Happy to Be Poor!

Of course I am up late/ early A.M. paying bills! I never go to bed before 1 am so why not get depressed and pay bills. So, just as I am finishing up and stressing over the deductions about to come out of my checkbook, I see a story on-line about Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico. Based on my line of work, I am always interested in how insurance companies are performing. I also am aware that Geico lost their number 1 spot in Auto Insurance sales to a competitor recently. So, I bite at the catchy title and read on......Buffett gave a speech at Berkshire Fest (sounds like a place where women would burn their bras!) that was doom and gloom telling everyone interested (accounting geeks like me!) that operating profit fell and the company's book value declined 6% during the first quarter! The company's stock has fallen 39% since 2007 and profit fell 62% last year alone. Might not sound like much but take your annual salary and multiply it by 62%.....now pretend your employer tells you to give that amount back (come on, just play along with me here)! All of the sudden, paying my mortgage and car payments doesn't sound so bad! Now, I am sure that Mr. Buffett is still a very, very rich man! But, it sure sucks to be him right now! At least when you start out with $0 in the stock market (like me), the most you can lose is $0 (Wow! Being poor has its advantages)...imagine Berkshire Hathaway with $25billion that is highly dependent upon the stock market. For some reason, I am no longer depressed and can go to bed resting easy on the reality that I have nothing to lose in the stock market right now (tomorrow I will admit that my 401k is taking an ass-kicking....but for tonight, just let me have this small taste of victory). Warren Buffett ain't got nothin' on me right now! Sleep tight!