I was planning on an early retirement in about 2 years, but I have lost about half my 401(k). I will have to wait probably about 5 years now. Waiting for it to get back up. If Obama wins, capitalism will go by the wayside, and we will have a form of European socialism, based on his past voting record and community actions with Acorn. If McCain wins we will have 2-5 years of hard times, but will eventually pull ourselves out. Now is the time not to buy gold or silver, but to buy staples, store up dry goods, paper goods, canned goods, and rotate them. Grow a garden. Hunt and fish for meat. Pay off your credit cards and mortgages. Get out of debt. We may be in for some hyper-inflation if the government pumps a lot of money into the system to jump start it. Remember Jimmy Carter. High inflation to pay down Vietnam war debt. We really need to go back to the gold standard. Money floats today, not tied to anything but everyone elses money. It has been floating ever sense they started the Federal Reserve system. If you have your house paid for, no credit cards and a food and consumable items stockpiled, you can hold out for better times if they come. Remember Y-2-K. Same thing applies. Money is tight right now, credit is tight. No one is buying anything. Ford and GM are about to go under. Jobs will be scarce.