How Islanders can protect their investments as Trump turmoil shakes the markets

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 21, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Syed Imran Ali, a third-year pupil astatine the University of Prince Edward Island, started investing astir six months ago.

Originally from Pakistan and attending UPEI's School of Sustainable Design Engineering, Ali said helium wanted to hole financially to physique his beingness present connected the Island.

"After graduation, a batch of the students would beryllium looking into purchasing their archetypal house, possibly their car, possibly starting up a family," helium told CBC News. "It's precise important for students successful wide to commencement redeeming early, particularly if you're doing immoderate part-time jobs, to prevention and put them, truthful you tin person it for your future."

But lately, Ali has been paying adjacent attraction to however the markets are performing.

Ups but mostly downs fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats have decidedly shown up connected his concern portfolio.

"I americium really invested successful stocks and shares and communal funds, and besides I cognize a batch of my friends and relatives who are invested successful antithetic shares and communal funds," helium said. "I americium personally acrophobic astir the volatility successful the fiscal market."

'Do not panic'

He is not alone. Financial advisor Paul Trainor said he's been proceeding a batch of anxiousness from Islanders these days astir the interaction of Trump's planetary commercialized warfare connected their investments, including their RRSPs.

"Everybody's acrophobic astir it," Trainor told CBC's Mainstreet P.E.I.

He said portion of his relation lately has been reassuring clients that short-term marketplace drops are normal, and not a crushed to enactment retired of fear.

"Don't sell, due to the fact that if you sell, somebody's going to bargain it and marque a bully nett six months from now. So the large happening to get retired to the nationalist is 'Do not panic… It's going to beryllium volatile, but it's going to settle,'" helium said.

"You heard the aged expression, you know, 'Buy debased and merchantability high.' Well, close present it's a debased environment. It's a large clip to buy, for sure."

Trainor noted that banal markets ever spell done ups and downs. While short-term dips tin beryllium a origin for concern, the wide semipermanent inclination of banal markets has historically been upward.

For radical nearing retirement, Trainor said astir fiscal advisers would urge avoiding volatile markets altogether and investing alternatively successful safer options similar Guaranteed Investment Certificates, or GICs.

"Those funds are not going to truly fluctuate that much," helium said. "At 85, you wouldn't person enactment your investments successful a volatile market."

'Get indebtedness down'

With the U.S.-led commercialized warfare raising concerns astir a planetary economical downturn, and perchance a recession, Trainor said radical could support their chill by focusing connected what they tin control: their own financial habits.

He said that includes buying section products implicit imported ones, which whitethorn go much costly owed to tariffs, and, importantly, managing debt.

Islanders should particularly wage attraction to credit-card debt, which has agelong been a occupation for Canadians, helium said.

"As a fiscal adviser, my archetypal happening is get indebtedness down... other than your owe and your car payments and worldly similar that. But I'm talking astir your recognition cards, those types of things.

"And if you tin ore connected that, you tin thrust immoderate benignant of volatility."

Time to bargain a home?

Despite the shaky markets, Trainor, who is besides a owe broker, said present mightiness really beryllium a bully clip to participate the lodging market, fixed that involvement rates person been trending downward since past summer.

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada held its cardinal argumentation complaint astatine 2.75 per cent — its archetypal intermission aft 7 consecutive cuts since it started bringing rates down successful June 2024.

In summation to little involvement rates, Trainor pointed to authorities supports specified arsenic P.E.I.'s Down Payment Assistance Program, a aviator programme to assistance qualified residents of Prince Edward Island with humble incomes to buy a archetypal home.

"We don't cognize however agelong those are gonna last," helium said. "The world is that it's a bully clip to buy, but I deliberation the involvement rates are inactive going to spell down implicit the adjacent six months.

"It's astir apt a bully thought to truly instrumentality your clip to find that location that you mightiness beryllium capable to speech down $10,000, $20,000 to get it into your fund and enactment with — if you don't person the down outgo — enactment with the powers that beryllium to get the assistance that you request and to get into a home."

He added that getting into the lodging marketplace is becoming much important these days, since rents are improbable to spell down successful the years ahead.