Personal Money Management 101 Blog

Recession is nothing new. By their very nature financial markets, and whole economies, move in cycles. Highs turn to lows and then back to highs again, and there isn’t usually an easily pinpointable reason.

However, the current recession is outstanding in two respects. In terms of severity this one is big, as witnessed by the massive scale of government intervention and bailouts. The Congressional Budget Office has forecast it: “is likely to be the longest since World War II, and by some measures could be the worst since the Great Depression” [Source: McClatchy]. The current crisis also stems from a clear cause, ie so-called the credit crunch, itself the result of irresponsible greed. Read the rest of this entry »

As we clear away after the Christmas festivities many of us have a few in-between days to reflect before the dawn of the New Year. 2009 seems set to be financially tough, but there are some simple steps (resolutions) we can all take to help us weather the storm.

Don’t listen to the doomsayers
Wherever you turn you’re bound to hear predictions of how bad the economy’s going to get, be they from “experts” or the guy sitting next to you on the bus. Ignore the lot. 2009 will most likely be financially difficult, but no one knows to what extent. Even the so-called “experts” don’t have a great track record when it comes to economic prediction, else they would have foreseen the credit crunch and done something to prevent it! Read the rest of this entry »

The US Federal Reserve has slashed its key interest rate from 1% to a range between zero and 0.25% in an attempt to stem recession. Will this latest measure work, and what are the implications for you and me?

It all seems rather perverse that a crisis born of irresponsible lending and resulting bad debt should be solved by slashing interest rates to zero which will surely serve only to create unprecedented borrowing – provided of course anyone’s crazy enough to lend! Read the rest of this entry »

The world is in the midst of a financial crisis caused by the irresponsible lending of America’s banking system. Despite this, and a multi-billion dollar government (ie taxpayer) bailout, humbled institutions are still planning to pay huge bonuses to the staff that created the mess. Read the rest of this entry »

The ongoing credit crunch has produced great volatility in the stock market. In addition to markets being well down from their maxima, they have also been fluctuating to a degree that makes a roller coaster ride seem like a stroll in the park. Read the rest of this entry »