“Aftershock” Book Right or Wrong on Catastrophic Economic Future?

As you are well aware now, there has been a rampant fear that we will return to our former state of economic disarray that happened in 2008. This quick unraveling of the equity markets and the housing market really damaged our investments. Many people lost 50% of their retirement accounts, further adding to a sense of panic and hopelessness. A lot of people will never again see the return on that, because they panicked and withdrew their money well before the stock market came roaring back.

Books that are like the book “Aftershock – Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown” capitalize on this fear and the possibility that it could all happen again. I think that this book probably has a powerful message of what the worst case scenario could be, but I don’t think that you should look at it as gospel about where we are headed. After all, the authors may, like many other authors, have a hidden agenda. I have not read this book yet, but many people say it’s a great read and a sort of cautionary tale for what if.

However, I do think it might be just a trifle alarmist. I’ve read about the different threats facing our economy, and trust me, I also believe that we are not that far out of the woods at all yet. However, my naturally optimistic, yet skeptical nature also tends to question these doomsday scenarios. How many doomsday scenarios have proven to be overblown?

Look at the predictions for the year 2000 – or Y2K. Never happened. Or how about the prediction that the stock market wouldn’t come back full force until five to ten years after the initial chaos that happened in 2008? That’s already wrong as we’ve seen, however I do think that people are a little overly optimistic on the market and that is contributing to it’s quick inflation to former highs.

The book Aftershock was written by three people, which is encouraging since it probably combines their multiple expertise and opinions and perspectives, however I do caution that you take some of it with a grain of salt. It’s good to be cautious, but also if what they are saying will happen does not, then you might be missing out on some great money making opportunities. Not to mention you’ll spend your life worrying and preparing for something that may or may not happen. And that’s no way to live your life, regardless of what happens.