The 10 Year Challenge

February 22, 2019 will mark a milestone for Easley & Associates as we celebrate our tenth year in business!

In fall of 2008, I was working for an established investment firm, had 4 kids living at home and I had just made the decision to leave said established firm to branch out and open my own business.

My plan was to open doors to my new business in February 2009! Earlier in 2008, I had signed a lease on the office space, hired a secretary and began the transition of becoming branch manager. It was all very exciting and it was going well… and then the financial crisis happened.

In work, as in personal life, things happen. Curveballs come our way and we find ourselves having to adjust our balance to stay on our feet. Sometimes we have good days and sometimes, some not so good ones. Life’s events will ebb and flow but generally, much of our lives will be spent operating within a happy medium.

Whereas, most investors’ perceptions of market changes tend to vacillate from a “flawless market” to a “hopeless one” often times without ballast or reasonableness. These emotions, greed in rising markets and fear declining markets makes investing very difficult.

In my professional opinion, the two primary factors that can be attributed to an investor’s distress are; (1) The lack of a sound investment strategy or (2) The lack of patience and discipline that is crucial for all successful investors to possess.

In other words, when you are upset, it is difficult to make prudent decisions.

A prime example of investors’ perceived distress could be seen in 2008 and 2009. The financial crisis and the uncertainty of the housing market translated to investors’ abandoning their investments in US stocks.

For a while, it seemed, fear and doubt superseded rational decision-making. This resulted in the perception that there was financial safety in gold, silver and cash, even though financial experts encouraged ownership of US Stocks.

Here we are, ten years later and I am celebrating a decade of owning my own business and we have an office of five! Over the past ten years, I have watched US Stocks greatly outperform every other asset class – particularly gold and cash-like instruments. Today’s investors prefer owning US stocks and are no longer enamored by commodities such as gold and silver.

As a man in my mid-forties, I can guarantee ten years from now I have a lot more grey hair than I do in 2019. As a financial advisor, I cannot make promises when it comes to investment markets. However, my twenty plus years of experience has shown me that no matter the changes, the key to avoiding emotional distress over expected or unexpected investment changes is to be resolute in your investment plan and to remain patient and discipline in your investment process.

Ultimately, you can cover your grey hairs but oftentimes you cannot recover from making foolish financial mistakes.

We are grateful and appreciative of all of our incredible clients and are fortunate to work alongside business associates with whom we respect and value. Finally, we are so thankful to our collective families and friends who have supported us throughout the past ten years. It has been my honor and privilege to be in this business and I look forward to the next ten-year challenge!