My goal is to give you some tools to help you assess what you think is going to happen in the future and how you can prepare your investments based on those beliefs. You might be thinking, wait a minute, isn’t that Brian’s or some other financial expert’s job to tell me what’s going to happen? The truth is barely anyone on the planet saw those events coming until they happened.
The key to your success as an investor is NOT about predicting the future and being right. It’s about being prepared for whatever happens and winning by not losing.
Start to plan for your financial future by looking at other angles
If you drive a car, you probably have insurance against collision, theft, and liability of hurting another person. You can’t predict if you are going to get into an accident, but if you do you’re prepared just in case. You probably have fire extinguishers someplace in your house even though you may have never used one. You can’t predict if there will be a fire, but if there is, you have a plan. You might also have other back-up plans in your life like a home security system in case someone tries to break into your home. You probably also have back-up plans on your health (health insurance), your life (life insurance), your house and maybe even your dog just in case something happens.
The questions that I am going to ask you today are designed to get you thinking about your plan for what you believe might happen to the economy and things related to money in the future. Again, my opinion and all of the so-called experts opinions don’t matter. It’s your opinion that matters.
How would you answer questions like:
- Do you think taxes could be higher over the next 10 to 20 years?
- Do you think the government might have to spend more money to stimulate the economy in the future?
- Do you think that volatility in the financial markets could get worse making it more dangerous to invest for things like retirement and college funding?
- Do you think there will be another financial crisis that could seriously affect the value of your investments?
As you ponder your answers ask yourself, what is my plan for each of those issues?
- If you think taxes are going to have to rise to fund the government, what is your plan to pay (or not pay) them?
- If you think that government spending is going to continue to be out of control, which causes the greatest stealth tax on the planet know as inflation where today’s dollars buy less of the same stuff in the future, what’s your plan for that?
- If you believe that the investment markets are going to get more volatile, what is your plan for that?
- If you think another crisis is someplace around the corner, what have you done differently this time than the last time?
If you’d like to discuss your answers to these questions that I’ve asked, and cut through all of the pie charts, asset allocation, staying the course, and buying and holding that makes Wall Street a ton, reach out to me for help to work on your plan.
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Information presented in this blog post is believed to be factual and up-to-date, but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. Discussions and answers to questions do not involve the rendering of personalized investment advice, but are limited to the dissemination of general information and may not be suitable for all readers. A professional adviser should be consulted before implementing any of the strategies presented.
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