For many pundits, year-end market reflections are an opportunity to rewrite the past. It’s not uncommon for revisionist versions of previously made comments to emerge. It’s freeing and liberating to not live in that world. Accepting that we cannot predict the future and that hindsight is no replacement for foresight when it comes to building an integrated and customized financial plan is what truly leads one down a successful path.

If you recall where global markets were in late December 2018, it was not a happy place to be. Many markets were in correction or bear market territory with little optimism in sight. If you couple that with the headlines of 2019—including ongoing tariff talks, natural disasters across the globe, uncertainty with Brexit, and a presidential impeachment, to name a few—it would have been easy to simply throw in the towel and take the year off.

The chart below shows the reality of the experience of equity investors that stayed in their seats and committed themselves to their plans. If you overlay all of the negative headlines we experienced in 2019 on the chart, it’s even more impressive to have committed to a successful plan based on evidence, not emotion.

Even though we don’t know what will happen in 2020, we do know how to respond to unpredictable changes. You can count on CCM to think proactively on your behalf, leveraging the full knowledge of our integrated team to deliver a customized plan that is focused on helping you achieve your goals for the future.