Volatile Stock Markets
Some of you reading this will have been paying close attention to what the S&P500 has done this year. You may have been checking your account on a daily basis to see what the new balance is. Others will have little to no idea what the market has done. You may or may not even glance at your statements, and may not care. It’s long-term money right?
Those in the first camp should be comforted by the fact that we are also frequently checking the performance in your accounts. It’s worth understanding that there will always be volatility with investments—so regardless of your investment style, you may experience declines in value at times. A big mistake investors tend to make is to get emotional—and then to let those emotions dictate investment decisions. You’ll also see upward swings sometimes. Just as important as not panicking during a downturn is to not make unnecessarily risky decisions when things are looking good. Rest assured that we are paying attention, and our goal is to help take the emotion out of your portfolio decisions. We can’t make promises (no one can), but we can help increase your odds of success by weighing possibilities and injecting logic into your plan. Just remember that it’s a long game.
For those who are less inclined to follow your accounts under a microscope, don’t feel left out. We’re keeping a close eye on your portfolios too. You may be more comfortable with up and down swings since you aren’t watching so close. However, some investors also make the mistake of disconnecting or “letting it ride.” This can be akin to putting a car on cruise control and then not paying attention. As your circumstances changes, your investment needs may change as well. Failing to rebalance or to swap out underperforming funds may also cause issues over time. Just remember that those periodic review meetings are important.
So what’s the point of all this rambling, Matt? It just seems like you’re taking a glass-half-empty viewpoint and pointing out pitfalls.
Here’s the deal: our job at The Krajniak Group is to deal with that anxiety for you so you can focus on what’s actually important—your daughter’s soccer game, that vacation to Colorado, or your woodworking hobby. Someone needs to always be considering what might be around the next corner, and we hope you’ll let that be us and not you. Reese sometimes has to shut the laptop screen for me when I’m researching funds at 11:45PM. The bottom line is that we lose sleep so you don’t have to.
How do we do it? Well, it’s not a perfect world, but having appropriate expertise and knowing the odds sometimes can help keep decisions logical rather than emotional. So, we’ve started by taking our industry education seriously (in addition to our continuing education, I’m a CFP®—something the majority of currently licensed financial advisors cannot claim—and Reese proudly holds a law degree).
We’ve also invested heavily in software to help our clients make decisions. Riskalyze is a program that can help to define your tolerance for risk, and even show what your portfolio would have done during various historic market periods. We also use NaviPlan to help create thoughtful financial plans. It’s not as pretty (i.e. sales-oriented) as some other industry software, but we believe it does a better job of creating accurate models. When it’s important to be right (or at least to have the best potential to be right), the details count. A program called Redtail helps us to document our decisions and make sure we don’t lose sight of what’s important. Oneview helps us to dig into a portfolio—it’s what we use during our reviews and what you have access to on www.krajniakgroup.com.
There are others, of course. Everything we subscribe to, purchase, lease, and learn is designed to help us define where you are now and where you need to be. This helps us to assist you with making decisions on the best course of action. It’s the basis for our tagline, “Mapping your financial future.” Remember that you’re never alone on your financial journey. Whether you prefer to keep a close eye or to keep some distance, just remember that we are always here to help—so don’t hesitate to ask.
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.
