Healthcare Traveler - February 2009 - (Page 24)

Pass the Hat slide of the ’70s, and the 1987 market crash and recovery. Feeling confident with his theory, Dent then projected forward, and discovered “the great boom ahead,” beginning in 1993. He predicted that the “Baby Boom” generation would drive the economy to unprecedented heights—reaching its zenith in 2008—but he also anticipated that retiring Boomers would drive down the economy. in your marketability and be willing to be flexible when it comes to available opportunities. What should you do now? While no one (this author included) wants to be pessimistic about America’s future prospects, it would seem prudent to plan on the situation getting at least somewhat worse before it gets better, based on those who didn’t have their heads in the sand. So what can be done? If nothing else, look at the outward symptoms of our nation’s current woes, and see if they suggest any actions that could diminish the impact of a continued job slowdown. But keep in mind that all too often, those very things that you must do to protect yourself are the same things that will continue the decline. For instance, while it would help the economy for you to take advantage of lower prices, these symptoms (especially job losses) suggest that you should take steps to prepare for the possibility of becoming a slowdown statistic yourself. To begin with, stop borrowing. Reduce spending and debt. Reduce risk. And increase savings. In other words, make sure that you are living within your means—or start doing so. Going forward, the most important individual metric to increase your chance of economic survival is a personal emergency fund. It should provide a minimum of 6 to 12 months of living expenses, in the event you are unable to find work. The second most important metric is reduced debt. But this necessity can pose a difficult moral dilemma. Using your resources to pay down debt first could leave you without emergency funds. On the other hand, building your emergency fund could get you through a post job-loss bankruptcy that could eliminate most, if not all of your debt, especially if you would suffer a mortgage foreclosure that would not be taxed. If you are one of the many exasperated Americans invested in the stock market, either directly or through mutual funds and 401ks, who have followed the generally accepted “rules of investing” (diversification and asset allocation), the question you want to ask is, “Since the rules have failed me, do I continue to follow them and stay the course, or do I bail out and try something else?” Even while financial advisors continue to advocate “staying the course”—since selling now will “lock in your losses”—it may be more prudent (and certainly easier to sleep with) to www.healthcaretraveler.com Where do we go from here? So, we’re left with either 1) believing and following the guidance of the politicians, appointees, economists, and investment advisors who behaved as if the economy was “basically sound” and suggest that the worst has past, or 2) looking at the further predictions of those who saw this crisis coming, and act accordingly. The most optimistic of these prognosticators think the recession will continue for at least another 18 to 24 months. The more pessimistic (such as Dent), believe that the recession will deteriorate into a depression lasting until 2023. According to Magnus, since Americans are living longer and having fewer children, the working population (ages 16 – 64) not only stops growing, but also starts shrinking. At first blush, it would seem that retiring workers would leave room for younger workers, reducing unemployment. Alas, these retiring workers have a bigger, adverse impact on the economy by changing from spenders to savers. However, Dent also predicted that Boomers would promote demand for healthcare and social services. This bodes well for healthcare travelers. In fact, almost all economic forecasts peg healthcare as one of the Top 5 most recessionproof industries (based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job retention and growth); and many put healthcare as the Number One most recession-proof industry (including Kiplinger). Still, “most recession-proof” does not preclude some tightening in the industry. In certain regions, this could translate into the possibility of short-term diminished demand for travelers, as hospitals either focus on recruitment and retention of permanent staff or cut back on all staff as a preventive measure. In this, as in any other time, the key for you as a mobile professional is to invest The second most important metric is reduced debt. But this necessity can pose a difficult moral dilemma. 24 Healthcare Traveler February 2009 http://www.healthcaretraveler.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Traveler - February 2009

Healthcare Traveler - February 2009 Editor’s Desk Contents In a Flash Paws for Thought Field Notes Med Ec-cerpts The Economic Meltdown What Really is a “Tax Home”? Beach Therapy Drug Update Professional Update Advice of Counsel Cityscape Advertisers’ Index Name It Contest Rules On Assignment Tax Facts Dot.com Big Deals Allied Corner Going the Distance Classifieds Tales from the Road

Healthcare Traveler - February 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.