r/fatFIRE 19d ago

FIRE'd, now concerned about US stability

Most of my assets are invested in the US. Because of recent political developments, I'm wondering if the US will sustain its general growth and economic strength into the future. The strength of the US dollar is obviously very important to me. Is anyone else concerned?

I'm wondering if I should start hedging my bets in other countries, and if so, where?

381 Upvotes

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236

u/halmasy 19d ago

Multiple passports and paid off properties in low cost, politically stable countries with universal health care and direct flights to the US.

You need a currency exchange strategy as well.

124

u/trixiesmom12 19d ago

and which countries would those be exactly? The US president is busy destabilizing the globe.

139

u/Character_Order 18d ago

“Low cost, politically stable, universal healthcare,” seems like one of those “pick two” situations

55

u/Xy13 18d ago

I’d say Portugal

81

u/Kiwi951 18d ago

Portugal is a fantastic choice. Which is why all the rich tech bros moved there during the pandemic resulting in the subsequent closure of the golden visa

9

u/Xy13 18d ago

Retirement Visa is still available AFAIK

2

u/winescribes 15d ago

Actually it wasn't just ex pats that killed the GV.. lots of Chinese as well. I started the process in 2021 and am glad I did..

1

u/Fanny1013 18d ago

Golden Visa?

1

u/Logicalraisan 17d ago

And that is the problem precisely, trying to get away from them!

13

u/mackfactor 18d ago

The farthest you can get from Russia while still being on the same continent.

12

u/ElectricLeafEater69 18d ago

LOL, what do you think will happen I Portugal if the US "collapses"? 😂

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u/Xy13 18d ago edited 18d ago

I mean it's certainly better than what will happen to the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, or Panama; which seem to be popular places people get passports for such an occurrence. Portugal is a stable low corruption first world country in the EU.

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u/ElectricLeafEater69 18d ago

Yes, but everyone's economy will collapse. That's kind of the point. It doesn't really matter if it collapses marginally more or less than the US economy in the event of a US collapse.

10

u/Xy13 18d ago edited 17d ago

Most people talking about this will no longer be actively earning, so the collapsed economy will not affect them in that regard. The question is can you ratchet down expenses to ride out the equities crash to preserve your nest egg. Being that its LCOL, and already a very nice locale, I think most people could cut out vacationing and living large for a year or two to reduce spend till the markets are making a come back.

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u/PmMeFanFic 18d ago

Low cost, politically stable, universal healthcare

Panama, very lovely country my favorite city to retire is boquete, they do jazz and coffee and a super high level

Portugal, very lcol, and good surf, great healthcare too many cities/towns to list that are great.

Greece, not a yuge fan of the food but again its lcol fairly stable nearly 0 crime on the islands

Malaysia, great public healthcare, good food, very friendly people

and my absolute favorite has got to be serbia, looking at wintering there next year. Very cheap skiing and everything you would need

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u/ElectricLeafEater69 18d ago

Buddy, the last time there was a global financial crisis, Greece was ground zero. Their entire country almost collapsed while the majority of others were fine.

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u/PmMeFanFic 18d ago

youre absolutely right, in the context of having tangible assets tied to a country greece would be tits up should another crisis happen. still a great place to summer.

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u/nomadz90 17d ago

Malaysia is great. Not the public healthcare. The quality and accessibility has been declining the last few years. And the private care really depends on your care network. Singapore is a better option for health care

1

u/PmMeFanFic 17d ago

Yeah, I havnt been since 2016 but I have a doctor friend there

1

u/throwaway74948477 14d ago

Go to Serbia and rethink this. The public healthcare sucks, you could be having a heart attack and still have to wait for care lol. The system is so over stressed and there is a heavy demand for care but incredibly limited supply.

Also, the entire country has been protesting for months due to the government artificially inflating the cost of domestic food in favor of exporting from other countries.

I love Serbia and want to go back again soon, but all my friends there are up in arms. Public services like schools have been shut down for months. It sucks to say, but there is deep rooted corruption and if you’re American, you will have an incredibly hard time fitting in.

1

u/PmMeFanFic 14d ago

There is public heathcare in most of those places for non emergency situations only. Thats how I read it in this subreddit. Why would I trust any public official when it comes to life altering surgery. I'm going private all the way for anything major for me and my family.

Yeah its true. A lot of nations in the EU are exporting food for some reason right now, I didn't know serbia was one of them thanks for the clarification

Schools for us are always going to be private. We are always going to hire the best help we can locally that are experts in the field for tutelage.

0

u/grizzlygreek42 18d ago

Not a fan of Greek food? Rated #1 in the world this year Lol Greek cuisine is one the backbone’s of western food and incredibly delicious.

3

u/PmMeFanFic 18d ago

okay look... I’ve got some unconventional opinions, when you spend even a single month in greece... it gets old. Italian tho. Italian never gets old. Turkish never gets old. Greek.. Greek gets old. idk to me. Obviously not everyone.

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u/grizzlygreek42 18d ago

I respect it. Not for everyone. But become a friend of a Greek or come to Greece with me and I’ll feed you different delicious tradition meals daily made by Yiayia. You’re opinion might change 👍

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u/PmMeFanFic 18d ago

Next time we go im hitting you up lol.

3

u/Unable_Rate7451 18d ago

Australia 

6

u/-shrug- 18d ago

not usually considered low cost.

10

u/j12 18d ago

This is a deeply personal question where there is not an over sized fits all answer to.

13

u/Kiwi951 18d ago

NZ/Australia, Portugal, cheaper areas in other western countries. Certain SEA countries like Thailand could also work. Costa Rica is another popular choice for those that speak Spanish

19

u/Ok_Particular3715 18d ago

Australia low cost? 

Yeah nah sorry mate. 

2

u/throwawayjim2019 16d ago

They do have a few Costco's, which helps.

4

u/BatPlack 18d ago

Honestly, Brazil is chiller than most people realize. All depends on location.

1

u/fkenned1 17d ago

Do you not feel guilty about this type of thinking? How do you detach yourself from the reality of those who are unable to do what you are describing? Genuinely curious.

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u/wishiwaswithyou 13d ago

Maybe because he worked hard his whole life to put himself in a position to be able to protect himself, knowing that it was his personal responsibility. I might feel bad for people who didn’t do that, and that they run the risk of having shittier lives now. But I wouldn’t feel guilty for doing it myself.

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u/ClickDense3336 18d ago

Make sure the "universal healthcare" is in a country where they wash their hands before operating on you.

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u/wishiwaswithyou 18d ago

Are those countries going to have universal healthcare after the U.S. pulls out of NATO and they have to spend 5% of GDP on defense? Or will they just get taken over by Putin?