What should retirees do with their investments amid COVID-19?

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The speed and severity of the decline in global stocks and the potential for further losses have a lot of people wondering if they should sell now and protect their retirement savings. Canadians who are close to retirement or recently retired are particularly at risk. There is a risk that stocks could fall further. But there is also a risk that selling now means an investor may not recoup their losses when, not if, stocks recover. Let’s start by summarizing what we know about the current situation, and the historical context. The Toronto Stock Exchange is trading at the same level it was at in March 2006—14 years ago. In the U.S., three of the largest 20 daily percentage changes in the S&P 500’s almost 100-year history have occurred this month. Global stocks, as represented by the MSCI World Index, are down more than 20% year-to-date. Interestingly, the Chinese stock market—the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index—is down 10% year-to-date, making it one of the best performing stock markets. According to Invesco, the average bear market since 1957 has lasted just under 12 months, and the average loss has been 34%. In 1929, at the outset of the Great Depression, U.S. stocks took 30 days to fall 20% and enter a bear market. This recent downturn took only 16 days—the fastest bear market in the history of the S&P 500. Before deciding how to react to the current COVID-19 fuelled situation, it is important to consider the math behind stock market declines. If stocks fall 10% five times, you would think they would be down by 50% (10 x 5). In fact, they would be down 41%, because each subsequent loss is based on a lower starting value. I know that may be of little consolation, but the math gets better. If you have a balanced portfolio of 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds—a common, moderate-risk asset allocation—a 30% decline in stocks might decrease your portfolio value by 18%. Once again, that may not be enough to ease your fears. What about considering what tends to happen after stocks fall 30%? Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management wrote a great post about the 12 previous bear markets that have been worse than the current U.S. stock market decline. He notes the average 1-year return from the market’s bottom has been 52%, and even the worst 1-year return has been 8%. We do not know if we are at the bottom yet, of course, but the point is that stocks tend to perform well in the year following a large decline. The average 3-year and 5-year returns have been 89% and 132% respectively. What this tells us is that even though stocks could be lower a year from now, there is a reasonable likelihood they will be higher in the medium term, and the longer your time horizon, the more likely stocks will be higher (and even much higher).

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If you own an individual stock, particularly shares of a small company, it is possible that one company could go bankrupt and its share price could go to zero. If you own a diversified portfolio of individual stocks directly, or indirectly through a pooled fund, mutual fund or exchange-traded fund, keep in mind the stock market itself will not go to zero. Despite any potential criticisms of capitalism, it is good at making money. This stock market decline may or may not mean you need to reconsider your retirement date, potential spending in retirement, or other factors. But the same could happen if you lost your job, had an unexpected illness, or had to lend money to one of your kids because they were going through a divorce. Retirement planning and financial planning, in general, are fluid exercises that require revisiting and revision. If you are within a couple of years of retirement, the good news is you probably will not need any of the money in your investment portfolio for a couple of years. And even then, you may only need to withdraw a small portion of your investments within the first few years of retirement. If you are already retired, hopefully your investment withdrawals are no more than 5% of your portfolio value, and hopefully less, but can differ depending on individual circumstances. The TSX is yielding about 3% right now, the S&P 500 is yielding about 2.3%, and the FTSE Canada Universe Bond Index is yielding about 2%. Dividend yields and interest rates could fall, but 2% to 3% or more of your required withdrawals may come from income as opposed to from capital. If you are only going to need to sell a small percentage of your stocks over the next few years, the bulk of your investments has time to recover. I have a client who, despite my hesitation, sold all their investments this week and put the proceeds into a GIC. I worry that may turn their temporary losses into permanent ones, and their potential future investment return given today’s historically low interest rates is virtually nil. Regardless, it was the choice that made the most sense to them. We had a MoneySense reader ask about cashing in their RRSP and putting it all into a GIC in their TFSA. Not only would this result in the same guaranteed loss with low future return potential, but it would trigger unnecessary income tax payable on their RRSP withdrawals—a double whammy. One of the risks of knee-jerk reactions at a time like this is not fully understanding the repercussions. Investing involves taking on risk, but with a diversified, risk-appropriate portfolio, it can be an educated risk. There have been 16 bear markets during which stocks have fallen 20% from their peak since 1926, an average of about once every 6 years. Stocks were always going to fall 20% or more at some point. If it had not been for COVID-19, the fall may have happened in 2021 and it may have taken a year instead of a few weeks. The point is that this was bound to happen. And this will not be the last time. Retirees with Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) can take some solace in the fact the federal government announced this past week that RRIF minimum withdrawals have been reduced by 25% for 2020 as a temporary measure. This may reduce the required sales of depressed stocks for retirees, but will not help much for those who need their RRIF withdrawals to live on and who cannot afford to take out less. Young investors should consider this recent stock market decline a buying opportunity. Stocks are on sale, and there may be 5 to 7 more bear markets like this for a 25-year old between now and retirement. Expect this to happen again. The stock market volatility this month and the speed with which stocks have fallen is really concerning to everyone, including me, both as a financial planner and as an investor. Stocks are leading indicators and reflect expectations about future corporate profitability and the economy. Stocks are already pricing in a recession, and by the time the economic numbers (many of which are lagging indicators) confirm a recession, stock markets may already be on the rise again. So, although stocks may still fall further from this point, they literally cannot fall forever. Stocks will recover, as will Canada and the rest of the world. This is a scary time to be an investor, and an even scarier time to be a business owner, an employee, a politician, a health care worker, a parent or a child. My mother used to tell me “this too shall pass.” Sometimes it is hard to believe that when you are in the thick of things, but I caution investors from making rash decisions with their investments at a time when it may be difficult to envision the long-run implications. Jason Heath is a fee-only, advice-only Certified Financial Planner (CFP) at Objective Financial Partners Inc. in Toronto. He does not sell any financial products whatsoever.

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About Jason Heath, CFP

Jason Heath is a fee-only, advice-only Certified Financial Planner (CFP) at Objective Financial Partners Inc. in Toronto. He does not sell any financial products whatsoever.

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Sylvia Fernandez says:

March 24, 2020 at 4:43 pm

I had almost 70 k in my mutual fund in ATB and i lost 3300 k already and I don’t know what to do in this kind of situation. Do i need to hold it or withdraw? Thanks

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Sharon Brubacher says:

March 24, 2020 at 5:12 pm

We are retired real estate investors relying significantly on tenant income. I am thinking, to be prudent, we should take funds out of a mortgage cash account (money that we have paid over the years above and beyond that required) and perhaps defer mortgage payments for the next few months until we see how tenants/renters are faring and if we will need significant additional funds to stay afloat.
My concern is, will the banks consider us at risk if we take these precautionary measures available to us and downgrade our credit rating or be concerned?
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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Greg says:

March 26, 2020 at 2:09 pm

Syliva, my advice is to do nothing. You lost 4.7%. That’s nothing. The market will come back and you will be kicking yourself every day for selling. We’ve gone through worse pullbacks than this and every time has looked like a great buying opportunity in hindsight. It’s your money, but I would be selling bonds/cash and buying equities.

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brad kozlow says:

March 29, 2020 at 6:16 pm

My mother used to tell me “this too shall pass.”
Charging Few for financial Advice!

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helmut feldkamp says:

April 4, 2020 at 2:03 pm

does nobody think of writing covered calls and if they strike sell puts to get the shares back ?

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Denise Gagnon says:

April 7, 2020 at 2:55 pm

Do you know if a person is on pension will recevied some dollars the April 9. Thanks

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Peter Chan says:

April 11, 2020 at 10:50 pm

My wife and I are in this exact scenario as presented in the article. 40/60 equity/income mix.

I wonder if anyone considers cashing out and buy call options as a strategy in this unprecedented situation. Interested in your thoughts.

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Brad Williams says:

April 12, 2020 at 8:05 am

I have not sold any stocks but did buy shares of of Loblaws to add a little defense to my portfolio. Prior to this I would update my stock holdings spreadsheets on a weekly basis but gave up doing it all together as it is a better way to take your mind off it. Eventually it will come back so you need to adjust mentally to this to not sell. If you did sell at big loses then you should have never been in the market in the first place.

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Lita rose says:

April 15, 2020 at 6:41 pm

I am a retiree am I eligible to any payments as i do collect Canada pension plan and OAS monthly?

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Lana McGuire says:

April 16, 2020 at 9:11 pm

Hi! Question is for my mom. She ris gently entered a long term care facility with a fatal diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis. The doctor told my sister and I she may have one to two years left. She has a lot of investments. I’d rather not say on a public forum…but she has a lot. She has, in the month of March alone lost a significant amount of money and our first impulse was just “ride this out”. However if she only has a year or two left on this earth…she really won’t be able to recoup her losses. We are thinking we should sell out and save her from loosing a lot more time vet the next year. We know there are hefty tax cuts implications…but we either pay it now, or after she passes away from this disease. What do you think. Please advise. Thank you

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1. MoneySense Staff says:
  
  April 17, 2020 at 9:48 am
  
  Due to the large volume of comments we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond directly to each one. We invite you to email your question to [email protected], where it will be considered for a future response by one of our expert columnists. For personal advice, we suggest consulting with your financial institution or a qualified advisor.
  
  Reply
Rod MacDonald says:

April 19, 2020 at 9:04 am

Just a thought……
I don’t ever remember the economy being shut down and a high percentage of unemployed people. Historical information may be irrelevant this time for retired people. Just saying……

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Anonymous says:

May 11, 2020 at 4:22 pm

Lana – sorry about your mom. Technically her investments would become her daughters to manage in the event of her death presumably. Stocks or mutual funds, whatever the portfolio is likely in her estate to become yours, so the transfer of ownership to them if they are not so already relegated would be completed at that time. I’m not sure on how the government views the inheritance of course but the portfolio wouldn’t be completely liquidated either – hopefully you and your sister can agree to leave it as it is until those investments return to their pre-covid values over the next few years likely, perhaps the inheritance tax if she passes during this crisis may work to your benefit too but leave the funds where they are. I’m sure you can wait for better economic times and then distribute that wealth accordingly as your mother intended. I’m sure now it might even be 50% less what it was 6 months ago but it serves no purpose to cash out and take the loss here and now unless that $ has to go to paying for the care.

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Brad Williams says:

June 8, 2020 at 7:26 am

First question to ask yourself is why did I (you) invest in the first place? Once you answer that in most cases it is for long term (retirement) stick to the game plan and take the emotions out of it. If not then investing is not for you.

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Windy Brown says:

June 9, 2020 at 12:07 pm

Before coronovirus hit I was trying to figure out how to invest $400,000. It is money that I don’t need, I am retired now and doubt I will ever need it but … I would like to make more than 1.6% from bank but not interested in losing it either? Any ideas?

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Linda says:

June 16, 2020 at 11:21 am

It took a while to understand the points mentioned in the article. Good stuff. I really appreciate the hardwork behind this article. Thanks & Keep up the good work!

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