There Is No Target
With everyone now reporting about how the next major level of the Dow Index is near, I just read a headline that the NEXT target is well beyond the one we may soon pass. It’s as if the selloff in the beginning of this year didn’t even happen (our post from January). Can we all just agree on something really important? There isn’t a target. When it comes to investing well over a lifetime, to provide for a family’s needs and possibly for generations after them, there isn’t any secret ‘level’ or ‘target’ to reach where we are then finished. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
The Life You Chose
For some reason, a lot of people seem to be retiring lately. Over the last year, I and my partners Dave and Grant have helped numerous people make that leap away from their career, which for many can be a scary time. This is a very rewarding aspect of our careers as advisors. And it is also humbling and a great responsibility to advise those clients through this major event in their lives.
Once we get beyond the “X’s and O’s” related to the financial aspect of this planning, I can’t help but think about this next chapter for them and this word “Retirement.” At a recent class I attended, financial planner and Forbes columnist Carolyn McClanahan said something that we couldn’t agree with more. She said “let’s stop calling this Retirement, and start calling this just another transition in life that needs to be planned for.” To me, that opens up the realm of possibilities for the future rather than just contemplating what you would stop doing (which is the traditional way to approach retirement).
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
“Trees Losing Their Leaves; Experts Say No End In Sight”
I pulled out my smartphone the other day to view some of the morning’s headlines while waiting for my chicken salad powerhouse wrap (detail added so that you knew I wasn’t driving while reading). Here’s the first line that showed up:
“Dow 20,000 is coming this year…”
My first thought was how funny this headline is. (By the way, for the wise investor who doesn’t track the Dow—the level is around 18,300 as of this writing). Can you imagine the news predicting such a higher market this year just weeks ago when the market sold off by almost 1,000 points (before coming back a few days later)?
This got me thinking about the equity market’s recent “all time high” that is continually making headlines (again). As investors, we have to be careful with what information we’re taking in, and how our perceptions can influence the expectations we have with our own portfolios. A little more than three years ago the same thing was being reported. As the market recouped all of its losses from the ’08-’09 downturn (on a point basis) and began to touch new levels that year, all we heard about was the market’s new high—each time it happened—until a more enticing headline came along.
It’s kind of like having the Baltimore Sun report front page news about how the leaves on trees surprisingly emerge with such brilliance—every single spring. I can see the paper now: “Leaves Are Back, And Greener Than They’ve Ever Been—But For How Long?!” …followed later in the year by the equally astonishing headline “Trees Losing Their Leaves; Experts Say There Is No End In Sight”. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
My Love/Hate Relationship With ‘Past Performance’
“Past performance is not indicative of future results.”
Sound familiar? If you have invested in any regulated investment of any form, you have read or heard this phrase before. I have to be honest. Even as a professional advisor, when I read this and explain it to clients there is something about it that gets on my nerves. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s untrue or that I don’t believe it. We don’t know what the future returns of our investments are going to be. We don’t know the exact short-term direction of an investment, and if anyone tells you that they do, you should find another advisor because you will be set up for failure.
If I really think about why this phrase annoys me, I think it is because I want to find some certainty with an investment’s outcome. Doesn’t everyone? > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
Shoes and Unexpected Upturns
There’s an old story that I love about two shoe salesmen that are sent to Africa by the company they work for to review the potential growth opportunities in this new land. Upon returning, one of them has sour news. “No one has any shoes,” he despondently reports. The other salesman, however, has a different viewpoint and exclaims “Great news! No one is wearing any shoes!”
With a return of -4.9%, the month of January was the ninth lowest on record for the S&P 500, dating back to 1926. So far in February, the index has retracted by another -4.5% as of this writing. The perspective that we have during times like these can have an impact on how we feel about our money and possibly even how we invest. The urge to do something to take advantage of volatility or to try and avoid more potential loss isn’t just limited to the average investor. There are also many advisors that attempt to weave and dodge during times like these. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor