A discussion on some smart financial moves now

Factory jobs are a thing of the past in the US. I fully expect that they'll continue to slowly decline over the next 20 years (at least). The "experts" are predicting 6% job growth for the 2nd half of the year but I'd go a little more conservative than that and say 4.5% and I expect it'll stay steady until at least May of next year.

I expect stocks to go up. Companies are getting cash-fat and that has to look good to investors. I'll reserve predictions on how much the market will go by December until I see how some big players are going to deal with their pension plan funding - I expect that is going to be the next "big crisis".

Come on people! You gotta participate. I'll suggest one move you should consider if you have an ARM. Change to a fixed rate mortgage, because all indications are that interest rates are going to increase pretty rapidly from now, and fixed rates are relatively low right now.

A rising interest rate environment, something we haven't seen a in quite a few years, means you should pare all debt. This is one of the best things anyone can do to secure themselves for the future. The less you owe others over time, the better off you will be. Simple as that.

It also means that your savings can give you more peace of mind if you have a preference for cash instruments (CDs, money market funds) instead of equities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds).

Generally speaking, the younger you are the better able you are to tolerate more risk for greater returns.

I often tell the seniors who attend my annuity seminars (especially the ones in their seventies and eighties) that they have no business being in the stock market unless their asset base enables them to enjoy lots of risk tolerance (this translates as, they are millionaires or close to it).

So back to the point: rates are going up; one can look into some safe money items as one considers what one wants to accomplish over the forseeable short-term (say, 1-5 years).

Barring a terrorist event in the United States before the end of the year, I see the market slipping only slightly (for example, the DJIA nearer to 10,000 than it is today), mostly on continuing mixed macroeconomic data, the afore-mentioned higher interest rates, and uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the November elections.

fishin, I agree; American auto factories are losing to Asian auto makers, and that's a big hunk of our factory output. Some high tech factory jobs are coming back, and so are high tech jobs - but very slowly. Even our unemployment rate in Silicon Valley is slowly going down. As for percentage job growth, I'll take the average of the past six months and call that my growth pattern for the next 18 months.

I don't have a clue where to invest money today. I'll be anxiously following this thread.

Jim, Follow PDid's advise - stick with money instruments like CD's and money market; all short term. Ladder them for different maturities, then you'll have the advantage of cash flow and reinvesting at higher rates as interest rates creeps upwards. I'm a conservative investor, so I'm inclined to shy away from the stock market unless you're still young enough to tolerate the volatility. I've been retired for six years now, but still have about 30% in equities.