Surviving and Succeeding Through a Financial Crisis

By David Holdaway

The current world financial crisis is reckoned to be the most serious ever. During the past several years the world has seen the worst debt crisis in history and the largest financial failures of all time.
To survive and succeed during such a financial crisis you must examine your life’s foundations. Jesus said the wise builder is th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Upfront
• Release date: Jan 9, 2009
• ISBN: 9781907929267

Book preview

Introduction

Ashepherd was herding his flocks in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee advanced towards him out of a dust cloud. The driver, a young man, a city financier in an expensive suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a YSL tie, leans out of the window and hates to admit it but says he is lost and needs directions. The shepherd points him in the right direction and smiles.

The executive smirks back and says, Before I go, if I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one? The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock, and answers, Sure! The yuppie parks the car, whips out his notebook, connects it to a cell phone, surfs to a NASA page where he calls up a GPS navigation system, scans the area and opens a database and some 60 spreadsheets with complex formulas. Finally, he prints a 150-page report on a miniature printer, turns to the shepherd and says, You have exactly 1,586 sheep! That’s correct, says the shepherd, As agreed, you can take one of the sheep. He watches the young man make his selection and bundle it into his jeep.

Before he pulls away the shepherd says, If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back? Okay, why not? answers the young executive. You are a consultant, says the shepherd. That’s correct, says the yuppie. How did you guess?

Easy, answers the shepherd. First, you turn up here without being asked. Secondly, you want to be paid for information I already have. And finally you don’t know anything about my business because you just took my dog.

There is a big difference between thinking you are clever and actually being wise. Some very intelligent people can do some very stupid things. Albert Einstein observed, The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

When it comes to a crisis you need more that just smart or clever, you need wisdom and the greatest wisdom of all comes from God.

In the following chapters I give seven strategies for not only managing to survive but to thrive and excel no matter what financial storms are blowing around us. Markets can crash, the banks may fail, shares can tumble but God is still the same, a refuge from the storms and a rock on which we stand secure.

Strategy One

Don’t Panic!

One economist humorously defined the difference between recession, depression and panic by saying, In a recession you tighten your belt, in a depression you don’t have a belt and in a panic you have no trousers!

The current world financial crisis is reckoned to be one of the worst ever. In 2008 the London Stock Market had its worst year in history and the outlook for 2009 is no better. The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Charlie Bean, has warned that the pain is just beginning, calling the present situation the largest financial crisis of its kind in human history. Many commentators are saying it will be as bad and maybe even worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. During the past year we have seen the worst debt crisis in history and the largest