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I observe the National state of taxes, deficit spending, debt and related interest payments and wonder, is the American view of this fiscal management a reflection of the personal finance habits of too many of us?
As a nation we don’t live within our means for sure, largely ignore interest payments, and apparently don’t think about our financial future or who will pay the bills some day.
As individuals, that scenario seems to reflect the lifestyle of too many Americans. Am I wrong?
Seems right. Financially irresponsible citizens elect financially irresponsible congressmen.
Dick, I recently read that the average credit card balance in the US is around $10K. To me, that seems irresponsible, so maybe that carries into the halls of congress. I think our lawmakers have some additional challenges, like keeping their jobs. If they don’t bring home the bacon, they don’t get re-elected. If they raise taxes to pay for bacon, they don’t get re-elected.
I have given much thought to this subject. More specifically, is there a correlation between someone’s politics and their personal spending habits?
I was a tax preparer with hundreds of long term clients whom I got to know so well personally, that I also knew who they voted for. I had senior citizen clients with substantial mortgages, mountains of credit card debt, risky investors, ultra conservative savers, people with detailed plans (spreadsheets😁), young people on the right path, and people without a financial clue.
While I never actually kept score, I didn’t see any obvious correlation between a person’s politics and their financial lives.
I suspect there may be a relationship between income level and voting. With each group voting how they believe they will benefit – paying less or getting more.