Today, I write again, straight from the heart.
I could tell you about statistics. I could tell you about my call with economists yesterday.
But I’m not going to do that. Scott and I spend lots of hours discussing what we should share. What message is most important. We know while bear markets are really never different, the circumstances are. And the circumstances are what tear at your hearts.
And this time we are all home, locked in our houses, keeping each other and ourselves as safe and healthy as we can. For me that means, the NOISE is louder. My anxiety is greater. Is yours? I’m worried about my family’s health. Have they all been isolated long enough? My mom and my in-laws, my kids, my grands. My sister and her family. My aunts. My friends, near and far.
Scott and my greatest worry is not what will the market do, or when will it do it, but are our people worried? With anxieties rising, we know that everyone wants to DO something. And we know that’s the biggest mistake we are hired to prevent. But it’s even harder when we are in our house, you are in your house.
What do you normally do when your anxiety rises? I know, I go play with my grandchildren. Or I go visit a friend. NOPE. I can’t do those things. I can FaceTime. And I can send them love. But it’s just not the same. So, I sit at my desk and worry that my people, YOU, are home and you feel the same.
A good friend of mine, one of our money managers, told me last week, she is working from home, her husband has the television blaring and her teenagers are complaining. She said, I’m forgetting everything I know as a money manager. You don’t look minute by minute. You look at what the future holds. She said soon I’ll go back to travelling the world to visit companies. My husband will go back to work. My teenagers will go back to school. And the world will right itself. She finished by saying, I have to act on the behalf of our investors every minute to do what they asked me to do…..find the right investments for their long term plan. I have to ACT because they pay me to, so they don’t have to. And I have to ACT on investment truths, not the noise.
So Scott and I will struggle providing you with information that will help. We can’t get you out to see your kids or your grandkids. We can’t get you back to hug your fellow church members. But we can call you. We can meet online. We can help. That’s what we are focusing on day in and day out! Our job is to keep you focused on what matters in your financial plan, so when you can get back out there in the world with the reasons and people you plan for, everything will be on track.
And we want to see pictures! Lots of pictures!
Much love,
Rhonda, Scott and the whole Financial Concepts Team