So you must have been living under a rock for the last month or so if you haven’t heard about the global financial crisis that is destined to destroy the world as we all know it. Well it might be getting out of control in the USA, but on home shores here in Australia we have no need to panic at the moment.

The Australian economy is more intrinsically linked to Asian markets these days, and whilst we still have exposure to the lending crisis that is threatening to throw the USA into a recession, or even a depression we don’t have to worry about losing our jobs yet.

The best advice is not to panic. Don’t start shifting your Superannuation investments in haste. We all know Super is a long term investment and as such will be subject to many peaks and troughs along the way. If you are approaching retirement, your super should already be in more conservative structures anyway, and if you’re young then your investments will have plenty of time to rebound and recover to still show good returns over the long time.

Reckless spending is something else also to keep in check. Now is a great time to honestly look at your spending and make sure that you are living well within your means. Our banks and lenders will be tighter with the way they hand out money. Finance will be even more difficult to come across so don’t get in over your head. Tighten the belt a little bit, pay off credit card debts and get on top of things.

For risk takers, now might be a good time for some smart investments in the markets. Most analysts predict that some form of a bailout package in the USA will be approved in the coming week which will have a flow on effect across world markets. Get some financial advice and try and identify the market sectors that have been unjustly undervalued over the last couple of weeks and you might just find a niche to exploit and get some good returns when the market inevitably corrects itself. The risk is that it is hard to tell when this correction will occur and have we bottomed out, or is there more pain to come. My gut feeling is there is money to be made for those willing to take a calculated risk. Just don’t expect a guaranteed return – you could just as easily lose your cash.

Anways, again that was a bit all over the place, but hopefully in some shape or form it makes a little sense.