COVID-19 NEWS BULLETIN APRIL 16th 2020
Daily Press Breif:
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab delivered todays press update. As predicted, the update focused around the lockdown being extended for at least a further three weeks. It was stated that infection rates have not fallen as much as they need to and that any change to social distancing measures now would risk significant increase to infections and the potential for a second peak and an increase in number of deaths. The foreign secretary stated that the government will make decisions at the right time for us, when the UK’s actions were compared to the actions of other countries. Mr Raab stated the criteria for exit from lockdown included a sustained and consistent fall in deaths and a confidence that the NHS could cope with a second peak. There was no mention of where we will be following this next period of three weeks.
Daily Updates on the Markets
And for those readers interested in cryptocurrencies
With the markets in mind, I wanted to share with you the following quote by Sir John Templeton.
“The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell”.
If you have funds available, funds which you are certain you will not need to rely on for the next two years, then investing now could mean purchasing at an absolute discount. This is not to say that there will not be future falls to come so there must be an ability to tolerate initial losses. But then investing is always to be a long-term plan of five years or more. And as the above statement suggests, you must have the capacity to hold on to the investment and plan to sell at the right time. I am very aware of how much in the media is speculation at present. Looking back, the markets have recovered from wars, terror attacks, stagflation, deflation, SARS, Ebola, the list goes on. But as a society we have pulled through all of these and come out the other side, as did the markets.
If you are considering taking advantage of the lower purchase prices on offer, firstly assess your capacity for loss. Ask yourself the following to assess your ability to invest.
1. Do you have any specific financial goals for this investment? 2. How much of your investments could you afford to lose without reducing your future standard of living? 3. When is the earliest you plan to take money from your investments? 4. How do you plan to take money from your investments? 5. How likely is it that you will need to take money from your investments earlier than planned?
Let these questions guide you to determine if you can confidently tie your money into investments with the possibility of reaping future rewards. If you feel it likely that investing could be a positive move for your portfolio, given the current situation, please do take a few moments to complete the brief 10 questions below. Forward your responses and I will analyse how cautious or speculative you are as in investor to help establish if this is a good time for you to be investing in the market.
Note to client: This risk questionnaire aims to establish your general risk outlook and the level of risk you are normally prepared to take, although you may decide to take more or less risk for any specific investment goals you may have. You should answer each question thoughtfully and honestly – there are no right or wrong answers, and no option for 'don't know'. If a question seems open to interpretation, just give the response that feels most intuitive to you.
Please tick the relevant box to indicate how you feel about each statement on the five-point scale from 1 ‘Strongly Disagree,’ through to 5 ‘Strongly Agree’.
Investment
Should you have any concerns or questions, we are here for our clients and will happily arrange a telephone or video call appointment to provide guidance, please either call our practice mobile 07543 368 478 or email enquiries@money4dentists.com to arrange your appointment.
We are here to work through the current situation with you, so please do get in touch.