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There's a very compelling reason for you to seriously consider how you can take charge of your own financial future. The America you imagine in your head is not the America that exists today, and Uncle can't bail you out.
When you think of America, what images come to mind? We all have some iconic view of this country, often involving baseball and apple pies. We see America as the land of the free and home of the brave. But how free is America?
I'm guessing your view of America doesn't involve the Statue of Liberty holding a "For Sale" sign. A symbol that this once-great country is being piece-mealed out to the highest bidder.
The sad truth is that America isn't free. America is bankrupt and being bought in trillion dollar increments by China, Japan, and Middle Eastern oil-rich countries.
Most of us are so caught up in our own daily dramas that we are painfully unaware of what's actually going on in the world. Or even in our own country.
Most people don't even realize that because of the recent financial downturn in the U.S., we are now financially upside down. We are nearly to the point of being unable to recover. The America that once existed is gone. It can never be brought back. We live in a new world, with a new America. And in the not-too-distant future some hard choices are going to have to be made.
This country is spending more than it makes. (Not unlike most of the people who inhabit this country.) When the Obama administration pushed through a $787 billion dollar deficit-spending economic stimulus plan through congress, most of us cheered. We had no idea that the true deficit measured in the trillions of dollars! Would you like a Band-Aid for that amputated leg with severed artery? 'Cuz that's really helpful, don't you think?
This isn't even taking into account the social-welfare obligations Obama has budgeted into the new spending plan. Right now, even just our future obligations to Social Security and Medicare are enough to bankrupt us. According to the U.S. Treasury, the total obligations of the U.S. exceeded a negative $59 trillion in 2007 and by 2008 was over $65 trillion and growing.
There's no way for us to recover even if every American had their income confiscated by the government to get us out of the hole. Several factors have contributed to this growing problem. The baby boomers have essentially crashed our current ability to keep up with Social Security and Medicare. There are just not enough people working now to fund the retirement of that generation. Social Security is funded by the present working generation for those who are retiring. So the money that the baby boomers put into the system is not actually available for them. They're pulling from those of us who are working now. Unfortunately for Social Security, the birth rate dropped with our generation, and so there are fewer workers than those retiring. This means the new generation cannot support the retirement needs of those before us.
The social-welfare entitlement programs in this country have grown beyond our ability to fund as well. At this point in time, there's no funding saved for future Social Security and Medicare either. Worse still are the health care demands in this country. People are living longer lives, and the cost of health care is going through the roof. Couple all this with the mortgage bubble bursting, and the US does not have the reserves to handle the financial crisis it has generated.
Here's the truth: America is for sale. The value of the dollar is dropping. Foreigners are buying up our debt in the trillions, in the hopes that this economy won't collapse to the point of making it worthless. We are quickly moving to a world economy, with America losing its' sovereignty-and its' freedom.
The middle class is also systematically being eliminated. Soon the division between classes will be sharp and painful. The poor and the rich. We outsource so much work from the US to places like India, and what we can't outsource we insource, by allowing immigrants to come in and work for substandard wages and no benefits.
In the aftermath of all of this, we're balancing on a very precarious tight rope. This balancing act can't last forever though. Eventually we will crash even harder than we have already if we don't start looking at the world differently.
So wake up! It's time to set aside your myopic little view of life and see what's happening in the world. Otherwise it will be too late to shape things the way you want. The good news (and yes, there is good news...) is that change can be good. We now get to direct the course of history, by making different choices now. There's no better time to change the rules of the game then when the game is falling apart.
This is why it's so important to shift your ideas about money and investing, and to see the opportunities that exist around you. And it's time to start looking outside the U.S. for those opportunities.
I know some of you are wondering how spending money outside the US can possibly help us here. What you need to understand is that the U.S. needs some fresh blood pumped into its economic veins. That means that Americans need to generate some wealth offshore so they can bring that spending power back to the states. It's the only thing that will save this country.
There are generally two types of people who refuse to invest overseas. The first is the patriot who thinks it's unpatriotic to do so. Again, may I stress that if you really love America, bring some much needed cash back into the country by creating some real wealth in foreign real estate. There's a lot of money to be had this way, and if enough people do it, the influx of wealth into the U.S. will make an impact.
The second type of person is one who just doesn't know how to go about investing overseas. To that person I say; Learn! Learn the importance of overseas investing. Learn how to do it well.
No one can afford to continue living in a fantasy world of what they think America is like. You must open your eyes to the truth of our situation or you will be crushed by it, sooner or later. And at this rate that would be sooner. As we've seen from 2007-2010, gone are the days of investing in one countries economy and thinking it will all be ok. There is no single economy that can hold that level of promise anymore, not even the U.S.
You have to be proactive in securing your present and future economic viability in an increasingly shifting market. To do this you have to broaden your horizons, and find opportunities to create, build and sustain wealth for the long term. As I said, it can't be tied solely to the U.S. or any one nation's economy. Your portfolio has to be robust enough to handle the inevitable market cycles. So when the day comes for you to actually retire, you'll have something there that's real and substantial, rather than insubstantial, overhyped and overinflated. With the latter, one turn in the market and it'll all go up in smoke, as we've all seen recently. We are living through what happens when all your eggs are in one basket, and the basket is dropped. All your eggs break.
If you don't believe me, take a look at the people whose wealth is staggering to us mere mortals. Take George Soros, for example. Soros is a Hungarian-American currency speculator, businessman, political activist, stock investor and philanthropist worth $14 billion according to Forbes. I had the privilege of meeting this economic giant, and here's what makes men like Soros different from the rest of us. He has made a fortune on the downturned economy by investing overseas. He's completely diversified and international and is not at all dependent on the U.S. economy for his economic survival.
Warren Buffet is an American investor, industrialist and philanthropist who is consistently ranked as one of the top three wealthiest men in the world, worth over $47 billion. Do you think he keeps his money tied up exclusively in American real estate and stocks and bonds? NO! He is a contrarian investor who grabs the opportunities wherever they may be. Often that means offshore investing.
Learn from these great men. Learn from men and women like you who may not be worth billions of dollars, but have taken my advice and secured a nice nest egg for themselves by working the international real estate cycles. This is not something that is out of your league to accomplish. And it's not just for the worlds' richest men, either. The opportunities for offshore investing are perfect for the average American who wants to take the reins on their own financial future by securing their own retirement. The American who realizes that Uncle Sam has got his own problems and cannot bail them out of theirs. This is for YOU, in other words.
There are many advantages to investing overseas. The key is to look for countries that have lower property taxes, better financing options and a substantial projected growth so that you maximize the profits on your investments. There are some truly fabulous deals available if we start to look past our own borders. My point in sharing this with you isn't to make you anti-American, or to get you hooked on anti-depressants.
My point is to show you while Uncle Sam won't and can't bail you out of your current economic struggles, you have more options available to save yourself than you know!
It's time to not just get real about what's happening in this country, but to get excited about what's happening in the world around us. These struggles could be blessings in disguise if we use this moment in history to expand our vision of the world and our future by seeing the many possibilities for creating real wealth. It truly is an exciting time to be alive!
Luke Chadwick is an international real estate expert, owner of Plan B Investments and author of the book "Emerging From the Rubble." He can be reached through his website at http://PlanBInvestments.com.
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