The Mayer Group update plus Q and A

Dear Valued Client,

The social distancing and lowering the curve is important to how quickly we recover from this Coronavirus per most reliable sources. Given that the experts are saying that social distancing helps to slow the spread, looking at your financial plan during a crisis throws off the numbers to unrealistic long term planning, and we want to be available for all clients questions or concerns during this pandemic, we will temporarily pause your (quarterly, semiannual, or annual) financial planning sessions until after April 1st (subject to change). However, we will absolutely be available to see you if you want to come in, so please do not hesitate to contact us!  Anny and I are in top health and we have been practicing social distancing for the last week and do not see any schedule changes to our business operations other than suspending regular scheduled reviews.

Q and A

1. What precautions are we taking? Every night before we go home, we are sanitizing are offices. On top of that, our buildings cleaning crew is doing the same thing so we can come in each day knowing our offices are sanitized to the best of our abilities. 
2. Have you, Anny, or any clients been infected with the virus that you know of? No, Anny and I and our families are all fine and we haven’t heard from any clients telling us they were infected or even that they know someone infected.
3. What if we need to self-quarantine? We will have our computers and we have access to ZOOM meeting with you. We have been using Zoom meeting for the last 6 months for clients that do not live in state and it is a great software.
4. What if your building is closed? Each night, we bring home our laptops and important essential tools.  We will not skip a beat if we need to work from home. Our calls can be forwarded and we can always ZOOM meeting with you!
5. Will Markets Shut Down? There have been days the Stock Market has closed down most notably when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012 and of course during a 9/11.  The NYSE has contingency plans to work remotely if this gets worse. We are not sure yet on what this looks like. But don’t worry, all will work out eventually if this is the case.
6. Am I worried economically? I am not. Out of 110 households, we have financial plans done for 100 of them. If you are a long-term investor, we have never had a banking and financial services industry stronger during an economic slowdown or recession. If you stay diligent and buy low and rebalance when the markets are high, history always has shown you will do well long term. The people that do best during this time look at the discounts and look to get cash in while everyone else panics. 
7. When will the recovery happen in the market? I’ve received this question a lot over the last two weeks. It’s all a guess. Since the rates are already at zero and the banking industry is strong, I believe dividend stocks will rebound just fine once the peak is realized. The question is how long until the peak and how long before we make back what the markets fell? History on bear markets is short lived. See the attached piece. 

At the end of the day, all we have to go back to is history. History shows us fear tends to drive the market up and once fear subsides, the markets and economy recover stronger than before.  I have the belief this will be on the quicker side than what we are being fed by the news stations. I will be sending out emails with new information when available. Please remember to see the attached! Everyone be safe and call me with any questions or concerns.