I’m not a “Gloom and Doom’er” but I gotta tell ya that things are going to get worse.

If you are one of those that prefers to not worry about it and to just “roll with it” I suggest you read this so that you can at least be prepared emotionally for what is about to happen.

Currently, 18% of all income is from our government. Social security, Medicare, Food Stamps etc. This is the highest it has ever been in this country’s history. The income from private business is the lowest it has ever been too.

This is profound because it means less revenue that our government can collect in the form of income taxes.

Let me put our National debt into perspective:

A family of 4 runs up 50,000 in credit card debt. They make combined income of 50,000 a year. After taxes they clear 39,000. Their annual expenses for food, rent etc. is 45,000. Knowing they can’t pay down their debt they apply for another credit card and start paying their bills with it.

By the end of two years they have maxed out the card and are $62,000 in debt. So they apply for another card and start paying their bills with it until nobody will give them a credit card and they run out of money.

Hard choices: Their rent payment is $2,200 a month and can get a smaller home for $1,500 a month but they don’t want to. They can brown bag their lunch everyday to save $400 a month but they don’t want to. They can eliminate their kids cell phones but they don’t want to.

Then their landlord tells them their monthly rent will be increasing by $100. Knowing all of this they actually decide to take their remaining money in their account and instead go on vacation. This is how we are handling our National debt.

No worries, fire up those printers!

Printing money has been the the way out countless times because we never really had global competitors against the US dollar. This time there are strong emerging countries like China and India. This means if we print money it could be worth less (More in circulation). When money is worth less you have inflation and when the dollar is worth less we could see currencies from other countries become the dominant currency.

This means the clout and credit rating of the United States will diminish allowing richer countries to have more influence and power in world affairs. This may have been what Bin Laden was hoping for- exposing the weak American economy. After all, our economy is fueled by consumer spending. If consumers don’t spend, what fuels our economy?

But I do have faith.

I have faith our elected officials will eventually make the tough decisions to avoid a financial collapse. To do this our government will have to both raise personal income taxes and cut spending in services. This means the quality of life you enjoy today won’t be sustainable in the next decade and beyond unless you increase your income. I am speculating income tax rates increasing by at least 1/3 of what they are now during the next decade.

You will be fine…IF

You prepare by cutting expenses now and being realistic about what you do or don’t need. The savings will offset the increased costs of necessities.

Buying a home can be one of the biggest and most important parts of this plan to protect yourself from rising rents when inflation sets in. Do not think of a home as an expense but rather a great way to protect your housing cost from inflation.

When inflation becomes an issue mortgage rates will rise making it much more expensive to buy a home. Talk to your Realtor today to see if you can get into a home before future rents exceed what your mortgage payment would be. Contact me for other helpful financial tips.