Are small business owners/entrepreneurs concerned about the "Fiscal Cliff?"

HI Brenda,

My husband is a financial planner, and his ezine this week offered advice on this very subject.

He writes, "Now more than ever, I encourage you to focus on the things you can control and ignore the things you cannot control. The economic discussions in Washington, the European mess, troubles in the Mid-East, and China’s economy are all outside our scope of influence. What we can control are:

· The quality of our relationships, · The quality of our work, · Our overall asset allocation, · How much we save and spend.

Focus on these and you will be better off."

More details are here:

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8ad86aacd1db1b652520f0366&id=5057fa7313

Nancy

Very good. Feel free to reach out to Steve. I am sure he would be happy to speak with you!

I am concerned with this issue but mostly on the short term only. I know that congress will work these issues out long term but I'm afraid that they will let us fall off of this "cliff" first and then resurrect us. This seems to be the new type of politics. Let the country go to hell and then create some type of half measure and say "look it isn't all that bad after all."

The fiscal cliff will be more of the recent same (the new normal). It it a concern? Yes. Health care continues to undergo a consolidation that makes the rich richer and the rest more marginalized... on the one hand. On the other hand more of the same in health is being recognized by more and more people as unsustainable.

There is a growing audience of people ready (finally) for sane and sustainable real HEALTH care. Consumers are having to become smarter. The real "costs" of mainstream medicine are now being compared to the real VALUE of taking care of one's health. That isn't done through mainstream medicine.

So yes, it's a concern, but it's probably a blessing.

The last time we hit the fiscal cliff the US found it's debt down-graded. I don't see us getting down-graded again, but in the absence of a meaningful resolution to the revenue and spending issues we face the economy could be in deep weeds for some time to come.

Health care is a mess. We need to address cost before we worry about who's going to pay for it.

I think Nancy's husband had a great response... and it's extremely similar to a tip in the Financial Stress Solution book I'm writing - we have to practice the Secret of Serenity by focusing on the things we can control.

Dennis, I so long for a meaningful movement towards sustainable health care! The "sick care" industry is costing all of us in many ways, but it will take a majority ready to take responsibility for our health (rather than just eat junk food and ask for pills to cure our diabetes and heartburn) to turn things around. I don't think we're even close to "there" yet. Actually, I think in Washington, we're not even asking the right questions. (But that's a whole nuther topic.)

But to answer your question, Brenda, am I concerned? Of course! Though I do believe there is an element of fear-mongering and that Congress will "work things out" (putting our great-grandchildren in debt, no doubt), I think the best thing we can all do is to build sustainable businesses that can weather a storm.