22News InFocus Election Impact & the Economy

from our 22 News broadcast Center this is 22 News In Focus good afternoon and welcome to 22 News In Focus I'm Siara speller president-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated into his second term on Monday January 20th and since his election in November he's been naming cabinet nominees and other senior positions in his administration he's also announced that he'll issue executive orders beginning on day one including an increase in tariffs Mass deportation of migrants and reducing the federal Workforce so today on 22 News In Focus we'll be looking at the impact of a new Administration in the White House the changing political landscape and the economy joining me now is Tony snoli a political consultant with Al signi company Tony always a pleasure to have you on the program thank you SI so let's just start with the basics you know what do we think drove people to the polls this year the economy the economy the economy and whatever you thought of it the perception of it the reality of it it was the economy we saw in every state we were involved in no matter if it was a blue or red state to begin with that was the major issue the cost of everything that was driving folks and the perception of overall America not feeling that we were heading in the right direction so they did something incredible and brought back a president who had lost the Oval Office I mean it's been a heck of 100 years since that's happened before yeah and so you know why do we think that people voted for Trump I'm sure this is an answer you know that has many answers but you know what what are we thinking we'll there'll be books written about this one for the next decade but the reality when you've got double digigit inflation when you've got a significant immigration crisis and when you've got massive Wars in two different parts of the the world that largely the United States is funding or has a rle in that's the kind of stuff that gets folks uptight it's on their mind and on the Democratic side as good of a candidate as KLA Harris was with 15 weeks to play she never was able to articulate anything to distance herself from the perception of Joe Biden and the perception of these difficult issues the main issue for her that she was able to articulate well was on abortion that wasn't enough you had to hit the other issues yeah and so in the days after we've seen a lot of Democrats you know across the country and even here in Massachusetts saying that this is kind of a wakeup call that you know we need to promote more of our our goals and and what we stand for you know what do we think absolutely so the amazing $1.5 billion spent in 15 weeks on the Democratic side and that's just the straight money as we like to call it now that's not the packs that were also supporting the Democratic ticket supporting kamla Harris stunning absolutely stunning and all of that messaging just never seemed to really get home to folks and the more simplistic messaging of the packs supporting Donald Trump they were able to hit those issues that we just talked about economy and talking to average regular folks and make making them feel a little bit more comfortable with what they believed Trump would be able to do and so as we mentioned Trump has been building his White House team some of his cabinet secretary choices have been met with criticism as well you know are there any conservatives in the House and Senate that don't see eye to eye with Trump what a great great great question two weeks ago we would have said yes in normal politics in normal Washington which hasn't been normal since 2016 since Donald Trump there are Republicans who have sign ific issues obviously they had with Matt Gates there are many that are going to bring up their issues and problems with Dash Patel uh certainly his uh nominee for Secretary of Defense uh hex in trouble however Trump has doubled down on all of them except Gates and what we're seeing is Republicans are coming around Donald Trump controls what was the Republican party and his hold on DC is incredible right now I don't think he's going to have a lot of trouble there'll be questions especially for Patel and ESP esally for Tulsi gabber and certainly Bobby Kennedy's confirmation hearings that's going to be the stuff for Netflix movies down the road but I think they're pretty much all going to get through how do we feel that the American people are feeling about these appointees they see this as it's Donald Trump's mandate it's Donald Trump's White House and they're actually kind of getting the drift from the perception that's out there right now from the podcast to the work that the Trump and Trump packs are continuing to do that these are choices that are going in to drain the swamp these are folks going to shake things up and whatever we may think of some of these folks that is the biggest thing that the American public continues to look for they're always looking for cut the corruption cut the spending make it different at some point though they've got to say is this really affecting me is this getting down to me how do they feel about it right now I can't say so much as it's it's hopeful as it is really uh waiting to see the first 100 days the there's a perception that Trump will move quickly yeah want to bring that up the first 100 days it's kind of a maker break it sets the stage you know what do you think we should expect from the administration you're going to see Donald Trump move quickly to sit there and hit executive action he'll be signing uh a variety of things right off the bat and the biggest one it's going to be on immigration you're going to see him keep those promises that he made he sees this as a major major issue obviously it's one that his base sees as significant and it's one he's going on to hit hit out of the ballpark early because again perception whatever uh we see as far as the uh folks being uh deported perhaps or even the aspect of getting through the quote unquote paperwork of immigration how many folks are out there that are Asylum Seekers how many people have been in the country already 20 years can we expedite and get this moving that whole concept that we're hearing about from Elon Musk in that regard that's I think the first thing that you're going to see and you're going to see these executive orders one after another you'll also see him start to focus on taxes because a lot of the taxes that he was able to get through uh in his first term come up next year you'll see him protect and guard that part of his legacy and what about any concern about checks and balances in the government with the Republican White House and the majority in Congress it should always be there it's what the Constitution is based on but one of the things that I'm hearing about this even from Democrats even policy players who've been around for a long time and I'm hearing it from academics and economists is that that day is done we should have checks and balances but there's almost a feeling from the electorate overall and it's across the board it's not just Republicans it's Democrats we're tired of it just go fix this do whatever you got to do it's broke if you got to break it some more do it that's what we seeing in polling even after the election Sierra people saying I went for Trump because of I want to see monstrous change massive change some of that same messaging from 2016 worked for him well in this election in 2024 yeah and what are some of the Monstrous changes like you said that people maybe not understanding exactly what's going to be happening some that will be interesting and we'll hear it from some of the other folks that will be on the show today better uh suited to speak to it than myself but social security protection or not taxes tax code a lot of stuff that usually makes the electorates eyeballs glaze over right but this is the serious stuff that this Administration is going to have to get into right now too one thing that we didn't didn't hear a lot about during the campaign was the deficit you know that amount of money and what it's going to cost us in the long run uh these are the variety of things I think first and foremost that you're going to see this Administration take a look at quick what's impressive is whether we like them or not uh the folks that Donald Trump has put forward it's unusual to see have seen so many names so quickly put forward sacking in fact yeah lastly I want to touch on this you know a lot of people have been talking about the war in Ukraine the war in the Middle East as well with Trump's policies you know what are we thinking we're going to see moving forward I think that's in the first 100 days too Donald Trump wants Legacy he's not going to be able to run for president of the United States again unless he changes the Constitution right so this is it he can get away with doing anything he wants to in that he doesn't have to worry about re-election so roll it to Ukraine roll it to Israel Gaza and Beyond now my goodness Syria looking at what's happening in Somalia Sudan and whatnot you're going to see Trump go strong with the big stick so to speak this this is going to be Teddy Roosevelt walks softly carry a big stick this is I've got this and I'm going to use this he knows how to negotiate in that regard and again with a folks like him or not we're seeing already around the planet he's getting a response to that when the president of France a very liberal Progressive guy goes to pay homage in court to Donald Trump that's pretty amazing when the Canadian Prime Minister goes to maral Lago they've got the drift he's calling the shots and this is going to be a strong arm strong kind of government coming from Donald Trump not a guy to say easily easily say no to and lastly what are we thinking about the tone of the inauguration I was at uh president Trump's first inauguration I was a young student journalist um and now you know in my career I'm I'm eager to see what the tone of of the next inauguration will be like what are you thinking if he listens to some of the advisers around him he's going to remember one big thing this time this is television it's a made for television event You know despite social media and podcasting and all the new age of things and AI it's still the TV Camera I think this time he will be more careful in the message that he puts out there you're not going to see the rock sakam of 2016 he knows he can set a course here and that again he's got nothing to lose because he's won everything he's got the house he's got the Senate he's got the Judiciary he's got the executive branch I think you'll see that kind of a speech and from a little bit that I'm hearing from some players around him this is when he knows it's a legacy speech start a new tone all right Tony always a pleasure thanks so much for your Insight thanks and after the break we'll be talking about what we can expect from the financial markets in 2025 with a local financial adviser you're watching 22 News In Focus welcome back to 22 News In Focus we're discussing the impact of the recent election on the economy and political landscape the economy was a big issue for many Americans and how they voted but economists are saying that the US economy saw a huge comeback after the covid-19 pandemic many Industries are booming and seeing big profits joining me now is Mark te senior vice president of uh Investments with Raymond James we thank you for being on the program Mark always great to see you it's my pleasure Sierra so let's just start with Wall Street and the world markets how they reacted once president Trump won a second term it was euphoric the first night I mean the Futures that night had been up more than I've ever seen them uh like 2,000 points which is really extraordinary so the markets I I think it was it was partly because of a progrowth president's policies anticipated but I think it was also the the certainty of knowing that it was over it was so close and it was so up in the air up until the last minute I think the markets just were finally relieved that the interest rate Cuts had started and that the presidential election was over so I think it was more the certainty than it was just Donald Trump and in terms of momentum what are we expecting moving forward do we think it's going to continue you know it feels like it I I've been running around lately with this image of uh of a woman wrapped in the American flag pointing this way saying go and I'm calling that the United States of acceleration I think right now the US economy is the strongest it's ever been in the history of our country okay and so I think it continues I I think there's just so many new key areas of growth and whether it was Camala Harris or Donald Trump it really didn't matter it was it was go time what would it take to slow things down uh a good recession not in the forecast but a good recession would do it uh some cataclysmic event like a bomb being dropped on us um something that appears out of the out of the blue like a Black Swan event uh but right now it just you know we've checked all those boxes and it just doesn't look like there's anything out there that could really derail things so things do feel good um and I think we've got to tip our hat to us as Americans we've gone through 2008 where the markets went down almost 60% and then 2020 during Co you know we down another 45% we we came through both of those with flying colors and distance oursel from China and Europe and the rest of the world so we're a pretty strong country I wouldn't want to compete with us and in terms of you know the election results which Industries are seeing the most growth right now would you say all of those that are that are looking like regulations are going to be lifted on them and I think the financials think the big Banks The Dodd Frank legislation was some people say it was 27,000 pages of regulations to tell Regulators how to regulate the banks it it's onerous so I think many cases those will be lifted so you've seen the financial stocks go up on average I think about 133% so it's so I think that would be a good industry um other Industries where there's power needs would also be good Industries because there's you know he wants to drill baby drill you've heard that um but also it's about power now because AI is generating immense amounts of power demand MH and for downturn have we seen any sectors you know in that downward trend the only sectors right now that look vulnerable are the ones that are being doged by Elon Musk and Vic um and I specifically think of you know locally we're very interested in the F35 coming to Barnes that's one of the things that might be on the table is cutting the F35 uh plane to save you know a lot of money so it's it's Industries like that where they see a new way to do things you know Elon is such an innovator that um you know anything that's not up the speed or you know on the Forefront of change they might they might be trouble MH and tariffs I think we had you on the program the day after the election we were talking about tariffs um you know it's a word that we're hearing a lot but I'm not sure that people are really understanding what that entails so let's break that down okay tariff is a word it's a Latin word it really means to set the price and nowadays what tariffs mean to set the price is to set the price so that your other countries don't have an advantage over you so that's what's happening with Donald Trump and and tariffs he put them in in 2018 they're still around and I think he's trying to add more I think he's starting to like hearing himself say the word tariff it must be a new word for him um so I'm a little fearful because the history in the long term of tariffs is not good because it it really just leads to more inflation however in the short term it gives you maximum amounts of Leverage when you're the United States and you can say to Canada or Mexico we're going to increase your tariffs by 25% you notice how quickly those presidents jumped when he said that and for local businesses you know what would tariffs mean for them it's the that creates more uncertainty so so we we we got rid of some uncertainty when you know we elected him as president but more uncertainty from tariffs yes it's a big question okay and under President Biden infrastructure projects were a huge priority we saw a lot of things happening in regards to infrastructure here in Massachusetts so do we think that this is going to continue under the new Administration Donald Trump ran as a Cost Cutter you know he's going to bring things down but we we found out his first term that he loves to spend so I don't think those spending projects are going to go away so much as he's going to try to grow his way out of it which works as well so if you can grow at 3 four 5% GDP quickly those numbers um will make sense and and we can have all that spending that he so much loves and in terms of interest rates what are we thinking about interest rates well I think I think if I was um going to make a prediction I would say by 2027 rates will be down about two points from where they are now if they're around 4 and a half now they'll probably be 2 and a half or 3% if I had to make a guess we're going to probably see a Slowdown you know the bottom 50% of incomers in income earners in America aren't doing that well so there's going to be a drag on the economy unless we can create a lot of new jobs with what Trump is talking about um we're going to probably see a drag there so probably rates will come back down by 2027 and employment rate speaking of rates you know fell are we thinking moving along yep um well we got AI Rising right now and AI is is potentially a job killer software eats the world so at some point a lot of people that have jobs now that are comfortable might actually be out of work but there'll be a whole new creation of jobs but I'm not sure how fast that's going to happen so we could see some labor problems down the road okay something else people seem really excited about Bitcoin Bitcoin right so U following the election Bitcoin is it's huge right now surging in value um what are we thinking in terms of cryptocurrency well as an investment adviser when you see stock market going up as much as it does and Bitcoin going up equally is high it makes you worry that you know things are a little bit out of control cuz Bitcoin at $100,000 per token um you know and now it looks like a new cryptocurrency Zar is going to be Pro cryptocurrency so this is a first time in in many many years so we'll see um there's a lot of excitement about Bitcoin because one of the things about Bitcoin versus the other cryptos is you have to earn a token with Bitcoin you have to go out and solve a math problem like ethereum the other ones are staked I means somebody decided there's a value and they just work around that Bitcoin you have to earn it so you know Bitcoin probably has a little more staining power and now that it's worth almost $2 trillion dollar you can't just get rid of it so now it's a problem uh I think they're going to ultimately make it like the Strategic petroleum Reserve use Bitcoin to be you know something to shore up our currency and maybe help with the gold market as well it's exciting though it's it's really exciting you know there's projections that could go to $2 million per token so should we buy now I don't know for looking at viability for the Future Would we think do we think this is a a viable source of currency we do we we like the blockchain part of it we like the new part of that blockchain where every transaction is now logged in somewhere um the trouble is there's nothing that backs it so people that are traditional value people that look at you know the value of a house you got Lumber you got land there's nothing there for that so we're going to have to figure out where it fits into our our uh economy but right at this point crypto is about $3 trillion overall that's a huge asset and in terms of personal Investments how are people feeling about their Investments following president-elect Trump well people are calling me up and thanking me and they shouldn't do that because it's not me it's the markets that are doing this so it scares me a little bit when people feel so euphoric about things because I know how things work goes up and it goes down sometimes but I'm not predicting that but it could um when people are feeling too good that worries me okay mark thank you always a pleasure my pleasure when we return we'll be discussing personal finances and upcoming tax changes with an area tax accountant you're watching 22 News In [Music] Focus we're back here now with 22 News In Focus it's the end of the year and time to take stock of your personal and business finances and to get ready to file your taxes as well joining me now with is Paul manoni a tax attorney and certified public accountant with Paul L mansoni company we thank you for being here on the program with us thank you Sarah thank you for having me so president-elect Trump has voiced his support of loosening business regulations and reducing taxes I want to move right to the 2017 tax cuts and jobs act you know let's talk about that absolutely well that was a radical change to the tax code especially on the business side he uh dropped the tax rate of 35% down to 21 and that was a monstrous change and really was good news for businesses and to a smaller extent SI he dropped the tax rates for individuals as well but not as dramatic as the businesses and then the other uh big change related to the two th well there were some dramatic changes on the estate tax side but for 22 viewers that that people would deal with on a regular basis he did a lot of changes to itemize deductions he raised the standard deduction so people didn't really have to keep track of their mortgage interest and real estate taxes he gave a big fat standard deduction to replace that and that's uh the those are uh coming up for retirement at the end of 2025 so we're going into an interesting time as to how this is all going to play out yeah and a lot you know up in the air a lot of consideration so like you said consider bringing back the deduction for state and local taxes you know what would be the direct impact yeah well uh the state and local income tax if that he limited it to $10,000 so you could pay you know a very wealthy person can pay $50,000 in state income tax and $40,000 in real estate tax so he would have a $90,000 deduction there it's limited to 10 that's how dramatic the 2017 tax cut and jobs Act was that is expected on the book Sierra to come back into fruition January 1 2026 now that Trump has been president Trump has been reelected I don't think that's going to happen I think Congress will do something to extend what happened in 2017 okay and in terms of exemptions you know the idea of exempting various types of income from the income tax what would that look like well I I think the Wall Street Journal originally broke that um well he's look what they talked about on the campaign Sierra usually related to Social Security came first possibly not taxing social security then tip income entered the equation possibly not not uh taxing tips overtime pay uh was also considered and then finally Frontline workers fire firefighters policemen and maybe some military uh Personnel I think I think that laundry list is a little extensive possibly impossible but if I had to pick one that I think Congress would take a serious look at it it is the taxability of Social Security and I say that because that is what's most in Jeopardy 10 12 years from now so try to make it attractive in another way that's what I'm thinking Sierra okay president-elect Trump has also proposed repealing the green energy tax credit so let's talk about that for our viewers who maybe aren't familiar with us well you know I just uh I just came back from Los Angeles where just about every other car is an EV I never saw anything like it I actually saw two cyber trucks together at a traffic light we don't see one a week here so that's what he's talking about the most is eliminating a uh $7,500 tax credit for purchasing an EV um that that's also an attractive tax credit if you're trying to raise revenue Sierra because for example in California five of the six New England states have something quasi similar by 2035 every new vehicle sold in California must be a electric vehicle why give a credit they have to buy it there's no incentive it will be the law in 2026 35% of the new car sold must be electric so the the reason for giving an incentive is starting to go away because the vehicle is becoming so popular so I think that is one of the reasons why uh president Trump is looking at the EV credit so much because it's it's not people are willing to buy it without the credit at this point so he's talking about that a lot and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens has Congress done anything to improve the structure of the tax code no I thank our Congress for making it more complicated every day and uh I think when I was on the show a few years back I had hair and that's a direct direct result of Congress um the Supreme Court has done the most over the past last year to the tax code and I'll tell you how there in June there was a big case called ler brigh versus Raymond Secretary of Commerce former governor of Rhode Island when any law any federal law but let's talk about the IRS this is the tax segment when Congress issues a law that's a little vague the IRS issues regulations to interpret that law those regulations are law in and of itself this Case by the Supreme Court said no not so fast the law didn't say what the IRS is saying it says so the IRS regulations got a little weaker this year and a lot of cases are going to start coming down the pike challenging how the IRS interpreted those laws it's going to be a fascinating time in tax law for for tax Geeks like me over the next couple of years I think okay it's the end of the year year so of course that means tax time 2024 taxes what are some notable changes to consider when you're filing Believe It or Not tax uh changes from 24 to 23 and I'll venture to say 25 to 24 aren't very dramatic Sierra where the changes are are inflationary adjustments that they do every year if you were going to give a gift to your child of 18,000 it goes up to 19 or the rates change a little bit or the standard deduction was $13,800 last year it's going to be $14,200 that kind of thing so I think uh the changes are not so much related to what new things are happening as much as they're incremental inflationary changes you can put a little more into your retirement than you could last year because of inflation things like that how about for 2025 changes I I think it's going to be pretty much the same if if if president Trump feels like doing something new that and Congress agrees to make it retroactive to January first that would be a change as of now we don't know of anything on the horizon and how about the documents that you should be prep uh preparing for oh my favorite time of year tax preparation yes that is around the corner um Well everybody's different so it's a little bit how asking how a watch works but Sierra I think people should you know within a within a month they'll start getting documents in the mail or online their W2 is very important any 1099s that they received uh investment advisory statements from from Mark from Raymond James for example that's a great example that uh us as preparers need um mortgage interest documentation real estate medical expenses God forbid somebody was very sick charitable contributions if if a couple or an IND individual owns a rental property a tax peray would need the income and expenses related to that a small business we will need the income and expenses related to that uh so items items of of that sort would get us started how about for health flexible spending plans and medical savings accounts do those benefit individuals when it comes to taxes I think they're fantastic I mean I a I may for somebody who's coming off a serious heart attack I can assure you the health savings account is a wonderful Tool uh you can you can put money aside almost like an IRA you get a deduction for it and you use that money to pay your expenses after you're deductible including your deductible amount I think it's a wonderful tool yeah it's a tool that I I use and I've started getting acupuncture and it's it's a great little resource have absolutely I think they're wonderful and more people should take advantage of them in terms of you know big picture just preparing getting everything together what should people's mind mind States be I think filing early is a prudent thing not too early not too early you really don't want to file too early because the states aren't aren't ready and the federal government isn't quite ready yet but when you have everything in order earlier the better and you're doing your prepare of favor as well yeah and to go over you know all of the the um documents and things that you said would be beneficial for our viewers that are just joining us now where's a good place for them to go and to to see where they can check off all those boxes oh boy well you know uh uh any quality prepare I would lean more toward a CPA simply because they're their their background but most firms will now give you an organizer that really helps you formulate formulate your thoughts and help you get your information together here yeah perfect all right Paul thanks so much for your Insight we appreciate it thank you after a short break all of our guests will return for a panel discussion on the impact of the election and what to expect from the new Administration you're watching 22 News In Focus back now with 22 News in focus and we're moving into a panel discussion with our guest about what we can expect to see from the new Administration Congress and the economic impacts so let's start off with question number one what are your expectations from the White House and Congress over the next four years Tony do you want to start sure I think what you're going to see right now is Congress kind of gingerly trying to figure out the reality of Donald Trump and this new Administration what's Bluster what's real Etc and one other thing you're going to see from Congress both House and Senate they understand and they realize it's Donald Trump's Washington right now and I know you know whether you love him hate him whatever the bottom line he's controlling the whole nine yards he leads that's what we expect to see right now we're not expecting to see a lot of activity that's initiated from the house and not from the Democrats they'll wait to try to figure out how this feels my expectations are that it's so divided in this country right now and you can feel the sour mood of the public yes if they can unify the country somehow on some issues I think that goes a long way to uh to solving a lot of our problems yeah Paul massive changes in the tax code that's what I see how about key policy issues Mark what are you thinking I think it's going to be migration um I think it's going to be taxes I think it's going to be um a new way of doing business in America that's Pro individual and pro small business I think this era of big business running things and you know coordinating with the government I think that might be over yeah Paul what do you think well I think uh I think president Trump is a student of Reagan and lower taxes means more people spending with the money that they get to keep in their pocket and I and and I think he's a student of that and I think we're going to see policies in that direction and a lot of the folks he's appointed would fall right into that as well too they're rean Bush ficado and I that I mean Bush one but I think Paul and Mark are right on target there yeah um Mark you were saying migration you think will be of course you know we've seen it in the headlines every day almost so you know Trump has promised to crack down on migration um and intact the largest deportation in US history of course massachusett we have certain protections and things here but what are we thinking big picture personally I think he's going to go he's going to get rid of the people that have a criminal background he's going to call it a victory because the idea of deporting 10 to 15 million people or whatever the number is is a g gargantuan project and I don't think he could pull it off I mean seriously I don't think he could pull it off I don't know Mark I think you're on target it's so honorous a an objective to try to pull off you call the victory where you can and perception wise the entities that are still around Donald Trump the political entities the packs the others and the campaign frankly it's still kind of in place they're going to try to explain that to average regular Americans here's the victory he got rid of the bad guys that'll be the play yeah yeah yeah I I think our our non-criminal immigrants are an important part of this economy whether it's agriculture or and it's uh you know we can't just get rid of them like that I I question the viability of that kind and the fact that Tony you you help me with this we have not heard any outcry from Corporate America about all the these people here that are helping us do the jobs that nobody else wants to do the fact that there's been no screaming about that means we have to find a way for them to mix into our country in a way that will keep them here the quiet conversations in the back halls from the corporate lobbyists the rest they're talking about this in a way as Mark just described without a doubt that there's a reality here we need some of these folks when in western Mass we certainly do especially in our agricultural communities here without a doubt and there's always talks about cuts to Medicare and Social Security as well right so um polls are finding that Americans are concerned about losing benefits and that they you know they've paid into those benefits so what are we thinking in terms of you know the new Administration moving forward with that I think he would betray the people that voted for him if he went after Medicare and Social Security I think he will not touch that he will do anything but that in my opinion I don't know he's looking for the likable Legacy right now he knows this is it there's no more after this and you're right that's the kind of thing where there would be such blowback from the Maga base that supported him CU they don't want to feel any more pain they feel that they felt enough and so I think he's going to be very conscious and very careful of that well what I what I would add to that is although not in Trump's term 2036 social security has a very serious problem and I think what people think if somebody thinks they're going to get $2,000 a month in 2036 I think that number is going to be something less and I think we have to realize that unless something dramatic happens and we've been hoping for something dramatic for 25 years now uh we're going to have to address it or we are not going to get it the people who retired 10 years from now are not going to be getting what they were promised so in terms of the possibility of cuts you know what impact do we think that that would have cuts on Social Security and Medicare yeah exactly the politics of this I mean there will be Republican members then who are getting the drift that this is Trump's DC but this is something that's going to hurt them back at home when their constituents start saying oh my gosh my Social Security my medicare my retirement so to speak what am I going to do when they start feeling that kind of pain that means that those members of the house especially who are up for re-election in every two years that starts to move and change they'll make a human and cry to the president and hopefully uh be able to find a way to mitigate this back and forth and and come up with a negotiated fix because it's got to it's always been the third rail of politics Social Security and touching it or cutting it but in this particular instance Paul hit it out of the ballpark this is there's no more time this is it and we've been putzing around for 25 years on it yeah didn't Richie Neil actually give us the road map though with with the secure act 2.0 when he said you know you start taking your R&D at 73 and 75 didn't he sort of give us where he's headed so may maybe we're all working till 73 or 75 probably depresses you sier I have a long way to go but you know to touch on that full retirement age for Social Security has risen right from 65 to 67 now and there's some talks about maybe even you know like you said raising that so what should people do now to prepare you know it feels like you have forever but quickly you know things go quick they have to realize they're a free agent they have to take care of themselves they have to pay themselves first they have to focus on medical sa health savings accounts Roth 401k plans all of the stuff that they're giving you you just have to take advantage of it and stop spending so much money B very good advice I'm not going to touch those they're the experts here so I'm going to right to Paul I've heard some great thoughts from them Tony I outs here I am pleased we live in a civil country because if you talk about raising the retirement age in France I mean they flip buses over thank goodness we are here uh but yeah it's uh you know people have to start taking care of themselves if they have to start keep working until they're 70 I mean that that's the that's the reality what I would suggest is if you're 65 and now you're thinking about working till you're 70 goodness me see Mark because your retirement funds have five more years and there's some I'm sure there's some great opportunities there that that that Mark can help with I think that's prudent thinking to help you get for the average person that's out there a lot of this stuff is just above and beyond their ability to deal with it you can't make a mistake so you should see an expert an expert to make sure that you got it right because when you're in that tight of a time frame five more years to go six more years to go 10 you can't make a mistake at this stage of the game all right we're going to continue this conversation after a quick break welcome back to 22 News In Focus we're continuing with our panel discussion on what the new Trump Administration will be trying to accomplish in the next four years so we're going to start with national debt and the budget I know Mark you said you were eager to kick this off do you think Congress will extend the continuing resolution I absolutely think they will and I think something else is going on you know in college I studied economics we are all keynesians now the idea of spending money to get things done is now very very appealing to to congressmen and I think it's very appealing to this President and I think he'd like to cut areas so that he could spend more in other areas I think we're in a spending free-for-all and and and it's going to continue and and Paul weigh in on this but I I could just sense that there's a demand to to spend money cuz they're talking about cutting $2 trillion there's no way they're going to cut $2 trillion and if they do it's going to go be spent somewhere else so and I think it's to to make American industry stronger better and faster absolutely and and and I think they're going to do that what um what I found over this past election year you and I spoke briefly Tony is that neither candidate neither candidate really spoke about no the deficit no um and I wish I wish they did um and that that was a bit of a a disappointment because um you know Judgment Day has to come we can't keep running deficits every year and and on both sides they were quick to blame for the past but as far as a plan for the future that bothered me over the past year I was hoping politically public wise the electorate doesn't really understand deficit they've been hearing about it all their lives no matter how their ages it's just great big thing out there yeah it's always been there you know it's always like it's like the old uncle that shows up at Christmas or whatever right it's there on the flip side to what both Paul and Mark have said if you're an individual member of Congress you're protected by how many members of Congress there are and you want to spend you want to bring it back to your District because that's what it's all about and you're spending somebody else's money the nation's money not just your District's yeah where will the new Administration want to spend more do we think I think Trump would like to spend more money to protect American Industries from outside competition I think he looks at the Chinese as nothing more than undercutting there's an electric car company called bid is sitting on the Mexican border about to bring in8 to $10,000 electric cars he knows what that'll do to American industry I think he wants to protect us and also defend the country brilliant thought in that regard bid is on his mind a few other things toight the fact that Joe Biden uh in this exit now just loaned or gave $6.6 billion to rivan on that makes no sense at all you're going to see the Doge group and you're see Donald Trump look at things like that and say I've got somewhere else to put that money without a doubt and uh defense is going to be big because when you take a look at the players in that group of 40 billionaires who supported him though that pack group that was out there in that regard they are all tied into the defense industry and that is jobs it's jobs here in western Mass it's jobs in Connecticut you know that's it's a double win for Trump to go in that direction you know yeah I would agree with that I think the military uh is something that uh president Trump is very uh strong on and that's that's great for New England Connecticut yes yes so president Trump is also a big fan of deregulation promising to roll back on some of the regulations implemented by the Biden Administration what are those regulations do we think I think the financial regulations probably the first place he wants to cut I mean Dodd Frank is a monster it's not 10 commandments that Moses brought from the mountain it's a million Commandments it's a million Commandments and it it affects everybody and everything so I think you start cutting that stuff he'll save a lot of money a lot of aggravation and and there'll be a lot of nashing of teeth for a while but it really does look like if he does that in the next three years gets rid of you know some of the criminal illegal migrants he can declare Victory on everything at that point you'll see them go heavy as we've heard in the campaign and see them already preparing to do the Department of Education if it exists at the end of the next four years uh the Consumer Protection Agency the uh he's aimed right at that and now those are easy check offs because the average regular person on the consumer protection AG says what have they done for me or what's that all about uh there'll be some others as well too and it'll be interesting to see the battles that may come if Bobby Kennedy is in fact confirmed you know what he does related to some of his thoughts on American food products and food production Etc uh that will be interesting to see the battles that go on corporate versus Bobby versus Donald and will the president step in more than likely he'll probably have a significant conversation with Bobby Kennedy in the Rose Garden about that yeah well I can only tell you from a personal as a as a as a CPA tax attorney all my corporate clients are happy about deregulation and uh I would also add that there'll be no deregulation in the tax code I can promise you yeah yeah increased oil drilling and nuclear energy also um you know president Trump speaking about that as well um but there are concerns that he may pull out of the Paris agreement so if that happens you know what are we looking at I think he's definitely going to pull out of that no and I think as far as oil drilling he's going to get pushed back from oil Executives who don't want the price to go down because if you have Supply in demand in Balance right now and they all of a sudden drill baby drill and you bring in three more million barrels per day price goes to 30 they're not making money at $30 a barrel nuclear power though however is a really interesting one because all the billionaires are paying for that they're buying they're buying up old vacant mothballed nukes and that to me is a really exciting area there's a company called GE vnova uh that now makes wind uh wind turbines and nuclear reactors y so things like that I think are very attractive to everybody I don't know yep without a doubt and on the more strategic bigger view of this we know what Donald Trump thinks relative to Russia and China and you know my six-year-old godson can come up with this one Russia and China's economies are in horrific shape America's is astonishing I only take a second on this piece it amazes me how rich we are how much we can spend how many billions we can send send to Ukraine and still have the incredible economy and strength that we are as a nation Trump won't want to see that stop he'll pour it in those directions without a doubt and he knows it's all about energy and fuel and the nuke thing is interesting to a lot of us right now yeah well I I simply defer to my learned colleagues on that I'm just a tax guy I also want to touch on tariffs you know we've talked a lot about tariffs Mark um you know any concerns about the possible impact to the US eon economy yeah I think without a doubt you know relative tariffs there's the concept that the fear that'll make things more expensive for the average regular person if you're going out to buy an appliance Etc I'm hearing this right now from some of our corporate clients that are in manufacturing they're getting a lot more calls for their products right now before January 20th because they're thinking after January 20th it goes up little economic bump right now from folks out of that fear but often the other thing about tariffs I agree with Mark earlier I don't like him I think it's you know it's a false narrative so to speak but the other thing is is this Trump negotiating is this Trump negotiating with Mexico for other things is this Trump negotiating with Canada for other things I don't think we're going to be too punitive to Canada when it comes to tariffs and whatnot but Mark brought up a good point before Chinese company in Mexico right over the line with a $10,000 EV and there's a lot of other stuff coming out of Mexico I think that's on Trump's mind what can you do to deal here to get other things addressed well you know what I what I we're blessed with one of the best district attorneys in the country I really believe Lally and he talks about fenel and president Trump talks about a tariff on China and Mexico until fentel is controlled everybody everybody knows somebody who was subject to an overdose and you know that's an ugly pill we're swallowing and I'm not convinced the Tariff with Mexico in China until the flow of fenal stops I mean one conversation with with district attorney goney and you will lose sleep on what fatano is doing and so tariffs in that aspect I'm all for Paul I love that analogy and that that example because that's what I'm referring to I think that Trump will find other things he's a multi- deal guy how many things can I get in exchange for giving you one thing you know and the fent and all piece the what you said about district attorney goney You're On Target here's someone that around the people are looking to on this and other issues so interesting yeah um I was going to say something about China president G yesterday was invited to the inauguration I mean how incredible is this guy Trump to do that I mean he now puts X on the on the hot seed and the hot seed has been on China for now six at least six seven years and they are folding a little bit they're having some real deep problems that they keep covering over with wallpaper and asphalt but it's not covering them up to the rest of the world we know what's going on so it looks like we could really extend our lead here and I think and everybody in America knows that so it's it's you know Game Theory we know what they know they know what we know and we're pressing our Point here so I wish we had more time gentlemen I know we're just getting into some good stuff but yes that's all the time we have thank you so much appreciate your Insight thank you SI good show you've been watching 22 News and focus and today we've been discussing what to expect from the Trump presidency and its impact on our economy and personal finances we want to thank all of our guests for being on the program and we want to thank our viewers for watching at home if you missed any of our show you can find it on our website at wwlp.com from all of us here at 22 News have a great Sunday [Music] [Music]