Financial Questions

[MaTH716]

A friend of mine just left his job within the financial industry. Now he's trying to get something started on his own. He has some basic financial questions, where he is just trying to gauge the public's mindset and thoughts on how they act and percieve the financial markets.
He asked me to help him out. I thought DT might be a good place to post some of these questions. We certainly do have a diverse and opinionated group.
For the record, I have nothing to gain here, just trying to help a friend out. If you don't feel comfortable posting something in the thread feel free to PM me, but the questions are very benign. I answered the questions too and will post my answers.

What keeps you at up at night (financially speaking)?
Personally, I worry about my job on almost a daily basis. Also lately I have been thinking more of my boys future.

If you could get a straight answer from some you could trust about your most important financial, career and market related questions what would you ask? How can I get out of the career that I'm currently in and get into something brand new with a much more promising future?

Do you feel it's hard to plan for your future because of economic uncertainty?
No, I feel like some of the decisions that I have made in the past have put my in the position that I am in now.

If you had known about the recent financial crisis in advance would you have made different decisions?
Yes, I feel like I bought my house at the height of the housing bubble. Obviously I would have waited it out and then got into the market after the bubble popped

Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks
Matt