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“We Have a Hunch You Can Take a Punch!”

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

A big part of a financial advisor’s job is to help clients develop a well-thought-out and comprehensive financial, investment, and retirement plan. Yet no matter how thorough and detailed a client’s plan is, what good does it do them if they abandon the plan during an inevitable bout of market volatility?


This is a very important question the wealth management industry continues to ask itself. Advisors can attempt to educate clients about, and prepare them for, these pullbacks and downturns, but until they actually happen it can be difficult to predict or measure just how prepared a client is to be “punched in the mouth.” At Towerpoint Wealth, we believe that developing the intestinal fortitude to tolerate, and even flat-out accept, temporary declines in account balances is one of the primary factors in helping clients build their net worth over time.

Recognizing that we are currently in the throes of the longest bull market in history, stock prices have basically moved in one direction (UP!) for the greater part of the past ten years. And while this remarkable decade-long run has been enjoyable for many investors, witnessing almost linear growth in their account balances and personal net worth, it is atypical.

At Towerpoint Wealth, we are not suggesting that we expect things to change, nor are we predicting an immanent pullback – we are quite humble in our ability (or lack thereof) to consistently and accurately predict the future. And we do remain optimistic that this current expansion can continue. But we will always be pragmatic, and are sober to the reality that building personal net worth is not easy, takes discipline and time, and rarely occurs in a straight-line fashion. Mike Tyson’s professional record was 37-0 before he was knocked out by Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, and along the same vein, we recognize that a big part of our responsibility is to not only help our clients plan and prepare for the unexpected to happen, but to expect the unexpected to happen. It is essential that we work diligently with our clients to objectively construct a disciplined and customized wealth management plan in times of stability, to ensure we do not change it during inevitable times of instability. In other words, learn how to expect, and take, “a financial punch,” and just as importantly, learn how to minimize its impact.

Speaking of working with clients, our President, Joseph Eschleman, spent two days in Washington, DC last week conducting a comprehensive client financial review meeting. At Towerpoint Wealth, we believe strongly in face-to-face communication, and do not let geography stand in the way of the partnerships we have with our clients.


Additionally, we gave a big thank you earlier this week to one of our trusted business partners, Brian Kassis, of RE/MAX Gold – Sierra Oaks, for the lovely Edible Arrangements fruit basket he gave us. Comprehensive wealth management entails us helping our clients not just with their investments and portfolio, but with the proper coordination of ALL of their financial affairs, including tax minimizationinsurance and risk management, estate planning, income generation, personal liability managementcompany and employee benefits analysis, and real estate portfolio management. It is for this reason that we have formed close partnerships with professionals like Brian; we are afforded, and can offer our clients, a “deep bench” of wide-ranging financial experts who stand ready to help in a myriad of economic areas.

It has been two weeks since we last published Trending Today, and there have been a number of newsworthy and notable events that have occurred:

Lastly, we encourage you to take three or four minutes to review the curated content found below, highlighted by:

  • A YouTube video featuring Shirl Penney, CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners, discussing the myriad of resources that Towerpoint Wealth draws from Dynasty, leveraging their very deep bench
  • An excellent, up-to-date, “insiders look” at what is happening in Washington, DC politics, including fresh perspectives on the 2020 Presidential election
  • A must-have app if you travel internationally

We encourage you to reach out to us (info@towerpointwealth.comwith any questions, concerns, or needs you have. The world continues to be an extremely complicated place, and we continue to be here for you, and look forward to connecting with, helping, and being a direct, fully independent, and objective expert financial resource for you.

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“Streaming is Streaming”

It is getting more expensive to Netflix and chill.

In November, 2010, the streaming video leader introduced its “standard” service plan with a $7.99/month price point. Fast forward to January of this year, and that same standard plan now costs 63% more, or $12.99/month.

Not surprisingly, Netflix’s revenue, and stock price, demonstrated a close correlation with these price increases:

In the early days of video streaming services, the choice was simple: Get Netflix. But today, competition reigns supreme, and we have a plethora of choices in the streaming space: Hulu LiveAmazon VideoSling TVDirecTV NowYouTube TVPlayStation VueApple TV (among a host of others), and officially announced just today, Disney+.

The notion that streaming services will supplant the monolithic cable packageseemed far-fetched and improbable just a few years ago, but today, cutting the (cable) cord is a regular occurrence. However, many argue we have too much choice now (see the JustWatch app below to help sort out this fragmentation), and feel we are close to a breaking point in the market. As more services fill the streaming landscape, eventually some companies will feel the squeeze, and as these options continue to kaleidoscope, prices should compress as competition prevails. More choices and lower prices – consumers ultimately win with free market economy.

Closer to home, our Director of Tax and Financial Planning, Steve Pitchford, our Director of Research and Analytics, Nathan Billigmeier, and Partner – Wealth Advisor, Jonathan LaTurner, all sharpened their professional saws earlier this month, attending the Dynasty Financial Partners Investments Forum in Dallas, TX.

In addition to a keynote presentation from Richard Fisher, the former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, the Forum agenda included breakout sessions with industry experts discussing global economic forecasts, global equity, interest rates and credit, real assets, and non-traditional investments (alternatives and private equity). A Washington D.C. and political update was well received, as were workshops on evolving investment niches in ESGOpportunity Zones, and BitcoinJohn Elway also made an appearance!

Denver Bronco football not included, there have been a number of trending and notable events that have occurred over the past two weeks:

Lastly, we encourage you to take three or four minutes to review the curated content found below, highlighted by:

  • Our most recent March, 2019 Monthly Market Lookback, “Whataya Want From Me?”
  • An excellent article discussing how to manage the avalanche of emails we all seem to deal with today
  • A commentary discussing Apple’s upcoming April 30th earnings report, and supposedly massive capital return plan to shareholders

We encourage you to reach out to us (info@towerpointwealth.comwith any questions, concerns, or needs you have. The world continues to be an extremely complicated place, and we continue to be here for you, and look forward to connecting with, helping, and being a direct, fully independent, and objective expert financial resource for you.

– Joseph, Jonathan, and the entire Towerpoint Wealth team