I'm amazed that as I read my wife's journal about 12 years ago, how much is similar to today.  

The economy is a complex system that is constantly changing. It is influenced by a variety of factors, including consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and global events. As a result, the economy goes through periods of expansion and contraction, which are known as economic cycles.

An economic cycle is a period of time during which the economy grows and then shrinks. The four stages of an economic cycle are:

• Expansion: This is the period of time when the economy is growing. During expansion, businesses are investing and hiring, consumers are spending more money, and the unemployment rate is low.
• Peak: This is the point at which the economy reaches its highest point of growth. At this point, businesses are producing as much as they can, and unemployment is at its lowest level.
• Contraction: This is the period of time when the economy is shrinking. During contraction, businesses are cutting back on investment and hiring, consumers are spending less money, and the unemployment rate is rising.
• Trough: This is the point at which the economy reaches its lowest point of growth. At this point, businesses are producing very little, and unemployment is at its highest level.

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” ~ Warren Buffet

“The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go. In the end, what matters isn’t crossing the finish line before anybody else but just making sure that you do cross it”
~ Benjamin Graham

“Waiting helps you as an investor and a lot of people just can't stand to wait. If you didn't get the deferred-gratification gene, you've got to work very hard to overcome that.” ~ Charlie Munger

Are you getting what you want or are you putting yourselves in a position someone could try and get the better of you?

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Telton W Hall, CFP® is a husband, father, retirement planning expert, small-town-boy at heart, nationally published author, sought-after speaker, former college basketball player, founder/owner/team member of Utah based Advanced Financial Planning LLC, hiking enthusiast, Jesus follower, business leader, team builder, and to the core Telton is an educator.