When it comes to small stuff, most of us put off till tomorrow some things we should do today.
But if your financial and economic future is at stake, delay can mean "lost opportunity" -- or worse.
Consider the steps to financial safety Bob Prechter provides in Conquer the Crash (first published in 2002). He says people who didn't take those steps now face increasingly limited options:
"As time progresses, opportunities disappear. The safest bank in the U.S. no longer takes out-of-state accounts. The safest annuity program in the world no longer accepts new policies. A major Treasury-bill fund now limits the size of new investments. People who acted when we recommended these opportunities are in an advantageous position. Options are limited for those who waited. Nevertheless, good options remain."
Elliott Wave Theorist, June 2011
What are those options?
You can find them in the updated, 2nd edition of the book which foretold the financial crisis: Conquer the Crash. What does Prechter say about the near-term future?
For starters, he observes that the "banking system [is] still in crisis." Here's an excerpt from his September Elliott Wave Theorist:
"In the late 1990s and mid 2000s, the loan-to-deposit ratio for U.S. banks was nearly 1.00, meaning that almost all deposits were lent out. That shortfall alone was a serious problem, because if even 5% of depositors had decided to withdraw their money, banks would have been unable to pay. Some of the banks’ loans were quickly callable, but by 2006, the credit-fueled real estate boom had claimed a large percentage of outstanding loans, both inside and outside the banking system. These loans are not quickly callable. The problem was serious in 2002 and enormous in 2006. Now it has become acute..."
Then he goes on to explain exactly what "acute" means.
Many people dismissed the forecasts in Conquer the Crash when it published. Yet many of Prechter's forecasts were spot on -- and there's more to come.
It remains the most relevant book in print to help you prepare for today's increasingly grim economic trends.
You can have this New York Times bestseller, with your risk-free subscription to our Financial Forecast Service. This limited-time offer amounts to $135 in savings.
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