Donald Trump will shape these 9 areas of wealth management

After one of the most topsy-turvy presidential campaigns of all time, Republican nominee Donald Trump is the president-elect.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump as the presumptive 47th president of the United States over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris at 5:34 a.m. ET on Nov. 6, shortly after it and other outlets found that the former president had secured enough votes to win Wisconsin. The slideshow below displays some of the many ways that the next occupant of the White House will shape wealth management upon taking office in January 2025.

For financial advisors, wealth management firms and their hundreds of millions of clients across the country, the end of the election marked the beginning of preparing for the next presidential administration — simply the latest historical event to guide clients through with a focus on avoiding common behavioral mistakes that hurt portfolios or sever customer relationships. Officials and business leaders have also called for calm and a peaceful transfer of power.

The best practices for guiding clients through such tumult include researching how elections have affected investments in the past, listening to clients' concerns, restraining the urge to deluge clients with detailed advice and being patient and compassionate with them, according to a practice management email distributed on Election Day by planner Hannah Moore of Richardson, Texas-based Amplified Planning.

"Between constant political ads, uncomfortable family discussions, and a plethora of dire social media posts, election season can be stressful," Moore wrote. "Many people worry about how the results of an election (especially the presidential race) will impact their investments. This anxiety can be even higher for clients who disagree with the outcomes."

That's why planners remind clients of the importance of maintaining their long-term emphasis rather than responding to any immediate stock volatility around elections by, say, removing their investments from equities, according to the "The Word: Life Money Balance" blog sent out this past weekend by Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Concurrent Financial Planning and its CEO, Preston Cherry.

"The takeaway here is simple: Political changes can create temporary market fluctuations, but they rarely define long-term performance," Cherry wrote. "It's easy to get caught up in the emotional roller coaster of politics, but successful investing is about tuning out the noise and sticking to a disciplined, goal-focused strategy. Whether a Democrat or Republican sits in the Oval Office, your portfolio will likely perform well if you remain focused on fundamentals, stay diversified and keep your eyes on your financial goals."

However, that could prove more difficult this year than after elections in the past, considering that one survey by the American Psychological Association found in October that 77% of Americans identified "the future of our nation" as a significant source of stress. Nearly as many, 69%, specifically named the 2024 presidential election as a substantial area of stress. Futures contracts and actual bets emerged as more prominent barometers this year tracking those tensions and serving as yet another way for voters to get riled up one way or another. 

With unease about potential political violence on many people's minds after the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, more than 600 business leaders whose firms are part of the National Association of Manufacturers issued a public letter on Election Day pledging to work with the next president and urging "national unity" after the results.

"The days following a hard-fought election have always been a time for healing, finding common ground and renewing our focus on what unites us as a people," they wrote. "The peaceful transition of power is a hallmark of our democracy and is essential to ensuring continued confidence in the rule of law — a commitment that has made America exceptional."

Scroll down the slideshow for a roundup of nine different areas of policy, investment strategy and practice management affected by this year's election. To see all of FP's coverage of the 2024 campaign, click here.