Sub-savings accounts and investment options set this app apart from the rest, executive says.
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Don’t Panic — Bear Markets are Just a Normal Part of the Market Life Cycle as an Investor
After reaching highs in early January, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both plunged into a bear market territory, falling more than 20% to close out the first half of 2022. This tumble prompted renewed interest in an age-old question: Are we in a bear market? And if so, what does that mean for the individual investor?
Bear markets are generally defined as a drop of 20% or more in an index or security
Some bear markets are short-lived, as we experienced in 2020 with the COVID-19 lockdown, but some can be prolonged, as we saw with the Great Recession.
Following the six-month tumble to start this year, investors are trying to determine whether security prices will continue falling or if the worst is behind them. Regardless, this news serves as a critical reminder that stock prices don’t simply go up in perpetuity, and a bear market can present investors with new opportunities.
There has been no shortage of bad news for investors in the first half of 2022
Between supply chain issues, labor shortages, spikes in home prices and rent, and the highest inflation in 40 years, investors have to worry about various risk factors to develop a sound investment strategy.
None of us has a crystal ball to peer into the future of the financial markets, so it doesn’t matter that investors can’t predict the future but rather how we respond to market turbulence and build our portfolios.
The Economic and Financial Markets Cycle
Behavioral finance experts tell us that investors often let emotions cloud their best judgment and drive decision-making that is ultimately at odds with their long-term investing goals when it comes to the economy and financial market cycles.
When markets shift, the temptation is for investors to buy high and then panic and sell low. The debate over whether or not we are currently in a recession is a popular topic on social media. Still, financial markets have already priced this economic contraction for equities and fixed-income securities. The real question is how long these headwinds will persist.
Investors have more access to important information about the economy and financial markets
Today, investors have more access to important information about the economy and financial markets than ever before. In addition, it has never been easier to begin trading with numerous financial technology “apps” offering easy access to trading platforms. Consequently, investors are much more likely to react — positively or negatively — to any market changes.
Experiencing nearly 13 years of market growth, many of today’s investors may have felt invincible, buying stocks or trading options before our economy turned toward recession.
Every investment may have seemed like a winner, and many people were making money. However, the extended market cycle — and historically unprecedented fiscal and monetary policy stimulus during the COVID lockdown — created false expectations. People thought that the good times would continue for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, many overconfident investors bought high — just as the market crested
“Don’t fight the Fed” is a commonly used phrase on Wall Street. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented fiscal and monetary policies created a significant tailwind for most investments.
Congress enacted laws to put money in the hands of companies and American consumers. As the federal government handed out stimulus money, the Federal Reserve had accommodative policies that pumped cash into the economy as well.
These policies extended the bull market through the pandemic’s early days, and many investors did great.
But “Don’t Fight The Fed” works in both directions. First, the Federal Reserve has pivoted to restrictive policies to try to contain inflation and is now aggressively raising interest rates.
As of this writing, inflation is still at the highest level since the early 1980s, so the Fed is likely to continue to use all weapons in its arsenal in an attempt to tamp down inflation.
With the significant pullback in equities in the first half, particularly in most of the large-cap technology names, fear is causing many retail investors to sell, thereby locking in their losses and limiting their ability to grow their money over the long term.
A Normal Part of the Ebb and Flow of the Market Cycle
Coming down from an extended bull market period, the market’s pullback from historical highs makes it difficult for most investors to understand that these ebbs and flows are a normal part of the market cycle. No market goes up forever, and stocks will eventually have to be repriced.
That said, no one knows what will happen in the markets day-to-day, so trying to time the market is often a fool’s errand — and panic is not a strategy. As long as you have the appropriate diversification in your portfolio based on your individual investment objectives, don’t panic! Instead, sit back, relax and let the market do its thing.
Diversify and Invest According to Your Timeline
A recession is also a normal part of the life cycle. As long as your portfolio is diversified and you’re investing according to the timeline for your specific goals, there is no reason to panic.
Investing to achieve various goals — whether to retire comfortably in 20 years, go on vacation next year or purchase a new vehicle within the next five years — can be pretty straightforward. The key is ensuring your investment allocations sync with the timelines for each goal. In addition, focus on the long term, diversify and avoid products with high fee structures.
Look at your time horizon for the objective for which you’re saving and invest according to that horizon. For example, if you are many years from retirement, your retirement allocation will probably be close to 100% in equities.
Your money should be in a well-diversified portfolio so you can walk away and forget about it.
The money you’re investing for your vacation next year will be mainly in cash and cash equivalents like certificates of deposit (CDs). However, for goals that may be a few years out, you should utilize fixed-income securities — perhaps fixed-income exchange-traded funds.
As your goal investment horizons get longer, equities become a more prominent and more significant part of that portfolio. But always be aware that if you are selling investments supporting long-term goals, you are effectively locking in the loss.
Diversification is Key to Any Long-Term Investment Strategy
Instead of having all your money in one security, it’s essential to allocate investments to each goal you’re saving toward. You might get rich if you’re investing all of your money into one stock, option, or cryptocurrency. But for everyone on social media bragging about how much money they made off one trade, for example, thousands of others lost everything.
As a result, investors need to understand the difference between investing and having a solid investing strategy versus speculation or gambling.
Do you understand the investment you are considering and why it is going higher or lower? While numerous media outlets now focus on short-term trading, investors must realize that this is speculation, not investing.
Long-Term Investing Can and Should be Easy to Understand
Taking a long-term approach to investment should not be stressful, nor should it take a lot of effort or management. But developing a long-term investment strategy isn’t the hard part — it’s sticking to that plan in the face of tumultuous market environments.
As investors, we should feel good about putting our money to work for us, not stressed out, panicky, or constantly checking for updates.
Stay away from get-rich-quick schemes and short-term speculation that is difficult to understand. As Jack Bogle once said, “investors win; speculators lose.”
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Liza Summer; Pexels; Thank you!
The FinTech world has served an important function by showing us the importance of being a lifetime investor. Having some of your money invested in the stock market is a great way to support your long-term financial goals. There is a key theme that resonates in all market cycles – the earlier we start to invest the easier it will be to achieve our financial goals. Some people enjoy investing and others see it as a complicated chore, and that’s OK. Just know that it doesn’t have to be complicated. The important thing is to get started.
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it…he who doesn’t, pays it”. This quote is attributed to Abert Einstein, but it seems dubious. Whether Einstein said it or not, the core message is true that the earlier we start saving for our goals the better off we’ll be.
If you listen to famous investors like Warren Buffet speak they often talk about the importance of making money work for you. Learning the basics of investing will have benefits, such as giving you more income and building your wealth. Investing can be intimidating if you have no experience, but it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming if you focus on some simple themes.
Importance of Investing
There are some obvious reasons why learning how to invest can help your financial situation.
For one, investing will help you build your wealth over time, even when you’re sleeping! This phenomenon is known as passive income, which is a big reason why many people begin investing in the first place. Some people have a long-term goal to live solely off of their passive income streams, which means they have complete freedom to spend their time doing whatever they want!
Investing your money is a way of having your money work for you. We all work hard for the money we earn, so it is important to utilize basic methods to ensure our money is working hard for us. For people who are in debt or simply living paycheck-to-paycheck, learning smart investing for beginners may help you get ahead and break that cycle. By committing to investing a certain percentage of your paycheck, even if it’s just 1%, you can begin to build your wealth and financial security. The most important thing is to get started.
Before we start investing we need to have a good understanding of how much money we have available to commit. Most of us don’t like creating a budget, but it is essential if you feel that you “don’t know where your money goes” each month. If this is you, take a little time to track your expenses for a month or two, it will pay off in the long term.
How Can I Start Investing?
Does your employer offer a retirement plan, like a 401(k)?
If so, smart investing for beginners starts here.
You can usually start by investing as little as 1% of your paycheck. In most cases, the employer typically offers a handful of investment options to choose from. Some employers also provide a “company match”, which means the company will match some of your contributions into your account, but you have to be contributing to get the match. Think of this as free money!
A typical matching arrangement is for an employer to provide a 50% match on the first 6% that you contribute, meaning if you contribute 6% the company will add another 3%. Effectively this is a way to get an increase in your pay, but you have to be contributing to get it. If this is available to you it is a very good place to start! Talk to your supervisor or HR department if you haven’t already.
Focus On Your Goals
Retirement Plans offer a pre-defined option to save for one very important goal.
But what about our other financial goals?
At Marygold & Co, we believe it is helpful to define our specific financial goals.
Defining our goals, and a timeline to achieve them brings clarity.
If you are saving up to buy a new car, it’s important to define when you want to buy it. If you say you want to buy a new car in three years, that helps you to understand whether you’re on track to achieve the goal. So rather than having one generic account where you put your savings, perhaps start by asking yourself what your financial goals are? Most of us have numerous goals, so the more specific we can be the more clarity we’ll have. Ultimately this helps us to stay on track. Some people may only have 2-3 financial goals, while others will have a dozen.
There is no right answer here, the important part is understanding specifically why you are saving.
Tips For Beginners
At Marygold & Co., we want to make it as easy as possible to invest money and build your wealth.
If you’re just a beginner and want to learn how to start smart investing for beginners, we’ve compiled a straightforward checklist that will help you start investing.
Do some basic research
You should do your research before you start investing to know what your options are.
Learn about the different types of investments, and pick out a few that appeal to you. Keep in mind social media is flooded with people bragging about the money they made trading options or “YOLOing” in one stock or cryptocurrency. Try to avoid the FOMO factor. Focus on being a long-term investor.
Open an account
Open an investing account.
Not long ago it was difficult to invest if you didn’t have a lot of money. But now there are numerous options to invest with companies that have low or no minimum balance thresholds.
Transfer money with each paycheck
Inertia is a powerful force, so use it to your advantage!
Decide how much money you’re able to commit towards investing. There’s no right number here- figure out what you’re able to contribute. The important thing is to get started.
Invest – Don’t speculate
Now that you’re transferring money, you need to make sure to actually make your investments.
Diversification is key. Know the difference between speculation (e.g. – the YOLO investors) and investment! We are never going to know more than the large Wall Street firms, so don’t try. Use products that give you the investment opportunity you want at a reasonable fee (typically called the expense ratio). Low-fee Exchange Traded Funds are usually a good place to start.
Think long-term
Over the past 100 years, the stock market has returned about 8% every year.
A prudent way to make money, especially in the stock market, is to employ the “set it and forget it” strategy. If you’re able to invest for multiple decades, that is a strategy that should help you to realize your financial goals. And don’t try to “time” the market. Large and sophisticated investment firms are not able to time the market, so we shouldn’t even try. One of the best ways to make money in the investing world is to be a long-term investor.
How Marygold & Co. Can Help with Investing
Smart investing for beginners begins with being able to track and budget.
Marygold & Co. is revolutionizing expense tracking and budgeting, thanks to this incredible feature called Money Pools.
Money Pools are organized savings pools that allow you to easily divert money into different pools for whatever you’d like to save for.
Additionally, you can easily track your expenses by linking your debit card to your Marygold & Co. account. Marygold & Co. has focused on creating an easy-to-use, helpful interface that makes budgeting and tracking your expenses and investments a piece of cake.
Direct deposit has gone from being a cutting-edge feature to the default for most workers and employers, and it’s no surprise why. It eliminates the hassle of cashing your check at the bank. Instead, your employer pays you electronically and the money is deposited directly into your bank account. With Marygold & Co.’s early direct deposit, you can get your money up to two days earlier than traditional banks. We make sure to process your deposits as soon as they arrive, which means you’ll most likely have access to your hard-earned money earlier than the scheduled payday.
Benefits of Direct Deposit
When you set up early direct deposit, there are a few advantages that put you ahead of everyone else (other than just getting paid two days earlier):
Early Access and Increased Accessibility
Setting up this feature not only saves time, it is so much more accessible. Since funds are electronically transferred, they are automatically credited.
Gone are the days of waiting for a check to clear.
Direct deposit, along with the rise of banking technology allows you to get your money deposited without having to physically run to the bank.
Some fintech apps, like the Marygold & Co. app, provide you with direct deposit up to two days earlier*, as well as access to all banking features through your phone.
This means your money is always with you wherever you are!
Pay your Bills on Time and Save More
Another bonus is that it takes away the stress of making sure you deposit your check in time to ensure your bills will be paid on time.
Using an account with early direct deposit can give you extra time to pay monthly bills such as rent and utilities.
Not only can you access your paycheck earlier but you can also receive your tax money up to two days early*, before it’s available at traditional banks.
Yes, we’ve concluded that it is an easy way to avoid missing out on payments, but it can also help you save more efficiently.
The Marygold & Co. interest-earning feature called ‘Money Pools‘ can be set up simultaneously with this feature to ensure that you get closer to your savings goals with each payment. You can customize this feature to have a percentage or specific amount of your paycheck deposited directly into your “Money Pool” savings account and start earning interest on your money while building your savings.
Safer Than Paper Checks!
Using online banking and perks such as this one can trigger concerns about safety.
However, direct deposit is considered much safer than being paid through check. Paper checks can easily be lost, stolen, or fraudulently cashed.
With this feature, your money is automatically transferred from your employer’s account into the bank account you choose.
The biggest hazard is ensuring your account information goes to someone you trust.
How Does Direct Deposit Work?
To start the process, your employer’s HR department or the payroll company your employer utilizes submits payroll files – which contain account information, to their bank, which then sends the data to an Automated Clearing House (ACH). A bank-to-bank electronic transfer takes place once the HR department receives account information, and the money is then deposited into your account.
Direct Deposit with Marygold & Co.
More than 93 percent of U.S. workers receive their pay by direct deposit, according to the 2019 survey “Getting Paid In America”. Direct deposit has become the standard for most workers and employers and with Marygold & Co., you can receive your money up to two days early! Marygold & Co. is a free and FDIC-insured banking and financial services app that allows customers to send, receive, spend and save money safely through their mobile devices. Using early direct deposit, along with other Marygold & Co. features will make your finances easier and more convenient to manage.
Redefine the way you bank and join our waitlist.
*Early access to direct deposit funds depends on timing of payer’s submission of deposits. We generally post such deposits on the day they are received which may be up to 2 days earlier than the payer’s scheduled payment date.
Being financially secure is more prevalent than ever, but it still remains a challenge to many people.
Let’s discuss how to achieve your financial goals – and actually stick to it this time.
After a long and arduous 2020, more and more citizens have set their sights on being financially stable. In fact, research shows that almost 50 percent of Americans have a financially related New Year’s resolution.
Unfortunately, as reported by U.S. News & World Report, roughly 80 percent of people fail their New Year’s resolution by the second week of February.
If achieving a financial goal was a resolution for you, here are some things to help you avoid becoming part of that 80 percent.
Setting A Financial Goal
Finances are different for everyone. Perhaps you’ve set a financial goal without fully realizing it. Nerdwallet defines financial goals as “personal, big-picture objectives you set for how you’ll save and spend your money.” Some examples include:
- Purchasing a bike
- Buying a home
- Paying off debt
- Starting a business
- Saving for retirement
No matter how grand the scale of your goal is, there are certain things you should be doing in order to make it a reality.
Basic Steps to Achieve Your Financial Goals
Becoming financially secure or independent means many things to many different people. Money is different for everyone, but there are basic rules that everyone should follow. These include:
- Creating and sticking to a budget
- Building an emergency fund
- Managing credit score
- Money organization
- Savvy shopping
- Knowing where your money goes
Creating a Budget
Budgeting is a word that everyone knows, but not everyone is able to accomplish. According to Investopedia, a budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a period of time.
Creating a budget is the first step in achieving any financial goal.
In order to set a budget, you must first determine your income. This is your net, take-home pay each month. Once you’ve calculated that, you need to differentiate your expenses into three categories: needs, wants, and savings.
Comb through at least a year’s worth of expenses to have the most accurate expense chart. Begin by totaling up all of your necessary expenses. This includes rent, car payments, insurance, groceries, etc. Anything you need to live will go in this category.
From there, see how much money you have left over for wants and savings. A portion of this should go into a savings account, emergency fund, and/or investments. But keep in mind you should have some money set aside for yourself to accommodate your wants. This doesn’t mean spending frivolously, but very few people will stick to a budget that doesn’t allow them to have any fun.
Sticking to a Budget
Now that you have created your budget, you need to stick to it. If you budgeted $400 for wants, you have $400 to spend on wants. If it is Friday night and your friends are going to the movies but you only have $20 left in this category, you need to have the willpower to say no. The most important step to achieving your financial goal is not spending above your means. That is why sticking to your budget is so crucial.
Building an Emergency Fund
It is incredibly important to have an emergency fund for whatever life may throw your way. An emergency fund, which differs from a savings account, is an account where the money is saved for major, unexpected expenses. Financial experts have stated that an emergency fund should hold at least enough money to cover three to six months of living expenses.
As we’ve all noticed, especially in the last year, life challenges can come at you unexpectedly. Pew Research found in September that over 15 percent of Americans had lost their job over the previous six months.
Many people have not been able to achieve their financial goals in the past because of unforeseen circumstances or expenses.
With an emergency fund, you can stay on top of these unexpected costs rather than making up for them later.
This will help keep you on the right track towards reaching your financial goals.
Setting aside money for an emergency fund should factor into your budget as to how much you will be saving and spending. Once you have saved enough money to cover at least six months’ worth of living expenses, that money can be budgeted elsewhere.
Managing Your Credit Score
A credit score is a number between 300-850, the highest being the best, based on your credit history. You can check this number by ordering your credit report from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion. Everyone is entitled to one free report per year.
Managing and maintaining your credit score is a crucial step in accomplishing your financial goals. A good credit score can help you in a litany of ways, most importantly: qualifying for loans or mortgages with more favorable interest rates.
To strengthen your credit score you must first make sure you pay all your bills on time. Generally speaking, a credit card, used wisely, is a great way to build your credit as well.
Attaining a good credit score is an important factor in achieving your financial goals. You’ll spend less money on interest rates, therefore, your loans will be paid off quicker.
Keeping Organized
Staying organized is key to becoming financially secure. This means keeping a record of your bank and credit card statements, bills, and other expenses.
You should also organize what you’re saving for. With a savings account and an emergency fund, it can sometimes be confusing to keep track of all your money if they flow into the same account. Staying organized is even trickier if you’ve set multiple financial goals, like paying for a trip, saving for a home, and budgeting for new skis.
Trying out programs like Marygold & Co.’s Money Pools is a great way to stay organized and stick with your budget. Separating your goals into Money Pools allows you to visually see how much progress is being made towards each one. Programs like these will keep track of each account while also earning interest on every one of them.
Shopping Savvy
Though it seems like a no-brainer, many people fail to consider their spending habits when trying to attain a financial goal. When making a budget, sometimes ‘necessary’ expenses may not be exactly that.
Every expense adds up.
Consider a trip to the grocery store – are you:
- Making a list and sticking to it?
- Using coupons?
- Buying the cheaper options?
- Comparing prices?
Every time you spend money, how much you’re spending must be taken into account. You can lower your ‘necessary’ spending simply by being fiscally responsible. Did you really need that pack of skittles sitting in the check-out line?
Knowing Where Your Money Goes
Everyone has noticed throughout their lives that sometimes, money seems to magnificently disappear. Though it can feel like that, this is simply not the case. If you are on top of your finances, you’ll know where every penny goes.
A cup of “joe” every day doesn’t feel like it would cost that much; research has found that some people spend up to 1,000 dollars on coffee and 2,000 dollars a year on lunch. Seeing that number, many people would reconsider their drive-through coffee-drinking habits. Coffee is an overused example but you get the point.
When learning about how to achieve your financial goals, it’s vital to know where your money is being spent. Go over your bank statements and account for every single dollar spent to find out how you are spending your money and where you can cut back.
Spring is the season for cleaning and that shouldn’t just end at home. Your finances should go through a little spring cleaning themselves. Having an organized financial life can help you better understand the flow of your money. Tracking your income, how you spend it, and how much of it you save can give you the information you need to set financial goals for yourself.
So, while you’re decluttering your closet, remodeling your back patio, consider some financial spring cleaning, as well.
Here are some ways to organize your finances this spring (or anytime, really):
Review and Establish a Budget
To ensure your finances are in order and that they remain that way, it’s best to set up a balanced and realistic budget, if you don’t have one already. Review your monthly income and expenses then establish what your financial goals are. You could be saving for a long-term investment like a down payment on a home or you could be saving for a new gaming system or a getaway.
Whether it’s a long-term or short-term goal, budgeting is essential to making sure those goals are achieved. Organize your budget on a simple spreadsheet and review it often to ensure you are on track.
Having a budget will make it easier for you to reach your savings goals because it’ll help you determine how much money you can spend and how much you need to put away. You don’t need to plan out the rest of the year perfectly but instead start by creating a monthly budget, then track your finances for that month. Once you get into the habit, you’ll find yourself becoming a budgeting expert.
Set up a Money Pool/Automated Savings
One way to keep yourself organized financially is to set up automated savings, or an interest-earning Money Pool, like the one we offer at Marygold & Co.
Having a Money Pool allows you to separate and categorize your finances all within one account, making it easy for customers to track multiple savings goals at once.
Each individual can customize their automated savings to best align with their goals and current financial standing.
You can choose to contribute to your savings goals on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, and the amount you deposit is up to your discretion as well.
Automating your savings will help prioritize your goals and will reduce the temptation to overspend. You don’t even have to worry about making those regular deposits, it’s all done for you!
Pay Off Outstanding Payments
Look over any outstanding payments, if you have the means to pay them off, then do so. If not, this is the time to work out a way to pay your debts off.
Is there anything laying around your house you could sell? Are there extra shifts you could pick up at work?
Find opportunities that’ll help you earn that extra income to help you pay off your debts.
If you are unable to pay everything off right away, setting up a debt repayment plan can help you stay on track. While you may not pay everything off in one go, at least you have taken steps to reduce that debt and eventually eliminate it.
Make sure you include your debt payment plan in your budget.
This will help you stay on top of your payments by ensuring there is money available in your checking account to contribute to this payment plan.
Automatic Billing and Investments
Having your bills automated can help you ensure that they are always paid on time and that you’re not rummaging around for extra cash to meet your phone bill payment at the end of the month.
The best part about automatic billing is you don’t even have to think about it, it is automatic after all.
Additionally, you can even set up automatic deposits to your IRA or 401k investments. Automating deposits into these accounts will ensure you’re continually investing your funds.
The advantages of investing your money include reducing your taxable income for the year.
Analyze Your Spending Habits
Analyzing your spending habits will help you point out your spending habits, bad and good. When looking over your spending habits, you might find some patterns that are preventing you from achieving your financial goals.
An important step while spring cleaning your finances is to look over your spending habits and find areas where you can save.
Are there any unnecessary monthly subscriptions billed to your credit card?
Are there unnecessary transactions you can eliminate?
These are important questions to ask yourself when analyzing your spending habits. Find areas in your daily life where you can save. Maybe pack a lunch instead of ordering out every day, you’ll definitely see big rewards from the small changes you make in your daily habits.
If you lack financial discipline, the Marygold & Co. app can help. The customizable security dashboard allows customers to limit where the card can be used.
Accounts can also be turned on or off – which can also remove the temptation to unnecessarily spend.
Clean Up and Shred Old Paperwork
It’s easy for those paper bills and bank statements to pile up on the corner of your table.
Marygold & Co. can help you keep your finances organized. The best part about the Marygold & Co. app is that you won’t have to worry about paper – checks, receipts, pay stubs, etc.
Take the time to shred and discard any old paperwork. Make sure you dispose of these documents properly as they contain very sensitive information including personal information and bank statements. We recommend using a shredder to ensure these documents are properly destroyed.
Marygold & Co. Makes It Easy
Marygold & Co. can help you sort your finances and keep them organized throughout the year through an innovative new app launching this spring.
The FDIC-insured fintech app offers customers interest-earning savings accounts and allows them to send, receive, spend and save securely through their mobile device.
Control and organize your finances easily with Marygold & Co.
Your finances will never have to go through a spring cleaning again – instead, you can keep them clean and organized.
A basic thesis on Wall Street is that what has worked well in the last market cycle is likely to underperform in a new cycle, and conversely, the underperformers of the last cycle can or should be the outperformers of the new cycle.
The basic logic is intuitive – an asset class that had been a leader in the previous run-up will, at some point, become overpriced and will struggle in the future without significant earnings growth to support the higher prices.
Historically speaking, small caps outperform large caps.
This makes sense because investors need to be compensated for the increased volatility and risk in the small-cap space.
Also, over the long term, value stocks outperform growth stocks.
Since 1926, value investing returned 1,344,600% vs. 626,600% for growth stocks, according to Forbes Advisor. And some of the most famous investors on the planet (think Warren Buffet and Benjamin Graham) are value investors.
But largely none of these long-term trends mattered over the last few years of this past market cycle.
The bull market of the last decade seemed to make investing quite easy, large-cap growth dominated, and as long as you held the big-name tech stocks your portfolio, probably did well.
This trend was exacerbated during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
During the 2020 bear market caused by the pandemic, U.S. markets bottomed on March 23, 2020. From that bottom, the S&P Growth Index initiated a historic recovery and peaked on September 1, 2020.
Much has been made in the media about how quickly markets recovered from the market bottom, but that outperformance was mostly a product of the “Big 5” stocks (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft).
As of September 2, 2020, those five stocks had a year-to-date performance of 65%, the other 495 stocks in the S&P 500 had a total YTD performance of just 3%. Since the fourth quarter of 2020, the story has begun to shift to the performance of small caps and specifically small-cap value.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the top two performing sectors of the S&P 500 were Energy and Financials.
What Does it Mean?
Is the “reversion to the mean” a story of small caps over larger caps, or is it Energy & Financials over Tech and Consumer Discretionary?
It is still early and we will continue to watch how this plays out. The main point here is to not be married to a thesis that worked very well in 2020, because the markets may have already started to revert to the mean.
“This time is different” is a phrase commonly heard toward the end of market cycles.
If you hear someone tell you that “this time is different”, run! This time is not different.
Math does not evolve over time. Corporate price/earnings ratios and other investment metrics matter just as much as they have in the past.
Don’t chase performance.
What happened in the past, even in the recent past, is not guaranteed to continue in the future.
“How did you go bankrupt? Bill asked. “Two ways”, Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
– E. Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)
Once we make some money, how do we keep it?
There are many articles written about how to make money, some are shady and some are legit. But there are few articles written about how to keep money once it’s made.
Perhaps because, as a general rule, we spend a lot of time thinking about making money, and very little time thinking about not losing money.
So here are a few thoughts on how to keep money once you make money…
Have a Plan
Whether you are just starting out or have already built a “nest egg”, the punchline is straightforward: Live within your means.
Easy to say, hard to do.
As your career improves and your income increases, it is tempting to raise your level of personal spending.
I have friends in New York City who are very successful with seven-figure incomes, but they spend every penny.
Good times are not guaranteed to continue forever.
Spend time thinking about your short and long-term goals, and set aside money for each of these goals.
As your income increases over time, make a conscious effort to use the additional money to meet the goals you have established. And, until you do, try to hold off on upgrading your closet or trading in the car for a newer model.
It may sound trite, but you should create a budget.
Always know how you are spending your money. If you know where your money is going it makes it easier to make necessary trade-offs. It also makes it easier to see that your short and long-term savings goals are probably more important to you than some of the other expenditures.
Invest, Don’t Speculate
Too much of social media is caught up in get-rich-quick schemes.
Most of them are just that, schemes.
Yes, that story on IG or YouTube about that person who made a huge amount of money in a week or two is exciting. And it might even be true. But there is nothing about that that involves investing.
That is pure speculation.
Investing is unemotional.
It is about having a plan and having the conviction to execute the plan. Emotion and greed cloud judgment, so don’t be emotional.
Diversify.
Any solid investment plan includes diversification. With so much information being thrown at us every day it’s easy to be lured into making one or two big bets. The stories sound so convincing!
Putting the majority of our money into one or two big bets is not investing, it’s speculation. As long as we know the difference we can make the right decision. Unless you are a professional investor with many years of experience, diversification should be an important part of your plan. Once you have a plan, have the patience to stick with it. Get rich quick schemes almost always end badly.
Luck vs. Experience & Skill
2020 was a very unusual year.
The obvious tech stocks that were trending throughout the year did extremely well after the U.S. stock market bottomed on March 23rd.
We’ve seen too many people confuse investing in these obvious trends with market skill or investing expertise.
The markets are not likely to repeat 2020.
So, in very simple terms, know how to keep money by living within your means, having a plan that includes a budget and your short-term and long-term savings goals, and investing in those goals utilizing a diversified portfolio appropriate to the timeline of your goals.
“We engage in the folly of short-term speculation and eschew the wisdom of long-term investing. We ignore the real diamonds of simplicity, seeking instead the illusory rhinestones of complexity.”
– John C. Bogle, Enough: True Measures of Money, Business and Life
The idea of investing to achieve our goals CAN BE very straightforward.
Focus on the long-term, diversify, and do not use products with high fee structures.
The world of investing does not need to be complex and stressful. However, there are some investment firms that seem to do a pretty good job of making it seem so complex that most of us could not figure it out on our own, and this is just simply not true.
Long-term investing can and should be easy to understand.
Trading Options
I’ve had several people talk to me about trading options recently.
Perhaps because of recent congressional hearings or perhaps because now even the more conservative retail investment firms are running TV commercials talking about trading “iron condors”.
My opinion is, for the large majority of retail investors, options involve more risk than upside and should be avoided.
Ask yourself, “Who is on the other side of that trade? For me to win my bet, who has to lose?”
Then perhaps ask if you feel you have better information than the large Wall Street firms?
“Wall Street investment banks are like Las Vegas casinos: They set the odds. The customer who plays zero-sum games against them may win from time to time but never systematically, and never so spectacularly that he bankrupts the casino.”
– Michael Lewis, The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine
It is important to understand the difference between investing vs speculating.
Do you understand the investment you are considering, and why it is going higher or lower?
Do you have experience in the industry and know who is taking the other side?
We have numerous media outlets that now focus on short-term trading, which is fine, as long as we understand that this is speculation, not investing.
Investing should not be stressful!
We should feel good about putting our money to work for us. And if we have a long-term approach it doesn’t take a lot of work on our part. As long as we understand our goals and match our investment strategy to meet those goals, it becomes a straightforward endeavor.
And stay away from get-rich-quick schemes and short-term speculation that is difficult to understand. Knowing the difference between investing vs speculating is empowering.
In the profound words of John C. Bogle…
“The obvious conclusion: investors win; speculators lose.”
– John C. Bogle, Enough: True Measures of Money, Business and Life
Thanks to COVID-19, most of us really don’t want to hand our card to someone or touch a potentially contaminated PIN pad on a POS device. Questions about passing germs and touching common surfaces have boiled to the top of our everyday thoughts.
What if there was a way to pay without worrying about the cashier handling your card or whether the payment processor has been sanitized?
Let me introduce you to the world’s newest buzzwords: contactless payments.
What Are Contactless Payments?
Investopedia defines contactless payment as a “secure method for consumers to purchase products or services by using a debit, credit, smartcard or another payment device by using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and near-field communication (NFC).”
Now that may sound confusing. Essentially a contactless payment is exactly what the title states – a way for you to make a transaction without handing the card to the cashier, swiping your card, or even touching a point-of-sale terminal. This process allows customers to tap-to-pay rather than inserting your card into a machine. Contactless transactions are made through your phone, card, watch, key fob, bracelet, or other enabled items.
However, only NFC-enabled cards allow for no-touch transactions. Your smartphone is already equipped with this chip for services like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Most banking cards are being issued with the NFC chip as the U.S. begins to migrate towards this new tap-to-pay technology. If you have noticed the sideways wifi symbol on your card, this is an indication that your card has the tap-to-pay functionality.
Technology Behind Contactless Payment
Contactless payments are possible through near-field communication (NFC). Both the card and card reader must be equipped with this in order for the transaction to work.
This technology allows the chip in your card – or phone or smart-watch – to emit secure, short-range radio waves that communicate with the point-of-sale (POS) terminal. Purchases made using this method are as simple as holding your payment method near the POS terminal.
The History of Contactless Payment
Surprisingly enough, contactless payment has been around for decades. The first example was in Seoul, South Korea in 1995 when the transit system began to use contactless bus passes.
Since then, and especially more recently, the method has exponentially grown.
The United States is slightly slower than other countries in adopting new transaction methods. However, most retailers have moved over to NFC-capable terminals and almost all major banks in America offer ways to make contactless payments.
As the world is trying to socially distance and stay healthy, contactless payment is gaining more popularity. Mastercard reported that there was an uptick of over forty percent in contactless payments in 2020.
However, being creatures of habit, many people still have trouble trusting this new method of payment versus the traditional way of paying.
This brings us to the question – is contactless payment safe?
In short, yes.
How Safe is Contactless Payment?
Many people fear that sending data wirelessly is easily intercepted. This is certainly not the case with contactless payment. For all intents and purposes, it’s just as safe as using the chip reader.
Any time information is shared between a payment method and POS terminal, the data is encrypted. Furthermore, to ensure the process is even safer, the transaction uses a one-time code that has no value outside of that transaction.
Meaning even if someone was able to get the information from the two inches between your payment and the card reader, the information would be essentially useless.
Compared to the old magnetic strip technology, contactless payment is exponentially safer. With magnetic strips, people could steal and clone the data on your card and make a completely new one, leading to fraud. This process is not possible with NFC/EMV chips.
Why Should I Use Contactless Payment?
Many people are coming around to contactless. In fact, one in three card payments is now contactless. But if you’re still not convinced, consider these advantages for contactless payments.
It’s Secure
Security is (and should be) a top priority for most businesses, especially in the fintech industry. NFC technology certainly helps make transactions as secure as possible. As the transaction goes through, all data is encrypted and uses a unique, one-time code, making it nearly impossible to clone the data. Secondly, the card or mobile device must be within centimeters of the POS terminal for tap-to-pay to work. Thirdly, the transaction is verified by using two-factor authentication or fingerprint when using your mobile device.
It’s Fast
Contactless payments don’t require a Personal Identification Number (PIN). It’s as simple as holding your card or phone up to the reader – and you’re done. Much faster compared to inserting a card in the chip reader, declining cash back, then entering your PIN – all to wait fifteen seconds for the payment to go through.
It’s Contact-Free
This is a given – but it can be understated. We’re all trying to stay safe and healthy. The pandemic has made many realize how dirty public surfaces can be. Yes, companies are taking extra measures to ensure everything is cleaned and sanitized – but this doesn’t eliminate the risk. With contactless payments, you don’t need to touch the reader that potentially hundreds of others already have.
It’s Convenient
Contactless doesn’t have to be done with a debit or credit card. Think about Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay – these are virtual wallets that eliminate the need to carry around a physical wallet. Say you’re going to the beach or on a hike – you don’t want to lose your wallet, but may want to buy something on your outing. Using a contactless payment method makes it possible to pay without physically carrying your card as long as you have your mobile phone or NFC-enabled bracelet or key fob like those offered at Marygold & Co.
Risks Of Contactless Payments
Like anything, contactless payments have risks, but NFC technology is so advanced it is less susceptible to hackers than traditional card technology and improvements are adding layers of security to protect user data. However, the impossibility of interception can’t be completely guaranteed:
Because there is no PIN entered when using contactless, whoever is physically holding the card is able to make transactions. However, there are normally lower limits set on the card for extra protection. Enhanced security controls, like Marygold & Co. offers, will enable you to manage your own limits and turn on/off contactless payment capabilities. Keep track of your card and freeze it anytime one goes missing.
How to Get Started
Most banks will offer forms of contactless payment, be it on your smartphone or your credit card.
Start by using Marygold & Co. for all your financial needs and transactions.
