Before President Donald Trump assumed the office for a second time in January 2025, few people had heard of tariffs. Now they’re a regular topic of conversation as Trump changes the amounts imposed on trading partners, timelines and even amount of the tariffs.
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These tariff trade wars have had a direct impact on consumer prices as companies have begun to raise prices immediately to brace for their own costs going up.
Focusing on tariffs could drive anyone nuts; instead, financial experts offered money moves you should always prioritize, no matter what’s happening economically.
If retirement is not imminent, it can be easy to drop this as a priority. However, according to Steve Sexton, CEO of Sexton Advisory Group and a retirement planning professional, he likes to drive home a mantra that “financial freedom in retirement is a long-term accumulation event.”
This means consistently setting aside at least 10% of your earnings every month for your retirement investments, whether that is a 401(k), a Roth or Traditional IRA, mutual funds or other proven means of investing, he said.
“If you start young, the power of compound interest is on your side, and it is easy to build momentum with consistency.”
Learn More: I Asked ChatGPT What Will Get More Expensive When Trump’s Tariffs Go Into Effect, Here’s What It Said
Good financial habits don’t stop at investing, Sexton said. Being able to budget realistically for your lifestyle is also important to mastering your finances.
“If you haven’t already done so, a great way to start is to review three months of your most recent expenditures. From there, you can decide if anything needs to be eliminated or reduced, which will help you develop spending guardrails for the future,” he explained.
Without a budget, it’s difficult to know where your money is going, therefore making it difficult to save, invest and pay off debt effectively.
Another financial priority is staying on top of debt, Sexton said. “Letting this go unmanaged can seriously jeopardize your financial health and future.”
Tackling high interest debts or loans with an interest rate of 7% or higher, should be high on your priority list. “If you don’t know where to start, the debt avalanche or snowball methods are effective ways to pay off debt systematically,” Sexton said.
Though times seem economically challenging right now, Sexton pointed out this isn’t our first or last economic downturn. In other words, there’s always a need to prepare yourself for potential emergencies with a fully funded emergency fund.
