Mar 26, 2025
You’re diligently saving money in your 401(k) and have $110,000 saved up at 54 years of age. With retirement on the horizon, it makes sense to start thinking about whether your nest egg is enough.
But you’re worried by current events. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on imported goods — something that could affect the markets — has left you wondering how you’ll protect your savings.
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Here’s what’s happening and how you can protect your nest egg.
Trade war
This year feels like a dramatic time for the markets given the flow of news coming out of the White House. On March 4, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada — some of which have been paused until April 2 — and increased tariffs to 20% on products from China. Canada and China immediately retaliated with tariffs of their own on U.S. goods. On March 12, Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and on March 26 he announced a 25% tariff on auto imports starting April 2.
All of this sounds scary, but events like these don’t always affect the market in the way you might think. While the full impact the tariffs will have on businesses remains to be seen, the markets will continue to fluctuate as always.
You and your employer’s contributions to your 401(k) will likely continue, and other factors such as your portfolio allocation will also affect how your investments grow.
The truth of the matter is that you may not have a lot of control as to what will happen to the economy and, by extension, the markets. But there are steps you can take to protect what you already have invested.
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Protecting your nest egg
Focusing on what you can control is the best move you can make to protect your nest egg. Keeping your debt as low as possible will help you reduce what you need to spend during retirement. Be prepared to adjust your budget if necessary.
Contributing more can also help. Take a look at your current spending to see if you can reasonably afford to put more toward your 401(k). Have you contributed enough to max out your employer match? If not, use that as your initial goal. Eventually, you may want to work your way up to contributing the maximum amount each year.
Adjusting your portfolio allocation could also make sense and is something that should change as you get closer to retirement. For example, someone younger may be fine with having more stocks in their portfolio as they have a longer runway to worth with. Those nearing retirement, however, may want to consider moving toward more conservative investments like bonds. Any money kept in stocks should also be diversified.
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Sarah Li-Cain, AFC is a finance and small business writer with over a decade of experience.
