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This week Doug Andrew discussed the following:
Upcoming Free Webinar
Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, September 13th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern). The topic is “True Asset and Wealth Optimization.” You’ll learn how to choose the right investments for liquidity, safety, rate of return and tax benefits.
All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.
The Spending That Never Pays Off
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled “The Great Recession and Government Failure” stated that this latest recession might well have been a deep one, even with good government policies.
The article goes on to say that government failure added greatly to its length and severity including its continuation to the present.
One of the more notable components of that government failure:
Nearly a trillion dollars of federal spending that was supposed to stimulate the economy enough to reduce the unemployment rates to under 8%. Of course, if you’ve been listening to the job stats that were recently released over the Labor Day weekend, you know that the actual unemployment rate is now closer to 16%.
Despite the predictions of leading government economists, who were backed up by essentially no evidence, the spending has yet to produce the intended jobs.
What the stimulus has produced is a sizable expansion of the federal deficit and debt. So what does that mean to you and me?
5 years ago the national debt was about $9.2 trillion. With about 100 million workers in this country, that means each taxpayer would have had to write out a check for $92,000 to pay of their share of the national debt. Today we are in far worse shape.
Because of the increase stimulus spending, now every taxpayer would have to pay something in the neighborhood of $146,000 each in order to pay off the national debt. A good way to illustrate this is is to compare the growth of the national debt to a person leaving the East Coast heading for the West Coast.
It took roughly 100 years to get from Washington D.C. to Dallas, Texas. But we’ve covered that much ground in just the last 8 years. That’s how rapidly our national debt is growing.
For the past 3 years we’ve had a continuing artificial stimulus that’s akin to a person pounding down energy drinks to sustain their demanding lifestyle. There’s a short-term caffeine rush followed by a corresponding crash that’s much harsher than it should have been. In the end, we’re no better off.
Another article entitled “Economy Adds Zero Jobs in August as Recession Fears Grow” points out that the U.S. economy’s failure to add any jobs in August is stoking renewed fears of a double dip recession.
These articles illustrate the necessity of creating predictability and certainty to take ownership of your financial future. The prospect of ever-increasing taxes and greater regulation is instead creating exactly the opposite.
Dr. Edwards Deming is the quality management engineer who revolutionized Japan’s manufacturing standard to the quality they put out today. He said that management of anything in your life comes down to predictability. People are not feeling comfortable because they have no predictability about the future.
So how do you create predictability in your life?
Incorporating proven strategies
At least twice in the last decade, people who put their money into IRAs and 401(k)s, where they were told to, ended up losing money based upon what the stock market did. Their nest eggs have yet to fully recover and if they have more money today than they did 10 years ago, it’s because they added more money to it.
On the other hand, those who followed the Missed Fortune strategy of indexing have safely doubled their money at a time when most Americans are just barely getting back to where they once were.
The way indexing works is that you participate indirectly when the economy is doing well, but you don’t lose when the stock market goes down. When the economy does well, you get to participate up to a certain cap.
That cap is around 15% currently, but when there’s high inflation, that cap can go as high as 20-21%. Your rate of return will generally outpace inflation by at least 5%. During down years your money may not grow much, if at all, but you will not lose a penny.
It’s a very simple concept, but those who don’t know about it don’t know what they’re missing.
In the so-called last decade where most people were losing a third or more of the value in their 401(k)s and IRAs, those who were indexing were enjoying a rate of return of 9.6% or more.
Plus your money grows tax free thanks to certain provisions in the IRS code. It’s a much better way than postponing your taxes in a tax-deferred vehicle like and IRA or 401(k) where you’ll absolutely have to pay taxes when you start accessing your money. If you’re banking on tax rates being lower by the time you retire, you’re likely in for a nasty surprise.
These Missed Fortune Strategies are the key to creating predictability and certainty in an increasingly unpredictable and uncertain world.
Learn more by meeting with a Missed Fortune advisor.
Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg. Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.
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