For most, the first couple of days in the New Year is a warm up.

You’re still decompressing from the holidays and getting back to form. Your email might be packed with unanswered messages.

You might feel little sluggish when your alarm rings, but nonetheless, the new year presents another opportunity to pick up where you left off or start over altogether.

With a fresh 365 days on the score board, I wish nothing but good health wealth and a ton of success to you and your family. I’m here to see you win.

Let’s jump into this weeks newsletter! #YarnwayWealth

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Even without watching markets, I always can feel when markets are moving in an upward trajectory.

You want to know why?

Aside from my mother letting me know how well her portfolio is performing, the calls start coming in. People want to invest more - and without regard to other tenets of their financial health- an irrational exuberance begins to set in.

This is a lesson in human behavior.

We humans love when things are going well but feel the pain of things not going as planned almost 3 times as bad.

The stock market was on a tear in the later part of 2023. After nine - yes you read that right - nine consecutive weeks of gains, we have been welcomed to 2024 with a 1.5% decline.

We’re back to life, back to reality.

Although no one likes to experience losses of any kind, I do think that there are lessons to learn in the midst of losses big or small. With this nine week streak ending, I think that we can take away a few early lessons to carry with us throughout 2024.

Lesson #1 : Volatility is the Price You Pay for Gains

Unfortunately, stocks do not always go up. There will be period when - like now - when investors may be faced with some volatility. Let this not deter you, but remind you that volatility is the price that you pay for premium gains.

Volatility should be observed, not dreaded. It should be welcomed, not avoided, capitalized on and not missed. If you’re able to view volatility as an opportunity it becomes your friend and not an enemy.

Lesson #2: “Time-In” over “Timing”

There’s no replacement for Father Time. There is simply just perspective that can not be gained without the experience needed to comprehended the lessons of the season.

By this time, most of you reading this newsletter have experienced a down market or two. It happens. Being a great investor has less to do with an extraordinary ability to choose advantageous investments, and more to do with being patient enough to let those investments mature into their proper form.

Too many people bail before they can harvest the fruit of their investments. Stay the course. It pays. Literally.

Lesson #3: Better Diversified Than Sorry

There is no such thing as “safe” in the world of investments. Sorry.

There is a such there as less risky. There is a such thing as conservative. Heck, I’d even let you get away with saying that an investment has a low correlation to the markets.

Whatever your term of choice is, there is really only one way to feel less at risk in moments of volatility.

And that way is… you guessed it, diversification.

If you diversify, you’re able to withstand the ebbs and flows of the market. You’ll be less like to stop investing or withdraw your funds. You’ll be more likely to exercise patience, prudence and let the natural cycle of the market takes its course.

Lesson #4: Work the plan

George Patton is famously quoted saying, “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.”

Panic happens when there is a lack of preparation. By planning, you can remove some of the fear of volatility and lean into the a compass - your financial plan - that was created to take you to your financial goals.

It’s January, which means that it’s still early in the game. If you don’t have a plan, make one. If you don’t know how, get help. This is the difference between financial success and failure in many situations.

Work the plan, plan the work.

That's it for week two of 2024. I’ve added a bonus this week: the song that inspired this newsletter. Go out and be great this week! #AlignedMoney #YarnwayWealth

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