There's May Be More to Life Than This Election - But It's Coming and It's Time to Prep Yourself

The last three posts were intended to take our minds off the upcoming election. The reason: There's more to life than this election - simple as that.

But the suggestions offered can not only distract our attention from the sometimes ginned-up drama of the election; they can also help to strengthen us for what's coming.

What's coming? Expect civil unrest at the least. In addition, we may witness a constitutional crisis, massive demonstrations accompanied by waves of violence. Remember what happened when George Floyd died? We may see that on steroids.

In fact, now - as expected - the talk of civil war has been ramped up. Some media react to such talk with incredulity. Others talk about it as if it's inevitable. Still others flatly state that it's already started. 

So you can see how building up our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual stamina and strength couldn't hurt. Right?

What about our economy and the financial markets? What impact will all this have?

We have to recognize that the economy - worldwide - has been flattened by government policies related to COVID. While some businesses either managed to stay afloat, even prosper, millions of others now linger on life-support. The same holds for the millions put out of work by the lock-downs. They've survived reasonably well - for now - on government assistance in the form of augmented unemployment benefits. Not all, mind you. With that assistance now ratcheted down, the tables may turn dramatically. What will these folks do if the economy doesn't dramatically bounce back?

Well, since it hasn't bounced back so far, we'll likely see another round of government assistance, perhaps before the election, perhaps after. But government assistance won't do much for the economy itself. That, for all we can see so far, remains in a rather deep recession - one that could easily slip into a depression without the expected government assistance.

Through it all, the stock market has remained an anomaly to many. Of course, those who firmly believe that the stock market "looks forward" think it's strong because the economy will be much stronger much sooner than anyone thinks. But if you don't think the stock market always - at all times - looks forward, you may be scratching your head. In the face of near-depression conditions, stocks have held up reasonable well.

I'm not spending a lot of time cogitating about why stocks have remained somewhat healthy in the face of miserable economic conditions. There's not point to that. Sure, I get that the Fed keeping interest rates low, and buying treasuries as part of its ongoing quantitative easing (QE) program can keep stock propped up for a spell. I get that small investors, as measured, for example, by the growth of a brokerage firm (Robin Hood) that caters to them, are pouring money into stocks and options. I get that companies continue to buy back their own stock. But with all that, stocks could still take a broad and deep hit and turn into a bear market. Will that happen soon? Who really knows? I wouldn't bet on it taking too long, though. Within a year? Two years?

So why parse out the reasons why stocks are strong. Maybe time is better spent planning for when they' turn.

Back to the election. Count on lots of drama with the economy - but more words than actions. Trump would love to see the economy jump up and fly to the moon. In fact, he's talking alike it's doing that right now. Do you see it?

The Democrats, for their part, have done all they can to suppress the economy. At least it looks that way. Some have, of course, openly stated that they want the economy to stay in the dumps in order to dump Trump. AOC may be the most notorious when it comes to this sort of perverse thinking. Others simply claim Trump's ruined things - for various reasons, some of which are a bit ridiculous - and attribute that poor economy to Trump.

Whatever is actually going on with the economy, the words that will gush out of the mouths or both political parties, along with the usual wrong predictions by mainstream economists, all covered by discredited media sources looking to gain ratings, will portray all kinds of economic scenarios that will alternately frighten and thrill most of us - if we spend time focusing on their blather.

As for the markets, yeah, expect volatility. We had quite a bit of that when Trump was elected last time. We may have even more this time. So maybe you add to your election prepping some cogent plan for your investments - if you have any. Common sense would seem to dictate this.

So while there indeed is life beyond this election, there'll be no way to completely isolate yourself from its impact. 

As for civil war, let's pray that's not happening.