There is no better time than now to prepare for the inevitable financial meltdown. There is only so much time left before the bubble bursts taking everyone down with it!
More evidence has surfaced that a recession could be looming sooner than we had expected. Existing home sales have dropped once again as the market retreats. A 5% drop in home sales may not seem like a “big deal,” but it’s a red flag to watch for when preparing yourself and family for the upcoming recession.
The actual slump was 4.9% lower than February’s pace and it missed the Econoday consensus of a 5.3 million rate. The surge in February was the strongest in nearly four years, and the Realtor lobby group is attributing the March decline to a return to normalcy after that spike. Still, sales were 5.4% lower than a year ago.
All regions in the United States experienced this decline too, as it wasn’t limited. That means this particular red flag could be an even bigger deal.
Financial preparations often take a backseat to food and water storage, and it’s understandable. Food and water are essential! However, in order to be well-rounded and prepared for the worst, opting for a “preparedness mindset” with regards to your personal finances could very well set you up for success, or even profit, during the next recession.
It is never too late to prepare for a stressful financial situation. Having a preparedness mindset when it comes to your finances will give you the peace of mind that many will be missing when the onslaught of an economic downturn hits the U.S.
Take the necessary steps to get your emergency fund in place. Consider saving, at a bare minimum, $1000. This should cover major expenses and help you avoid further debt. If you have a family of four, $5000 may be a more comfortable dollar amount to chuck away into an easily accessible savings account.
Once you’re set up with some extra money, try to pay off as much of your debt as you can. This turns your liabilities into assets and will lessen your monthly burden as you no longer are going to need to scrape up the money needed to cover the payments. This is where the peace of mind will come in. Imagine how free you’ll feel if you don’t owe anyone a dime! Your entire paycheck will belong to you freeing up funds to stock your prepping supply and gear.
Once you’ve eliminated debts, you could save a little more money. How much you save will be personal preference based. Consider at least 3-6 months of expenses, as this will help protect you in the event of a recession. You could use this money to pay for your living expenses should a job loss occur thanks to an economic recession.
The bottom line is that it’s important to take a prepper’s mindset and apply it to your personal finances as well. Doing this will not only help you survive a recession but thrive during it!
Depends on the area you are located. Here its pretty hot,50 miles down the road not so much. California is way high and people are leaving same as New York/New Jersey. The bad thing is if prices drop you’ll see property taxes go up to make up for the loss of revenue. You are screwed no matter what.
Jim
You are correct about location. It also has to do with conditions of the property. I have several friends who are property hunting over the past few months. This was due to a retirement package, divorce, and a marriage. The houses that are between 150,000 and 250,000 if in good shape only stay on the market a couple of weeks. There are many houses for sale that need a lot of work. They are not selling.
That is just my 2 cents worth of observation. Everyone have a great day.
I’ll just comment on the preparation part of this post.
You should pay off all debts and then have a couple YEARS of income, food, and supplies stashed away.
$5,000 is pretty weak. $25,000 would be more realistic.
Hard assets with the $25,000.
The shelf life of Fed Reserve Notes is almost expired.
Well uhhh, our house and cabin are paid for and NOT for sale so exactly how is this going to destroy me? If anything it might give us an opportunity to aquire another property at fire sale prices! 🙂
“And a time did cometh that the dwellings of the sheep people did become low in price.” For the foolish did squander their wages on luxuries instead of thrift. Beholden to the creators of fiat, they wished to live as kings. Their foolishness did homeless make them.
Book of Genius 1:3
Yet Another Illogical Headline. Good thing Mac isn’t a Pentagon General.
Betcha the US markets will end the year higher than 12/31/18.
There will be no meltdown in the foreseeable future. And even if we have a 40% correction, it will only be followed by new record highs shortly thereafter.
Don’t bet against Wall Street and the FED, they got all the RAM in the world. The only thing to stop this near infinite worldwide interconnected debt creation is a deep energy shortage, when the trucks and ships stop. And that ain’t going to happen.
I’ll call bullshit! Houses in the foothills of NC are selling like crazy. Not the cheap ones either, anything between 250k and 400k are usually gone in a day or so. Also these are not new builds.
Construction f high end homes has slowed considerable here in the Low Country of SC. But resales seem strong for expensive homes over $700k. Some folks still have money!
Homes here still selling in a matter of days. Agents are begging for homes to sell because inventories are so low. Fake news much?
According to wolfstreet.com, the market has a disproportionate number of expensive real estate that only a few can afford now. Anyway, who would like to live in CA when on 35 grand, you can live better in a lot of other places than on 120k in CA after you paid your taxes?
Just saw a house in my neighborhood sell for 190k that was purchased only a few years ago for 250k. But it may have been a distressed sale.