Peter Tuchman

If you've got the right behaviors... the right actions, follow those behaviors, you're going to be totally fine. Most of the permanent damage you see in portfolios is caused by people making mistakes.

If you've got the right behaviors... the right actions, follow those behaviors, you're going to be totally fine. Most of the permanent damage you see in portfolios is caused by people making mistakes.

I think empathy is a key to this because a lot of people will call and say, I know what you're going to say, but, and then they'll ask the question. They just want the reassurance and kind of what I tell our team here is, you know, if The churches in America were full after 9-11 and nobody wanted to go there and hear anything but what they've always heard, right?

I think empathy is a key to this because a lot of people will call and say, I know what you're going to say, but, and then they'll ask the question. They just want the reassurance and kind of what I tell our team here is, you know, if The churches in America were full after 9-11 and nobody wanted to go there and hear anything but what they've always heard, right?

You want to be reassured in times of stress. And so reaffirming, hey, we've talked about these things and we've set up the portfolio this way and this is how this normally plays out is very encouraging. And that's really less about investing and more about education and empathy.

You want to be reassured in times of stress. And so reaffirming, hey, we've talked about these things and we've set up the portfolio this way and this is how this normally plays out is very encouraging. And that's really less about investing and more about education and empathy.

So I'm a big fan of rebalancing in a bear market. And so if you think about a client that might have 80% stocks and 20% bonds, when the stock market goes down 20%, you're no longer 80-20. You now have less in stocks because the stock value has gone down. You've got more in bonds. The time to rebalance is right then when the market's down. Sell those bonds. Buy more stocks.

So I'm a big fan of rebalancing in a bear market. And so if you think about a client that might have 80% stocks and 20% bonds, when the stock market goes down 20%, you're no longer 80-20. You now have less in stocks because the stock value has gone down. You've got more in bonds. The time to rebalance is right then when the market's down. Sell those bonds. Buy more stocks.

That's forcing you to buy the stocks when they're low. When the market eventually recovers, and that's what's happened every time in history, you'll be ahead of the market because you'll have added to that position in the down market. So that's something called opportunistic rebalancing. Some people never rebalance. Some people rebalance once a year. That's called periodic rebalancing.

That's forcing you to buy the stocks when they're low. When the market eventually recovers, and that's what's happened every time in history, you'll be ahead of the market because you'll have added to that position in the down market. So that's something called opportunistic rebalancing. Some people never rebalance. Some people rebalance once a year. That's called periodic rebalancing.

Really, the best investor will rebalance when the opportunity really presents itself.

Really, the best investor will rebalance when the opportunity really presents itself.

It's a fantastic time for tax loss harvesting. And basically that's realizing losses on purpose. So this is really hard for people to get excited about. So let's take last year. Let's say you owned the S&P 500 and you owned all 500 companies. Well, over the course of the year, the S&P 500 went up about 25%. That's great. And if you owned just the index, you would do no tax loss harvesting.

It's a fantastic time for tax loss harvesting. And basically that's realizing losses on purpose. So this is really hard for people to get excited about. So let's take last year. Let's say you owned the S&P 500 and you owned all 500 companies. Well, over the course of the year, the S&P 500 went up about 25%. That's great. And if you owned just the index, you would do no tax loss harvesting.

It went straight up. But let's say you owned all 500 stocks and some of those stocks were negative throughout the year. Let's say Visa goes down. We would sell it and buy MasterCard. If Conoco goes down, you sell it, you buy Exxon. And you, you know, Hershey's goes down, you sell it, you buy Nestle.

It went straight up. But let's say you owned all 500 stocks and some of those stocks were negative throughout the year. Let's say Visa goes down. We would sell it and buy MasterCard. If Conoco goes down, you sell it, you buy Exxon. And you, you know, Hershey's goes down, you sell it, you buy Nestle.

Well, what happens is at the end of the year, you still get the same or extremely similar return to the index. You still have that 25%. But because you sold certain things when they went negative and replaced them, you get to put those losses on your tax return. And then you get paid back by the government on those based on your tax rates.

Well, what happens is at the end of the year, you still get the same or extremely similar return to the index. You still have that 25%. But because you sold certain things when they went negative and replaced them, you get to put those losses on your tax return. And then you get paid back by the government on those based on your tax rates.

So you will wind up with a 25% return plus some additional savings on top of it. So it's an incredible opportunity when the market's down to be able to do things like that.

So you will wind up with a 25% return plus some additional savings on top of it. So it's an incredible opportunity when the market's down to be able to do things like that.