Timely Topics

Scary Headlines Make Me Chuckle

You may have seen recent headlines like: “Dow Down 200 Points, 9-Day Losing Streak—First Time Since the 70s!” It’s a dramatic story, but is it the whole story?

In this week’s video, I break down the data behind the headlines, showing how the market has performed over the past week and the past year. The big takeaway? Market movements like these are normal and shouldn’t derail your long-term investment strategy.

Successful investing is about staying focused on your goals—not reacting to attention-grabbing headlines. Watch the video to see how perspective can make all the difference.

We’re here to help you stay on track with your financial goals. Let us know if you’d like to discuss this further.

Is the value we provide worth the cost?

In today’s episode of Matt’s Minutes, we are discussing the value we provide to our clients. We strive to provide maximum value to our clients at a reasonable cost. There is always someone willing to do it cheaper. Be sure to click above to watch the full video and see the funny photo that Matt found that demonstrates this.

Prevention Vs. Cure

In today’s episode of Matt’s Minutes, we dive into the topic of prevention versus cure when it comes to retirement planning. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Our goal is to help you take the necessary steps now to avoid potential financial pitfalls later and ensure your financial security in retirement. Just as in healthcare, where prevention is better than cure, the same principle applies to your financial well-being. Click on the video above to watch the full video.

Struggle Creates Strength

In today’s video, Matt is diving into the concept of transformation through struggle and how it builds strength, drawing inspiration from the remarkable process of metamorphosis. Think about the journey of a caterpillar as it transforms into a butterfly. Similarly, in our own lives, we encounter moments of struggle and challenge. Now, let’s apply this to our finances and investing, such as during a recession or the financial crisis. It’s important to recognize that these struggles are not setbacks; they’re opportunities for growth and transformation. Click above to watch the full video.

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/

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