I know it’s February, but Happy New Year everybody. Healthy and happy in 2023 is a resolution we should all embrace.
With that said, I’m going to suggest 5 more resolutions to make for a more successful financial 2023.
1) Get your estate in order. If you don’t have a will or a trust, make drafting these documents a priority. When you’re gone, you want to be remembered for who you are not the mess you left behind.
2) Confirm your beneficiaries on your retirement accounts, your IRAs, 401k plans, annuities, TOD bank accounts. Things change, and as they say in the movie Hoosiers, “Don’t get caught watching the paint dry.”
3) If after last year when the S&P Index shrank 19%, you lost sleep over portfolio results, then you need to reduce exposure in the stock market. You sell down to your sleep level. Realize when you do this, you can’t lose sleep when the market ultimately recovers and your portfolio trails what your objectives were, unless of course, you changed them.
4) And talking about investments, don’t listen to pundits telling you a balanced portfolio doesn’t work anymore. That’s nonsense. Obviously, it didn’t work last year as both stocks AND bonds declined. Could we have another bad year? Of course. The markets will do whatever they can in an attempt to separate you from your money. Don’t let that happen. Own value, don’t panic, maintain realistic objectives, adjust when necessary. That’s the secret sauce to success. And success is defined as meeting your objectives.
5) Lastly, if watching the political cable news channels causes you to get all fired up and causes your blood to boil then shut the TV off and listen to music instead. There’s an old saying, “the devil don’t dance where there’s music.” And if you don’t like music, read a book, take a walk, watch a movie, get a hobby, volunteer….I predict that you will be happier for it. And remember, healthy and happy is the universal resolution in 2023.
Until next time, I’m Phil Albitz.
