full image - Repost: Am I trusting US too much? (Long term FIRE plans) (from Reddit.com, Am I trusting US too much? (Long term FIRE plans))
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I'm especially looking for input from non-western passport holders who were/are expats in US or western countries.I'm not a US citizen or resident but I benefit from using US companies in various ways and this is key for my FIRE plans. I'm just wondering how long-term this can be? Is it a mistake to rely on US this much? I don't know if this is too good to be true and if I should expect some problemsI'm able to retire thanks to US stock market and brokers like Charles Schwab. There are obviously other stock markets but best performing one for the longest time is in US. US has the best military protecting its economy and independence. They have two oceans protecting its borders. They're willing to kill children on the other side of the world with sanctions or bombs to eliminate potential threats against USI'm able to have a good experience staying in countries where I don't know anyone and don't speak the language. Using US companies, I can arrange great accommodation, food, transportation and can meet people. It would be a hassle (dealing with bookings, different food, climates, mattresses..) but I can live as a perpetual tourist without being have to live in a geographical location. Not sure if I'm doing a good thing but I'm a minimalist as well, so its easy to move quickly.Even if all my physical possessions are lost or stolen, I'm able to access my money without relying on any personal connection thanks to internet, my banks and Visa/MC network. It takes a few days for cards to arrive internationally.I can access internet thanks to companies like ICANN. Internet lets me earn money (remotely working, controlling my stocks, business etc), spend money (Visa/MC, wire, ACH, etc), move from A to B (flights, uber, local public transportation cards), find a place to stay, food etcI can remotely own and operate a US business. I can have a US phone number, address, mail forwarder and scanner, etc all without being a US tax resident and not owing US taxes on capital gains or business income. Same thing with dozens of other countries, though US is one of the easiest.I can access fairly accurate information about tons of things. Investing, laws, marketing, psychology, taxes, business, health. In my native language, it's difficult to find good information. People culturally share much less information compared to English speakers. Bullshit gets a lot more traction here.I can isolate myself from local problems related to economy and politicians (except utility of my TR passport). 1. They're making the country not a good place to live? I can always leave. 2. They're taking a haircut from deposits or there's real estate crisis? I don't keep assets here. 3. Inflation? It's usually lowering my cost of living. 4. Local companies looking for employees to exploit? I don't need to work for them 5. Government making life hell for business owners? I don't need to incorporate here. 6. High taxes? That's only for employees and people who are stuck in the local system. Government is happy to tax you only a few percent if you bring your money back to their jurisdiction. This is one of the benefits of living in a corrupt country. Government is the biggest criminal, tax evader, money launderer. Not that other governments are significantly different in the big picture. Government is a corporation that has monopoly on violenceThis is related to previous point but not related to using US companies. By not living in the US or alike, I benefit from more personal freedom and less risk of getting cancelled by the latest trend followers. Specifically here, society is made up of people who mostly care about their families. I think family oriented culture creates a more liveable society. For example, people don't loot stores here. Different ethnicities don't randomly attack each other. You don't see druggies or people pissing on street. You have to make effort to find homeless people. Government doesn't try to be the man in your marriage or the father of your kids. There are certainly problems but they seem more manageable to me (and easier to isolate myself from) compared to the ones in the US and alike. Maybe this is about liking where you were raised and I'm rationalizing?RisksAny significant attack on US will effect me directly. But US gives the rest of the world easy access to its market and this makes the rest of the world invested in existence of US. US is also kind of shaping societies everywhere where there's smartphone. So probability of US getting attacked is getting lower probably. Though who knows?If productivity of US companies gets worse significantly as a result of anti-merit identity politics, new micro cults and such, we'll get worse returns. But most influential companies allowed these potential problems to exist, right? They must know what they're doingStock market seems like the biggest Ponzi scheme. People running this show might eventually decide that it's profitable for them to kill passive investing, assuming it can ever get profitable(?) "Time in the market beats timing the market" crowd are patient enough to wait for decades and they're like wallstreetbets boomers edition. It just makes sense that this music stops at some point. Michael Burry says so. I'm talking about 1930s or Nikkei... I mean US is shitting money. How can this be sustainable?Best time to pop the bubble mentioned in the previous point is when people are most scared to protest and when they hold the least power. That would be when US is led by a dictator or when there's a real war. I don't know enough about US laws to know if US can ever be led by a dictator. Can it? US seems like one of the least dictatorship friendly countries in terms of culture. Tons of people own guns and people aren't used to misery and abuse coming from dictators and wars so they're not desensitizedSanctions. I looked into what happened to 140,000,000+ people who made the mistake of being born in the wrong country. They can't benefit from the things I'm benefiting except accessing internet. They probably can access internet only because accessing internet doesn't require a passport, for now. After RU stops being a significant threat, maybe NATO will practically dissolve, since that's why it exists. Consequently TR becomes the next active enemy of the west. This was the trend for the past 500+ years except last century. Shouldn't a mean reversion occur?Related to last point, there's no alternative to US. For example, Visa/Mastercard are US companies. An alternative UnionPay, which is made by China, doesn't go against US rules. So UnionPay works like a US company outside of China. Switzerland, Singapore etc all follow US rules. So they are useless. As a solution to the potential problem, I could live in a perma US ally country for 5-8 years to get a new citizenship but I don't want to live long term in a new place to protect myself from a potential risk in the future. Is this a mistake or a good decision? You want to be 5 years too early than a day too late about this stuff.. Not sure if second residency is actually useful but that's much easier to getClosed economy financial system. If you want to own X stocks, you need residence permit of X. Similar rules for business ownership, bank account, transactions to/from X. Can this ever make sense for the US, or for companies who's leading the US? I think not. Anyone who can provide good enough value to US economy can own a US company remotely. That must be the idea. This is probably also valid for banking, transactions and stocks, right? Though for banking, EU countries require residence permit, I think. Why is that? Can US be pressuring them to have a closer financial system? US does not want americans to keep money in Europe, but wants europeans to keep money in the US.
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