With the “fiscal cliff” right around the corner and with the U.S. government brushing up against the debt ceiling again, the U.S. government’s finances will be a focal point for the next few months. However, it would be naïve of any individual to believe that this discussion will disappear. As politicians continue to “worship the great god of reelection,” it has become increasingly frequent that decisions on taxes and spending continue to be pushed off.

As the end of the year nears, investors remain jittery over the “fiscal cliff.” This is the $607 billion expiration of a combination of tax cuts and the beginning of a large amount of automatic spending cuts that is set to occur on January 1 unless Congress and the White House reach an agreement. Many analysts point to nervousness over the fiscal cliff as the reason why the stock market dropped last week by the most in one week since June.