If we’re not already in a recession, we may soon enter one due to aggressive trade policies that are fueling tremendous uncertainty. As companies and consumers pull back on spending, millions of jobs could be lost, trillions in stock market wealth may disappear, and inflation could persist—potentially ushering in a stagflationary environment.

If you’ve been thinking about retiring early in this environment, you might be hesitant to give up your steady W-2 paycheck. I completely understand. Your investments have already given up some gains, and you’re fearful we may retest the lows or worse. Our politicians, most of whom are extremely wealthy, can endure financial losses to pursue their ideologies far better than the average person.

Given the rising risk of a recession, I wanted to share my perspective since leaving the traditional workforce in 2012. You could argue we’ve already experienced two recessions since then—one in 2020 and another

Keep reading this article on Financial Samurai.