During this installment of McCuistion, Dennis McCuistion gathers financial wisdom from key experts regarding your personal finances in a tough economy. McCuistion is joined by Ed Douglas, author of 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom and a retired Bank CEO, and Kim Snider, a Financial Success Coach and author of How to Be the Family CFO.
In the current unstable economic climate where people are losing their jobs, their savings and the money they’ve invested, there is a need for financial wisdom for those who are ready to take control of their personal finances. Douglas and Snider discuss topics related to stock market losses, personal financial planning, saving, job loss, and debt accumulation and payoff.
Stock Market Losses
For those who have incurred stock market losses, it could take 10-20 years for the money to be regained. Consequently, people are going to have to save more and work longer. Snider and Douglas, offer both suggestions and warnings for the ready investor during this time period.
Personal Finance
It is critical that a clear plan is in place for family finances, a plan that takes future financial goals into consideration. Expounding on the topic of personal finance, the experts discuss financial wisdom principles and guidelines for saving, the safest places for you to put your money, what to do when you lose your job, credit, debt and more. Further discussing what to do in the event of unemployment, Snider covers discretionary and non-discretionary expenses and how both play into the personal financial plan.
Borrowing and Paying Off Debt
After stating that it’s okay for people to borrow on a home or education and nothing else, they offer suggestions on the most effective ways to get out of debt.
In closing, they suggest the following: get your credit cards paid off, establish your emergency fund, make sure that your bank account savings doesn’t exceed the FDIC limits of $250,000, continue to contribute to your investments and retirement, and manage your FICO score.
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02.22.09 – 1724
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In this episode of the McCuistion program, Dennis McCuistion is joined by panelists:
- Stan Liebowitz, PhD., author of Anatomy of A Train Wreck & Director for the Analysis of Property Rights and Settlement
- Richard Bitner, author of Confessions of a Subprime Lender and Associate Publisher for Housing Wire Magazine
- Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr., Senior Fellow Cato Institute
- Ira Silver, PhD., Texas Christian University, Neeley School of Business
The 2009 economy is breaking records and not necessarily the ones we’d like it to break. As we navigate the recession, McCuistion and the program panelists discuss the extremity of the problem, the effectiveness of government policies and the future.
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We are in what could be described as a post war recession. People are feeling the crunch of increased debt, and so they are working to get out of debt. This causes a strain on the housing market and other markets that rely on acquired debt in order to stay afloat.
In September 2008 the recession officially became a serious issue. However, on a percentage basis, the 1982 recession actually resulted in a greater job loss than what the American market has experienced thus far. And although the stock market has had its failings, the decline may not be as bad as some may think. In the United States the market generally goes up each year and 2008 was not much different. In 2009 growth will likely drop 1-1.5% .
Housing is one critical component of the recession, because most housing markets are imbalanced from an inventory perspective. In order for the market to improve, there needs to be a general belief that the market has hit rock bottom. However, as public policy pushes towards foreclosure moratoriums, it will likely be 3-4 years before this happens.
The panelists go on to explain the meltdown of the mortgage industry and what led to the 2009 economy and what it will take to move forward. Citing moral hazards, reckless lending, investing and negative interest rates that caused the boom cycle, they reassure viewers that pessimists are usually wrong.
Also covered during this television segment are the positive and negative sides of the Fed’s decision to expand the money supply, changing interest rates, and each panelist’s predictions of the 2009 economy as well projections for the future state of the economy.
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02.15.09 – 1723
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In this segment of McCuistion, host Dennis McCuistion is joined by a panel of experts:
- Stan Liebowitz, PhD., author of Anatomy of A Train Wreck & Director for the Analysis of Property Rights and Settlement
- Richard Bitner, author of Confessions of a Subprime Lender and Associate Publisher for Housing Wire Magazine
- Robert Higgs, author of Crisis and Leviathan and Senior Fellow in Political Economy at The Independent Institute
Unemployment is rising, stocks have fallen 35%, every area of industry is challenged, credit is tight, foreclosures are on the rise, and no-one admits responsibility. This program explores the greed, fraud and incompetence in all areas of business and government. It asks if the remedies being applied by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System (Fed) are the right ones and if, in fact, those in charge have any idea what they are doing to America’s economic future.
Experts point toward the mortgage industry and Wall Street as the source of the recession we’re in today and explain how the recession actually started. Approximately 30-40 years ago getting a loan consisted of one loan recipient going to his or her local bank and completing the entire transaction through that one bank. With the introduction and growth of securitization, which in itself isn’t a bad thing, a new era of issues were created.
In the early 1990s in an effort to get more Americans into homes, the Fed lowered lending standards to increase home ownership. People no longer had to have verifiable income, strong credit history, and more. This caused the demand for houses to go up and the prices of those houses increased right along with it. The panelists further explain the types of decisions and misinformation that took place during this time that led to the mishandling of the situation.
The experts cover the role investment banks have played, look critically at Wall Street and rating agencies, and examine the issues surrounding both entities decisions and actions.
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02.08.09 – 1722
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Based on Manny Mendoza and Mark Birnbaum’s new documentary, Stop the Presses, this McCuistion program explores the demise of print media and its impact on democracy as well as innovative alternatives for the newspaper market today.
Dennis McCuistion is joined by a panel of experts:
- Tracy Everbach, PhD. of the Universiy of North Texas, Department of Journalism
- Manny Mendoza, Co-Director: Stop the Presses
- John Solomon, Executive Editor, Washington Times
As newspaper circulation numbers are declining and revenues are falling, we have to wonder if the newspaper market is in peril and if so, how will that affect democracy?
The newspaper market has been declining since 1917 on a percentage basis. With the increase of environmental awareness and the Internet, the decline has only increased. In the recently released documentary, Stop the Presses, Manny Mendoza and Mark Birnbaum investigate the changing industry with the premise that newspapers have been a critical part of democracy in the United States due to their independent reporting and thorough investigations. Manny Mendoza discusses specific stories that are explained in the documentary that support this statement.
Going back to the beginning, they discuss the Constitution’s mention of the press and how that plays out today. With the lower circulation rates and the time it will take a good reporter to really uncover the details of a story in sync with with all good investigative methods, the costs don’t match up. Solomon, of the Washington Times, talks of the historical importance of newspapers and what the Washington Times is doing to adjust to the changes. He explains the monetary changes that come from moving from a print model to a web model and the Washington Times’ response. He discusses some of the forward-thinking steps they have taken recently and how that is working for the newspaper.
Tracy Everbach discusses what is being done in the classroom today as journalism students are being trained to adjust to the changing newspaper market. The journalism business is turning to the web and they have to be prepared. The fundamentals of interviewing, investigating and reporting are taught, but multi-media classes are now given as well, so that students are ready to be journalists in the newspaper market of today.
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02.01.09 – 1717
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