One of the things I have learned over the past thirty years is to be responsible for myself, my family and my finances. After losing over half of our inheritances to money market losses in both the .com crash and the various recessions. I started to realize that money market managers while they may understand the stock market and investing better than I do, don’t understand my family’s financial needs and how much $1,000 means to families who make ten dollars an hour! As I researched some of the money markets we had our money in over the years, many of them followed information from his group, investments were made based on what we now know was deliberately faulty information. This wasn’t a one time greedy act, it was a lifestyle choice. He placed his own desires and pleasures above the rights and responsibilities of his position.
I lost money, but I didn’t lose my home as others did, but that was because my husband and I decided to take control of our own life, finances and explore a whole new economy. This is when we had our first lesson from Bernard Madoff, although we didn’t know him by name then!
Lesson One: Anything that seems to always go up and never has downs isn’t functioning in the laws of the universe. Up means nothing unless there are equal and opposite Downs!
Lesson Two: Don’t ask the people who can lose their jobs if they tell the truth about the integrity of their boss. This goes for people in government agencies who work with them also, especially if they are still heavily involved with them.
Lesson Three: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! This age old advice is as important now as it was in our agricultural past. Come up with more than one way of making a living, and more than one way to save your money. Never put it all in the same place, the same investments or the same banks!
Out of these lessons, we have moved to our new economy based on ancient agricultural knowledge and common sense. We grow some of our own food, we find ways to be involved in the local economy and spend our lives doing things that help others as well as our own family.