Investment Update

Recent economic data paints a picture of an economy with plenty of momentum heading into 2025. That said, with the new administration comes new policies which bring new sources of uncertainty. After considering the potential impacts of President Trump’s policy agenda, we have recently reduced our exposure to international stocks and increased our exposure to U.S. based stocks. The proposed trade tariffs are unlikely to be supportive of strong performance from international companies. When viewing President Trump's proposals in aggregate, it's difficult to see the net result they could have on our economy. Trade tariffs and immigration policy can be headwinds to the economy while deregulation and tax cuts are typically tailwinds. And, it wouldn't be a surprise if the proposals fade or build from their original intent. The net effect is unable to be calculated until (1) we get more details on the proposals and (2) the probability of executing the new policies becomes clearer.  Moving forward, a limited easing cycle from the Federal Reserve Bank is likely as they sit still and wait to see the incoming data.

For accounts managed by Benchmark, we have and will continue to adjust your exposure to international companies. If you have a 401(k), 403(b) or other accounts outside of Benchmark, you should reevaluate your asset allocation to be sure your international exposure is not excessive. Please schedule a meeting and we can assist with this exercise.

Identity Theft

When it comes to your financial independence, our job is to ensure you have a solid plan. One growing risk that concerns us is the increasing likelihood of identity theft. Nearly everyone knows someone or has personally experienced this frustrating and often costly situation. The process of restoring your credit after your identity has been stolen is long and complicated.

One effective strategy to protect yourself from identity theft is freezing your three credit reports. A credit freeze prevents criminals from accessing your credit file without your consent. This simple measure can block fraudulent credit applications, even if someone has sensitive details like your birthdate or Social Security number.

If you have not frozen your credit reports, please click the button below. We've created a step-by-step guide to freeze all three credit reports.

As always, please contact us if you would like to discuss any of these topics.

Benchmark Financial is a registered investment adviser. The information provided is solely for informational purposes. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal. Content provided by third parties, Bloomberg and FactSet, is not attributable to the adviser or firm employees. Adviser believes that the content provided by third parties and/or linked content is reliable and does not contain untrue statements of material fact, or misleading information.