Government Shutdown Starts Affecting You

As the partial government shutdown goes into record length of time, it will start to have a ripple effect on the economy, which always finds it's way to you and me.

At first, it was some 800,000 federal workers that would have to go without a paycheck. If the shutdown lasted only a short period, such as one single paycheck, the problem would be pretty much confined to those government workers and their families.

That problem alone would be bad enough. But now. with it lasting three weeks and no end in sight, the situation will begin to snowball into the economy.

At this point you can expect to see Wall Street get rattled. When you take that many paychecks out of the economy, business will be greatly affected. Company profits will spiral downward.

That in turn will affect earnings and stock prices will fall. That hits your investments and you will very well see your retirement account balance decrease.

Also, prolonged government shutdowns jeopardize food stamps and other benefits that may harm low income consumers. And what if income tax refunds are delayed?

Here's to hoping differences can be worked out the sooner the better.