Voting is Not Only Your Democratic Right It Can Save You Loads of Cash

elections

Do you vote in presidential elections?

Or if you are not in the US, do you vote in general elections?

I do. I have voted in the UK since 1997 when I had the right to vote for the first time. I vote without fail: I vote in general election, in local election and in by-elections. I never miss.

Because, voting is my democratic right.

According to statistics, I may be one of a dying breed. Did you know that in the UK, 84% of the people eligible to vote voted in the 1950 elections? Well, it is true. And less than 60% voted in the 2001 elections.

While this downward turn is not present in US presidential elections, the proportion of the people eligible to vote who vote is still low at around 50%.

There is also some evidence that young people are particularly hesitant to vote; they also have their ideologist in the actor and comedian Russel Brand.

I never understood people who don’t vote.

Yes, it is your democratic right and for some, women for instance, this right was won through decades of struggle.

In the US, for example, women could vote for the first time in 1920. Women in Portugal could not vote till 1968. And the women of Oman achieved this right in 2003.

This hard won right through which you delegate the power to make choices to representatives should not be easily discarded.

Now that I mentioned ‘choices’, most of these will have effect on your wealth, your health and your security.

Most of personal finance is about ‘the personal’. It tells you to spend less, save more and invest. What we don’t discuss that much is that how your money is doing is not entirely up to you.

Not convinced?

Whether you have work depend on the general economy and it gets messed up when there is political instability and policies impeding growth.

How much you can save depends on your take home pay. This depends on how much your wage is and how much tax you pay.

How much you spend depends on house prices (rent costs) and health care; this influenced by policy.

You have built a nice little stocks and shares portfolio? Or have a stocks and shares pension? How these perform depends on perceptions of stability and promising conditions; these are a political matter.

Hope you are convinced. And I hope that next time there are elections you will vote; and vote for the candidate that really offers you the best ‘value for money’ (pun completely intended).

There are no hard and fast recipes for that; just make sure that you read carefully the policies of the candidates and not fall for simple claims.

The infographic below offers an example of how this works.

And don’t believe that a simple promise of tax reduction is the best one can do; look at what you taxes are spent.

Scroll down to see who offers the best deal for you.

 

Americans Love Saving

photo credit: New York – Verkiezingen via photopin (license)

Leave a Comment...

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.