Let your wallet be a guide

ASthe Dow Jones index will tell you, your vote counts at the ballot box. Since the presidential election in 2016, the blue-chip index is up 44.3 percent.

Where some may say using the stock market as a barometer is narrow in scope, and others that it seems out of touch, I’ll argue all day every day that the level of the market affects a lot of things in our lives.

Stock prices are a gauge of overall economic strength for the long and intermediate term. In the short run, emotion often dictates price swings.

If you’re in the market for the short run, you probably shouldn’t be in the market anyway, because you give away the key advantage of compounded growth and the market’s innate ability to smooth out and digest events and ultimately reflect the fundamentals.

The Dow’s 44.3 percent rise over nearly two years validates President Trump’s economic strategy of lower taxes and fewer and smarter regulations, all while interest rates are rising.

So when it’s time to cast your vote in November, consider trying something I like to do. Vote based on policies that you feel are best for economic growth. Period. Republican or Democrat, I personally couldn’t care less — it’s all about growth for me.

Strong, sustainable gross domestic product drives employment gains, wages and corporate profits, which all filter their way into determining the value of stocks.

With the Dow Jones in the midst of a strong bull market, it’s clear the Republicans — for now — have the economic formula for a Dow 30K. And that’s a realistic expectation 12 months out from the midterms if the Republicans carry the House and Senate.

If the Democrats win, and they choose to enact what their leaders are campaigning on, 12 months out may look more like Dow 20K.

That’s a big difference in how we live our lives and the value of our nest eggs, no matter how large or small.

It’s essentially a decision to go forward or backward with your own family’s balance sheet.