I couldn’t help but comment on this one. The big headline this week is that auto sales in the U.S. are down 21% compared to August of last year. Sounds like a reason to panic, doesn’t it? Well I’m not quite convinced. If you pay close attention to the news, you’ll hear a “by the way” muttered under the breath that August of 2009 happened to have a large spike in auto sales from the government’s cash for clunkers program. Why do they utter that one little fact under their breath? Because it’s the only reason this is even a relevant news story.
Take a look at this graph of auto sales in the U.S. over the last five years.
Auto sales have actually been declining since 2006, not just since last year. And the kicker here is August 2010 auto sales are actually pretty flat compared to the previous few months. In fact, August auto sales were actually better than every month in 2009 except July and August, when the Cash for Clunkers kicked in the higher sales. August 2010 even did better than August 2008, so when you factor out 2009 there’s still some good news here.
Even more telling: 2010 auto sales have been pretty strong and relatively stable all year long, especially compared to 2009 as a whole. You didn’t hear that in the news, did you? So before you start panicking about how bad the economy is because the nightly news is telling you so, realize that there are good signs of growth this year, at least in the auto industry. Not all is doom and gloom – just the parts they choose to share with you to make better news stories.
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Living In Financial Excellence Episode 23: Following Your Calling, Starting a Business, Pursuing Your Dreams, Sept 1, 2010.
After talking about preparing for a job loss in Episode 21 and job search technique that work in Episode 22, we feel it necessary to pursue the least commonly discussed option: starting your own business and pursuing your passion(s).
Show notes:
- We spent time this weekend with drummer Jeff Jones from one of our favorite bands, Big Daddy Weave (talk about a career that literally rocks). Aside from touring with the band, Jeff has a lot of cool business irons in the fire and they’re all exciting. Check out his website, www.jeffdrummer.com to see how he is following his calling in life.
- What were you put on this earth to do? How are you using your talents to fulfill that calling?
What if you could get some great financial advice at a steep discount AND support a great cause at the same time? That’s exactly the question we asked ourselves a few days ago. So we decided to provide that opportunity to everyone out there. On Tuesday, September 28th at 6:30 p.m. Matt will be offering a Myths vs. Truths live webinar to expose the truth behind common myths of the financial world. What you don’t know could be costing you Millions of dollars over your lifetime. This class would normally cost you $22 but since we’re raising money for charity, you can register by making a donation of any amount (we recommend $10).
What you’ll learn in the class:
What everyone accepts as the normal way of handling your money isn’t the best way. You’ll learn how to avoid the herd mentality.
You’ll learn what the financial industry as a whole doesn’t want you to know, because they’re making $$millions from your lack of knowledge.
How to avoid the pitfalls of “common knowledge” and challenge the status quo with your finances.
How to stand out from the crowd and win with money (no, this isn’t a get rich quick scheme!)
All proceeds from the webinar will go directly to the Kayleigh Ali Vascular Anomalies Foundation to support research through the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Learn more about Kayleigh’s story through her website at www.kayleighscrew.com.
If you are unable to attend the webinar but want to support the foundation, you can make a donation at www.firstgiving.com/keyleighscrew.
Matt is teaching a FREE budgeting class as part of Money Smart Wisconsin week 2010. During this class you’ll learn:
How to make a budget that works for a change.
How to tell your money what to do instead of the money telling you what to do.
What to do if you’ve got too much month at the end of the money.
What to do if you’ve got money left at the end of the month.
No pre-registration is required – simply come on in and join us.
For more information on Money Smart Sheboygan County, or to see a schedule of classes provided by other financial professionals, visit the Money Smart Sheboygan County website at www.moneysmartsheboygan.info.
Did you know the personal savings rate is up over 6% as of July 2010? That’s nearly triple the lows of less than 2% in the last three quarters of 2007.
This means that when the economy nose dived into recession, a bunch of people across the nation got a massive wake up call and they stopped spending like it’s going out of style (despite record low interest rates). It’s unfortunate that it took a major recession, stock market crash, and high unemployment to get us to save more money, but I think we should take what we can get here.
It’s interesting that we haven’t heard a whole lot about the high savings rate with all the clamoring about consumer spending declining rather than increasing. All we hear about is how the economy is bad, and people need to spend more to bring it back. I would argue that saving more and spending less isn’t a bad thing. We’re recovering from a nationwide overspending hangover and it’s going to take time to get back on our feet. In fact, we might just grow the economy at a more controlled pace if people keep savings a top priority in their lives and spend when they have money, not when debt is available. It’s a novel concept to save up for major purchases but it works so much better than depending on debt.
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Living In Financial Excellence Episode 22: Job search techniques that actually work, Aug 25, 2010.
Last week we talked about preparing financially for a job loss, so this week we talk about taking the next step and planning the next step in your career search.
Show notes:
- The importance of following the career that you’re made to do.
- Knowing yourself is key to finding the right career path as well as succeeding in the interview process. We’ve used the DISC personality profile in our career process as well as in improving our marriage.
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