2025 Year In Review: What Actually Mattered for Your Money

A lot happened in 2025… Big political swings, stubborn inflation, new tax rules, and even a historic government shutdown. But what actually matters for your financial life? Today, we’re breaking down the year’s biggest headlines and what they may mean for your plan moving forward.

 

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Disclaimer: PFG Private Wealth Management, LLC is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. The topics and information discussed during this podcast are not intended to provide tax or legal advice. Investments involve risk, and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed on this podcast. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Insurance products and services are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed insurance agents.

 

Marc:

A lot happened in 2025, big political swings, stubborn inflation, new tax rules, and an historic government shutdown. But we're going to talk today about the biggest headlines and what they actually mean moving forward, if at all. So, stick around and let's get into this conversation here on Retirement Planning Redefined.

 

Everybody, welcome into the podcast with John and Nick and myself here to talk investing finance and retirement, and a little year-end review going on this week here on the podcast, guys. A lot happened this year, so a lot to break down, but we'll jump in and say hey to the guys. And congratulations, Nick, on being a married fellow this time around.

 

Nick:

Thank you. I appreciate it.

 

Marc:

Yeah, everything go smoothly?

 

Nick:

Yep, everything went smooth. We had a little rain scare, which doesn't usually happen too much this time of year, but it all worked out.

 

Marc:

Nice. Very nice. John, did he behave himself? Was he good?

 

John:

He was good. I pulled up to the venue. He looked very relaxed in shorts and a t-shirt and I was all decked out and there was a problem with the situation here. He was very chill and I was dressed up way too early.

 

Marc:

Nice.

 

John:

So, no, he was excellent. He was very happy and it was a good day all around.

 

Marc:

Awesome. Well, very cool. Congratulations to you again, and the misses. And then with that, let's jump in and roll back the clock a little bit, guys, to April of 2025. Here we'll start there with the Liberation Day, right? So, the market didn't like it at first. So, let's talk about that.

 

Nick:

Yeah. So, this is all kind of in reference to when the main tariffs were announced earlier this year. And really, kind of the thought process is to kind of look back and in retrospect in a somewhat recent time, look back and see things that may have freaked people out over the past year when it was kind of an acute situation, and then kind of the short-term results and then slightly longer term result. And so, when the tariffs were announced, there was massive drawdowns in the market. There was really a substantial pullback. There was dealing with inflation, market volatility, etc.

 

And in retrospect, looking back over this year itself, as we approached the end of the year, from a market perspective, ended up being a very positive year. And then when you look at it from the point in time at which we kind of bottomed out after the tariff news and there was a substantial drawdown, there was really a big run-up. So, it's just kind of the perspective of what went down and how it happened is interesting to look back on.

 

Marc:

Well, John, if you think about it, right, much like the COVID response, it was very much a V, right? So, it was a lot of sky is falling, doom and gloom, down 20% some indices, but then what, by May or June at the latest, it was back.

 

John:

Yeah, it's a little bit of a kind of yo-yo type thing. I remember that month it was down, kind of some potential news came out that happened wasn't real news, kind of came up a little bit and then went back down. And ultimately, the big takeaway as you compare it to COVID is stay of the course. We harp on having the plan in place and that goes on top of your investment plan. So, if you have a specific allocation, if you're moderate, aggressive, conservative, income based, whatever it might b