Suze Orman is an iddiot...

I have been meaning to blow off some steam regarding the recent near catastrophic meltdown of our nation's economy. I am not going to sugar coat it... things are bad. Things are very bad... for our country and banks. Not necessarily for every average American though. Admittedly we are all paying more for food and gas. It could be worse... 35% unemployment rate and actual soup lines (as in the Great Depression). But if you are smart about your money, you understand how to make financial sacrifices and be disciplined during tough times... do you really need that big screen LCD HDTV that you will be putting on your high interest credit card?

What ever you do, resist the urge to listen to "experts" like Suze Orman. She made an appearance on Lary King and said this (emphasis added):

King: Is this a good time to get into the market?

Orman: No. It's not a good time to get in with brand-new money. I would let these markets kind of wash themselves out. On the other hand, if you're investing in a 401k every month with small amounts of money, that's OK as long as you don't need the money for 10, 15, 20 years. If you just got an inheritance and you have $50,000, should you be putting it in the stock market now? Are you kidding? These are the markets that you just sit on the sidelines and wait on the sidelines and stay away from them until everything works out.

I am no CNN expert, but I do know this... even during the Great Depression the stock market posted an overall gain. And typically in the long term, the stock market delivers a 11% rate of return. So anytime is a good time to get in the stock market... so long as you are going to keep your money there for a while... not until tomorrow, or next month, or even next year. Try 5 to 10 years... or even better a 401k that you are not going to touch for 20 years! And if your 401k has lost a big chunk of its value due to the recent market troubles, and you were hoping to retire in a few years... FIRE your fund manager because they are too stupid to know that your investments should not be in such volatile places when it's so close to your retirement!

As I mentioned I am no CNN economic expert... actually, I am a chemist. But all you need to do (and these CNN experts should do the same) is learn a little history and basic economics.

Watch this video here and get some real advice about what to do about your economic situation. I have been reading this guy's blog for a while. Smart guy... he's no CNN expert though. I( think that's a good thing.)

Breathe in... breathe out... just be smart... everything is going to be alright.