As someone who consumes a lot of financial news, I understand how it can often feel like we, as portfolio owners, are never allowed to let our guard down. For example, on June 13, 2023, Reuters reported that U.S. Bancorp CEO Andy Cecere foresees a “moderate” recession of the United States, and on June 12, 2023, Reuters reported, “Recession risks still loom for markets calmer after banking turmoil.” Here at U.S. Money Reserve, we’ve also written about these sort of persistent risk factors.
But while Morgan Stanley’s chief investment officer says that “the bear is still alive” when it comes to financial markets, this doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to take a step back, take a breath, and allow yourself a little rest and relaxation—especially if you’ve already put in the work to protect your portfolio.
Diversification is a long-term strategy—which can mean taking short-term breaks.
Here at U.S. Money Reserve, we often discuss the importance of portfolio diversification—spreading your wealth out among different assets and asset classes to help reduce your overall risk exposure and support long-term protection for your hard-earned savings.
While diversification can help in the short term if you, let’s say, take a larger position in stocks when the economy is looking up or move more into lower-risk assets like bonds when the economy slows down, all this organizing can also take an amount of time and levels of both attention and knowledge that many of us may not have or be able to commit. Instead, many of us look to diversification to help in the long term, setting ourselves up for a more comfortable retirement or building a strong financial legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren.
My financial goals, for example, have always revolved around building a better future for my children. As I continue to build and modify my diversification strategy, I’m looking at what I can do to help provide my family with additional protection and long-term growth potential.
I believe one of the major benefits of taking a long-term view of finances is the ability to—occasionally—allow myself to enjoy the peace of mind I’ve made for myself and take a break. Whether I have a “staycation” at home to give me extra time to get things done around the house or take a trip somewhere that allows me to take my mind off my daily worries, I’m able to spend at least a few days away from the financial news cycle and trust that the hard work I’ve put into building a well-diversified portfolio is paying off without my constant attention.
Every diversification strategy is different.
If you’re wondering whether you’ve reached the “right” level of diversification to allow yourself to take a break and enjoy a short vacation this summer, I’m here to tell you that it’s a question you may be the only one capable of answering. Just as your financial situation and goals are different from everybody else’s, your diversification strategy will be unique as well. And there may be no “right” level of diversification to achieve. The economy is constantly shifting and evolving, and our portfolios may need to shift and evolve right along with it—but not necessarily on a daily basis.
I often talk about staying on top of financial news and looking for growth opportunities. I believe this is important to my financial future—but I also believe that with enough foresight, being financially diligent doesn’t have to be a 24/7 job.
If you haven’t fully diversified your portfolio yet, you still have time to act.
I will almost always support taking action to prevent a bad situation rather than waiting and being forced to react to it. That goes double when it comes to my portfolio—when I see a possible growth opportunity or potential need for additional protection, I want to act on the situation as soon as possible.
If you’re worried that a recession might be coming or that market uncertainty is going to negatively impact your current portfolio, one available option is to diversify with physical precious metals. Gold, in particular, has been viewed for generations as a reliable store of wealth that helps you protect what matters most. And who knows? With an appropriate allocation to gold in your portfolio, perhaps you’ll find the peace of mind required to ignore the headlines for a few days and take that much-deserved summer vacation.
