CENTRAL TEXAS (KXXV) — Markets are continuing to fluctuate following President Donald Trump’s Wednesday tariff announcements, and retirement accounts could be affected too.
25 News Bobby Poitevint spoke with a Waco investment manager and adviser to learn more about what to know.
Todd Stoner is the President and founder of Disciplined Investors in Waco.
“This is not quite to the level of like the great financial crisis of 2008/2009 but it’s been about as much as we got during COVID and when the feds were raising interest rates and the markets went down 20 percent," Stoner said.
He's referring to clients reaching out with questions following President Trump’s announcements over recent months about tariffs on imported goods into the country.
"Calls and emails from people just saying ‘Can you explain this’ — ‘Help me understand what the tariffs mean’ and ‘Should we do anything?'."
So that's the question, what should you do now with your retirement plan?
Stoner says not to "make any quick snap changes to their portfolio," and fight the urge to watch your account every day.
Instead, maybe check it once a month or every quarter.
He says watching every day or too often could lead you to making a bad financial decision.
“But it’s always a good time to look at how you’ve been invested and think about, 'Does that fit me?' — sometimes people think they can take more risks than they actually can," he said.
Stoner doesn’t call this a “nervous” time right now, but a good time to be aware and stay informed.
“I'd imagine you probably have some retirement plans, how are you feeling personally?”, asked 25 News senior reporter, Bobby Poitevint.
Stoner responded, “well I usually don’t think about my own assets as much, you know I do have that long-term perspective.”
He says they have about 400 clients and about 50 401K plans that they are investment advisers for — he says about half of those 400 clients either live, have lived or are connected to Waco in someway.
He said his focus is on his clients.
“I’m still going to work a long time and have more years of income and savings and investing, so how this affects me ten years from now is probably not going to be too significant.”
Stoner says if you’re still a little nervous and have questions, it never hurts to reach out to a financial planner or advisor to help ease your mind in these uncertain times.
