Time For An Article
-Michael Laurance

Well, I finally decided “It’s time!”.
 
No, not for New Year’s Resolutions.  As you know from Coach Steele, they rarely work.
 
No, I decided it’s time to write an article or two to support Tools to Life.
 
Coach Steele has had an amazing positive impact on my life (and the lives of thousands of others) that I wanted to try to find a way to help pay him back.
 
I purposely avoided writing this article too early in the New Year for fear it would fall into the pile of resolutions.  Instead, make this part of your New Year’s REVOLUTION!
 
First a little background….
 
How many of us spend days researching the latest gadget…cell phone, High Def TV, Blue Ray, whatever… and search and search to find the best deal?  Pretty nigh all of us.
 
Yet how many of us are doing that today with our money?
 
Pretty few from my experience.
 
We will wait until our heart’s desire goes on sale and then POUNCE!
 
Well, now is that time for stocks and Real Estate.
 
Historically, we want to invest in what was hot yesterday.  We only look in the rear view mirror when it comes to price appreciation.  We talk about the stock that went up 87% LAST year or the house that went up 21% LAST year.  We never focus on what is GOING to happen.  We don’t talk about the stocks or houses that are ON SALE NOW!!!
 
Think of it.  Would you rather buy something that has just risen in price, or would you rather buy something when it is on sale.  Let me tell you, most stocks and homes (particularly in the Western part of the United States) are on sale like never before.  Yet many people are sitting on the side lines with their money parked in cash or bonds, earning next to nothing, far less than the cost of inflation.
 
If you look at the historical values of the stock market in general, as a whole, it is almost like the last decade didn’t happen.  The markets have gone back to where they were before the year Y2K.  YES, there have been bumps in the road.  Okay, big potholes that swallowed up large SUV’s whole…but that’s not the point.  The point is that, no matter your tolerance for risk, the stock market NOW offers some screaming buys.  And this is when many people have cashed out their investments, taking ginormous losses, and are afraid to step back into the water.  But this is the best time to begin doing that.
 
Now, that said, not all stocks are created equal, and the market is going to need some time to regain what it has lost which is mainly investor confidence.
 
But think back to that large screen TV…do you want to buy it at retail…or when it is on sale?
 
Same goes for housing.  Yes, many people are hurting.  Many people, yours truly included, are WAY upside down on their homes.  But, again, would you have rather bought at the peak of the market in 2005…or would you rather buy now when prices are near the levels they were in 2000?
 
To me, both of those are easy choices.  And those who act will be rewarded.  As  they usually are.  It is those who choose not to act, who choose to “wait and see”, of who choose to buy a stock that went up 80% LAST year of buy the property that went up 10% LAST month that lose in the end.