ATLANTA — Financial experts nationwide are sounding the alarm that a recession is coming, following a move by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to its highest increase since 1994.
On Wednesday, Wells Fargo & Company predicted that the U.S. would be hit by a recession by the end of this year. Financial expert Ted Jenkin says it could come even sooner.
"Nobody likes hearing the R-word of recession, but I think it's somewhat inevitable right now. In June or over the next quarter, we probably will trickle into a mild recession," he said.
Jenkin said that people should prepare rather than live in fear, and there are several steps individuals can take to do so.
“Make sure that you've got an emergency cash reserve, although the job market is really good. You may start to see some more layoffs from companies along the way," explained Jenkin.
He advised the most important thing people can do is to look at their variable rate debt and see what can be eliminated.
"That means variable-rate student loans, variable-rate mortgages, and variable-rate credit cards because they are going to go up, which means you're going to pay more interest every month from that debt," he said.
While he says the recession is inevitable, it's not expected to last longer than a year.
“Recessions only last a year. Since 2009, we've had 13 amazing years of growth. But the gravy train doesn't last forever," he said. "So, I think this is a cycle. It will be a temporary cycle, and then we will see light at the end of the tunnel."