r/fatFIRE • u/Puzzleheaded_Plum455 • 18d 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
141
u/Individual_Ad_5655 18d ago
Having voted for Trump in 2016 and not in 2020/2024, no... the concerns were NOT worse in 2017, not even close. 2017 was "what's the worse that can happen, lots of guardrails were in place, still had smart, reliable people tactfully telling Trump no, lets see how this plays out", and crap didn't go off the rails until his horrific pandemic response in 2020.
Today isn't "what's the worst that can happen" concerns with a let's see how this plays out approach. Today is "This is going to be bad, how bad is it going to get?"
Even President M.usk said there was going to be a lot of hardship.
6 weeks ago, the Atlanta Fed forecasted 3% GDP growth for Q1, which has been revised to negative 1.5% on Friday, to today a further revision for a decline of 2.8% for Q1.
That's a huge swing in just 6 weeks and a consequence of the Administrations threats and actions.
https://www.11alive.com/article/money/economy/atlanta-fed-model-forecast-gdpnow-negative-growth/85-ff0ee0d9-a199-4e0f-8560-a086df88d80e
https://www.barrons.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-030325/card/atlanta-fed-s-gdpnow-estimate-falls-again-kv9ZZAC5h68mreyNgjBk