Dear Clients,
We respect that this time has been challenging for all of us in different ways. Some of our clientele have been overloaded with responsibilities, while others are experiencing the complete opposite with a strange void of activity in their lives.
For TBS, although in-person meetings have naturally ceased for a time, we have remained available for counsel through the transition to working remotely. Please continue to reach out as needed, as everyone is still healthy and here to serve you. One tradition that has remained true to season is helping this year’s crop of retiring public educators to adequately plan for, and officially enter into retirement. This year’s group has been thrown an unusual set of circumstances and we appreciate your patience as we have focused much of our effort to work through this process together. If you know of any educators that have been thrust into circumstances that have called them to question retirement, please know that we continue to remain available and welcome the opportunity to lend our expertise in this area.
Our service business falls into a category that has been deemed essential to remain open and available to clients, but on a remote-only basis, and our highly regulated industry requires that our physical office remain closed to the public until Lancaster County is deemed in the “green zone.” The moment that happens we plan to be open and available to schedule in-person appointments once again. Though we are optimistic about resuming a more normal sense of operations soon, we also wish to acknowledge that a significant percentage of our clientele falls into one or more high-risk categories. The bottom line is that regardless of how we meet in the future, whether through technological means or through a modified personal interaction, we will respect your judgment and will accommodate accordingly.
On a positive note, the markets have rebounded from their initial lows with the S&P 500 reaching price levels seen as recently as just last Fall. Markets continue to actively price in new information as it presents, and as a leading economic indicator, would seem to suggest that there just may be a light at the end of this tunnel. We continue to monitor for portfolios that may require rebalancing, and wish to remind investors that this uncomfortable volatility is the very risk that drives long-term returns. Disciplined investors have traditionally been rewarded through increased returns by holding onto riskier asset classes through thick and thin, but you should not feel compelled to take on more risk than you are comfortable withstanding. These past few months have been a test, and in future conversations we will certainly be reflecting on the level of risk that you as an investor are truly willing to bear. By design, we discuss these allocations at annual checkpoints, so that thoughtful strategic review is driving the decision-making process, rather than response to market events. However, we recognize that life situations can present themselves, and wish to remind you that we are available should you wish to have a conversation before your next annual review.
The educational community that we support has been challenged as of late, especially those veteran teachers who are either retiring this year, or those who really wish that they could. Please consider reaching out to your peers who are still in the trenches, as words of encouragement would probably be very appreciated. May is an exciting time for every educator – you’ve almost made it to the 2019-2020 finish line! We are here to do anything that we can to help.
Sincerely,
Greg, Jim, and the Team at TBS