Estate Planning with Wealth Management Resources
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By the Wealth Management Resources Team

The best financial advisors in the business lead with financial planning.  This isn’t a coincidence.  Our firm believes in two fundamental concepts: we always work in our clients’ best interests and every client should sit with us at least once a year to update their financial plan.

If your financial plan is on track then you don’t need to stress over down markets. And you shouldn’t get overly exuberant over big up markets either.  Markets go up and they go down by their nature.  Sometimes they even stay flat.  What’s critically important is that you are on track to meet your savings and retirement goals.  That is why we lead with financial planning.

The first six months of 2022 have seen both stocks and bonds decline because of several reasons, including higher and more persistent inflation, growth concerns, lingering covid impacts to supply chains, overly-appreciated assets (like certain stocks, real estate, and crypto currencies), and fears of war in Europe and its impact on food and energy prices.  The wonderful thing about how we build financial plans for our clients is that years like 2022 get built into your plan projections and in the stress tests we run your financial plan through.  When our clients know their plan has been stress tested in over a thousand different market conditions (good, bad, and ugly), they can rest easy knowing their finances are secure and that they’re on track to reach their most important goals in life.

Markets and investments are only one aspect of our clients’ financial reality.  Saving and spending habits, maximizing workplace retirement plans and benefits, insurance, and estate planning all play key roles in our ability to help clients realize their goals.  Down markets play a key role in this as well because it allows clients to buy investments at discounted prices.  Buying low and selling high is one of the core concepts of successful investing for both our younger and older clients.  As is holding quality investments for the long term — up to and through retirement.  Putting money to work by investing into a down market doesn’t come naturally to most, but history has shown that it can aid in your long-term financial success.[1]

Meeting with your advisor and updating your financial plan gets even more important as you approach and enter retirement.  If it’s been a while since you’ve sat with us to update your financial plan, please email or call us and let’s set up an appointment.  A solid financial plan will give you peace of mind in all markets.  So stay calm and build those good habits.  We look forward to seeing you soon.

[1] Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results.