Post Election Reflections
Whether you’re feeling elated, deflated or mostly just jaded about what just happened in the U.S. elections, we wanted to reach out to you with a few thoughts related to the recent election. It’s possible that even President-elect Trump himself didn’t see this one coming, and so we wanted to provide some perspective from this important event.
Ample evidence informs us that it is unwise to alter your long-term investment strategy in reaction to breaking news, no matter how exciting or grim that news may seem, or how the markets are immediately responding. If you’re a client we think you understand this, but we think it’s worth reiterating.
As we saw with the unexpected outcome of this summer’s Brexit referendum, the biggest surprise may be how resilient markets tend to be, as long as you give them your time and your patience. In fact, the first few days indicate that the markets may already have priced in the possibility of the relatively long-shot outcome that occurred.
That said, if you want to review your plan in the aftermath of Tuesday’s election, please be in touch with us so that we can advise you, as you hired us to do. Specifically, you can count on us to assist you based on our professional insights, your personal goals and – above all – your highest financial interests.
In the meantime, consider these words by billionaire businessman and “stay put” investor Warren Buffett, from his 2012 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders:
“America has faced the unknown since 1776. It’s just that sometimes people focus on the myriad of uncertainties that always exist while at other times they ignore them (usually because the recent past has been uneventful). American business will do fine over time. And stocks will do well just as certainly, since their fate is tied to business performance. Periodic setbacks will occur, yes, but investors and managers are in a game that is heavily stacked in their favor. … The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.”
Buffett published these sentiments on March 1, 2013, shortly after the last presidential election cycle. If you review the volume of his writings, you’ll find that he has expressed similar viewpoints on many occasions and through many market events.
Presidential terms are four years long. Your investment portfolio has been structured to last a lifetime. Remember that as you consider your own personal goals and objectives… and please call us if we can assist.
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