By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

(CNN) — It’s not even April, yet 2025 already has been a lot. Like, a lot.

Events in the United States have given people reason to worry about many things, including their financial security in the face of big changes over which they have zero control.

The first half of January was consumed by news of the savage fires that erased whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles — a stark reminder that life as you know it (including the home you’re still paying off) can go up in smoke with little warning.

Then came the past nine weeks.

President Donald Trump and his new administration have — and this is just a partial list — started a trade war with the United States’ closest allies and appeared to favor Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine and NATO countries. The administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency” under Elon Musk has aggressively disrupted the functioning and morale at federal government agencies and interrupted approved payments to various programs domestically and abroad. There have been shoot-first-aim-later mass firings of federal workers and stop-work orders, which have generated a slew of lawsuits against those in the government and DOGE.

And now many people question whether the US is — or soon will be — in a constitutional crisis, given that the administration has repeatedly argued that the courts shouldn’t have power over the presidency.

Alleviating financial anxiety

Love or hate what’s happening, there has been financial fallout from all the uncertainty and chaos generated.

US stock indexes have been down – at certain points even in correction mode, defined as 10% below their recent peaks. Gold has hit record highs. Consumer spending and consumer confidence have dropped. And economists — who have recently lowered their US growth forecasts — now worry that what has been a strong, stable US economy runs a higher risk of entering a period of stagflation or recession.

If any or all of this has made you anxious about your finances, you’re not alone. No one can predict whether the fallout so far will be temporary or longer lasting. Nor can anyone predict the next thing the administration might do that will further unsettle investors, consumers, businesses or other countries.

But you can counter your financial anxiety now by doing four things:

1. Realize what is in your control

External economic and geopolitical events are beyond your control. As is the fallout from them.

But it can help to “look at what you do have control over,” said Mari Adam, a certified financial planner and founder of Mari Talks Money.

For instance, you have control over what you save, what you decide to spend on big purchases like a home, how you invest and how much money you set aside or arrange to have available to you in case of emergency.

2. Review your backstops

Imagine various worst-case scenarios for your finances. Then come up with a contingency plan for how you would handle them, Adam suggested.

Having a plan can relieve you of having to make possibly ill-advised decisions should the worst happen. “Your brain isn’t geared to make rational decisions under stress,” she noted. “Take decisions away from your primitive fight-or-flight brain.”

One worst-case scenario may be that you or your spouse loses a job. Beyond any potential severance or unemployment benefits you might receive, what other liquid assets do you have access to?

If you don’t have six months to a year’s worth of emergency savings set aside, can you commit to putting a little more aside every month?

If not, what other sources of cash could you tap? For example, Adam said, if you have a mortgage, you might consider taking out a home equity line of credit and only using it in case of emergency.

Or if you’re paying tuition for your child at a private high school or college, find out whether the school would be willing to adjust your financial aid should your circumstances change, said Adam Grossman, a chartered financial analyst and founder of the fixed-fee wealth management firm Mayport.

Consider, too, whether you’re adequately insured for things that can go sideways in life. “Insurance is critical. It’s risk management,” Grossman said.

He recommends clients with children at home have life insurance and disability insurance to cover the family in case a breadwinner dies or loses the ability to bring in income, if you don’t have other sufficient assets to cover them.

He also recommends having so-called umbrella coverage — aka excess liability coverage — which is relatively inexpensive. It can provide an added layer of protection on top of your car and home insurance policies in case you get sued.

3. Check your perspective

Market declines, volatility and occasional bear markets are to be expected when you invest for the long term. And a down market can provide you with some good buying opportunities because asset prices are cheaper, Grossman noted.

But no one likes to see their portfolio in the red over a period of time, because it feels like it will never end. Investors tend to suffer from “recency bias,” Grossman said. “We extrapolate from recent trends.” That is, when stocks are rising year after year, it’s hard to imagine them ever falling and vice versa.

He said he gets calls from clients every day worried about the effects that Trump’s tariff wars will have on the economy. His advice: Resist any temptation to sell all your stocks or anything else equally drastic. “Unless you absolutely need cash to pay the rent, don’t take action based on the news headlines. Don’t try to guess what the markets will do.”

4. Review your portfolio

Instead, Grossman suggested, ask yourself two questions: “What do I need? And what danger am I facing?”

To help answer them, start by reviewing your investment portfolio to see how it is split between stocks and bonds. If you have a 60-40 split, you may discover your portfolio hasn’t taken nearly as big a hit as reports of stocks declining might suggest.

Check, too, whether your stocks are diversified across sectors, investment styles and geography. Being too heavily reliant on any one area — eg, tech stocks or growth stocks or domestic stocks — means you will be disproportionately hit if they’re down. “Asset allocation is your best and maybe only defense,” Grossman said.

Second, consider that, historically, stocks have eventually recovered from big drops and gone on to deliver strong gains over the years for those who stay invested.

That said, recovery periods from serious drops can vary in length from a few months to a few years to a decade or more.

A big decline in stocks when you’re just starting your career is not a huge concern because you have decades of investment ahead. If you’re close to or in retirement, it’s more concerning. But you can mitigate that by keeping enough in bonds and cash to cover up to a few years’ worth of your anticipated living expenses. That way you don’t have to sell stocks to pay for your expenses if they’re down.

If you become highly concerned about external events while still in the middle of your career, remember that you won’t need money from your portfolio for many years. But, if you have what Grossman calls the “antacid problem,” you may want to have enough in bonds and cash to cover a couple of years’ worth of income.

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