Jordan Wealth Management Group - ScotiaMcLeod Truro

People I talk to are frankly tired of hearing the old platitude you have to invest for the long term. Most people I know with money are older, and don’t really feel comfortable taking a ten, twenty, or thirty year view on their investments today. That being said, here is what I suggest.

I suggest you stop focusing on what your investments used to be worth. Assume the worst and face facts that this most likely is a permanent, once in a lifetime reset to the levels we see today. This does not mean that there will not be growth again – but it will start from these levels – not the highs of before.

My advice is; recalculate your retirement planning or income projections based on what you have now. Do not hide your head in the sand. Open your statements. Take a hard look at what you need to do today to live a realistic life and achieve your life’s goals.

I’ll give you an example: I have a client that finally agreed to let me prepare a financial plan for her last September. She provided copies of her various statements from numerous sources, and I prepared a balance sheet and projections of assets and income based on these values and some assumed rates of return. The client became busy at work and as a result put off our planning meeting. During this time period the markets declined immediately afterward. When her schedule finally allowed us to meet in late December, her comment was, “why bother, I’ve lost so much”…  But I pointed out – why not redo the plan based on today’s values and see how it looks? The reality is, there are always things she can do to adjust. Now, more than ever is the time to make sure you are on the right track, that you are getting the best return and service possible for what you are paying. We have redone her plan. Assuming only reasonable, lower growth from here on, she still can retire – she may have to work a couple more years (not desirable), and/or live on a bit less, or leave a bit less to her children. However, she feels better. She has a plan. She has moved some investments around to where she is more comfortable, and has lowered her total cost to operate her portfolio.

Try it, you might like it!