How Worried Should You Be?

As a full-time student, full-time employee and homeowner, I took particular interest in this article found on Newsweek’s website, newsweek.com.
I heard the news as the stock market took a major dive early this week and felt particularly worried. The fact that Texas is now facing a major reconstruction effort after hurricane Ike coupled with the decline in the stock market made me apprehensive. So this leads me to the ultimate question I was/am facing. What does this mean for me? Should I be panicked? Should I rush home and pull all my money out of the bank? Should I try to fire sell everything that isn’t nailed down on Craig’s list? Should I stock up on canned goods and water? After I finished making the necessary adjustments to my Last Will and Testament (just kidding by the way), I decided to see what some of the major news sources were saying about the recent events. I came upon what I think was a good article, ironically titled, “How Worried Should You Be?” Finally some answers! What ultimately gave me a teeny sigh of relief was the statement the author of this article makes when he claims that, “regulators have spent a lot of time reassuring consumers that come hell and high water on Wall Street, the Feds still have our backs.” Great, but what does that mean? Well the SIPC, or Securities Investors Protection Corp., assures that our securities and cash will be in existence and accessible whenever needed. This article also brings up a great point in regards to investing. It asks the important question, should folks who hold accounts in Merrill Lynch or Bank of America for example, continue paying a large sum of money for investment advice when the companies they are investing in can’t even keep themselves from going under? I don’t know much about investing, portfolios, or financial diversification but this seems like a very important issue to me. This article also has some good advice about what to do to keep your own money safe, investing “smart”, and most importantly reminds us that we must be aware that “the economy will continue to shake and quiver.” Overall, I highly recommend that anyone who is concerned about the state of the economy or the nation read this article. Of course I am still very uneasy about the state of the economy, but reading this article put my worries ever-so-slightly at ease. As a bonus, I feel more educated.