WTF just happened this week!?!?
What a week! Let’s face it, superstitions have proved true this week.
We lost an hour of sleep, had the end of Mercury Retrograde (whatever that means), a Super Moon and Friday the 13th all within five days. And the death of the Bull Market (upwards) that started in April 2009.
Coincidence?
Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t need to wax poetic about the Cornovavirus or the mass panic and mania that has set in. That has been well covered in all of the news and social media.
See, I am a man that has the responsibility of telling fellow hard-working Americans what to do with their money in their work sponsored retirement plans (401k, 403b, TSP, etc). I created technology with my friend (and partner) that allows me to “push a button” and tell all of our clients what to buy or sell within their retirement plans. And more importantly, when to buy or sell.
This is a large task, especially in times like this. I take my job seriously, as I know our clients’ future lifestyles are on the line. Especially in light of all the volatility the past few weeks.
So let’s talk about volatility. There are only two ways to “combat” volatility. You can buy many different asset classes and re-balance those monies periodically. This is what we call “Strategic” investing. The other way is to decide there is a time to own certain asset classes and a time when you should not own these asset classes. This is what we call “tactical” investing.
We offer both Strategic and Tactical investing advice at Plan Confidence. On Wednesday, April 1st at 9am EST, we will be telling all of our clients how to re-balance their investments if they are using our Strategic allocations. We do this every quarter and we sell investments that have risen for the quarter and buy investments that have gone down. But we re-balance back to our original asset allocation every quarter to manage risk. Regardless of what is going on in the markets or in the news. Every quarter! Disciplined.
On Wednesday, February 26th, we told all of our clients using our Tactical models to sell ALL of their stock holdings and only hold on to their bond holdings. I won’t bore you with the details, but we use a charting technique to decide when to get out or back in the markets. So far, this looks like a great move as our clients that implemented our advice on February 26th have not been severely hurt with this market selloff.
Now I must be disciplined to make the decision of “when” to start moving money back into the markets. And I will tell you, I don’t know what day that will be. But I will use the same charting techniques that I used to make the call to get out of the markets. I review the charts every damn day! Disciplined.
The point is, if you have a plan and you execute your plan with discipline, then this market should not scare you. Because you have a plan and you are executing a plan. You are managing your risk. You are disciplined in up markets as well as down markets.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS SHOULD NOT BE READ IF YOU ARE OFFENDED EASILY
Now, I’m going to be upfront here. Part of the next couple paragraphs is a shameless plug for our Plan Confidence service.
So on behalf of our small team and all of our clients, I am proud of you. We had the discipline to provide you the advice on how to properly manage your investments at this time. You had the discipline to execute that advice.
With the exception of one financial adviser who is offering our service to his clients, we have not received any phone calls or emails with concerns about these markets.
Why?
Because we have a plan, we are executing our plan with discipline. This is what is expected of us. This is what our clients pay us for.
Our direct clients (those that hire us without a financial adviser) pay us a dollar a day to be disciplined. They pay us a dollar a day to keep them disciplined. And maybe when the markets go straight up, maybe some of our clients question why they are paying a dollar a day. But I know for a fact, we have saved our clients more money over the past month than we have ever made.
We have been disciplined.
And for a dollar a day, you too can receive disciplined advice on what to buy/sell and when. The advice is disciplined. The advice comes from a Dalbar certified Registered Fiduciary who has been managing money since 1997. This is not the first Bear market we have seen.
And for a dollar a day, you too can have discipline and confidence in your retirement plans. And let’s face it, if you don’t want to pay a dollar a day for disciplined financial advice, then these markets should not be a big concern to you. There’s an old saying, “penny wise and pound foolish”.
Stay confident my friends!
-Kevin T Clark, RF
CEO & Co-Founder
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