For those of you who aren’t facing estate taxes yet, there’s loads of other opportunities to capitalize on now that will make it more likely that estate taxes will be one of the good problems you have to worry about.

As Seth Godin points out “change (and the fortunes that go with it) is almost always made during the down part of the cycle. It might not be fun, but it’s exciting. (Where do you think Google came from?) The opportunity is to find substantial opportunities (in any field) that deliver real value and have a future. Those jobs/investments/companies/ideas are undervalued right now, but not for long.”

So stop worrying so much about the big, bad recession and whether the market is a bear market or not and start focusing on how you can get yourself into the group of people who can take advantage of the next downturn in a big, bad way yourself.

In fact, why not think about what to do with that tax rebate you’ve got coming?

Here’s some ideas:

1.  Invest In Yourself

If you haven’t already, get your financial house in order by meeting with a Personal Family Lawyer, conducting a Family Wealth Inventory and Assessment and giving yourself and your loved ones the gift of knowing you are making the right financial and legal decisions during life and everything will be taken care of if anything happens to you.

2.  Invest In Your Business

If you are a business owner, this is the time to invest more in your business, not less.  Many people will go out of business during a recession because they get scared and stop investing in their marketing.  This is the time to do more, not less.  Get creative and get going.

3.  Invest in Your Family

If you aren’t a business owner and you’ve got your estate planning in place and up to date, then check out these ways you can invest in your family: max out your 401(k), open up a 529 plan for your kid or fund a retirement account for your kid under 18 who is employed even just a little bit.

Whatever you do - invest it in your future and be one of the rich who get richer this time around.

From:  Alexis Martin Neely's Family Wealth Matters