Hi there!
Before 2022, it felt like the market had been in an extended Goldilocks scenario. The monetary environment was not too loose or too tight. It felt just right. Inflation was not too high nor too low. It, too, felt just right. The Federal Reserve had it easy, navigating a seemingly empty house with few barriers to economic growth (aside from the coronavirus pandemic, of course).
Lately, it feels like the porridge has changed. Inflation is too hot. Monetary policy is too loose. Interest rates are moving higher. The bears are coming home.
For financial advisors like you and me, we know market history, we have read all the books, and we understand the value of STAY THE COURSE.
Yet, this is a trying time for investors young and old with both stocks and bonds severely down this year.
To that end, I wanted to focus on the power of financial planning, rather than any investment considerations.
Financial planning focuses us on what is in our control, namely our everyday financial decisions, rather than what is outside our control, like stock market gyrations and the direction of the economy. Keeping our clients’ financial plans as core, we can help them focus on processes that generally lead to positive outcomes as they pursue their financial goals.
Thankfully, market turmoil and what to do when it arrives were always part of the plan. What matters now is how we react.
Generally, our investment advice during market downturns parallels the mindful words of Sylvia Boorstein,
“Don’t just do something, sit there.”
Your cause is righteous. Keep up the amazing work.
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