Lauer Worries About Tax Rebates for the 'Rich'

What are you going to tell people who lose much of their retirement savings in their 401K when there's a downturn?"

Today, Baker said: "The decline in the stock market was an entirely predictable event for anyone familiar with basic arithmetic, even if the exact timing could not be known in advance. The nation's political leaders chose to ignore the stock market bubble and instead focused their attention on distant and relatively minor problems like potential shortfalls in the Social Security trust fund in 30 or 40 years or the reappearance of budget deficits in a decade or two. As a result, millions of families have seen their dreams of a secure retirement or their children's college education vanish with the stock market bubble. The level of negligence of the nation's political leaders in ignoring the stock bubble exceeds anything since the days of Herbert Hoover."

Here's the follow up in 2003: Bursting Bubbles

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The art of borrowing sensibly

TO THE hard-working mums and dads who have children at ABC Learning Centres, I know from doing brekkie radio this week that many of you are worried.

So, what are the ramifications of the company's plummeting share price? There are none – at least none threaten childcare places.

However, CEO Eddy Groves can teach us some good lessons. Firstly how to avoid high-risk borrowing and secondly the right way to save for your kids' education, and finally let's look at his hair. What's going on with that?

Eddy and his key executives borrowed heavily against their shareholdings in the company, using their existing stock as security (otherwise known as a margin loan).

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Lessons I've Learned From Being Broke!

I don't have a lot of money. Like many of you, I've spent most of my twenties struggling to make ends meet and find financial success. I know first-hand what it's like to be up to my eyeballs in debt, live paycheck to paycheck and try to survive on a case of Ramen Noodles.

But I do believe that I manage my money well. When something is scarce, it's only natural to want to protect what little I have.

Cash may have been a rarity in my life, but I'm not complaining. I can actually say now (though I couldn't say it always) that I'm grateful for the years of financial hardship. Sometimes the most valuable lessons in life are learned outside your comfort zone. Being broke has taught me how to better manage my money so I can actually meet my financial goals. Sounds cliché, but it's been a blessing in disguise.

That's not to say poverty is a requirement for acquiring good money skills. Anyone can learn to be a good steward of what he or she has -- whether plentiful or lean.

What I've learned

1. Know your priorities. My husband, Jeremy, and I joke that our decorating style is the "refugee motif." We make do with whatever we can get -- as long as it's free.

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Local News Canadians are heavily in debt new report says

A new report by the Vanier Institute of the Family says Canadians are buried in record debt averaging $80,000 per household. It's a perfect financial storm of flat earnings, increased spending and plummeting savings.

Author Roger Sauve says total debt is now 131 per cent of household income after income tax and benefits - up from 91 per cent in 1990.

Many Canadians have borrowed cash at lower interest rates to buy more expensive homes. But credit-card debt has almost doubled since 1990 to $22,500 from $12,000.

Bankruptcies and proposals that allow partial debt repayment soared to more than 100,000 last year from 43,000 in 1990.

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