With the recent stock market correction, we always get panicked calls from clients about “Oh My Goodness, is my stuff affected?” Their “stuff”, of course, is their retirement plans that we built for them.
We must assure each and every one that “No, your stuff is just fine”. Their panic-induced phone call is a result of years of panic when folks’ 401(k) or other market investments have experienced major losses in their retirement funds while they were still working. Think back to 1987, 2001, and 2008, when in each of these years people lost as much as 30% of their funds’ value. Good news is that they were still working and could have the time to build up their retirement fund again. But now, if they are retired and not working, or within five years of retirement, the recovery time is different.
Therefore, when we build a retirement income plan, we focus on limiting your exposure to market losses in your retirement years. We look at performance over the past 10-20 years to see how those vehicles or companies weathered the downturns in the market. Did they continue to pay dividends? Did they downsize? Did they continue to grow? Some folks look at histories over the past 4-5 years. Well, duh! The market has been roaring the past eight years and you could not lose with just about anything you invested in.
Many brokers use an old, tired, and not-so-true method of a 50/50 balanced portfolio with some stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. The method is somewhat outdated in that if stocks are doing well, bonds are not. If bonds are doing well, stocks traditionally are not. As the investor, you are in the middle of the seesaw, so no matter which one is up or down, you’re in the middle and still earning dividend income off your investments. The problem with this type of plan is that when the government implemented the quantitative easing, this basically propped up the stock market and made bonds almost impossible to buy. So, the old seesaw method won’t work.
Bill and Jeanie came into our offices as a referral and were unhappy with their current planner, as they only saw loss after loss after loss with their current plan. Their advisor was an accumulation advisor and was still gambling with their money in the market. They were frustrated and wanted a change before they fully retired. They were relieved when we presented a plan that would protect a large portion of their savings from market risk and use dividend paying strategies for the portion still exposed to the market. With this type of plan, we are looking to smooth out the roller coaster ride and provide a greater peace of mind in their retirement years.
If you’re retired, or within five years of retirement and still gambling, it might be time to take a second look.
We focus on the “know-so money” not the “hope-so money”.