From my viewpoint, Trump is and will be causing social hardship much more than economic hardship.

I could possibly see a benefit in preparing for a harder times socially. Further division among neighbors might be the main casualty of this administration. Social cohesion is already struggling from his first four years.

Economically, I have no confidence in Trump’s actions overall, but I am very confident that his massive ego determines his actions, and that ego is largely held up by the performance of the stock market. He will be very careful not to take any action that will rattle the markets too much. Whenever he see a negative reaction in the markets, he pulls back, claims a moral victory and moves on to the next thing.

Generally speaking, wealth is not built by working. It’s built by investing. It’s possible to have a relatively small salary and get relatively wealthy if you consistently live below your means and invest the surplus. Power of compounding.

But, assuming that this is in the US, one of the major parties relies on keeping people uneducated, so they don’t want people to pursue higher education. And certainly do not support cancelling student debt.

My thought is that you should find a different class with a different teacher.

I guess you just live in a very different world than me. I would never let my parents dictate my life like that. They either accept me for who I am or they don’t get to be part of my life. I would also never try to dictate life for my own kids like that when they are adult human beings.

I’m not sure why you let your parents be the deciding factor in whether you have kids or not? It’s not up to them.

Yes, definitely give everyone treats. Not everyone has the opportunity to dress up for various reasons.

Do everything you can to learn the language quickly. Take any language class offer you get. It will make life much easier in a new country, especially if you’re looking to make friends. Immerse yourself in the culture immediately.

Remember that Europeans, especially Scandinavians, are not as openly friendly as Americans. They can seem cold and distant at first. It’s not because they are not friendly, it’s just a cultural feature. Once you get to know them, most open up and they are awesome.

On financials, keep all your bank accounts and credit cards open in the US and use a US address for them (and get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees). Don’t advertise to the US banks that you moved overseas. Just use a family member’s or friend’s address. Also note that European banks don’t have rewards credit cards, so I only use US rewards cards with no foreign transaction fees when living overseas. They’ll send you replacement cards overseas if you ask them to, even when your account address is in the US.

If you don’t already have retirement IRA accounts set up (not just 401k), do it before you leave the US. Also, open a brokerage account (e.g. Schwab or Fidelity) with a US address before you leave and don’t change the address to your overseas address, ever. Leave as is. It can be very hard for Americans to invest because foreign banks are required to report different things to US authorities about customers who are American citizens. They don’t want the bother, so they may not allow you to open an account there. And once you move it will be much harder to open the account in the US. Use a service like Wise to move funds cheaply to your US accounts for investments and paying off credit cards.

Get a cheap eSIM phone subscription with a US phone number for two-step verification abroad. You can use Wifi-calling to connect.

Finally, remember that you are eligible to vote in the US as a US citizen living overseas. You’ll still be registered as a voter in the state and county you moved overseas from. You’ll use your most recent address, and you don’t have to have any attachment to that address any longer. It’s only for voting purposes. If you’re not already registered to vote when you move overseas, you’ll also use your most recent address to register to vote. More information here: https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter.

Good luck!

Overall favorite: Shawshank Redemption
Watched the most times: Notting Hill and Coming to America

May still cause cancer.

eighty years later, in Germany is still trying to live down their shame

Yet, it seems many Germans are prepared to go down that same road with the AfD.

Oh, man. This brings me back to my Amiga 500 days. So slow to load, but I loved that thing. Wish I hadn’t sold it.

This made me lol

Trump: “Hold my beer!”

Either way it seems right now you need a hard reset.

Yet, half the country seems to be choosing to go back to Trump. There’s no cure for stupid.

Living in the US, I see on a daily basis the indifference to climate. It’s been heavily politicized. One side cares a little, the other side does not care one bit. It’s very sad to see.

I also lived in Europe for many years where climate is less politicized and more mainstream. Most people try to do their best to contribute regardless of their political preferences. It’s a big difference to what I see in the US.

But also don’t automatically dismiss until we know more.

Two favorites from different genres:

Puddle of Mud - Blurry

Alexi Murdoch - Wait

Many older reps claim to do it for “generations to come” or “my family.”

I support a mandatory retirement age, but being more than 75 years doesn’t necessarily mean you’re senile.