Griffin Financial Advisors, LLC

As we watch athletes compete at the Olympic games, we are seeing only a fraction of their effort.   Years and maybe most of their lives were spent preparing for their event.   Hours turn into days, and days turn into years, practicing, training, and perfecting their skill for only minutes in competition.   In most cases, one chance to compete and hopefully triumph. Therefore, it is truly disastrous when a mistake occurs.   Where the margin of victory is measured in hundredths or thousandths of a second, the smallest mistake is substantially magnified.   It requires dedication and strength to overcome setbacks.   Making victory, despite a fault, even more rewarding.   There are many parallels between training for the Olympics and preparing for retirement.   While retirement is not measured in minutes, it does require substantial preparation for success to be achieved.   Starting to invest month to month becomes compounded growth year over year.   Like most athletic experiences,

Congress has never met a spending bill it has not liked, correction loved!   Below are highlights from the recent budget bill passed by Congress. It was hailed as being bipartisan and was clearly approved by both Republicans and Democrats. This aggressive spending and resultant explosion of debt, is one of the contributing factors for the rise in interest rates. The Federal Reserve may be more aggressive in raising rates to tamp down inflation. This uncertainty over rates has been a contributing factor to the increase in market volatility. If rates rise, we will all suffer by having to pay more for mortgages, auto loans, and college funding, etc.     Of course, we will have to pay higher taxes for the Federal deficit.   Here are some of the details: •        Spending caps are raised by about $300 billion over two years. •        Nondefense spending would increase by $63 billion in this fiscal year, which ends in September. Next year it would increase by $68 billion.   Military