The midterm US elections are mostly over. (We hope you voted!) The Democrats won the House of Representatives and the Republicans retained the Senate.

We are now entering the era of a divided government. This should be no biggie for the US of A. We’ve been through this 61% of the time since 1948. In the case of the performance of the US Markets (as defined by the S&P 500) annual returns during a divided government have been positive. The same is the case for the economic growth of the USA. (as defined by Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP))

Take a look at the graph (click it to enlarge) titled “Government control, the economy and the stock market” (provided by JP Morgan) for the details.

In the end, all should be good. Volatility is our ongoing companion. The key is to build a financial plan to achieve your goals, execute your plan and build a long term investment portfolio to weather the ups and downs of life.