Jason and Alex started by talking about how this year has brought their family’s closer together with one another. There have been a lot of ups and downs this year and it has been filled with tremendous hardship for a lot of people, and much prosperity for others. Jason talked about how negativity and people having negative attitudes is at an all time high, and how it is almost trendy to talk about the doom and gloom. They invite listeners to send their questions to jason@financialdetox.com or call 877-707-8889.
Jason explained that our IDA team serves a vast range of clients ranging from very high net worth clients to more mass affluent households, and we are always ready to serve new individuals with their financial goals and financial challenges. They made the joke that we work best with clients ages 1 to 100, but it is very true because we provide multi-generational wealth planning to numerous families. Alex talked about how it is very important for people not to fall asleep at the wheel during the holiday months or at the end of the year. There are several tax planning opportunities and deadlines, investment strategies, and other aspects of client’s financial plans that need to be properly attended to by year end.Alex changed the course of conversation to the hardest questions that were received throughout the year.
Jason explained that the average year has about 14% volatility in U.S. Large Cap stocks from peak to trough in any given year over the span of the past 40 plus years. He also explained that markets go up and down every day, but a lot of clients had forgotten what market volatility was over the past ten years because the markets have been so strong, especially the U.S. stock markets. Alex brought up a great question that was received by a prospective client earlier in the year amidst all the market volatility. “What does your firm do when there is a once-in-a-generation event like a global pandemic.” Jason reminisced on his answer by explaining that we stick to our core investment philosophy by maintaining a well-diversified portfolio, focusing on strategic asset allocation, implementing the most sophisticated investment tax strategies, and making sure to rebalance to make sure the portfolio is aligned with a client’s financial plan.
This investment philosophy is rooted in data and evidence, and it is extremely crucial not to get wrapped up in media headlines. Jason and Alex talked about the countless clients that were reaching out asking if they should get out of the market when the market was down 20-30%. As a result of all the turmoil surrounding the COVID global pandemic and its affect on the global stock market, clients were getting emotional with their investments out of well-justified fear. Alex talked about a client’s investment horizon being much longer than when they simply reach retirement. A client’s investment horizon is really the rest of their lives, so if they are planning to live into their 80s and 90s, then there will be several more periods of market volatility that they will need to be patient through. Jason responded by saying that investing is not easy, and most individuals associate risk of losing their money with volatility. In order to succeed as an investor, you have to remain disciplined and stay true to your investment philosophy.
In this show you will learn about:
- Lessons learned from 2020
- Great questions asked from the past year
- Strategies that were implemented in 2020