Maybe I’m an eternal optimist. Yeah, right. I am a glass-is-half-full person if there ever was one. Show me a situation, I’ll show you what’s wrong with it – since childhood.
But even I have to admit that there is always something good to come from something bad. And the Great Recession is no different.
So here you have it. The top 7 lessons we’ve learned from the Great Recession. Arguably, many aren’t new – most are universal and have been around since the beginning of time. But for many of us, the economic meltdown is what brought these lessons home – and have changed our lives forever.
If It Sounds Too Good to Be True, it Is
If someone tells you that you can afford a $600K house on your $25K a year, they are full of it. Don’t listen to the so-called experts; listen to your bank account.
A Fool and His Money are Soon Parted
This is a variation on the first lesson. Part of the definition of a fool is someone who listens to the wrong people. Or to anyone’s opinion that you know to be untrue. Deep down, you know what you can afford and what you can’t – not just with houses but with cars, clothes, toys, etc. Know this, and don’t listen to anyone who tells you differently. There is no such thing as get rich quick, either. Which brings me to lesson #3.
If Everyone is an Investor, No One Is
It was really crazy. Everyone and their mother (no offense to mothers everywhere) was flipping houses in the real estate bubble. At some point, someone has to buy those flipped houses. But with more and more people joining the ranks of investors, there were less and less of those who are looking to buy a home to actually live in it. Eventually, it’s time to pay the piper – there will be a glut of homes on the market and a shortage of those willing to buy them. Wonder why the federal government is pushing the first-time homebuyer? Because that’s basically the only untouched market for the massive inventory of homes on the market.
It’s Better To Have Wealth Than To Look Like You Have it
When you are worrying about where your next meal is coming from, it really doesn’t matter what the Joneses are doing. We don’t have to try to keep up with them!
Money Isn’t the Most Important Thing in Life…
Not having money will make you realize what the most important things in life are – your family and your relationships. People should always be our priority, and probably were… we just forgot that for a while!
…But Money Will Give You Peace of Mind
At the same time that we are rediscovering the people in our lives, we were waking up to the real value of a dollar – the power to put our minds at rest. If our financial needs are met, we can sleep at night. The silver lining? We now are clearer than ever that money is a means to an end. A necessary means, yes, but only a means. And we’ll probably be wiser with the dollars we get in the future.
There is No Such Thing as Job Security
Truly disturbing, yes. There is no such thing as job security – or even a job for those willing to work – anymore. Doesn’t matter if you are educated and experienced, either. As a nation, we need to get our jobs back – manufacturing, in particular. We just can’t survive as a service economy: that much is crystal clear.
It’s time to move forward. Pick up the pieces of our broken economy and truly fix what’s wrong. After all, do we really want our children to face all of this?
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