Ep 63: Elephant in the Stock Market: Trump Tariffs, Tax Cuts, & Immigration Policy Implications

Hey, Jess. Hi. Hello, Jessie. I would like to address the elephant in the room, as in the Republicans in the White House and the new administration. This is very clever, very clever concept there, Jessie. We talked about how the stock market does not like uncertainty, like the election outcome. Well, uncertainty creates volatility, which we saw. So we were primed for a rally, which is what happened once the uncertainty was removed of the election outcome. I want to know what we look at next. Social media is talking about

I'm seeing lots of videos about tariffs among many other concerns about what will happen. But since this is a stock market education podcast, let's discuss what part of that narrative matters to self-directed investors and what we should be prepared for. Fiscal policy has an impact on the stock market. It's not the whole narrative because we have to remember the stock market is just a bunch of companies. Let's talk about the potential, keyword, outcomes on key policy stances. So tariffs.

trade, immigration, tax policy, deregulation, and of course, inflation impacts. Yes. And can we also talk about the Fed independence as well? of course. I the drama that's there. Teas ready. You're listening to Market Make Her, the self-directed investing education podcast that breaks down how the stock market works in an easy to understand manner. From her perspective, that's us. We're her. If you're new here, welcome.

Happy to have you. If you're not, welcome back, you gorgeous finance nerd, you. On this podcast, we talk about three topics. We educate and explain, keep it current, and tell you how to apply it in your self-directed investing journey. And today, we are educating and explaining potential Trump policy stances and their impact on the markets. We're doing it all teacher learner style. We're your host. I'm Jessica Inskip. I act as the teacher.

I've been in finance for 15 years and counting. You can find me on CNBC, Fox Business, Yahoo Finance, and the Schwab Network. I'm Jessie DeNuit. I'm literally learning alongside you. You can find me in your nightmares. your nightmare dressed as a daydream, Jessie. I'm going to shake that comment off, Jessica. That out of the woods. Three. I allow her several Taylor Swift references every episode. OK, let's start with tariffs. Yes.

And Jessie, this episode's going to show you colors that you can't see with anyone else. that still more tailor-swept? Yeah. Trade policy. That's tariffs. Now, Trump has done this before. Have we defined a tariff even? No, we have not. What is a tariff? Very common misconception that I see on social media and understanding who pays for tariffs. We all have trade agreements, know, very global economy that we have. If Trump was to put a tariff on China imported goods or anything like that, it's not paid by...

China or the foreign country, it's the small businesses. So if you're ordering parts from foreign countries, Apple is a really good example. A lot of parts are used to go in our iPhones. Well, now the parts for that are going to be expensive. Apple pays that. If it's going to be more expensive to create that iPhone, they're going to increase the price of that iPhone. So a tariff is paid by the company that's purchasing it. And the intent is to encourage

more domestic production or you source your parts from elsewhere. That's a tariff in a nutshell. So a tariff is like extra tax that our government is imposing on US companies that are purchasing any kind of product from another country. That's right. Yes. Is it China specifically or certain countries?

It could be anything. So last time Trump was in office, it was across broad-based countries. So it wasn't just China. There were some that were specifically targeted at China, but it was really interesting how even the aluminum one started. So he prompted this investigation to see if aluminum and steel was a threat to national security. The market didn't care about that at all. But then the results of that came out and said, yes, this is a potential threat to national security.

from getting imports from aluminum and steel, and then tariffs came into play. And that's the first time that the public was made aware of that. And that immediately caused volatility within the market, immediately. OK. Because it's inflationary. That happened in Trump's first term? Yes. OK. Trump's. So was that what the first trade war was about? So there was one on solar panels and washing machines. Washing machines are now more expensive. Steel and aluminum, which had

a lot of back and forths. There was one for unfair trade practices for technology and intellectual property, and then another one for autos in Mexico. So what exactly is a trade war and how do tariffs play into that? So it could trigger a trade war and that's what happened last time. Trump said, okay, I'm going to put these tariffs across these broad-based countries. Well, they can do it right back at you. Say, okay, cool. Well, if you're exporting, we're going to put a tariff on you. And then that could cause global inflation.

that makes sense now. we had. Right. COVID happened. Yes. But there is a very big difference about those tariffs that were implemented in Trump's first term that I don't think a lot of people talk about that we definitely need to discuss from a stock market perspective. And that also leaves a really good note to pause on right now. All of these policies that we're talking about today are purely impacts on the stock market. We're not talking about the impacts on people.

It's unbiased. It's not our personal opinion. We have hearts. I to make sure you guys understand that. We know that humans are always being affected. Ultimately, let's face it, the poorest people or anyone under middle class, middle class and below are usually affected the most with a lot of these policies. They are. Yeah. And we'll talk about that too, because that's consumer and that's definitely an Yeah, that does affect the stock market. It does.

Nonetheless, the tariffs that Trump implemented within his first term starting in 2017, heated up in 2018 and had a really bad market meltdown in October of 2019 was a culmination of a lot of things. The tariffs were utilized as a bartering tool and they weren't necessarily implemented. But you have to remember that the market's forward looking. So when something seems like it's going to happen, the market immediately reacts and prices adjust to what the stock market feels companies are worth. Supply and demand comes into play. The second component.

that is very missed is the interest rate policy at that time. The Fed actually started raising interest rates before COVID for the first time since the great financial crisis. They had to lower them. So think about that for a moment. If you're raising interest rates, you're doing it to battle inflation. They started raising interest rates in 2016. So there was already inflation creeping up. If you add something that is inflationary, like tariffs, that exasperates it. So that could create a very bad scenario, right?

Not, it's not good time to do something like that. But nonetheless, they're independent from each other for a reason, which we'll get into later. But COVID happened and ultimately that's what led to the Fed lowering interest rates because they needed to stimulate the economy. The scenario we're in right now of potential tariffs, they do seem to be a lot bigger. But again, that could be a bargaining tool. That is an unknown. But we are in a interest rate environment on the other end. The Fed is looking to be less restrictive.

they're trying to find that neutral rate. So they're bringing interest rates down. So in my personal opinion, that's the important narrative of the stock market. We want to see interest rates to continue to fall. Otherwise, we are at risk because if you have something like tariffs that is inflationary, it can hurt the consumer. We don't want to be in a place where the Fed's still trying to constrain the consumer in order to tackle inflation. Yes. So the Fed just brought down the Fed funds rate by 75 basis points altogether in the last two months, which is almost 1 percent.

0.75%. So we're starting to finally see that come down, but the market being forward-looking, knowing about Trump's tariffs that he wants to impose. Are we reacting to that as well? When the volatility was removed from the election, we saw the stock market rally. But what is going to happen with

tariffs? Is that going to affect the stock market before they even get announced or put in place? There are so many unknowns with that. I don't think that's necessarily coming into play yet. It could be because it's inflationary. That's why you see the yield curve increasing because it's expecting growth expectations on the long end of the curve. So 10 year and higher, the long end just means longer maturity dates. And if you need to know more about the yield curve that we're talking about, we have an episode about understanding the yield curve. We'll link it.

But the yield curve is like a scry. If it's steepening, so if longer term rates are higher than shorter term rates, then that is an indication of growth. You just don't want to go too far too fast in either direction. And then the Fed impacts the front end of the curve, which is shorter expiration or shorter maturity securities. These are treasuries, which is what the government issues in order to fund its debt. Everything is related. The Fed is trying to bring inflation down by lowering

The Fed funds rate, like we said, 75 basis points or 0.75%, which has happened so far. And we're hoping that they will continue to do that, correct? Yep, we do. We want that to happen. They're data dependent. They do it meeting by meeting. As long as they see inflation on its path to percent, they're going to continue going towards that neutral rate, which is cutting interest rates. And the only thing that could change that is, say, a tariff policy, fiscal tariff policy that Trump puts in place, and then

The Fed might have to react to that based on what that does. Yeah. Well, that could flow in to consumer price index, the producer price index and the PCE. So all of the data that we use to look at inflation, if inflation is rising, well, that's their dual mandate. Their mandate is price stability. So if inflation is rising, they have to stop people from spending. And the way they do that is you raise interest rates. But then the risk is the unemployment side. Right. Which is the other part of the mandate. To sum up tariffs.

A tariff is a tax that a US company will have to pay if they are buying any sort of product or parts or whatever it is from certain other foreign countries. It's taxed on the company, not the foreign country. And this is what could lead to another trade war. Trump may use this as a bartering tool. We do not know exactly what he is planning on doing. This may just be a threat. It's all an unknown.

but tariffs would potentially decrease the deficit. We cannot account for consumer behavior though, so we don't know what consumers will do. And that plays off of, know, if you're Shien products or Amazon products or anything that's coming from China, that's really cheap right now. If companies pass down an extra price and it goes up, like if you're paying more for that $5 dress now, it's like 15 or $20, are you still gonna buy it? We'll have to see what happens. Some of these companies might be affected long-term. That's true. And there's good and bad, I think, in...

every situation. And you made a good point about tariffs decreasing the deficit. Since it is a tax, that's going to be revenue that's going to come in for the U.S. government. And right now, we're on a path of unsustainability. If we continue on that same path of how big the deficit is, right now, it's not a problem, but the path is a problem. And those are Powell's words. Well, when we're talking about deficit, it's the U.S.' debt. And as we know, the U.S. always pays their debts. That's why our treasuries are considered no risk.

Is it true that Japan has recently cashed out their US treasuries? Like they owned most of the US debts. So is that not the truth anymore? They did. So the Fed owns the most. The foreign country that owns the most though is Japan. And they sold off a lot prior to the election. And that could have just been de-risking, completely de-risking. But it all goes into kind of the domino effect of things.

So everything is supply and demand. More buyers makes things go up, more sellers makes things go down. That's the concept that every listener could just wrap their head around. Everything will make sense. So I always think in those terms. So meaning if you have a foreign investor who wants to invest in treasuries, they're going to need to buy US dollars. That strengthens the dollar. US treasuries are more attractive when the Fed raises interest rates. So if they raise interest rates, it tends to strengthen the dollar.

and then people buy into treasuries. The Fed impacts the front end of the curve and then buying of treasuries also increases the price on the secondary market. in the short term, Japan having sold off a lot of their US treasuries, that means that we have more debt now? No, no, that's the secondary market. Okay. Somebody else bought it. If you sell it, someone else buys it. Okay. So that debt was already like issued, paid for, right? Yeah, issued and then bought and paid for.

So doesn't mean we have more debt. So that's like what I'm asking, I guess, is now there would be an influx of treasuries in the second market. So wouldn't that mean less demand? That's right. That's more supply than demand. You're right. That's an influx of supply. OK. Well, let's talk about the second part of the Fed's mandate that you talked about with jobs, because I think that goes into

The second one, immigration policy. There's a risk of sharp tightening in immigration policies, as in mass deportation. The Fed has two mandates, Maximum employment. Everyone has a job. It's everybody who can have a job has a job because that helps with a healthy growing economy. You have a job, you have a paycheck, you're paying taxes. You're spending money and that really helps the economy. You just don't want to spend too much money too fast.

That leads to price instability. So it's this balancing act where the Fed focuses on a dual mandate, which is tackling inflation, making sure there's price stability and maximum employment. When we first started this restrictive Fed policy, there was not any balance within the labor market. The labor market was overheated and very, very unbalanced because the job to workers gap was very, very wide. We couldn't print people.

there wasn't enough people to fill jobs. What really helped that was two things. AI, you less jobs if you have an increase in productivity, which we have seen that's come through in the data. That's really helpful. Or you get more people. And since we can't print more people, Fed can't do that. We can import more people. Immigration. And actually, since the pandemic, the increase from the labor market, as in the pool getting bigger, is from immigration.

That's a very important component and they add to our tax revenue. They pay taxes. So it's an important part of our system. And I just think it's important to know. Now there is another piece of that equation that's extremely important. So a very, very fun stat. 20 % of the U.S. labor force right now, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is foreign born. And I mean, I'm married to a foreigner. When someone comes into the system,

It's a supply, but it's also a demand side of the equation as well. So on a broader base, it's going to take out supply, but it's also going to take out demand. Meaning, yes, there's going to be people who are leaving the workforce, but then there's also people who aren't spending within the US as well. So from an inflation perspective only, that could add some balance and not be as inflationary as some has perceived.

I don't think it is evenly dispersed and there are certainly going to be inflationary aspects within certain sectors like the housing market, which is a concern right now because the housing services is finally showing some easing and inflation data literally this week. Mortgage rates will be coming down or are coming down? No, that means rents. rents are better.

Mortgages and housing prices. Mortgage rates are tied to the 10-year yield and those are actually increasing a little bit. bad time to refi. Sorry, guys. Yeah, that may just be short term. know that. We're trying to figure out if that yield is inflationary or just growth. Powell said it seems like it's just growth right now. And we go off of what Powell says because he makes these decisions. Well, him and his committee, it's not just him. Nonetheless, if you think about

immigrants and how they are comprised within our working system. If we have a housing supply issue, we have a housing shortage. have, again, a lot of people, but people need houses. For building houses, a lot of foreign born are part of that work group. So that could lead to more housing shortages. And that could be inflationary because it's, if you have more demand than supply, it makes things go up.

And that could be a concern. And then also within the services industry, there's only so much automation that you can do. You can only have so many servers to so many tables. so if a lot of immigration is within that area, there could be some disruption. its pockets on a broad base from an inflation perspective may not be as terrible as those have perceived purely from an inflation perspective, but in certain sectors.

such as the services industry and home builders that could have some certainly not so issues. Not to mention healthcare, tech. mean, there's a lot of sectors that it could affect for sure. Yes. And I think the stats are interesting. Do you want to guess the largest sector with the most immigrants or foreign boys? it healthcare or tech? Well, tech is close. is up there. But it's actually within services. It's the

building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations. maintenance is important. We need people who can do those jobs for sure. And the constructions up there, farming and fishing and forestry as well is number two. I imagine. So I can imagine. So we'll see. I mean, and obviously we know human beings are affected and we do have hearts, but we're sticking to what

this means for investing education purposes. It's an unknown. We don't know what's going to happen and what's actually going to be able to go into effect. is a negative to the deficit. So we're just looking at it. Impact on inflation, impact on the stock market, impact on the deficit, which then affects the bond market. Right. Should we move on to the tax cuts, which is a big part of it? Yes, we definitely should. Yeah. All right. So I'd say this is the most known because Trump implemented tax cuts within his first term.

Those were for corporations. Those are set to expire within 2025. Since he implemented those and it's an extension, it's very likely that he's going to go ahead and extend those. That's lower corporate tax rates. And when you have lower corporate tax rates, do we think that's good or bad for the deficit? well.

I mean, we saw in the last couple of years that they're willing to continue raising their prices as long as consumers are willing to pay them. So if a big corporation gets a tax cut, will they trickle that down to paying their employees more? Or will the CEOs take more? Who knows? We don't know. We don't know what corporations are going to do because there's no mandate saying that a corporation has to then take those tax cuts they're getting and

roll that down to pay their employees more or anything like that, right? No, there's not. And Jessie, there are so many studies and we can actually do a whole episode on trickle down economics. I actually have got some really great guests we can bring in with that. It does not work. We do not imagine so. It does not work. But what it does is it will increase the deficit because taxes are the government's revenue. So we're going to have to borrow more money. But the thought is that would be offset by tariffs, but tariffs are the unknown.

This is more known. That is why I believe is a big part of the rally right now. That's going to be extended. Corporations are going to make more money. The stock market is just a bunch of companies. So if companies are going to make money, more revenue, because they don't have as big of a tax bill, well, they're going to be worth more. Thus, rally. And also, going back to the tariffs, one thing that we haven't considered, companies prepare. It's not like they're sitting there waiting around. Apple, for example, they really, really depended on China for parts.

And then once COVID happened, there were supply chain issues and tariffs. And they realized that that was a big risk to their company. They started diversifying to India. Right. So companies are smart. That's why looking at management is so important. That's what Jim Cramer does. He says, listen to those conference calls. And I love that he says that. And he's so right. That's also a Warren Buffett thing. You look at management. You can have a great product. You could make a ton of money. But if you don't know how to manage it, it's not sustainable.

because you're not preparing for potential hiccups and headwinds that are out of your control, like potential fiscal policy. And policy changes, as in from Republican to Democrat, back and forth is normal. That happens. And so companies have to adjust and adapt, and they do, and they prepare for that. There are already some indication of that as well as stockpiling on certain things. Now, next one is very interesting.

regulation. I don't know if we've talked about that too much as far as antitrust laws. He's immediately taking positions to adjust everyone that's in charge, right? So I'm thinking the FTC and the DOJ, there will be leadership changes. It's going to make a more deal-oriented type of environment. It's going to favor corporations and specifically merger and acquisition activity.

I will say the FTC that's in right now is probably the strictest one I've ever seen. And there's some great stuff that she's done. Some other stuff that I think is a lot, but she hasn't tackled ticket master. And I really think that was a problem with how expensive Taylor Swift tickets were. And I I'm so serious. I'm not joking. I said what the Taylor Swift, the fees were like $2,000. It's insane. And that that's a problem. That's a monopoly. And that's something that they should split up.

Just to define things, the FTC is the Federal Trade Commission and then DOJ, Department of Justice. OK, so we're talking about deregulation as in who will be appointed to be running the FTC and the DOJ under Trump. Yeah, so that means there'll be faster regulatory approval. This is a fact. You can pull under Republicans year over year merger and acquisition activity. is.

considerably higher under Republicans, about 56%. And it's because they favor corporation type of environments. And if we have clarity on things like that, then that's going to spur merger and acquisition activity, which is going to be beneficial for the stock market. When you say merger and acquisition, you're talking about companies that acquire other companies and merge together? Yeah. So like PayPal and eBay, Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade.

But the FTC or DOJ will come in and they could stop some of them and say, hey, you're going to be too much of a monopoly here. This isn't going to happen. They're going to disapprove it. Yeah. so, well, in some instances, some coming together, as in there's a lot of scrutiny around Google, as in, hey, you're a little bit too big. But maybe they should separate and be in different entities altogether because they do different things. There's a search engine, but there's also this AI side. But it's also crossing.

You know what I mean? So, I mean, if Google and Amazon were gonna come together in a merger, that would probably be squashed in a second because that would be a huge, huge monopoly, right? But sometimes, if you were to split up Google and say, hey, you're too big and you're a monopoly now, well, that would hinder Google's performance. Do you see what I mean? Like, they're like, okay, we grew this big and now we're not allowed to grow because we're too big. There's positives and minuses.

Everything has checks and balances and that's important under Republican, the FTC and DOJ tends to be less scrutinizing around that type of activity. are we saying that that is another unknown or we know what's going to happen? It's an unknown. Okay. It's a little more known because it's not just Trump, it's Republicans. You'd see an increase. I think it's 56 % in merger and acquisition activity. That is good for the stock market. We just want a healthy amount.

Just like the Fed, we don't want too much. We don't want too little. OK. So what does deregulation actually mean? It just means there's less regulations in place to allow companies to do what they want to do? That's right. Well, in other instances as well. But we're just talking about the stock market. I mean, I think there needs to be less regulation on people in finance who are talking on social media personally. Right. That's a good example of one. Yeah. And maybe this will help my cause.

Yeah, maybe. Yeah. Well, we'll see. Let's tie everything back together in the inflation picture then. So we have to talk about what's inflationary and what are the impacts on inflation of all of these policies. If we're looking at tariffs, that's inflationary. Immigration, the policy stance, potentially inflationary. Tax cuts, that's going to hurt the deficit. Probably isn't inflationary.

and will be good for the stock market. Deregulation, that could trigger growth. And all of that comes together with the action that we're seeing within the bond market. That's something that the Fed has to watch because if the bond market is influencing mortgage rates, then it's making them higher when the Fed's trying to lower them. Sometimes it does the Fed's job for them, but right now the Fed's not trying to be restrictive. So therefore they have to watch that and understands what's happening. So meaning,

Is that yield curve saying, hey, there's going to be growth because of tax cuts and deregulation, or is it saying that there's going to be inflation because of immigration and tariffs? That's a question. And that could influence Fed policy. But I love the way that Papa Powell addressed this. So Powell was asked, what are you going to do with fiscal policy? And he was like, well, guys, I look at data as it comes in.

And I don't assume, I don't guess, I don't speculate. If I have data, I make actions, which is great. And then the Fed's job is to be transparent with us. That's how he's accountable. There's also this question of the Fed being independent due to some things that Trump has said. And remember that Trump also is the one that nominated Powell back in 2017. Yep.

And so there are checks and balances. There's no oversight from the executive branch. Now, he does have two hearings that they have to go to every year, one with the House and one with the Senate. So they have to be accountable for their actions. And Congress has oversight over the Federal Reserve. But they are intended to remain independent because you don't want to have political policy influence Fed decisions. And you could see why they have to make hard decisions, because inevitably when you raise interest rates,

you are increasing the risk of unemployment rising as well. Anybody who is in a political stance is going to say, I want more growth and low unemployment. Whereas the Fed has to take difficult decisions. It's better in the long run. But the long run is way more than a four-year term. Yeah. That's why it has to. And there is just so many studies of advanced economies across the world.

democracies that have an independent central bank, which is the Fed, if they're independent, they do a much better job tackling inflation. I mean, a much better job. Perfect sense. Because you don't want somebody influencing that. That's why there's a Chinese wall in certain things. nonetheless, the Chinese wall, you ever heard that? That's a series seven term. my goodness. So I just realized I made a finance joke. So it means that it's a virtual barrier intended to block the exchange of information between departments.

So for example, the New York Stock Exchange, there's an option side. When you and I went there, we didn't go to the option side because the option side and the equity side have to have a Chinese wall because an option is a derivative off of a stock. And even though it's all electric, they cannot be influenced by knowing anything about that stock price. wow. So that's why there's that wall between them? Yeah, literally. They to stay so separate. So that's what that means. OK. Well, that's interesting.

Did not know that. loved his response. I'm a really big Powell, really big Powell fan. He's like, listen, we take a backseat when it comes to policy decisions. When there is something that is known, we don't speculate, then, then they'll, they'll talk about it. And he's like, why are we freaking out? This is normal. We get a new president potentially every four years, eight year terms. And so when that happens, the same thing happens. They wait for policy clarity. We have

knowns and unknowns right now. Once they have clarification, they actually get briefed and then they understand the impacts. They put it in their models. They have lots of models and then they understand the potential outcomes. Fiscal policy, we said this on episode two on this, how the stock market works is one piece of impact on the stock market. It's not the whole thing whatsoever. It just seems like it right now because it's the current chapter we're in. It's very new and we have changes. The stock market, what matters more than anything is earnings growth always.

Yeah, because it's the companies. Everything else just has an impact. So he'll analyze it and then they'll adjust. They'll understand the net effect, but they're going to look to understand that get smart about it is the words that he used. And I love that. Yeah. I love Papa Powell for always keeping it real. Short, sweet, does not add any extra fluff. Just very direct, which I can appreciate. Yeah. Well, they're supposed to be non-Parks and he does a great job of that. There was actually a talk today that he gave in Texas. So he says that

their decisions are not reviewable. Congress has oversight of the Federal Reserve. That's why they testifies. That gives him accountability. He says his job is to be transparent. His job is to say what they're doing, what they're thinking. That's how he has accountability to the public. And he does a great job with that. That's his interpretation because he holds more press conferences than any Fed chair we've ever had. I guess I didn't realize that either. Sorry. We're here for epiphany moments. I've never watched a conference or FOMC meeting until this year.

I watch every single one. I enjoy them, but I'm also... You would. This is tying everything together and also depends on Fed policy. Tariffs and immigration policies will have a negative effect on growth, but on the other hand, deregulation and tax cuts will have a positive impact on growth. So if trade policy and immigration dominate the agenda, then the Fed is more likely to lower rates, which is very important due to what happened during Trump's last term.

That is the important factor to watch inflation and interest rates for self-directed investors, That's exactly right. Because last term, when tariffs were implemented and these other type of agendas, the Fed was raising rates and inflation was already going up. Inflation now is on a path of going down and we're lowering interest rates. As long as that's sustained, that could support a continuation of the bull market. The big risk, though, is stagflation.

don't think we've that word before. I also got this question and he's like, well, so what are you gonna do about stagflation? He's like, well, we don't have it now. The data doesn't say that. So I'm not going to address it because it's not here. I just love those answers. But stagflation, stagnant growth. So slow economic growth or no economic growth whatsoever. The economy is not growing. High unemployment, though. People don't have jobs and a high rate of inflation.

And that's the risk. Think about that. Inflation is high and then unemployment is also high. Well, then we're really out of balance. And that's a really difficult scenario for the Fed. And if growth is crippled because of tariffs and immigration policies, but inflation remains high due to the tariffs, we'll find ourselves in a stagflation scenario. do think it's worth mentioning.

Again, does this matter if it's a Republican or Democrat in the White House to affect the stock market? And the answer is no, because the stock market, looking at the S&P 500, over the beginning of the stock market time has always steadily gone up, right? So we're saying like the big takeaway is always time in the market is better than anything else. Something you can take away that's hopeful. If you're not sure or feeling uneasy about what might happen for the next four years.

One thing we do know is looking historically, the S &P 500 always grows. It'll go up and down, up and down, but over time it always grows. So keeping invested is going to do you the best, Yep. And diversified. Stay diversified, yeah. Not just all S &P 500. We have episodes on that, on the bond market, on CD, all kinds of things, anything you can think of. And if you have a question about any of that stuff, feel free to ask. Yeah. We have whole episode on diversification, on all things.

It's on so many now, look at us. Yay. Yeah. Everything you could possibly need to know about investing as a self-directed investor, we've got you. Yeah. And there's still so much more. We could go forever. So much more. I can definitely say I feel more monetarily prepared for the next four years. And again, we know that a lot of these policies are affecting a lot of our friends and family and just human beings in general, and that there is a lot of uncertainty.

We are just here to try to help you understand how to basically retire and make your money make money and how to invest for future you. Because like we said last time, knowledge is power and they can't take your knowledge away from you and you can have more financial independence to make decisions that benefit you the best. Absolutely. That's what financial independence is. Yeah. You can do you. And if you'd like to help your friends be financially independent as well or have this education and knowledge.

please share the podcast because sharing is caring. Yes. And we will love you forever. We already do. If you leave us a review or a five star rating, it's what helps us grow and it's what the algorithm likes to help us literally show up in other places. It's how you get on the charts is reviews, which we have learned. So thank you for the recent reviews. We had a listener. I don't know if you saw them or if I sent you to these in the middle of the night, that they told us that they just opened up in a count with fidelity. They feel more confident now.

Because of our podcast, which was very nice. And then we had another one. Alyssa, she told us that we were like a college course due to our rabbit holes. we do love some rabbit holes. Yes. I think it's also because we're neurodivergent. So if you are too, this show is for you. Maybe we'll give out homework. knows? Thank you for the love. And remember, when you build your knowledge, you break down barriers.

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