January 22, 2018

In the days before cash, people bartered goods and services. Then we established various forms of “cash” payments, from paper bills and coins to checks, credit and debit card payments. It seems that the more we progress, the less we use physical cash. Just because we’re not breaking out a wad of bills doesn’t mean we don’t want to have our assets stored elsewhere – perhaps some of it in savings, some of it in investments and some of it in insurance products. In fact, it’s a good idea to position our assets with the goal of generating several different income streams during retirement. We are happy to sit down with you to evaluate your current assets and design a financial strategy to help you pursue that goal.

The world continues to move in the direction of a more cashless society. In Sweden, digital payments represent as much as 80 percent of all transactions in shops. The country is known for its innovation in technology, and consumers have been quick to embrace and utilize non-cash options with a high degree of confidence.¹

Another trend moving us closer to cashless is the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies. This started with bitcoin in 2009, but today there are more than 900 different types of digital cash. They are used to make secure electronic payments for goods and services. And yes, they can increase in value. In March 2017 the value of a bitcoin, at a high of $1,268, exceeded that of an ounce of gold ($1,233) for the first time. However, because of the level of anonymity they offer, cryptocurrencies are unfortunately often connected with illegal activity.²

One of the reasons there is so much innovation in new monetary systems is due to the onslaught of fraud and security breaches in recent years, such as the Equifax data breach. In that situation, the personal data of more than 143 million customers was potentially compromised. The apparent inability to prevent breaches has led to consumers having to freeze credit reports, enact fraud alerts and be more vigilant about monitoring bank and credit card accounts to verify charges.³

Then again, the more sophisticated we become, the more we seem to revert to the “old ways” for security. For example, some states are considering augmenting their electronic voting systems with paper backups.⁴

Content prepared by Kara Stefan Communications.

¹Alex Gray. World Economic Forum. Sept. 21, 2017. “Sweden is on its way to becoming a cashless society.” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/09/sweden-becoming-cashless-society/. Accessed Oct. 17, 2017.

² Cara McGoogan and Matthew Field. The Telegraph. Sept. 27, 2017. “What is cryptocurrency, how does it work and why do we use it?” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/cryptocurrency/. Accessed Oct. 17, 2017.

³ Jeff Blyskal. Consumer Reports. Sept. 12, 2017. “How to Lock Down Your Money After the Equifax Breach.” https://www.consumerreports.org/equifax/how-to-lock-down-your-money-after-the-equifax-breach/. Accessed Oct. 17, 2017.

⁴ Elizabeth Weise. USA Today. Sept. 19, 2017. “Paper ballots are back in vogue thanks to Russian hacking fears.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/09/19/russia-hacking-election-fears-prompts-states-to-switch-to-paper-ballots/666020001/. Accessed Oct. 27, 2017.

We are an independent firm helping individuals create retirement strategies using a variety of insurance and investment products to custom suit their needs and objectives. This material is intended to provide general information to help you understand basic financial planning strategies and should not be construed as financial advice. All investments are subject to risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values.

The information contained in this material is believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed; it is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions. If you are unable to access any of the news articles and sources through the links provided in this text, please contact us to request a copy of the desired reference.

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There are many different approaches to investing in the stock market, but most fall under two categories: exclusive and inclusive. Exclusive means conducting thorough research on prospective companies and investing in a portfolio of select, thoroughly vetted securities. One of the advantages of this approach is that if an investor’s research pans out, he could have quite a cache of high-performing “winners.”¹

An unfortunate disadvantage is that most big “winners” in the market have at some point suffered declines of up to 50, 60 or even 90 percent on their way to success. That type of risk can be difficult for the average investor to stomach.²

The inclusive strategy is quite the opposite. This encompasses ETFs, mutual and index funds, wherein the idea is to diversify across securities to help reduce volatility, yet still yield a positive return on investment. The advantages are that this is usually a lower cost way of investing in a wide array of stocks, and diversification may offer a better defense against capital losses. On the flip side, however, stellar returns can get whitewashed by a batch of underperformers.³

Many factors should be considered in developing an investment strategy. We have the tools to help clients determine how much risk they are willing to take on and what types of investments are appropriate for their financial goals, investment timeline and individual circumstances. We’re here to help you analyze your personal financial situation and create strategies utilizing a variety of investment and insurance products that can help you work toward your financial goals.

One way to gauge risk tolerance is to recognize how we each react when the markets start to fall. It’s a very common, natural instinct to want to sell holdings to “stop the bleeding,” but, in fact, the opposite may be more productive. Buying when prices drop — at least well-vetted securities that are expected to recover – can be a means of achieving higher performance. But that’s not generally how human nature works. And, unfortunately, how investors react can have far more impact on performance than the economy or individual stock fundamentals. In fact, Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale, believes that markets are more prone to move when investors think they know how other investors will react.⁴

The one thing about significant market moves, whether up or down, is that they can throw a portfolio off your carefully designed plan. This is why rebalancing a portfolio, at least annually, can be an important investment strategy. However, a recent Wells Fargo/Gallup survey found that less than half of investors rebalance to restore their portfolios back to targeted stock and bond allocations on an annual basis. A bull run can be pretty satisfying as you watch your account’s market value continually increase. However, the problem with this is that an investor could be generating a far more aggressive portfolio than suited for his or her circumstances. In the event of a correction, losses could be significant.⁵

One suggestion is that investors should consider diversifying any position that climbs higher than 5 to 10 percent of their overall portfolio.⁶

Another possible strategy is to position some portfolio assets into an annuity. While the approach is slowly starting to catch on, the recently released 2017 “TIAA Lifetime Income Survey” found that only 50 percent of respondents reported being familiar with how an annuity works. However, even that finding can be deceiving. About 63 percent of participants who were invested in a target-date fund thought that it would provide a guaranteed income stream. While this is true of annuities*, it is not the case with most target-date funds. Half of those surveyed expressed interest in having an annuity option in their employer-retirement plans.⁷

*Annuity guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Annuities are insurance products that may be subject to fees, surrender charges and holding periods which vary by company. Annuities are not a deposit of nor are they insured by any bank, the FDIC, NCUA, or by any federal government agency. Annuities are designed for retirement or other long-term needs.

Content prepared by Kara Stefan Communications.

¹ Barry Ritholtz. Bloomberg. Sept. 26, 2017. “So Few Market Winners, So Much Dead Weight.” https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-26/so-few-market-winners-so-much-dead-weight. Accessed Nov. 28, 2017.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Robert J. Shiller. The New York Times. Oct. 19, 2017. “A Stock Market Panic Like

1987 Could Happen Again.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/business/stock-market-crash-1987.html?smid=tw-share. Accessed Nov. 28, 2017.

⁵ Walter Updegrave. Money. Oct. 4, 2017. “Do This One Thing Each Year If You Want a Better Retirement.” http://time.com/money/4964526/do-this-one-thing-each-year-if-you-want-a-better-retirement/. Accessed Nov. 28, 2017.

⁶ Donald Jay Korn. Financial Planning. Aug. 22, 2017. “Convincing clients to let go of huge holdings.” https://www.financial-planning.com/news/convincing-clients-to-let-go-of-huge-holdings. Accessed Nov. 28, 2017.

⁷ Karen Demasters. Financial Advisor. Oct. 17, 2017. “Annuities Are Misunderstood, TIAA Says.” https://www.fa-mag.com/news/annuities-are-misunderstand–tiaa-says-35249.html. Accessed Nov. 28, 2017.

We are an independent firm helping individuals create retirement strategies using a variety of insurance and investment products to custom suit their needs and objectives. This material is intended to provide general information to help you understand basic financial planning strategies and should not be construed as financial advice. All investments are subject to risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values.

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