How to Protect your Wealth from the Trump Trade War

The Trump Trade War is gutting retirement plans all across the country.  But apparently, you should just be patient.

That’s what they keep telling us.

Just be patient.  The strategy of bullying the world into submission under the guise of unfair trade barriers is what we’re meant to believe will be a successful strategy.

A strategy that will create more jobs, strengthen our economy and ultimately enrich us all.  

It’s also a strategy that most economists agree is unsound, and one that we’re supposed to believe is completely legitimate, yet has been devised by one of the most unethical businessmen in the world. 

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump did not amass great wealth because he’s a particularly shrewd businessman.  He amassed great wealth by lying, cheating, and stealing. He has a long history of using lawsuits to bury his competition in litigation.  

He’s known for not paying his employees and even stealing from charities.  And we’re supposed to believe that anything this guy is doing is in the best interests of the American people?  Moreover we’re expected to just go along with his plan while our retirement plans get gutted and prices for nearly everything skyrocket?

It’s easy for a billionaire president to “be patient,” but it’s not so easy for the majority of the people in this country who still live paycheck to paycheck.  And it’s sure as hell not so easy for investors who rely on market certainty to build and protect their wealth.

Which is why I’m writing this piece today.  To help you navigate this economic nightmare. 

3 Ways to Protect Yourself from the Trump Trade War

Love him or hate him, what Trump has done in his first three months in office is unprecedented.  In an effort to replicate the bully tactics he used in the real estate game on the global economic stage, he is gambling your life savings with money that isn’t even his. 

If the world falls into a massive economic abyss, he’ll still be fine.  Your retirement?  Not so much.  

In the past two weeks, we’ve seen the value of 401ks fall in excess of 14%.  And it’s likely to get worse.  So how can you protect the wealth you currently have while also building wealth as the global economy prepares for a brutal blow?  Well, fortunately, it’s not particularly difficult.

The first thing you have to do is reject the urge to sell all your stocks.  Even with this massive market sell-off, equities will return.  Historically speaking, this is just how it works.  With every market meltdown comes a market rebound.  So you definitely don’t want to evacuate your portfolio before that rebound happens. 

The second thing you need to do is find a way to hedge against this market downturn, which is likely to be with us throughout the rest of the year.

The best way to do that is with gold. Gold has always served as an excellent hedge against market uncertainty.  In fact, even with last week’s market meltdown, YTD, gold is still up more than 13%.  And much of the upward movement in gold happened shortly after Trump took office.

This was mostly the result of institutional money loading up on gold in preparation for what the smartest people in the room knew would happen.  Trump warned us of his plans, and smart investors prepared accordingly.   

With Trump steering the ship, you can be certain that 2025 will be a year of immense economic uncertainty.  So if you don’t already own any, now would be a good time to get some.

The third thing you need to do is squirrel away some cash.  Because eventually, the markets will stabilize.  And it will be at that point where you’ll have dozens of opportunities to buy some quality stocks at some really solid bargains.  The best stocks to own after a massacred market are those that operate in three specific sectors: healthcare, utilities, and consumer staples.  Here are some to consider …

• Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN)
• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)
• Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX)
• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
• Merck (NYSE: MRK)
• NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE)
• GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV)
• Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP)
• Walmart (NYSE: WMT)
• Costco (NASDAQ: COST)
• Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)

There’s no way to know just how bad the Trump trade war will be.  But one thing is certain: it’s going to be a rough year, and you need to do everything you can to protect your wealth from what may go down as the most ill-conceived economic policy in the history of the U.S. 

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