Many Americans Will Never See Stock and Home Values As High As They Were, Again. Our Entire Economy Has Lost Trillions. Accept it and Move-On with Change, As Things Will Never Be as They Were.
It’s a great time to buy a “fill in the blank”, and that’s what the “hype” experts want you to believe. Many of these experts have been wrong for years; many will continue to be wrong for years to come. It’s the continuation of the same thought that has steered our world economy into a depression. Our nation, accept it or not, is in financial ruin; the average American will never be able to spend as they did. It’s a thing of the past and we should all be thankful for that. We all know that millions of Americans lived on credit over the last decade, or more, and that our nation’s companies grew from the “fake” wealth those Americans enjoyed. It’s been an era of living outside our means, purchasing retail items we couldn’t afford with credit cards, and obtaining a loan for larger ticket items we did not need. I know you didn’t live outside your means, but you know a few people that did…on a national scale of 300 million, that’s a pretty big problem. Today is a new era, an era of change, modest lifestyles and saying no to things you will never need.
Fake Wealth Fueled By Lending, Fake Growth Destined to Fail…
Every company in America built more and more products and sold more and more services; essentially, they sold these products and services to lenders, and consumers paid monthly payments for them. This process facilitated the growth of an economy that would eventually implode. An economy that saw the value of the Dow reach a high of 14,164.53 in October 2007, and a low of 7,552.29 a little more than a year later in November 2008, yes, that represents a decline of nearly 50%. Currently, the value of the Dow lingers around 9,000, is this true value? Sales of products and services will never reach levels that supported the previous high values of our assets and indices, exaggerated levels that were doomed to falter. How long could consumers continue to borrow, how high could their monthly financial commitments go?
The Economy Can Not Be Fixed Quickly, These Hard Times Will Last For Years…
The collapse of our economy is nothing more than a correction and it’s not anything that can be quickly fixed. Every consumer needs to realize the situation and live within his or her means. We need to work harder, spend less, and stop listening to the “hype” experts, the media, and many leaders…I am surprised they still talk.
Billions Have Been Spent Importing Food to Feed A Starving Horse and Not on Replenishing It’s Original Food Supply…
The billions we’re spending on saving corporations is being spent on saving corporations, it’s going to do nothing to save the consumers that support those corporations. It’s simple logic, if you can’t afford your monthly payments, you’re going to stop purchasing things and supporting our nation’s economy, many of our citizens are already at that point. Until consumer debt is dramatically reduced, products and services will not rebound, and if we are smart enough to learn a lesson from recent history, they’ll never reach unreal levels again. Even after we work our debt down, do we want to jump back on the train as it heads back down failure lane? Just realize that it-is-what-it-is, we must “live on less”, for years. It’s only a great time to buy anything, if you can comfortably afford it. Stay Modest, it’s the new black.
Facts That Paint A Clear Picture Of Our Economic Dilemma
FACT – 1 in 10 American Homeowners are in Foreclosure or behind on their mortgage payments
FACT – In January, 2009, New Home Sales Reached All Time Lows
FACT – Over 20% of homeowners are underwater on their mortgages
FACT – We have guessed away trillions of dollars in a few months and things are worse
FACT – The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits is a record 4.788 million
Okay These 3 Aren’t Exactly Facts, or Are They…
FACT – No One Knows What is Going On
FACT – Many Americans Will Never Regain the Wealth They Thought They Had
FACT – Our Kids Will be Extremely Lucky if Our ‘09 National Deficit is only a little more than $1 trillion
Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgement of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you’re going to do about it
Kathleen Casey Theisen
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You make some really points in this post. Everyone lived in a dream world for the last decade or so. It is time to get real and live like responsible human beings. Using your house as an ATM because its value tripled…those days are gone. Time to get back to basics.
The property market is undergoing a recession all over the world. Here in the UK the market was quick to respond following the US downturn in the property and financial markets.Whether the recession will be worse than it ever was is yet to be seen.
@Mike – LOL, I’ve never compared it to an ATM – nice.
@London Property – Thanks for stopping by – I hope things aren’t worse than they’ve ever been, but it looks like we’re heading in that direction (hopefully, things turn around). I think we need to just focus on making ourselves more productive and start saving more.
Maybe not – but I don’t think it will get too hard. every twenty years or so the economy will have problems and the dollar amount will rise along with how much costs and how much people make. it’s life.
Depressions last blog post..The Insider Secret To Relieving Depression – Gardening!
I agree that it has been rough for home owners, and somewhat frightening for many to see home values fall. But there are signs of a bottom in the San Diego real estate market. Entry-level homes are selling like hotcakes, especially low priced forclosure properties. In San Diego this means houses priced around $350,000. Overbidding has become common with these distress sales. True, these houses were selling for upwards of $550,000 to $600,000 a few years ago, but there are many banking on a recovery. It’s amazing how many all-cash buyers are out there. So no matter how bad it gets, there are still lots of people with money. Hopefully the San Diego market is a reflection of signs of life in the rest of the U.S. and globally.
San Diego Homes Sellers last blog post..Overbidding On Houses