American retirees reeling from market turmoil, shrinking retirement funds

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - As US President Donald Trump announced tariffs that shook the global economy on Wednesday, Americans near retirement and retirees said they were anxious and frustrated following a second day of market turmoil that hit their personal pension accounts.

People who were planning on their retirement accounts to carry them through their golden years said the economic chaos was hitting too close to home, according to NBC News.

“I’m just kind of stunned, and with so much money in the market, we just sort of have to hope we have enough time to recover,” said Paula, 68, a former occupational health professional in New Jersey who retired three years ago.

Paula, who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation for speaking out against Trump administration policies, said she was worried about what lies ahead.

“What we’ve been doing is trying to enjoy the time that we have, but you want to be able to make it last,” Paula said Friday. “I have no confidence here.”

As Wall Street reeled Friday after China hit back with tariffs against the US, millions of Americans with 401(k)s watched their retirement funds diminish along with the stock market.

“I looked at my 401(k) this morning, and in the last two days, that’s lost $58,000. That’s stressful,” said Victor Fettes, 54, of Georgia, who retired last week as a senior director of risk management and compliance at Verizon. “If that continues, I can’t stay retired.”

- Trump revealed Wednesday his long-awaited reciprocal tariffs

Tariffs ranging from 10% to 50% were imposed on products the US imports from many of its trading partners.

The EU received 20%, China 34%, Vietnam 46%, Taiwan 32%, Japan 24%, India 26%, South Korea 25%, Thailand 36%, Switzerland 31%, Indonesia 32%, Malaysia 24%, Cambodia 49%, South Africa 30%, Bangladesh 37%, and Israel 17% in reciprocal tariffs.

Some countries, such as Türkiye, the UK, Brazil, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, were each subjected to 10% baseline tariffs.

US stocks ended the week significantly lower as the trade war intensified after China retaliated to President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs that were announced earlier this week.

The Dow dove 5.50%, or 2,231.07 points, to close the week at 38,314.86, the largest drop since June 2020, as it is entering correction territory.

The S&P 500 slipped 5.97%, or 322.44 points, to close at 5,074.08, the biggest fall since March 2020, also off more than 17% from its recent high.

The Nasdaq fell 5.82%, or 962.82 points, to 15,587.79, taking the index down 22% from its December record, entering into a bear market.

The sharp two-day drop in indices caused losses of more than $6 trillion, while nearly $10 trillion has been wiped from US markets since Trump's inauguration.

The VIX Index, also known as the “fear index," rose by 50.93% to 45.31.