Ask a financial planner if you should go on a buying or selling spree after the Donald Trump administration’s operation in Venezuela, and you’ll get a lecture about not getting distracted by single news stories.

Still, if you believe U.S. foreign policy has fundamentally shifted, what actions should you take in reviewing your retirement investments?

Many investors don’t realize that many of the same giant companies appear in several of their index funds, hiding how over-exposed they are to a few corporations.

For example, say you own index funds that mirror the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 1000. Apple (AAPL) makes up a disproportionate percentage of each of those indexes.

These mega-cap companies also tend to have interlinked supply chains stretching across many countries. Continuing the Apple example, the tech giant relies heavily on parts produced in both Taiwan and China, and that says nothing of its sales in those countries. If China invades Taiwan, disrupting Taiwanese production and triggering massive Western sanctions on China, what happens to Apple’s stock?

If that hypothetical sounds unrelated to Venezuela, think again.

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“The Maduro capture is not a ‘one-off,’” explains Arie Brish, business professor at St. Edward’s University. “It ripples across other geopolitical tensions including China and Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine, and the flow of cheap black market oil to China and Iran. The Trump administration gained confidence in its foreign policy forays, which might embolden it to take other risky actions.”

Whether you agree or disagree with the administration’s foreign policy stances, they have certainly become less predictable than previous presidencies. And unpredictability adds risk.

Again, diversification helps. Investors looking at their 401(k) investments should consider including more international stocks. Despite the S&P 500 returning a total of around 16.4% in 2025 per CNB Bank & Trust, international stocks outperformed it in the first year of the new Trump administration, with the STOXX Europe 600 returning 19.0%.

“All investors should write an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and follow it,” urges finance professor Robert Johnson of Creighton University. “An IPS sets down an investor’s ground rules: Return objectives and risk tolerance along with constraints such as liquidity needs and taxes.”