If you have a plan, don't do something. Just stand there.

If you have a plan, you review your goals regularly and have developed a detailed strategy in writing that lays out how you will achieve your goals. You have a process to aim your portfolio directly at your goals, and you have a process to review this on an ongoing basis.

If you are planning for retirement, you have already made sure that you are living below your means. You are saving and investing on a detailed, mandatory, regular basis. You add to your portfolio when prices are temporarily down. You have already planned for the devastating drag on purchasing power that inflation creates. You have taken advantage of the magical strategy of dollar cost averaging. You have planned for three decades or more of purchasing power over your lifetime. You have back tested your plan and looked at how it performed in periods like 1929 as well as depression and inflationary periods like the 1970s and 1980s. You have evaluated the concept that the volatility of security prices is not risk. You have planned to not outlive your money. You plan on not setting your strategy and forgetting it. You plan on evaluating your cash flow goal at least annually and increasing this as you approach retirement.

If you are already retired and living off of your retirement assets, you have a plan. You have planned to create a cash flow strategy that is aimed at you not outliving your money because that is how you define true risk. You have planned for the fact that Canadians are living longer, and if you have a partner, there is a significant risk that one of you may live longer than either of you worked. You have assumed that there is no way of predicting your expenses and plan to review them on an ongoing basis and have planned on being able to adjust your annual budgets moving forward. You have planned for the requirement to possibly have to double or triple your lifetime income just to keep up with the increasing cost of living. You have planned for market crashes to occur on a surprisingly regular basis. You differentiate your cash flow needs versus asset valuations at any one time.

If you truly have a plan, you have already created a way to manage the volatility we are experiencing. If you have a plan, just stay on plan. Don’t do anything. Stand there. You have already done enough. If you are not confident in your existing plan, please reach out to us to evaluate what you should do.

If you have any questions regarding your plan, please reach out to us to discuss in detail.

Sincerely, Paul

This newsletter has been prepared by The Delfino Group and expresses the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Raymond James Ltd. (RJL). Statistics, factual data and other information are from sources RJL believes to be reliable but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. It is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. This newsletter is intended for distribution only in those jurisdictions where RJL and the author are registered. Securities-related products and services are offered through Raymond James Ltd., member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Insurance products and services are offered through Raymond James Financial Planning Ltd., which is not a member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund.