Why you need to stay on top of geopolitics and macroeconomics

We will be adding to this category in time. We think a big part of financial independence is staying on top of global geopolitics, macroeconomics and regional developments. Even if you believe in low-cost passive “asset-class” investing and strategic asset allocation (as many on this site do), we all know how unexpected global developments can impact our best-laid plans for Financial Independence. Look at the plunging price of oil (and gold) at the same time as ISIS has emerged as a global threat — and one that leverages social media to boot.

Now it’s true that some advisers may counsel you to ignore all the noise, and that’s fine. Or perhaps your adviser is a full-service professional who considers it his or her job to worry about all these things on your behalf. Also perfectly fine.

But for do-it-yourself investors or those who use a fee-for-service adviser to validate some of our investing decisions, it helps to stay abreast of world developments, which is why I personally subscribe to publications like The Economist.

We can’t always get the latest trends up on this site in time, which is why we run my personal Twitter feed on the top right of the home page. We try to stay on top of the world’s major newspapers as well as many more experts that can be found at my FindependenceDay Twitter feed.

For geopolitics and macroeconomics specifically, check out my Economics & Politics Twitter feed, which contains 500+ experts focused on global macroeconomics, politics etc. — JC

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