The Election, The Economy and Precious Metals

As the old saying goes, there are two things in life that are CERTAIN: death and taxes. Would anyone be upset if I add a third?

THIS ELECTION! And I’m CERTAIN everyone is happy its coming to an end.

Or is it?

Markets don’t like uncertainties, so I suspect that even after the winner of the Presidential election is announced, some news will emerge to that will affect the markets. The country just seems so divided, that whoever wins some backlash is likely. (Having said that, I expect very volatile markets on Wednesday)

My concerns don’t stop with market uncertainty, I feel the real problem lies in what will become of Congress in 2017? May I be so bold as to add one more certainty? No matter who is our new President, Congress in 2017 will most likely be more divided than ever.

Will our debt, entitlement problems and healthcare ever be addressed?

How serious is the U.S. economy? Here is how we spent tax dollars last year.

• Social Security- 24 percent of the budget
• Medicare, Medicaid and children’s health insurance- 25 percent
• Safety net programs- 10 percent of the budget
• Defense and international security- 16 percent

Add these four items together and 75 percent of the budget is gone.

Pay down the debt? How?

Oh one more item: Do you know that the share of Americans in the labor force, meaning those with jobs or actively looking for work, is at a FOUR DECADE low at 62.8 percent.
Friday’s jobs report came in at 161.000 jobs created. Sounds like a good number until you dive a little deeper and discover that 90,000 PART TIME jobs were created and 103,000 full time jobs were LOST, resulting in more families having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet and let’s not forget part time jobs come without healthcare benefits.

Need I say more?

Does all this give credibility to the large increase in how the “retail” investor is diversifying their portfolio to include metals as a hedge? Is this the reason that the Silver ETF holdings reached an all-time high last month?

Have I given you enough to think about?

The fact remains that now more than ever, regardless of the kind of investor you are, a BALANCED portfolio that include precious metals is a must to reach your financial goals.

Oh, one more thing, Please vote!!!

Even though all the news has been on the presidential race, there are many important down ballot races that affect you locally. It’s your duty and a privilege as a proud American to cast your vote.

If you skip out you have no one to blame but yourself.

God Bless America and God Bless our Veterans.