Summary: The Damage Being Done To America Dennis Prager has been a commentator for well over 30 years. He recently summarized the long-term damage being done to America, both domestically and abroad, by the current administration. It’s not a pretty picture for president Obama. As president, he has overseen the weakest recovery from recession in modern American history. In five years, he has mired us in an additional $6.5 trillion of debt—after calling his predecessor ‘unpatriotic’ for racking up $5 trillion in new debt over 8 years. Of course, future generations will be the ones saddled with this enormous debt. He presides over a country in which more Americans receive government aid than work full time. He has no method of paying off this level of debt other than printing more money, which means taxing everyone, including the poor, through the resulting inflation. This also means cheapening the dollar to the point where other countries are seriously discussing dropping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. His 2,500 page Affordable Care Act has made it virtually impossible for thousands, soon to be millions, of Americans to keep their employer-sponsored group health insurance plans. He has stymied American medical innovation with an utterly destructive tax on medical devices. He has also caused hundreds of thousands of workers to lose full time jobs because of the costs imposed by Obamacare on employers. His Internal Revenue Service has used its unparalleled power to stymie political dissent and no one has been held accountable. He has divided the country by economic class through using classic Marxist language against the rich and corporate profits. And Dennis Prager’s list goes on. What exactly does this mean to you? It means that the writing is on the wall for some predictable consequences that will impact nearly all of us. What Should We Expect? First and foremost, taxes will be going up. They’re not just likely to go up dramatically, but could rise in a manner that none of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. This means that we must protect ourselves from the effects of those rising taxes eroding away our retirement nest egg at the time in life when we can afford it the least. This requires that we recognize the difference between an attitude of scarcity and one of abundance. Too many people who support the idea of redistributing the wealth of those who are producers and job providers think that this constitutes abundance. In reality, it kills jobs and stymies the economy. As a country, we’ve painted ourselves into a corner and part of the price of getting out of it is that taxes will have to go higher. Another threat that arises from government’s continual printing of money is inflation. This will water down the purchasing power of every dollar that you have saved away for the future. It also means that the costs of the gas, groceries, greens fees, and prescriptions you purchase today will be dramatically higher in the future. There’s also the danger posed by continuing market volatility and the impact it can have on the money people have socked away in their IRAs and 401(k) plans. The bottom line is that your nest egg needs to be protected from losses. This means that it should be accumulating in a vehicle where when the economy goes down, you do not lose principal. Likewise, when the economy grows, your money needs to be able to grow as well and turn that increase into new principal. When inflation rises, if your money is linked to those things that inflate, it helps rather than hurts you. Finally, truly protecting your nest egg means that your money is in a vehicle where it is accumulating tax-free; it can be accessed tax-free, and eventually can be handed down to your heirs—tax-free as well. This requires knowing and utilizing proven strategies that have been available for many generations. Learn more by visiting with a wealth architect today.
