We closed out the month of April with one of the best market performances in years but volatility hasn’t disappeared. With everything continuing to move up and down as uncertainty lingers, there’s still a lot of concern within investors.

As we’ve been doing for weeks now, we’ll check in with Joel to start the episode to see how things have changed from our last episode. What are clients asking about? What conversations are we having in the office? What part of the house is Joel broadcasting from this week?

We’ve been talking quite a bit with clients and anyone else that needs financial feedback about what approach to take with the market. When you boil it down, you have three options:

1. Get out of the market.
2. Stay in and hang in there.
3. Do a reset and start fresh.

Beyond that discussion, the biggest thing we’re seeing is states across the country beginning to open back up. Each state has its own plan with multiple phases so what’s the latest for Connecticut and the northeast? Joel will share that with us.

We want to have a little fun on the show as well so we’ll look back at some of Benjamin Franklin’s best quotes and find the financial wisdom within each. There’s a lot to learn from one of this nation’s Founding Fathers and Joel will help us do that.

Mailbag

We pulled three different questions from the mailbag for this episode. The first ties into our discussion on current events and what our clients are asking about. A listener is considering rolling over two old 401k accounts into an IRA but is worried about doing it now because the market losses over the past two months. Find out what to consider and what the pros and cons to the rollover might be.

The second question deals with inheritances. This listener has been fortunate enough to improve her financial situation during the quarantine between the stimulus check and this inheritance. Since there’s no pressing financial needs, where would they be best served to utilize the money?

And finally, we answer a question about keeping all of your financial assets with one firm. Is that a good idea or not?

[0:32] – Joel’s current working location update.

[1:11] – What’s the current status and timeline for Johnson Brunetti and the northeast. 

[3:12] – In terms of the market and investing, what kind of conversations are you having right now.

[5:18] – Mailbag Question: I have two old 401k that I’ve needed to rollover for a while now but I never got around to it. I’m ready now but is it still a good time to do that with the market down so much.

[6:24] – You have three choices with your investments.

[7:19] – You’re locking in your losses just by rolling it over.

[8:41] – Time to talk about Ben Franklin quotes that relate to financial planning.

[9:19] – “He that is of the opinion that money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.”

[14:45] – “Those who are easily offended should be offended more often.”

[15:22] – “By diligence and patience, the mouse ate into the cable.”

[17:15] – “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

[17:54] – Mailbag Question: My family has had a stroke of good luck recently, a surprise inheritance from my aunt, and the coronavirus stimulus checks as a bonus. What should be my priority with this money?

[19:41] – The advice for this question could be different for every person.

[21:56] – Mailbag Question: Is it a good idea or a bad idea to have my investments, taxes, and legal documents for my estate handled by the same firm?