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Earlier this year, It got an e-mail from Bankrate. This e-mail was part of their newsletter series called Power Up. These newsletters send out articles on content you might be interested in reading. This Power Up in particular had a topic that peaked my interest, with an article titled "The Post-Election Money Divide."
Of course, I clicked the link and read the article. The portion of the article that I was interested in was short, but had some interesting information. Ever since that day, I have been planning on writing an article about the money divide in America.
Interestingly, it has taken me until after the celebration of our nation's birth to write this article. Day-in and day-out, I continue to look at all negativity surrounding our political climate. I continue to look at a President that sometimes acts like a child and a media the feeds into the hysteria.
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Everyday, I wonder when our sense of community and camaraderie will return to America? Heck, I find myself lucky to live in a country that allows me to write about my thoughts on specific topics. I find myself lucky to live in a country that allows us multiple freedoms.
We have so much to celebrate as a country, but it seems like we Americans focus on the negatives. No wonder the money divide in America is based on political parties. No wonder people don't feel secure, its because they are fed so much negativity. Just look at the chart below taken from "The Post-Election Money Divide."
In a survey that was conducted by Experian, they found that most Republicans feel confident that their personal finances will improve while Donald Trump is in office, whereas, the Democrats feel the exact opposite with less than 40% feeling like they will be successful financially.
This is the problem with putting so much stake in a political party and the presidency. Whether there is a Democrat or Republican in the White House, does not affect your finances in the grand scheme of things. Sure there may be some policies that affect taxes or healthcare costs, but on a day to day basis you control your pocketbooks.
Barack Obama did not control our pocketbook and neither does Donald Trump. We make the choices with our money that are the best for our family. We don't make choices based on our President, and we don't worry about changing our financial plan just based on who lives in the White House.
When it comes to your personal finance, stop worrying about political party affiliations. Instead, start looking at yourself in the mirror and start taking control of your money. Track your expenses, create a budget and save some money. If you follow basic principles of personal finance, then there is no reason to be stuck in a worse financial position in four years.
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Everybody (yes both Democrats and Republicans) can build wealth. Everybody can find ways to cut expenses and increase income. Everybody can (and should) find ways to save for the future. Your future wealth is not based on the man or woman in the White House. Your personal finance is based on YOU! It's based on your choices.
What choices will you start making today to put yourself in a better financial position in 4 years?
