Discussion

They used to call erroneous, one sided, highly one-sided news "Propaganda" back during wartime. The news tell us not the actual truth but maybe what we want to hear. "Housing has hit bottom. Go out and buy real estate now..." Well, If I was in the real estate business I would find a reason to get you to buy now in an attempt to keep prices from falling further. My commission is at stake! We are not at the bottom yet. Yes you can find good deals right now, but it is interesting to watch how this industry is trying to "convince" us everything is OK now.

Back in October, my blood pressure must have been through the roof because I was following the financial crisis seemingly hourly on CNN, CNBC, The Daily Show, Kudlow, Mad Money, etc. If you sit too long with the talking heads, hysteria will set in since it is in their best interests (they make money by building viewership, after all) to hype and sensationalize these stories as much as they can, and make themselves the ultimate purveyors of "the truth". Their style, that over-the-top hysteria-based loudness (think Kudlow, think the Wall Street traders on CNBC) blast you with energy, too much technical information (as if we were all traders), and a lot of doom and gloom. It is rather like being in an abusive relationship: you need to get out of it, but you are somehow hooked on the adrenalin. Once I calmed down and got my feet back under me, and took the economic hit, I have since regained the equilibrium that comes with slow and steady, let your money work for you. Keep putting in little by little and it will grow. The media do us a disservice by their hyper tactics and over the top reactions. And good for John Stewart for showing some of these guys to be exactly what they are, showmen who trade on some expertise but who are not the prophets they want to believe they are. I would rather find a good financial advisor, trim my sails and ride out the storm.

Robert,

It's plainly clear who the media serves. While commuting through the airport a few days ago Money Magazine caught my eye: 11 Ways to Rebuild Wealth. I laughed and thought - "what happened to people's wealth to start with". They handed it over to people who said "they knew" how to make it grow. Now they are saying "keep giving it to us" so we can make it grow again.

Oh well!

I'm no genius. But when I go through an experience in life that's painful or discomforting I usally ask myself a few questions about the experience --- so I can limit my exposure to that experience again.

People need to wake-up and use those financial 6-inches between their ears.

What got my attention was when I looked at my 401 account one day and saw it losing money like crazy. I called the investment company that handles the account and asked about the loses.

Their response - "market volatility, it happens all the time. investing is a long-term process". I have never forgotten those words.

If I lose a $1.00 bill that I know I had in my wallet, I ask questions and go hunting for it. Well, a couple of thousand was gone from my 401 account. I wanted to know where it went and "market volatility" was the response!

After that "painful / discomforting" experience I went looking for answers. I started reading your books and realy listening to you about 6 -years ago.

All I can say is THANK YOU and THANK GOD for your spirit!

The media's job is clear. "Make people feel good, smart and intelligent about losing what they don't understand anyway."

The Media sometimes takes things out of proporation and sometimes they misguide people of what is really going on, because they are not up to date themselves. If uou want to be up to date, you need to listen to Guys like Robert and people who talk about financials. If you want to learn more about money we are about to send out our Free Monthly Cashflow Tips Newsletter for June at www.HowMoneyReallyWorks.com Take a look, you will learn some good stuff about money as well.

I use the major networks(CBS mostly)for finanacial information, but most of the coverage is mostly focused on the problem and not the solution. They serve the intersts of people who do not pay much attention to financial news, therefore the coverage is, or seems, simplified. Additionally, it help if CBS,NBC,and ABC became more informational in their finanacial coverage.

The media tells us part of the truth because they sometimes do not know all the whole truth or are told not to tell the whole truth of this financial crisis. The rich wants to keep the poor down on the bottom of the education system because they (the rich)thinks yet in this day and age that is where the poor belong and the the money that the poor make is their money.
There is more to this financial crisis that we are not hearing about and I do not know what it is but most likely more people will suffer from the crisis. We all knew that. If only we could turn back the clock but we can not. This book is a good way to teach all of us to get on the right track and to fight back with financial knowledge and not relie on the media.

Mainstream media are for the most part owned and controlled by the same group of ultra-wealthy who control the bulk of the corporations and governments on the planet…

From a Wikipedia entry… Henry V claimed the title of King of France through his great-grandfather Edward III… In the spring of 1414 Henry V wanted to go to war with France over his perceived “inheritance”... After a year of negotiations, the English claimed that the French had mocked their claims and ridiculed Henry himself. In December 1414, the English parliament was persuaded to grant Henry a "double subsidy", a tax at twice the traditional rate, to recover his inheritance from the French. On 19 April 1415, Henry again asked the great council to sanction war with France, and this time they agreed...

…The English nobles were lucky to be able to ransom themselves back if they were captured. French accounts state that, prior to the battle, Henry V gave a speech reassuring his nobles that if the French prevailed, the English nobles would be spared, to be captured and ransomed instead. However, the common soldier would have no such luck and therefore he told them they had better fight for their lives.

Century after century, the same self-appointed elite want to impose their rule… and gather all productive value to themselves…

its b******t. I dont think they serve anyones interests unless youve been brainwashed! News sources i use none yep none. sorry i was no help. would you seriously pay for it? barter for it? trade for it? do any physical trade of any kind just to watch someone elses marketing c mon thats why it can be free. cause its worth nothing!

I found this article on MSN.com very interesting today. Let me clarify. Not so much the article, but the online discussion string attached to it. It sounds like reality is finally starting to sink in for more individuals regarding the standard 401k investment logic. See for your self:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/resuscitate-your-401k-in-5-steps.aspx

I've had multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Before these deployments I thought that the media only reported "bad news". What I have realized after being part of the somethings that were later reported on, is the media generally doesn't really know what they are reporting and often times get many of the facts wrong. Additionally once they hear about the "news" and report it, it is so far after the fact that it is almost irrevelant. They just report it because they think it will make more people listen.

I think the same is true when they report the financial situation, they hear about something that might have happened that they think people want to hear and report it because that's what is "current" when in reality that is the past. The leason that should be learned here is to annalize the "past" to predict the future.