Financial Fate - Are you in control or being controlled?

treliac

To what extent are we in control of our own fate, or are we mere victims of the ups and downs of the economy, the coincidental timing of our financial milestones and circumstances beyond our control? Given that financial awareness influences the decision making of the informed, most of us are at the mercy of an unpredictable world.

Pobby

I find that hard to argue with. One thing I learned , taken me long enough, is that nothing is for ever. I loathed the Tories but by about 1987 I thought that maybe they had something going for them and made a very large financial decision. Then we had bust. Well to that degree it`s been repeated. Great big old splurge resulting into a big downturn.

In part I do believe that those who experienced the 90s fallout went into 2 schools. One lot took the "it`s different this time" , the others said "same old, same old".

So to the OP, yes I think to a large degree we are subject to the market. Most sane people try to get it right. Take advice, research and hope it all works.

I think right now it`s difficult to the nth degree as the fallout from the past year or so has not in my lifetime been experienced.

PasturesNew

treliac wrote: »

To what extent are we in control of our own fate, or are we mere victims of the ups and downs of the economy, the coincidental timing of our financial milestones and circumstances beyond our control? Given that financial awareness influences the decision making of the informed, most of us are at the mercy of an unpredictable world.

I've worked out it is impossible to be informed. There's just too much of it. What do you watch, monitor, who do you believe? How long do you watch/monitor?

All these "experts" .... you hear what they want to tell you. Or you can join forums and read the rantings of nutters.

I think you just have to go with the flow and aren't really in control of what you do and when too much. Now there ARE forums and the Internet, information and evidence are easier to track down. But it'd still be a full time job of 100 people to bring all relevant information/opinions and reports together on a daily basis (at least 100 people probably).... and still the world marches on.

The more money you have the easier the ride can be. It's all about being able to remain afloat throughout the changes. Some can manage this better than others. The rest of us just muddle through.

Whatever decision you make might be wrong. It's a lot of luck and what you perceive as judgement at the time.

Two years ago everything was pointing up up up for house prices, those that were saying down down down were ridiculed... if you just read and didn't feel you HAD to act you'd have sided on the up up up camp. It's only when other serious considerations come into play and you're forced to play your hand that you side with one group or the other.

I am certainly not in control of anything in my life. And there isn't really any way for anybody to actually be "informed". You choose ... you wait ... then you find out if that was right or wrong. It's easy to be smug and say "told you so", but it would equally have been possible for an opposite outcome to have occurred and another bunch to be the ones saying "I told you so".

Generali

treliac wrote: »

To what extent are we in control of our own fate, or are we mere victims of the ups and downs of the economy, the coincidental timing of our financial milestones and circumstances beyond our control? Given that financial awareness influences the decision making of the informed, most of us are at the mercy of an unpredictable world.

Of course we are all toss'd tempestuous on the sea of life but we can do things to shift the odds in our favour - get educated, save & diversify, build friendships & good contacts, look after ourselves physically & mentally and so on.

Jonbvn

Personally, I'm sticking to excessive alcohol consumption, such that I don't care about my fate!;);)

purch

I am NOT a number !!!!!

SingleSue

In my situation, I feel completely at the mercy of others and their little tweaks to whatever is going on but as Generali said, I am doing my best to change those odds by more education (why is there so little space to put your qualifications on CV's?) building contacts and trying to save what little pennies do become spare.

Davesnave

I was once a total control freak, then I ended up in hospital attached to a heart monitor & had a few days to stop and examine my priorities. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

We can't control the curved balls life throws at us from time to time, but how we perceive & react to them is what counts most. As PN says, there is a plethora of information and misinformation, but staying informed is better than ignorance.

The really important thing is to know yourself - and, if you have one, your partner's self - because without that knowledge your chances of fulfillment are zero. Listening to others is also important, if only because what they think doesn't come via the usual sub-conscious filters that we have inside. That's where boards like this come in, since posters won't use the 'tact and discretion' that friends might exercise!

In the end though, you weigh things up, make a decision, which may be a compromise, and then you go with it. Even those who adopt the 'ostrich position' have still made that choice and, over time, playing safe may be harder to live with than trying and, occasionally, failing.

PaulF1980

"The fickle finger of fate" effects everyone. Anyone can lose their job in the current turmoil. Nowhere to hide, lamentably.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

... get educated, save & diversify, build friendships & good contacts, ...

I wish I knew what to get educated in. That's a gamble in itself.
You can only save if you have enough to start with.

Friendships and contacts .... no idea how that's done ... I know it's not what you know, it's who you know. But I've never known anybody.

I noticed last night that an ex-boss, who was completely inept, had again landed on her feet just because she was with the "in crowd" of business people. She literally coasts the success and contacts of her long-term partner. There's an idea I got her hooked onto that she's now operating locally to her ... and because of her contacts (through her bf) she's managed to get people doing it. If I'd not pointed out the opportunity to her and she'd not had an influential bf she'd be sat at home now on the dole. I am full of good ideas, I have no contacts.

Dithering_Dad

I feel in control of my finances for probably the first time ever. My pension was at the whim of the market, so I moved into cash and avoided the major crashes (I'm back in equities now because I think the bottom has been reached, and the market will fluctuate between 3700 and 4300). However, if things start looking risky again, it's really easy to move back to cash. Certainly more so than a company pension would be.

My income was at the whim of an employer, but since I went contracting this is all within my control. I have built up a decent sized balance in my business account that should hopefully see me through most of the bad times. I have to say though that my area (SAP) still seems to be booming. The great thing is that if things die off in the UK, I can always work in Europe for a while until things pick up.

When I started working for myself, I made a real effort to work within a budget, both business and household. I have reduced our regular monthly outgoings by close to £400 by a combination of paying down the mortgage, cashing in a rubbish endowment (and paying the balance onto mortgage) and getting cheaper utilities and insurance (car, life, house).

I still get nervous as I approach the end of a contract, but I'm finding that as each year goes by, my mortgage is lower and my outgoings are less and so I feel a lot less nervous than I did when I first started contracting. Hopefully, once I pay off my mortgage, I'll be looking forward to the end of a contract so that I can have a month or so break.