Not Too Big To Fail

Five years ago, our federal government made big news when it chose to bail out several large corporations, declaring them “too big to fail.”

Based on yesterday’s big news, apparently that’s not the case when it comes to government entities.

In Detroit, a federal judge ruled that the city will be allowed to go forward with its Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing – the largest municipal failure in our nation’s history.

Here in Illinois, the state legislature narrowly passed a hotly-debated “pension reform” bill in an attempt to fix a decades-long financial mess caused by typical government greed, corruption and incompetence leading to a current $100 billion pension debt.

Chris Tobe of MarketWatch.com called this lose-lose compromise a “spineless plan” that may actually have a negative effect on the state’s financial woes, leading to even further downgrades to what is already the worst credit rating of any state in the country.

Now I am certainly no expert on government affairs – nor do I ever want to be. But here’s what I do know:

The days are long gone where having a government job meant a safe, secure financial future. And everyone also knows that there’s no such thing as “job security” in the private sector, either.

And that means that it’s more important than ever for all self-respecting Americans to become more financially self-reliant.

It’s okay to have a job – but not to have a “job” mentality. I’ve had over 50 different jobs in my lifetime, from shoveling cow manure to being an award-winning corporate employee (you’ll find a complete detail of my own personal job history here), but I’ve never thought for one second that any government or corporate entity would take care of me or provide for me.

• I’ve always known that responsibility for my personal financial situation lies with me, and me alone.
• I’ve always known that the best investment I can ever make is an investment in myself in the form of continued education and skills.
• I’ve always known that I can only truly fulfill my potential to provide value to the world and also control my own destiny by being an entrepreneur – not an employee of a government or corporation.

If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you already know this, too.

You know that the key to your personal freedom is to be an entrepreneur.

And the key to your financial freedom is to get darn good at being the very best entrepreneur you can be.

Now here’s the good news…

I’ve had my ups and downs in my entrepreneurial career. I’ve learned a lot from my multi-million dollar successes, and perhaps even more from my resounding failures.

And I’ve dedicated my life to helping other entrepreneurs become more successful. (*I’m not the only one. If you don’t want to get help from me, there are others to look to.)

• There are hundreds of posts on this blog from dozens of contributors in multiple areas of small business and entrepreneurial success.
• You can get over 150 hours of video training plus millions of dollars of real-world examples of effective small business direct response marketing at my SSSMarketingUniversity.com.
• You can download my 32-page free report, “7 Ways To Double Your Sales In 90 Days Or Less In A Down Economy” and get a free 45 to 90 minute, private, 1-on-1 consultation with me at www.SteveSipress.com.

If you’re truly serious about making 2014 the very best it can be for your family and your business, then you need to take advantage of one or all of these opportunities.

Because your financial future is your responsibility – and yours alone.

The government certainly isn’t going to take care of you – a fact that’s more clear now than it’s ever been.