To the millions of Americans who have recently retired, or who hope to retire soon, President Trump’s trade war and the ensuing global market panic has wrought a tremendous amount of anxiety over the future of their life’s savings. Since Trump announced his sweeping global tariffs on April 2, U.S. stock markets have nosedived, with the S&P down 4.2% and the Dow Jones down 3.2%. More than 60% of America’s top CEOs think we’re headed into a recession in the next six months. And on Thursday, the Yale Budget Lab predicted we’ll spend an extra $4,700 this year on everyday goods and services because of the tariffs.
What, if anything, should we be doing with our retirement savings? Given the moment’s unique challenges for both our wallets and our overall well-being, I enlisted the help of experts in the personal finance and mental health spaces — specialists with expertise in both money management and the underlying behavioral and psychological factors that drive our financial decisions.
Last fall, I wrote about economics researchers at Yale University attempting to measure the relationship between capitalism and declining mental health, and how financial stress can reinforce a poor mental state that increases the odds of that person making a rushed or ill-advised decision related to their job, spending, savings or investments. And right now, millions of Americans are facing monumental financial uncertainty, heightening the odds that some of them get stuck in the cycle. “Psychological research has shown us that panic amplifies helplessness and sabotages rational thought,” Michael Valdez, an expert in neurology and addictive behaviors, told Salon. “It is critical to recognize the real anxiety many retirees suffer from during these times.”
Thankfully, there are a few things that retirees, or those nearing retirement, can do to ensure they’re well-equipped to weather an economic downturn and to keep themselves mentally well-equipped to handle whatever fresh fiscal hell is next.
Get a financial adviser
This was by far the most recommended step that experts offered. While the perception may be that financial advisers are most helpful during your prime working years, they can also be immensely helpful in helping you figure out what spending that nest egg looks like in retirement. “Many retirees who have been conditioned to save during their working lifetimes are reluctant to spend money in retirement,” Robert R. Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University and former president of the American College of Financial Services, told Salon. “A financial adviser can help guide that process.”
Think of a financial adviser as your dedicated strategist to help you conquer whatever roadblocks stand between you and your financial goals. A financial adviser specializing in retirement planning can determine whether you’re on track to meet your financial needs for the long haul, make sure your savings and investment accounts are being appropriately managed and help you pay off any debt as effectively as possible. Note that a financial adviser is different from an investment adviser, which is someone who specifically advises people on how to best invest their money.
Typically, it costs around $150 an hour to meet with a financial adviser, though there are free and cheaper ways to access their insights. One way is through your bank or credit union, which likely offers free financial tools for customers. For low-income individuals, The Foundation for Financial Planning offers pro bono financial planning services. NerdWallet, a personal finance website, also recommends reaching out to the Financial Planning Association and the Financial Counseling Association of America for other affordable financial tools.
Avoid big changes to your investment strategy
For the vast majority of individuals, it’s best not to make any significant adjustments to your investments, experts told Salon. “Investors nearing retirement age should try to stay the course and make incremental adjustments,” said Adem Selita, co-founder of The Debt Relief Company.
“If you change your entire investment strategy and reallocate your entire portfolio, odds are you might regret that decision quite a bit,” Selita said. Instead, retirees and those nearing retirement age should “stay the course, and liquidate little by little, and always maximize tax savings as you begin the retirement process,” Selita said. (A financial adviser can help max out your tax savings.)
“If you change your entire investment strategy and reallocate your entire portfolio, odds are you might regret that decision quite a bit”
For more experienced investors, Selita said it makes sense on paper to want to reorient their investments toward things like semiconductors, smartphones and other tech products, in light of Trump’s removal of China’s 125% tariff on those goods. “Prudent investors might consider leaning more into technology — however, this could all change with the drop of a dime, and nobody really knows how things will actually play out,” he said.
To reduce anxiety, seek clarity
Any kind of retirement or financial savings account — 401(k), 403(b), IRAs, 457(b) or a pension plan, to name just a few — comes with a portfolio manager who is tasked with making decisions about how any of those plans’ retirement funds are being invested at any given time. If it’d be helpful to understand how your investments are performing from an expert’s perspective, you can reach out to your portfolio manager to talk through how your money’s being invested, or to discuss how heavily you’re invested in the stock market (as opposed to other investments, like bonds, commodities, real estate or money market funds, among others).
Consider an Investment Policy Statement
Your portfolio manager can also help you develop an Investment Policy Statement. In essence, it’s a document that guides the investment plan, clearly stating your return objectives and risk tolerance over a certain relevant time horizon. If you don’t have an IPS at this point, don’t worry about developing one right now; experts advise against creating one while any long-term impacts of Trump’s tariffs play out.
“Developing an IPS in a volatile market, or during major stories, is problematic,” Johnson said. “The whole point of an IPS is to guide you through changing market conditions.” The only time an IPS should be changed, he said, is if your circumstances changed after a divorce or some other major life event.
And if you have an IPS, don’t touch it, Johnson said. “It should not be changed as a result of market fluctuations.”
Find small ways to claim control
Having a garage sale isn’t going to stave off economic doom. But when people exert control of their financial well-being in small but noticeable ways, overall anxiety — which often comes from feeling a lack of controll — can be greatly reduced. “Revising spending habits can have a large, positive impact on the perception of control,” Valdez said.
To that end, brainstorm scrappy ways to generate cash. Think about any subscriptions or recurring expenses you could pause or cancel, reconsider upcoming trips and shop around for cheaper providers of insurance, cell phones, internet, electricity or other utilities. If it makes sense, open a high-yield savings account. Start using a 30-day rule that forces you to wait a full month before making any purchases over, say, $50, or whatever number works for you. That old typewriter gathering dust in the garage? See if it’s worth any money at a vintage store.
Even if these fixes only generate a small bit of cash, they’ll provide a psychological boost to have a little more money on hand than you did before. Most importantly, it’ll keep you in a healthier headspace to make wise financial choices under challenging circumstances.
Take care of your mental health
It’s hardly a harbinger of rosy times to come when a financial columnist starts recommending mindfulness strategies. But mental health experts stressed the importance of retirees protecting their mental well-being — a concept that might strike some older Americans as self-indulgent or woo-woo, having been raised by the stoic Silent Generation. But think about it like this: You want to be in the most clear-eyed, grounded headspace possible when taking any action around your finances, right? Just as you’d want your body to be in the best possible form before running a marathon, it’s simply in your money’s interest to invest in your mind’s health.
Taking care of your mental health looks different from person to person; for the more extroverted, it might be important to make sure you’re spending plenty of time with friends and family, or replacing those expensive Saturday dinners with cheap tickets to a minor league baseball game or a Sunday matinee. Others might benefit more from spending time in nature, taking a few minutes to write down how they’re feeling at the end of the day or even carving out 30 minutes to walk around the neighborhood and take a break from the Netflix fugue.
Other mindfulness practices experts recommended include meditation, restricting your exposure to the news and simply prioritizing whatever gives you the most energy. These things “can sustain perspective, even during turbulence,” Valdez said. “Keep in mind that financial security cannot be defined solely by the figures; it is about striking a balance between being prepared and having peace of mind.”
