The Trump Administration Keeps Tariff Promises, While the Stock Market Rout Continues. Here's My Advice to Retirees During Volatile Markets

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Justin Pope, The Motley Fool

Tue, Apr 8, 2025, 4:25 AM 4 min read

President Donald Trump had been touting the announcement of tariffs, which helium said volition reconstruct America's manufacturing basal and amended the country's economical information and lasting implicit time. However, the banal marketplace was inactive caught flat-footed by conscionable however assertive and expansive the tariffs Trump projected connected April 2 were.

Since then, stocks person suffered their sharpest sell-off since aboriginal successful the COVID-19 pandemic, 5 years ago. As the marketplace extends its weeks-long decline, galore retirees are struggling arsenic they ticker their status accounts endure accelerated losses. Meanwhile, they whitethorn besides beryllium wondering however the present caller tariff policies volition interaction their outgo of living.

Here's my proposal to retirees looking for stableness successful this volatile market.

I can't stress capable however fluid the tariff concern is.

The Trump medication says that tariffs and taxation cuts volition make hundreds of billions of dollars successful yearly gross portion stimulating the system for working-class Americans. That sounds good, successful theory, but a melodramatic pivot from established argumentation comes with near-term risks, specified arsenic higher prices, reduced user spending, and concern headwinds.

Therefore, galore aspects of this concern could alteration astatine immoderate time. Countries could negociate little tariffs (or none), oregon Trump could pivot. Even if the caller tariffs mostly stay successful spot arsenic announced, cipher knows for however agelong oregon precisely what interaction they volition person connected the economy. While I don't privation to oversimplify this, it's similar an experimentation with wide-ranging imaginable outcomes. With truthful overmuch uncertainty, the marketplace is spooked, which explains the S&P 500's 10.5% sell-off connected April 3 and 4.

Those marketplace sessions were ugly, but it's besides conscionable 2 days. The worst mistake would beryllium taking drastic enactment lone for the concern to de-escalate. In this situation, it's astir apt omniscient to determination slowly.

At the aforesaid time, you shouldn't disregard the situation. So alternatively of rushing to action, instrumentality this accidental to measure your finances and your nest egg.

Prolonged tariffs could summation prices for goods and services, truthful you whitethorn privation to look astatine however that would interaction your surviving expenses. Consider however tariffs mightiness impact your purchasing decisions. If you're successful the marketplace for a caller vehicle, for example, you tin look into which companies the tariffs volition interaction the most.

A pen, a heap of fiscal paperwork, immoderate insubstantial currency and coins, and a calculator speechmaking Tariffs.

Additionally, behaviour a checkup connected your concern portfolio. Review what you ain and determine whether you're taking much hazard than you're comfy with. Diversifying your portfolio is astir much than conscionable owning tons of stocks. A retiree's portfolio mightiness see a premix of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds, existent property concern trusts, planetary communal funds, and hard assets similar gold.