Although the economy is bleak, it’s not too late to save. A year ago, I’ll bet many of you thought the economy was not going to be this bad. Well, we really don’t know when it will start to turn around. It’s anybody’s guess. The one thing I can do is save a little more each day; whether it is bringing lunch to work or spending time at the park having fun with the kids, rather than spending thousands of dollars on an expensive vacation. Make it a goal with the family to reach a certain amount of savings by the end of each week. Be creative in what you can do for family entertainment. Check your local paper or the internet. Let me know what any of you come up with. The first three suggestions will receive a beautiful barbeque set compliments of LAFCU.
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While the official determination has not yet been made, the economy has definitely seen better days. Small business owners not only have to contend with higher prices that affect their bottom lines, but also a tightening of consumers’ spending habits as they try to wait out the current market. Even if a recession does occur, smart business owners can survive it; here are a few steps you can take financially to protect yourself against a slowdown.
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Elections have become closer and closer in the past ten years – most profoundly noticeable starting with the campaign between Bush and Gore in 2000 – and most recently with the democratic primary. It seems like the two-party system is somewhat to blame – having realistically only two choices isn’t enough to cover the complexity of political wants and needs.
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In my last article I asked the question, “How low will the Fed have to or need to go?” Well, I didn’t expect the surprising 75 basis point reduction followed by another 50 basis point reduction, all within a one week span in late January. A recession is definitely a concern although I haven’t read or heard that we are actually “in a recession”, only that we are heading for or trying to avoid a recession. Now according to a Bloomberg article, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole says, “Excessive cuts in interest rates aimed at averting a recession run the risk of accelerating inflation to an ‘unacceptable’ level.” (more…)

Do you remember when the Fed Funds rate was 8.25%? How about when the Fed Funds rate was down to 1%? It’s hard to imagine rates can swing so much from year to year. When the Fed Funds rate was heading toward the 1% mark, I really never thought it would go that low. There wasn’t much you could earn with a 1% rate.

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