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A Word from the Investment Department: Control What You Can

“What do you think about the election? Who do you think will win, Trump or Clinton? How will the election affect my investments?”

We have been hearing these questions more frequently from our clients and prospective clients over the past few months. While the media is paid to bring your attention to the short-term whims of the political and economic news, we at B&C Financial Advisors are tasked with a much more important focus: your long-term financial plan and investment goals.

Uncertainty is ever-present in the market. You have no control over the direction of the market and little control over the direction of politics from election to election. While we would love to be able to tell you the future, we would be doing you a disservice by having you believe we can foretell it. B&C Financial Advisors is committed to helping you control what you can.

How do we do that?

First and foremost, we help our clients understand their goals (retirement saving, education saving, retirement income planning, etc.). Once we identify the clients’ financial objective, we help formulate a plan to achieve those goals. We help to identify the appropriate amount of risk our clients can take and create an asset allocation from this risk conversation. Then, we help our clients understand the impact of their saving and spending habits. These two items are easiest for our clients to “control what they can.”

The second aspect of control we pride ourselves on is the process of implementing the plan. While most everyone realizes they need to save more than they spend and take an appropriate level of risk, the hard part is implementing this plan within an investment framework that allows for one to “invest in a good night’s sleep.” We do this by establishing a rigorous investment management program through which we diversify our clients’ assets, practice discipline over the risks taken in the investments, and effectively manage that risk over time through our 60-day reviews.

The final step is to review and revise the plan over time. This means we communicate quarterly with our clients about their investments, and try to have at least one meeting a year (in-person or virtually) to review the progress of their plan.

So, what will happen in November? We do not know, but what we do know is that we are here to help you control what you can. If you have questions please give us a call at 904-274-9850 or e-mail us at [email protected].