Truth be told, it’s been a bit of a tempestuous week on the old financial markets thanks to a certain Mr Trump.

I won’t deal with all the ramifications of Mr Trump’s tariffs except to say some of the sudden changes he is making reminded me a little of Liz Truss and Kwazi Kwarteng at their best / worst (delete as appropriate).

It’s worth remembering that Ms Truss stood down after only 50 days in power, the shortest serving Prime Minister in history, after some near disastrous economic changes.

It’s perhaps worth celebrating the fact that in the UK we can dump a Prime Minister if we want too at any time, or to be more accurate the ruling party can.

This is not privilege afforded the American people who will suffer considerably due to an ill-thought out tariff strategy which will likely cause dire economic problems in the US and in other countries which rely on exports to the US and are also facing punitive tariffs.

Tariffs have always been part of world trade but need to applied with care and a soft touch, not used as a sledgehammer.

Let me say, at the risk of being lynched, that I do understand to some degree what Mr Trump is trying to do. He is trying to reverse a 30 year decline in US manufacturing and an enormous national debt in about 30 days (or at least it seems like it).

This is, we should remember, one of the most radical and unpredictable US Presidents since the Second World War so expect the unexpected, as they say. More tariffs and more changes are not unlikely. Some firms may shift manufacturing back to the US, if they don’t go bust in the meantime, and so on. It will be upheaval and it will take a while for the dust to settle.

I suspect common sense of a sort will emerge with Mr Trump being forced eventually to reshape some of his tariffs to avoid an economic depression that may make the 1930s look like a time of cheer and optimism.

For UK Financial Planners the only sensible strategy is to ‘keep calm can and carry on.’ Financial Planning is always about the long term not what happened on the markets this week. Planners will be looking forward to noting the sharp downward spike on the markets followed by a recovery of sorts.

As we reported this week, most planners have urged investors not to make ‘knee jerk’ reactions to the market volatility. This will simply lock in any paper losses and is unwise.

A calm and rational approach, which is at the heart of good Financial Planning, will always be the right policy. Educating clients too that short term market movements have little long term impact will also help.

The message should be ‘don’t get Trumped by the markets’ instead hold your hand and play the long game.

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Kevin O’Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and a journalist with 40 years of experience in finance, business and mainstream news. This topical comment on the Financial Planning news appears most weeks, usually on Fridays but occasionally other days.  Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow @FPT_Kevin 

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