Despite the economic turmoil the world is currently going through, life at the Sheley household is still pretty good. That’s not to say we’ve not be hit by economic troubles, because we have. Brandon lost his contract job out of L.A. – they’re hoping to hire him back as they get closer to launching their network, but can’t make any promises until the economy is looking a little better. Fortunately, we’d always sort of viewed his income as discretionary because our budget to coverour basic needs (house, food, utilities, etc.) is completely covered by my income. And through his last 10 months on contract, I was able to squirrel away a decent amount of savings.

I’m sure our retirement savings vehicles aren’t looking great right now, but I’m not even worried enough to look. I mean, it won’t do me any good. And it’s money that I’m not planning to access for at least another 30 years, so I’ve got plenty of time to make up for any big losses. But I do feel bad for those that are starting to close-in on retirement. This downturn will have a serious impact on their portfolios and will potentially cause many to have to work a couple of additional years.

One thing is for sure, when Brandon finds his next job, and we have a little more discrecionary spending money again, we’ll throw a good portion of it into the market – with the help of our financial advisor, of course. The world-wide panic won’t stop us, because I know that the bad times won’t last forever … and my money has more opportunity to grow if I buy when stock prices are low. : )