Let’s face it. If you have clients with any level of exposure to traditional assets, such as stocks or bonds, 2022 has been unpleasant. Equities closed at all-time highs in 2021, then steadily declined in 2022. Bond investors have arguably had it worse, certainly on a risk-adjusted basis.

Just when you think it can’t get much worse, unless your clients are in tax-managed strategies, another round of pain could be on the horizon. Taxes.

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but investors – particularly those in active or semi-active mutual funds – could be in for trouble.

During market drawdowns, you often hear financial media types talking about stocks being “on sale.”

This phrase has always irked me.

I think it’s completely imprecise and utterly useless. Clichés may help sell airtime, but in my opinion they get you nowhere toward designing or implementing a comprehensive investment process.

Instead of leaning on trite phrases, wouldn’t it be a lot less stressful to have an investing process that can help both smooth out the ride and generate a more optimal client experience?

Don’t ask me why I know this, but there’s an episode of “Sex and the City” when the women discuss dating people who “look good on paper.” They explain that a “good on paper guy” is someone who offers great credentials, good manners, and financial stability. He seems like a great match – but only on paper, because in the real world the chemistry simply isn’t right.

I was always terrible at those “guess how many tootsie rolls are in the jar” games as a kid. My complete lack of skill never deterred me from participating though. I mean, what kid was going to pass up the opportunity for a windfall like that?!

If you search deep in the nooks and crannies of your memory, you probably can recall one specific fashion choice you made in your younger days that you now look back on with absolute shame. You may have destroyed the pictures – I know I did, and thank goodness this was before the digital age! – but the memory is still there. Whether it be of a mullet, popped collars, parachutes pants, dramatic shoulder pads, or a rat tail, it’s in there, suppressed and collecting dust.

We made these choices because we thought it made us look cool, all our friends were doing it, or out of rebellion. We probably had friends or family members try to talk us out of it, or at least help us find a new path eventually.

Similarly, now more than ever, investors need financial advisors who can talk them out of the investing equivalent of baggy parachute pants.