A 2nd Addition and a 1st Edition
“I’m not going to participate in this recession…”
…was the message I told myself in 2020.
We’d just experienced the steepest bear market in 90 years (the S&P 500 fell almost 34% in just 23 trading sessions) as investors digested the ramifications of government response to the Coronavirus pandemic, and it felt like a lot of things were out of our control as investors, as workers, and as people trying to make sense of chaos. Sensationalists claimed that the Great Depression 2.0 was imminent — I had a different message for clients and readers of this blog (examples like this, this, or this) and it was one of optimism.
At the time, something was happening within Harding Wealth; I was having hundreds of conversations with worried individuals and families to help them keep their focus on what matters. As we outlasted that chaotic situation, it became clear: those conversations were the most important thing we did that year.
Talking to people about money is our job and, if you do it right, it can be time consuming. That’s why, in the middle of a massive wave of spiking unemployment and layoffs across the economy, I said “I’m not going to participate in this recession”… I hired Cinnamon Martinez in August 2020. She came in and added immediate depth to our administrative processes. Two years later it was clearly a smart move.
Now we find ourselves flirting with another recession as the Fed cranks interest rates faster than any time on record in an attempt to soften the labor market (“soften” = get people fired) and dampen inflation… Guess what? I’m not participating in this one either.
In this spirit, we recently added Kayla Goo to the team.
Kayla has a financial planning degree from ASU, she’s planning on taking the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP) exam within the next few months, and she’s going to be a valuable part of our ability to diagnose financial situations and prescribe remedies for clients going forward.
We’re still in the process of getting Kayla’s formal investment advisor registration finished (which will take a couple more months), but when that’s complete you’ll be able to reach out to her or me directly about specific investing or financial planning questions (in the past these kinds of queries could only come to me). This means quicker response times to emails and calls, and more scheduling availability to hold those important conversations. I think we’re all excited about what this means for our ability to keep being good at what we do.
Making investments —in securities or human capital or otherwise— in the midst of volatility is hard, but it’s also when things typically have the highest payout for those willing to play the ‘long game’. We’re all about the long game.
You can read more about our team, including Kayla, here.
Speaking of Kayla, she’s helping us with a cool new project: we’re releasing a curated, bespoke accumulation of money and wealth wisdom we think benefits investors; this will be the First Edition of our #QuotesProject. We want it to be short in length but massively impactful in helping you deal with the uncertainty we face.
Clients will be receiving a copy of this within the next couple months; if you’re not a client and would like to receive a copy, let us know .
That’s all for today, enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Onward,
Adam Harding | CFP | Founder @ Harding Wealth | Stove Top Stuffing Chef | Smartvestor Pro
www.hardingwealth.com
