Up & Coming Weekly

April 21, 2020

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1238166

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 9 of 24

WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 22-28, 2020 UCW 9 e coronavirus crisis has unsettled every age group, as we are all worried about our health and that of our fami- lies and communities. And if you're in the millennial generation, gener- ally defined as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, you might also be concerned about your financial future, given the sharp decline in investment prices. How should you respond to what's been happening? Your view of the current situation will depend somewhat on your age. If you're an older millennial, you had probably been investing for a few years when we went through the financial crisis in 2007-2008. And you then experienced 11 years of a record bull market, so you've seen both the extremes and the resilience of the investment world. But if you're a younger millennial, you might not have really started investing until the past few years, if you've started at all, so you've only seen a steadily climb- ing market. Consequently, you may find the current situation particularly discouraging, but this is also a lesson in the reality of investing: Markets go down as well as up. But no matter where you are within the millennial age cohort, you might help yourself by taking these steps: • Enjoy the benefit of having time on your side. If you're one of the younger millennials, you've got about four de- cades left until you're close to retiring. Even if you're in the older millennial group, you've probably got at least 25 years until you stop working. With so many years ahead, you have the opportunity to overcome the periodic drops in investment prices, and your investments have time to grow. And, of course, you'll be able to add more money into those investments, too. • Invest systematically. e value of your investments will always fluctuate. You can't control these price move- ments, but you may be able to take advantage of them through what's known as systematic investing. By putting the same amount of money at regular intervals into the same invest- ments, you'll buy more shares when the share price is lower — in other words, you'll be "buying low," which is one of the first rules of investing — and you'll buy fewer shares when the price rises. Over time, this strategy can help you reduce the impact of volatility on your portfolio, although it can't ensure a profit or protect against loss. Plus, systematic investing can give you a sense of discipline, though you'll need to consider the ability to keep investing when share prices are declining. • Focus on the future. You're never really investing for today — you're doing it to reach goals in the future, sometimes just a few years away, but usually much further out. at's why it's so important not to panic when you view those scary headlines announcing big drops in the finan- cial markets, or even when you see negative results in your investment statements. By creating an investment strategy that's appropriate for your risk tolerance and time horizon, and by focusing on your long-term goals, you can develop the discipline to avoid making hasty, ill-advised deci- sions during times of stress. As a millennial, you've got a long road ahead of you as you navigate the financial markets. But by following the suggestions above, you may find that journey a little less stressful. Millennials and market decline submitted by JONATHAN PROFFITT MONEY Your view of the current situation will depend somewhat on your age. OPINION During these unprecedented times, I want to reassure all Cumberland County residents that North Carolina is managing a statewide response to COVID-19 that protects the health of our citizens while balancing the well-being of our economy. Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina De- partment of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen have done a tre- mendous job acting early and aggressively to "flatten the curve" in North Carolina. Gov. Cooper's administration is actively working through the next steps of prepar- ing North Carolinians and our business community to emerge from this pandemic stronger in this "new normal." While I proudly represent you in the North Carolina Senate, I am also a father and small business owner. I've seen the damage inflicted by this pandemic on multiple fronts. I've heard from many of you directly, and I appreciate your thoughts, opinions and concerns. Along with my constituent services staff, I have helped people register for unemployment and spent time talking to small businesses across our community and state. I remain committed to ensuring that the voices of all residents and small businesses in Cumberland County are represented, working with Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to draft specific COVID-19 legislation for our legislative session on April 28, and staying in constant contact with our local elected officials to make sure we are supporting them at the state level. Please know that I am listening and acting to create solutions. I want to assure you that we will get through this together. During this crisis, I am reminded of the resiliency that our community dis- plays time and time again. Community members and organizations are rallying to support our children in need, our small businesses and our at-risk demographics. One thing is clear — social distancing works. Because of the stay-at-home and social distancing orders in place, our efforts to flatten the curve and save lives are working. But we know we cannot stay home forever. As the state considers how and when to ease restrictions, there are three important pieces to consider, including testing, trac- ing and trends. We need a major increase in testing capabilities to isolate and track new cases of COVID-19. is means hav- ing the supplies and lab capacity to do more diagnostic testing as well as reliable antibody testing that can tell us who may have experienced mild or asymptomatic illness and has now recovered. We have to boost our public health workforce to trace and track new cases of COVID-19. Contact tracing can be effective at containing new outbreaks, but it requires a lot of people and legwork. When a new positive case pops up, the tracing efforts will work to identify people who have been in contact so they can get tested and take the right precautions. In order to ease restrictions, we have to see COVID-19 trends moving in the right direction. is includes trends in the number of new positive cases, hospi- talizations and deaths, as well as available supply of personal protective equipment, hospital capacity and more. My wife Jenny and I continue to take precautions such as working remotely, social distancing, washing our hands and wearing masks when we go out to the store or to pick up food from a local restaurant. We are encouraging others to do the same. Please help me make sure we all do our part to help prevent the spread of CO- VID-19. Jenny and I keep our community in our prayers and ask you to keep us in yours. My staff and I are working overtime to handle any and all constituent concerns. I encourage anyone who needs resources to visit www.SenatorKirkDeViere.com/Coro- navirus, contact my office at 919-733-5776 or via email devierela@ncleg.net. Stay Safe. In this together, Senator Kirk deViere North Carolina Senate, District 19 In this together by SEN. KIRK DEVIERE Our efforts to flatten the curve and save lives are working. JONATHAN PROFFITT, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones Investments. COMMENTS? 910-488-7535 KIRK DEVIERE, D-N.C. Candidate, State Senate District 19. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910- 484-6200.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Up & Coming Weekly - April 21, 2020