Tell Me What Worries You Most???

Watching a lifetime of savings slip away and wondering what do we do now?

Liz, We are in a group that is seldom referenced on your shows. We "did everything right" when we retired four years ago. We paid-off the mortgage on the house and have no credit card debt or car loans. Our "nestegg" is invested with a major invesment bank and we directed our "financial advisor" to maintain less than 30% of our investments in "equities based vehicles". Even with this conservative approach, our corporate and muni bonds didn't really protect us, our mutual funds (not considered "equities based vehicles" by our advisor...maybe another topic to warn people about), and even bond funds have been hammered. We've lost over 20% of our nestegg and are now in danger of outliving our money. Here's what worries us most. When the market recovers, we will be forced to abandon our conservative investment strategy in order to make up the losses. Being forced to take on more risk with our only source of income, another loss would be catastrophic. Try returning to work at advanced age in this job market.

Sleepless nights? You bet. I played by the rules, worked hard, raised good sons, gave to my community, saved, paid my bills, and planned for retirement. I am 60. My portfolio is decimated and I have no time to recover. Our government wants me to bail out who??? No more bailouts or should I say sellouts! Just when are hardworking Americans going to rise up? What in the world does it take to move us to action? I am sickened and disgusted with both Republicans and Democrats. Incompetent or immoral or both? I am exhausted of supporting corrupt politicians and executives. I am exhausted of the "Acorns" among us. I am exhaused of supporting those who feel entitled not to work or be here illegally and feed from the trough.

American Socialists

When all is said and done jobs that will be lost due to our economic downturn is what is most troubling. Forget college and retirement funds growth, it doesn't mean a thing if you can't pay the bills and eat. Our biggest personal asset is our ability to work and the jobs we hold. If our job goes and other opportunities don't exist, then we are in serious trouble. The market will correct itself in time and our investments will rebound(maybe), we have been in troubled times before and we will be again. Jobs drive our economy, no work no progress.

I submitted a reply earlier but it does not appear. I'm curious as to why. I liked the way I phrased it the first time and I don't think I could replicate it.

What worries me most is that the Democrat sheep in this country could actually elect a disingenuous Socialist like Obama.

Liz, What worries me most is the direction our leaders are taking the country. They were elected to look out for our best interest. What we get instead is short-sighted folks who only really care about is what is good for them and the special interest groups that pay them the most money. The economy will recover as well as the market if the people get mad enough and change the leadership we have.

Over the past few months, the Federal Reserve and Treasury have created out of nothing anywhere from 1-2 Trillion dollars (or more). Based on what I know of economics, eventually this will have to spark inflation if we simply stay where we are. If Congress decides to spend another Trillion in a another stimulus plan, are we as a country looking at a future inflation rate similar to that of the late 1970's or something closer to that of Weimar Germany in the 1920's?

My concerns about the economy are directly tied to the outcome of this election. I believe an Obama, Pelosi, Reid administration will have both an immediate and long range negative effect on Wall Street and Main Street. I see a return to the 70's with record inflation, unemployment, and taxes. I believe Wall Street feels the same. All of these new voters who are too young and inexperienced to understand the ramifications of Obama's kind of "change," may get it, but it won't be the utopia they expect--it will be the reality of big government killing economic growth.

Whay Scares ME? The media installing a President and one party having a bullet proof majority.

Reading how everyday more and more people are losing there jobs. All those tens of thousnds of people are and were tax payers and spenders who help keep the economy going. WIth all the home foreclosures and auto makers on the brink, the financial end is near. It can't be saved by either candidate. The damage is too great and there aren't enough people left to tax our way out of this mess.

I've been thinking - which is usually dangerous! - but here are the things that I believe would add to consumer confidence: Watching gas prices fall. A reminder at every corner that gas is getting more affordable is very positive. When prices were going up, it gave me pause to worry. When they go down, it's like watching the scale go down. Hurray! I can eat that dessert tonight! Have the talking heads stop telling me how bad it's going to be - you know, how deep and how long this recession is going to last. They don't know. I've been listening to them too long now. I agree with my husband: Economists have predicted 10 out of the last 5 recessions. Stimulus plan? Here's an idea. Instead of pouring money out, let's consider this: This country needs work on infrastructure. We have out of work construction workers all over the place. Congress, put out requests for proposals on bids to get the work done. I know, it's reminiscent of the WPA but, hey, why not? More jobs, and rewarding work increase consumer confidence in the best way. And if not jobs relating to infrastructure, how about on those wind power and solar power fields? Now's the time.

I started investing in 1998, in my mid 20's, mostly indexing in retirement accounts keeping a long term outlook. While I've had the benefit of a 50% company match in my 401k most of this time, I'm dismayed that my actual market return for the period is essentially flat. This has me rethinking the time tested buy and hold mantra. Going forward, I'm afraid that over-regulation, over-taxation of business, and the massive debt burden bestowed upon us by our wonderful leaders in Congress will depress market returns for years. With residential real estate shot, commercial real estate about to roll over, commodities kaput, "safe" bonds yielding little, inflation from too much stimulus just a few years off, and of course stocks facing tremendous headwinds, there may not be an attractive asset class for the coming 10 years.

This election worries me. I believe there is far more at stake then people realize. Since 1933 this country has slowly been sliding down the slippery slope of socialism. Now we have this financial crisis and it is starting to look like 1932 all over again. People are willing to trade their freedom in an attempt preserve their wealth. If we dive off the cliff of socialism we will loose both. Money comes and goes, it is far better to be poor and free then locked into the socialist trap without freedom and no way to better ones self. In a free society one can try and fail, try and succeed, try and succeed big. In a socialist society the ability to try is regulated out of existence. I must doubt Paulson's motives, a free man would work to preserve freedom even if it cost him everything he has because if he is free he will always have the avenue to earn it back. A socialist bureaucrat will discard freedom for enlargement of government for the sake of expediency to preserve capital because freedom holds little value. In other words he will trade his freedom for a bowl of soup. This is rotten treachery and right now where I sit our government is full of rotten treachery. Politicians who hold freedom and liberty in low regard. I have been both dirt poor and wealthy (mind you I am not super wealthy, I make a good living, live in a modest home, drive a nice diesel pickup, and have traveled the world). I would rather go back to poor then loose my freedom. Here of late I find myself standing outside at night starring at the stars wondering if the American experiment is over. Have we traded our freedom for a bowl of soup? You may think this nonsense, most people do. But freedom and liberty are as delicate as a new born baby and must be treated as such.

Liz: Here are a couple of concerns in general: The stock market and corporate America have become short term thinkers. The dot com bubble in the 90s made a lot of people really rich, really fast and they expect those type of gains to be seen. We never look past the next quarter's, in some cases the next month's, numbers. As result, we make knee-jerk decisions in order to grab as much as we can as fast as we can. When this is abused, then the calvery (US Government) decides to get involved, which never makes things better. Throw more and more of tax dollars towards the problem and create a huge amount of debt that we will have to pay. I'm 42 and still have a ways to go for retirement. But the short term greed and government intervention may not allow me to plan/achieve long term goals.

I am worried about the price of food, and how fast it is going up. My family is having to cut back more and more... When will it end.

Treasury and the Fed seem to be flailing around trying to attack and resolve the problems, but I get the very real (and very scary) feeling that they really haven't clearly identified the problem(s) and, in the absence of such clear deliniation, they're throwing darts in a room without light. I am very concerned that, in this process, they will create more (perhaps more serious) problems in the system and do more harm to the economy than they fix. I am also concerned that Congress, through new regulations and oversight, will try to micromanage the financial system. Because they are politicians, the will politicize our financial system. Once this is done, even if in a couple of years they see the error of their ways, the long term damage to the system and the economy will make our current problems seem benign.

What will happen to the market (as we now know it) when the politicians are finally forced to realize that something has to be done about retirement, medicare, medicaid, and the general state of health of the people who are now without insurance? A lot of us have lost our nest egg, and are getting to the point that we can no longer work the way we did. We, in America, pay the most among the first world countries for health care, per capita, and yet we have so many that can't afford a doctor visit for even the simplest things. We hear about new disease threats all the time from the CDS. Will we have infected people walking around among us? How can we afford not to do something to protect ourselves from that? Isn't that more important to deal with than what happens to the imprudent among the wall street wealthy? I'm old enough to have seen both parties in power, and neither one has done anything about these problems. It seems that the overall market (us) don't have a friend--either in the political or financial arenas! Where is our champion?

Maybe I'm just a bit SLOW but why aren't the politicians all over the planet declaring the derivative markets a FRAUD and simply negating those losses from the books. If they don't the $65 TRILLION in losses will suck the whole planet into a depression. These losses are bubbles of investment losses based on re and rewriting "risks". In the real world placing multiple insurance policies basically on each other IS fraud. Why isn't it the same when the banks do it? Their criminal greed or appalling stupidity has destroyed tghe financial system of the planet. If we don't recognize it for what it is and keep pretending they are actual REAl losses we are ALL doomed. Dave-Y

What worries me? The fact that most people are convinced the current crisis is due to lack of regulation and government oversight of free markets. It worries me that those in power who should know better such as Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke are convinced they can "fix" these economic problems with government bailouts. It worries me that the facts behind this panic are not coming out and the mainstream media seems incapable of getting to the truth. Are journalists so biased that they can't dig into the primary source of our economic problems? Or are journalists just so economically illiterate that all they can do is amplify the stereotypes promoted by politicians with something to hide or an ax to grind? The only good analysis I can find are some editorials in the Wall Street Journal. But the WSJ doesn't reach the audience that needs to be reached. The average person in the street needs to know. But is teh average person savvy enough to get it? Government is at the root of these problems. Government attempts to social engineer outcomes it deems favorable, e.g., more houses for more people; better gas mileage for cars; alternative sources of energy; and the list goes on forever. It worries me that the average person is clueless. The average person is going to vote. They are going to vote for a wave of new government regulations and more government bail outs, hand outs. Laws of economics are like laws of physics, they can't be defied. And we'll have to spend a generation living with the mess and the economic decay that's going to set in. We haven't even fully paid for the sins of the Roosevelt and Johnson years. How long will we be paying for the sins of the Bush and soon to come Obama years? That's what worries me.

What bothers me....the people walking around with a hand out waiting for someone (the government) to give them something! This Country is still the land of opportunity. You can achieve anything with hard work, perseverance, and a little sacrifice for the better good. How does that old saying go “the harder I work, the luckier I get”? Boy, am I lucky!

While I certainly understand the concern and anger of those who have lost value in their investments (including myself), I see this financial downfall as a huge opportunity. Yes, I have concerns. My investments, while hedged a little by some early movement to bonds, has been hit hard. If I had to liquidate now, I'd be in trouble. But look at the opportunity to buy now. It's fantastic and getting even better. If you believe that eventually we'll be out of this mess, they BUY, BUY, BUY! In 5 or 10 years, you'll be thanking yourself. If you need to be retiring in a few years, buy now and delay a few years. I think you'll be even better off. There's a huge amount of CASH sitting on the sidelines waiting to get back into the market. Don't dwell on the negative. There's plenty of positive to be looking at. That's my 2 cents...

My current biggest worry of the day is that the next President will nationalize private pensions ala Argentina.Aside from being my biggest worry, I would go so far as to say it is my prediction of the day.Curious what your viewers think.

It worries me that media will cover up the truth and blatantly disregard the instinct of the American public as happened with ALL "financial" shows. Wonder why most don't have an credibility with Americans anymore?... WE'RE NOT STUPID!! How about reporting and letting people know the TRUTH about the bailout and how those "Fat Cats" screwed the American taxpayer... watch your ratings soar. (might piss off the higher up's in your company though)