We are a financial services firm and are not trying to tell you how to vote, but we are encouraging you to vote. If you are interested enough in your financial future to read any of our articles, you should be a voter since voting directly impacts how money is spent. Voting is not just an approval of people but also a say in how our tax dollars are spent.
So if you still need to vote today, go do that right now. You even get a cute sticker.
It is important to vote not only at the national-level races that receive the greatest attention, but also at the local level. Local-level elections directly affect your daily lives. Is your town spending to repair the potholes or choosing to renovate the police station? If you have an opinion about which one of these tasks is more essential, you should probably vote accordingly in your local election!
And what we mentioned in the federal budget article holds true for local elections in this respect: Be wary of someone who promises to make everything better but will not tell you how they plan to fund it. Local elections see some of the most competent politicians who care about the future of their towns and cities while other local candidates are there to win a popularity contest before stepping to a greater role. Investigate your options, and choose wisely.
“Choose wisely” does not mean picking a local candidate based only on vibes, your friend’s input, or whether they are nice when you see them at the local pub. Check out their website and see if they put thought into it. If they cannot take the time to outline a policy objective on their website, they will not put in the time to bring it into effect in the real world. If they do not even have a website, they probably do not have the planning ability required to make the changes you want to see, even if your views align.
While quick competency checks will allow you to quickly eliminate some local candidates, state-level candidates will usually have more campaign infrastructure and personnel. At the state and federal levels, start looking at who can better explain how they will achieve their goals. Do not fall into a trap of glamorizing ideas without substance to back them.
If you are unconvinced that your vote matters at the state or federal level, it does, and you should vote. Unconcerned about federal issues? I doubt that. Candidates have discussed raising the normal retirement age, changing 401(k) and IRA structures, making healthcare both more and less accessible for those without traditional employment, and more. Some politicians have also vowed to make workers return to the office, without considering that many talented folks will quit rather than sit under fluorescent lighting for eight consecutive hours.
To be clear, on the issues I just listed, my views do not fall exclusively on one side of the aisle as far as political parties are concerned. I just know which I prioritize more when voting for certain positions and vote accordingly. The viewpoints that compel me to vote for a city councilmember are not the same as the ones I need to see in a president. Political leaders manage different topics at different levels of government. Your senator could change whether you must go to a physical office or can no longer use a Backdoor Roth, but both your first selectman and the president have little say over those issues. Vote accordingly.
In that same vein, I never vote for the president based on economic or financial issues even though more Americans vote for the president based on those than any other issue. Most economic issues are directly dealt with by Congress rather than the president. On a daily basis the president deals primarily with national security issues and international crises and developments—not whether you should be in a physical office, use a Backdoor Roth, or even enjoy lower grocery prices. At most, the president may pick one economic issue of interest, but even that will not command the bulk of their attention.
While financial policy and economics is so important when considering members of Congress or senators, vote on the president based on your worldview. If you are completely financially focused and need a financial frame about how to vote for the president, here it is: What world scenario will provide the context to allow the economy at large to thrive, and who will create this world?
Most importantly, vote. Secondly, vote for a real candidate. Writing in a name or delivering a protest vote is equivalent to tossing your vote in the trash. When I studied abroad in Egypt in 2012, the country was experiencing its first democratic elections after three decades of authoritarian rule under Hosni Mubarak. My Arabic media professor was not enthusiastic about Muhammad Morsi or Ahmed Shafiq, the two major party candidates. But he was enthusiastic about getting to vote in an election. In his words, “One is really, really bad and one is really, really, really bad, so I am voting for the one that is really, really bad.”
My Arabic media professor, voting in his first free democratic presidential election, understood the democratic process much better than most Americans who take it for granted. He understood the importance of his vote. I hope you do, too.
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