Embraceable Change
The greatest certainty in life is change. As financial planning professionals, we work with change every day. In fact, we recently experienced (and caused) a huge change for our firm, when we decided to change our name to better reflect the services that we provide to clients. Between the name change and an entirely new look and feel, it took us a while to get used to it, not to mention the effort to communicate such a seismic shift to clients and colleagues.
Rest assured, we didn’t miss a beat and are well into annual meetings with clients to review what has happened in their world and provide some insight into how the recent tax law changes and other market conditions will affect the financial world (and yours) in 2018.
We are asked regularly for our “take” on the state of the market. The standard answer is: It’s anyone’s guess. But, there are indicators that we should be aware of.
I was recently quoted in a report provided by Accent Computer Solutions. They polled 18 professionals on their predictions for 2018. Here is what I predict for 2018:
The biggest surprise for 2018 is going to be inflation. Construction and manufacturing business owners are telling us that it is very hard to find qualified employees. A tightening labor market will require an increase in wages to attract new hires. That, along with the lack of skilled workers, will inevitably lead to higher inflation. I believe the Fed will need to act sooner than most investors are predicting. We will see raising interest rates. Higher rates will put pressure on the bond market and will raise the cost for businesses looking to borrow capital.
Is it gloom and doom? I don’t believe so. Is record growth going to continue? It’s hard to predict. We work hard to try and balance your risk tolerance, needs and long term interests with our experience when creating and reviewing financial plans and have processes in place as a check and balance to keep a watchful eye.
Henry Ford
Click here for a recent briefing about the drop of the DOW.
