Polishing the Paint

Hello!

I have a year old (17 GT), and was wondering if would hurt to get the paint polished if I only have a few very light swirls? I also want to have it clayed and then a sealant applied.

won't hurt the paint as long as it's done correctly.
are you planning on doing it yourself or having someone do it?

You can clay it yourself, it's quite easy to do actually, just don't drop the clay bar because if you do it's unusable at that point. (I always keep spares)
You can probably cover up the slight swirls with a good polish or wax. I've always beena big fan of Zaino's products and they even have a sealer that is quite good. (though admittedly I haven't used it in quite some time)

Polishing the paint isn't going to hurt anything unless you do it wrong or use the wrong products/pad/machine combo. If you're new to machine polishing I would stay away from a rotary polisher as they are very easy to burn thru the paint with and have a tendency to leave holograms in the paint. If you are on a budget the Harbor Freight 6" Dual action Polisher is actually a pretty decent machine and be had for cheap with a 20% off coupon. I would recommend changing to a 5" backing plate though as it's a bit under powdered for the 6" pads. A very easy to use setup would be Lake country or meguiars microfiber polishing pads and 3D HD speed one step polish for minor swirls. It's practically dust free and can be used in direct sun and still comes off very easy. If you plan on coating the car, then Carpro essence is another great polish that will also act as a primer for the coating to be applied.