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Text of Pete's editorial to The Californian newspaper, 9/26/2008 issue

I am a professional fee-only investment advisor. As 2008’s financial melt-down has unfolded, I have watched layer by layer as our current financial crisis has revealed our past mistakes.

Most prominently, I am watching everybody blame someone else.

In reality, we all played a part in this. Alan Greenspan’s Federal Reserve under Presidents Clinton and Bush put too much money into the financial system. We all were greedy. We ignored the obvious and participated to some degree or another in the tech stock bubble and the real estate bubble. We chose to buy into the myth that “It will never go down”. If we didn’t agree with all of this, then we didn’t yell loudly enough.

Many of us borrowed too much.  Many of us consumed too much. We elected politicians and selected executives who told us what we wanted to hear. The Congress, which we elected, deregulated the financial industry and thus opened a Pandora’s Box of hedge funds and synthetic investments.

The good news is that if we created this mess, we can also fix it. First, let’s clean up our own acts at home. We are often advised to think globally, and act locally. Yet now, improving our own lives is a key to changing what is broken. We should think nationally and act individually.

Any politician who turns this crisis into a blame game is guilty of the lowest and most cynical demagoguery. Let’s not pass the buck. Obsessive blaming fixes nothing.

Let’s stop seeking out and rewarding executives who focus so myopically on the short run…and let’s penalize those who do.

Let’s seek out political leaders who can set aside the language of hatred and embrace bi-partisan financial responsibility. That means that we won’t get all that we want from government. That’s life. When we listen to candidates for the upcoming elections, let’s seek out problem solvers who address the world from a position of responsibility and reality.

Let’s shun special interest groups such as unions or corporations which attempt to manipulate our politicians with advertising, contributions, and lobbyists. The time for consensus and prudence has arrived.

And since when was getting rich more important than the community’s well-being? Everywhere we look in this wreckage, we see thousands of individuals who put their personal enrichment ahead of ethics and the best interests of others. Mortgage brokers and Wall Street executives come to mind.

In the current crisis, personal financial responsibility is a social good. If we don’t have the money for it, we don’t buy it.  Free your wallet and your mind will follow.

Let’s face it, true wealth is freedom from fear and freedom from want. Many of us are already there, but we don’t know it. Compared with generations who came before us, we are rich beyond description. Let’s fix what’s broken, set aside anger and fear, and savor what we have. 

Do You Suffer From Bag-Lady Syndrome? (6/6/2006)

Read article.

Monetary Value of Stay-at-Home Parent  (5/3/2006)

Interesting article about the value of a stay-at-home parent's jobs.  Read article.

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