There is a lot happening with the economy these days. Stagflation, shrinkflation, inflation, recession talk, increasing interest rates, layoffs in some segments of the job market while there are thousands of openings in other areas of the job market. With all the talking heads disagreeing at times – it’s hard to know what to believe. No matter what is said, you have a personal responsibility to prepare for the unknown. Better to have planned and not need it, than to find yourself with no plan when the financial winter pays you a visit.
If you need a financial coach to help you organize your finances, email me at or check out my website for additional information www.achievefc.com. I provide a variety of services to individuals, families, groups, and civic organizations.
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I am a financial coach that focuses on improving personal finance behavior. I do not sell investment products or manage investments.
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Lots of strange things happening in the Economy Is the financial winter on the way Or is it already here Let’s talk about it [Music] What’s up everyone thank you for Stopping by the achieve financial Coaching channel where we believe in Breaking the chains of debt and talking About all things related to personal Finance my name is kenny simon i am your Personal finance coach and today i want To talk to you about some things that Have been happening in the economy lots Of chatter talking about whether or not We’re in a recession is a recession on The way and i just want to talk to you About a few things that can help you Prepare whether or not we’re in a Recession or one is on the way we should Be prepared either way it’s been a Minute since i’ve dropped a video so so Glad to come back to you and drop this Topic remember subscribe to the channel Like this video and share it with some Friends you never know who may be in Need of this advice let’s get right to It i want to start as i’m doing as i Often do in some of my videos by giving A couple of definitions just to level Set our understanding first let’s define What a recession is a recession is a Significant widespread or prolonged
Downturn in economic activity because Recessions often last six months or more One popular sort of rule of thumb is That a recession has occurred when there Are two consecutive quarters a quarter Being three months when they’re two Consecutive quarters of decline in the Country’s gross domestic product you’ll Have you’ll hear it called gdp gdp is Basically the total monetary or market Value of all the finished goods and Services produced within the country’s Border in a specific time period and in This particular Instance and for purposes of today’s Video we’ll call that time period at Least six months so you say to yourself Why do recessions happen Well there are too many reasons to list As to why they happen but you can Broadly group them into a few categories Or a mix of a few of these uh of three Categories it’s either going to be Something financial economic um and Believe it or not psychological okay and So what happens is during a recession Economic output employment and consumer Spending all drop but what’s what’s Crazy when you think about it this is Actually a natural part of our business Cycle it expands and then it contracts a Little bit it expands and it contracts a Little bit that’s the normal business Cycle so you ask yourself are we in one
As of august you know 2022 we’ve had two Consecutive quarters of decline in gdp But folks are still saying we’re not in A recession probably depends on who you Ask but regardless of what the experts And the talking heads think whether or Not we’re in a recession sometimes Depend on what you personally are Experiencing and so if you are a person In your own like sort of personal Recession or your financial winter as I’m calling it I have about eight things i think you Should consider doing that aren’t rocket Science but it can help in solidifying Your financial outlook during these Economic downturns so let’s jump into Them the first thing i would like you to Think about doing is reducing your Lifestyle we don’t know what’s coming Right and a good way to prepare is to Decrease your expenses who could have Predicted a global pandemic right and All the other issues we’re having so now May not be a good time to buy that new Whip that you really don’t need you just Kind of want it or to go on that real Expensive vacation whether we’re in a Recession or not this advice is timeless Check your lifestyle second thing redo Your budget you all know i talk about Budgets a lot because i think they’re They are important again we don’t know What’s um what’s coming right so we need
To be Really in tune with what’s coming in Meaning how much money you make and What’s going out how much money you’re Spending you’ve got to take another look At this so these are interesting times So your normal budget may not cut it Trim out anything that is not a true Necessity do you really need to Subscribe to all of the streaming Services that you have probably not Number three i talk about this one a lot Load up the emergency fund now before This pandemic jumped off i used to say Three to six months of how household Expenses expenses were probably cool but Now i’d say you got to go six plus Months of expenses because we don’t know What’s going to happen and anything Crazy could jump off right like if you Had three months when the pandemic hit And you got laid off a lot of people Were laid off for a year or more right And so you kind of need six plus months That’s my new guidance all right number Four might not like it but you need to Sell some stuff we all have too much Junk right sitting around that we don’t Even use don’t even look at and Sometimes don’t even think about sell Some stuff i bet you have stuff that you Can put on any number of these platforms That allow you to sell things and make Some dough right that old bike that you
Are not going to ride that piece of Exercise equip equipment that you are Hanging your clothes on or that big tv In that room that no one ever goes in Just sell some stuff all right number Five all right let’s get real for a Minute i need you to update your resume Sometimes when we get into a job Especially jobs that we love and that we Like we like the people we let our Resumes get old and outdated we don’t Update it with the latest skills that we Have and all those things again we’re Preparing for a financial winter whether Or not it comes you know we still want To be prepared and this is a good way to Prepare that we often don’t think about I don’t want you worried about updating Your resume if you find yourself Unemployed right let’s go ahead and make Sure we’re updating the resume keeping That thing um fresh with the latest Skills and experience that you have Right this next one may be a little bit Hard especially if you think you’re Going to lose a job soon or or really Inflation is just impacting your ability To take care of things around your house But if you can Really pay off some debt right those Little ankle ankle biter sort of bills That you have hanging around let’s go Ahead and eliminate some of those Because you really want to try to reduce
Your debt you know if something um jumps Off you just don’t want to have a lot of Bills laying around Okay If you are still employed and you are Investing in your 401k or in personal Investments I say to you on this next one keep going Keep investing buying when the market is Low will pay dividends later you need Some patience and some discipline but It’ll pay dividends later right i would Only consider turning off my investments With my 401k if you need the extra money To kind of quickly bulk up your Emergency fund then i may consider Turning these things off but as quickly As possible i want to get back to Okay all right the eighth thing So probably the most important thing is To if you find yourself facing a Financial winter focus on what is Important if you’re impacted by a job Loss focus on what really matters and That is the basics food Clothing shelter any required medicine That you may have because your health is Definitely one of the most important Things and then transportation because You really do need to be um be able to Get around whether or not that’s you Know tokens for a bus that you catch Consistently because you have a good Transit system or whether or not that is
A car you need to make sure you can do Those things everything else outside of That can wait trust me and i’m gonna Throw in a ninth one Just um because i feel like telling you This listen the last thing i’d say is You got to cut out the excuses i hear a Lot of people making excuses about why They can’t do any of some of the things That i’ve listed i’m just not i’m just Not buying it i know we don’t have money Trees in the backyard but things like Reducing your lifestyle updating your Resume selling a few things man anybody Can do that Anybody can do that so i i just i just Can’t listen to the excuses at times Because i think we’re kidding ourselves Right i bet if i went through your Finances i could find a few dollars Being used on stuff you really don’t Need and that you really don’t care About let’s prepare as much as possible Financially because we don’t know what The future holds I hope those eight things plus the one Extra bonus thing i threw in about not Making excuses Really gives you some food for thought As i always like to say listen we cannot Afford to be naive or put our heads in The sand about the things that are Happening or happening around us even if You’re not interested in the economy or
Finances you need to be prepared we owe It to ourselves to prepare ourselves as Much as we possibly can in the event we Find ourselves unemployed or inflation Impacting the way we spend or how much We can spend we just need to try to do Some things and have a little bit of Discipline to do some things that keep Us in a better position had we not made Any plans at all you owe it to yourself To make sure you are as ready as you can Possibly be no excuses remember this you Can achieve much greater things than Where you are today if you’re willing to Put in the work conceive it believe it And achieve it i’ll see you on the next Video if you thought today’s video was Helpful please like the video subscribe To the channel and share it with some Friends check out some of the other Videos i have on my channel as well See you next time
