Trade Wars and Your Family

Bluster, ideological idiocy and a host of other hot air producing commentary is drowning our social media and semi-professional forums. Like all issues, everyone is now a trade expert, understands international treaties, exceptions and can provide a detailed rationale for this and the next iteration of team A or B. Whether we launch a war on trade, resources, ideology, cultural appropriation, food or obesity, the Internet is ready with millions of instant experts.

Let’s be clear, no one cares about your opinion, my thoughts on person A or B, or what we believe is the motive behind decisions. At times like this, everyone wants a piece of the pie, their five minutes of fame quoting some obscure voice in an effort to demonstrate their prowess. Funny, lame and ultimately useless, this is the state of the discourse online.

The question that few pontificate on is what does this mean for the individual families in the western world and what strategies are available to mitigate the effects and to construct a roadmap to success in this new environment.

The first and always most important aspect of change is being OK with uncertainty. Most of us prefer predictable times, where we can count on an income, costs are kept within reasonable inflationary ranges and stability in the overall system is high. That is not now, so the choice is ours. We can bemoan the instability, the uncertainty, you’re free to blame whom you choose, but in the end, the world is rapidly undergoing a transformation. The choice you have is to complain about the previous iteration, act like a petulant toddler protesting something you cannot control - or you can choose to understand the environment in which you exist, whether you agree with it or not.

A roadmap to success is found in knowledge of the circumstances under which you exist. We simplify this to three areas, income, expenses and you. At the risk of unnecessary repetition, I’ll offer once again, this has nothing to do whether you agree with what is happening, whose side you’re on and what your preferred outcome is. No, this is setting up you and your family to thrive within the current climate, storms, discourse, ridiculousness included.

Is there a strategy, absolutely!