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February 2020

Megan Rightnowar
In Economy, Financial Planning, Investments

The coronavirus and its impact on financial markets

Photo of Chinese Man in surgical mask

As a financial advisor, a big part of my role is to educate clients on the stock market. My job doesn’t end at picking investments for my clients but to openly communicate during times of intense media headlines and market volatility. Whether it’s trade wars, a negative fourth quarter in 2018, an election year, or the current coronavirus panic, I like to make sure my clients hear from me not only when we have regularly scheduled review meetings but when their account(s) are being affected.

Yesterday I sent an email to my clients, and I thought it would be valuable to turn that email into a post that others can gain insight. The subject matter: coronavirus. But from the standpoint of its overall impact on the stock market.

As you may be aware, there has been a growing number of cases throughout China, Italy, Iran, Japan and South Korea. Consequently, the global market has experienced increased volatility. It’s no coincidence – the stock market tends to react when a widespread illness breaks out. Two days ago, February 24, 2020, the S&P 500 declined about 3.5 percent, making it the worst day in about two years.

Regardless, if your reaction to the previous paragraph was “YIKES!”, this does not come as a big shock to the financial industry. Business has been slowing overseas with products/services that come out of the affected countries. I am also going to take a wild guess that you haven’t booked your dream trip to Italy in the past few weeks. The global economy is dipping and the market is reflective of that.

We do not know how long the coronavirus will continue to spread and dominate the headlines. Likewise, predicting the end of this current market volatility is equally challenging. As a silver lining though, we can see in the chart created by Dow Jones Market Data (below) that epidemics have historically not impacted the market for a significant length of time. I think you will find relief that only one of the previous 12 epidemics resulted in negative percent changes of the S&P over a six and 12 month period.

In closing, when it comes to the obstacles we are facing in the market, I’m not fretting and it is my hope that you aren’t either. Focusing on long-term objectives when it comes to investment accounts helps provide clarity in times of uncertainty. In the meantime, I’m praying for effective treatment and prevention and I hope you’ll join me.

The Savage Blog
In Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement Plans, Savage Team

Savage’s Frisch earns ChFC® designation

Curtis Frisch

Curtis FrischCongratulations to Savage’s own Curtis Frisch, CFP®, for earning yet another professional designation. He achieved his ChFC® (Chartered Financial Consultant) designation from The American College of Financial Services – the leader in financial services education.

Estate, special needs clients, divorce, business succession, behavioral finance and financial plan development are all part of the preparation for this designation, which prepares an advisor to assist clients on a highly diverse set of financial matters.

Frisch is an owner of Brimley & Frisch Wealth Management – a part of Savage. Their company focuses efforts on individuals and businesses in the Findlay, Ohio market.

Frisch’s niche in the industry is spending necessary, focused time on comprehensive financial plans that analyze cash flow, risk management, investments, taxes, employee benefits, retirement planning, estate planning and education planning.

To learn more visit: https://www.facebook.com/BrimleyFrischWealth/

 

Megan Rightnowar
In 401(k), Financial Planning, Healthcare Planning, Investments, Retirement Plans, Saving

An advisor’s four-part strategy to saving

Megan Rightnowar

Now that we are more than one month into the new decade, let’s revisit the goals that you made: going vegan, hitting the gym, attending church, sticking to your budget, etc.  As we are “adulting,” one New Year’s resolution question I got bombarded with was, “Megan, where do I put the money I am going to start saving?”

I thought this would be a good time to share the specifics of what my husband and fellow financial advisor Nick and I do for our personal finances.  Let’s dive into our four-part strategy!

Megan working with a customer.Annual Review
We sit down once a year for an annual review of our budget. Yup, that’s it.  That’s how often I recommend that my clients review theirs, too.  Money does not have to control your life, and I believe that revisiting your budget once a year is sufficient if you do it right.

Expenses
We get our pumpkin cream cold brews from Starbucks and pull out our budget sheet (see below).  We use this to outline our recurring expenses, including our mortgage, groceries (aka, takeout … your girl can’t cook!), Pure Barre, our sweetest employee, Kerigan, etc.  We then determine if there are any expenses we can eliminate, such as the gym across the street that I have not gone to once. (WHOOPS!) Next, we estimate expenses that do not occur monthly but know will happen throughout the year like hair appointments.  Lastly, we dedicate 10 percent of our income to our church and other charities – SO many people and organizations doing awesome things in our community!

Savings
Now it’s time to add our savings to the mix.  We set aside $416.67 a month to our savings account so that each year our savings grows by $5,000.  We max out our Roth IRAs and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) with monthly contributions to each.  We then put money toward our non-retirement investment account and our LIRPs (Life Insurance Retirement Plan).  As business owners, we must factor in savings for taxes each month too – shoutout to all the 1099 business owners out there!

(Fun!) Income
At the bottom of the budget sheet, we include our take-home pay and then subtract our expenses and savings.  Drum roll please (with my calculator) … we have our discretionary income, aka our FUN money!  Sometimes we may only have $20 left and other times it may be $2,000.  This is my, “Girl, get that dress!” money.  Some months my closet is growing while other months I ask to borrow a dress from a friend (you know who you are!).  Because we have done the hard part first, we have no regrets, and can truly enjoy the money we have earned.

Now that you know our process, let’s get back to you.  Take a deep breath and start your own budget sheet.  Make a commitment to saving so you can have some FUN!  Need help with the savings piece?  Holla at your girl.

Monthly Budget WorksheetSecurities and investment advisory services offered through Osaic Wealth, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Osaic Wealth is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of Osaic Wealth.
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