Do you know who would make decisions on your behalf if you became unable to do so?
Our latest guide breaks down the essentials of Power of Attorney (POA)—a legal tool that lets you authorize someone you trust to act on your behalf in financial, legal, or medical matters. 💼⚖️🏥
We think everyone has a corner of their house that desperately needs to be cleaned out and organized. Maybe it’s in the garage, with all those miscellaneous cardboard boxes filled with books, baby clothes, and other mementos. Maybe it’s a closet stuffed with coats, random household items, or all those unused rolls of birthday wrapping paper. Or maybe it’s just a random crawlspace that’s hard to access and covered in cobwebs. Either way, when you finally get around to organizing it, one of two things tends to happen:
Why are we talking about this? Well, as you know, summer is a great time to clean out those forgotten corners of the house. But as advisors, it doesn’t take much for us to take any activity and apply it to finances…which got us thinking about the forgotten corners in people’s financial plans.
And boy are there often a lot of them!
You see, when it comes to financial planning, most people do a good job of focusing on the big stuff — the investments in our portfolio, where our income will come from in retirement, getting our taxes done — just like we’re usually good about keeping the well-trafficked areas of our home neat and tidy. But there are often dusty, neglected corners in our financial lives that we either forget about or ignore. And by doing so, we often pass up opportunities to improve our financial situation — sometimes even leaving money on the table. Or we take longer to reach our financial goals, because there is something taking up space or holding us back.
Here are just a few common forgotten corners of financial plans:
Unproductive funds. Like that jar full of coins and dollar bills that gets shoved to the back of a cupboard, it’s very easy to stick money into a savings account, certificate of deposit, or money market fund and then forget about it. While there’s nothing wrong with using these types of vehicles from time to time, it can also be a very unproductive way to save money, because the cash is just sitting there, uncompounded and often earning very little in interest. At the very least, it’s worth looking to see if there are other, newer options that pay out higher interest rates!
Out-of-date beneficiaries. Many people often opt for a “set it and forget it” mentality when it comes to naming their beneficiaries. But life is always changing and rarely static. That’s why it’s always a good idea to review your beneficiaries every few years in case your family situation or personal wishes have changed.
Mediocre insurance policies. This is a common one. Often, people will buy an insurance policy, such as whole life. Then, never having to use it will let it sit and collect dust. Meanwhile, they will continue to pay premiums on the policy, even if those premiums are overly high and the death benefit is absurdly low.
Unreimbursed HSA receipts. Many people who own Health Savings Accounts often forget to submit their health care expense receipts for reimbursement. Fortunately, there’s no statute of limitations on these expenses, meaning you can submit your receipts for reimbursement even years after the fact!
Your parents’ finances. Those with aging parents know that the day will come when they have to help manage their parents’ financial affairs. Many people try to push off thinking about that day for as long as possible, for a variety of perfectly understandable reasons. Unfortunately, these affairs can become a massive drain on you if left too long.
Your credit score. Some people check their credit score too much; others don’t check it nearly enough. But a good rule of thumb is to check your credit reports at least once per year. After all, these reports aren’t just to help you get loans — they’re a handy early-warning system for fraud and identity theft. That’s why you should always scrutinize them for unexpected changes, hard inquiries from businesses, and other red flags.
Unrealized goals. The most sadly neglected corner of all. Many people have private dreams and ambitions they never express to anyone. Maybe they feel too grandiose. Maybe they seem unrealistic. Maybe they’re just extremely quirky! Either way, a private dream usually stays just that — a dream. But a spoken dream can be planned for, saved for…and ultimately, lived for.
The reason we’re writing all this? Because, as financial advisors, our team makes it our mission to help people — not just with the big stuff in their financial house, but with their “forgotten corners”, too. To that end, if you ever have any forgotten corners that need looking after, please give us a call at 518-499-4565 or shoot us an email at info@mmwealth.com. We would be happy to sit down with you, review your plans, and discuss how to make sure your entire financial house is exactly the way you want it.
Cleaning up the forgotten corners of your home is a great way to free up space, save money, and even gain peace of mind. The same is true with any forgotten corners in your financial life. If you don’t have any, that’s great! But if you do, please think of us. In the meantime, we hope you have a great summer!
We send out our newsletter email monthly. We encourage you to join our newsletter to ensure you never miss an edition.
Please, subscribe now if you’re not receiving our newsletter in your inbox.
The latest issue of our newsletter, The Retirement Road, is now available!
The June edition completes our series on retirement planning issues that often go unnoticed. This issue covers the following topics:
💰 Overly conservative investments
💲 Taxes in retirement
🩺 Your personal health in retirement
📈 Market recap for May 2025
On May 12, President Trump announced that tariffs on Chinese goods would be temporarily lowered from 145% to 30%.1 China, meanwhile, agreed to cut duties on American imports from 125% to 10%.1 While this isn’t really a trade deal, in that it doesn’t resolve the many issues and imbalances between the two countries, it does mark a cooling of tensions. That has investors breathing a sigh of relief…because it may mean the worst of this trade war is now behind us. As a result, the markets have largely recovered their losses from earlier in the quarter.
But as nice as it is to see some positive headlines for a change, we actually don’t think it’s the story long-term investors should be thinking about right now.
You see, just as there was no reason to panic when the sky was stormy, it’s equally wrong to overreact when the sun is shining. Both are short-term, emotion-driven reactions. Instead, investors should be reflecting on another bit of news that occurred this month: The announcement that Warren Buffett will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway by the end of the year.
“Why does that matter?” you’re probably thinking. Or even, “Who did what now?”
The ninety-four-year-old Buffett is one of the most famous and successful investors in the world. Over the past sixty years, shares in his company, Berkshire Hathaway, have risen 5,502,284%.2 Yes, you read that right, and no, it’s not a typo. That equates to a compounded annual return of 19.9%…nearly double what the S&P 500 has averaged over the same period.2
What’s the secret to his incredible track record? Well, Buffett himself would be the first to tell you that it’s really no secret at all. Furthermore, it’s not due to genius. Or luck. Or having a crystal ball.
It’s discipline.
The discipline to always stick to his investment philosophy regardless of how the markets perform. The discipline to prioritize the long view over the short one. The discipline to leave emotion and ego out of his decision making.
How do we know this? Well, each year, Buffett writes a letter to his shareholders detailing the thoughts behind his decisions. Those letters are available for anyone to read. As a result, investors like us have a huge corpus of wisdom to draw from. So, with Buffett stepping down, and with the markets having been particularly volatile this year, now is a good time for us to ponder the example Buffett set as a patient, diligent, long-term investor. That way, we can better apply those same qualities to ourselves.
With that in mind, here are five lessons to learn from Buffett we can apply whenever markets are volatile.
#1: Leave emotion out of investing. Buffett learned this lesson early on when he first bought stock in a failing textile company called… Berkshire Hathaway. From his research, Buffett discovered that every time the company closed one of their mills, they would use the money to repurchase their own stock. His plan was to buy some of that stock, and when the company sold another mill, sell his shares back for a small profit.
At first, everything went according to plan. After Berkshire closed another plant, Buffett met with the CEO, who offered to buy the stock back at $11.50 per share. Buffett agreed. But a few weeks later, when the actual offer came in the mail, Buffett saw the price was only $11.375 per share. Despite their verbal agreement, the CEO had sneakily decided to pay an eighth less than promised.
It was no big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it made Buffett angry. So, instead of selling, he decided to buy more shares. And more, and more. So many more, in fact, that he soon became the majority owner of Berkshire Hathaway…and was able to fire the CEO who tried to stiff him.
Buffett described it in his 2014 letter as “a monumentally stupid decision.”3 You see, all he had to show for it was a failing company that was now entirely his responsibility. While he eventually turned Berkshire into a corporate powerhouse, the textile business was always a drag on profits. (He finally shut it down twenty years later.) In fact, Buffett estimated that the decision to buy Berkshire, rather than use the money in a wiser and less emotional way, ultimately cost him $200 billion in compounded returns.
The lesson: Never make emotional investment decisions. Instead, always remember that:
#2: “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.” Buffett dropped this line in his 2008 letter to shareholders. Back then, the stock market was in a freefall. Many of the companies that Buffett owned dropped dramatically in price, but as he wrote in his letter, “This does not bother me. Indeed, [I] enjoy such price declines if we have funds available to increase our positions. Long ago, Ben Graham [one of Buffett’s teachers] taught me that ‘Price is what you pay; value is what you get.’ Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.” 4
This describes Buffett’s investment philosophy in a nutshell. Instead of focusing solely on the cost of what he’s buying, he instead focuses on the quality. In 2008, he knew the companies he owned were still strong even if they had gone down in price. So, rather than dump them, he instead focused on buying more of them…while also looking for other strong companies being sold at a discount.
As investors, it’s so easy to get caught up in price. Easy to chase after whatever stock is rising fastest; easy to run away when the markets are in the doldrums. But stock price alone does not tell you how valuable something is — only what people are willing to pay for it in a given moment.
To illustrate what we mean, think about the three most valuable things you own. (Not counting your house.) What would you most want to save if there were a flood or fire? They probably aren’t your most expensive possessions, are they? Before you ever save the big-screen TV or even the car in your garage, you’d probably reach instead for the family photo album. That heirloom your grandmother left you. Or maybe even the $500 guitar you saved up for in high school that’s been with you ever since.
Buffett follows the same principle with business. Instead of concentrating on short-term prices, he focuses on long-term value. The stocks and companies he’ll still want to own in twenty, forty, or even sixty years. That matters, because for Buffett…
#3: “Our favorite holding period is forever.” Buffett said this in his 1988 letter to shareholders.5 We like this quote, because when you think about it, the ideal investment really is something you’d want to hold onto forever, isn’t it? It’s why we pass on our home and our most prized possessions to our children after we’re gone. We want the next generation to derive as much value from them as we did. Here at Minich MacGregor Wealth Management, we try to take a similar approach with your portfolio. While there are, of course, times when we need to sell certain holdings to meet your income needs, our goal is to help you invest for a period far lengthier than the worst bear market or even the longest bull. We invest for your entire lifetime…and maybe even beyond.
#4: Patience always beats prognostication. Investing, when you think about it, is a perpetual struggle between the short-term and the long-term. There are always so many headlines, events, wants, and fears demanding our attention. Because of that, many investors spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out “what’s going to happen next.” What direction will the stock market go? How will the economy perform? What will Washington do? As a result, there is an entire industry of forecasters, prognosticators, and fortune-tellers who try to convince investors to make short-term decisions based on short-term predictions.
But nobody can predict the future. We can make educated assumptions, and of course, lucky guesses. When it comes to investing, there’s only one thing we know: That over time, the markets have historically gone up. As a result, patience is often the only requirement. All other ingredients are optional. That’s why, whenever the markets move sharply in one direction or the other, We think it’s handy to remember these classic Buffett gems:
“Our stay-put behavior reflects our view that the stock market serves as a relocation center at which money is moved from the impatient to the patient.” 6 — 1991 letter to shareholders
“Anything can happen anytime in markets. Market forecasters will fill your ear but will never fill your wallet.” 3 — 2014 letter to shareholders
“Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”7 — 2004 letter to shareholders
#5: “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree long ago.”
This, we think, is the greatest lesson of them all.
Can you remember how the markets performed in 1988? 1991? 2014? Probably not — We’d have to look it up ourselves. Similarly, you probably can’t remember what the weather was like in any given month those years, or even what the hit song was.
But you probably can see how far you’ve come since then.
This is the essence of investing. Headlines, whether good or bad, are temporary. Volatility, up or down, is temporary. That is why we always prioritize the permanent over the transient. Why we take the long view over the short one. So, whenever volatility strikes, whenever the headlines get confusing, remember Warren Buffett’s example. Today’s storms are just moisture for tomorrow’s trees — in whose shade we hope to enjoy for generations to come.
1 “US and China agree to roll back tariffs in major trade breakthrough,” CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/business/us-china-trade-deal-announcement-intl-hnk
2 “Warren Buffett’s return tally after 60 years,” CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/05/warren-buffetts-return-tally-after-60-years-5502284percent.html
3 “Berkshire Hathaway 2014 letter,” https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2014ltr.pdf
4 “Berkshire Hathaway 2008 letter,” https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2008ltr.pdf
5 “Berkshire Hathaway 1988 letter,” https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1988.html
6 “Berkshire Hathaway 1991 letter,” https://berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1991.html
7 “Berkshire Hathaway 2004 letter,” https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2004ltr.pdf
Like getting the flu or visiting the DMV, market volatility is one of those facts of life that never gets more pleasant no matter how many times we experience it. As you know, the markets have been very volatile of late. In large part this has been spurred on by the fears and uncertainty surrounding the tariffs that have been announced or discussed by the White House. This has many investors asking, “What should I do?”
As financial advisors, we hear that question a lot. While thinking about how to answer it, we came across an interesting story that illustrates exactly what investors should do. It’s called:
The War-Time Rules for the Richmond Golf Club
The year was 1940. World War II was well under way, with France having fallen to Germany. When the Germans began bombing England in preparation for an invasion, some of the bombs fell on the Richmond Golf Club in southwest London.
Undaunted, the golfers, many of whom were veterans of World War I, devised a set of “war-time rules” to ensure they could keep playing even during a bombing raid.1 Decades later, the rules were rediscovered. They are still as incredible now as they were then…and as amusing!
We love this story because it illustrates a very important point: Whenever we face uncertainty in life, whenever we’re not sure what to do, it’s valuable to have rules in place that can help guide us and stabilize us. From the Golden Rule to the Fire Rule (stop, drop, and roll), rules make things easy to remember, easy to understand, and easier to get through. So, with those golfers’ plucky example in mind, here are our rules for getting through even the roughest stretches of market volatility:
1. Continue to save and contribute to your retirement accounts. Market volatility often means lower prices. That both lowers the financial barrier to invest and makes it easier to buy good companies. It’s like shopping for Christmas lights after the holidays are over — the prices are lower, but the product is the same. Furthermore, by continuing to save and invest even during volatility, you are positioning yourself for the rebound. Remember, it’s time in the markets, not timing the markets, that matters.
2. Examine your current risk level. That said, there’s nothing wrong with looking at your portfolio and saying, “You know what? Maybe I don’t want to deal with this level of risk.” Many investors end up becoming overexuberant and taking on too much risk during bull markets, and changes in your life sometimes require a change in your investment strategy. After all, even the Richmond Club golfers took cover when the bombs were dropping.
3. Invert the problem. One of the great investors, Charlie Munger, used to talk about how inverting his thinking was his most reliable form of decision-making. In other words, during a time when other investors are trying to figure out the “smart thing to do,” replace that with, “What is the foolish thing to do?” Or “What will I most regret doing in five or ten years?” It’s often much easier to figure out what not to do than what you should do. By starting there and working backwards, you will arrive at the correct decision — which is often much simpler than it first appeared!
4. Focus on a different aspect of financial planning. There is more to reaching your financial goals than investing. When the markets are turbulent and the headlines are scary, there’s a simple solution: Stop thinking about them! Instead, focus on something else that will help get you closer to your goals. Look at your cash flow. Update your will. Start a rainy-day fund. Get your tax planning done. Concentrate on increasing your income. There are lots of possibilities, all of which are far more important in the long-term than stressing about markets in the short-term.
5. Commit to understanding why the markets are behaving the way they are. Most people don’t spend their days scrutinizing the markets. As a result, volatility can feel particularly stressful for investors who don’t immediately have an explanation for it. But Marie Curie once said: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.” In my experience, when we take the time to understand the cause of volatility, the volatility itself becomes less unsettling. Understanding brings clarity, and clarity brings confidence — that all volatility, no matter the cause, is temporary.
The British were famous for their “keep calm and carry on” attitude during World War II. The “War-Time Rules for the Richmond Golf Club” is a perfect example of this. The rules they created helped those golfers make sense of a scary situation by continuing to do what they loved. We can apply that principle to every area of our lives — including our finances and including the markets.
One last point. Sometimes, the media will try to get us to choose fear over rules like these. When that happens, remember this. During the War, the Richmond rules became famous even in Germany. None other than Joseph Goebbels heard about them and publicly declared, “The English snobs try to impress the people with a kind of pretended heroism. They can do so without danger, because, as everyone knows, the German Air Force devotes itself only to the destruction of military targets.”1
Still, in the very next raid, German planes bombed the golf club’s laundry facilities.
The members continued playing.
1 “Our Famous War Time Rules,” The Richmond Golf Club, https://therichmondgolfclub.com/war-time-rules
“If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.” That’s a common refrain in many corners of the country. You can hear it near the Great Lakes, on the prairies and plains, and in the mountain west. But it probably originated in New England, where the weather can go from sunny to snowy and back again in a heartbeat. Especially in the spring.
It’s also a line we like to remember whenever we experience a turbulent quarter in the markets.
Volatility was really the only constant during the first three months of 2025. As a result, all three major indices finished down for the quarter. But it’s important to remember that “volatility” doesn’t just mean “down.” It means changing in a sharp and unpredictable manner. In Q1, the markets rarely went in the same direction for more than a couple days in a row. (If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.) They were in a continual state of flux, which in some ways is the hardest state for investors to deal with. The good news is that just how today’s performance doesn’t necessarily dictate tomorrow’s, how the markets did in Q1 doesn’t necessarily predict the same for Q2.
To understand where we are, it’s always helpful to understand where we’ve been. So, let’s do a quick recap of why markets performed the way they did in Q1. Then, we’d like to share why volatility is a feature, not a bug, of investing.
There were three main storylines for Q1: new developments in artificial intelligence, inflation, and most importantly, tariffs. Let’s start with:
Artificial Intelligence. As you know, the last two years have brought some stunning advances to the field of AI. There are now dozens of AI-related products, many designed to help companies become more productive and efficient. The more productive and efficient a company is, the more valuable it is to shareholders. As a result, the recent bull market has largely been driven by money flowing into tech companies participating in the AI boom.
But in January, a Chinese company known as DeepSeek revealed a new AI model meant to rival well-known services like ChatGPT. Because the company claims to have developed its AI with far less money and computing power, many chipmakers and AI companies have seen their share prices fluctuate dramatically in recent weeks. (If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.) So, just as those same companies were responsible for much of the market’s rise, so too are they responsible for some of the market’s recent slides.
Many of these companies are also being affected by the second storyline:
Tariffs. Over the past two months, President Trump has repeatedly announced and then often suspended tariffs on China, Canada, Mexico, and other countries across the globe. As of this writing, a 20% blanket tariff on all Chinese goods has actually been enacted, along with a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports from any country. Certain products from Canada and Mexico have tariffs, too. Dozens of other tariffs, though, have been either dropped, delayed, or merely proposed.1
The situation seems to change on a weekly basis. (If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute.) It’s this unpredictability, more than anything else, that has the markets spooked. You see, tariffs make it more expensive for companies to import the supplies they need to create their own products. (For example, a tariff on imported computer chips and semiconductors impacts many tech companies that depend on those things to power the technologies they create.) But when investors aren’t certain exactly which companies will be affected, or when, or by how much, it creates massive uncertainty. And uncertainty is nearly always the chief cause of market volatility.
Tariffs also play a role in the third and final storyline, because they have the potential to cause:
Inflation. While inflation isn’t quite the same storyline it was last year, it’s still in the background, affecting almost everything around it. That’s because, after falling to 2.4% in September, the inflation rate steadily crept back up to 3% in January.2 (It then ticked down to 2.8% in February.)
Why does this matter? Because as long as inflation remains “sticky,” the Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates elevated. Higher rates act like ankle weights on stock prices, and investors have been waiting for years to see them decline. When the markets move by a larger-than-normal amount in a single day, it’s often because investors are rethinking what they expect the Fed will do with interest rates.
So, these are some of the prime causes behind all the volatility we’ve been seeing. And because all three are interconnected, the uncertainty each one creates is compounded by the others.
Make no mistake, volatility can be frustrating. As frustrating as a spring snowstorm when you were hoping for sun. Despite this, volatility can also be a positive — because it creates opportunity.
Here’s an example of what we mean. You remember how we said the phrase “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute” probably originated in New England? While he didn’t use those exact words, the famous author Mark Twain once alluded to them in a famous speech he gave to the New England Society in 1876.3 Here are a few excerpts of what he said:
“Gentlemen: I reverently believe that the Maker who made us all makes everything in New England — but the weather. In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. I could speak volumes about the inhuman perversity of the New England weather. There is only one thing certain about it: You are certain there is going to be plenty of weather.
But…there are at least one of two things about that weather which we residents would not like to part with. If we hadn’t our bewitching autumn foliage, we should still have to credit the weather with one feature which compensates for all its bullying vagaries: The ice storm. When a leafless tree is clothed with ice from the bottom to the top — ice that is as bright and clear as crystal; when every bough and twig is strung with ice beads, frozen dewdrops, and the whole tree sparkles cold and white like [a] diamond plume. Then the wind waves the branches, and the sun comes out and turns all those myriads of beads and drops to prisms that glow and burn and flash with all manner of colored fires. The tree becomes a spraying fountain, a very explosion of dazzling jewels, and it stands there, the supremist possibility in art or nature, of bewildering, intoxicating, intolerable magnificence!
Month after month I lay up my hate and grudge against the New England weather, but when the ice storm comes at last, I say: “There, I forgive you now. The books are square between us. You don’t owe me a cent. Your little faults and foibles count for nothing; you are the most enchanting weather in the world!”
In other words, all the frustrating unpredictability — or volatility — of the New England weather was worth it to Twain…because it gave him the sublime sight of a tree after an ice storm.
While it’s not so poetic, something similar is true about the markets. All the frustrating volatility is worth it to investors, because when the dust settles, it shows us which companies are truly strong. It’s that same volatility that gives us the opportunity to own those companies at lower prices. It’s that volatility that gives us the chance to be patient when others are restless. Without volatility, we wouldn’t have experienced the rallies that followed afterward.
Of course, if you ever have any questions or concerns about the markets, that’s what we’re here for. Please let us know if you would ever like to chat. But in the meantime, remember this: While no one can say when the current market conditions will change, we do know that they will. The storylines of tomorrow will be different than the ones of today.
Sometimes, all we have to do is just wait a minute.
1 “See all the tariffs Trump has enacted, threatened and canceled,” The Washington Post, March 27, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2025/trump-tariffs-enacted-effect-threatened/
2 “12-month percentage change, Consumer Price Index, selected categories,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-by-category-line-chart.htm
3 “Speech to the New England Society,” The Letters of Mark Twain, https://www.marktwainproject.org/letters/supplementary/mtdp00229/
Spring is in the air, and that means it’s time for spring cleaning. But wait! Before you pick up that dustpan, give a thought to your financial spring cleaning first.
What do finances and spring cleaning have to do with each other? Well, if you have financial goals you’re planning for, the answer is “A lot!” These days, the term spring cleaning is often used as a metaphor for getting our daily affairs in order. As you can imagine, getting your financial affairs in order is critical if you intend to check off all the items on your personal bucket list. There are many things to keep track of. Many tasks that need doing; many decisions to make.
So how do you begin? Well, when many people do their actual spring cleaning, they make a checklist. What supplies they’ll need, what rooms need to be cleaned, what needs to be mopped, vacuumed, dusted, or organized… it’s the most efficient way to clean. We suggest doing the same for your finances. So, without further ado, here is a sample Spring Cleaning Checklist to help you stay organized and on track to your financial goals.
Financial Spring-Cleaning Checklist
[ ] Contribute the maximum amount to your IRA if you have one. Remember, an IRA is a valuable way to save for retirement in a simple, tax-advantaged way. For the 2024 tax year, the annual IRA contribution limit is $7,000 if you’re under 50, and $8,000 for those 50 and older.1
[ ] Review your 401(k) and rebalance if necessary. How has your 401(k) been performing? Do you understand how your money is being invested, and why? Are you contributing enough to take advantage of any employer matching? Do the investments inside your 401(k) need to be rebalanced to match your original allocation?
[ ] Review your holdings. These days, many investors adopt a “set it and forget it” mentality with their investment portfolio(s). That’s certainly better than stressing over the markets daily, but it’s critical to review your holdings at least once or twice a year to make sure everything is in order. Is your allocation still where it should be? Is your portfolio still in line with your tolerance for risk? Are your holdings providing the kind of return you need to reach your financial goals? Do you understand everything you own and why? If the answer to any of these questions is “No” or “I don’t know,” then it’s time for us to sit down and take a closer look at things. And when we say, “review your holdings,” we mean all of them. That includes all institutions you do business with! (Many investors sometimes forget where all their assets are kept and thus fail to review them.)
[ ] Review your cash flow and examine your expenses. Which are likely to continue for the long-term? What expenses can you remove right now? This is a good way to find extra ways to save for your goals, and it will make your life a lot simpler once retirement comes.
[ ] Decide now what to do with your tax refund. If you’re getting a tax refund this year, think about how you want to use it. Approximately 1/3rd of Americans use their refund to pay off debts; others stick it in a savings account.2 One underrated and oft-underused option: Invest it instead. It can help you catch up on saving for retirement, pay for a loved one’s college expenses, or enable you to achieve one of your long-term goals even sooner.
[ ] Make sure you know where all your estate planning documents are. You should have a copy of your will, power of attorney, advance medical directives, letter of instructions, and other documents in a secure but easily accessible place. Make sure your spouse (or other loved ones) knows where these documents are kept.
[ ] Review your current insurance policies. Are there any potential gaps? (For example, Disability and Long-Term Care insurance are two types of policies many people don’t have but are often extremely valuable for retirees.)
[ ] Check your credit reports. Credit reports aren’t just for getting loans. They’re also a handy early-warning system for fraud and identity theft. A good rule is to check your credit at least once per year. Be on the lookout for changes that don’t look familiar to you as well as “hard inquiries.” This is when a business checks your credit report because they received a new application for credit or services. These can impact your score and stay on your reports for up to two years. They can also be a red flag for thieves trying to use your information illicitly.
[ ] Reprioritize your goals. As you think about getting your finances in order, also think about the goals your finances are designed to help you achieve. Do you have new goals? If so, write them down. Are there older objectives that need more attention? If so, determine where they need to be placed on your schedule. By doing these things, you can ensure your finances are not only organized but getting you closer to the places — and person — you want to be.
Spring cleaning is never the most fun thing in the world, but it’s often one of the most beneficial. Just as you probably enjoy living in a clean, organized home, you’ll enjoy the peace of mind that comes with getting your finances in order. Trust us: if there’s one thing we’ve learned in all our years of helping people plan for their goals, it’s that a little organization today can make for a much happier tomorrow. In the meantime, we wish you a happy spring — and a happy spring cleaning!
1“IRA Contribution Limits,” IRS, https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-ira-contribution-limits
2 “Over a third of Americans plan to spend their tax refund right away, mostly to pay bills,” CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/02/most-americans-plan-to-spend-tax-refund-on-essentials.html
The tariff-related questions that investors should be asking
“What should we do about tariffs?” It’s a question we’ve heard a lot lately, often with a note of fear in the voice of whoever is asking it. In this message, we want to answer that question. We also want to talk a little about fear, how we handle it…and how we can benefit from it.
If you’ve been following the financial news at all, you know that a feeling of anxiety has dominated the markets for the past month or so. But in the last few days, that anxiety has turned into fear. You see, on March 4, a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports went into effect.1 This requires U.S. companies that purchase goods from these countries to pay a 25% tax. At the same time, President Trump also imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods on top of the original 10% duty that began last month.1 As expected, all three countries have retaliated with their own tariffs on U.S. goods. That means the U.S. is now officially in a trade war.
The markets have not reacted to this news well. On March 4 alone, the Dow plunged over 600 points.2 The NASDAQ has been creeping closer to correction territory since late February.
When fear strikes, investors often start asking themselves the following questions:
Are the markets going into a correction?
Will the economy go into a recession?
Should I change my allocation?
Is it time to get out and move everything to cash?
You can probably hear them around the water cooler at work. You can see them online. They’re questions we frequently get from acquaintances of ours. But they are not the questions investors should be asking.
To be clear, tariffs — especially at these levels — are not a small thing. While they can be used to generate revenue or bring countries to the negotiating table, they also can increase business expenses and cut into corporate profits. When this happens, many companies will pass on these costs to regular people like you and me in the form of higher prices.
In other words, tariffs can be inflationary, at a time when we are still dealing with higher-than-normal inflation.
Investors know all this. What investors don’t know is how long these tariffs will last, how high they will go, or how big of an economic impact they will have. We don’t know whether they will trigger a major downturn in the markets. We can make reasonable assumptions and educated guesses, but we don’t know for sure. And that uncertainty, more than anything else, is why the markets have been so volatile lately. As the author H.P. Lovecraft once put it, “The oldest and strongest kind of fear is always the fear of the unknown.”
When fear grips the markets, many investors feel an intense urge to do something. After all, it seems so natural: When you know it might rain, you pack an umbrella. When you know you’ll have to drive in rush hour, you give yourself more time to reach your destination. As human beings, we always want to avoid the possibility of future pain. And since volatility can be painful, many investors start asking themselves: Should I change what I’m doing? Should I get out of the markets? The thinking is that if they can somehow avoid market turmoil, they can then get back in later when things are calm. Like skipping the freeway and taking service streets until you’re past the traffic jam.
But there’s a major problem with applying these metaphors to investing: They are short-term solutions for short-term problems. Investing, on the other hand, is for the long-term…and one of the biggest mistakes in investing is making a short-term decision that has long-term consequences. This is true in life as well. It’s why we pack an umbrella when it looks like rain, but we don’t move to another state. It’s why we may try to avoid driving when there’s heavy traffic, but we don’t sell our car.
That’s why a better metaphor for investing is planting a garden. With a garden, we don’t decide to uproot all our tomato plants and switch to squash after a month. We don’t put everything into pots because we hear distant thunder and know it might hail. We don’t overwater our plants just because we feel the need to constantly do something to help them grow. Instead, we choose the best possible soil. We plant with care. We water only when necessary. We harvest when things are ripe. And while we know the zucchinis might sometimes do better than the peppers, or the rosemary plant might fail, we always patiently give the seeds still in the ground all the time they need to sprout.
When volatility strikes, when fear and uncertainty dominate, we must always remember to treat our investments like a garden. Volatility, whatever the cause, is a short-term problem. Just as we want our garden to bear fruit for years, not months, it’s crucial that we make no short-term move that could harm our long-term plan.
Here’s how Peter Lynch, one of the most successful investors of all time, explains it:
“A market calamity is different from a meteorological calamity. Since we’ve learned to take action to protect ourselves from snowstorms and hurricanes, it’s only natural that we would try to prepare ourselves for corrections. [But] far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in corrections themselves. Skittish investors, fearing the correction is imminent, sell…their stocks and stock mutual funds. Or they put off buying stocks in companies they like and sit on their cash, waiting for the crash. But once the market reaches bottom, the cash sitters are likely to continue to sit on their cash. They’re waiting for further declines that never come, and they miss the rebound. They may still call themselves long-term investors, but they’re not. They’ve turned themselves into market timers, and unless their timing is very good, the market will run away from them.”3
For these reasons, here are the questions investors should be asking themselves:
To be clear, tariffs are an important story, and one that will quite possibly be with us for a long time. And market volatility is painful, make no mistake about that. But while we here at Minich MacGregor Wealth Management don’t welcome volatility, we don’t fear it, either. That’s because we know it’s an opportunity. An opportunity to be even more patient, even more disciplined, even more consistent than before. And it’s those qualities — patience, discipline, consistency — that make the most difference in the long run.
Blaise Pascal, the great mathematician and philosopher, once said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” We think there’s a lot of wisdom in that! So, while we will continue keeping a close eye on the markets — and while we will certainly send you more information in the future on tariffs and their effects — what matters most is this: We cannot do anything about tariffs, or how the markets react to them.
But we can do something about ourselves.
We can be gardeners.
So, as spring rolls in, as the flowers bloom and the trees begin to blossom, take this opportunity to focus on whatever garden you may grow at home. And know that as you do, our team is constantly tending the one you’ve entrusted us with. It’s a garden we intend to last a lifetime.
1 “Trump puts tariffs on thousands of goods from Canada and Mexico,” CNBC, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/economics/trump-puts-tariffs-thousands-goods-canada-mexico-risking-higher-prices-rcna194542
2 “Dow tumbles again, loses more than 1,300 points in two days,” CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/03/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
3 “From the Archives: Fear of Crashing,” Worth.com, https://worth.com/from-the-archives-fear-of-crashing/
The only bad question is the one left unasked. That’s the premise behind many of our posts. Each covers a different investment-related question that many people have but are afraid to ask.
In recent posts, we’ve been breaking down some of the more common bits of financial jargon that you are likely to hear in the media about the stock market. In this message, let’s look at:
Questions You Were Afraid to Ask #16:
What do terms like blue-chip, value, and growth stocks mean?
If you ever tune into the financial media, you’re likely to encounter terms for different types of stocks. Blue-chip is a frequent one; so are value and growth. But what do these terms mean?
Terms like these are a kind of shorthand description of a stock’s size, history, or risk profile. With a single word, experienced investors can learn a lot about a company’s size, potential, and risks. And since every investor has different goals to consider when selecting their investments, some may choose to focus on one type of stock over another.
Let’s break down each term so you know what they mean if you ever hear them mentioned.
Blue-Chip Stocks. This term refers to stocks from large, financially stable companies with good reputations. (The name comes from high-valued chips in poker, which are often blue in color.)
Typically, these companies have a sizeable market capitalization. (As you may remember from my last “Questions” letter, this is the total market value of a company’s available shares of stock.) Blue-chip stocks are often household names that everyone would recognize. If you look at the credit card in your wallet, the soda in your fridge, or the labels in your medicine cabinet, you will likely see examples of blue-chip companies.
Investors often prefer blue chip stocks for a variety of reasons. First, because these companies are well-established, they are often seen as less volatile. While not guaranteed, blue chip companies tend to last for decades and can often weather recessions.
Another reason many investors like blue chip companies is because they often pay regular dividends. A dividend is when a company pays a percentage of their profits to shareholders, usually on a quarterly basis. These dividends can either be reinvested or used as a source of income.
Value Stocks. Imagine there were two fine dining restaurants in your area. One is famous— the kind of place that gets mentioned in travel guides and where people go to propose. The other, located a few blocks away, is a tiny spot that hardly anyone knows about. But it tastes just as good as the touristy place, and best of all, it’s so much cheaper. So, you decide to go there more often than not, aiming to enjoy it for as long as you can before the word gets out.
Value stocks are similar. The term refers to companies that appear to be undervalued — meaning they are trading at a lower price than they’re potentially worth. Investors looking for value usually focus on companies with experienced leadership, steady revenue, a strong competitive advantage, and a low share price relative to their earnings.
Value stocks aren’t always easy to find, and the very concept of “value” is a subjective one. But the idea is to find companies that could give you great bang for your buck and the potential for long-term growth. Because, like that neighborhood restaurant, once the word gets out and the stock gets more popular, it could rise significantly in price. Of course, the risk of a value stock is that it could stay “undervalued” for a long time.
Growth Stocks. This term refers to stocks that have the potential to skyrocket in price over time. Often, growth stocks are younger companies seeking to set new trends or shake up an industry. These companies focus on growing rapidly and reinvest their earnings entirely into expansion. Since technology is constantly changing, many investors look to up-and-coming tech companies for growth stocks, hoping to score the “next” Apple or Microsoft.
But with this potential for growth comes the potential for more volatility. Growth companies are often much riskier than value or blue-chip stocks, because they are younger, unproven, and have less stable finances. For every growth company that succeeds and matures, there may be a handful that fail and disappear.
As you can see, each of these types have their own pros and cons. Blue chips tend to be reliable, stable, and often pay dividends — but they can be expensive and their potential for growth may be limited. Value stocks have the potential to grow, and are typically not as risky as growth stocks, but may be hard to find. Growth stocks could have the highest upside, but also the most risk and volatility. For these reasons, many investors often seek to diversify by holding all three types, depending on their specific needs and goals.
In our next post, we will look at a few other terms you’ll often hear in the media: Dividends, buybacks, and stock splits. Until next time!
