Nukes and plans. 

We have probably heard more than we want to hear about nuclear bombs in the past few months and how we as a nation would defend ourselves in the event of an attack.  In our personal lives, there are various forms of "nukes" that can blow up our plans in an instant.  

In our home, our 8 month old Tommy started crawling. It's more of a hop-crawl but somehow he can get across a room faster than I can.   This has thrown us very quickly into an alert situation as now he can get to anything and make something as harmless a penny or pencil deadly weapons. This is the phase I call the "ka- mikaze" phase - without knowing he is on a mission, it seems everything he does can be self-destructing! It is now our duty to put up the gates, batten down the doors and drawers and keep the floors spotless of peaceful weapons. Because that was the plan.

 

While we knew this event was coming, we didn't know when or how sudden it was going to happen. The same goes for our clients' portfolios and the markets.  We know there are downturns that happen (on average at least a negative 14% every intrayear).  We make plans for it and we build our portfolios to defend it, but it still feels a little chaotic when it happens. Emotions can take over a little bit and we may start to feel overwhelmed and want to make some knee jerk decisions.

 

At the point where we start to feel overwhelmed, it's good to self-check.  This might be where I lock myself in a bedroom to remind myself I love my children dearly or when a client should call us to remind them how much time and thought went into their investment plan.  If we can step back out of the moment and remember the grand plan, we will all stay on our chosen paths in life. Even though some days it may feel a bit chaotic, there is peace and reward in the end of perseverance.