Daily Archives: September 30, 2008
Sold Out
Just a quick update from the last post…The Beach Boys concert was sold out by the time I got there, so it was a no-go.
The Beach Boys and F-15′s!
A couple of neat things…first of all, I’m going to be leaving here shortly to see The Beach Boys at Hostfest in downtown Minot at the state fairgrounds! This is gonna be so cool!
And, I got some really neat pictures of an F-15 fighter jet at work today. They retired the jet not too long ago, and they are in the process of stripping it down to make it a display on base. We got tapped to help move it to another location on the airfield, and while we were out there we were able to snap some photos of it. It used to fly for the Florida Air National Guard. The pics are below, check them out! I’ll also post about the concert later on when I get home!
So, how’s your money doing these days?
The $700 Billion financial bailout bill failed miserably in the House of Representatives yesterday. What does this mean for you? If you have money tucked away under your mattress, it’s probably a lot safer than in any bank account at the moment. Unless your money is insured by the bank, it might be a safe bet to pull out for a little while and let this problem (more like a crisis) be solved…which could take several months at the least. I’ve recently pulled every dime I had out of the stock market, and cashed in my 401K from Walmart. Also, I’ve reduced the amount of money being invested in my Thrift Savings Plan account with the Air Force from 6% down to just 2 -3 %. The TSP is just the military version of a 401K retirement account. Several of the largest banks in the nation have recently collapsed and made a huge mess behind for the rest of us.
I think the bill was important for us to pass. No, it wasn’t popular with taxpayers, however, it was necessary. Breaking it down, the $700 Billion dollars equals out to about $5,400 per taxpayer. Why do I support this? Because in the long term, the costs would be much greater after factoring in possible tax hikes due to this. A one-time pay in from our government on our behalf for this amount is much less harsh than a permanent tax increase for the rest of us to stabilize the financial situation. Also, it wasn’t even guaranteed that the entire $700 Billion would be used. The initial payout would be in the ballpark of $150 – $250 Billion, as a start. The rest of the payout was to be decided after several stages of analysis on how much the first payout had affected the situation in a positive way. Therefore, if only this amount had to be used, the $5,400 per taxpayer would significantly decrease even more.
Nothing in this world is guaranteed…not relationships, not peace, and most of all…not the security of our money.
My only word of advice? A recession will soon be here, so prepare. We’re due for one, it’s just the financial cycle and how it works. It’s inevitable, even if everything goes as planned. Pay attention to where your money is, how safe it is, and make sure you are able at all times to pull it out of the bank at any given moment. Yesterday, the stock market plunged almost 800 points – the largest one day drop in the history of trading in the Unites States. Investors aren’t stupid…they know what’s coming.
