COMMON SENSE

Skepticism runs deep in my psyche along with a mistrust of the often touted ‘expert opinion’. I also dig my heels in when I feel I am being sold something with scare tactics-as in do this OR ELSE.

I put money aside every paycheck into my 401K, I save into our emergency fund (and now house fund) money market account, I put extra toward the principle of our mortgage (which translates as ‘death-grip’ BTW). But I have a tip about this hot new investment that I plan to give a whirl-MYSELF!

Last year’s financial crisis was something of a revelation for me. Watching my carefully gathered funds just vanish made me feel helpless, just totally powerless. It was soon after that I reduced my 401K deduction drastically. Instead of putting money in a precarious house of cards, I wanted to invest in my own house-my own homestead-my own ‘retirement’. Yes, my taxable income is higher, but I feel it is a small price to pay for honoring that inner-voice.

I have made the decision to look at retirement in a whole different light. For many, retirement is the tantalizing carrot dangling just out of reach, waiting as a reward for 40 years of unrewarding work. ‘When I retire I will be able to enjoy my life.’ ‘When I retire I can really get into my hobbies.’ I don’t have any intention of waiting.

My investment in our future is starting now, while I am still healthy and strong. My husband and I can still break ground, install fencing, and start an orchard; if I wait until 65 that will not happen. I do not plan to retire to The Village in Florida, or play a lot of golf, or go on cruises when I am old. I foresee myself working part-time until I am physically unable (I do love my career when I can find balance!). I see myself helping to raise my (great?) grandchildren.

Compound interest is a wonderful thing and don’t get me wrong-I will continue to save and invest. But I am going to ‘diversify my portfolio’ just a little!

Twenty years down the road-worst case scenario: my 401K retirement nest egg may dry up and blow away, the FDIC may not be able to keep up with banking collapses, food and fuel prices may skyrocket. But with acreage owned, goats in the shed and potatoes in the clamp, I can feed myself. With a wood plot and a passive solar design I can stay warm. With solar panels I can pump water. You get the idea. I may not be saving for the future but I sure as hell am investing in my future.


A Small Life – http://hickchicks-smalllife.blogspot.com/

Technorati Tags: 401k, business, Compound interest, emergency fund, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, investing, Investment, Money market deposit account, retirement, saving

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If  Wall Street’s Greed  and Politician’s Fear could have solved the financial crisis, then why did we have to go through the pain of  last year?

For free market capitalism to work, both Main Street and Wall Street have to have greed and fear.   Even today, they average long term investor is only “Fearful” of missing the bull next rally.  They do not have any “fear of  losing everything”.  The “baby boomers” have taken the “buy, hold, and hope theory” to the maximum level, being eternally over optimistic with regards to the economy.  After all, they learned investing  during the 80’s and 90’s when the market had spectacular gains.  Now the baby boomers find themselves in a difficult position, believing the market will go up and the value of their homes will go up at the same time!   Currently, many baby boomers are putting off their retirement, once again,  hoping the markets will reward them for the failed theory of “buy, hold, and hope investing strategy“.

Fear and Greed are supposed to rule the markets, yet Wall Street has conditioned you to only have “fear” of missing the next bull rally. So you buy, hold,  and hope for the next bull market rally! You wanted cheap goods, cheap oil, while continuously buying more and consuming more!  I remember in 2008, when people were complaining about gasoline being at $5 a gallon.  I asked them, which is more valuable, a gallon of gas or your 401k plan?  The value of you portfolio in you 401k plan is directly linked to economy of oil, and oil to your stock market gains!

Meanwhile, the market media matrix was touting Goldie locks economy, green shoots, what is their next slogan to get you to spend every dime of your paycheck?

Wall Street has “Greed”, and no fear.  Wall Street tells the politicians as the markets were falling, ” we are all in this together”!    Last year, there were secret cigar smoking strategy rooms, weekend mergers, hostile takeovers, and plenty of back alley back stabbings stealing assets from weaker competitors.  The dog eat dog world of Wall Street, everyone was fighting to stay alive.

Now, just a year later, no one is talking about the “toxic assets” that are still held by those  bailout cry babies.   Meanwhile Bernake, Geitner, and Kardashin, are bringing in tons of cash to shore up the financial services industry with the indentured taxpayer!  The next market crash, will ensure the debts to your children and grandchildren.

OUR country’s  future is foretold  in the headlines of history,  “The 100 Trillion Dollar Note” as  Zimbabwe tries to stifle the fires of hyper inflation.   Politician’s Fear taking preventive actions, only to act decisively during a crisis, always choosing the  politically expedient  incompetent answer. A Trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon we are talking about “real money”!  Spending 25% of the nation’s GNP has never solved any  nation’s debt problem in the history!   The idiots in congress have never managed a busines, let alone a simple  a “hot dog stand”, yet they want to master mind economic recovery with an estimated100 Trillion in unfunded liabilities.

The Politician’s Greed, for incumbency forces him to take action during a crisis.  He rejects free market capitalism  correcting mechanism,       forgoing the short term temporary pain of a Depression.  He purposes silly fixes and proudly announces that he has solve the problem.

Engineering our way to  a Weimar Republic, which could be worse than a “Great Depression“.   In either case, hyper inflation or depression,  you will still have to have food!  If you don’t have 6 month to a years supply of food, that may be your best investment choice over the next 6 months.  Time is running out, you cannot simply trust in the “buy, hold, and hope” theory any more!

Doc

History Repeats!

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Technorati Tags: baby boomers, business, Great Depression, investing, Investment, market media matrix, market trend, stock market, Stocks and Bonds, Wall Street

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Final wrap up of secular markets and the dangers of “buy and hold” theory that wall street touts through it’s “market media matrix” networks.  If you review the videos, part one shows you how a typical depression era bear market behaves.  The price action is similar to that of the NASDAQ market, reaching a high of 5000 points only to lose 80%.   It has been 9 years, and yet the NASDAQ  has failed to return to new highs. However, the Dow Industrial Index made new highs.  The reason for the Dow Jones Industrial average reaching new highs was because this index is largely “commodity based”.   The stock exchanges changed the stocks of this index during the first cyclical bear market in 2000, putting a few high tech stock into the index and some diversified financial services.  The Fed has created the biggest liquidity trap in history of the world, by creating the housing bubble through mortgages and other creative financial products.   These problems have not been addressed, but the Fed and the Treasury have placed your children and grand children into bondage through confiscatory taxes.

None of the “toxic assets” have been sold, yet, the Wall Street Traders and you, being invested in your 401k plans, have been participate in this short term cyclical bull market since March of this year.   You have also been conditioned to “believe”  Wall Street” can solve all the financial crisis, even the politicians have been convinced.  However, if you have any doubts about Wall Street’s competence, then you should be worried about the next financial crisis.  Using some common sense, and some technical training, you can determine when the market is overbought and over sold.   I have developed some simple tools to get you started.  I will be doing the rest of the 9 myths about investing over the next several weeks.  If you have any questions,  please email me or leave comments on the blog.  You will have to be registered to leave comments, so go register and let me help you out of a loosing position.  You can follow me on twitter, which I send updates on 401k plans, insurance companies, banks, and other financially interesting story I find on the internet.

Doc

Technorati Tags: 9 myths, baby boomers, bull market, investing, Investment, market, market cycles, technical analysis

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The Buy and Hold Myth, part 5, looking at next week, the market will have  price reminisces of last years stock market.  Now, if you thought the market reached it’s low last year, you still suffered losses through the low in March 2009.  How would you like to learn how to avoid these unnecessary market drops, you will have to learn technical analysis to time the market during these short term cycles.  My blog post in Jan, 2006, I explain how the market media matrix manipulates into thinking there is always and eternal bull market.  I reviewed Jane Bryant Quinn article about the theory of “buy and hold” for long term investors.  I think you will find it interesting to know that if you missed the best 90 days of market gains, you would have a paltry$2.70 for every dollar invested.  If you followed the “buy and hold” theory, you would have $75 for every dollar invested.  Now that sounds like a good case for buy and hold, right?

However, if you would have missed the worst 90 days of the market, your gains would have been $1694!   I guess Wall Street’s “market media matrix” does want you to know about that!

• A.  buy, hold, hope for 42 years for 90 good days in the market, results $75.
• B.  time the market yourself and miss the best 90 performing days, results $2.70
• C.  use Doctrader’s  “red signal line” to avoid the worst performing 90 days of the market, results $1694.

Raise your hand if you can see which choice you want!

Introducing the “red signal line” to determine if the market are in a long term bull market or a long term bear market.

Technorati Tags: 9 myths, Analysis, baby boomers, bull market, financial, investing, Investment, market, market media matrix, Part 5, technical analysis

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