February 2008

Start off strong in 2008

With the beginning of a New Year, many of us made a New Year’s Resolution and many of us have already broken that resolution. The most common resolutions always seem to be based around joining a gym and getting into better shape, especially after all the food we eat from November thru December. There are people who have the discipline to commit and maintain their New Year’s Resolution and find much success in achieving their goals.

The financial world we live in right now is full of uncertainty coupled with a troubled horizon. The stock market is unstable and has many investors nervous. The lending world is very concerned and it shows in their restricted guidelines and the recent revisions made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There has been over 210 National Lenders who have either closed their doors or have gone bankrupt since September 2006. The issue of inflation is a concern that is just below the surface. It is an issue that is sneaking up on all of us fairly quietly but quickly. There are financial analysis’s who believe 2008 is going to be a very rocky year in regards to maintaining a sustainable economy because we are facing a potential recession. Bottom line is that there are more concerns than hopes for our financial and economic future in 2008.

My urgency has, for years, been to educate the general public in understanding the basics of credit, debt and finances. If you have made a New Year’s Resolution already, whether it has been broken or you are still committed to it, I am asking you and the entire community of Cheyenne to add a new resolution for 2008. As citizens of Cheyenne, Wyoming and the United States, we can no longer accept generic 3 minute explanations to our questions about credit, debt and finances. The urgency to understand these basics are more important and critical now then they have been in 20+ years!

I am challenging you to commit to a New Year’s Resolution for 2008 that you will take 1 hour every week to educate yourselves in the basics of credit, debt and finances. I understand that Wyoming’s economy is completely different than the majority of the United States, but it is complete ignorance for an individual to say what is happening National does not affect us here at home. We live in a financially fast-paced world that is growing more unstable, so remember; if you understand the basics of credit, debt and finances… You Will Be Making Opportunity Reality!