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The U.S. national debt recently crossed $34 trillion. The annual deficit, i.e. the amount of government spending each year above and beyond the

revenue that's coming in has been between $500 billion and $3 trillion each year over the last

20 years. The last time that we had a surplus, the last time that incoming revenue exceeded

our spending was in 2001.

Currently, the four largest federal expenses are Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, defense spending, and interest paid on the debt,

adding up to nearly $5 trillion of expenses each year.

With 2024 being an election year, it's safe to say that this topic will remain

firmly in the headlines for months to come. And not so surprisingly, the public's concerns

about federal spending is rising, with 57% of Americans sharing that this is their top priority

for the president and Congress to address this year. As many have pointed out,

paying off this debt is nearly impossible to do without causing some serious pain. We would

either have to cut spending in some very important areas, increase taxes, or some combination

of the two. This debacle has led many to label this situation as catastrophic, as a building that we're stuck in that will need to collapse on us before we can leave.

But is it really as bad as some make it out to be?

Is $34 trillion of debt truly an issue?

Should we really be focused on paying down or paying off this debt?

To help provide us some answers and give us an educated,

objective perspective on this important and widely debated topic, I turn to my good friend

and monetary economic expert, Colin Roche. Colin is the chief investment officer of discipline

funds and has researched and written about this topic at length. As a starting point for our

conversation, I wanted to hear from him what he thinks about the current state of our national

...