Jeff Bezos Says Don't Buy That New TV, Save Your Money Instead: Here's Why

Billionaire Jeff Bezos is warning small businesses and consumers to keep “dry powder” on hand, and take some risk off of the table if the economy takes a plunge next year.

The Amazon.com Inc. AMZN founder also has some advice: Postpone purchases of expensive products like new vehicles, televisions, and appliances.

Doing so is the best approach to save some financial reserves in the event of a prolonged economic slump, Bezos explained.

Read also: Five Ways To Save Money In A Recession

“I don’t know if we’re technically in a recession,” he told CNN. “But, what I can tell you is the economy does not look great right now, things are slowing down.”

If the U.S. is not in a recession right now, it is likely to be in one very soon, he added.

“If you’re an individual thinking about buying a large screen TV, maybe slow that down,” he added, “if you’re a small business, maybe delay some capital purchases.”

Bezos still serves as executive chairman of the board at Amazon, which — according to the New York Times — plans to lay off about 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs starting as soon as this week.

That means Bezos would oversee the largest workforce reduction in his company's history.

To further prepare for an economic downturn, Amazon told Wall Street in October that it expects to book lighter than anticipated revenues in the final stretch of 2022, citing rising inflation and weakening consumer demand as headwinds.

Bezos isn’t the only business titan to warn of a downturn. Twitter and Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would fall short of its sales growth target, as Europe and China are in a “recession of sorts.”

And JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM CEO Jamie Dimon warned in October that a U.S. recession could hit in as little as six to nine months.

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