U.S. financial crisis feeds advice columns, shows

CINCINNATI, Sept 26 - When American consumers start worrying about the economy and their personal finances, some call their financial adviser. The rest turn to advice columns, radio shows and websites for reassurance.

"It is an avalanche. I've never seen anything like it, it's crazy," said Tess Vigeland, host of a show called Marketplace Money, which runs on public radio stations around the United States. "Email has at least tripled, if not quadrupled."

With Washington and Wall Street gripped by the U.S. financial crisis and headlines screaming about bankrupt banks and insurers, financial advisers -- especially those in the public eye -- are being swamped.

Teresa Dixon Murray, who writes a weekly column about personal finance at the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, said she hasn't gotten so many calls and emails in her 10 years as a financial reporter.

"It's been pretty much my life since late March, and as far as the last week and a half -- I've definitely seen more worry and concern from consumers," said Murray. "There's a feeling of helplessness that nobody seems to have the answers."

A surge in e-mails and audience interest on top of what is surely the biggest story of a career would excite any business journalist, but Vigeland said her fascination with the crisis is tempered by the knowledge that so many listeners are depending on her radio show for advice and reassurance.

"It's a two-sided coin," said Vigeland. "Right now for me as a personal finance journalist, there is an intellectual fascination with what's happening and I go home every night and my head is spinning."

But Vigeland knows many people rely on programs like hers for advice -- despite her standard reminder to listeners to consult their own financial advisers before making decisions.

"All the stories we're getting from listeners of fear and 'Oh my God, the headlines are terrifying' -- that gets to you," Vigeland said. "So it's not just trying to absorb the magnitude of it, but also really feeling like there is a responsibility here to help people."

Murray said she can't begin to answer the hundreds of calls and e-mails she gets every week, and has tried to address the most common fears in her weekly columns: which bank accounts and investments are insured, where money is safest, what the proposed federal bailout is trying to accomplish.

She's most distressed by the tales she hears of people who have hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings accounts -- and of those who are so worried about a run on banks that they are withdrawing their cash and taking it home.

"It's completely irrational fear," said Murray. She said she tells them what she'd tell her mom: stick to a sensible investment plan, hold a diverse portfolio, don't panic and cash out unless you really can't sleep at night.

Some advisers are reassured by what they are seeing and hearing from U.S. consumers. Linda Stern, a personal finance columnist for Reuters and contributing editor at Newsweek magazine, said while she's getting more enquiries than usual, people are not panicking.

"Everyone I talk to is nervous, but sitting pat. Maybe it's paralysis or maybe it's brilliance, but I don't see a lot of selling," said Stern. She's thinks many Americans have enduring faith the country will pull through the crisis -- despite dire talk from national leaders.

"Underneath the fear about how this is all going to unfold, there's a certain long-term confidence that it's going to be okay," Stern said.

Personal financial advisers are also turning to the media to reassure investors. Discount broker Charles Schwab took out a full-page ad in the New York Times on Thursday acknowledging these "unprecedented and unsettling times" and urging investors to stick to their long-term financial plans.

In a country where religion is a part of daily life for many and weekly church attendance remains high, popular Bible-based financial seminars have become even more popular as the financial crisis deepens.

"I'm getting so many more calls -- 200 percent more calls a week," said Pamela Christensen, a director of Crown Financial Ministries in California and Nevada.

She directs people to the Crown website to sign up for local seminars but just keeping up with demand is difficult. At her own church, there were two study groups devoted to learning budgeting and financial stewardship, but now there are four -- and more people keep calling to ask for a new session.

"I'm also a financial adviser and I have lots of my clients calling in asking what should they do, where should they put their money, is the bank safe? Those sorts of things," Christensen said.

"My advice is the same," she said. "Don't panic."