As the end of 2016 grows closer, we have to say that this has certainly been an eventful year. A long presidential election campaign left many Americans feeling bruised and more divided than ever. And many people were surprised when Donald Trump emerged as the victor. Similar to Brexit’s unexpected win in June, election polling and conventional wisdom proved to be quite wrong once people actually voted.
Every four years, investors have to grapple with the volatility and uncertainty that comes with a presidential election. Sure-bets drop out, long-shot candidates surge to the front. Every election comes with plenty of surprises and uncertainty and the 2016 election is no different. As financial professionals, we field a lot of questions from our clients and friends about how politics and elections affect financial markets so we are going to address some of these common questions and concerns:
By Jessica Kmetty
Backdoor payments, hidden fees, loopholes in the rules…these were the conflicts of interest buried in fine print that advisors who were not acting as fiduciaries used to chisel away about a quarter of their clients’ retirement savings. When the Department of Labor issued their fiduciary rule, the theme was clear: when advising clients on retirement, advisors would legally be considered fiduciaries required to put their clients’ best interests before their own interests and excessive profits and loopholes would no longer stand. This sounds great for the investor, but what about the hidden consequences?
By Michael J. Searcy
When it comes to an advisor managing the money you are saving and investing for retirement, the management and recommendations should be transparent and made with your best interest in mind.
The Department of Labor believed this strongly enough to spend years working on a rule that was finally issued on April 6, 2016. The rule states that any advisor managing a retirement plan or its participants is a fiduciary, legally bound to make decisions in the best interest of their clients. This rule also applies to advisors who recommend consumers move their investments from a retirement plan to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
By Marc C. Shaffer
Have you recently found yourself with a large amount of cash and need to decide how to manage the funds? If you receive annual bonuses or are a 1099 employee, this may be a decision you face regularly. Or, you may be facing this decision for the first time if you have received an inheritance, a large tax refund, or have liquidated stock options. How do you know which strategy for managing your money is best?
If you’ve been watching market headlines, you probably heard that markets tumbled in the first days of 2016, raising the specter of corrections and bear markets. When markets swing, it’s natural to worry about your investments and question your commitment to your strategy. We have outlined 4 strategies to keep in mind when markets swing:
After a turbulent 2015, stocks tumbled in the first few weeks of 2016, causing concerns that the bull market we’ve enjoyed since 2009 may be over. We’d like to take the opportunity to help you put market corrections in perspective.
Projecting the Investment Horizon: Don’t Let Emotion Get the Best of You
By Michael J. Searcy
If you’re like the majority of the investing public, you may think this diagram depicting the emotional rollercoaster of investing is a great representation of how you feel these days. The diagram takes us through a simplified market cycle starting with a period leading toward strong performance (a bull market) and then falling into a period of weak performance (a bear market), then back to an upturn, thus showing the cycle is never ending. Fluctuation through these cycles can leave investors with feelings of euphoria when things seem to be going great, despair when they’re going bad, and optimism when it seems like poor performance is on its way back up again.
By Marc Shaffer
If you aren’t familiar with longevity annuities and Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts yet, chances are you will start to hear more about them this year…especially if you are over the age of 55. While countless mailings may have you convinced that this is a new product, it has actually been around for a while. However, these annuities are being heavily marketed now that a new law is allowing them to be purchased with retirement funds from an IRA account or a qualified plan such as a 401(k) plan or profit-sharing plan.
By Michael J. Searcy
You have probably heard the TV and radio pitches that go a little like this: “If you are worried about the ultimate crash of the market and you don’t want any risk, we can guarantee no loss in a down market. You could get up to double digit gains without any risk and an income stream that continues to rise, even in down markets! Find out what your financial advisor hasn’t told you and what he probably doesn’t even know about.” We hear them all the time, and believe it or not, even a seasoned investor can be lured in by these claims.