The clouds of a 2006 Recession are starting to form on America's horizon. Politicians know that Recessions or Depressions are bad for their reelection changes. Bad economic times tend to create unemployment among nice folks holding office at time of economic stress. You can expect Government to do everything possible to delay a Recession until after November 2006 election. However, American economy is currently caught in an upward moving inflation and a Recession would still fires of a runaway currency. The Real Estate Bubble may be about to burst. And, America's financial institutions appear to be in increasing trouble over failed derivative bets.

If you are a Government bureaucrat with over tens years at your job, odds are you have nothing to fear from a Recession. If you work in private sector, you should carefully access your unemployment risks now and take whatever action best meets your potential problems during a Recession.

If you are near brink of bankruptcy, Congress wants to make your life a living hell. They passed "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005." There is no question that current bankruptcy laws offer far more debtor relief from burden of unmanageable debt than this new Act. If you have too much credit card debt, large medical bills, high mortgage payments, have a variable rate mortgage or have high car payments, you need to carefully review your financial situation, now. If you think that you could lose your job during a Recession, you have until October 2005 to file under present bankruptcy law. Under new law, your creditors could take everything of value or leave you drowning in debt for rest of your life. If you are close to bankruptcy, seek advice from a bankruptcy attorney. Do it today.

We speak to hundreds of individuals each month that are in market to buy property. Unfortunately, many of them have less than desirable credit scores, and because of this, are not able to get prequalified for a loan.

There are numerous reasons for bad credit scores: bankruptcies, late payments, large credit balances, and a host of others. There are many legitimate reasons a person may have bad credit, but frankly, most of people we talk to have simply made poor financial decisions.

In most cases, bad credit can be easily avoided:

1. On revolving credit card balances, make sure you pay your minimum balance each month. You will even receive a slight credit boost if you pay over your minimum amount, so do it if you can.

2. Avoid "maxing" out credit card accounts. Credit cards are good to have to build your credit, but make sure you keep your spending under control. Preferably, you should be able to pay off any CC balances completely in same month you spent money.