Excel in Retirement

In 2018, Innovator Capital Management, a financial product creator, developed an investing strategy called “defined outcome” exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Today there are several billion dollars invested in their strategies.

Historically, when we’ve put money in market, we’ve not been able to determine what our outcome will be, but often commentators or advisors will discuss past performance of investments.

What defined outcome ETFs do is allow the investor a level of certainty that’s not normally found in stock market investments. The investor has exposure to broad market indexes like the S&P, Russell, or emerging markets, and in exchange for a performance cap, the investor will have a known built in buffer from losses. Innovator has three buffered ETF options.

 With the first option the investor is buffered from the first 9% of losses in the S&P 500. After the first 9% of losses the investor could then lose money. The ETF holder participates in the gains of the S&P 500 one-to-one up to 9% of the gains. So, if the S&P 500 goes up over 9% the investor would hit a performance cap in exchange for the buffer from the first 9% of losses.

The second option is similar to the first option but with a 15% buffer, so the investor participates one-to-one going up to 15% and conversely down 15%.

Innovator has a third option that is an “ultra-buffer.” With this option the investor agrees to take the first 5% of losses, but would then be buffered for the next 30% down. So, if the S&P 500 fell 37%, the holder of the ultra-buffer ETF investor would experience a loss of 7%.

With bond yields being at record lows and equity valuations at record highs, it’s created a dilemma of where do you put money? This may be a viable solution for your portfolio.

I encourage you to find a competent financial advisor to help you determine if a buffered ETFs are appropriate for your portfolio. This won't be a suitable approach for all investors. There is no guarantee that the funds described here will achieve their investment objective.

 If you’d like to learn more about this strategy, just reply to this email and I’ll send you a more exhaustive video explanation of buffered ETFs. Also, I'd be happy to explain the finer details of this investing strategy. You can reach me by calling 864.641.7955

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Sometimes saving money doesn’t matter...

Most of us for a period of time dutifully arose out of our comfortable beds each morning to go to work to earn money. While work should be meaningful and purposeful, we realize that if we weren’t getting paid, we’d have issues.

We are engineered from a young age to understand that money is essential. In fact, I’m trying to teach my three year-old daughter this lesson now. 

We’ve raised chickens for the last four years. Since she was able to walk, she’s enjoyed helping me by carrying the chicken feed out to their coop.

She enjoyed our morning ritual until a few months ago. One afternoon I let the chickens out of their coop to walk around the yard, and I took my eyes off Amelia for a couple of moments. When I did, our rooster came rushing at her. Roosters are notoriously aggressive. Of course, this frightened her, and she didn't want to feed the chickens anymore. 

We have so many eggs that we started selling them. Previously, I had told Amelia since she was helping with the chickens, she could keep the egg money for when she wanted to buy new things. On Monday I had a conversation with her that if she didn’t want to feed the chickens, then she wasn’t going to get to keep the egg money. The next morning she put her boots on and fed the chickens with me. Something about being able to buy more Play-Doh motivated her.

We are conditioned as young children to understand that money is important, but sometimes money can’t buy you what you want…

She enjoyed our morning ritual until a few months ago. One afternoon I let the chickens out of their coop to walk around the yard, and I took my eyes off Amelia for a couple of moments. When I did, our rooster came rushing at her. Roosters are notoriously aggressive. Of course, this frightened her, and she didn't want to feed the chickens anymore. 

We have so many eggs that we started selling them. Previously, I had told Amelia since she was helping with the chickens, she could keep the egg money for when she wanted to buy new things. On Monday I had a conversation with her that if she didn’t want to feed the chickens, then she wasn’t going to get to keep the egg money. The next morning she put her boots on and fed the chickens with me. Something about being able to buy more Play-Doh motivated her. When my mom was 63, she was diagnosed with dementia. She now can’t go to Italy or Hawaii. If she were in one those cool places, she’d never know it. Life is too short to not fully live each day.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Warren Buffett, the famous stock market investor and billionaire, developed a stock market indicator that came to be known as the “Buffett Indicator.”

From Carmen Ang a writer at the website Visual Capitalist said, “This ratio, now commonly known as the Buffett Indicator, compares the size of the stock market to that of the economy. A high ratio indicates an overvalued market—and as of February 11, 2021, the ratio has reached all-time highs, indicating that the U.S. stock market is currently strongly overvalued.”

 How this ratio is calculated is by dividing the value of the stock market by gross domestic product (GDP). The article states that the ratio is sitting at 228% which is 88% higher than historical averages. 

The article went on to state that the low interest environment is one culprit of the ratio being so high. If you enjoy charts, you may enjoy reading the article linked here.

With alarming news like this, it’s important to understand the why in how you are invested. Then you can know if your allocations are correct for your purposes.

If you haven’t evaluated how your portfolio is allocated lately, I’d be happy to review it with you and evaluate whether you’re likely to meet your goals or not. If you’d like to talk through this, please  call our office at 864.641.7955.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Bitcoin is up 107.27% this year according the Morning Brew newsletter on Monday. I’m frequently asked about cryptocurrency and what I think about it. I’ll briefly share what it is and what I think about in this show.

If you’ve thought about bitcoin or considered buying it was probably because somebody you knew bought bitcoin. Cryptocurrency holders tend to be raving evangelist for it. It inspires enthusiasm.  

Recently, I read a Kiplinger article titled What to Make of Bitcoin. The article states that major companies have been announcing that they are buying bitcoin. Examples of this are Tesla, PayPal, and Mastercard. This is creating demand for it, and it’s up over 450% in the last 12 months. This has caused many people to wonder if it’s a bubble. 

Little is known about who actually created bitcoin. I tend to be the type of person who doesn’t like secret societies or clubs that exclude people. Bitcoin’s lack of transparency in this regard makes me raise an eyebrow.  Bitcoin was created in 2009 and has experienced significant volatility during its existence. Matt Andrulot, the head of research at a financial advisory firm Verdence Capital Advisors states, “It’s volatile and speculative.” 

 In January, bitcoin lost 25% of its value in just two weeks, and during the coronavirus market correction bitcoin lost 49% of its value. From December 2017 to December 2018, it lost 83% of its value. Talk about a roller coaster! 

From the Kiplinger article, “Because bitcoin doesn’t generate any cash flow or earnings -- and never will -- its price is driven purely by demand so it’s speculative. That said, bitcoin could still have a small place in an investor’s portfolio. But given the sky-high volatility it should take up no more than 1% to 3% of your assets.” Basically, don’t put more in bitcoin than you can afford to completely lose. 

If cryptocurrencies are of interest to you, look at it like an alternative investment asset. Things like gold and silver have traditionally  filled this role, but keep in mind that bitcoin is three to four times as volatile as gold. 

Kiplinger article mentioned 

 Who created bitcoin 

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

This show begins with a confession. You may have heard before that “Confession is good for the soul.” Well, I have a confession. Historically, I’ve been a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays. It started sometime in adolescence. I continue this story before jumping into a recent study. 

Dalbar is a large financial services market research firm and creates reports on investor behavior. For the last 27 years they have released a yearly study titled “Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB).”

From the report, “QAIB has measured the effects of investor decisions to buy, sell, and switch into and out of mutual funds over short and long-term time frames. These effects are measured from the perspective of the investor and do not represent the performance of the investments themselves. The results consistently show that the average investor earns less in many cases, much less–than mutual fund performance reports would suggest.”

Much of the report was spent discussing the stock market correction that happened as a result of the Coronavirus. In the first quarter of 2020, the average investor lost -21.93%.

“In response to the to the market crash in March:

• 30% of investors reallocated assets
• 28% of investors invested more while prices were low
• 26% of investors did nothing
• 15% of investors cashed out”

One last point from the report, “The average investor fails to realize the long-term benefits of asset ownership because they seldom stay invested in any given fund for a long enough period of time.” 

Congress in junction with the Federal Reserve responded quickly by buying bonds, equities, and dropping interest rates to the floor. Without interest rates being around zero percent, our economy would be in dire straits.

It’s unlikely that interest rates will be normalized any time soon. Also, the government is massively spending. We are coming close to $30 trillion of debt. The task for how to allocate your retirement savings has never been more challenging for the average retiree.

The challenge with investing in retirement is how to allocate your assets. We know from Dalbar and other research that for stock market investments to work properly it requires a long time-frame and patience. However, in retirement many people use their savings to supplement their income.

Working with a financial advisor to develop a custom allocation strategy for your needs may be beneficial. If you’d like to discuss this further call our office at 864.641.7955.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

I make it a point to read every day. Someone once said, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Reading is important for a myriad of reasons.

Sometimes something really cool happens: I run across a book and it teaches me ideas that are life changing. I want to share a book like that with you and offer to send you complimentary copy. 

A friend and I were having coffee in January and he recommended that I read a recently published book called Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge. I had read one of the author’s prior books and enjoyed it. I figured this would be a good read too.

We are inundated with information. Our smart phones keep us connected to the entire world, and research is starting to show that our technological attachment is reshaping how are brains work in ways that we don’t yet fully understand. One result of prevalent technology use is our growing inability to focus. 

Eldredge states in the introduction, “There’s a madness to our moment, and we need to name it for the lunacy it is. Because it’s taking our lives hostage.”  Later he writes, “We’ve been sucked into a pace of life nobody is enjoying.” We can’t even fully learn about one current event before the next ones is splashing across news headlines.

The book discusses the concept of “benevolent detachment.” We have all kinds of mind-bending events notifying us in real time on our phones or newsfeeds. All of these things require us to have some level of vested interest to understand them or even consume the content.

Benevolent detachment in practice is choosing to care about these things, but not using all of your emotional energy to invest in problems that we have little to no control in helping. It’s detaching, so that our minds have room to focus on our souls. Distraction can be an enemy.

It also discusses, how we often don’t have proper transitions from one thing to the next. We go from one task to the other without a mental break. This creates a bleed over into other areas of our lives. 

Eldredge is a Christian and the point of him illuminating these issues is to make the point that when our lives are cluttered with social media or the 24/7 news cycle, or whatever it may be for you, it leaves little time to know Jesus and listen to his leading. Jesus doesn’t come to you with flashing red notifications like Facebook to tell you something, but he comes gently and softly. Our spiritual develop may be hindered by constantly hopping from one thing to the next.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

A challenge I’ve seen people face is figuring out how to begin transitioning their finances for retirement. This may be especially difficult for some people because of the stock market’s upward momentum. It’s hard to know when enough is enough or how to scale back your portfolio risk level when times are good in the market.

As bonds have increasingly paid less and less, this becomes even more problematic because we’re seeing portfolios completely constructed with equities. What that means is when a market correction happens, you may be impacted. What will that mean for your retirement aspirations?

The ten years before you are retiring and really the five years before you are planning to retire are important. I frequently talk to people who explain to me that they never fully recovered from the 2002 or 2008 crash due to when they retired or when they got out of the market. The decade before and after retirement are important

There are ways to be invested in the stock market without being overexposed to gyrations or corrections that may devastating in a retiree’s portfolio.

Also, there are substitutes for the bond portion of your portfolio. The 60% equities and 40% bonds rule from the 1990s is broken. There are innovative techniques to remedy being overexposed in the market. 

If you’d like to learn more about what tool we use for the bond portion of portfolios email us at [email protected] or call our office at 864.641.7955 and we'll send you a complimentary bond alternative report.

If retirement is on your horizon in the next 5 to 10 years, I highly recommend you meet with a financial planner. Here’s a list of questions I’d ask the financial planner.

1.    How much of my current income will I be able to replace with my pension, Social Security, and retirement savings?

2.    When should I start Social Security?

3.    How do I figure out where I should pull money from first?

4.    What is a sustainable withdraw rate?

5.    Are there any assurances that I won’t run out of money?

This quick list should allow you to understand a financial planner’s investing philosophy and help you better understand if it resonates with what you are looking for in a planner. As always, thank you for reading and feel free to reach out by email or phone with questions or comments.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

One the asset managers we use recently released his market commentary. His name is Geremy van Arkel, and he’s a Chartered Financial Analyst with Frontier Asset Management. He states in his writing, “There are so many similarities between what is happening now and what took place in 1999 that is uncanny.”

Geremy continued, “First off, 1999 occurred following a long and extended bull market. Ten years into that bull market, the obvious leaders of the day were known, and investors couldn’t get enough of them. This created a very narrow investment market environment – much like that of today with FAANGM (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Microsoft).”

He goes on to explain that those six stocks comprise an overweighting in the NASDAQ and S&P. He states, in theory, one would only need to invest in those six stocks to continue making return, but that’s not rational or prudent. He analogizes that the same thing was happening in 1999 with technology stocks.

Later in Geremy’s commentary he gives 10 reasons why today’s current stock market is eerily similar to 1999. If you’d like to read his commentary send us an email at [email protected], and we’ll forward it to you.

He concludes by staying, “How does this all end, and what, if anything, should we do about it? Are these the signs of a stable and efficient market environment? I will let you decide. What I personally learned in 1999 is that there is no way to win in a bubble. I find it best to simply not participate. That way, I can sit back, watch, and just enjoy the show. The second thing that I learned is that there is a difference between an investment and a speculation. Here is the rule to live by, so ears up. An investment is an asset that you can hold forever. If investors only chose investments in light of the idea that they could never sell them, they would make much better decisions. A speculation, on the other hand, is when investments are chosen with the idea and intent that they will be sold at a higher price.”

We use asset managers whose philosophy resonates with ours. At Geremy’s firm they are forward looking. Many people will talk about past performance in relation to the market, but what that fails to communicate is that the future will be vastly different than the past. 

It’s important when position your portfolio to have someone who’s anticipating the future rather than someone who is looking to the past for what may happen in the future. Change happens fast. Is your portfolio geared for rapid changes? 

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

In this show, David begins by telling a story about his daughter's first dentist appointment. He demonstrates what working with our financial planning firm is like. And he finishes the show by talking about a recent article that discuss the current financial bubble economy. 

From our weekly newsletter, "Do you remember the first time you went to the dentist? My three-year-old daughter, Amelia, had her first dentist appointment last week. 

Mallory and I tried to coach her on what to expect, because when I’m going into a new situation my anxiety tends to spike. I get even more antsy when I can’t visualize what the new experience will be like. I figure, I’m probably not alone in my uneasiness in new environments.

We told Amelia that the dentist and the hygienist were going to look at her teeth and count them and clean them, and that she would need to sit really still for them to look in her mouth.

Our dentist referred Amelia to a children’s dentist. Who knew a dentist specializing in children’s care was a thing? I had no clue! 

When I was a kid, everybody went to the same dentist. In many ways it seems like just yesterday that I was a kid sitting under that blinding bright light having my teeth cleaned in a big beige chair.

Since Amelia’s new dentist office is geared for children, the entire office is kid themed. It has visually appealing decorations like murals on the walls, an aquarium, and vibrant carpet. 

Amelia even got a prize at the end. What a dream for a kid! After our experience last week, we’ll be equipped to remind Amelia what it will be like when she goes back for her next visit in the fall.

I’ve found that people may be reluctant to meet with a financial advisor or take the first step in creating a financial plan because they don’t know what to expect. This may even cause anxiety. It probably would for me.

When someone meets with me by phone, Zoom, or in person, the first interaction is a learning session for me. I attempt to learn as much as possible about the person I’m talking to. I make notes while we’re talking, so that I can remember the details.

My intention with this interaction is to gain an understanding of where the person is in their planning journey. I’m trying to gauge if I can add value to your financial situation, or if we can optimize what you may already be doing. ”

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.

Now is the time to have a plan in place. The market is hitting highs for no explainable reason, Congress is promising $1,400 stimulus checks, and we have ultra-low interest rates. Market commentators are growing increasingly leery of how this may turn out.

Tom Siomades heads the investment division of AE Wealth Management. In a recent letter he wrote, “Now we have a $1.9 trillion stimulus moving through Congress that is meant to address and redress many of the problems those policy mistakes and shifting priorities created.  It will also take years to pay out and increase the size of the government. Why does that matter? More debt means more interest payments, which equals less capacity to borrow in the future and fewer funds available to reinvest in our economy and society. “How is all this borrowing and spending possible? Fed Chairman Powell’s testimony before Congress this past week reaffirming the Fed will keep rates artificially low is one major reason. In response, it is likely that prices will go up and we’ll have inflation. The Fed will have to act because it cannot ignore inflation forever; and history has shown that rates will go up and the equity markets will decline. Inflation and the Fed’s ultimate response are not the only things we should worry about; the markets themselves will have a say in where we head from here.”

We align with portfolio managers that are forward looking.  We believe mitigating against market downturns is essential to a sound investment plan. When you’re ready to begin looking a comprehensive plan that factors in all the sides to financial planning, please call our office at 864.641.7955.

Investment advisory services offered only by duly registered individuals through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Clients Excel, LLC are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Any references to protection, safety, or lifetime income, generally refer to fixed insurance products, never securities or investments. Insurance guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying abilities of the insuring carrier. This podcast is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet particular needs of an individual’s situation. Clients Excel is not permitted to offer and no statement made during this show shall constitute tax or legal advice. Our firm is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government or any governmental agency. The information and opinions contained herein provided by third parties have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed by Clients Excel. The use of logos and/or trademarks of podcast hosting sites are the property of their respective owners and are not an endorsement by those owners of our firm or our program.