YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE – IN PERSPECTIVE
For years,
continued medical advancements and heightened awareness of personal health have
led to increases in longevity. Looking at
this phenomenon over the past 100 years puts this in more perspective:
- A typical baby born in 1900 was expected to live to age 45; today, life expectancy at birth is roughly 82!
- The average 65 year old retiree is expected to live to age 86.
- There is
a 25% chance at least one member of a 65 year old couple will reach age
97!
MARKET COMMENTS AND
OBSERVATIONS
How
quickly the markets can change. We
always preach that “time in the market” is more important than “timing the
market.” Due to a resilient U.S. economy
and some progress towards stabilizing Europe’s debt crisis, we’ve seen upward progress
in the equity markets for January and now over the past 3 months. As we write these comments the S&P 500
index is up 4.5% for the month and we’re on track for one of the better
January’s on record. You may remember that we increased our
exposure to stocks during the month of August and that tactical adjustment has
been rewarding to portfolios. The
emerging stock markets have also shown a strong January (up 9.8%), and they
have erased almost one-half of their 2011 losses.
