The top 10 deepest fears -- and highest hopes -- of RIA practitioners
A decade of flatlining investment results has advisors worried about clients' faith in the very fabric of the markets
Bob Rall
Great, thought-provoking article, as always. Here are my thoughts that were provoked…
#1—I completely understand the erosion of investor confidence in the financial markets…my own confidence has been eroded. All the players contributed to the financial crisis..Wall Street, the government agencies and even John Q. Public. I have tried to offset my lack of confidence by refusing to play their game. I keep my clients, and myself, invested using low-cost index funds and only trade when accounts need to be rebalanced. However, I have had my share of clients expressing their desire to stop playing the game and taking what they have to the mattress. Luckily, at least so far, they trust me more than they distrust the markets.
#3—I have been gravely concerned about government debt levels. However, after attending Dr. Stephanie Kelton’s presentation at FPA San Antonio, I have become interested in learning more about her point of view. Maybe I’ve been missing something?
#6—I had not considered that the change in tax rates could lead to clients losing faith in the financial planning process. It’s an interesting thought, but I stress to my clients that, while we are certainly planning for the long-term, we need to review and update regularly because EVERY part of a financial plan is build on assumptions that could, and will, change.
Thanks Bob! Now, I hope I can get to sleep tonight!
Brian Lauzon
Very interesting…and actually incredibly surprising results. Just about all of these are events are out of any one person’s control. Worrying about things that you can’t control becomes a distraction to addressing things that are.
Peter Giza
I hope that all of us focus on the positive things that we can have a direct effect on. To be sure there is plenty of bad to go around. But you just have to go for it and embrace the chaos. 2001 and 2008, two disasterous years, yet here we all are still doing what do.
Worrying is a huge distraction that can sow seeds of self-destructive, self-fulfilling prophecy. Concern is good, worry is damaging.
Pete
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