With everything going on in the world these days (global tragedies and market news), we are all wondering what this means for us, closer to home. With inflation and the CPI (Consumer Price Index) running higher than it has in almost 40 years, interest rates forecasted to continue increasing, and gas prices making us all wish we had electric cars or bikes…I’m here for a little pep talk.
First, take a deep breath.
Second, look at your own household finances – now is a good time to do a cash-flow review. Costs are going up and if you haven’t noticed the creeping increase in milk or veggies, you likely did when you only got 9.5L of gas at the pump for $20 this morning (ok, that was my morning). If you had a carefully balanced budget, with money automatically going into various savings accounts, you may start to feel a pinch.
Next, review your goals and priorities and your investor profile (link here, or click the image below). Many of us think we’re totally fine with high-risk for long-term growth…and then something like 2008/2011/The Pandemic/current events happen and some people realize that they really are *not* ok with the volatility that can happen. If this is you, let’s talk.
So far, the long-term forecasting hasn’t changed for market returns. We have seen history repeat itself before (global crises, markets reacting contrary to what one would expect). See image at bottom for market crises and subsequent recovery.
The bottom line: diversification is key and staying true to your own goals. We may be on this roller coaster ride for a while yet, so looking at the factors we can control (like our spending) will serve us better than continually checking our investment balances. Knee-jerk reactions don’t serve us well and since we can’t predict anything at all, the best course of action is to make sure that we’re comfortable with our asset allocation.
