This particular financial consultant approves! Great Job, Therese!!!!!!
ESPECIALLY numbers 4 and 5.
DON’T stop contributing to your 401k or 403b
DON’T forget that the market tends to move in 10 year cycles (dot-coms? wasn’t that just about 10 years ago…yes. yes it was…. On and off from Q1 of 1980-1982, December of 1969-Nov of 1970)
Invest with your head, not the headlines.
That may mean learning more, reading more, watching less MSNBC/CNN and doing the research yourself =)
REMEMBER that unless you are close to retirement, this is a ‘paper loss’–meaning it is a loss on paper with money you don’t need at this moment.
(And if you are investing with money you need at this moment, it’s time to re-evaluate your finances…)
wishing you all my best
mel

This is an uncertain time for a lot of people, and I like the step by step approach taken here.
I was wondering if there was a back side to that dollar and if it would be possible to cut and paste…oh, what am I saying? I need to work on Number 8. *smile*
Thanks for the tips!

Great advice. Goes along with the idea that even though we want to solve everything, and some of us are in the business, even of solving most things, we can’t.
Accept adversity or be doomed, basically. The challenge is in the head, not the pocketbook.

Telling ‘Amy’ to take a nap is priceless
Good idea – giving our quirky brain chemistry names.
Thanks

Since financial irresponsibility tends to be a symptom of bipolar disorder, these tips are PRICELESS in terms of being proactive rather than reactive, another downfall many of us suffer. And a one who was forced to retire before I had planned to, I can speak first hand to the admonition of reevaluating one’s financial plan periodically. Although I know cognitively that I am better off than many, living on a fixed retirement income is NO FUN!!Eveything goes up EXcEPT your stipend(s)It hasbeen EXTREMELY helpful to me to learn to put everything down on paper, tracking ALL expenditures, no exclusions. It really makes it easier to tell where your dollars have gone each month. which makes it easier (for ME, anyway to help curb unnecessary spending the following month. If I can see, for example, that my long distance bill was higher, I might think twice before picking up the phone whenever I feel like “reaching out to touch someone” and use emailcommunications more frequently instead. Th same is true of unplanned late fees for overdue library books or video rentals. I don’t have to completely deny myself, but I AM more likely to meet those deadlines if I can see in black and white what other little luxuries those accrued fees cost me the previous months in terms of discretionary spending. (No meals out, for example) Thanks for addressing this, Therese. It’s made me more understanding of the terrible tolls the crash of the twenties took on people’s lives.(Both of my grandparents lost family farms back then, and even though farming wasn’t their occupation, the loss changed the remainder of their livesas well as those of their descendants. One of them actually had a family cemetary on the farm where generations had been buried; no longer! Now THAT proved to be a difficult adjustment for my paternal grandparents; they had to create aternative plans, change wills and everything.In addition to buying cemetary plots,italso meant not being buried next to children they had burid there earlier, which truly devestated my grandmother! Losing that was even harder on her than moving from her ancestral home!

I loved this piece. I would love to either link it or mirror it to my blog, if acceptable.
I also want to introduce myself, long time fan of your work……….and I think you have read me too in the past. Take care .

Wow! I really needed to hear some tangible advice like this right now. Most useful is putting “Amy” to bed, and turning off the TV. I’ve been hanging on every word (torture)about the bailout. I have a fairly high risk tolerance but the drops in my stocks and this “crisis” are really wearing me down and causing me panic attacks. You are right in time the stock market will recover…Your advice will help me stay the course and not sucumb til it does. THANKS! .

Don’t tune in to CNN. FOX news has more reassuring reporting.

Deal with finanical stress? Well let me tell you about mine, I am in big time debt, and the person who was helping me pay it back left me high and dry, Oh, they did not go into it blind folded, this person was my counselor, and told me ” We are put on this earth to help one another.” And do not worry about it. I will help you. Well they closed down there business put there home up for sale and the last thing they told me was they would not forget to send me the money each month. They moved out of state left no forwarding address, I emailed this person over and over again they ignored that never answered the cell phone they had, I finally ( which I will not say how) got the money, from them in the mail. And than the e mail came,
Now I have to pay this myself, and I cannot pay it all. I am in a debt repayment program too, And now well, according to a lawyer I spoke to I can do one of 3 things, hope they will get the payments down so I can pay it, do it my self with a formed letter to each creditor, or file for bankruptcy. Well I have finally told the debt repayment place what I can pay, and what I will have left after I pay them and the rest of my bills, It’s 50.00 to buy gas, and food.
So, stress? I have depression already, and see another counselor, and now I cannot afford them. I am about ready to just throw in the towel, and file for bankruptcy. Or just end my life, I have had it.
There is stress.

This is so helpful & True! We have a home that needs work, a daughter who is almost 2, a son who will be born on Thanksgiving and we both work. My husband works full time & I work part time for 2 Direct Selling companies from home so that I can be a stay at home Mom! With all the financial “crap” -sorry for lack of a better word- that is always on tv. Its so stressful for us!We are having enough trouble trying to make sure our daughter has what she needs , our son will come home from the hospital & have a crib to sleep in as well as trying to maintain life for ourselves. The last thing we need is to hear all the ‘hoopla’ that scares you on tv. I am going to follow this article & just take a deep breath ! Thanks so much for writing this so that we can have some peace of mind !

Stress! Yeah- Bail out ! Why not bail out the american people – that would be a great start- don’t you think. Divide the bail out money equally to every american over the age of 18 and you’ll not only stop financial stress for everyone but it would boost the economy too, and help the housing market. At least we would have some control-some.

It is such an honor to be on the same page with you. Several times I have been reading something and I note how much I agree with it and look to see the author’s name and it keeps being you! I have even slipped your name and Beyond Blue into a few other sites as recommended reading!
The eight steps above are good rules for everyday living–as is all of what you teach and remind us. Keep up the great work! Love to hear from you.
P.S. In regard to turning off the t.v., I agree wholeheartedly! One of the other bloggers mentioned that Fox reports ‘sound’ more ‘reassuring’. This is because they ‘swing’ republican. It is felt by many to be propaganda rather than news. It sounds different than the others because their news is slanted with replublican rhetoric and they are currently trying to save another campaign. When their news sounds that different from all the other channels, one should at least wonder.

How glad I am that I don’t have money to invest!
What I have to say sounds simplistic, maybe even un-American to some.
I can’t help but wish the whole d*** system would come crashing down,
so we could all go back to barter or something, so no one would have to worry about this kind of thing anymore. No more credit, just everybody get out of this “buy-buy-buy” mentality, and everyone be content with what they have, realizing money doesn’t bring happiness.
I’m so sick of all the fear-mongering tactics of CNN and all the rest!
I wish we could all just live simply, contentedly, and stop junking up Mother Earth with all the crud we really don’t need to buy in the first place! Corporate greed has practically taken over the world!
Something’s all gone wrong, and I don’t know what it’s gonna take to fix it. Robin Hummingbirdsongs

You can also apply this to any type of fear, anxiety, and risk taking, esp. the part about ‘when you don’t want to do …that’s the time to do it…” how true..thanks…not the prob I have is stocks and bonds, I am still crawling out of poverty.

we live in a society where fear and bad news generate news coverage. Common sense and practicality are not news worthy and if people aren’t watching the news, then advertisers aren’t making money. Bad news equals advertising dollars and keeps you glued to the tv. I for one, have been turning the news off, in lieu of more uplifting programming, or even comedic relief. The lessons to be learned through all this are ones that should be followed to begin with…live frugally, live on less than you make, if you can’t pay cash-don’t buy. This may be a wake-up call for a lot of spoiled “want it now” ADULTS (using that term loosely). However, for those who have lived frugally all along, probably not as stressed out as the rest of the credit-reliant general population. Just something to think about.

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
0A
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.=2 0Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads Put away money for college – it’ll be there Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs. Buy a new car – create jobs Invest in the market – capital drives growth Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more20than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.
And remember, my plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it’s either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

yes i am but some people should be glad for what they have. there are a lot of us who can’t even think about wall street a place to live or nothing else. the rich get richer and the poorer get poorer.

Thanks for the good words Therese…guess I’ll put my last ditch escape plan on hold for now. Luckily I had two jobs, which ran me into the ground for a while. Now that I’m temporarily down to one I’ll “Sit Chilly” till things start looking up again. Yes there is truth in the Kris Kristoferson song “Bobby MaGee”…FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR NOTHIN’ LEFT TO LOSE!”

Well Thanks to the phone company I now can have my phone, my landline, I got that lowered to 1/2 of what I was paying. And now its work on other things, but this is still very stressful and makes me sick at times. My lesson has been learned and I plan not going around this mountain ever again.
The banks are more at fault for this, they should not be lending money to people who cannot put the 10% down. And they know they ( people and banks) that they cannot in anyway pay it back.
We are a country of plastic, and we love to have things, It’s buy now pay later. The offers on TV, Radio, in the mail. Credit card offers, its horrible. If one wants to get rid of that get on optoutprescreen.com and you can get your name taken off the list, of the 3 big credtiors reporters, and you will not get any credit card offers in the mail anymore. I did that. We need to cut up the credit cards and just use cash. WE are all adicted to it, and need to get unadicted to it.

Thank you for the share and pleasant, digestible advice regarding financial anxiety.
Very easy on the heart.
Blessings

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All I can say is, WOW! This is really helpful and I like almost everything you wrote in this article.
Sometimes when Money Anxiety attacks, I close my eyes and calm myself. Sometimes it works, sometimes it requires me to do better. ^_^

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