Fed hike, my portfolio, and the long game from the Pacific

• •Not gonna lie, seeing that headline pop up on my phone while I was enjoying my morning Kona coffee on the lanai still gives me a bit of a twitch.
• •It’s not the individual hike, it’s the cumulative effect, you know?
• •Been in this gold IRA for about five years now, ever since I retired from the Navy and moved back home to Oahu.

Another 25bps. Not gonna lie, seeing that headline pop up on my phone while I was enjoying my morning Kona coffee on the lanai still gives me a bit of a twitch. It’s not the individual hike, it’s the cumulative effect, you know? Been in this gold IRA for about five years now, ever since I retired from the Navy and moved back home to Oahu. Had about $700k rolled over, a good chunk of that went straight into physical gold and silver, keeping around $100k in some dividend stocks for income. Most of the gold is held in Delaware, nice and secure.

I remember some of the younger guys in my old unit back in Guam used to scoff at me for being "old school" with gold, always talking about crypto. Well, crypto looks a bit like a rollercoaster that's derailed lately, doesn’t it? Meanwhile, my gold's been a steady hand through all this inflation and market choppiness. I’ve seen my initial precious metals investment gain a solid 15-20% overall, certainly not getting rich overnight, but that preservation of capital is what keeps me sleeping at night when the markets are doing acrobatics.

From my perspective out here in the Pacific, looking at the global economic currents, these consistent rate hikes feel like the Fed is trying to slow down a freight train with a feather. We’re seeing China’s economy sputtering, tensions in the South China Sea heating up – all these global factors make me feel even more confident about having a substantial portion of my retirement tied up in a hard asset. It’s not just about what the US Fed does, it’s about the bigger picture.

Anyone else feeling this tug-of-war between the Fed's actions and the broader geopolitical landscape? Are you adjusting your allocations based on these continuous hikes, or are you just sticking to your long-term plan like me? Curious if anyone is seeing any immediate benefits or drawbacks in their gold holdings specifically from this latest decision. I'm always open to hearing other perspectives from experienced investors, especially those who've seen a few cycles.