3 financial crises America is in that can affect you

Steve Sexton, President of Sexton Advisory Group and host of the radio show “Winning in Life” on 1170 KCBQ was invited onto San Diego Living to discuss the issue of the fiscal cliff. With over 15 years of experience in financial services such as retirement and estate planning, Steve is a well-known financial advisor who has been featured on numerous shows and publications to share his expertise and to inform clients how they can “find money falling through the cracks.”

Politicians want you to believe that the fiscal cliff is done being dealt with but Steve informed listeners that there are three crises with the fiscal cliff being just one of them. The truth is that America is already in $16 trillion in debt and right now the Senate and Congress will decide whether or not to raise that debt to pay its bills. If they do not raise this debt, they will have to decide on which bills to pay. This is just like any one of us paying our bills with a limited budget. The problem is that our country pays 80 million bills per week. In the past, the government has kept on raising the debt ceiling, but there will be a time when China says no and does not loan us anymore money.

The second crisis is the sequester. This has to do with the last debt ceiling debate about cutting $1.2 trillion being over a period of 10 years. If that last debate does not get decided by March 1st, $110 billion will be cut in defense spending and domestic discretionary spending. California will lose 227,000 jobs  and in San Diego, it has 1 in 4.5 people working in the defense industry. The third crisis is continuing resolution. It has been almost two years since there has been a budget that the president signed off on. On March 27 the continuing resolution ends so the budget office will not have authority to pay bills. This can cause the government to shut down. Although it probably will not, if it does, it can create a recession, depression, and even ruin America’s reputation. The government then has 3 options: increase revenue, decrease revenue by cutting programs, or cut benefits.

So what advice does Steve give to his clients? The first thing is to make sure that your financial advisor, CPA, and estate planner are all working together and talking on your behalf. Steve suggests to ask yourself, “have you ever calculated the true fees you have with your investments?” This refers to the fees you know about, ones you don’t know about, and taxes. Is it still worth the risk even with your taxes added in? Filter out myths, misconceptions, and unrealistic expectations.

Contact Steve Sexton today at Sextonadvisorygroup.com or call (1800) 560-2611 to get your questions answered about the protected retirement trust and whether you’re making smart financial decisions both at no charge.