Economic Impact of War in Ukraine

The conflict in Ukraine is affecting the U.S. economy and investments, leading to market volatility. Experts advise maintaining investment positions, especially in high-quality companies like Coca-Cola and Walmart, and recommend older individuals nearing retirement consult with financial professionals before making changes to their portfolios.

Interviewer (Speaker 1):

Meanwhile, everything that's happening in Ukraine is having a direct impact on the U.S. economy and your investments here. Shirin Rajaee is getting answers for us tonight as to what this means for our bottom line. Shirin?

Expert Advice Amid Volatility

Shirin Rajaee (Speaker 2):

Yeah, Jim, there may be more volatility to come, but experts caution not to take any drastic actions. The financial expert I spoke with tonight says these shocks of the financial market are generally short-lived and if you can, hold onto that 401k. This too shall pass.

Investment Advice for Different Age Groups

Grant Stark (Speaker 3):

Starting on the younger end of the spectrum, maybe somebody that's right out of college with their first job and they've been offered a 401k, they certainly have a longer time horizon than somebody that's in their sixties or seventies that are starting to draw. There's one theme across both of those that would be the same though, and that's going to be you want some consistency and you want some ability to weather the shocks. So that's where we would look for higher-quality companies, so Coca-Cola, Walmart, Berkshire Hathaway, the big blue chips that can weather the storms and aren't as beholden to any shocks in Russia or Ukraine is what we would look to invest in.

Advice for Those Nearing Retirement

Shirin Rajaee:

Yeah, Grant Stark, the director of research at CapWealth, says it's important for those in their sixties, seventies, as he mentioned, nearing retirement, to just pay more attention to what they're vested in. Take a look at your portfolio. Younger people may be more inclined to wait things out, but older people may even want cash right now. They may look for other options. Some experts say you may want to consider stable and conservative options to move your money, but Stark says it's advised to speak with an investment professional before making any moves.

Anticipated Effect of Crisis on Resources

Grant Stark:

The U.S. will likely feel the most pain from the gas pump prices and oil. We're coming up on the spring and summer in a lot of areas in the U.S. there's a lot of travel that occurs during that time, so gas pump prices will go up. When we consider retirement portfolios and retirement, inflation is a silent killer and when we see this inflation, it pays to be fully invested in your 401k to make sure that inflation isn't eating through those investments.

Shirin Rajaee:

And selling off investments during a crisis can be costly and I'm also learning that some 401k plans may offer automatic rebalancing features. Opting in may cost you something, but it could also give you peace of mind that your portfolio doesn't get too askew. Jim.

Interviewer:

All right, good advice there, Shirin. Thank you.