Are You Ready If The Market Crashes?

Concerned about stock market volatility? You should be!

In late 2002 we had a tech correction, and the NASDAQ dropped from a high of 5,050 in 2000 to 1,100 with a decline of 78%, then the real estate bubble of 2008 when the DOW dropped 55% 14,280 to 6,440. When the market has another correction and it WILL. If you’re in or near retirement, this could have a disastrous effect on your retirement savings.

If you’re in or near retirement, it’s going to be difficult to make up for those losses. If you have lost money and your withdrawing money simultaneously, your retirement money will deplete at a pretty fast rate. Time’s not on your side anymore.

If you’re in retirement, you don’t want to have to go back to work to support your lifestyle. I understand the importance of these accounts, making sure that they are safe, secure, guaranteed, and insured. I’m very conservative about how your investments are handled.

With all the different options out there, the investments I’m talking about are the same ones that didn’t lose a penny during the market crash in 2000 and 2008.

Who knows where the markets are going now. I know that the market can be pretty volatile and could have a devastating effect on your retirement account with no guarantees. So if you want to protect and preserve your investments, you need to look at something with safe retirement strategies.

Don’t let your hard-earned savings in your 401(k) become a 201(k) with another market decline like 2000 or 2008. If you are in or near retirement, these investments have to last you for the rest of your life. If you’re in your 60’s and good health, you have a good chance of living another 30 years. The first person to reach the age of 150 has already been born. So I understand how important this is to my clients. It’s my responsibility to do the right thing; I recommend being very conservative and preserving what they have.

I have found that many people have money in CDs, savings, or Money Market accounts because they’re worried about losing money in the market. Unfortunately, none of these accounts will pay a high rate of interest. When I checked bankrate.com, the national average for the interest on a CD was 1.64% (www.bankrate.com) which would take 88.3 years to double your money. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t plan on living another 88 years.

If you have a non-qualified CD or a Money Market account, you receive a 1099 to file with your tax return, and the interest is taxable. With inflation between 2-3%, the real value of the account is negative, and you’ve lost your purchasing power.

The investments we’re talking about have a tax advantage because they are tax-deferred, and you get triple compounding, that you don’t get that with a CD, Money Market, or savings account. You get interest on the principal, interest on interest, and interest on taxes you would have paid. So whether it’s a CD, Money Market, or a savings account, it’s not the bank’s job to give you a higher rate of interest or protect you from inflation.

It’s incredible to me the low rate of interest they pay you, but a credit card customer will pay up to 18% or more in interest payments on their balances. So who’s being taken advantage of here, you and the person with the credit card? My job is to work directly with you and change that!