BIG POCKETS - small wallets... What is our financial status today? - What is hiding behind tomorrow?

Most of us are not economists, nor accountants. In fact many of us may even be managing our finances deficiently... , but that is the norm i suppose.
However in the recent past world economics have plunged to a status of desper and degradation. At least this is what is commonly accepted as a fact by the public. What is your opinion?

Anyways, i was watching my pocket schrinking recently, dangling within a pocket which still has the same bills to provide for, week in-week out. I take it is not due to me becoming sudenly awfully bad with my moneykeeping. After all i was rising financialy, until recently when that uphill trend came to a halt of a few months untill the recent decline.... It is not as bad yet but where is all this getting to?

Do you have the same symptoms?
Even if you don't, what is your opinion?

Analysts from around the world talk about a 2-3 year crisis, while others think that the situation will not improve before adjusting for a 5 year period.

Feel free to describe your own situation and views.



[edit on 8/1/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

[edit on 8/1/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

well well back on track on the correct board this time
(had posted this thread on the wrong board...)
lets get talking !!!

Self employed designer/craftsman, flyfishing guide and outfitter, bass player in a Blues/Rock band and actor/extra/standin in the TV/Movies.

Thank God for the movie business because my other businesses are in dire straights and facing chapter 13.

Most folks just don't have the discretionary income anymore to keep my small businesses afloat; but I'm adaptable and don't mind going into a new profession with the entertainment industry.

Financially I'm at my lowest point in 30 years. Thanks "W"

OK LETS GET STARTED!!!!

self employed engineer
my work simply depends on how much money people have in order to design and build what they need....... and their money part recently is not good, which has an imediate effect on my income.
Please note that my expenses are exactly the same as before, not to mention the loss of income due to broke customers......

As such i am in the lowest point since i established my own office....

Speaking with colleagues , they say they are in a similar situation.
Now considering that and my customers fate, things don t look that good.
My oppinion: It will start looking prety ugly soon and for at least two years thereafter....

TAKE CARE!

i suppose most of us don t feel confident speaking about their financial status....
As such this thread is condemned to die.

[edit on 14/1/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

reply to post by whaaa

---

You blame your fly fishing business failing on "W".............?

Really?

I don't mind speaking about my financial status.

I'm a IT contractor at the moment, so my finances are up and down all the time because I don't always have work when a contract ends.

I do my best to save up for the times I might not find work quick enough.

Im finishing my current contract at a large bank end of this month and I have enough saved up to live comfortably for 3 months.

And i'd still be able to go to nice dinners and buy a xbox 360 game or 2.

I'm actually looking forward to a month of no work, i don't let the money stuff bother me all that much, i always end up finding work somewhere anyway.

Australia is a awesome place to live

Well, not "W" per se but his dumbass approach to trickle down economics and his war on the middle class depriving them of the disposable income they once enjoyed. The policies he instituted are going to take 10yrs. to rectify.

Only a retard or a corporate whore would support him after the mess his administration started.

its not so much whats hiding behind tomorrow...
its what is being obscured today.


the fix is in: the banks & such are 'Too Big To Fail"
& individual elite, manipulators like Mr. Madsen are 'Too Rich For Jail"


i've noticed that the responses so far are by 'independents'...
not so much (imho) because youse don't want to be confined in a union shop...
but because the outsourcing/offshore business models are forcing youse to
contract for far less than the Prevailing Wage w/Benefits.


hey, glad ya'll are 'making it'

Makes sense, I sold benefit packages to self employed peoples (meanings, I ran my own brokerage of insurance and retirement products) .. when your business is failing, whats the first thing you do? .. Drop your insurance. Whats the last thing you do? .. Cash in your annuities/ROTHS, etc ...

In September it was end game for me. So I feel your pain. I don't necessarily blame Bush *as an individual) so much as I blame the system .. every SOB that worked for the banks, ran the banks, ran the Gov, ran our economic policies, etc etc since the 1980's from Reagan onward imo is to blame. Then the people for supporting, the yuppies and their mcmansions.. consumerism ..

I think this economic downturn is just FANTASTIC, and I've been getting ready for it since the spring of 2005. This economic decline is GREAT for quite a number of reasons.

The first beneficial reason is that CONSUMPTION is way down, and THAT is SUPER GREAT for mother Earth and our ecology. I'll be dancing in the streets when nobody can afford an iPod, ha.

Secondly, this situation is causing many folks to loose access to credit, and THAT should have happened a long time ago (living beyond ones means is simply STUPID and irresponsible and leads to people being ripped off when these irresponsible ones eventually file for bankruptcy).

And next, as many folks loose their jobs working for BIG BUSINESS, and those jobs disappear, this will eventually lead to a lot of folks having to take charge of their own lives and start doing the self-employment thing, instead of depending upon a nanny world to give them jobs and such.

And the last reason I think all this is great is that people are beginning to SAVE instead of spending all the time. Folks need to wake up and realize they can't expect their descendants to pick up the tab for their retirement. Social security is a farce scam that simply means that one can act stupid today and expect their children to carry them as a burden when they retire.

As the economy declines, the PTB will loose control of everything and all their plans to dominate our lives will fall apart as we all turn to depending upon ourselves instead. My situation now doesn't really rely or depend upon what happens with the economy. If not for what I read in the news, I wouldn't have a clue that the economy is crashing. I've been looking forward to this crash for some time now. It's a wake up call for all the sheeple! It is also the consequence of all this outsourcing manufacturing and importing going on today. As things totally fall apart, maybe folks will start up their own businesses making the things we need instead of sending never ending piles of cash to China for all their needs.

What is going on today may seem bad, BUT it is necessary, and it will eventually FORCE a correction that is long over due.

Divinorumus, I'm glad your situation is unaffected by the economy but the above quote is one of the dumbest things I have ever read on this forum.

The PTB won't lose control! They will actually gain more control because they already own the grid, food distribution networks, water works, power generation stations, communication networks,and last but not least, the military, cops and other goons to enforce their will. There will be no mutiny because the enforcers know who butters their bread.

The masses will fall in line and acquiesce to the will of the PTB for a bottle of water and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

And the survivalist rabble rouser's will be hunted down from helicopters and killed like dogs or captured and tortured to set an example for the other peons.

I'm hoping I can see the signs before the shtf and scoot across the border and watch the melt down from a tropical island.

It's a brave new world, welcome to the monkey house.

[edit on 15-1-2009 by whaaa]

Well blame the sheeple for that. My gawd, how did humans ever manage to survive until the nanny state was invented?


Do you really think they have that many helicopters? This is one huge planet. If ya'll can't find big foot or Bin Looney, I doubt the PTB can find all the survivalists!

Oh, I think the FBI has infiltrated survivalist groups just like they have the KKK and probably by posting on this site the PTB know your url, your name, where your kids go to school, who your doctor is, and your high school GPA. If they want you.... they got cha!

It's a brave new world, welcome to the monkey house!



[edit on 15-1-2009 by whaaa]

reply to post by whaaa

---

after all, there are some of us that see beyond that shiny cover...

The more i talk with people, the uglyer i belive thing will become by Easter....

I'm in Australia and things are somewhat uncertain at the moment. The Government is doing its best to create employment and stimulate the economy....the results are yet to be determined.

However what I would like to understand is how the unemployed are looked after by social security system in USA. In Australia the unemployed can be on Government Benefits while they are looking for work, plus provided with retraining and job skills. Some are on these unemployment benefits for years on end.

Can someone enlighten me on the Government assistance given to the unemployed in America.

First off, social security is not unemployment. You don't get social security until age 65 or if you become disabled, it is meant to be a supplement to retirement savings. It is a tax that is taken out of your paycheck as long as you remain employed, it is funded by YOU and is based on how much you put into the system throughout your working life. Most retirement benefits from companies take into consideration how much social security you're projected to get in their retirement calculations.

Unemployment Insurance, I believe, is what you're talking about. This is insurance that your employer pays for and the state government administers (in normal circumstances, I think the government is supplementing this now though). You can collect unemployment only if you were employed immediately before you apply for it, if you're found not at fault for dismissal (in other words you can't quit or be fired and get it, usually it's for layoffs), only for a year, and only if you are looking for work and documenting your search. It is not a viable substitution for employment though because it pays a very minimal amount. I don't know what the formula is but it is very low.

Thanks for putting me straight on this!

It alarms me that Americans can only get assistance for a year - I mean with the current global downturn unemployment for many will be long term. Obama should take a look at the Australian Welfare System in general. For example in December 2008 millions of Australians on Government assistance were Given $1,000 - $1600 each as part of Economic Stimulus package to combat low spending caused by global crisis.

Anyway thanks again for replying

[edit on 2/1/2009 by MyXlog]