I don't know about y'all, I'm finding it tiresome to read about who is at fault for the crisis and when exactly what key point happened and whose fault that was, ad nauseum going back before Carter.
So here I want specific ideas about how you personally plan to deal with the hand we've been dealt. What decisions are you making and/or changing based on the economy right now?
I know that the conventional wisdom is to buy stock now...Buy Low, Sell High, but I am not an economist and have only an academic knowledge of how to pick a 'good' stock. For instance, GM looks like a firesale right now. Perhaps that would be a good place to put some money. Or not?
I know that conventional wisdom also says that based on the number of years to retirement you want to manage the risk in your portfolio. As retirement approaches, switch from high risk stocks to lower risk stocks and bonds so that the money is there when you need it.
Off the top of my head, here's my plan:
--Get back into the workforce in any way possible (no-brainer). If this does not pan out (worse-case scenario), then I'll go back to school for a couple of years for some re-training.
--Leave my retirement accounts alone. They're mostly in stock mutual funds. I'm pretty young, I think I can ride this out.
--Save more money in regular savings accounts for emergencies that occur (such as this regular unemployment) so that I don't have to get into the retirement accounts, causing penalties and extra taxes.
--I opened a TD Ameritrade account (Suze Orman recommendation) but have not started using it. I want to educate myself about stocks and investing so that I can make more informed decisions before I get too involved with that. It's a pretty good deal at the outset. If I contribute a fixed amount monthly over 12 months, they will give me $100, as an incentive to get women involved in investing.
So...what kind of wisdom do others have to offer?? Where are the big-ass holes in my plans?