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We’ve been warning you, but sometimes we still just have to shake our heads. Actually, we’ve been doing that so much lately that we’re starting to get whiplash. For the last week or so, everyone seemed to be saying that we needed to pass special legislation to “rescue” our economy and financial system. After the usual politicking, Congress passed the bill and President Bush quickly signed it into law. We had one whole weekend afterwards to relax. Then, everyone comes to the realization that this won’t be a quick fix, so the market tumbles. The Dow fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years yesterday. (We hope that you heeded our warnings about how to invest in this market.) We’ll let the politicians and Wall Street talking heads continue to blow their hot air. Instead, we’ll focus on what this means for you and your money. Despite our lack of enthusiasm for the bill (read why we don’t like it here), there are some provisions that you need to know about. For example, you now have increased FDIC protection for your bank accounts, some tax breaks you may be able to take advantage of, and more. Now that President Bush has signed the “rescue” bill into law, we at least know our money will be protected, right? Not necessarily. As we’ve mentioned to you before, one of our truisms is to never rely on the government to take care of things for you. (You’ve seen how well it has done overseeing Wall Street.) You need to be in charge of your money…now more than ever. We’ve seen the handwriting on the wall for some time, and if you’ve acted on our advice to protect your money in these difficult times, you should be weathering the storm better than 99% of the rest of the population. Another area we know a lot of you are concerned about is annuities. Many people couldn’t live without the income they’re receiving from their retirement money, and many more are counting on it to be there when they retire. So can you still count on your annuity? Find out here.
Did you hear the news recently about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s e-mail account being hacked? It’s true. Someone was able to access her personal e-mail account at Yahoo and posted some of it on the Internet. There are two lessons we can all learn from this story: 1) Don’t assume anything you do online is completely safe; and 2) A little preventive medicine can dramatically reduce the chances of your becoming a victim. The person that hacked Governor Palin’s e-mail reportedly re-set her password after successfully answering those ”security“ questions designed to keep us safe. The hacker apparently used basic information he found on the Internet, took educated guesses on the questions and obviously ended up being right. Simple as that. The truth is, this probably could have been avoided if Governor Palin had followed through on some of the basics to keep her personal information safe. Like many folks, she probably figured it wouldn’t happen to her. Her story is proof that it CAN! Sincerely,
Ken & Daria Dolan |
With the upheaval in the banking industry, some consumer groups are now saying what we've been telling you for a long time: Watch out for those fees! You may be paying your bank more these days and getting less service! 
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