On The Way Up

It turns out that taxes aren’t the first thing everything is going to have to think about financially with the new Trump administration as promised tariffs against big trading partners are being implemented this week (at least to some degree, as even passing those has had some push and pull since they were originally announced).

As always, I am going to do my best to leave politics out of this discussion. No matter where you land on whether these tariffs should be implemented or not, there is little debate that they are at least going to raise some prices on some products. Just how much these increases will be and how long they will last remain to be seen, but the fact they will exist is part of the deal of instituting these new tariffs.

So even if this doesn’t push into the wide-ranging, long-term planning of tax policy changes, this could still represent a change for many in the country. As such, it serves as a good reminder about the importance of budgeting.

We have seen enough inflation in the last few years to understand that there is little we can do about these price changes. If you have bought eggs recently, you have been forced to concede that the price is just the price. As the old adage goes, if you want an omelet, you have to break a few wallets. And we are now bound to see this happening with other goods, too, where no matter how much you shop around or look for sales, some things are just going to be more expensive than they used to be.

How did you handle this when there were larger, across-the-board jumps in the wake of the COVID pandemic? For yes, to some degree you must just accept it, but everyone’s paycheck didn’t increase at the same rate so that the numbers canceled each other out and it was barely noticed. Instead, many people did feel a real squeeze.

Budgeting is very much tied in with mindfulness and being aware of where your money is going. If some things are going up in price too much to feel affordable anymore, maybe you can decide that you don’t need to keep buying it. Of course, though, other things are still going to be necessary. Being mindful of where you shift money away from to cover that is important then so that you can make the best decisions for you.

For no matter what, this is not something that is just going to happen without notice. So be aware now as it begins so that you can navigate it as best as possible for your personal situation.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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