My Advice For President-Elect Obama

This article is part of a group writing project at The Finance Blog Network which is focusing on Advice For President-Elect Obama.

As I have mentioned here in the past, I don’t typically like to discuss politics and religion on PFI. However, I am making an exception with this post. As an associate member of the The Finance Blog Network, we have a writing project offering our advice for President-Elect Obama. The article is broken down into 6 categories below.

Economy
What can I say? President-Elect Obama is already buried deep in a whole that will be tough to get out of. He will be inheriting a mess of an economy when he takes office early next year. I actually have a lot of confidence in him that he will break party lines and do what is right for the economy. The key to me with the economy is simple – jobs. Every day when I turn on the television I see company XYZ is cutting 1,000 jobs or company ABC has laid-off 5,000 people. The recession is here and people are losing jobs. If people lose their jobs, they are not spending money. If they are not spending money, restaurants and retailers are not making money. It is a major trickle down effect that has become a global problem. I would simply tell Mr. Obama to focus on job creation.

Energy
I have 3 words for President-Elect Obama – wind, solar, nuclear. I know that this was debated back and forth between the two candidates and the topic of offshore drilling came up many times. It has been nice to see oil at least come down as a side effect of the global recession, but it is only a matter of time before we are back at $4 / gallon gas. At some point in time, there will be no more oil on this planet. I think we as a country need to learn from the skyrocketing prices this past summer and plan for the future. My biggest fear is that we don’t act because we are comfortable again with gas prices.

One area that I am really interested in is making my residence a green home. I actually saw an interesting show on The Weather Channel about a family who had a 3 year plan of becoming energy independent in their home. They are on track and have started with putting solar panels on their home. I think we need to have more incentives to have families and businesses do as much as they can to become energy independent. I know I am interested, but just can’t afford the costs right now.

Education
I am not going to get into the whole debate about vouchers and charter schools. What I will say is that our education system needs an entire overhaul and we need to spend more money on our schools. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are both public school teachers. I also have several other aunts, uncles, and friends who are teachers. All I can say is that when I hear them tell me stories how the schools have no money to pay for text books, paper, school supplies, and even toilet paper – we have a major problem! My mother-in-law actually has to take toilet paper into her classroom every week, which comes directly out of her pocket. Why would anyone want to become a teacher? I don’t have the answers, but I think we really need to quickly start to rebuild our public school system before it is too late.

Health Care
Health Care is a growing concern of mine as it is for most Americans. Just last evening, I elected my benefits for 2009 and came away with a sick feeling in my stomach. While the coverage’s stayed the same in my employees health and welfare plan, the premiums and co-pays are going up. Every year it seems like I am spending more and more out of pocket for my health insurance and in return am seeing less and less service. Raising two young children (one with asthma and allergies), we have made numerous trips to the ER and doctor’s offices this past year. My oldest son had to be hospitalized earlier in the year, which cost us $1,500 (and we have good insurance). I can’t imagine what families with no health insurance must be facing?

I think the health care and insurance companies are out of control, as well as the drug companies.

Small Business
Small Business is the backbone of our nation. The current recession is only going to get worse which will directly impact small businesses. I believe that President-Elect Obama needs to focus on incentives for individuals opening small business and try to keep as many of the good ones running while we are seeing this economic crisis.

I believe that small business is what America is all about. I have longed to start my own business but would be extremely cautious given the current economic climate. I think our government needs to offer incentives for these types of institutions to thrive.

Retirement/Social Security
Retirement has been a focus of mine for a long time. When going through my undergrad and masters programs, many of my professors drilled it into our heads that social security would not be around for my generation. Since that time, I have tried to plan for my retirement as if I will have no help from anyone else. Unfortunately, I see so many of my co-workers and friends my age that could care less about their retirement. I think fixing social security is a monumental task that may be unachievable. Instead, I would suggest that we educate our society on why it is important to plan for your retirement and offer alternatives for retirement planning.

I would also like to add that I am extremely concerned about Medicaid and Medicare in the long-term. I worry that I will be forced to work well into my retirement years in order to afford healthcare while having enough money to support my wife and I. This is why I believe it is so important to take control and manage your own finances. I am continuously working to build as many passive income streams as I can to help my family into the future.

Final Thoughts
I will say that this article was difficult for me to write. I really don’t have answers to what President-Elect Obama should do in these categories. If I did, I would probably not be writing for my blog. I do think that there are key areas for each of the topics laid out that Mr. Obama should focus on. I hope that I have articulated my points across to my audience and look forward to reading the other articles and suggestions of The Finance Blog Network. If you get the chance, go over to the network site and check out the other great articles!

Tagged as: Economy, education, energy, healthcare, small business, social security