I received this email today from another company that offers you a place to invest your money in real estate.  It said exactly what I think many people should think about, so I am posting it here on my blog:

I spent a small portion of my week canvassing local stock brokers, financial planners, and so-called "non-conventional" financial planners (code for insurance salesmen) and the statements above are what I gleaned.  I actually approached them as a prospective client, letting them know I was "shopping" for a solid financial planner with a clear vision on how to protect and grow my money.  I asked things like "what kind of protective measures did you have in place for clients last September"? "Would you say your client portfolios are up or down on average"? "Did you ever recommend moving cash to the sidelines or give any warning"?
Was it fair to ask mere mortals if they saw it coming?  If they had a plan?  Didn't everyone get hurt? Is that supposed to make anyone feel better?  The fact is yes, it was fair of me to ask professionals that get paid to manage money how they performed and if their clients are the better for it.  And unfortunately of all the planners I spoke with- not one had an average portfolio of clients in better shape this year than last. Not One!  But they are hopeful for the future and see "unprecedented opportunities" in this "rebuilding phase" and began telling me of the stocks that have been "unfairly" devalued and what the future holds.  The fact is, they wax philosophical about the future but would rather not look at what has recently happened and seem to ignore what still lurks.  I love a positive attitude as much as the next guy, but stop blowing sunshine up my skirt when the rain hasn't stopped yet! This is not to say all planners are this way nor meant to cast a dark shadow on their intentions.  This was a small, local "study".  It is meant to encourage you to ask your own questions and maybe start investigating alternative income streams because these are the facts....

  Fact 1:           Stock market values are at a 12 year low (July 1997- Dow at 8,038.88) erasing over 9 Trillion in worldwide wealth.

Fact 2:           March 9, 2009 Dow hits 6547.05, down 53.78% from highs of October, 2007 of 14,164.53 and on the horizon?...   Fact 3:           Jobless claims reached over 6,000,000 for the first time in US history   Fact 4:           Housing starts down 10.8%, the second biggest drop since records began 50 years ago!   Fact 5:           It's time you get involved in your finances and look at your investment strategies differently than in the past.    Fact 6:           There is a solution that provides safety, diversity and a great rate of return - the ABC's of intelligent money management

Investing with the company that wrote the email, but I want to insert here, investing Real Estate and Mortgage notes with a plan . . . (see some future posts)

This is a reprint from my blog at www.TuckerOneProperties.com