After two years of strong returns in the markets, the poor results of 2022 should not come as a complete surprise. We know markets cannot go up forever and bear markets are unavoidable that occur on average about every four years. Unfortunately, no matter how normal they might be, bear markets are still painful to live through. Nobody enjoys seeing their hard-earned dollars decline in value and this year almost everyone has seen their portfolio value decline. Things have been bleak in the investment world this year, but it always helps to look for the silver lining. Let’s look at this year’s good, bad and ugly, but we’ll start with the ugly!

This year is the first time since the early 80’s that we have seen a surge in inflation and we can see it everywhere. The first place most people notice it is at the gas pump, where the national average price of a gallon of gas recently hit $5 for the first time ever. Let’s look at how we got here, where we might go next, and any actions you should take.

While we were busy preparing tax returns and tax extension calculations over the past couple of months, there were some notable updates on tax legislation. The proposed regulations for the original SECURE Act were released with a major surprise for beneficiaries of IRA accounts. The proposed SECURE Act 2.0 is in the news again after finally being passed by the House of Representatives. In local news, Maryland announced a retirement tax package that includes a state tax credit for some retirees.

There was a lot of bad news in the first quarter of 2022. We saw another peak in COVID cases with the omicron variant in January. In February, Russia invaded Ukraine and continues its unprovoked assault on the country. Stocks and bonds were both down on the quarter and inflation continued to shoot higher. With all this doom and gloom it might be hard to find anything positive, but there are some bright spots...

As we start 2022, there is still a lot of uncertainty in our lives, even beyond the ongoing pandemic concerns. The investment markets have started off the year with a lot of volatility, interest rates will be rising, and inflation is high, Congress is dysfunctional and we have no idea what may happen with tax changes in the near future. It is easy to get caught up in the wild swings of things or be frozen by indecision in times like these. All of this makes it that much more important to step back and think about your clients’ overall financial planning and goals to make sure their planning is where it should be.

I turned 40 recently, which according to most people means I’ve hit the midway point in life. I’m now “over the hill” and everything is downhill from here. Fortunately, I’m an optimist by nature and to me 40 is just another number. Besides, I’m a financial planner and I know my actual life expectancy isn’t really 80. According to the living to 100 life expectancy calculator, I’m going to live to 87 so I still have 3.5 more years before I hit the halfway point. I guess that means I have a few more years to decide which sports car to buy for my mid-life crisis!