Dick Rutherford was born on February 5th, 1925 and died peacefully on January 5, 2016. A great man in more than a few facets of his life, Dick was my step grandfather. I had the honor of giving away my grandmothers hand in marriage at her wedding to Dick. As I write this the stock market has had the worst start to a year in its history, with the Dow dropping a record 6.2% in the first week of 2016. During the three and a half hour long ride down back roads in North and South Carolina to his funeral in Myrtle Beach gave me time to reflect. First, I reflected on my surroundings and the vast number of people who never have a care about the stock market. Driving past broken down trailers and less than desirable homes, it made me think of how lucky we are. Second, it made me think about Dick during his lifetime and the ups and downs he has survived. In full disclosure I did not work with Dick to manage his financial life. He worked with a dear friend who he served with in the Korean war. Now back to his life. On the date of his birth, the Dow Jones closed at 121.48. The day he died the Dow Jones closed at 17,156.28. Dick was a very steady guy, never too high, never too low and had told me many times that he invested that way. While never having a very high income, he lived a very comfortable retirement for many years and had done a fine job managing his finances. He had weathered many storms. He lived through the Great Depression, the Crash of 1929, the second World War, the Flash Crash of 1962, the Oil Crisis in the seventies, the booming 1980s, Black Monday in 1987, the Tech Bubble in 2001 and the mortgage crisis of 2008. The reason for my rambling is as we look at the last week, it is normal to have a fear of the markets and think that things are going to go down. In reality, we all could learn a little bit from Dick. He stayed the course through ups and downs and history always rewarded him in the long run.
On the Personal Side:
The girls continue to amaze me while keeping Evan and I on our toes. We had a wonderful holiday here in balmy Greensboro. Santa came even though my four year old Amelia is already skeptical of his existence and exploded pink and purple toys we didn’t even know we needed into our living room. Always wanting to be involved and help, she has requested chores and wants to be involved in the kitchen. This quarter saw a lot of action in the form of spaghetti that didn’t quite make it into the trash can and a really happy dog licking the floor as a result. Lila is entrenched in the world of “Shopkins” and actively trades them with her first grade counterparts. (The beginning lessons of market trading- too early to tell in my opinion) Evan has begun the very frigid business of training for the Boston marathon in April. She has also been juggling our household needs, running a business, volunteering at the school and in the neighborhood and somehow finding time to go on a date night or two from time to time. Research has started on how she somehow manages to fit more than 24 hours in each day. I have continued to enjoy my new hobby of going out at night with a head lamp to build a treehouse for the girls and storage shed underneath and the cold weather has slowed the final stages of this project.
On the business side:
We close out the past year and have titled 2015 as the “Year of Change.” In this time, we have merged with my father in law Steve and built on those successes. With the growth came changes in personnel, systems and even an office update. We have already seen a large amount of positive feedback regarding the new team we have as well as the wealth management platform we have incorporated as a way to better serve our clients. As we start 2016, the business plan calls for a lot less change as we continue to refine and work to produce the best financial planning experience available.
Social Media:
If you have not already done so, please connect via LinkedIn or Twitter at @mattloganinc or follow my page on Facebook where you will find timely articles and regular TV interviews. While I am cautious not to overwhelm you with emails I do post regularly on these outlets and it allows you to receive information from time to time that could be helpful for you and your family. We have also changed the formatting for our quarterly newsletter, so be sure to keep an eye out. A new blog added to the website has been fun to write and I will be adding our newsletters as well.
Referrals:
With the beginning of the year starting off in such a dramatic way, many people are reviewing their investments and reaching out for help in the form of a new relationship or a first relationship with a financial professional. If you have friends, family or coworkers looking for assistance, we are always happy to help.
Online Access:
We have consolidated our online account access through E-money. To access your accounts, click here. If you have never accessed your accounts online, send me an email and I will make sure that full instructions are emailed to you so that you can be set up. The screenshot below will show you a sample of how the system works. While the setup has taken some time, clients using the system have had wonderful reviews. The system really helps me advise you in a more effective manor by allowing me to see your whole financial picture and craft a plan to fit your needs.
The Bus:
This past quarter, the bus took homeless from downtown to various churches for a Thanksgiving meal which was definitely the highlight of the buses existence in my opinion and really made for a special time for some folks in a rough spot. It also attended the UNC Clemson game, was used by various businesses including us for Christmas parties and took a group out on a Christmas light tour as a few of the excursions it had. I am looking forward to finding new ways to utilize the bus in the coming year to make our community a better place. Please reach out if you are looking for auction items for any non profit entities as we would love to contribute.
For more information go to www.whythebus.com
Featured News Interview:
Pay Off Debt, Keep Saving Or A Little Of Both?
2nd Quarter Outlook:
The financial markets have offered an odd 2015 with much of the market growth in the S&P 500 concentrated in a very few tech companies. Overall, the S&P 500 closed out 2015 very much where it started, moving from 2059 to 2044. This small concentrated group of companies with tremendous growth resulted in a change from many years and I expect the S&P performance to be more evenly distributed in the coming years per normal. I encourage you to review this outlook and call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Matt Logan
Matt Logan Inc.
Disclosure: The views stated in this piece are not necessarily the opinion of Cetera Advisor Networks LLC and should not be construed directly or indirectly as an offer to buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. Due to volatility within the markets mentioned, opinions are subject to change without notice. Information is based on sources believed to be reliable; however, their accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Investors cannot invest directly in indexes. The performance of any index is not indicative of the performance of any investment and does not take into account the effects of inflation and the fees and expenses associated with investing.
The S&P 500 is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted average of 30 significant stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.
