Bristlecone Blog

As fiduciaries, we continually question whether our investment process is sound and likely to deliver the returns that our clients need to reach their goals. We draw from history, academic studies, common sense, and apply the lessons to today’s environment. We are generally skeptical of the oft-repeated phrase: “This time it’s different.” It is often abused to justify poor assumptions and flawed decisions. Yet, the current pandemic triggered some unprecedented policy responses from governments around the world.

We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is first and foremost a human tragedy of vast proportion. As a society, we are adapting to challenging circumstances, the most important of which is the risk to our health and lives. The financial consequences have been an unprecedented worldwide economic shock and monetary stimulus to mitigate its impact.

On March 27, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the third piece of relief legislation tied to the Coronavirus outbreak. With an estimated $2.2 trillion cost, it is the largest fiscal stimulus in the history of the U.S.—more than twice as large as the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (...) Below are some of the highlights applying specifically to workers, investors, retirees, and small business owners.

(...) Beyond that time-tested advice, retirees with large IRA balances have a couple more tools at their disposal to mitigate the pain of a market decline by sharing some of it with Uncle Sam.

With anxiety comes an urge to do something. We agree, and here is what we are doing at Bristlecone, as well as some more recommendations for you to implement.

I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC, a small city in the middle of the state (famous, or infamous, as the home of Camel cigarettes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts!). Both my parents were in academics; I grew up right on the campus of Wake Forest University, so that was my playground and that had a big effect on me.