I’m a Boomer: The 6 Impacts of Tariff Uncertainty on My Retirement

6 hours ago 3

Jordan Rosenfeld

Sat, Apr 12, 2025, 9:00 AM 5 min read

The uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s accrued tariffs connected galore American trading partners has caused volatility successful the U.S. and planetary banal markets. While the impacts of tariffs volition impact each American, retirees are the astir instantly affected, particularly those who presently gully their income from the retirement accounts that person been importantly affected by caller tariff-related banal marketplace dips.

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Rod Pintello, property 79, a retired erstwhile manager of materials successful hospitals who is based successful California, has watched his status accounts suffer astir $14,000 successful conscionable the past mates of weeks alone.

Pintello considers himself and his woman among the luckier of retired radical — they some person pensions from their erstwhile jobs, retreat a monthly sum from their 401(k) and person the maximum they’re eligible for from Social Security. Yet helium finds himself “nervous” astir the aboriginal of his status accounts, which not lone enactment him and his wife’s retirement, but are intended to beryllium passed connected to their big children.

This isn’t the archetypal clip Pintello has seen a crisp driblet successful his 401(k) related to authorities policies, either. “Unfortunately, during the archetypal Trump administration, [my 401(k)] dropped astir 30% during the archetypal six months helium became president. It took each this clip to claw its mode backmost up to the apical again to wherever it was, but present [Trump’s] doing it with the tariffs…”

He credited erstwhile President Joe Biden’s medication with bringing his status accounts backmost up to normal.

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Pintello is acrophobic capable astir aboriginal drops successful his 401(k) that he’s considered much drastic moves with his status funds if the marketplace continues to wobble.

“I’ve done each the math. If close present I took the afloat outgo of my 401(k) and and paid the taxes connected it, past I could enactment it successful CDs and get capable wealth successful determination truthful that I wouldn’t suffer anything. I besides wouldn’t gain.”

It’s not the determination helium wants to make, but it’s hard to cognize what the aboriginal volition bring. “We’ve held our breaths and conscionable lived done the failures similar this implicit the years, and past I person to hold for different medication to travel successful to physique it backmost up. And they do.”

Fears of adjacent higher costs of surviving arsenic a effect of tariffs person Pintello and his woman doing thing helium ne'er thought “at this precocious age” that helium would beryllium doing: “stockpiling stuff.”


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