Avoid the indexes at all costs now unless you want to be at the waterline of inflation (not beating it).
Stick to funds with reputations and top advisors and seek the help of professionals. Lucky for me I wasn't in any indexes (significantly).-- or at least not the ones that took a hit.
The theory being why invest in all 500 companies when you can invest in just the top good ones? I've been a psychic or a financial advisor or a psychic advisor? Anyway, the only financial I bought into at the new year is the one Warren Buffet also decided to buy recently. (smart minds think alike?)
Now is a green light to buy if I ever saw one.
Just diversify, seek professional help and don't be speculative.
It's a bad year to retire but otherwise things are great (market wise... not for other markets)
There are also guarantees and options for tax free money with guarantees at every income level to consider. It's important to start no matter how broke you may feel.
As for the "bailout" it's a yes and no. Too vague and tax payers should get an equity stake as was the case with the loan to AIG (they took a penalty stake even though they still have tons of profit arms in the advising and insurance sectors and were only downgraded to AA and A+ with Moody's, etc).
Giving money to mortgage holders is frankly wrong as well for rewarding poor decisions. Those who are single and already paying more taxes than "working families, without a mortgage and one month from being on the street with steep rent, jobs with poor to no benefits or multiple part-time... and having to max out credit to get by-- they should not be so lucky to get the bill.
Which mortgages are monopoly money and which ones are good? No one can tell-- unless we sent the IRS and FBI to audit and track (since they are so good at this) and while they are at it they can audit and reconfigure the Pentagon budget-- which has also never been done and last deemed impossible (Spring 08 Money magazine article)--
see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/washington/03cnd-military.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1622315920071017
And then there is the $79billion Iraq budget surplus not counting the 275 billion in gas profits sold back to us retail that we funded wholesale
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/05/18/MN251738.DTL
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/iraq/2004285479_iraqoil16.html
...besides that there were never any nukes to find and we knew that, at least the admin did-- and me.--And no terrorist to get until th admin created the entire concept with a fear campaign and new Crayola color code.... for preschoolers.
Anyone remember the investigation into the admin with "no note taking allowed" over energy... back to Eron and the CEO circus links and links--right back to the bird flu and wiretapping, homegrown terrorism backed by McCain and that evil VP who seems to have his hand at the switch.
My point is of course no one really trusts the Bush man--with his track record how could we possibly? It's the girl who cried wolf senario and now we are all going to be crying--either in looming debts or because Mr Bush and Cheney got their final pot of gold and Parachuted to lifetime salaries and security on us. Meanwhile McCain is creating a convenient distraction. We might even lose our last remaining right which is the freedom to choose and keep the government out of our bodies weather comatose or sperm infested. In what way have Republicans ever been for keeping down spending and less government intervention in the affairs of the people? A: Only when it applies to lining their tombs in solid gold-- I only wish this would happen soon.
On that note, invest merrily!- even if only to have voting rights with the military's contractors. Change starts from within.
My last point is that fed taxes were created to fund the Mexican American war so the entire concept is towards arms and bloodshed and perhaps we can give tax payers a break by freezing or entirely eliminating the tax-- keep the state tax, of course and change the $3 political party check box on tax forms to be for funding wars--make it optional. Use the pentagon budget to fund education and other bailouts, arts and social service needs, along with taxing Iraq if we insist on throwing more money at them than they know what to do with--and even better get the heck out and go find Osama (who is more likely at the Beverly Hilton shooting behind a faux desert film set.
Cut waste in government and the tax payers could all get a tax cut and solve the budget.
And I will give my first born son to any politician who would revise the poverty line because that hasn't been done since it's inception in the early 1960's. The gap between the rich and poor simply can't get any wider without drawing demarcations and seceding. Give that 5% Puerto Rico and Alaska. Paelin can be their beauty queen, tanning bed and all. Give them the Hiltons too. (Any high school principal has run larger organizations than her--except maybe the ones in Alaska)
That's why it's a travesty to responsible single renters to bail out "main street" or mortgage holders. It's bad enough that corporations and "working families" get all the tax cuts--what about the rest of us? As my great great great........... cousin/uncle was a single hard working man who never had a child (or had to pay taxes and ran things pretty dandy) and was named George Washington. Unfortunately I also can't tell a lie.
