How We Invest
May 31, 2022
7
min. read
Given the news, and emotions, of the moment, we thought it would be a good time to revisit how we make decisions for what we do in your portfolio. To clearly provide an in-depth review of our investment strategy. What we own... and why we own it.
We design your portfolio based on your life. That means we customize and adjust your investments based on your current financial situation and life goals, NOT the market.
This is not just something we say to sound catchy, it’s how we do it.
Each portfolio is unique and personalized to your specific life needs, wants and wishes. We don't use models or algorithms.
We are planners; not prognosticators trying to anticipate short term market moves based on recent headlines or political events.
Like a doctor's prescription, we provide our professional diagnosis and portfolio recommendations after a complete and thorough understanding of your current financial situation, goals, timeframe, and risk tolerance.
We separate your investible assets into three individual buckets, each with a goal of meeting specific needs over a particular time horizon with an agreed upon level of risk.
As your life and/or circumstances change, we update your plan and your investment allocation accordingly.
Before investing, we help clarify how much you need in an emergency fund that is separate from your day to day spending.
This is more of an art than a science as people have unique situations and need different levels of cash to feel comfortable.
For example, a dual income working couple may feel comfortable with a lower cash level than a single income family of 5 with small children or a retiree with no pension or fixed income.
This may represent six to nine months living expenses or simply a dollar amount that makes you feel secure. Emergency funds should remain fully liquid in cash or treasury money market fund (ie not in a CD) and held in a separate checking or savings account with a bank while maintaining proper FDIC protection.
If funds are spent down/used, we simply replenish from the buckets below.
Once you’ve established your emergency fund, we can now get you invested. The first thing you should know is that we’ve done our homework on anything and everything we recommend to you and your family.
For an investment to make it into a Gg portfolio it must meet and maintain a litany of the highest standards.
Our in-depth process of vetting investments includes evaluating a wide variety of factors including the underlying strategy, historical returns, the character of the management team or financial institution as well as an evaluation of tax efficiency, expenses, and turnover.
Our advisory team meets weekly to monitor portfolio positions throughout the year. In addition, our investment committee meets quarterly to review all client holdings, allocations, relative performance, and regulatory changes within the industry.
In short, we know exactly what you own and why you own it.
Bucket One represents a conservatively crafted and diversified portfolio designed to provide up to four years of living expenses as well as expected capital purchases during the next one to four years. This bucket is in addition to your already established emergency fund and is designed to have substantially less downside risk than the equity market as a whole.
The investments in this bucket are short-term in nature and consist of conservatively allocated low-cost, diversified mutual funds with rising income.
The primary purpose(s) of these investments is safety, liquidity, and current income.
Bucket Two is structured for income and growth with a timeframe of five to ten years. Clients with a more conservative overall risk tolerance may feel more comfortable with these portfolio holdings for even longer periods.
We utilize a mix of blended funds consisting of diversified fixed income combined with US and international equities. These investments have moderate growth potential with rising dividend income to manage inflation risk and serve as a backup in the event Bucket One is exhausted.
Bucket 2 may include up to 50% in bonds and is designed to provide less downside risk during volatile times than the equity market.
Bucket Three covers your needs beyond ten years and is fully invested in a diversified portfolio of low cost, diversified equities (i.e. stocks/companies).
For this bucket, we utilize a combination of equity index funds, ETFs, mutual funds, and do not recommend owning individual stocks is possible. This bucket is meant for funds needed later in life or legacy money to leave to heirs.
The purpose is long term growth and inflation protection, allowing more fluctuation in the values over shorter time periods.
It's absolutely imperative to clearly understand this next point: We make changes to your portfolio (and the respective buckets) based on changes in your life or your goals, NOT changes in the market.
We never make changes to portfolios based on the economy, the political landscape, or in reaction to any current event.
The key is consistent communication and regularly scheduled annual reviews with our team to ensure we are both on the same page with respect to your life... and your investments.
For example, if you’re retiring sooner than anticipated, you're considering buying a new house, or an unexpected life event happens, we will talk and adjust accordingly.
In short...if your goals haven’t changed, neither should your portfolio.
We measure success by the progress and likelihood of accomplishing your life goals, not a market benchmark. Our goal is never to beat the market.
While security selection and asset allocation play a role,
By far the most important factor is your behavior as an investor.
Successful lifetime investing boils down to patience, discipline and faith in the future. We combine these variables along with purpose, planning and process to help you live the life you desire...without worries about money.
Your Life is Our Passion,
