“Stay the course”. “Stick with the plan”. “We cannot control the market, so there is no sense in worrying about it”. You’ve likely heard me, or another investment professional, say this…many times. And, while it is certainly worthwhile advice, I realize it does not bring comfort in market corrections like the one we have witnessed lately. In times like these we find our clients checking their account balances more often, which is symptomatic of anxiety. Of course, from our side of the table, we really wish you would check your balances more often during the bull markets! But, that isn’t human nature when it comes to investing. And, that’s ok! So, what can I tell you to feel better during a downturn? Well, you have us! And, as a registered investment advisor, we are legally and ethically required to put your best interests first. That involves, most importantly, not acting on emotion. Becoming emotional about money is always a recipe for disaster. It is thus incumbent upon us to act stoically when managing your accounts. You may be asking: well, what does that mean? To start, as you may know, we have a suitability profile of you that assists us in monitoring the reasonableness of your stock/bond/alternatives/cash mix. Your asset allocation, if you will, which is based on a myriad of factors, tangible and intangible. Digging a little deeper, we monitor the quality and feasibility of the securities within your accounts. Cost is also a factor and we want to ensure the securities used are cost-effective, and if the account is a taxable account, that it provides you with the most advantageous tax-efficiency. Lastly, utilizing the time-tested approaches of dollar-cost-averaging, rebalancing and portfolio optimizing helps to take advantage of downturns in the market. In my experience, the best remedy to quell anxiousness about the market is to talk about it. So, if you are really uneasy…even mad, let me know. I’d be happy to talk. Please read our Blog Disclaimer.
Stay the Course! Or...Something Like That.
