Unemployment, Foreclosures and Wall Street, Oh My

What is happening in our country is unlike anything we've seen before. It's everywhere we turn and the news is dire: national unemployment (non farm) is at 8.1% according to www.bls.gov/CPS and here in California it's 10.5% according to every headline in every medium on every news/media outlet. The cover of the LA Times Business section yesterday was a full spread aimed at educating us poor homeowners whose hopes and fears about the fate of our mortgages is unparallelled on the chart of "oh my goodness, what are we going to do". And honestly, one more story about the clusterf&@#k that is AIG and I'm going to announce my self-appointment to lead the revolution.

I know I'm not alone in feeling completely pummeled by our legislature and wall street but I can't help but wonder why there hasn't been a call to action by anyone other than the whack job who thinks he's Benjamin Franklin. I won't even include a reference link to his YouTube video here because I can't be responsible for increasing the viewership of his ridiculousness.

It's high time to stand tall, folks. You need a job? Create one for yourself. What have you got to lose? This is still America, the land of opportunity. There are so many opportunities for us to make a living providing needed services to our near and distant neighbors. There are also many, many websites dedicated to helping those of us in business for ourselves by providing information, resources and forums. Check out a few: Startup, Entrepreneur, Ladies Who Launch, Tanned Feet, SBA, and there are many, many groups on LinkedIn geared specifically to starting a business, marketing that business and growing the business. Twitter is also a great resource for information, but it does require a bit of time so I suggest browsing Twitter for information that will be helpful to you and then joining the fray once you've started your business so that you can contribute, as well.

What else can you do? Make your voice heard by writing your representatives in Congress to tell them your thoughts on what's going on. Write in to newspapers, television shows and blogs to provide feedback on the information being presented by them. Whether you like the content or not, let your voice be heard. That's what we're supposed to do, you know. The people "in charge" are supposedly representing us and since we ultimately pay all of their salaries, we're entitled to give them feedback on their job performance. I'm talking about all of the politicians and all of the newscasters and journalists. Be noisy.

The foreclosure news is so bad everywhere that I can't help but have a morbid curiosity as to what will happen next. What I hope for is the mortgage banks will figure out a way to make the necessary corrections in order to rewrite many mortgages altogether. But it's not looking too good as the LA Times exposed the truth behind the various programs that exist for homeowners to address their dilemmas. At least I hope it's the truth. It's very hard to keep up! Call your realtor as they are the best first line for real news and information. Whatever you do, ignore everything that comes in the mail offering assistance to homeowners. If it's not from your mortgage holder or realtor, toss it. If you don't have a realtor you can trust, check out the National Association of Realtors to find one.

Ah, Wall Street. How I loathe thee. Remember, you're supposed to be able to be the President with an 8th grade education. I keep that little tidbit at the forefront of my mind when I consider Wall Street because I just don't think it's right how our collective nest eggs should be at the mercy of folks dealing in financial matters that most people can't understand. Even with all of the new information flooding in from well meaning individuals and media outlets, it's still not exactly clear what has happened. What?? That's right - nobody actually knows. There are plenty who have educated guesses, but since they're mostly saying different things, the only logical conclusion one can draw is that there were a whole bunch of people getting away with far too much. Keep it simple for yourself and only invest in things you can understand with minimal research. Because there is still value on the stock market, folks - lots of it. It's just that all of the shenanigans that have been going on have confused the darn thing so much as to make it nearly unrecognizable. Invest in things you can truly understand.

The bad news is on a roll, for sure. But we can remain strong and successful if we don't give up our hope, our efforts and our contributions to the collective by making our voices heard.

You've been waiting for it, I know, so here is my self-serving plug. I've launched a new web site offering training webinars in an effort to serve all of those folks out there who need help finding a job. They're cheap, they're efficient and they're the real deal - no baloney. Job seekers will find resources for their search, their resume and nailing the interview: www.iwillworkshops.com.

As always, I wish you every success in your endeavors and fret over you as only a cosmic mother does. If there is a topic you'd like me to address, don't be shy! Get in touch to let me know.