U.S. deficit to soar to record $3.8 trillion

mathjak107 said:
no one can tell you what to do but if this is money you don't need for quite a few years you have to think this through
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I will need it in less than two years and fear that it will lose all value by then. Perhaps, for my peace of mind, I will just close it out. Cash on hand does provide a sense of security.

I have read some of your other posts, but they are far beyond my level of comprehension. Unfortunately, financial advice about investing was not taught in schools in my day and my parents would never take a risk of any sort. They never even bought on credit. They worked, they saved, they paid cash.
 

Forgive my stupidity but, I really have no knowledge of this stuff. I do have a question though...

If the USA is in such horrible debt...where is the government getting the money to pay back any of this? I mean, seriously...how could they?
 
MarciKS said:
Forgive my stupidity but, I really have no knowledge of this stuff. I do have a question though...

If the USA is in such horrible debt...where is the government getting the money to pay back any of this? I mean, seriously...how could they?
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1st. you have distinguish between debt & deficit. This is about the deficit.

Quick explanation.

Debt is when you buy something and intend on paying for it.

Deficit is the amount between what you owe for & the ability to pay for it.

Look at like this you buy a car on credit you expect to pay that debt but then you need a refrigerator that goes on your credit card, next you need braces for your child credit again, now you need a new roof credit again. You & your husband both work so paying for the credit card charges isn't a problem. You lost your job, you can't pay on the high balance like you were doing the ability to pay is reduced increasing your deficit.

To answer your question.
Unlike you the government has a way to get more money, they can tax you more or print more money. Either way what the government does can impact you negatively.

Debt isn't a problem as long as your deficit doesn't cause you problems. Home fore closer is a great example of people building debt higher than the ability to pay.
 

There really is no money that is actually printed ..there are changes that take place in the banking system that can expand or contract the money supply


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mathjak107 said:
There really is no money that is actually printed ..there are changes that take place in the banking system that can expand or contract the money supply
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The latest number I could find is that we print $541 million every day. Mostly replacement, though.
 
mathjak107 said:
the money supply really does not have a lot monetary inflation ..as you said it is for replacement ... the money supply is actually controlled through the banks .
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I understand that, of course. I was just trying to clarify your statement that "no money that is actually printed".
 
the effect on the bond market will be interesting ...on one hand you have a ton of supply coming out which should command higher rates to get it all bought ... but then you have a flight to safety going on too lowering rates at the same time ...
 
The US dollar used to be backed by silver. Then we went to the gold standard, all those gold bricks kept in the treasury backed the US dollar. Then, this is my understanding, we dropped the gold standard because we didn’t have enough gold.

The US dollar is now, not backed, by anything but our standing in the world and our good name. You can decide what that means in the current world. So the expression “this money isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on” comes to mind.

LIke when people had a lot of confederate dollars they became instantly worthless. Are we headed there? Haven’t a clue, as I don’t understand this much. But, money, is just paper. The government can print as much as it likes.
 
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