The Sky is Not Falling – Mark O. Haroldsen on the Economy

“You need to stand back from the masses because the masses almost always get it wrong.”

Some might wonder if because of my lifestyle I’m somehow immune to feeling the effects of a slow  economy. I’m not saying I haven’t been hurt by it, I have. I’m not immune to it. But my take is that we’re not at the bottom yet – but we’re near.

I talked to people on my trip about it. World markets are being creamed. Many are worried. Some blame the U.S. for problems with the economy, though they have made some of the same mistakes. There is no question that a person living hand to mouth is in a bad situation and this economic downturn. It scares them — and it should scare them.

Just yesterday, when things were looking bleak all over the world, I started buying positions — one in a bank, one in another lending institution. It’s a pretty gutsy thing to do. You might think I’m foolish. Or, in a week it will make me look bright, then a year from now – brilliant. You see, market economies go through cycles, when they say the sky is falling the loudest, it the time when it is turning.

Whether you’re worth a few million or a billion or you’re upside down financially, wealth is not a matter of what you make, it’s what you keep.

My first job I made $600 a month and I saved $60 a month. I got a raise of $40 a month and I saved it too, until I was saving $100 a month. Was it easy? No. Did I have to deprive myself of things? Yes. But I wanted financial security.

By studying wealthy people, I learned they save and invest money wisely over time. It takes a lot of patience and thought, and work. I spread my risk in a lot of different investments. Still, there will be bumps, even big bumps. But even those bumps create huge opportunities in markets not only in the US, but around the world.

If we’re not at the bottom now, we’re very close because of the panic and fear I see. I’ve seen this happen before. It’s somewhat predictable. The sky is not falling – when financial crisis hits the front page of the papers and when they hit main street…the stock market is near bottom. When it hits the mainstream, it’s reached its peak.

When it comes to investing in this climate, don’t pay attention to the noise. Keep your head down. Even in a real estate market like today there is opportunity. So now as always, if a deal makes sense financially, do it.