August 2019
Each month, Wellspring's wealth strategist and advisors will share news and articles to shed light on the current economy, financial markets, and common tasks for maintaining a well-rounded and resilient personal financial plan.

Click on the links below to learn more.
It is August and investors in the U.S. as well as the global economy together are greeted this month with new information to digest following two scheduled meetings earlier this week. New employment data will also be available this Friday.

Trade talks between the U.S. and China resumed at the end of July where both parties convened in Shanghai. At the conclusion of the G20 meeting in June, trade talks between the two countries remained at a standstill, providing a sliver of hope as no new tariffs were introduced.

Adding on, the Fed gathered these past two days to deliberate, among which was the continued discussion of managing interest rates in a slowing U.S. and global environment.

As things are currently, the U.S. is firmly at the tail end of a bull cycle, potentially on track for the longest ever recorded. And despite major U.S. indices rallying and setting new high-water marks, investors should stay alert.

From major central banks (the Fed, ECB) considering new policies that parallel QE tactics, to global trade (see the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, along with China relations), then, geopolitics (from Brexit, Iran, to South America), such developments only heighten the uncertainty that lies ahead in the second half of 2019.
Economic Outlook

Political rhetoric aside, in this article on Medium, "The Coming Economic Crash and How to Stop It" , Elizabeth Warren (2019) highlighted several concerns that may cause a hard landing of the U.S. economy.

Adding , the impact of U.S. and China trade disputes are already felt across both nations and globally. In this article from T. Rowe Price , "A U.S.-China Truce Could Stimulate A Recovery" , Nikolaj Schmidt (2019) provided a more upbeat view should negotiations between the world's two largest economies pull together.
Financial Markets

At the beginning of 2019, it seemed that recession was all that investors could talk about, and with good reason given what occurred at the end of 2018 with global markets tumbling. More recently, such discussions have receded slightly. In this MarketWatch article, "The Difference Between a Correction and a Bear Market" , the author discussed how terms like recessions, corrections, and bear markets carry distinct meanings (Malito, 2019).

And from Market Realist, "JPMorgan Chase Warns of a US Market Crash in Q3", despite upbeat second-quarter earnings so far (Kulkarni, 2019).
Personal Financial Planning

In these two Financial Post articles, "It’s Getting Harder to be a Long-Term Investor" (Bradley, 2019) and "The Storm is Coming" (Sarbit, 2019), both authors thoughtfully identified practical ways to navigate through all the noise and bring the focus back to 'personal' finances. To add, Sarbit's analogy is quite illustrative of the value to having a clear vision (liken to goals and objectives) with a foundation (think written personal financial and investment policy statement) that if diligently worked on through the years can in turn provide resilience, keeping an investor grounded, when a future calamity occurs.

To further iterate , investors' focuses should include:
  • Clarifying personal goals
  • Investment allocations that can help achieve goals and fit personal risk preferences
  • Managing personal behaviors

The aforementioned list (PIMCO, 2019) reflects just some of the areas that individuals can exercise personal judgement to more effectively and efficiently arrive at desired outcomes. Such areas can be favored above market timing or reliance on security selection alone, which both approaches have shown to bring about unsatisfactory and even destructive results.

Among other news , there may be changes on the horizon to retirement accounts under the proposed SECURE Act and Retirement Enhancement Securities Act (RESA) currently under review in Congress. Both bills seek to make changes in how Americans save and manage retirement assets. Notable provisions include extension of the required minimum distribution age from 70.5 to 72 years old, potentially to age 75 under RESA, and removal of the age limitation for IRA contributions.

Additionally , California's CalSavers Plan officially opened on July 1, 2019. As a state mandated retirement plan, business owners now have access to more information to start learning and identifying a retirement program offering suitable for their company.

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We hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

Soak up the sun, happy travels, and be well.
Stay tuned for future
announcements and updates!
Community Calendar

Wellspring Consulting encourages involvement in the Asian business community. Below are some upcoming events!

Click each event flier for more details.
46th Annual Nihonmachi Street Fair

Japantown San Francisco

Saturday & Sunday, August 3-4, 2019

11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Asian Commercial Professionals (ACP)
6TH ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP GOLF TOURNAMENT

Castlewood Country Club

707 Country Club Cir, Pleasanton CA

Thursday, August 22, 2019

11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Know an organization in the Asian business community and would like to spread the word?

Contact us today to share the event in a future newsletter.
Phone: (408) 435-1668

For additional inquiries, please email us HERE .


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