By Daniel Korleski, MBA
No one knows what’s around the corner, and that can be scary. Billionaire and founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, said, “Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all.” And things in our world right now are just about as unknown as it gets. Most of us dislike this level of uncertainty (to put it mildly)—but the market dislikes it even more.
Case in point: the Dow recently experienced 8 weeks of consecutive losses this year, and the S&P 500 tallied 7 weeks of losses. (1) As a result, many economic leaders are predicting a recession in our near future. (2) We can point to many factors as the cause of our recent nail biting: rampant inflation, the Fed’s solution of increasing interest rates, and international unrest. But the fact remains that we have no control over any of that.
Whatever our markets decide to do—good or bad—we at Cobalt Private Wealth want to help you take a deep breath and walk through it. Here’s how we’re watching over your finances and taking proactive steps to help safeguard your wealth.
Big-Picture Planning
We don’t make investment decisions based on what everyone else is doing or what’s popular in the investment industry. Whenever we make planning decisions with you and offer investment recommendations, we do it with your goals at the forefront. When the markets get shaky, we go the extra step of reviewing your objectives to make sure you’re still on track and make educated decisions that are not based on panic or emotion.
This starts from the very beginning of our relationship with you. We use conservative return numbers when analyzing the potential outcomes of your plan because we know that corrections and bear markets will come again. We also use asset allocation “buckets” that divide your wealth into short, intermediate, and long-term strategies to help you make the most of a volatile market.
And in times like this, it’s even more important to have an emergency fund or a percentage of your portfolio that is either in cash or liquid enough if you need it for unexpected circumstances. While cash investments may not provide a lot of growth, having a cash contingency fund with at least one year’s worth of living expenses will protect you against having to sell investments at low values to free up cash.
We Know Your Risk Tolerance
Do you know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you make a decision that was too risky for your comfort? Our goal is to help you avoid that feeling when it comes to your investments. Before investing any of your money, we determine your risk tolerance, the amount of risk that an investor is comfortable taking or the degree of uncertainty that an investor can handle. Like most things in life, your risk tolerance may change with age, income, and financial goals. We don’t want you to lose sleep at night, so we review your risk tolerance and how much risk you can afford to take and adjust your investments over time.
Timing Matters
During bear markets, it’s important to remember that investors only realize losses when they sell, so it’s critical not to sell when the market is down. When you need to access your money is an important factor in avoiding those losses. For example, if you are a decade or more away from retirement, you can likely wait out a recession or correction and benefit from the recovery. If you need access to your funds in the next five years or are within your first five years of retirement (frequently known as the “fragile decade”), (3) a recession will make more of an impact on your money and your plans.
From a practical perspective, we make sure your portfolio’s allocation is set up with your time horizon in mind. If you need money in the short term, your portfolio will hold safe investments like cash or short-term bonds. Because retirement can last decades, you still want some of your money in investments that will produce long-term growth, but your portfolio will look very different from that of a 40-year-old in the peak of their working years.
We Are Your Emotional Support System
Ever heard the motivational slogan “Keep calm and carry on”? Those are wise words! In fact, a top investment rule is to refrain from making emotional decisions. It can be easy to get swept away emotionally when the market wreaks havoc on your finances. However, if you stay true to your investment strategy and avoid making decisions when emotions are running high, you won’t run the risk of losing even more.
Keep in mind that bear markets have happened before—and they will happen again. Have you created a disciplined financial plan? Do you have a trusted advisor monitoring your money? If so, you’re doing your part to prepare. If you need someone to turn to when the market gets wild, we’d love to support you as we work together to help build your finances for a strong future. To get started, reach out to me at danielkorleski@cobaltprivatewealth.com or 719-332-3863 to schedule a meeting.
About Dan
Daniel Korleski is the President & CEO for Cobalt Private Wealth, where he helps his clients grow, manage, and protect their wealth so they can work toward a stronger financial future. With over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, Dan has served as the managing director for Investment Trust Company, chief investment officer for the Wealth Management Group at American National Bank in Denver, and regional investment manager for the Greater Colorado Region of the Private Bank at Wells Fargo, where he oversaw the management of over $2 billion. In 2008, he was appointed by the mayor of Colorado Springs to the City’s Investment Advisory Committee. Dan holds an MBA in investment management from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Florida State University, and is a member of both the CFA Society Colorado and The Financial Planning Association.
Dan loves to give of his time to his community and has served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Pikes Peak Hospice Foundation, the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, President of the Broadmoor Rotary Club and Vice President of the Board for the Pikes Peak Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Dan was born and raised in Spain and is fluent in Spanish. When he’s not working, you can find him traveling around the world with his wife of 23 years, Montse, fly fishing, golfing, and hiking with his golden retriever, Curro. To learn more about Dan, connect with him on LinkedIn.
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(1) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-may-31-2022-111708003.html
(3) https://www.lifehealth.com/navigating-retirements-fragile-decade/
