• Housing Bubble continues to deflate
• Federal Budget and Trade deficits keep ballooning
• Pension funding shortfalls continue to grow
• Money supply to keep expanding
• China and India absorbing more of worlds resources
• More tension with Iraq, Iran and other oil-exporting nations
• Venezuela threatens increase anti-US rhetoric
• Peak Oil is almost here
• Bird flu and other health scares
• The continuing specter of terrorism
• Natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.)
• Personal, government and corporate debt grows more burdensome

This is not a complete list (yikes!). Yes, some of these issues could pass with little effect in the US. Most of them are quite serious and could cause major economic problems. The problem is that many of these concerns will probably become dangerous realities in the coming months and years. Millions in our society alone will get blind-sided economically by one or more of these problems. In my belief, an economic downturn is a certainty and to me the question will be how severe will it be? It could be a recession and it has the realistic potential to be a depression. The structural economic problems are so massive in their scope that it is entirely possible that a depression that could meet or even exceed the severity of the Great Depression is not out of the question. What we must understand is that some issues are now unavoidable and will undoubtedly cause great pain to our nation. I rate Peak Oil and our massive debt load in this category.

We can not solve America`s problems but we can take more control over our own situations. I think that the year 2006 will be a watershed year. We will stare into the abyss. We need re-assess our finances to minimize the problems and to maximize the gains. My first suggestion is that everyone should become as self-sufficient as possible.

You should do a two-pronged approach to accomplish this. The first prong is passive and the second is active. Passive is a reference to your finances and investments. The second is a reference to you ability to generate revenue in a job or business (or both). Here are some things that you should immediately do (or at least consider):

• Reduce your debt and spending
• Increase savings and have an emergency fund
• Use stop loss orders in your stock portfolio
• Review your skills to keep yourself employable
• Start a part-time home business
• Increase your holdings of gold, silver and energy-related investments
• Implement energy savings programs
• Get rid of your SUV and buy an efficient car
• Consider (solarizing) your home
• Get rid of (depreciating) assets (sell your stuff on Ebay, etc.)

There is much more that you can do. In future issues we will deal with more issues and strategies. This month is my 25^th anniversary of being in business. I want to commemorate this proud moment for me with something that I believe is outrageous, powerful and timely. Therefore, please consider the following.

Most of you know that the cornerstone of my business is education. My first seminar was in 1983 and I become a national public speaker in 1986. In fact, this June will mark 2 full decades of teaching about investing and business start-up. My two landmark seminars were (The $25 Wealth-Builder) and (Home Business Goldmine). This one two punch are perfect starting points for your two-pronged wealth-building program. Until March 31, 2006, you can get both on the same digital CD for only $17. For just seventeen bucks I send you over six hours of education to help you get on a firm footing for 2006 and beyond. These are the same two seminars that you have seen across the country (and at websites such as http://www.SuperMoneyLinks.com for $49 each. However, I want you to get this wealth of money-making strategies for a dirt cheap price. Here are the course descriptions:

• $25 Wealth Builder
  How to safely invest with as little as $25!

Learn how you can grow money even in this tough market. In one information-packed session you can learn how to wisely and profitably begin building your own financial empire as a small investor. This seminar was created specifically to meet the needs of the low and middle-income investor. You'll find out how you can avoid the problems and traps that have plagued investors in recent years; safely buy high-potential stocks for as little as $25 a month (with no commissions!) while minimizing risk; invest in income-producing real estate starting with only $100; buy gold and silver for as little as $50; start a high-powered financial portfolio for $100; invest in mutual funds like a pro; and how to virtually guarantee $1 million for your retirement! Join Paul and start investing like a pro (why not bring your broker?). Take control of your finances and find out how to make your money work hard for you!

• Home Business Goldmine
  101 Creative Ways to Earn Extra Money!

Do you want another source of income without leaving your job? Are you worried about your position, your company, or your financial security? Use the same techniques and strategies that have been used by millionaires! No matter who you are or what you are currently doing, you can turn your spare time and energy into money. Find out how to start and operate from home, part-time or full-time. You do not need capital to get started, just a desire to succeed. Learn the right approach complete with how-to and where-to information. You will learn about specific ways to earn money in hot areas such as factoring, brokering, finder fees, liquidating, etc. Imagine earning $50,000 by bringing money to businesses! Or find over 2,000 sources of wholesale products to earn big re-sale profits. We will show you the moneymaking power of the Internet! Imagine earning big fees just by doing simple research at the library or perusing public records. Start a low-risk, high-potential journey to financial security. BONUS REPORT: Get Paul`s financial resource report complete with hot links to Paul`s favorite websites to help you get inside information on what`s really going on with the financial markets along with great resources to help you earn money.

First off, let me say that I voted twice for Mr. Bush, primarily because his liberal opponents meant higher taxes and more government. We can agree that he means well, but let`s face it, he is making government bigger and more obtrusive than ever. Mr. Bartlett writes, "Philosophically, he has more in common with liberals, who see no limits to state power as long as it is used to advance what they think is right. In the same way, Bush has used government to pursue a conservative agenda as he sees it. But that is something that runs totally contrary to the restraints and limits to power inherent in the very nature of traditional conservatism. It is inconceivable to traditional conservatives that there could ever be such a thing as (big government conservatism) a term often used to describe Bushs philosophy."

No matter how often the government fails, the vast majority of Americans continue to rely on government solutions for whatever problems crop up. Mr. Bush certainly is one of these. Like most politicians, he believes that government can be made to run smoothly and effectively. Mr. Bartlett sums it up. "Right from the beginning, George W. Bush made it clear that he was not a conservative in the Reagan mold. Even in front of explicitly conservative audiences, Bush continued his theme that government was not the enemy; it just was not being used for the proper ends."

In spite of this brave talk about making government more efficient, an alphabet soup of government failures plague the administration; CIA, FBI, FEMA, CBO AND INS to name a few. What does it take to make politicians see that government is the worst choice for problem solving? Why does government meddling so often make matters worse? It is because without a bottom line, government has no compass. Without profit or loss there is no objective standard to measure results. Businesses try to cut costs while governments only know how to ask for more money. Furthermore, with affirmative action and credentialism replacing merit in hiring and promotion, talent dries up and diligence goes unrewarded. Congress requires government to follow so many rules they have no flexibility or creativity. Apathy, lack of motivation, waste and bad service plague the government. They will never be more than a bungling bureaucracy. Nevertheless, the next set of candidates will be confident they can make government work efficiently. They never learn.

The mindset that government will solve our problems is ruining America. It fosters socialism through installments. Each candidate uses the government to implement their pet schemes. The $540 billion prescription entitlement was one of Mr. Bushs favored giveaways. According to Mr. Bartlett, "the Medicare drug bill may well be the worst piece of legislation ever enacted.It will cost vast sums the nation cannot afford.It will inevitably lead to higher taxes and price controls that will reduce the supply of new lifesaving drugs."

The great freedom philosopher Leonard Read wrote in 1961, the "extent to which the government has assumed the responsibility for the security, welfare and prosperity of our people is a measure of the extent to which socialism has developed here in this land of ours."

Mr. Read pointed out that government will print money to pay their bills when it is no longer politically expedient to raise taxes. They do not hesitate to inflate the money supply and water down the value of the money. Said Mr. Read, "Many people do not realize that they cannot continue to enjoy so-called (benefits) from government without having to pay for them. They do not appreciate the fact that inflation is probably the most unjust and cruelest tax of all. What precisely is this disease that causes inflation and all these other troubles? It has many popular names, such as socialism, communism, state interventionism, and welfare statism."

The size of our government and its spending are running out of control. Pork barrel spending (earmarks) have doubled and redoubled. Foreign aid, war costs and educational spending are surging wildly. Government housing, disaster relief, corporate welfare, and farm subsidies are burgeoning, including those for expensive gasohol. It takes more than a gallon of gas to make a gallon of heavily subsidized gasohol.

Medicare, Medicaid and Prescription Drug payments threaten to break the budget. Every day tens of thousands of retirees undergo expensive surgeries and costly medical treatments. Incalculable numbers of prescriptions are written or renewed. Hospitals are full to the brim and diagnostic procedures maxed out. The Wall Street Journal reports that some new cancer drugs cost up to $100,000 a month. Scores of new drugs and treatments are being rushed to market. The more you subsidize the more you get. The heated demand for a scarce resource (that is free) drives the price of health care into orbit. Now come the baby boomers.

It is not going to work. If you are born after 1965 these social costs will be unaffordable when it is your turn. The currency will either be worthless or the government will be bankrupt. Socialism can only work until the goose that laid the golden egg is dead. It is a free lunch now but you are going to get the crumbs. Assume you are going to have to fend for yourself. By doing so, you will not only become financially independent, you will also become a bulwark against socialism. That will be of great value in the final showdown between a broken welfare state and limited government. 

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A new e-commerce web portal www.SuperMoneyLinks.com was developed by the great professionals at www.NexWEB.com. They are a top-notch team that I have joined forces with to bring Mladjenovic content to the web.

For those of you that need excellent point and click Internet services, please contact them directly through their website at www.NexWEB.com.
Tell them Paul sent ya!

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Thank you for reading this issue of the Prosperity Alert. Feel free to pass this along to others (unchanged, of course) or encourage them to get their own free subscription at www.SuperMoneyLinks.com. The next issue will be in your email inbox sooner than you think.

Regards,

Paul Mladjenovic
Email: paul@mladjenovic.com
Tel: 201-585-0239