To be truthful, I was on vacation when the debt ceiling debacle was being decided and when the stock market decided to take a tumble. Despite being subjected to Fox News and CNBC at least twice a day by family members who watch that stuff, my stress level was pretty low. Why? My clients are being protected against market losses by design. You could be, too.
Bear markets require different strategies
We are in a secular bear market – that is, an extended period of time when the stock market is ultimately down. There are always cyclical bull markets within a secular bear, but the overall trend is down. Money has to be managed better. Examples:
• My clients who implemented my tax-free retirement income strategy lost no money.
• My clients who have signed up for the Mutual Fund Analyzer lost very little. The signal told them to get out before the worst happened. I had a client who had to pay $600 in fees to move her money out of mutual funds an into a money market fund, but saved herself $15K. Remember, in a bear market, it’s not so much about what you make as it is about what you don’t lose.
• My clients who are up on my wealth management platform, using a variety of investment strategies lost 25% less (on average) than the S&P500 did.
You don’t have to go to work and lament to your colleagues that your 401(k) is a disaster. You don’t have to stress about your retirement. But you do need to do things differently, and some of those changes are pretty small.
