Sharon Allen, CEO and Co-Founder of Sterling Wealth Management was recently interviewed by Money Magazine about tips for investors to prepare their portfolios for retirement. Click here to read more: | Money https://swmi.co/moneymag-recession-proof-portfolio
In case you hadn’t noticed, the S&P 500 index has reached record territory, and the Nasdaq has crossed over the 5,000 level. At 2,166.89, the S&P 500 finished above the previous high of 2,130.82, set on May 21, 2015.
We’ve waited more than a year for the market to get back to where they were before the downturn this January, before Brexit, before a lot of uncertainties in the last 12 months. The market top itself is an uncertainty; after all, many investors regard market tops warily. 
When stocks are more expensive than they have ever been, the talking heads begin to have heated discussions around whether or not it may be time to sell and take your profits. However, if you followed this logic and sold every time the market hit a new high, you’d probably have been sitting on the sidelines during most of the long ride from the S&P at 13.55 in June 1949, which was the bull market high after the index started at 10. New highs are a normal part of the market, and it is just as likely that tomorrow will set a new one as not. In fact, overall, the market spends roughly 12% of its life at all-time highs.
We all know that the next bear market will start with an all-time high, but we can never know which one in advance. Market highs do not necessarily become market tops. Let’s see if we can all celebrate this milestone without the usual dose of fear that often comes with new records.
Sources:
Sharon Allen, CFP(R), CTFA is the Co-Founder and President of Sterling Wealth Management, a fee-only wealth management firm. She has an exceptionally collaborative approach in working with her clients, and has a particular interest in the challenges facing women of wealth. Sharon has co-authored a paper on the Sandwich Generation Woman titled Caught In the Middle: How Does the Sandwich Generation Woman Not Get Squeezed?.
It’s natural human behavior in times of stress to reevaluate the current situation to find answers. This story rang true for many investors of globally diversified portfolios as the sharp declines of early 2016 caused some to examine their asset allocation and question if they were still making the right decisions. In fact, many investors follow their emotions and struggle to separate those emotions from their investment decisions. Often, following a reactive cycle of excessive optimism and fear leads to poor decisions at the worst times.
Here is a picture of what that emotional investing cycle looks like.
As professional advisors and fiduciaries of the precious resources clients have entrusted us to manage, we have answers that we feel will help our clients and those we care about have a successful investment experience. Here is what we found.
To Have a Successful Investment Experience… Read more
Millions of Americans are investors. The reality is that many investors also benefit from working with some sort of advisor. However, the landscape of available financial advisors is confusing! Financial advisor, stock broker, financial planner, money manager, wealth manager…who does what and what do I really need? Nearly each of these professionals will refer to themselves as a “financial advisor”. However, there are distinctions. In simple terms:
