either means I didn’t get anything written for that day or WordPress decided to not publish the entry – usually because I set something wrong. Let’s hope the market stays sane while I’m away.)
I have fallen behind in my Suze Orman watching. Her show airs on Saturday nights, and I always record it on my DVR, but I find that I’m not always watching it. I spent so much time reading about the economy that when I have time to watch tv, I would much rather watch something mindless. But I made a point of watching her episode this weekend. I wanted to see what she would say about the economy.
She described the current economy as being in the ICU right now. The bandages have been put in place, and we appear to be on our way to recovery, but it won’t be fast. There will be little ups and down and little moments of panic, but the economy will recover. The thing to remember is that just like when a person gets out of the ICU, they’re not immediately better. They get out of intensive care and into a regular bed, and they have to work to rehab before they get better. And they have ups and downs, advances and setbacks. Suze believes this is how our economy will react over the next few years. In her opinion, we won’t truly be recovered until 2015.
2015.
I think we all would like a quick fix for the economy, but right now, I would just like to see somewhat of an upward trend, not this series of jumps and drops. It sounds like that’s going to be the norm for a while though. And the less everyone freaks out about what’s going on, the better it will be for all involved.
I just hope those bandages that have been applied to the economy hold for a while.
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
oh man – i hope the trip and all goes okay!!! i’ll keep you in my prayers 🙂 (and i agree, let’s hope those bandages work!)
I would like to rail against out government for a moment. They seem to spend money and time and energy on so many areas that are not necessary. But they neglect to educate and inform people about things such as being wary of too much credit, paying with cash as much as you can, living within your means and getting out of debt. Those things may not supersize our economic engine but they would make for a more stable nation and a happier people in the long run.