Can the Financial Markets Be Trusted?

Quite often, I’ll receive a call or an email that goes something like this:

“So-and-so on the news said the market is ripe for a big selloff in September or October, what do you think?”

I hope you know by now that I always welcome the opportunity to help you with your questions. Keep them coming. This question in particular is one of those questions that I’m asked frequently enough, I decided that it’s important enough to share some thoughts on the subject with ALL of you.

First, let me avoid suspense by saying that as much as I would like to, I simply can’t predict whether the market will experience a big selloff, I can’t tell you for certain what is going to happen in September of this year or January of 2028. After all, who can predict the behavior of millions of people who choose to invest in the market?

Second, let me ask you consider how on earth the guy on TV knows of such things and why he is willing to invest his time in telling the whole world about it? What does he stand to gain from making such a claim?

To be fair, the market may very well drop significantly later this year. Or it may not. If it does, we’ll have one very pleased “market forecaster” on our hands, and likely a new book explaining his brilliance. But, if the market doesn’t drop, we’ll have forgotten about him until he makes his next big prediction with crossed fingers.

Rather than question whether his prediction will be correct or not, it would be prudent to ask ourselves if we trust the market to deliver growth over long periods of time. If your answer is yes, then it makes sense to construct a portfolio to take advantage of that long-term trend.

However, if you don’t think the market will grow over long periods of time, then a reasonable response would be to question whether you should be invested in the market at all. There are other means of protecting and growing your money than just the stock market after all.

For a number of reasons, the market is on my mind. While I’ve been helping people navigate the markets for many years now, I’ve chosen to invest much of my free time over the last few months researching various aspects of the financial markets by asking a particular set of questions to guide my research.

Questions like:

How good are individuals and institutions at predicting the markets, really?
Do stock-pickers and market-timers have consistent track records to support their claims about the future of markets?
Should investors pay a premium to the people who claim to be smarter than the markets?
Based on the findings of this research, how should Fourth Dimension clients interact with and participate in the markets?

You see, I’m that guy who is constantly asking questions of the world around me. I strongly feel that this attribute is of great benefit to our clients and their families. I’ll ask the questions and deliver to you the results of my findings.

Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll reveal to you the results of my research. The good, the bad, the surprising…it’s all yours if you want it.

Circling back to the question of whether the market will collapse or continue its growth spurt, my advice to you is to prepare for either. Prepare for both up and down markets by carefully planning your retirement, securing necessary income from a very reliable source, and remaining in a position to prosper when times are good. This is the strategy behind our Financial Blueprint process.

Thanks for investing your time in this weekly discussion. As always, please let us hear your thoughts. Feedback is always welcomed.

Have a great weekend!

Adam Cufr, RICP®

p.s. We’ll continue to share with you our Discovery Sessions schedule. This is a great way to introduce someone to Fourth Dimension and the financial planning process. See below for more details. Thanks!

Discovery Sessions

You may have heard that we’re beginning to offer something called Discovery Sessions. What is a Discovery Session? Well, I’m glad you asked. It is a free 60-minute experience designed to help people learn the tools, strategies, and methods necessary for building a detailed blueprint to allow them to balance both financial and lifestyle goals alike.

Designed for people new to Fourth Dimension, attending one of these no-obligation sessions gives them the opportunity to learn, for themselves, what they want their retirement to look like and the options to consider when designing their plan. It’s a really thought-provoking process and we would love it if you were to introduce the session to friends who may be considering their retirement options.

Please click here to view a detailed flyer that you can share with a friend.

Upcoming Sessions:
Tuesday, April 9th at 5:30 P.M.
Thursday, April 21st at 5:30 P.M.