Just The Facts Ma'am

For those of you too young to remember, the title is a quote from a TV series named Dragnet, starring Jack Webb. Webb as Sargent Joe Friday delivers this line as an admonishment to an emotional rant from a crime witness. In other words, stop with the hysteria and give me the straight poop.
I strive to be as positive and constructive as possible. Sometimes I fail. Sometimes I am driven to failure by people who are determined to pee in my Cheerios. Some of the things that I unearth in researching investment opportunities have that same effect on me.
That having been said, in an effort to avoid tainting your breakfast cereal, don't read this if you want someone to blow sunshine up your butt.
Here's the link for those of you who can handle the graphic image and to follow along at home; http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Warning; this stuff is scary.
So here goes, Just The Facts;
National debt, 11.3 Trillion and rising
US Spending year to date, 1.68 Trillion and rising
Tax revenue, 974 billion and rising
Budget deficit 749 billion and rising
Here is the impact on you;
Debt per citizen, $36,920.00
US Govt. spending per citizen, YTD, $5,387.00
Private debt, 6.97 Trillion
Private debt per citizen $22,862.00
US Unfunded liabilities (what we are committed to pay for Medicare, Prescription drugs and Social Security) 57 Trillion
Liability per citizen, $188,406.00
So if we add up US Government debt per person, private debt per person, and unfunded liability per person, we come up with, $248,188.00.
Just the facts.
These are the numbers, as of Today.
If we stop right now.
Now for my personal opinion;
We won't stop now. Washington is just beginning to ramp up the spending.
Please understand that these numbers reflect a trend that is relatively new in this country. 30 years new.
It is not, however, new in historical terms. It has happened over and over again throughout history and every time it happens, countries, governments and civilizations fall.
So just because we have seen deficit spending and increasing national debt for most of our lives, please don't for a moment, think that this is sustainable, it is not.
The question is, which generation will pay our debts?
Even if we wanted to pass the buck down the road to our kids or grand kids (which I believe to be despicable and morally bankrupt), I seriously doubt that the "buck" will last that long.
I used to think we could stop this and reverse the trend, but I no longer believe that we have the ability, collective societal education or self discipline.
So where does that leave us?
With the absolute need to remain positive.
I realise after my dire predictions that sounds ludicrous, but it is not. Being prepared is positive. Being proactive is positive, looking to not only survive, but to thrive is positive. With every crisis comes opportunity. And while we may wish that we could avoid the pain in the future, we can be confident in our ability to turn adversity into advantage.
Be ready and stay financially nimble.

Good Luck and Godspeed

JT