Assuming the fit hits the shan and things get real ugly in the US, what happens with all the electronically managed money. Like say I make a break for Canada and get there. Can I still access my funds? Can the government freeze everyone’s assets to prevent those who make it out from getting at their money?
I have retirement stuff in vanguard and fidelity mostly. I would assume they are international companies, and thus might not have to abide by a US freeze order. But then again, it might be in their interest to keep the money frozen so they technically still have it.
And what are other people doing to be prepared for the possibility that things get civil war like in the US. Are their places you can put your money that are safe from US hands? And what are the tax implementations of moving money to them?
Edit: I realize from the comments that it might look like this is my reaction to the falling market. It isn’t about that. I don’t react to market conditions in general… This is more about my family being in the administrations top 5 groups they hate. And if we feel the need to flee, is there anything I can do to ensure access to some money while having a minimal impact on my financials if it never comes to that.
Ugh, ok, almost every assumption you made was not correct.
Vanguard and fidelity will absolutely comply with any banking freeze, and if they didnt, theyd be sanctioned into the dirt. Thats what makes US sanctions so effective, is 97% of world financial transactions route through our servers. That gets shut off.
If you have faith in the FDIC then youre protected for $250k in government insurance, but inflation eats that quick.
In a scenario where things are so bad that the US has halted all financial electronic transactions than your electronic dollars don’t mean anything no matter where you are, amd your paper dollars mean almost nothing either.
This is honestly the biggest takeaway. If the US actually stops cooperating with foreign banks, the dollar will instantly become worthless; The dollar only holds international worth because other countries want to have and hold dollars. If those other countries are unable to do so, there is no incentive for them to accept dollars as valid currency.
My thought are that the US is alienating more and more countries everyday. And maybe other countries may become less willing to aid US persecution of it’s own people, and less afraid of US sanctions if the US is already making trading with the US pointless. So my thinking was maybe international investment companies might have some amount of insulation. But I don’t really know a lot about how the money works behind the scenes.
So my only option is to peddle my flesh for trade?