They want to destroy the American economy...

It’s the only plausible explanation for 20% tariffs and mass deportions. This guys “economic” fixes would be akin to curing cancer with a shotgun blast to the face. I can’t even guess the inflation rate if all that is implemented (tariff, deportation, debt default).

Yet we know some zombie voters are basing it on economic reasoning. But muh Big Mac meal costs $10 DoLlArS!

 

Yes, reducing government spending will in fact, cause some short term discomfort.

And it's necessary.

And it will yield long term dividends in the form of prosperity.

Pray tell, what's supposed to be shocking here?

(The only part that's remotely note worthy, is the idea that anyone in DC will actually do something resembling reducing spending...but the last thing any of *US* needs to do, is shoot down such a balloon when anyone floats such).

 

Is anyone planning on making changes to their financial portfolios based on the outcome of the election? Honest question.

 

For me, the shocking part is that anyone believes the Republicans will actually do it this time. How many times do they have to pull away the football before people stop believing them?

 

I went ahead and put this question in the TH investment thread. I am very curious to see what others are thinking.

 

No. It’s a permanent change.

Building back after a natural disaster or pandemic there is a “bounce” because the economy returns to its natural state.

Doing something, like (for example) pulling the rug on healthcare for 10’s of millions or firing a couple million govt workers is a permanent shift. It creates a permanent change in their financial status, and along with it permanent demand destruction for those segments of the economy.

That’s before we get into their gems like 100% tariffs or defaulting on debt. That would fuck up everyone in the country (magnitudes worse than 2008 financial crisis). About the only ones this strategy could possibly make sense to are the oligarch industrialists class looking to pick up the scraps and “tech bros” overly leveraged to crypto against the dollar, as well as foreign adversaries who would of course welcome the economic and political degradation of the U.S.

 

Thanks for having the patience to explain this to the numb nuts. Trump and Musk are Putin’s useful idiots.

 

Yeah. That's pretty much what I said.

I think we were supposed to be shocked at the underlying economic principal suggested.

 

I am certainly interested in seeing others' answers. My wife & I make Bogleheads look like riverboat gamblers. We max out tax deferred accts & that $ goes into index funds. Other $ goes into the S&P 500 index. We do have ind stocks from a good while back. We buy & never sell, rebalance, etc. Having said that, we sold 3 stocks in 2008 to buy a ski condo making sure it was a cap gains wash. Only time we ever sold. We have never paid a penny of cap gains.

Given our age, our safe inv are that we outright own 3 properties & do have a decent chunk in guaranteed accts currently yielding 5.5%.

It would break a 25 year trend to "rebalance" or whatevs over an election.

& my wife has taught finance for 25 years & is an expert on options trading, currency trading & investing in general & spends prob less than 15 mins a year on "investing" - she knows better. In addition to being a finance prof, she does a lot of work for TIAA in behavioral finance on precisely this topic.

 

It's not a question I would normally ask but this isn't a normal election. And I'm nearing retirement. Been really enjoying this bull run. 401k is up 54% in the last year. It might be time for me to move to more conservative investments anyway, but I'm curious to hear what others are thinking in this time of extreme uncertainty.