The trouble with money

I know just enough about the world of high finance to be a danger to myself.

I know there's a coming international financial meltdown coming, hovering out there at the edges of my perception. But I don't have the foggiest idea how to protect myself.

Unfortunately, I make my bread in butter in an industry who's only constant is the boom and bust nature of its existence. Which means, since I've left the insulating world of formal schooling, I've been riding an emotional roller coaster ride in terms of my future financial existence.

So last year, after much soul searching, I went back to school and started preparing myself to jump to a different industry. Going back to Uni on a PT basis will take me approximately three years, and by May I'll have finished just one of them.

My study of personal finance consists of precisely two things. That high school class that taught you the marvels of compound interest (a millionaire by 60!) and The Wealthy Barber, a book that I read about four years ago after much urging from my father.

I've adopted some of what the WB recommends. I put 10% of my paycheque into an investment fund and slightly more than 10% into a retirement fund. So far I've only had to dip into that money twice, for an engagement ring and my part in the purchase of a new (used) car. Of course, after my wedding in the summer, that fund will be drained completely leaving me more than a little nervous about my ability to weather sudden financial changes. This nervousness is only compounded by the coming above mentioned international financial meltdown.

I know that my partner and I are ridiculously good with watching our spending and that in some cases we are light years ahead of some people we know when it comes to setting aside for our future.

But I still can't shake the feeling that I should be doing more. There will be a couple rough years ahead and I need to plan now if I want to come out on the other side intact.