Stock market rallies and everyone can be happy about that! Right?
Well, that is actually a two-part question. Absolutely everyone is happy about the stock market gains of the last couple of weeks. This rally puts us back to the levels we saw at the end of 2008 when the economy was in free fall.
Gaining back nearly all the losses in the first 4 months of the year is GREAT! It’s fantastic! It’s the new reality…
Well wait, that’s a little too much. It’s great, in lowercase. OK
The reality is that there are glimmers of hope, even good news on top of good news. But what passes as good news these days is really ‘bad news that’s not as bad as before’. So let’s not get carried away. How about cautiously optimistic.
So who wants back in the market? Long term money does. So if you’ve got some of that, charge right in. Most Americans are not in that position, so the Smart Money is looking for safe investments and is still very guarded.
If not the stock market, then where? The big move is into guaranteed investments, like fixed annuities. Why fixed annuities? They are guaranteed against loss. The primary concern now that so many people have lost so much money in the stock market.
The other enticing feature of some fixed annuities is they are indexed to the stock market, usually the S&P 500, but it could be other indicators. And why is that a good thing? It’s a good thing because it means they participate in the market gains.
There are many other benefits of fixed annuities, but protection against loss and returns significantly above CDs and Savings accounts have got many people looking at them to stabilize their retirement accounts.
Check with your Financial Advisor or get more information about Smart Money For Life.
