Paul Harteg from DHG Wealth Advisors walks through a few strategies for retirees to keep a long-term perspective and first steps to consider during a period of stress in the stock market.

During any crisis, the question is always: “Is it different this time?” Our former Chief Investment Officer, Rick Kramer, has lived through some of the worst bear markets this country has ever experienced and in this episode he offers his insights on the current market environment as well historical perspective.

March Madness. It conjures up images of office pools, trash-talking and some of the best college basketball played all year. But 2020 saw a different kind of March Madness as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people. As the number of cases began to rapidly grow, and the death toll mounted, social distancing and self quarantine guidelines were put in place in an attempt to flatten the curve and reduce the strain on our healthcare system. The result was a “self-induced” economic slow-down the likes of which we’ve never experienced as most non-essential businesses were asked to shut their doors.

It’s hard enough being an investor in good markets, but when markets are volatile – and recently they’ve been extremely volatile – it’s easy to focus on minimizing short-term pain and forget why you chose to invest in the first place. Host John Locke welcomes DHG Wealth Advisors president Will Sneed to discuss the importance of maintaining a long-term perspective.

When a market reaction is as violent as the current one, it is always due to fear. More specifically, fear of the unknown. Having no idea what will occur tomorrow, much less the next several weeks, months or years in the future, allows human emotions and psyches to run rampant and envision the absolute worst possible situation.