Market Related

The Danger Lies In The Trek Down The Mountain

 In this video Matt is standing on the top of a mountain in Lake Chelan. He’s discussing how hiking a mountain parallels the risks people face once they retire. It’s often been said that people are more likely to be injured or killed descending a mountain than climbing up it. Retirement is no different. Making a mistake with your investments while still working (climbing the mountain), will more than likely not end in calamity. However, making a mistake in retirement (descending the mountain) may not be something that can be recovered from. As a point of reference, Matt isn’t trying to impose fear on those of you that are retired regarding a market downturn. He’s referring to being overly risky when you don’t need to, taking speculative bets with investments that you may not fully understand, panicking and getting out of the market until you feel more comfortable. These are instances that you have control over and avoided with sound guidance.

Here at Ross Financial we specialize in helping people navigate the complexities of retirement. If you know people who are retired or thinking about retiring within the next 5 years, we would love to offer our expertise to them. Feel free to share this video with them.

Let’s talk politics

In this week’s Matt’s Minutes we touch on that timely topic that gets brought up to us every 4 years. There is always going to be different thoughts and opinions on how each presidency could affect the market differently but as we discuss in this video. Many common misconceptions for the past two presidents have proven to be opposite of the actual case. For example, the Biden administration campaigned on scaling back fossil fuels and galvanizing renewables. One would have expected traditional energy stocks would be punished, while renewables would be catapulted. Instead, the exact opposite has happened. On the other hand, President Trump campaigned vigorously to support the traditional energy industry and approve leases for drilling during his presidency. However, during his presidency the S&P 500 Energy index was down, while the S&P 500 Global Clean Energy index was up significantly. This is a perfect example of why we here at Ross Financial strive to keep our clients in diversified portfolios and try to steer clear of attempting to time the market or use speculation.

The article below outlines the source for the statistics mentioned.

https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/market-insights/market-updates/on-the-minds-of-investors/how-much-does-policy-influence-sector-performance/

Staying the Course with Your Investments – Part 1: What a Difference a Year Makes

In this week’s episode of Matt’s Minutes, Matt is starting a two-week, two-part series titled “Staying the Course with Your Investments.” In today’s video, Matt shares an interesting visual that shows what a difference a year can make, comparing returns in 2022 compared to 2023. Showing us that the quote “it’s darkest before dawn” holds true in this case. Also enforcing the importance of staying committed to our investments, even during challenging times. Click on the video above to watch the full video.

Staying the Course with Your Investments – Part 2: Stick to the plan

This week is part 2 of our two-part series titled “Staying the Course with Your Investments.” We are discussing a hypothetical scenario with four different investor behaviors. By examining these four different investor behaviors, we can gain valuable insights into the importance of sticking to our investment plan. It can be tempting to make impulsive decisions based on short-term fluctuations, but staying the course is key to long-term success. Click on the video above to watch the full video.

Understanding Changing Rates

In this week’s video we are touching upon the timely topic of changing interest rates and what that means for certain investments. We have discussed this in the past but we have a new visual to share with you that might shed some more light on where rates are currently and what that means going forward for 2024 and beyond. Click the video above to hear more on the topic.

“Forecasting” the Markets for 2024

 In this weeks episode of Matt’s Minutes, Matt is sharing his number one most asked question of his career. “Matt what do you think the market is going to do next?” Today, we finally have an answer for you. But it’s important to remember, not to make concrete investment decisions based on people’s predictions of what the market is going to do. This information should be used for entertainment purposes only. Market predictions are speculative in nature and can often be inaccurate. Click on the video above to watch the full video.

Here is the article I reference in the video: Wall Street Forecasts For The S&P 500

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