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A recent article by Robert Kiyosaki entitled Preparing for the Worst caught my eye.  After all, isn’t this sound financial advice for all of us?  That’s why we Fools have things like emergency funds.

The article, however, wasn’t about wills, life insurance, or anything like that (which is what I was expecting based on the title), but rather a list of reasons why Kiyosaki thinks that “The worst is yet to come” in the stock market.  Unfortunately, however, Kiyosaki doesn’t tell us how to go about preparing for it.

I’ll have to admit that while some of his reasoning as to why we may have more tough times ahead in the market (and I don’t profess to know one way or the other the way the market’s headed over the short or even intermediate term) seems plausible on the surface, I think he misses the mark in a few places.

1. I believe the stock market is being manipulated. I suspect the government, banks, and Wall Street are doing everything they can to keep the market from crashing. Our leaders know that nothing makes the world feel better than a raging bull market.

Government’s hand has been a very heavy one in the economy lately.  Everything from bailouts of companies like AIG and GM to the Cash for Clunkers program is evidence of this.  Maniplating the stock market?  I’m not so sure.  Manipulating the economy (which has an impact on the stock market)?  Absolutely.  I wish the manipulation were related only to the stock market and not to the economy as a whole, because I fear that the long-term ramififications of many of the government’s recent actions may place an unnecessary drag on the economy for a long time to come.

2. In my view, this global crisis has been caused by the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. Treasury, Wall Street, and the central banks of the world. They caused the problem, profited excessively in doing so, and now profit by being asked to fix the problem.

While each of the above entities certainly had a hand in creating the mess, laying this problem solely at the feet of financial istitutions is a bit like blaming McDonald’s and Burger King for America’s growing obesity problem.  We gladly borrowed all that money and took out loans for all kinds of stuff despite a lot of good financial advice that’s readily available to us that urged us not to take on too much debt (you know, at places like this Fool.com outfit I keep hearing about) just like we gladly and willingly wolf down Big Macs and Whoppers despite all of the information out there telling us we should be eating broccoli instead.

3. Old frogs don’t hop. Another reason I am cautious about the future is that the Western world has a growing number of old frogs. Between 1970 and 2000, the economy responded to bailouts and stimulus packages because the baby boomers of the world were entering their greatest earning years — their purchasing power increased, and demand for homes, cars, refrigerators, computers, and TVs boosted the economy.

That demographic changes will alter the economic landscape isn’t exactly new, but I’m not so sure that I follow this logic.  Yes, baby boomers had good earning power and spent money on lots of ’stuff’ — but what are earnings?  After all, they’re something someone is willing to pay these boomers for their work — and while there are exceptions, each and every one of these boomers was hired, and paid, because his or her employer at least had the perception that the value of the work they were receiving was at least as great or greater than the value of the money they were paying.

If we are to fear the economic impact of retiring baby boomers, I think its the loss of their productivity, not the loss of their consumption, that we should be most concerned about.

4. The dying frog economy will lead us to the biggest Ponzi schemes of all: Social Security and Medicare. If we think this subprime financial crisis is big, it’s my opinion that this crisis will be dwarfed by the crisis brewing in Social Security and Medicare…Medicare being the biggest crisis of all. As old frogs head for the big lily pad in the sky, they will demand young frogs spend even more in tax dollars just to keep old frogs from croaking.

I agree that this is one of the greatest economic challenges that will be faced within the next generation.  No matter what one’s individual views are as to how to best handle this impending problem, I believe the decisions we ultimately make here will have a large impact on our economy and financial well-being for a very long time to come.  My only fault with Kiyosaki here is that he never gets to the “Preparing” part that was in the article’s title.

5. The 401(k)Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme, like the scheme Madoff ran, depends upon young money to pay off old money. In other words, a Ponzi scheme needs tadpoles to finance old frogs. The same is true for the 401(k) and other retirement plans to work. If young money does not come into the stock market, the old money cannot retire.

I couldn’t disagree with Kiyosaki more.  Sure, lots of money flowing into and out of the market can sometimes cause some pretty big short-term changes in overall stock prices.  In the long-term, however, I firmly believe that stocks are ultimately valued by the amount of money they return (or are expected to return) to their shareholders.  Sure, short-term irrational ‘blips’, some lasting several years, can, do, and will happen — but 401(k) plans are most definately not a Ponzi scheme.

My differences from Kiyosaki aside, I do still like the title of the article.  After all, if nothing else, the recent housing and credit crisis, our struggling economy, and the looming pension, Medicare, Social Security, and other obligations faced by private companies and the government alike tell us that we should, indeed, do our best to be financially prepared for tough times — whenever and however they should strike.

As far as what to do to prepare, well, there are some blue tabs at the top of your screen right now that, if you click on them, have a lot of information and ideas as to how to go about doing exactly that.

Regards,

Russell (a.k.a. TMFEldrehad)

More here:
Is the worst over?

On February 9, 2009, Experian stopped selling consumers their own score. They will of course continue selling them to creditors. Apparently, we as consumers no longer have access to FICO scores at all from them. The sell Vantage and Plus scores, which aren’t the same as FICO scores.

FICO score are the ones that matter; they are what lenders use. It’s not clear what, other than score, you’ll have access to when you apply for a loan.

There is a serious drawback for consumers here: you have to have a pull on your credit now to get a real score and you still may not have access to the information in your file. That makes it very difficult if not impossible to correct errors. It also makes it nearly impossible to enforce your rights under the fair credit laws and I suspect that that is the reason why Experian went this route.

We have the right to see the reports on which the scores are based but currently not the scores. I think we should. One of the things I find to be sleazy about this industry is that they don’t have to show you what they share with lenders.

Read the rest here:
Experian stops selling FICO scores to consumers

~ Robert Kiyosaki

What do higher gas prices mean? From a macro view, it means the end of the Industrial Age and the beginning of the Information Age. So businesses that operate in an Industrial Age context, such as airlines and auto manufacturers, are hurting.Higher gas prices also mean the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. A dollar means a lot more to a person making $50,000 a year than a person making $500,000. So when a gallon of gas goes from $3 to $4, the dollar increase hits lower income people harder. A dollar increase means people who once drove their car to work now ride the bus or train. For these people, a $1 increase in the price of gas can mean a decrease in their standard of living.

For entrepreneurs, higher gas prices mean you have to become a better entrepreneur. For example, if your company produced one pizza per hour in 2007, you’d better be producing 10 pizzas per hour by 2009. And not only do you have to produce 10 pizzas per hour, but you also have to sell 10 pizzas per hour. Simply buying a faster pizza-making machine or hiring more pizza makers won’t cut it. 

This means you need to become a better leader of people. If you have workers who rate a five on a scale of one to 10, you must inspire them to become sevens or eights. This may require further training, demotion or termination. 

In the Industrial Age, workers came to expect higher pay for seniority, loyalty and longevity–regardless of productivity. And older workers were valued. In the Information Age, if older workers’ speed and skills don’t keep up with the accelerating pace of our times, seniority, loyalty and longevity may become liabilities. Steady performance may be a liability if increased performance is required. There is a difference between employees working for a one-pizza-an-hour organization and an organization operating at a 10-pizzas-per-hour pace.

If you, as the small-business owner, have Industrial Age values, then you’re the liability. If you have Industrial Age ideas, you put your workers at risk. Higher gas prices mean you and your organization must do much more for much less. You must become a bolder leader, not a better follower.

In my organization, higher gas prices have caused us to use videoconferencing more and airline travel less. Higher gas prices have pushed us to expand through franchise owners instead of more employees. Higher gas prices have moved us to collaborate more and compete less. In other words, higher gas prices have helped make my company richer, because higher gas prices forced me to become a better entrepreneur. What do higher gas prices do for you?

Here is the original:
The Price of Gas

To get a bureau credit report, you can do so from one of three federally recognized credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. Each of these bureaus will allow you to get one free report- which means if you access all of them, you can get up to three free bureau credit reports per year. Be sure to take advantage of this fact, and keep an eye not only on your finances, but on your security. If you are working towards repairing your credit, these reports will become especially important.

 

Oh No- What’s This, A Mistake?

Correcting mistakes or questionable activity on your credit report right away is of vital importance. The more time goes by, the harder it can be to correct any inaccuracies. As well, your credit rating suffers. Not to mention being harassed by bill collectors for bills marked unpaid.

When you see a mistake, you have to make a hand-written request to challenge the information and send it to the credit bureau that sent you the bureau credit repair report. The credit bureau has 30 days to get back to you. In the meantime, they will be contacting all of your creditors to verify if what you said was true. If they cant find anything to disprove your written request, theyll change the information in your favor.

As a borrower, you also have the right to have written statements included with your credit bureau repair report. These can be included as a permanent record in your report- for future lenders to read your side of the story. For instance, if you were involved in some type of natural disaster or other significant event which affected you substantially, but had never missed a loan payment previously, they may take this into serious consideration when considering lending to you.

What a Credit Bureau Report is Not

A bureau credit repair report does NOT magically remove all information about your substantiated bad credit days, such as information about bankruptcies, loans and repossessions. Changing that information is highly illegal.

A bureau credit repair report also is not a new or secondary identity file about your credit history. That also is incredibly illegal ” right up there with fake I.D.s and forged passports.

If you have to have changes made to your bureau credit repair report, be sure those changes are actually put into your report. The best way to do that is to order another report. Life is fun, isnt it?

Here is the original:
What The Heck Is A Bureau Credit Repair Report?