I haven't read all of the responses, and this thread topic should concern everyone.
1. Social Security Fund is set to be insolvent by 2030 (i think that is the year).....the 2024 federal budget proposal includes the largest tax increase in US history. The largest tax increase in US history that does NOTHING to prop up Social Security---ZERO.
(for reference, our current federal budget spends $1.29 for every $1 it takes in---which the last two years is the most it has ever brought in....the 2024 budge proposal is set to spend $1.34 for every $1 it takes in and does zero for SS and does not address any spending cuts)
Thankfully, it is dead on arrival. A massive congressional fight is on the horizon.
2. Interest rate hikes may be going a bit too fast....do we need it? most likely ....the man, the myth, the genius ----Jerome Powell---has openly stated that he is fighting Congress --not inflation--and these rising rates are causing banks to sell off low percentage bonds at a loss to create a cash flow....this is why they don't want you to make a bank run to pull cash out, and also these great deals on 5% CDs for 9 months. Did you see the pause on trading bank stocks? yep.
3. What's scary from a global scale is BRICS (the Brazil, Russia, Iran, China, and Saudi) pact that is aiming to replace the USD with the Yuan in the oil trade. Given that we are now energy dependent and refuse to access our natural resources, this is concerning.
We have issues. We have folks around the world ready to nuke us without firing a weapon.
Regardless if you vote R or D, you have to look at what is currently happening in our country and know the policy makers in charge have no clue what they are doing with the US economy. Personally, my 401K, as of today, is down $282K since Jan 1, 2022.