The Steak Dinner Decision

A confluence of forces is about to occur that may result in a decision to be made by weary investors. I could be wrong but I think the confluence includes a nervous, declining stock market, a ramping-up of marketing efforts by some ambitious financial advisors, and your love of a free steak dinner. Yes, it may get interesting in early 2019.

First, let me be clear. I’m not mad at or fearful of the ‘free steak dinner’ advisors that fill your mailbox with invitations to the finest steakhouses in Northwest Ohio. Not only are some of these folks people I’d consider friends, but we did a few of these dinner sessions many years ago ourselves, and I too love steak. I bring this up for a very specific reason, one that’s less about steak and more about how you’re going to navigate the next recession and or market decline.

You see, a proven way to get a new client is to appeal to them (you) emotionally, especially if fear is the emotion. When people are afraid, people want to do something to make that fear go away as quickly as possible. If you’re an advisor and a new client is what you’re after, there is no better time to ramp-up your marketing than when the stock market is shedding some value. After all, “You remember 2008, don’t you?” Show a few charts, stoke a few fears, roll out the still-sizzling porterhouse, and get those meetings scheduled. It’s time to get you out of the market and into something that’s guaranteed to not lose money. Fear, you’ve been banished. Be gone!

As we move into this next phase of the market, there are some of you who could very well benefit from taking some money off the table. If you simply cannot sleep at night seeing some temporary losses, then you may not be well-suited as long-term investors at this time. If that sounds like you, let’s talk about conservative and guaranteed strategies like annuities, bonds, or cash. These aren’t magic bullets, they’re simply tools and you may wish you consider some additional tools.

We can comfortably predict that the decline in this stock market is temporary. What we can’t comfortably predict is how temporary the decline will be. In other words, you and I know that the market will go back up like it always has, but it may not be on your desired timeline. For that variable in your planning equation, we can add some consistent and or guaranteed assets to your portfolio in order to cushion this decline. If you’d like. That said, when the market does go back up…eventually…you’ll wish you’d stayed invested in stocks for the long-term. But if ‘eventually’ sounds too far away, you can take some money off the table if you’d prefer. Just contact us and we’ll determine how best to do that. Otherwise, we’ll stick to the plan as designed.

So when those invitations arrive in the mail in January, promising protection from this nasty stock market, tax magic tricks to take your tax rate to zero, and steaks so good that you can practically hear the juices searing through the mailer, remember that you’re not crazy for wishing for the silver bullet being offered, you’re either in need of a refresher of how your plan will meet your objectives…or you’re just really hungry. In that moment, throw a steak on the grill and call us to schedule your progress review to discuss this further. We’ll look forward to seeing you very soon.

All the best,

Adam Cufr, RICP®