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Dear Friends,
Happy Teacher Appreciation week! As our education professional clients look longingly to the end of another school year, they may leave behind the 3 R’s for a while: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. Best wishes for a relaxing summer holiday and safe travels. What has consumed the attention of the media, the markets and most all of us this year have been the 3 I’s: Inflation, Interest rates, and Invasion. Added together, those topics spell volatility. Market Implications There’s no sugar-coating the news: the U.S. and global markets took a hit in the first four months of 2022, offering investors an experience that they haven’t been accustomed to during the long bull market: a bit of red ink on their performance statements. There is nothing pleasant about down markets—not the anxieties they cause, not the paper losses, not the relentless drip, drip, drip of reports in the media about this or that daily downturn. The gut instinct is to stem the losses by selling before the market goes down further, but locking in losses after the fact has, historically, almost always been the wrong move. Nevertheless, many people do it, and sell to wiser investors who prefer buying their investments on sale. Dear Friends,
Spring has sprung! As March Madness concludes, the beautiful Florida weather has returned just as the Snowbirds are leaving, restaurant lines will get shorter and golf courses' greens fees become affordable. (Yes, that is a retread line from year’s past, but less snarky than referencing April Fool’s Day). Hopefully this note finds you well. Very soon, school will be out for the summer. When that happens, many children that rely on free or reduced meals at school will go hungry as their families struggle to feed them at home. As supporters of the All-Faiths Food Bank, we encourage you to consider reaching out to them with any financial help you may be able to provide. As their tagline reiterates: Child hunger is a problem we can solve together. Dear Friends,
Spring has (almost) sprung and the hits just keep on coming. Last year, COVID overwhelmed the news (and has not been completely pushed from our consciousness). And now, after months of troop buildups and all the warnings that Russia and their “emperor” intended to move into the sovereign nation of Ukraine, and all the denials and hope that war could be averted, the invasion has begun. More on this shortly. ZOOM Webinars for Clients We are taking our “Spring Break” from doing webinars this month. Stay tuned for the announcement about the April show. If you missed it, John did an excellent job of presenting the nuts and bolts of the RFPS Investment Planning Strategies a few weeks ago. The presentations can be found in the Media & Posts tab on our website www.realityfinancialplanning.com. If there are any topics for which a Zoom presentation would be relevant to you, please let us know. Dear Friends,
Because it is another unseasonably dreary day, I thought I would reach out and share some pearls of wisdom (?), insights, and general stuff. ZOOM Webinars for Clients We are excited (and you can be too) that our next Zoom webinar will be Wednesday, February 23, at 5:00. Have you ever wondered how and why we construct portfolios (and invest our own money) the way we do? There are as many investment approaches out there as there are financial advisors. Some work, some don’t. But through years of research and due diligence we have found that there is no doubt that passive index investing has outperformed active investing over the long-term. So, we have decided to share our philosophies and methods for using indexes and why we think that approach is superior to many others. Please join John (and I) as he presents the nuts and bolts of the RFPS Investment Planning Strategies. If you are interested in attending, please email us at Inquire@RealityFinancialPlanning.com and John will send you the ZOOM meeting details. As an FYI, all our past presentations can be found in the Media & Posts tab on our website www.realityfinancialplanning.com. If there are any other topics for which a Zoom presentation would be relevant to you, please let us know. Please allow me a moment of silence as I commiserate over the impending end of another football season (the Super Bowl is only three weeks away). Thanks, I feel better.
Of course, the end of football season puts us smack-dab on the middle of Snowbird Season – and for those of us that live here year-round…well, enough said on that. Because it is an unseasonably dreary day, I decided to dive into my “geek world” and shoot out a note to you all. Grab a cup of coffee – you may need it. Dear Friends,
In the inimitable words of my favorite comic strip character, Calvin (of Bill Waterson’s Calvin & Hobbes fame), “A new year…a fresh clean start”. However, another quote a few years later when talking about the new year, Hobbes said, “The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present.” Happy New Year to you. My hope for all of us is that this is a year of good health, much happiness and prosperity as we move forward with a life of fulfillment. Let’s hope that the acrimony surrounding vaccines, masks, politics, and general impatience with others can be replaced with open-minded compromise and more tolerance than we have seen over the past several years. Seasons Greetings, Friends,
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" according to the old yuletide tune sung by crooner Andy Williams. As a new year approaches, many of us will reflect on the year that has passed and look forward to a better new year. We look forward to spending quality time with family and friends as we prepare to go out of town or have visitors in for the holidays. In our Thanksgiving note to clients, we expressed our sincere gratitude to our clients and the professions that make our lives free, healthy, and prosperous. One group we failed to specifically thank were our education professional friends. They deserve all our recognition and acknowledgment for a job well done in the face of challenging environments in the classrooms, cafeterias, and school buses. You have earned the coming time off and rest over the holidays. Thank you for all you do. For sure, it is a busy time. Holiday shopping, parties, tree-trimming and year-end cheer may already be on the calendar. We truly hope you are enjoying the season and not allowing stresses to interfere with your jolliness. Dear Friends,
It is hard to believe that we are heading into the homestretch of this year. As many of our friends and families are watching the leaves change colors and breaking out their scarves, gloves, and coats, we are enjoying comfortable temperatures and beautiful weather. And football season is in full swing – I love that (although my waistline doesn’t). ZOOM Webinars for Clients For the remainder of the year, we are taking a hiatus from doing the Zoom webinars. We will resume after the new year with fresh topics, new content, and, hopefully, Joe’s technology working properly. If you are so inclined, all our past presentations can be found in the Media & Posts tab on our website www.realityfinancialplanning.com. If there are any topics for which a Zoom presentation would be relevant to you, please let us know. Dear Friends,
The Fall season is upon us – thankfully. Football and cooler temperatures! Life is good. Hopefully this note finds you and your family well, rested from your summer travels and feeling good. ZOOM Webinars for Clients Last month’s presentation on “Estate Planning in the COVID Era” is available for replay. The broadcast can be found in the Media & Posts tab on our website www.realityfinancialplanning.com. When it comes to planning for a safe and secure retirement, long-term care (LTC) can be a confusing and unaddressed challenge to many families’ financial security. Some of the hesitancy can be pinned to human nature - we don’t want to think about the unpleasant possibility of needing help with caring for ourselves (i.e., feeding, bathing, using the bathroom). Some might think it won’t happen to them; while others would rather “deal with it later”. So, mark your calendars for Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 5:00, to join our ZOOM webinar on “Financial Planning for Long-Term Care”. We will provide ideas to start the LTC discussion and things you may want to think about when preparing for the potential need for, costs, misconceptions, and other LTC considerations. If you are interested in attending, please email us at Inquire@RealityFinancialPlanning.com and John will send you the ZOOM meeting details. |
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3947 Clark Road, Sarasota, Florida 34233 Office: (941) 366-5700 inquire@realityfinancialplanning.com |
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