SWARTZBAUGH, FARBER & ASSOC

ARE youprepared?

WHAT DO the Boy Scouts, Bill Gates, and a good financial Corrections are recorded as far advisor have in common? Preparation. back as 1688, according to Jason The Boy Scouts of America credo is “Be Prepared.” Scouts earn merit badges Zweig in a March Wall Street in all areas of life: crafts, first aid, elementary finance, athletics, construction, etc., to Journal article. How can these get them ready to be productive adults. They are taught good lifetime habits. periods be avoided? They cannot. In 2015 Bill Gates produced a video description of what a health pandemic Periods of prosperity have always could do if we didn’t prepare and take advantage of lessons learned from the been followed by adjustments due

Spanish F lu pandemic and Ebola outbreak. He urged to prepare now, and he to changing business cycles, profit- jim farber described how to do it. taking, or world-changing events

A good financial advisor educates and counsels clients on the importance of such as wars or health calamities. So there is always risk. being prepared for financial independence by establishing consistent and Risk cannot be avoided, but it can be managed.This is where good continuous savings and investment habits, and managing risk. planning comes in:

For those of us beyond Scouting age and not able to directly influence national 1) Establish or review saving habits. polic y, we can concentrate on being financially prepared; in this case, one out of three isn’t bad. Some will see the events of the last three or four months as a wake2) Determine your risk tolerance and invest in an IRA, and/or up call, others may be okay with minor adjustments. 3) Invest in your employer’s 401(k).

Market corrections are part of long-term investing. Short-term volatility of a These are basic steps. As part of the process, acquiring the advice of a good 10- to 30-percent drop occurs a couple of times in each generation, and has been financial planner will help flesh out a customized path that can lead to financial followed by an upturn that restores the losses about 80 percent of the time after security. Items like immediate cash requirements, dollar cost averaging (buying at a two to three years and the market continues upward. The latest correction in March discount when markets decline), debt management, budgeting and desired happened when the S&P 500 was at record heights. retirement income are all part of planning and it is never too early to start.

For more information, please contact your trusted advisor at Swartzbaugh-Farber – ‘Client Centered – Client Advocates™’. BE PREPARED.

Securities and Investment Advisory services offered through M Holdings Securities, Inc., a Registered Broker/Dealer and Investment Advisor,

Member FINRA/SIPC. Swartzbaugh-Farber and Associates, Inc. is independently owned and operated.