Jesse Joyner, PhD

My wife and I sometimes listen to a podcast by a guy named Dave Ramsey. He teaches sound financial advice – things like not going into debt, living on a budget, and working hard for a living. Recently, his radio show has been bombarded with e-mails about the trouble in the economy. Since Sarah and I do not have a TV, we were made aware through this podcast (and news found on the internet) that there is trouble on Wall Street. Apparently, the television news media does a Hollywood job at dramatizing the problems (and real problems they are) as apocalyptic nightmares. Sarah and I keep working, saving, and spending money on things we can afford (things we have never really done well until this year – after listening to Dave Ramsey’s shows and reading his books). As a result, the volatility of Wall Street and the economy at large does not affect us very much. What bliss! Furthermore, we are considering starting our Roth IRA’s and pumping money into a Mutual Fund for saving for a house. What better time to start investing than when the Stock Market is DOWN! As Ramsey says, the stock market is ON SALE. It has nowhere to go but up over the long-haul, as every ten-year period since like the 20’s has shown a profit.

So please calm down. The economic world is not collapsing over our heads, despite what ratings-hungry talking heads say. Go out and enjoy the wonderful autumn air.