{"id":216719,"date":"2020-04-06T06:32:13","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T06:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/?p=216719"},"modified":"2020-10-27T07:42:59","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T07:42:59","slug":"time-to-breathe-pause-and-reflect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/?p=216719","title":{"rendered":"TIME TO BREATHE, PAUSE AND REFLECT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As you\u2019ll no doubt know, for some clients, this may be the first time they\u2019ve been unfortunate enough to experience a significant downturn in their financial health as a result of falling stock-markets. For others it may be all too familiar. Either way the same fears exist; w<em>hat do I do? Do I sell everything? Do I invest now prices are low?<\/em><br><br>One thing is certain; having a solid financial plan will help your clients remain calm and assured through such times.<br><br>It\u2019s important to remind clients that just because markets fall, it doesn\u2019t mean that their current plan is misguided. If their asset value is falling, you\u2019ll be supporting them as they ask \u201cwhy?\u201d before considering a major sell off. They\u2019d want to consider whether they were selling for sound, financial reasons or other outside factors?<br><br>Every setback creates an opportunity to appraise your client\u2019s current situation and to make sure they remain on track with their financial goals. Identifying their key concerns and how those impact their immediate needs will be vital to ensure that both you and they emerge from the current crisis in relatively good shape.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TAKING A LONG TERM VIEW<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking a long term view whenever investing in the stock market or assets driven by stock market performance is clearly vital. Short term price movements can appear unsettling but, after all, this is a long-term investment. History has shown that the stock markets will return and those losses should become gains over time. This is clear when you take a look at the historical performance of some of the major reference indices since 1998, which encompass a variety of financial quakes over this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-06-at-2.27.59-PM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-216720\" width=\"523\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-06-at-2.27.59-PM.png 523w, https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-06-at-2.27.59-PM-480x163.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 523px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Separating fact from fiction is key, as is reminding them to make important decisions about their investments using sound, financial reasoning and not out of fear and uncertainty. Now is the time to engage with your clients and to provide some reassurance that they have a sound financial plan in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CATCHING A FALLING KNIFE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll be able to highlight that trading in a stock market with a lot of volatility or downward momentum is extremely difficult and it is not an exact science; you don\u2019t always get it right. Selling assets that have lost value in an attempt to anticipate \u2018the bounce\u2019 can lead to more short term losses so perhaps for clients, trading their way out of the current slump isn\u2019t wise, unless they can afford to take the risk. Market timing is not for the faint-hearted and can work against them if they are not entirely sure what they are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another approach may be to sit tight and ride out the uncertainty then, when the market shows signs of recovery, it may be the right opportunity to consolidate your client\u2019s position and top-up their existing lump sum investment plan. Perhaps now is the time to take advantage of low prices and increase their position by investing further in the stock market?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you\u2019re aware attitudes to risk tend to be driven by the \u2018here-and-now\u2019 influences, such as our daily living expenses, our employment status, upcoming financial commitments or something as simple as making life a little more comfortable. That\u2019s why clients need to take stock during volatile periods and review the reasons why they invested in the first place, and ask themselves, \u201cWhat has changed?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RL360\u2019s lump sum investment plans are medium to long term investments and so before making any decisions, clients should take some time to identify their priorities and plan accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When they want to top-up their existing lump sum investment plan, amounts start from as little as listed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-06-at-2.28.54-PM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-216721\" width=\"395\" height=\"248\"\/><figcaption><br>\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you\u2019ll no doubt know, for some clients, this may be the first time they\u2019ve been unfortunate enough to experience a significant downturn in their financial health as a result of falling stock-markets. For others it may be all too familiar. Either way the same fears exist; what do I do? Do I sell everything? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":""},"categories":[27,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=216719"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216726,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216719\/revisions\/216726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/216722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=216719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=216719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmltd-intl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=216719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}