Well batten down the hatches, check the lifeboat, and hang on tight; we are in for a little sloooowdown...
The Canadian economy has started to feel the effects of the global financial fiasco and the American Mortgage meltdown. So what is a guy or gal to do? Here are three things to do to make yourself recession proof for the long haul.
1) SELL SELL SELL, Set up an eBay account or buy and sell or garage sale and sell. Cash is always king during recession times and if you can sell those items in your home that you don’t need or never use, now is the time. We are currently putting our own pop up trailer on the chopping block. Our family parked the pop up in front of our house this summer and used it .... about .... well ..... zero times.
2) If you are holding a high amount of equity in your home but have high interest debt such as credit card or car debt, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET RID OF IT! (The debt, not the home.) You have the supreme opportunity to change your current situation and you might even reduce your monthly payments. Your net worth, believe it or not will stay the same, you will be just changing who you owe the money to. If you owe the money it will need to be paid back sooner or later. It is your decisions as to how much interest you will pay but your monthly payments and your interest payments will probably go down. The costs to refinance your home to consolidate your debt are minimal but the benefits could be immeasurable. And believe it or not, if you are scared about interest rates skyrocketing you can lock into a 25 year fixed term mortgage for less than 7%. If you're interested in finding out more, apply for an Equip Mortgage and an agent will contact you right away.
3) INVEST, INVEST, INVEST, research your investments, think cash flow, and by all means talk to us. Just as many millionaires are made during times of economic downturn as any other time. Take advantage and think opportunity. As billionaire investor Warren Buffet said. “I hope I live long enough to see a couple (more) recessions in this country . . . It is the nature of capitalism to periodically have recessions. People overshoot. So, it isn’t the end of the world. I mean, as a matter of fact, for an investor, you know, it turns out to be the times when you make your best buys. I made by far the best buys I’ve ever made in my lifetime in 1974. And that was a time of great pessimism and the oil shock and stagflation and all those sort of things. But stocks were cheap.” Just remember to check your emotions at the door and think with your head!
To find out more about us, check us out by clicking here at Equip Financial.
T.J.
