Portfolio goals

Have you been reading the daily headlines — watching markets stall, recover, and dip once again? If so, you may be wondering whether there’s anything you can do to avoid the motion sickness.

Today, in a whole new year, let’s talk about parts versus wholes. The theme is hardly new, but it bears repeating, lest we forget how essential they both are — to each other, to us, and to our financial well-being.

“The American marketplace is an economic jungle. As in all jungles, you easily can be destroyed if you don’t know the rules of survival… but you also can come through in fine shape and you can even flourish in the jungle — if you learn the rules, adapt them for your own use, and heed them.” — Sylvia Porter

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We’ve learned a lot about investing over the past 60 years, a period that has seen many breakthroughs in the world of finance. What we know comes from studying public markets and is grounded in serious academic research. The lessons are clear: Investing in markets is an excellent plan for meeting long-term goals, like maximizing your retirement income.

Sixty years after imagining the project, and after both had passed away, why did the famed artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrap L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris in silvery-blue fabric and red rope (which became an especially ethereal nighttime display)? 

Whether you’ve been investing for decades or are just getting started, at some point on your investment journey you’ll likely ask yourself some of the questions below. Trying to answer these questions may be intimidating, but know that you’re not alone. Your financial advisor is here to help.

In our last piece, we covered the recent uptick in inflation, and what to make of it in a historical context. For investors, it’s important to take a step back and look at the big picture before acting on breaking news, but what if inflation does get out of hand, and stays that way for a while? 

Has the specter of inflation got you spooked? Recent headlines are filled with sightings. In this two-part series, let’s take a closer look at what to make of all the commentary and what you can do about it as an investor. First and foremost, we caution against succumbing to fear or panic in the face of inflation. As usual, careful planning remains your best guide.

We covered a lot of ground in parts 1 and 2 of this three-part series on cryptocurrency. You may or may not be interested in using cryptocurrency as a means of exchange, but what about trading in it, directly or in fund form? If you’re considering that possibility, know that at this point: