ORLANDO, Fla. – This week on “Black Men Sundays,” host Corie Murray interviews Rodney Griffin, a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual.
Tackling the oft-misunderstood topic of tariffs, Griffin ran through some examples of what they have the power to influence, bringing up the cost of household goods and even what it takes to build the home itself.
“A tariff is an additional cost. It’s like a tax the government puts on imported goods. So, anything that’s not made here, the government’s gonna tax it in some type of way. It’s different than income or property taxes because it directly affects the price on the good itself, which can lead to higher consumer prices, and due to that consumer price increase, the average household may potentially spend thousands of extra dollars on everyday expenses,” Griffin said.
Griffin told Corie that there’s no reason to panic over tariffs however, reassuring him that people will eventually adjust and could potentially even end up making more money if they play their cards right.
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One way to ease the impact of tariffs is to think about what you can buy in bulk, Griffin said, and that goes for everything from construction materials to retail inventory and even the food in your own kitchen.
“A lot of times when I speak to my clients, we literally just kind of do a reevaluation of what’s changed, right? And so, as we understand, some of the cost of goods may have gone up, which therefore means grocery prices have gone up. Also, we haven’t seen as much of an effect in terms of going out to eat, we haven’t seen restaurants actually increase the cost their goods for the same type of food, so really the cost that is going up is moreso on things that we’re spending our money on, which is food,” he said. “In some instances, it may be buying in bulk versus buying individually on a day-to-day basis just to say, ‘Hey, we might need to freeze some of this.'”
Hear the interview and more in Season 6, Episode 16 of “Black Men Sundays.”
Black Men Sundays talks about building generational wealth. Check out every episode in the media player below.
