“Compound interest is the 8^th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” -Albert Einstein

One of our world’s most brilliant minds spoke those words above. They couldn’t be anymore appropriate during this volatile time. Compounding interest is one thing, but compounding in general and the accelerated pace it creates in all things we experience is even more important. We’ve now lived through the market entering bear market territory faster than any other period of time. Algorithmic trading and information flow transits at speeds we’ve never felt. CNN calculates a fear and greed index. The index ranges from 0 to 100 and within just about two months we managed to shift from an extreme greed level close to 100, all the way down to extreme fear at 1.

We’re living in a completely different world from just over a month ago. Uncertainty reigns supreme at the given moment. While the COVID-19 pandemic spreads at an exponential rate, our mindset and peace of mind is becoming disrupted on a similar level. These latter qualities we do have control over however. Could there be a silver lining? When information has pushed itself into hyperdrive perhaps an opportunity is presenting itself.

Positivity is easy to find so long as you keep your head up. Something to remember when negativity seems to rule the day is that if you look close enough and pay attention you will find easy ways to harness and spread goodness. Looking on social media or tuning in to broadcast news you can find yourself getting caught up in a whirlwind of despair. If you slow down the pace of your own mind however and engage the details, you’ll find life is dichotomous. Let’s look at some examples of this and find our silver linings.

The majority of us are largely stuck inside our homes (I hope…), but instead of dwelling on this we should appreciate the opportunity we’ve all had for so long to experience the great outdoors. It’s incredible what a simple walk around your neighborhood can do for your mental health. During one of our families recent walks we started noticing these chalked messages on various sidewalks and driveways.

It is in the details that positivity and hope always emerges, not within the headlines.

This has also provided us all with the ability to spend additional time with those closest and most important to us. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not going to be an unrealistic post where my life is represented as being perfection. I have two daughters under the age of three and my wife and I are juggling things like cast members from the Ringling Brothers Circus. We argue. We get trampled by our kids. But during reflection you remember the moments of beauty and optimism…the details which are positive. When you pick up a peaceful waking baby, or you scare away the imaginary spiders for your toddler, perspective is easily obtained.

From a market and investing standpoint, one of the best things you can do as chaos erupts is slow down. I’m not saying don’t take any action what so ever, but impulsively reacting to external events and shifting your strategy can have dire consequences. Hopefully you’ll have worked out a plan prior to this so you can put things into effect, whether that be dollar cost averaging cash back into the market, or perhaps processing Roth conversions to take advantage of future returns. If you find yourself needing to liquidate accounts in order to meet your monthly needs, something was wrong well before we entered this current correction.

I don’t want to belittle the pain that is being felt from the losses everyone is incurring (including myself), but if you had a plan and managed to secure three to six months worth of emergency living expenses prior to the current pandemic, than you would be able to weather the storm far better and possibly even take advantage of it. This is one of the most important tactics stressed when becoming a CFP® professional. This is the positivity that I believe will come from this downturn. Families will realize that they need to establish this emergency fund first before taking on any additional risk. Our world and economy is laden with debt, so perhaps this crisis will facilitate a shift in our savings patterns, at least from an individual household level.

While the world around us continues to accelerate at a compounding rate, it is critical to slow things down in the space that you manage internally. Find positivity in the details and create strategies and plans that will have a productive outcome for your family well into the future. If I can be of help in any way to accomplish this, please reach out.