“Hold on, we’re in for a bumpy ride.” When I hear those words, it reminds me of being in an airplane when you’re in turbulence.

A few years ago, we had a bumpy ride on our way to Haiti. When we went to land, the flaps wouldn’t come up. We ended up circling the airport a couple of times trying to burn off fuel to lighten the load and were told to brace for what could be a bumpy landing.

It was a great time of prayer on an airplane like never before. God brought us in safely, but there were emergency vehicles on both sides of the runway as they were expecting it to crash.

When we were getting off the plane, my friend said to me, “I was really glad I noticed the pilots when we walked on. He had gray hair she was I knew he had experience, and he could get us down.”

I think we’re in for a bumpy ride in the market as well. Last year was pretty volatile and bumpy with inflation and rising interest rates. It was really a valuation story in the market.

January 2023 started with an upswing, and then we hit some more turbulent air. With the inflation headlines and inflation still soaring, there’s some volatility in the market. I think we’re probably in for a little bit of a bumpy ride for a while still.

We did an in-depth market update in our State of the Union Power Hour in February talking about where the market is and what the team is seeing. One thing that I want to highlight now relates to the pilot with gray hair.

The focus of our team this year is quality companies that can withstand these rocky times. Tech companies and small caps were great for a time, but not right now. They are not the gray-haired pilot that we need.

We have been talking about inflation-protected sectors such as healthcare, and consumer staples, the things people will spend money on no matter what is happening.

But it is not just enough to have those sectors, it is about taking a deeper look to see the strength and stability of the company. Just like the gray-haired pilot gave my friend some security in that turbulent ride, having companies right now that are strong, secure, and have been around for a long time is where you want to be invested.

This may seem overwhelming, how do you really know the strength and stability of a company? This is what our team is for, we do all the digging for you.

The gray-haired pilot had been in tough situations before and knew what adjustments to make. Similar to the pilot how landed on the Hudson river, we all remember that.

A good portfolio management team has also had experience in different market conditions and should be making the necessary adjustments. They’re not just going to sit back on auto-pilot doing the same old thing, but they will make adjustments to get you safely where you want to go in retirement.

Maybe it’s to make sure you have enough income in retirement, or leaving a legacy, or even save for retirement, whatever your specific goals are, your team needs to make adjustments in turbulent markets to get you there. (check out the Retirement Shift for more on this and an example as it relates to managing for retirement income.)

If you have questions about your portfolio, whether it is with us or elsewhere, give us a call.

So hold on, it’s probably going to be a bumpy ride in the market for a while… Make sure you have an experienced and secure management team that’s looking out for your best interests.