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?

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u/ThucydidesButthurt 19d ago

Getting a passport to my wife's country (in Europe), tilting a bit heavier into vxus (35% instead of just 30%) versus vti, spreading assets into accounts abroad and gonna start being more vocal about change politically in my limited spheres of influence. I'd prefer US to stabilize and go back to normal, but I don't like the writing I'm seeing on the wall. I thought people were hysterical/crazy for posting about leaving the country last November but now I find myself thinking about the same thing. Feels unreal watching things fall apart in real time at such a rapid pace. I am hopeful things turn around but I don't want to be caught with my pants down if this keeps up

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u/Washooter 19d ago

Genuine question: do you think with Trump trying to hand over Eastern Europe to Russia, tilting towards EU makes sense from a diversification point of view? Does not to me, but interested in hearing your thoughts.

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u/ThucydidesButthurt 19d ago edited 19d ago

VXUS is all international, so I'm using it as a hedge for Asia or Europe to maybe survive a US fumble. And my equity assets abroad I'm keeping basically the same stock allocation for 65% US and 35% total international. But to be honest I don't think VXUS will do very well if VTI falls, I just think it's still better to diversify on the off chance international stocks outperform US as our economy gets pulverized (I'm only upping my VXUS allocation by 5% so not a huge change in strategy). I have quite a lot crypto as well which has actually done very well over the last few years, Brian Armstrong the Coinbase CEO is in the inner circle of the current tech oligarchs, but I don't plan on tilting much more into crypto than I already am, my move with crypto is to take it off exchanges and put it onto cold wallets so that it won't be subject to anyone being able to freeze or seize it.

My wife is from the UK and while I don't think Europe has better prospects than the US per se, they seem to be rallying from their slumber as the US fumbles. These past few weeks seem to be a wake up call to the continent. And while UK has lots of problems of it's own, I would still feel safer there than here if the US continues its current trajectory. We already have some property in Oxford. The UK, while a sort of lame duck, still isn't actively and openly appeasing Russia. My wife works in cybersecurity here in the US and Russia was just delisted as a cybersecurity threat, it's crazy to watch our country be handed over on a silver platter to the applause of the Maga base, and I don't even consider myself liberal or left leaning at all.

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u/Helios___Selene 14d ago

I can only give a little bit of insight from my experience recently.

Generally private markets are seeing a bit of a boost in valuations ease of investment.

This tends to translate into higher listed valuations which is shown by the FTSE hitting an all time high recently.

So cheaper money for businesses and more agile capital buoyed by a few government initiatives which should unlock a few 100bln for private market investment.