The Australian dollar is suddenly stronger – popping back over 70 US cents this week for the first time in several years. But is that good? Because times have changed and a “stronger” Australian dollar can now make your personal finances a lot weaker.

The reason the Aussie dollar has jumped this week is Donald Trump. The US menace is deliberately talking down his country's currency, which has long been the world's "reserve currency" for global trade.

“I think it’s great,” he said this week, when asked about the greenback's falling value. “I think the value of the dollar – look at the business we’re doing. The dollar’s doing great.”

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Trump’s actions were already creating turmoil in global currency markets, and his admission that he likes it only extended the trend. Some are even touting the demise of the reserve currency as money shifts from US assets and gold continues to surge.

As the next chart shows, the Aussie dollar hasn’t seen 70 US cents for a few years.

The last time our dollar was over 70 cents consistently was back in 2022, and since then, things have shifted.

Australia is one of the richest countries in the world. We own a lot of assets. Housing obviously. But also superannuation. That’s where our currency exposure comes from. Because our super is no longer just invested onshore. Instead, we own vast amounts of foreign assets.

And when our dollar rises the value of those assets falls, in Australian dollar terms.

For example, if you bought one Apple share a year ago, you spent US$237 to buy that share. Over the year the USD value of the tech company has risen to US$257 a share – a small but welcome gain. However you needed to spend A$378 to get the US dollars to buy in, and if you sell the share and change back now, you will get A$366: A loss.

Likewise if you’ve owned Bitcoin over the past 12 months, you’ve seen it fall in USD by 13 per cent. But in AUD terms it is down 23 per cent, as our dollar keeps firming.

This is not some minor, esoteric point. Australian offshore investment is enormous. Our superannuation system is one of the largest pools of assets in the world, and it is far larger now than the Australian stock market. So we have invested it all over the place. In foreign shares, unlisted assets like infrastructure, and bonds.

“International investment allocation has surpassed 50% for the first time, rising from 47.8% in 2023 to 50.9% in 2025,” according to the latest NAB study of our trillions in super. And it is largely not hedged, because hedges cost money to maintain and these assets are held for the long term.