My 401k has risen 2.3% in 2017. That’s more than the S&P, if you can believe it. There’s a tendency to credit the administration for financial market gains and for overall economic gains that have led to gains in the stock market. Maybe that’s out of respect for the policies of the President or, in this case, the deals the President-Elect. Maybe there’s no correlation, but we all try to find some way to guarantee that we’ll be fine in the future, and to say that, with Trump’s election and my 401k doing really well, he must be doing something right is a dangerous proposal.
The fact is he may have signaled that businesses will cut costs (taxes, wages, environmental, legal, etc.), but that doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. There are certain areas, and you’ll see this if you check other posts, where I’m okay with Trump, even though this makes me nauseous, but the idea that I could make money off of his policies of Made in America or essentially taxing globalization is just false. I’m happy to make the money, and whether I’d have access to it today or can’t access it until April in the year after I turn 70.5 doesn’t make a difference. I’m happy with his Taiwan call, and I’m happy with what he’s proposed against China’s disgusting actions, and I’m happy with some of his comments about needing to be stronger militarily for one reason. When someone claims to be your enemy and to want to attack you, you need to respond. There’s this precedent of responding with sanctions first, and that can be fine, but we’re past that with a very small handful of countries, and frankly, even where sanctions haven’t been exhausted, we’re past that with a couple countries, as well. Therefore, regardless of what it looks like and what the Trump legacy looks like–I don’t think Trump cares about his legacy–it’s good that Trump wants to butt heads with countries that already have plans to butt heads with us. “You might not be interested in war, but war might be interested in you” is a quote from someone I’d rather not cite, but it’s famous and something with which I objectively agree.
So, again, I’m happy to have the money that perhaps Trump’s actions have helped me earn. If I had access to that money, I would have received, after tax, two months rent, in just the first 11 days of the year. So, that’s good for me. However, there are a million reasons to hate Trump, and that’s why I’m writing this blog, one reason at a time.