A financial planner shares her best investing advice for people worried about the stock market after tariffs

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• With tariffs announced for April 2, many Americans are worried about the effect on their money.
• It's not a good idea to make broad changes to your investments based on the news.
• If you have a good reason to adjust your strategy, though, work on it with a financial advisor.

Recent headlines have many Americans understandably worried about their money. After President Donald Trump announced new tariffs that came into effect on April 2, we're already seeing the effects ripple through the stock market.

As a certified financial planner, my goal is to help investors think long-term and holistically consider their investments. I know many people are wondering what to do to better protect their investments, so here's my best advice.

Stick to the fundamentals

There is really only one thing to do in these circumstances: Stick to the fundamentals. In my practice, I teach clients that there are only three good reasons to make changes to their investments.

First, your investment thesis has changed. Perhaps you've decided to invest more in alignment with your values or shift between active and passive-based investing.

Second, your personal financial situation or goals have changed. Maybe you're shifting from real estate to the stock market, you want more liquidity in your portfolio, or you're converting to a Roth IRA.

Third, your investment time horizon has changed. This is one of the most common reasons people shift investments. Perhaps you have been planning to retire in 15 years, and now you've decided that you're a little bit ahead of schedule. That would warrant revisiting the asset allocation of your portfolio to be more in line with your new retirement date.

Try not to panic

However, what is not a valid reason is reacting to the economic headlines or market swings. Numerous studies have shown that when people react emotionally to the market, they typically underperform investors who stay invested through the volatility.

If you are finding yourself nervous about the market, I want you to answer a few questions:

• Is your asset allocation appropriate for your age and the time horizon that you have for your goal?
• Is your risk tolerance in alignment with your asset allocation?
• Is your risk capacity in alignment with how you're invested?
• Has your portfolio drifted substantially from your target allocation?
• Lastly, have you gone too hard on the set-it-and-forget-it train and not paid attention to where your portfolio is moving?

Your financial advisor can help you when it's time to adjust your strategy

If you find that you need to revisit your portfolio, market downturns present a great time to do so. They remind us of the risks that are very real in the market.

There is substantial volatility that you experience on a day-to-day basis, and downturns remind us of the risk that is the entry fee for investing.

Yes, the market has been fantastic over the last couple of years, but it's not always sunshine. What goes up must come down, but hold faith that over time the market has generally been shown to be up more than down.

Your financial advisor can also help you make the appropriate, unemotional decision regarding your portfolio if you're tempted to react to the current headlines.

This article was originally published on March 29, 2025.