These are gloomy economic times, no matter if you're an entrepreneur working on a business plan or just a regular Joe. But despite what's happened on Wall Street, and despite the credit crunch and the dour economic forecasts, we wondered whether you—the average American or entrepreneur trying to get your business plan funded—have actually felt first-hand the effects of the downturn. So, we held a survey. Much to our surprise, a full 50% of you said that you haven't experienced any financial impact.

After some consideration, though, we realized that maybe that's not so startling. If you don't plan to cash out your 401K anytime soon, are not heavily invested in the stock market, or weren't the proud owner of a sub-prime mortgage, you likely haven't felt much of an impact—as yet. While inflation has been a problem—which is now waning—apparently none of you felt it was substantial enough to make any real impact on your day-to-day lives.

So, what about the remaining 50% of our survey respondents? You agreed that you haven't felt any repercussions as a result of the downturn—but you're making cuts to plan for whatever may come down the pike. Those of you in this category fall directly in-line with myriad of entrepreneurs running start-ups who've made dramatic cuts to their business plan to prepare for what may come next. While it's yet to be seen whether such cuts are necessary, there's a good chance there could be a pay-off down the road.

Of course, if you're not prepared to make cuts as yet, you could always approach the downturn like reader benpirie:

"As the country's financial outlook worsened, I took a disciplined approach and stuck closely to my strategy of not owning anything of value. This has largely insulated me from the crisis."

Right.