| According to the Tax Foundation, Trump's proposed tariffs would shrink the U.S. GDP by 0.8% and result in the loss of 684,000 full-time jobs. The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates that they would cost the average middle-income household an additional $1,700 per year. Speaking of irresponsible fiscal policy, neither candidate has said one word about slowing down spending. (I wrote about the national debt - and our leaders' reluctance to address it - in detail a couple of weeks ago.) Then there's the Fed. I'm in the minority here, but I believe it'd be ludicrous for the Fed to lower rates in September, as nearly everyone expects. The Fed's job isn't to stimulate the housing market, to make things easier for consumers, or to relieve the burden of credit card debt. Its only tasks are to keep prices stable and ensure maximum employment. Inflation dipped to a three-year low of 2.9% in July, so prices are much more stable than they were in the aftermath of the pandemic. But inflation is still well above the Fed's stated goal of 2%. Furthermore, though employment growth is slowing, it is still positive. The U.S. added 114,000 nonfarm jobs in July, down from the average of 215,000 over the past 12 months. Unemployment rose to 4.3%, but layoffs are not increasing, and the participation rate - the percentage of American adults who either have jobs or are actively seeking employment - was high and is expected to rise further. Considering that we're coming out of a high-inflation environment, cutting rates while inflation is above the Fed's 2% goal and employment is still growing would likely lead to greater inflation down the road. I'm going to break some shocking news to you: The government doesn't make decisions in your best interest, regardless of who is in charge. With that in mind, there are certain steps you should strongly consider taking in order to thrive financially. Here are three of them. | 
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