Finance
Financial experts reveal how Americans can prepare for the possibility of a recession
National Association of Home Builders CEO Jim Tobin discusses Vice President Kamala Harris pushing a tax incentive to build homes on ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’
Financial experts are revealing how Americans can prepare for the possibility of a recession with concerns about the economy.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday indicated that interest rate cuts could come soon, telling Kansas City Fed’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks.”
Chris Markowski, of Markowski Investments, told Fox News Digital that Americans should not buy into the hype or “fear” of recessions. Instead, they should look at it as a “housecleaning” opportunity where they can make necessary cutbacks and come out stronger than before.
“I think many Americans right now feel that they’re in a recession already,” Markowski said. “Their buying power has been, in essence — it’s gone away, based upon inflation and money and what it can buy them, what they’re paying for groceries or what they’re paying for cars and what they’re paying for the bare necessities of life.”
US PRODUCER PRICES RISE LESS THAN EXPECTED IN JULY
In this photo illustration, one and five dollar bills seen on display. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Imagehoto Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Markowski advised investors not to panic when it comes to their portfolios and avoid attempting to time the market. When Americans hit slow times, they can cut back on what they do not need and come out stronger due to their new efficiencies.
David Peters, from Peters Tax Preparation & Consulting PC, said Americans must look at their spending to prepare for a potential recession, must not stop saving for retirement, and try not to take out large loans.
“Where is your money going?” he asked. “Are there places where you need to tighten your belt? You should take a look at your budget and figure out how to still make room in it for savings — even in the midst of rising costs. Make sure that you have an emergency account that is funded (three months of expenses is ideal).”
“As I have told many clients, the most important thing is to have perspective,” Peters added. “We have been through economic ups and downs in the past (and a pandemic most recently). We just need to cut spending where we can and continue to save. These hard times will pass too.”
Al Lord, of Lexerd Capital Management, encouraged Americans “looking to buy a home or continue renting” to “prioritize maintaining stable employment and ensure that housing costs stay below 30% of their monthly income.”
“It’s important to review expenses, create a realistic budget, and have a contingency plan in place in case job security becomes uncertain,” he said.
Andrew Van Alstyne, from Fiduciary Financial Advisors, told Fox News Digital that ideally Americans would want to increase their liquidity amid the uncertainty.
Priceline CEO Brett Keller breaks down leisure spending in the United States on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
“That means ensuring you’re able to cover anywhere from six to 12 months of expenses without changing your lifestyle,” Van Alstyne said. “The first source of funds should be in an emergency fund sitting savings account (usually three to six months of expenses). The next source of funds would be in a brokerage account (non-retirement investment account) and would draw down on cash, then investments that are easily traded (liquid). Do not take loans or cash-out retirement accounts unless it’s RMDs or a previously established withdrawal strategy in retirement. Lastly, cut back (not necessarily eliminate) unnecessary expenses until the economy balances out and we know what best next steps are.”
Self-made multi-millionaire John Cerasani, who built his company during a recession, told Fox News Digital that “there are opportunities for entrepreneurs to emerge in recession-proof industries.”
“Focusing on services related to higher education institutions is an example of an industry that typically thrives during a recession,” he explained.
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Guild Investment Management’s Tony Danaher advised Americans to “hold off on high-ticket purchases, lock down and extend employment contracts (or make yourself invaluable) and save.”
“Consider less market and economic sensitive investments,” Danaher added. “If needed, put off retiring if worried about income.”
The UK’s financial regulator should consider expanding its oversight to cover advanced artificial intelligence models used in financial services, according to a review commissioned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as policymakers assess whether existing rules can keep pace with rapidly evolving AI technology.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city state’s central bank and financial regulator, has joined forces with major financial institutions and FinTechs to release a white paper aimed at keeping AI agents in finance operating within safe limits.
The paper, called Safeguards for Agentic Finance at Runtime (SAFR), lays out an industry-built framework designed to let AI agents perform financial tasks in a manner that is safe, secure and dependable. It has been produced under BuildFin.ai, the MAS programme that backs the responsible creation and rollout of AI tools across the financial sector.
The push comes as AI agents take on more autonomous work at a pace that makes hands-on human oversight impractical. In response, firms require real-time controls that keep agent behaviour inside the mandates, policies and risk limits they have defined. SAFR answers this with a series of governance checkpoints that check and log each action an agent proposes before that task is carried out.
The framework extends the AI Risk Management toolkit created through MAS’ Project Mindforge, concentrating on how protections can be put into practice at the moment an agent acts. The white paper maps out how measures such as policy bound execution, real time validation, auditability and interoperability can be woven into system operations, giving institutions the confidence to deploy agents consistently.
Industry participants have already tested SAFR in several settings. These include agent-assisted payments and treasury work, where agents handle routine transactions inside set mandates to cut friction and lift efficiency; wealth management and advisory processes, where agents examine documents and produce structured assessments within tightly defined task limits to speed up compliance reviews; and client engagement, where agents create insights and draft materials within approved content boundaries so staff can serve clients more productively.
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Talking about finances can be stressful, but it’s even more stressful if you’re not sure what advice is good and what advice might put you in a worse position than you started in.
Recently, a Reddit user who goes by market_vision1 asked, “What is the worst financial advice people still repeat?” I took out a little pen and paper while I was reading through these, like, “Lemme write that down. And that. Oh! And that, too!” I’m curious what you think, though. Are all of these things we should avoid financially?
1. “One of the more damaging ideas out there is ‘Oh, you’re young, don’t worry about money, just go have fun and worry about it when you are older.’ Of course, the number one regret I hear from clients nearing retirement is that they wish they had just started saving when they were younger.”
—u/hems86
2. “The ‘tax bracket’ myth should be illegal. My uncle turned down a $10K raise because he thought he’d ‘lose money.’ He literally paid $10,000 to avoid $2,200 in taxes. That’s not a tax strategy. That’s a $7,800 donation to the Dumba— Fund, and he’s the chair.”
—u/Serious_Cress5040
Related: “31 Things Only Super Wealthy People Can Buy That You Probably Don’t Even Know Exist”
3. “People living outside of their means and not realizing it. They say things like, ‘You deserve X, don’t settle for less.’ Most of the people I see who are broke are not 100% victims of the system. The majority of people waste their money on dumb stuff that they can’t afford. They’ll tell me they’ve cut out all unnecessary spending, but when I look at their actual expenses, I see otherwise. Spending $800 a month on DoorDash, financing a new car with a $900 monthly payment, going on international vacations, spending 70% of their income on rent in a fancier apartment when there are options for cheaper living.”
—u/hems86
4. “I’m a financial planner, and some of the worst advice I’ve ever heard is ‘Don’t pay off your credit cards in full. Carrying a balance on your credit card builds your credit; paying it off every month hurts your score.’ People say this to me all the time when I ask why they carry a balance on their card with 25% interest when they have more than enough to pay it off.”
—u/hems86
5. “It’s not so much advice as it is a financial choice. I know people who are taking out 96-month loans on cars they never should’ve considered in the first place, just because they can make the car note when it’s stretched over eight years. They never considered the interest on the loan plus the rate cars depreciate and are befuddled when they can’t afford to trade it in.”
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