Curvesity

As we look forward to a New Year, a new presidency and a new outlook for life, we must also have in mind how are we going to navigate the crazy waters called the economy and what are we going to do to protect our financial well being.

First we must always ask ourselves, “What’s the real story?” Everyday we read articles in the newspapers but what we must start doing is learning to read between the lines. Case in point… Gannett (NYSE:GCI): The nation’s largest newspaper publisher stated that they will now require that most of its 31,000 employees take a one week unpaid leave of absence to avoid future layoffs. Ok… That’s the story.

Now lets read between the lines. First, the company hasn’t guaranteed against future layoffs so they can, and probably will, layoff workers at a later date. However there is a also financial story here. Let’s do the math:

31,000 employees x $11.50/hr x 7 hour day x 5 day work week = $12,477,500.00 Loan to self!! These numbers are very conservative since most of their employees may make more than $11.50 per hour. We also didn’t factor in the cost of benefits. I’m sure that Gannett wants to save jobs and genuinely cares for its employee’s wellbeing I’m saying look at the whole picture and make decisions on your own. Look at the story behind the story and try to make sense of it all.

Hence, the name of my page, “Make sense…now make dollars!!” What “we” and I do mean “we” will do here is have a forum where we can take a look at what’s going on in the financial world and see how it impacts us and the people around us. We really should have this in mind since we are interdependently related.

Take a look at it this way. Just say you are the only person with a job on your block. Everyone else has either been downsized or laid off. How safe do you feel in the morning leaving your house to go to work? How safe do you feel coming back to your home after a hard day at the office? How do you manage the stress of wondering when is it going to happen to you? Doesn’t feel good huh?

I paint this gloomy picture because it is a reality. We are living through the aftermath of the “Perfect Financial Storm” of our lifetime that will be difficult at best to weather. Greedy Wall Street executives preyed on naive and unsuspecting borrowers that were ill equipped to make the serious and important financial decisions so many are wishing they can do over at this time. Now we are faced with a HUGE hole to dig ourselves from only to find a crumbling economy once we reach the top.

“Make sense… will provide its readers with timely advice and insights of the financial landscape. We will talk about financial tools such as: investments, credit cards, mortgages, etc. “Make sense will also want to answer any questions you may have on these topics as well. We will also spotlight financial professionals in various areas to highlight specific topics as needed.

Together we will…” Make sense…. Now make dollars!!” In $ucce$$

Ron Freeman