LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The coronavirus pandemic has instilled fear in people. Aaron McAndrew, a wealth advisor says people fear for health and finances.
“You know a lot of this was caused by uncertainty surrounding the virus. There’s been a lot of panic selling. It wasn’t driven by an economic event.”
McAndrew says that something the American people can be optimistic about was the strength of the American and global economies were before COVID-19 upset the status quo.
Joel Shepherd, another financial advisor, agrees.
“Looking ahead. We had really strong fundamentals in the economy before this came along. We feel like we’ll get back to that relatively quickly as this passes.”
The monetary policy changes like the stimulus package and the fiscal changes the Fed has made are good first steps to help create movement and oil the gears of the American economy.
“It is really nice to see policymakers are trying to get ahead of this and get on top of this as fast as they can.”
But the experts warn that the market will continue to respond to COVID-19 developments. The economy will react once again when coronavirus peaks in the United States. It’ll also react once companies release their earnings projections that help dictate stock prices.
“We believe there’ll be a lot of volatility still ahead but along with the monetary and fiscal policy that have come into play has been very helpful.”
McAndrew and Shepherd say this is when having a financial plan is helpful. It helps buffer you against these kinds of market shocks, allowing you to weather a temporary storm.
“It is a temporary setback, if you got a plan in place to soften the blow, you are setting yourself up to be financially successful in the future.”
Their advice to you is to stay calm and make informed decisions, not emotional ones.
“Historically, markets do rebound, markets do come back. Staying the course is most of the time what we recommend people to do.”
“We can’t control what’s going on with the market, but what we can control are the decisions that we make right now.”