Selling your RSUs and investing in a diversified equity portfolio is the difference between placing a large bet at the racetrack on a single horse (company) to win and placing smaller bets on the whole field (the economy) to complete the race. You may win big with the single bet, but you may also lose big. By contrast, if you bet the field, so long as the pack advances, which the U.S. economy has and will likely continue doing, you will come out ahead over time.
2020 will certainly go down in history as a year the world will never forget. The COVID-19 pandemic upended life as we knew it and briefly caused our global economy to grind to a halt. The humanitarian crisis continues to be devastating. After a record high on February 19th last year, U.S. stocks declined 35% by March 23rd making it the fastest, sharpest, and shortest bear market in history. Fortunately, the very aggressive monetary and fiscal response from Central Banks and governments around the world helped stock markets rebound and finish the year with healthy gains.
After a nervous October, stock markets enjoyed a very robust election week rally and then soared early this week when Pfizer and BioNTech announced impressive preliminary results on their COVID vaccine. Wall Street expects Joe Biden will become our 46th president while the Republicans maintain their control of the U.S. Senate. The resulting divided government should result in significantly fewer policy changes regarding taxes and business regulation than would have been the case had the Democrats swept last week’s election. The financial markets reacted to this outcome positively, as they usually enjoy the predictability of “gridlock” in Washington D.C.
2020 has certainly been a historic year by all measures, beginning with the global pandemic, then world-wide government-mandated shutdowns followed by elevated social unrest, and most recently President Trump’s COVID diagnosis. Now, with the last quarter of the year upon us, we find ourselves on the home stretch toward the long-awaited contentious November elections. Uncertainties abound.
The COVID pandemic has raised considerable amounts of uncertainty for high-net-worth families who crave greater security within this historic event. Our Financial Uncertainty Checklist documents a compelling list of 12 aspects of wealth planning we execute/embrace to protect client wealth against future market disruptions.
As individuals approach retirement many begin shifting their portfolio composition into a conservative allocation, consisting of more bonds than stocks. Bonds have historically provided more security than stocks while generating enough income to sustain a retiree’s lifestyle. In the present economic environment however, bond yields are hovering at record lows. As longevity and the cost of living increases, the perceived safety of bonds can be negated by the insufficient returns they provide.