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Post by jimpres on Apr 12, 2008 18:32:32 GMT -7
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Post by Jaga on Apr 12, 2008 19:38:24 GMT -7
Jim,
good advice. I think there are some professions which will always be useful like physiotherapy!
I wish I could invest in Euro but how??? if we have money in the US bank.
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Some of the advices predict that America would just lose its economical value and all of us should go to Europe or Asia:
Cultivate some skills that will always be in demand. Become a decent electrician, handy-person, carpenter or cook. There may not be much need for someone who understands content management systems during a total economic shutdown, but someone who can build a house will always have a place to crash.
Offshore yourself. As the dollar gets weaker and weaker, U.S. white-collar service workers will be the cheap overseas employees for Europeans and Asians, predicts Robert Scoble in his roundup of how to recession-proof yourself. So as long as someone, somewhere, is still making use of those white-collar service skills (like programming, or customer support) you may be able to offer yourself to overseas companies as a cheaper alternative.
Invest in the ultimate counter-cyclicals. Some industries will always be in growth mode — like any business that caters to the rapidly growing senior population. Also, "sin and comfort" industries, like cigarettes, gambling and booze, do well during downturns and will probably make bank this time around as well. (Too bad booze and cigs are generally part of huge diversified conglomerates these days.) Also, movie companies are quietly bragging that the movie industry had one of its biggest growth spurts ever in the 1930s, as people craved escapism.
Invest in some Euros, or some other currency that's not the dollar. Chances are the U.S. dollar will keep getting weaker, so you'll be better off holding a more stable currency. You could also try investing in gold or silver, but those commodities are already skyrocketing in value.
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Post by jimpres on Apr 12, 2008 20:33:59 GMT -7
Jaga,
You can always open an account in Europe and send dollars to be converted to the Euro.
I have an account in Poland and I can send dollars which are converted to zloty.
Jim
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Post by kaima on Apr 12, 2008 23:47:22 GMT -7
Reading the link now, I will disagree with one point - they seem to be shallow or general principles and are fine if accepted as that. Live debt free, fine. Pay off the mortgage and live rent free .... uhhh ... not quite. There are utilities, taxes and maintenance that have to be kept up, as I discovered when I paid off my own house. Plus heating seems to have doubled in just a few years - I must pay as much for May as I used to pay for the coldest month of the year! Keeping the house ( taxes and utilities, not counting maintenance) seem to consume 1/3 as much as my old mortgage payment. So it is NOT free as so glibly expressed in the article.
Not to dismiss the article - there are some great points, but you must fill in the gaps inwhat is said!
Ahhh ... invest in Euros. I had some and am now spending them, perhaps counter-cyclical. Now is when I need them to pay for the cousins to visit this summer. Their tickets must be bought in Europe. I do like the idea though, much as I hate to see the dollar fall. Such was our national folly.
Learn to hunt? Where is the Vietnamese recipe for neighbor's barking dog? I was in Riga, Latvia during the tough year of 1993, where wages no where near covered the cost of living. Another American pointed out that "things can't be so tough, there are still plenty of ducks in the moat surrounding Old Town!"
Stockpile medications? Fat chance with Big Brother Bush and Homeland Security where we can't even buy Sudafed for fear of opening up a meth lab in he basement! Guess I will have to fall back on the fact that less money means less food, means less fat & people always have fewer illnesses during economic bad times, and fewer people die.
Just a few ideas to consider in addition. Thanks for posting the article. I hope it is all in vain and in a year we are all prosperous and living in peace.
Kai
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Post by Jaga on Apr 13, 2008 16:50:16 GMT -7
things can't be so tough, there are still plenty of ducks in the moat surrounding Old Town
maybe there were all vegeratians?
No, the truth is that it was almost impossible to be a vegetarian in Poland (and probably also in Baltic republics) in 80-es for instance. People had to eat something and since the food and meat were limited, there was no way to replace one type of food by another. So, not eating any meat could not be replaced by something else easily.
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I do have another thought. I watched economy program on CNN today in the same time when FoxNews had a powerful presentation about American power - by showing a heroism of gen. Petraeus and Am. military.
I think, many of you will agree, that the US as a superpower would not last for too long. We have a globalization, dollar is losing its value so fast that nobody wants to invest in dollars anymore. US credbility is low around the world. Not too many people would believe in any new justification to attack Iran for instance.
The question in CNN economy program was - it is commonly known that the standard of life of Am. family increased during the last 20 years not because people earn more and their money has more value but... in majority of families there is just 2 incomes instead of one! So, the question was, how to increase the income again - should children start working?
my answer:
not at all! But we need to learn to live with less money! Americans are so used to huge cars, huge houses, eating out, eating and buying too much. Instead we should try to live like people in poorer countries do. Walk more, spend less, do not buy so much junk just to fill our big houses!
Today I was driving back with Ela from the swimming poll. Ela said, there are much more people walking in San Francisco than in Idaho. I asked her: "what do you prefer?"
She said: "I would love to see people walking here also". We were driving because the poll is not next door, but we could probably walk there also. It would take 20 minutes but it is not impossible.
American mass-media do not want to talk that people should start saving because the economy here rely on the fact that people spend money, that people overconsume. But I think, this should really change!
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