What Do We Do Now?

The United States is headed for one of the most dramatic changes it has seen in its 232 year history. We are already in an economic recession (no, Mabel, we are not going into one), and with cutbacks all around, from corporate to government levels, our nation will be burdened with economic inertia.

There is little that can be done about our financial condition, as a whole. The one solution that I see is for individual citizens of this country to get their act together and start to sacrifice some of the luxuries we have enjoyed for decades. There is no other way out.

Lease another new car? Forget it! In my view automobile leasing is one of the single most short-sighted schemes ever devised in this country. It is the same as giving a fat kid more candy when he gets hungry. Sales in the automotive industry increased by astronomical numbers when leasing became available to the average consumer. Dealerships were happy; the automakers were happy; consumers were happy, and most of them still are.

Automotive sales and jobs are vital to this economy. So are home sales. Yet, their numbers will continute to fall until they bottom out. That's basically because more workers will lose their jobs in every consumer industry due to lack of leadership. What's the connection to the solution for individual wage earners? We must put the brakes on, so to speak, where buying that next new car is concerned. We need to understand what it means to hold on to a commodity for a longer period of time...long enough to put some serious capital into the bank account.

You see, the average person turns on the news or picks up the Sunday paper to read about where the economy is going without ever realizing we all are part of it. Furthermore, few people have paused to consider what would happen if just 1 million households cut their spending (postponed that new Hi-Def Tv) and saved an additional $500 per month. Our national credit card bill is on a collision path with a flat-out crash, worse than any we have ever known, if consumers don't wake up and smell the gas fumes.

Here's the payoff: every dollar saved today in a modest investment account can be worth $10 in ten years if the savings program gets started right away. That's a much better outlook than the one we are facing. Wouldn't that be a much preferred scenario than the likely future of having the government continue to send a crumb to our mailboxes while reducing services every year?

Think about it over your next cup of coffee (it doesn't have to be a latte). You just might get paid for doing it.

Hudster