If you have money in a 401(K) retirement account, it has been a white knuckle month of April so far.
Many investors are starting to get nervous about whether a downturn is coming, with tariffs sparking a stock market selloff followed by a bounce-back rally.
At the Off tha Top barbershop in Newport, Kentucky, barber Dre Nolan has been watching the stock market take a little "off the top" of his retirement savings.
"I hear it's down, I hear crypto ain't doing too much. A lot of people are losing out on retirement," he said while cutting a customer's hair.
With the Dow Jones Industrial Average bouncing back this week off its tariff-induced lows, Nolan says his customers are not panicking about their retirement savings just yet.
But he says if tariffs hit hard, that could change.
"Car prices are going up. I saw the iPhone might go up to $2,400 dollars," he said. "Are you ready to pay that price?"
Fellow barber San Abdullah worries that if clients start feeling a financial pinch, they'll come in for fewer hair cuts.
"I can't afford a downturn," he said. "We need everybody's pockets healthy so they can feel happy to come get a hair cut."
Watch as a local barber raises concerns about customers cutting back on spending
But most market experts say there is no need to panic right now: The markets have recovered from every downturn the past 50 years, even from the 2008 financial crisis that saw stocks fall nearly 50% from their highs.
Kevin Zywna of Wealthway Financial Advisors says downturns like this usually turn out to be great times to "buy low" and put more money into stocks.
"When we look back at this period of time probably in a year of two from now all purchasing decisions of investments right now will probably look pretty good," he said.
Back at Off tha Top, Dre Nolan hopes the shave the stock market is getting right now is just temporary.
"Hopefully it won't affect us too bad," he said.
He is hoping the markets, and his customers' retirement accounts, bounce back once tariff work themselves out.
That way you don't waste your money.
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