Deep down, we all know that broadcast and print media have some biases. (No kidding.) During election years, some media outlets are compelled to emphasize progress being made, jobs being created, and consumers spending more around the Holidays. Following recessions with particularly long periods of uncertainty (NOW), some reporters play the role of consumer advocate to help unwitting buyers beware of high profile crooks. While the US Congress and President Obama took different stands on raising the debt ceiling in 2011, the media focus seemed quite partisan.
So why am I reminding you about media bias?
In the midst of all of the political infighting and fussy stories about progress, the personal portfolios of owners of midsized companies and recent retirees took a disproportionate hit during the summer of 2011. For many, 2011 was as bad as 2008. That fact got lost in the media coverage. So if you lost a lot of money in 2011, you could be wondering if you were cheated somehow instead of feeling “normal.”
Imagine if your investment portfolio of $10 Mil dropped 30% in 2008 to $7 Mil and then it dropped another 30% in 2011 to under $5 Mil. People in that position thought they could stop working and turn their family businesses over to the next generation but now feel compelled to continue to work to replace lost money. Folks who retired from corporate management positions after 30+ years now wonder if they can afford to keep the house at the lake. Instead of investing in real estate, businesses, new products, and nice vacations, these people are worried and frozen. This has a direct impact on job creation.
I also mention media bias because many of the people who lost large sums of money in 2011 (maybe you) wonder if you did something wrong, have lost some trust in your advisors, and feel stranded. That combination of emotions stifles economic recovery.
If my words resonate with you, give your financial planner a call. Get explanations. Revisit your personal financial plan. Base your decisions on real information rather than just worry.
Isn’t it interesting that a strategist who helps companies grow is suggesting that you request an appointment with your personal fee only financial planner. Mental attitude in one arena impacts the other.
Aldonna R. Ambler, CMC, CSP has earned the right to be called THE GROWTH STRATEGIST™. She has won over 2 dozen national and statewide “entrepreneur of the year” awards for the resilient growth of her international businesses across 4 recessions. Her midsized BtoB service, technology, and distribution clients get on…and then stay on…the published lists of the fastest growing privately held companies. All of her current service businesses (strategic planning, executive advisory, growth financing, talk show, speaking, search) help privately held midsized companies achieve accelerated growth with sustained profitability™. Ambler is wrapping up her 7th year hosting a weekly peer-to-peer-to-peer on line talk show at www.Business.VoiceAmerica.com and www.growthstrategistshow.com which features interviews with CEOs/Presidents of midsized companies (typically between $20 and 200 Mil/yr) sharing success tips about the growth strategy-of-the-week. Family owned businesses are being emphasized in 2011. Ambler is in the process of launching her 8th enterprise. She can be reached toll free at 1-888-Aldonna or at Aldonna@AMBLER.com.
The Growth Strategist's Blog 
December 30, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Thanks for promoting the need for a fee-only personal financial planner. Those of us who maintain a financial planning practice which highlights the planning first and the investments second, find that the focus brings more of the “personal” into the personal financial planning. Instead of accenting the sale of products and the commissions he or she will earn, the fee-only planner starts with the planning needs of the client: how will the business survive to pay out the agreed-upon buy-out deal, how will the successors fare in a less than ideal, static business environment, how will the retirement plan support the key employees when they retire, etc.
The planning was never more important than now and alternative investment strategies are key to the success of the business transition plan.
The media may ask us to suspend our fears of another setback, but middle America is still asking to see the so-called positive results of the end of the recession.
Make sure you review your financial plan, then look at your investments and see if they support the plan. Don’t ignore what you see. It is never too late to get a second opinion.