(Photo above courtesy of Rosell Wealth Management)
A Weekend Getaway to Breitenbush
For 15 years I have thumbed through the Breitenbush Magazine that can be found at local coffee shops and restaurants throughout Oregon. The allure has been the stories I’ve heard about this remote forest retreat of timeless natural beauty blessed with abundant hot springs, a glacier-fed river and surrounding mountains.
I am delighted to share that I recently made my maiden voyage to this idyllic getaway—just a short 90 minute drive from Bend. It’s located ten miles up the Breitenbush River from Detroit Lake. As I entered the 154 acre retreat, I also entered a new world and a sense of calm immediately took over.
Breitenbush is off the grid. They produce their own electricity to illuminate their charming lodge, dozens of rustic yet cozy cabins, and the pathways that cover the grounds. What this means for their guests is no internet, television, cell phones or news headlines.
There are a lot of things happening out there in the world that we can’t control, but often we can control our own circumstances more than we may think. By making the conscious choice to unplug and disconnect, I returned back to work that following Monday with a refreshed sense of confidence, clarity and calmness. I was ready to take on whatever the world tossed my direction. I remember thinking to myself: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if investors would feel this calm regarding the markets and their investment portfolio?
When the stock market is volatile it can be an emotional time for investors and heck, if I was a millennial and introduced to the world of investing after entering the work world at a time of market collapse, I might never have invested! However over-investing in our emotions is bad news for our financial investments as it is for almost anything we do in life. If you filter the noise of the outside world and do your best to block out the day to day ups and down and focus on our long-term goals — your chances for success will greatly increase. Taking a different perspective can certainly help you succeed in your investments just as it helped me replenish my batteries at Breitenbush.
Since 1946, there have been ten bear markets where the market decline has exceeded 20 percent. The average decline has been 35 percent. When you observe the many economic challenges our country currently faces, I suggest asking yourself, “Haven’t we had some of these situations in one form or another for the past 50 years?”
I can remember my parents sitting in gas lines in 1973 during the oil embargo and when inflation rose above 13 percent in 1980 — the year the first millennials were born. Today I often hear people complaining if mortgage rates increase above 4 percent and yet they were as high as 18 percent back during this tumultuous time.
Do you remember Black Monday in October 1987?
What about the dot-com crash shortly after 9/11?
Then there was the financial calamity of 2008.
We’ve survived these and many other financial rapids on an irregular basis for half a century. I suspect we will continue to encounter a turbulent ride throughout our lifetimes. The economy will more than likely continue its undulating movement however the riskiest move one can make in the middle of such turbulence is to get tense or even bail. All too often, however, that’s exactly what investors do. They abandon long-term strategies for the perceived safety of cash. Historically you’ll always have more savings to build on if you stay the course. Instead of declaring war with your emotions, develop a diversified long-term strategy and stick to it. After all, your long-term goals don’t change overnight—so why should your investment strategy?
October 19, 1987 the ominous date known as Black Monday was the largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history decreasing by almost 23 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1739. Investors thought the end was near and panic set in throughout the financial world. Interestingly, the DJIA not only ended that year in positive territory but closed on December 31, 1987 at an all-time record high of
1,939 points.
Today, the DJIA can now fluctuate in a single trading day by as much as Black Monday’s 508 points. If someone had told you then that in 2016 the DJIA would flirt with 18,000, you would have thought they had lost their senses and yet this is where we are today.
Benjamin Graham, a prominent economist known for coaching Warren Buffett, had the following to say when observing the irrationality during the Great Depression: “The investor’s chief problem—and even his worst enemy—is likely to be himself.”
If you haven’t yet visited Breitenbush, I highly recommend giving it a try. It can offer you a calmness and peace of mind that I believe you can also find with your investment portfolio.
David Rosell is president of Rosell Wealth Management in Bend. www.RosellWealthManagement.com. He is the author of Failure is Not an Option-Creating Certainty in the Uncertainty of Retirement. You may learn more about his book at www.DavidRosell.com or Amazon.com. Ask for David’s book at Barnes & Noble, Newport Market, Cafe Sintra, Bluebird Coffee Shop, Dudley’s Bookshop ad now Breitenbush!
Investment advisory services offered through Rosell Wealth Management, a State Registered Investment Advisor.
Securities offered through ValMark Securities, Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC 130 Springside Dr., Ste. 300 Akron, Ohio 44333-2431. 800-765-5201. Rosell Wealth Management is a separate entity from ValMark Securities.
