Older people face Trump tariffs, leaving concerns are increasing, stock sales
Vicky Knight, a retired educator and part-time yoga instructor, says she feels she’s thinning. “I’m semi-retired,” Marietta, Georgia says her Social Security income is not enough to live, and recent stock market sales driven by tariff uncertainty have complicated her plans.
The stock market has fallen nearly 10% from an all-time high, based on the S&P 500 returns through the end of April. A recession may be on the verge of imminent situation.
Sometimes you sit down and praise the balance in your retirement account. This wasn’t one of those days.
If you are approaching retirement or are already there, you may be looking for a way to fill your savings. You may also wonder how to avoid using them when they are already decreasing.
Take your heart: There are ways to build savings in a depressed financial market and how to avoid pulling them down.
Here are six tips from experts:
Make the most of your tax savings
If you’re not bound by cash, make sure you have as much as possible with your taxable account, including 401(k), IRA, and HSA.
The 401(k) already has a high contribution limit of $23,500 in 2025. If you’re nearing retirement, consider pushing your savings to the greatest possible extent.
Over 50 Americans can save more by “catch-up contributions,” pushing the annual 401(k) limit to $31,000. In the age range of 60-63 years, a small subset of savers earns an even higher catch-up limit of 34,750 thanks to the safe 2.0 method.
“People may not recognize the importance of contributing to catch up,” says Maria Bruno, senior financial planning strategist at Vanguard.
The contribution limit for an individual retirement account is $7,000 or $8,000 for those over the age of 50.
Elderly workers may not be able to see points where they can maximize their retirement savings near retirement because they don’t have much time to grow.
However, keep in mind that savings will not stop growing when you retire. If you retire at 65 and live until age 85, these savings will continue to earn interest for another 20 years.
According to Bruno, think of savings as an investment that grows “through retirement” rather than just a “retirement.”
Health savings accounts are another potential tool for building retirement savings. The annual limit is $8,550 for families in 2025, and people over the age of 55 can donate an additional $1,000. You can save money that you won’t spend.
“Ideally, I would consider it a retirement account,” Bruno said.
Automate retirement contributions
For long-term retirement savers, a depressed market writes about the opportunity to buy stocks at discounts.
Automating the contributions of retirement is a good way to continue purchasing through the recession. “We’re committed to working with people who are looking for a way to help us,” said Michelle Krammu, a certified financial planner in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
If your contribution is not automatic, you may miss out on buying stocks with cheap ones.
“When the market drops, too many people freeze,” Crumm said.
Postponing your retirement
If you are on the eve of retirement, perhaps the last thing in your mind is to work for another year or two.
However, postponing retirement can be a powerful tool for building retirement savings, even in a year or two.
A Stanford University survey found that delaying retirement by just three to six months has the same impact as increasing the contribution rate of 401(k) points for a full 30-year period.
Let’s say you postpone your retirement for a year. That year, you could make the most of your retirement savings and potentially add tens of thousands of dollars to your account. And you won’t cut down your savings. This means that when you leave, they will last longer.
“It allows for continuous income. You’ll earn savings from that income while delaying withdrawal of your portfolio,” Bruno said.
Staying in the workforce is particularly appealing in the down market. That means there’s no need to raid your retirement savings while its value is declining.
The downside of working longer is that you don’t have much time to enjoy retirement later.
As a compromise, consider working part-time.
Collinday, a certified financial planner in St. Louis, said: And part-time schedules “give you more flexibility to do what you enjoy.”
Accumulate cash savings
As your retirement date approaches, you are likely to have to tap on savings to live expenses immediately. Ideally, you should have some of these savings in cash.
According to retirement experts, the wise goal is to accumulate costs to live in at least a year’s worth of cash or cash equivalent accounts, such as high-yield savings or money market funds.
“These dollars will be the first to drain you to generate a new retirement salary,” said Heather Winston, Head of Product Strategy, an individual solution for Principal Financial Group.
Cash is particularly important in a recession, so you can avoid selling down investments.
Transition from spending to savings
One reliable way to pad your retirement savings is to shift your focus from spending to savings.
“We are pleased to announce that we are committed to providing a range of financial plans for our customers,” said NIV Persaud, certified financial planner in Atlanta. “If an adult child needs to pay his or her cell phone bill, not a required fee, pay for the essential fees. Shift the money spent on essential items for retirement savings.”
And look for other ways to reduce your costs, Crumm said.
“Small adjustments today — refinancing, downsizing subscriptions, and paying off high-profit debt can reduce the income you need to retire,” she said. “This means that we will be able to withdraw from investments during the downmarket and allow more time for our portfolios to recover.”
Consider delaying social security
Think of this tip as protection against future recessions.
Waiting for Social Security to request a larger monthly check. Your profits increase in value every year, from age 62 to 70.
“If we can use other assets to fill the gap, delaying Social Security can serve as a form of life insurance and provide a more guaranteed income,” Crumm says.
Large checks can be particularly useful “if portfolio growth is temporarily stagnant.”