personal finances: focusing on what you can control

Like many of us, you may feel a bit disoriented, fearful, and anxious. Not only has your life been dramatically altered in the past few weeks, but the market continues to drastically swing every day. The uncertainty of it all is perhaps the most difficult thing to comprehend. While nobody has answers, we can be sure of one thing; mankind has focused all of its resources on one problem. One can hope that with a dedicated effort, positive change is on the horizon.

The disruption to the financial markets and economy is a difficult thing to gauge. Globally, many governmental programs are focused on mitigating the damage in the near term by stimulating their economy in various ways. This stimulus will provide a lubricant for the financial system in order to continue to function as normally as it can.

There is little question that there will be a recession. We have already dipped into a bear market as fast as we have seen in history. Since 1926, the average bear market lasted 22 months, while the longest bull market lasted 9 years.  Bull markets follow bear markets, and much of the recovery typically comes in the front end of the bull market.

One could argue that the markets are like a rubber band, the further you pull it back the quicker and harder it snaps back. As a result, in this particular environment, we recommend that we hold steady and make sure we have enough cash to get us through the coming quarters. That way we can effectively tune out the noise, focus on long-term goals, and let the benefits of diversification play out.

To conclude, if the best advice we can provide is to hold steady and ride through these coming weeks/months, what can we be doing proactively to help our mental and financial state?

We will be contacting Lutz Financial clients to discuss a variety of the following topics:

• Gather tax filing items. This will help provide some level of certainty on payments/estimates and wrap up last year. In addition, it will allow you to plan for this coming year, as well to get closure.
• Review your home budget. Are there things you don’t need immediately? Do you have unnecessary subscriptions or payments that don’t need to be made?
• Look at tax-loss harvesting and asset location. Are there any tax plays now when the market has pulled back that you couldn’t do when greater gains were built-in?
• Should you consider a Roth IRA conversion?
• Should you reconsider you required minimum distributions for this year?
• Revisit healthcare proxies, living wills and other advanced directives.
• Make 2020 Roth/IRA contributions.

If you have immediate questions or concerns, please contact Lutz Financial today at 402.827.2300.

Important Disclosure Information

Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results.  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Lutz Financial), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this newsletter will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful.  Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions.  Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this newsletter serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Lutz Financial.  To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing.  Lutz Financial is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the newsletter content should be construed as legal or accounting advice.  A copy of the Lutz Financial’s current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request.