Shaky Economy Stressing You Out? Here’s What to Do…

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Feeling like a deer in the headlights right now? You’re not alone! Soaring inflation, stock market crashing, a pandemic that just won’t go away – and the only light at the end of the tunnel looks like the oncoming train of recession! We’re all getting squeezed from both ends…

It’s costing you 60% more than last year to fill up your gas tank.

Last month, you thought about buying a new home. This month mortgage rates have priced you totally out of the market.

Global supply chain glitches mean that things you bought all the time are almost impossible to find. (Seriously, a sriracha hot sauce shortage?!?)

Your low-interest charge cards are projected to average 20% in a couple of months – and the high-interest rate ones will be off the charts.

A few months ago, you were sitting on your big, juicy 401(k) or IRA and thinking of early retirement. Now, you’re praying they’ll let you keep your job when you’re 82.

Not long ago, you looked at your retirement account balance and felt euphoric. A humongous asteroid could be heading toward earth and the market would still go up! I can relate. [Read more…] “Shaky Economy Stressing You Out? Here’s What to Do…”

How to Shield Yourself from Market Volatility, Inflation and Interest Rate Woes

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Stock market volatility has returned with a vengeance, as this chart of the Dow over the last 3 months starkly illustrates.

We’re facing a whirlwind of economic challenges we have little or no control over. Here are the top 5 currently contributing to the volatility:

Challenge #1: Inflation has hit a 40-year high

That’s hammering consumers, wiping out pay raises, and reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s decision to rip off the band-aid and raise borrowing rates multiple times this year alone, which some economists fear will trigger a recession.

Challenge #2: The pandemic and rock bottom interest rates pushed home prices up at a head-spinning rate

[Read more…] “How to Shield Yourself from Market Volatility, Inflation and Interest Rate Woes”

Bank On Yourself – a Financial Bunker for Scary Times

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These are unprecedented times we find ourselves in, and there is no historical playbook for navigating them.

The Coronavirus has turned the financial markets upside down, and the experts are bemoaning the fact that there’s “been no place to hide,” including the traditional “safe havens.”

However, none of the hundreds of thousands of people who use the Bank On Yourself strategy lost a penny as the markets careened out of control. Their plans haven’t skipped a beat and continue growing by a guaranteed, predictable amount, just as has happened every year for the last two centuries.

Their annual increases are guaranteed to get larger every year, and all of their principal and ALL of the gains they have ever received are locked in. These plans do not go backward.

They also have access to the equity in their plans to help them weather the extraordinary challenges they face today – with no restrictions, no penalties, no taxes due… and no questions asked!

Let’s take a look at three ways Bank On Yourself is your best financial bunker in scary times:

Bank On Yourself Has a 200-Year Track Record of Positive, Guaranteed, Competitive Growth

[Read more…] “Bank On Yourself – a Financial Bunker for Scary Times”

How to Rescue Your Retirement from “Black Swan” Events that Can Scramble Your Retirement Plans

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Did you see the coronavirus pandemic coming?

Did you anticipate the disruptions to travel, schools closing, major events being canceled, quarantines, cities and states declaring states of emergency, employees told not to come into work, and chaos at stores as people panic to buy necessities?

Did you expect the Saudis and Russia would start an oil price war – precisely as panic over COVID-19 was reaching a fever pitch – causing crude oil prices to collapse in the biggest one-day move in 30 years?

Did you see it coming that investors would wake up on March 9 drowning in so much fear that panic selling in the market caused a “circuit breaker” to trip and halt trading for 15 minutes, to hopefully allow panic to subside? [Read more…] “How to Rescue Your Retirement from “Black Swan” Events that Can Scramble Your Retirement Plans”

Three Ways to Protect Your Heath and Wealth from COVID-19 Coronavirus

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On February 21, a director for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) told reporters that health officials are preparing for the COVID-19 coronavirus to become a pandemic, saying, “It’s very possible, even likely, that it may eventually happen.”

The Director noted that the “day may come” where we have to close down schools and businesses like China and other countries have done.

The coronavirus is now spreading rapidly in countries outside of China, including “first world” countries like Italy.

Stock markets around the world have been plunging. And if this situation continues to deteriorate, we could easily be entering a prolonged recession and could see the long-overdue major stock market crash I’ve been warning you about.

The Coronavirus is a “Black Swan Event”

A “black swan event” is an event in human history that was unprecedented and unexpected when it occurred. The 2008 financial crisis is considered to be a black swan event, as is the dot-com bubble of 2000.

And we all know how badly those events ended. [Read more…] “Three Ways to Protect Your Heath and Wealth from COVID-19 Coronavirus”

Many Stock Market Investors Haven’t Kept Up With Inflation Over the Last 20 Years – DALBAR 2019 Report

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What kind of return would you have to get in the stock market to make it worth the risk and gut-wrenching ups and downs?

Would you put your life’s savings at risk for a 5% annual return?

Or would you require at least a 7% return?

Or maybe even a 10% annual return?

If you’re like most people we’ve surveyed, you wouldn’t do it unless you thought you could get at least a 7% annual return over time, right?

Here’s the Harsh Reality of the Actual Returns Investors Are Getting…

I hope you’re sitting down because this is going to floor you: According to a new study, the typical investor in equity mutual funds has gotten only a 3.88% annual return… over the last 20 years!

But it’s actually much worse than that. Here’s why… [Read more…] “Many Stock Market Investors Haven’t Kept Up With Inflation Over the Last 20 Years – DALBAR 2019 Report”

Stock Market Declines Linked to Early Death, Illness and Fatal Accidents, Studies Show

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If you have even 10% of your wealth in the stock market and experience only a 10% loss, your risk of dying early, or having a physical health problem like high blood pressure or a mental health problem such as depression, increases significantly.

That’s according to a recent study published in the American Economic Journal. These losses are known as “wealth shocks,” which the study found “strongly affect physical health, mental health, and survival rates.”

Among every 100 retirees with money in the market suffering a 10% wealth shock, one additional person will die within the next two years, and 2.5 more will develop health problems.

The study didn’t examine the impact of a bigger drop than 10%, but it’s easy to imagine it would be worse.

It’s not rocket science to realize there is a close connection between your health and your wealth.

It’s not just the risk of early death and sickness you need to worry about…

The anxiety, anger, and frustration you feel caused by negative stock market returns also “makes investors more prone to driving errors and lapses.” [Read more…] “Stock Market Declines Linked to Early Death, Illness and Fatal Accidents, Studies Show”

Take Our Survey and Tell Us Where You Think the Stock Market is Headed

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2018 was a wild ride on Wall Street, with volatility so violent it made daily swings of 500 or more points on the Dow seem almost “normal.”

We experienced several record-setting point swings on the Dow and came within a hair of entering a bear market, where securities fall 20% or more from recent highs.

But there’s a big difference between a bear market decline of 20% and a major market crash, like the one we had during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, which knocked the S&P 500 down by 57%.

And when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the S&P 500 plummeted by nearly 50%.

And since this time around we haven’t yet entered a bear market (by the most common definitions), that means we are (still) in the longest-running bull market in history.

In two months, this bull market will hit its tenth birthday – something that’s never happened before. [Read more…] “Take Our Survey and Tell Us Where You Think the Stock Market is Headed”

Shhh! Your Bank Has a “BIG” Dirty Little Secret – it Could Crush Your Retirement

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Who can forget those dark days of the housing market crash of 2008? The vacant homes and neglected lawns.  The abandoned swing sets and forgotten barbecues. The bright signs and bold arrows that needed little explanation: “Foreclosure.” “Auction.” “Bank Owned.”

We’re told that the housing bubble and collapse was about predatory lending and high-risk borrowers who were duped into loans that they couldn’t afford. The massive regulatory response to the subprime crisis meant that banks were no longer allowed to behave BADLY… so they chose to behave DIFFERENTLY.

Shhh. Your Bank Has a “Big” Dirty Little Secret. Read this Very Carefully…

The largest source of mortgage lending in the United States is now being done by non-banks – financial entities that offer unsecured personal lending, business loans, leveraged lending, and mortgage services… but do not hold a banking license. As a result, they’re not subject to standard banking oversight and can engage in risky lending.

But where do they get the money to make these loans? You guessed it: Wells Fargo, Citibank, Bank of America and everyone else who got their hands dirty ten years ago. [Read more…] “Shhh! Your Bank Has a “BIG” Dirty Little Secret – it Could Crush Your Retirement”

October 2018 Was Among the Most Volatile Month for Stocks in 118 Years

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October was one of the most volatile months for the Dow since 1900. Back then, we were hopping on the first electric buses in New York City and enjoying a new kind of sandwich called a “hamburger” in New Haven. And, we were piling onto an early “Loop the Loop” roller coaster on Wall Street.

Fast forward to October 2018… and enter the Zero-G Inversion Coaster. The Dow fell by over 1,000 points in two days. The S&P 500 dipped in and out of correction multiple times. The Nasdaq plummeted 700 points mid-month, soared over 300 points the next week, and then tumbled back down over 500 points toward month-end. It comes as no surprise that the Fear Index also hit a 3-month high.

It wasn’t Halloween that spooked the markets last month…

Investors had plenty to fear with trade wars, tariffs, rate hikes, Fed policy, underwhelming earnings, slumping housing data, and political partisanship run wild. And as the sugar high of tax cuts, low interest rates and low inflation wears off, there’s a pervading sense that we’ve reached some sort of flashpoint.

What keeps economists up at night? One very sobering question:

What if This Economy is “as Good as It Gets”?

[Read more…] “October 2018 Was Among the Most Volatile Month for Stocks in 118 Years”