Ain’t No Love Between Trump, Tariffs and Recession

All is Fair in Love, Tariffs, and Trump.

What started like a normal February, kicked off an AI Bull Crash. This entire thing was a house of cards that plummeted until Trump. The first 100 days are getting expensive and time-consuming for all Americans. We were warned about the tariffs. Ever since Trump got into office, federal layoffs went up, prices went up, and anxiety went up. The only things that went down, were stock prices.

Inflation is back and sticking around like an STD.

Let me take a crack at explaining inflation

The first thing people get wrong is that inflation is a universal constant. It’s not a new idea. When prices spike, people panic and the media covers it for views. Fear sells and generates a lot of ad revenue. However, fear is fertile ground for misinformation. In 2025, clicks and conversations pay bills. The problem remains. Information alone does not solve a problem. The problem is over-expenditure. We (all) need to spend less. There are “too many dollars chasing too few goods,” which means everything will cost a lot more, for a longer time.

Secondly, inflation may slow down but it isn’t disinflation. That means prices won’t miraculously go down.

For example, take something that cost $100 in 2020 that went up 9% in 2021, 5% in 2022, and finally 3% in 2023. The new price is $117.88. Even if inflation goes down to 2% in 2024, the new price is $120.24. You are looking at a 20% increase. The only thing that cuts prices in a good way is bold innovation. [Thus the AI craze]

Finally, inflation means that your current annual expenses in 2024 of $80,000 will cost as much as $160,000 by 2050.

Why? Because humans operate on limited resources. The fewer items we have, the more people want them; the more expensive it becomes. Spending and access are now global. This means emerging middle classes in India, China, and South America will want access to the same goods that Americans had for the last 50 years. These are the new prices, and years from now, they will be the cheap prices.

Here’s hoping you don’t get swept up under a wave of unnecessary spending at the detriment of your future wealth. Over the last 50 years, a lot has changed. It stands to reason that by 2050, we will likely even more drastic changes.

The average American household needs to become more mindful of its cash flow.

With all the love talk aside, time to get Back into the Financial Driver’s Seat

Welcome back to the TNFG’s monthly breakdown where I dish out all the secrets on the way to becoming a millionaire household in this lifetime. Disclaimer: like all married men, I have to get approval from the Mrs to say, write and do anything. And even then, my actions can be repealed or sanctioned.

On a personal note, this month was harsh. Was it the cold or the news, I felt burned out. Coming off end-of-the-year vacations and back into the cold sucks. On top of that, I need to head back into the office. No more remote work for me. Time to burn 3-4 hours daily commuting.

Our net worth goal was $2M (by December 2025). It’s looking more tenuous as the days go. With every move, Trump makes our net worth is taking hits.

Here’s our Monthly Net Worth Summary:

More Market Swings with Turbulence Scheduled, Look Out Ahead!

We are back in the Cocaine Bear market. Keep your hands inside the ride, extreme highs and lows as the wealth gap in America increases. The future belongs to long-term investors. There are no shortcuts and avoid FOMO. Try not to panic sell. You already lost the paper gains.

At this stage, it is best to plan for the future and continue long-term investing while the market continues these violent up-and-down mood swings. Costs are only slated to rise by 2040. The only hedge against that is investing for the long term.

Overall, our investment portfolio dropped by 4%. We are sticking it our net max financial plan and betting on the next 7 years til we retire. Fortunately, we got active and purchased more Health Tech stocks while the market retreated for a few weeks. You have to be proactive and engaged in this game.

When we get within five years of our retirement goal (2033), I might change some of our strategies. Check out our Google Sheet.

Spending a bit too much on everything

With prices up on just about everything, we didn’t love our February spending but we offset the cost with our income. Our net cash flow was -$3,144.50, a decrease of $7,476.67 over January 2025.

Part of that was due to our travel costs being front-loaded for Switzerland (see “Budgeting” below). That country is expensive. Well, all travel is expensive in 2025. Even Brazil hotel prices are looking normal.

We are doing a lot better with our Amazon purchases. I had to cut down on those unnecessary subscriptions. Additionally, we need to look at travel activities to pay in March and April. We are waiting on the Mrs. Bonus for the year to help offset a lot of expenses. It’s been an active year. I’m going to try to be more timely again.

Getting used to a new schedule of reading, gym, and long commutes.

As for Love and Wealth, What is the Next Step for Us?

Since our love language includes retiring early and traveling the world, here are our overarching goals this year:

1. Add more date nights by the Mrs.’s request. No point having perfect credit, solid net worth, and decent emergency savings, if we aren’t looking at our mental health and connecting on a personal level.
2. Even though financial resources are low, Investing at least $833.33 per month in M1 Finance Brokerage focused on Growth and Dividend Income that generates at least $1,500 per month in passive income in 2033, is still the goal.
   • Check out the portfolio in real-time. If you like the platform and want to start investing, I have the $10 for $10 referral if you need it – https://m1.finance/SYdqDJ2SyADC.
3. Shooting for a sustained investment rate of $7,500 per month.
   • To help monitor your savings, cash flow, net worth, investments, retirement, and freer with Personal Capital! Sign up with my link & get a $20 Amazon gift card. *Terms apply. https://pcap.rocks/lawrencegonz
4. We hit 20,000 followers on IG.

About Author