'We've lost $70,000' Retirement worries grow as seniors face Trump's tariffs and market shifts

Record ID: 1984190

  • Title: 'We've lost $70,000' Retirement worries grow as seniors face Trump's tariffs and market shifts
  • Date: 18th March 2025
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) TUCKER BALCH, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE AT GOIZUETA BUSINESS SCHOOL OF EMORY UNIVERSITY, AND FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR AT JP MORGAN, SAYING: “A lot of folks will say that some of the biggest jumps, positive jumps in the market happened right after a quick drop. So there are opportunities you might lose if you move to cash. But there's also a potential marke
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: DEBT ECONOMY MONEY PRESIDENT RECESSION RETIRE RETIRING STOCK MARKET TARIFFS TRUMP
  • Location: ATLANTA, MARIETTA AND MILTON, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: ATLANTA, MARIETTA AND MILTON, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Currencies/Foreign Exchange Markets,Economic Events,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA003892114032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Reuters spoke with several seniors who are expressing concerns about their retirement plans in light of market volatility and the policies of the administration of President Donald Trump.
    Vicki Knight, a 70-year-old former educator, retired in 2000 to care for her elderly father and began collecting Social Security. Now semi-retired, she works as a part-time yoga instructor, teaching seven classes a week because her Social Security does not cover her expenses.
    "I'm very concerned with this administration and how unstable things are right now at my age. When financial advisors say 'don’t worry, just hang on, things will come back' - Well, when you're 70 years old, how long do you have to wait?” Knight said.
    Victor Fettes, 54, a senior director of risk management and compliance at Verizon, has been planning for retirement for 25 years with the goal of retiring at 55. He is set to retire on March 28, 2025, but has already seen a $70,000 loss in his and his wife's investments this year.
    "Everything that we needed short term, we've already moved to cash. This is more of my 401(k) that we're not planning on getting into until I'm at least 60. And so, you know, as we look at those, it's scary because as you see that start to dwindle, you know, that's money that you won't be able to count on later," Fettes said.
    In late February, Tucker Balch, 62, a finance professor at Emory University, restructured his retirement portfolio, shifting from 75% US stocks to 90% short-term bonds, with 5% in US copper, steel, and aluminum stocks he believes will benefit from Trump’s tariffs, and 5% in Chinese stocks.
    “It’s an escalator. We don't know whether it's really going up or down right now. So I'm just stepping off the escalator for a little while until we know for sure that we're back on an upward trend," Balch said.
    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes Trump's policies on trade, taxes, and deregulation will lead to a "transition" rather than a crisis, though he acknowledged the possibility of a recession.
    (Production: Jayla Whitfield-Anderson)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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