{"id":1179,"date":"2015-07-10T19:38:14","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T19:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2015-07-10T19:38:14","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T19:38:14","slug":"greece-and-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vhfinancialmanagement.com\/2015\/07\/10\/greece-and-you","title":{"rendered":"Greece and You"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There has been a good deal of talk recently regarding Greece and its financial situation.\u00a0 Will the country decouple from the Euro?\u00a0 Will they accept another bailout deal? Of course, this has littered our newspapers and news headlines\u2026and to the point of concern for many.<\/p>\n

After a recent vote, The Greek people voted \u201cno\u201d to additional austerity measures proposed by their creditors (the folks who bailed them out the first time). Many of the Greek voters are fed up with their current situation and would like to shift from the Euro back to the Drachma.<\/p>\n

How does all of this impact you?<\/p>\n

While this current Greek crisis may incite some short term instability the market, the overall impact should be relatively minor. \u00a0\u00a0Janet Yellen has stated that the Fed is still on track for an interest rate hike later this year, so the Fed doesn\u2019t seem too worried\u2026so, I\u2019m certainly not.\u00a0\u00a0 The good news is the Euro could be driven down further, which is exciting if you plan to travel overseas anytime soon. You\u2019ll be able to take advantage of favorable exchange rates!<\/p>\n

As with similar issues in the past, this too shall pass.\u00a0 While I don\u2019t intend to diminish the importance of this issue for Greece, I would like to provide a bit of perspective. \u00a0Most folks are worried about how this may impact the stock market. \u00a0Here\u2019s an interesting statistic: Greece\u2019s share of the world equity market is $28B. For comparison, Apple\u2019s equity footprint is $643B, while the U.S.\u2019s equity capitalization is $24,478B\u2026yes, that\u2019s billion with a B!<\/p>\n

In percentage terms the U.S. holds 52% of the world\u2019s share.\u00a0 Greece on the other hand holds less than one tenth of one percent! \u00a0\u00a0By the way, this information is from year-end 2014 and from my friends at over at Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA).<\/p>\n

So, okay, I also understand that this could have a ripple effect throughout the rest of Europe and then possibly over here to the States. Sure, we could see some volatility\u2026but this too shall pass.\u00a0 But there are also a myriad of other issues that could just as easily derail our country\u2019s economic growth.<\/p>\n

If you want to be proactive and try to stay one step ahead of Grexit (this is the new hybrid term which combines Greece and exit), my suggestion would be to focus on what you can control.\u00a0 Control how much you spend, how much you save, and how much you pay in taxes. I don\u2019t have a direct line to Alexis Tsipras (The Greek Prime Minister) and can\u2019t control the outcome, but I can control the items mentioned above, which are three of the best ways to growth wealth. To take this further, If you want to focus on something that really matters, focus on how you would like to enjoy the rest of your summer!<\/p>\n

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