Good to be back home
By Jay Author | November 11, 2008
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First of all I want to apologize to all my readers for such a long absense from my blog. Actually I had gone for a short vacation and then I got the bug which hospitalized me. Any way I kept talking to hospital folks about the current economy and kept watching US elections on TV. I feel really good being back home.
Today I was reading a news which was about Nortel Networks switching to survival mode. Well Nortel is not the first one to get into this crisis mode. Many other reputed ones are already taking the necessary actions to keep surviving. What’s important to note here is that Nortel is laying off again 1300 employees? Did you notice the word again after laying off? Can you think of all of these employees who are being laid off in the current economic environment? I kept thinking about all of these folks while I was in the hospital. This can be real tough if you don’t get the job soon. Now you know why I preach for keeping fit for the recession!
Here is another news - US pledged more support for struggling insurer AIG on Monday as international action to halt the financial crisis failed to dent investor sentiment that the economy was in for a long and deep recession.
By sharing all of this, I don’t want to sound gloomy or a negative person. I believe that any one can face this tough situation due to any reason and every one should be ready for the current economic environment.
No Tag
Topics: credit | No Comments »
Ressession Fighting Tips for Your Family
By Jay Author | October 9, 2008
Every one is feeling the pressure of the current US financial crisis. In fact I should not say now that it is only US financial crisis but the global crisis. Today International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that there could be global recession.
So what should you do in the current environment? Here are some tips for your consideration:
1. Stop living on credit cards. If you don’t have cash in your bank, start changing your lifestyle. But make it a financial discipline that you would not use any credit cards at least for few months. If you do this, you will start reducing your monthly expenses. This works for real!
2. Be honest with yourself and with your family about your financial situation. Sit down with your family and share your financial situation with them. Ask for their help in reducing the expenses. If you can cut the expenses and start saving that money, bingo you should start doing that.
3. If you have any higher interest debts, start looking for money which you can divert to pay off this debt.
4. Make a plan if you loose your job, what will you do. What other family members will do? Start preparing for contingency plans. When you discuss all of this with your family, they may give you weird look. But it’s OK. Your job is start preparing for the unforeseen and keep your family together. It’s easier to fight out any recession together as a family if all the family member starts working rather than only 1 or 2 family members. Support each other during any tougher time and you will come out as a winner.
5. Preserve your savings if you can. Don’t use your savings for any luxury items. If you have to pay off higher interest debt, it’s ok to use your savings but not for other reasons.
6. If you plan for the emergency before it hits you, you can handle it better. So prepare a plan and keep reviewing it as you go along.
7. If your house is becoming a liability for you, then put in on rent and you move out to a smaller place. With so many foreclosures, there is more supply of houses for rent than the demand. Take benefit of it! But don’t move out before you put it on rent.
Even though the above steps may be small steps but these will help you a lot in overcoming the tougher times.
At the end, don’t loose the hope and remain optimistic. All the best!
tags: credit cards credit management credit management tips debt management Recession tips
Topics: debt management tips, budgeting tips, debt, credit management tips, money, credit | 3 Comments »
US Bailout Package and Impact on the Credit Market
By Jay Author | October 4, 2008
Finally the $700 billion US bailout package is approved by the US House of Representatives!
Imagine if this was not done! We have already seen the more than $1.2 trillion worth of losses at the stock market. But more than this, do you know what was going in the credit market? State of California could not access the credit due to banks not extending any credit. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is currently asking US federal government for $7 billion US in emergency federal funding to meet the state needs.
Due to current market scenario, banks are very reluctant to lend even to other banks and state governments. When this starts happening, the whole financial system starts failing. We already know that businesses and consumers were not getting any access to credit. If you are an employee and your employer does not get access to credit, your paycheck may be delayed. If this continues for long, then you can imagine the pressure on you as well as on your employer to arrange for your paycheck.
If the US rescue package brings any sanity to current financial woes, then hopefully this should bring some stability in the short term basis. Is this enough to bring the stock market back to it’s original days? Of course not, this will not bring any such upswing but will boost the confidence level and this will help in stabilizing the market.
When it comes to housing, my estimation is that US housing prices will still continue to decline by another 10 to 15 percent. And we need to remember that the days of cheap and easy credit are gone at least for few years.
If you want to benefit from this current situation, you should start looking at the US market seriously. If you are going to ask me whether US stock markets have hit bottom. I don’t know and I wish I could know about it so that I could make millions. You may ask me why I should benefit from the current difficult situation. Is it ethically correct? I believe if we are not doing anything illegal and not harming any person by benefiting from the stock market’s current situation, then it is fair to do it.
So if you are looking for some reliable stock trading systems and options, here are some for your easy reference:
2. Fire Trading
Enjoy the above resources and make money!
tags: US bailout package US credit US credit crunch US credit market US financial crisis US stock marketTopics: mortgage, latest credit news, debt, foreclosures, credit, money, latest money news | 1 Comment »
Tips for Your Retirement 401(K) Account During Current Financial Crisis
By Jay Author | September 27, 2008
Many of my friends are worried now as they can’t retire early now. Are you in the same shoes? Even if you are not, here are some good tips which I recommend to every one:
Tip#1: Whatever your current condition is, if you can add more money to your 401(K) account, then keep doing it. You should not stop looking your future just because the current financial crisis. You should look at the long term of your retirement account and it is the right strategy not to change your current contribution to your retirement account.
Tip#2: Don’t stop your current contribution or reduce your current contribution to 401(K) account. If you stop your contribution to retirement account, you stop missing your employer’s matching contribution. So you will miss the free money.
Tip#3: Don’t change your retirement plans due to market conditions. You should plan for a long term and don’t try to time the market. If you are fond of market timing to maximize your returns, then you should open a separate investment account and try your skills there. You should not touch your retirement account for your investment hobby.
Tip#4: If you have invested your retirement fund through fund managers, don’t try to take control to yourself because of the current market crisis. Again if you want to play the market, then you should open an investment account and then use your investment skills with this account. You should not try your skills with your retirement account.
Right now the economy is on a very shaky ground and many stocks are on sale. So if you want to take benefit of this market, then educate yourself with how to play market and then only take benefit of this market.
Here are some good resources on learning stock investment tricks:
4. Secrets of Succesful Traders
tags: investment account market timing tips retirement retirement 401(k) tips for 401(k) tips for retirement trading tips
Topics: budgeting tips, latest money products, money | 4 Comments »
Is It Canada’s Turn after US Meltdown?
By Jay Author | September 25, 2008
Do you think Canada is in the queue for the next financial crisis after US? So far not many economists are talking about it. There might be few who are questioning if the mortgage crisis can happen in Canada. Well no one may like it but Canada is already going through housing price decline phase. Some may call it stabilization phase and some may call it decline due to unaffordability. Whatever you call it, the housing sector is currently going down in Canada.
Overall Canadian economy is more conservative than the US one and I am sure Canadians are closely watching US developments, so I doubt if a similar situation like US will be in Canada. However what I am noticing is that housing prices are going down but mortgage is going up. So this means that assets are going down and debt is growing. We all know what happens when this situation reaches to a tipping point. No secrets! In fact this is what happened in US. When people like us realized that we can’t afford our house any more, either homeowners walked out of their houses or started selling houses at the bottom prices. When this happened, house prices started to decline very fast and led to foreclosure boom.
Even though there is some similarity between US and Canadian situation but the extent of house price decline is still limited in Canada. So can it happen in Canada? Of course it can very well happen but the impact may be limited compared to US situation.
Again some good websites where you can get more tips on how to stop your foreclosure:
1. How to Survive a Foreclosure?
3. 6 Simple Steps to Avoid Foreclosure!
4. How to Prevent Foreclosure Guide?
tags: Canada meltdown financial crisis foreclosure US foreclosure US foreclosures US meltdownTopics: mortgage, latest credit news, foreclosure tips, foreclosures, money, latest money news | 2 Comments »
Can US Afford to Spend Billions of Dollars to Bailout US Economy?
By Jay Author | September 21, 2008
Do you know how many companies US Federal Reserve has bailed out so far? Let us start with the big names; Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500), Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500), the $85 billion loan to American International Group (AIG, Fortune 500), the world’s largest insurer and $50 billion to guarantee money-market funds. And let us not forget that failure of big banks like Lehman Brothers (LEH, Fortune 500) and Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500). Is this the end of the failure of our banks? I guess, not!
I think US may have to spend many more billions to maintain the liquidity in the market and to relieve financial institutions of their troubled mortgage assets.
US economy is close to $14 trillion worth of goods and services a year. Imagine Federal Reserve spending close to a trillion to bailout the US economy. That is lots of cash even for US. What will be the long term impact on our economy? I think this will impact the value of US dollar.
I visualize few key impacts and I am listing the same here to see if you agree:
1. Consolidation of US financial institutions
2. Drop in the US Dollar against all major currencies
3. Shake out of weaker firms due to current market dynamics
4. Drop in housing prices by another 15 - 20% and more in some markets
There is one thing no one wants to have the economy grinding to a halt. So even if congress may not agree with the plan, there are not many choices and US has to go ahead with the plan.
Some Good News Sources for Your Easy Reference:
1. What brought down Wall Street?
2. Seven Days that Shook Wall Street
3. Congress Promises Quick Action
No TagTopics: money, latest money news | No Comments »
The US Bailout Mania: Impact on Our Pockets!
By Jay Author | September 20, 2008
Did you watch the news where Bush said that US needs a big bailout package because the current crisis is a big problem? Well when president says that it means very serious to you and me. I am sure US economy is nothing less than the Great Depression days.
What is this bailout package? Based on the current information available, US Treasury wants to purchase the securities at a discount and then hold these securities until they can sell it for profit. Conceptually it sounds great. It’s like any investor going after bargains and then selling them when there is sufficient appreciation. So it is very workable. The only major difference here is that when US Treasury buys all these securities, they are playing with Tax Payer’s money which is yours and mine.
Do we have any choice?
It is easy to answer this question if we analyze what will happen if US government does nothing. As more and more banks continue to fail, other banks will stop extending loans. And those banks which have already failed, think of customer’s current situation as they don’t know if their savings are safe. Imagine the impact on the retirement accounts! If banks stop lending money, there will be severe shortage of money supply. Many smaller business will start failing. This is almost like a chain reaction which starts putting pressure on everything. We have already seen major banks like Lehman Brothers (LEH, Fortune 500) and Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) fallen and the Federal Reserve was forced to lend $85 billion to prevent the sudden collapse of insurance giant American International Group (AIG, Fortune 500). When this can happen to our well respected financial institutions, it can happen to any other banks.
So I guess you know that we don’t have a choice. The best thing is for US government to keep consumer’s interest in mind and implement the bail out package. Will this stop the housing value price slide? I think this will not help to stop the fall of housing prices at least for few months. However this should help in holding the stock market and keeping the banks running which should limit any further major economic impact on us. But who knows, what’s yet to come? Let us keep praying that our government does the right thing so that our economy gets back to good old days. Amen!
No TagTopics: money, latest money news | No Comments »
Economic Impact of Hurricane Ike
By Jay Author | September 14, 2008
If you were watching the TV News, you know that 14 Texas refineries with a total capacity of 3.8 million barrels of crude a day have been shut down.
Imagine the impact of this!
Did you refill your car in last couple of days? If yes, then you already know that gas prices have gone up.
Of course officials will confirm the damage but it could be close to many billion dollars. If you don’t agree with me, then you should either watch the news or wait for few days for official confirmation.
What does this mean to you and me?
The immediate impact will be more gas prices we all have to pay now until supply and demand of gas balances out. We all know that it takes longer time to rebuild anything.
If refineries take more time to restart and build the gas stock, then there will be bigger impact on larger consumers like airlines, railroads and trucking companies. This means that we have to pay more for our grocery bill, air tickets and in fact most of the day-to-day items.
Imagine the insurance saga! Those who have suffered damages, will pursue with insurance if they were covered. We all know that it takes time to get the claims sorted out. And in future these insurance companies will either start charging more for insurance or stop offering insurance for hurricane prone areas.
There will be more pressure on health facilities as people will be looking for help. So we may have to wait for more time to get the medical attention for regular diseases.
It will take time to reopen businesses and offices which have been damaged badly. This means there will be more losses besides just the direct hurricane damages.
If there is any major damage to drilling rigs, it means more time to get back to original crude oil supply. This could mean higher gas prices for longer time.
You can see that most of the economic activities are inter-connected with energy and in this case gasoline. So higher the gas prices, bigger the impact on the economic activities.
While above looks grim, but this situation will also bring many positives as people will he helping the needy ones and we will find many good heroes soon. This will also bring community closer.
As always, American people will fight out this like any other challenge.
I wish god to be more kind to hurricane Ike impacted people!
Jay Author
No TagTopics: money, latest money news | No Comments »
Insider Secrets of Cost Cutting for Students - Tip#3
By Jay Author | September 13, 2008
Well I have already covered two main areas i.e. housing and car buying cost reduction tips. Today I am going to share with you another important area i.e. how to optimize on grocery purchase. So here is the third tip my dad shared with me.
Tip#3: Save on Grocery & Food Bills
Do you go to restaurant daily? Well you can save money by buying pre-cooked or packaged food from your local grocery store and prepare in the microwave during your lunch break. You can also find out some good places in your town where you can get home-cooked meals which normally are more healthy and good for your stomach. When you go to restaurant, you not only buy food but extra items too which adds up your expenses.
If you have habit of picking coffee daily from your favorite shop, try preparing coffee at home. You will save at least $3 every day. You must be saying it’s just $3. Imagine if you follow this routine, you will save $90 every month which becomes $1,080 per annum. Small steps lead to big savings!
You can also buy ‘no-name’ products in place of branded ones. You should also use saving coupons whenever you can. You should also look for special promotions when you can save more money.
There are some internet saving coupons websites available where you can print the saving coupons before you go for your shopping.
Topics: student loan tips, budgeting tips, debt management tips, credit management tips | No Comments »
Insider Secrets of Cost Cutting for Students - Tip#2
By Jay Author | September 13, 2008
The next big cost after housing for students as well as for others normally is buying a car. If you can avoid buying a car and manage with the public transportation, then that is ideal. But if you have to buy a car, then please don’t rush and buy a car just like that. You need to do your homework very carefully and put all the options on a piece of a paper. Why I am asking you to write down? Because this will take away all the emotions from your buying decision process. If you can discuss with your buddy your decision criteria, that’s ideal. Here is the watch out for you, don’t put up the decision criteria after you like a car because of goodies or toys. Challenge yourself with ‘why you need those goodies’ question.
Tip#2: Be a Smart Car Buyer
Here are the detailed steps for you:
1. Put up your decision criteria on a piece of paper and then stick to it.
2. Check out for car newspapers, magazines, websites and community news bulletins for deals. Don’t forget to check out at your community and grocery shop bulletin boards.
3. Check out the potential car for thorough inspection. If you have a friend who is more knowledgeable about cars than you, ask for his or her help. If you know a mechanic, ask for his help. You can also check about cars using websites like if the car had any accidents, maintenance history etc. You just need car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) which is the unique 17-character number and you can find it on the car dashboard. All of this information can be very useful in negotiating a better price for the car.
4. Never pay the sticker or asking price. It doesn’t matter if you are buying from a private seller or from a dealer. Do your homework and work out your buying price and then negotiate with the seller for the best possible deal.
5. While shopping for the car, you should remember that you have to pay car insurance too. Car insurance premium varies from brand to brand and make to make. Insurance companies do their research and check out what cars are more prone to be stolen and accordingly they fix the premiums. This information is easily available on the internet for various states. You should check out this before finalizing your deal.
6. You should also shop around for the car insurance. You should also take benefit of car alarms, anti-theft devices, discount for insurance class and many other such options which can reduce your insurance premium.
7. When you put up your car buying budget, you should add at least 15-20% on top of that to be more realistic. As you start looking for cars, you sometime find very good deal which may be little beyond your budget but you really love that car. Even though I have been saying that you should stick to your budget but if you get your dream car with little extra, it’s worth it. You need to love your car so that you can take care of it properly.
You can check out for some valuable Auto Loan resources here:
You can also check out for some valuable Auto Insurance resources here:
tags: car buying car buying tips car insurance car insurance tips cost cutting tips
Topics: student loan tips, budgeting tips, debt management tips, credit management tips | No Comments »