The Congressional Budget Office or CBO said that the $1 trillion budget proposal would add $256 billion to the nation’s budget deficit over the next 10 years. What does that mean exactly? Nearly half of the package’s proposed new spending could end up tacked on to the nation’s growing debt load instead of increasing revenues, reallocating funds, and spending cuts.
But don’t worry, if all else fails, we can always print more money.
Here is the deal. CBO estimates that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would increase the government’s net spending by $315 billion while increasing revenues by only $50 billion over the next 10 years.
What is a little concerning is that Washington said the budget would be funded with more than $250 billion in unspent Covid-19 relief funds, strengthened tax enforcement for cryptocurrencies, and new revenues.
Not once mentioning added debt.
As expected, the Senate is debating. Rightfully so, burying the country deeper into debt should never be taken lightly.
The gap between government spending and revenue has swelled to more than $2.2 trillion in the 2021 fiscal year—less than last year’s $2.7 trillion at this time, but far more than historical deficits of less than $1 trillion.
A larger deficit typically means the government is taking on more debt, which can ultimately limit the government’s ability to increase spending in order to curb economic downturns—or fight pandemics.
The problem lies in the core strategy. The government seems to be in a rush to get things done with not enough consideration to the very core of the problem.
And the problem is this.
We have a very low GDP, companies are still not reopening, people aren’t going back to work, and our financial system is faulty. Our problems are fundamental and all the solutions are tactical.
And for as long as we don’t deal with these problems, debt will stack up and the economy will shrink.
The problem is that it will take decades to recover from this hole we are in. So, for us who are preparing for retirement, relying on any kind of solution by the government now is financial suicide.
We need to do this ourselves.
We need to go back to our portfolio and reexamine it. We need to determine how we make sure we will be ready by the time we retire.
Aside from getting into stocks, ETFs, Bonds, and maybe even businesses, we need to make sure all these investments are protected by investing in the hedge there is, the best store of value, like gold.
Gold is the only asset that continues to thrive even in the midst of this current disaster in the way it has done so through all economic distress.
