Are you any better off than you were a year ago? 10 years ago?
Everyone remembers 2008. There was a nasty period from September of 2008 through February of 2009 where the value of the S&P 500 drew down over 50%! Many who were on the verge of retirement had to rethink their plans, while others who were already retired discovered that they needed to take a much larger percentage of their nest-egg to keep the same level of income.
Let's fast-forward to now. The first six weeks of 2016 was the worst start to a new year in the history of Wall Street. My opinion is that most investors have no idea as to how much risk their broker is exposing them to. When it comes to investment advice, are you happy with the guidance you've been getting? In the interests of prudence and common sense, I'd like to suggest some questions you should consider.
Questions You Must Ask Yourself!
- Do you remember the Financial Crisis and the Last Great Recession? What happened to your portfolio in the last Great Recession? Since 1900 we have had 22 recessions, approximately one every 5 to 6 years. How are you preparing?
- Do you seek alternatives to the traditional buy and hold brokerage strategy that left many investors sitting through two bear markets over the last 12 years? If I could show you strategies that would give you the opportunity to take advantage of a downturn, would that be of any interest to you?
- Do you think there will be higher taxes in the future? Do you want to wait and see if they change the tax laws or do you want to do something before the tax laws possibly change?
- Do you think there will be lower Social Security and Medicare benefits in the future? If you have to wait to receive those benefits isn't that a reduction of benefits? What is your strategy to replace a possible reduction in benefits?
- If we have higher taxes, lower benefits, and inflation, isn't that going to cause more and more volatility by creating doubt in the economic health of our country? How many -40% years can you take? What is your strategy to possibly take advantage of the good volatility and not be hurt as much by the bad volatility? Do you have one?
- What is your “Buy and Hold, Hope and Prayer” portfolio going to look like after the next Financial Crisis? What did it look like after the last? Are you doing anything differently?
OK, Larry, you might say. What can I do differently?
There are some excellent some strategies to manage the downside of the market. Do you have enough confidence in your present advisor to get a second opinion? Give me a shout and let's do a review of where you are now. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how some of our tactical fund managers have performed, using a low-risk, low-voaltility investment style.
Blessings,
Larry
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