Protecting Yourself from Market Risk: Why You Need a Market Flashlight

You probably don’t often think about how much your portfolio could go up or down at any moment—that is, until the market moves so much that it’s front-page news. Upward movement is thrilling, but downward movement is… well, we don’t have to tell you how that feels. The years 2000 and 2008 probably bring back some memories. 

Those crashes proved that you can lose most of your life savings in an instant. And there’s no one more vulnerable than retirees who don’t have the luxury of additional working years to win back their losses. You can’t predict when the next crash will be, but you can protect yourself against the inevitability.  

That’s why we developed the Market Flashlight. We wanted to provide retirees with a tool that would allow them to peer inside the dark corners of their portfolio and discover which investments could go backwards and by how much.  

Why is this so important? Many people assume their financial advisor will automatically adjust their portfolio as they near or enter retirement. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen time and again, that’s not the case. And that’s a problem, because the financial plan you used before retirement was probably growth-oriented. Growth is great when you’re trying to reach your goal, but once you’ve entered retirement, it needs to be adjusted for risk so you don’t put your retirement in danger. 

That’s where the Market Flashlight comes in. It shows you exactly what will happen to your holdings if the same market corrections we saw in 2000 or 2008 happen again. You’ll learn exactly how much you could lose, providing an important gut check on whether your current risk aligns with your tolerance. Most people couldn’t tell you what their tolerance is, but they certainly know it when they see it. 

With the insights from the Market Flashlight, we’ll make adjustments to bring your portfolio in line with your tolerance. The good news is that there are several retirement-optimized investments that allow for growth with little to no risk. And here at Golden Reserve, because we only serve clients in or near retirement, retirement-optimized investments are the only kind we recommend. 

The Market Flashlight is part of our Roadmap for Retirement℠, your comprehensive plan for protecting your retirement. Your personalized Roadmap for Retirement℠ includes the Market Flashlight, a Long-Term Care Compass to protect against long-term care costs, a Tax Map to lower your overall tax burden, and a Fee Filter to identify how much you’re paying in investment and advisor fees. 

To get your no-charge Roadmap for Retirement℠, click here.