Calculated risk and the Royals in the World Series

In reflecting on the last two weeks in the market which have been quite volatile, we are reminded how much uncertainty there is in the world. At the beginning of the season the Royals were about a 50 to 1 shot to win the World Series with the Washington Nationals, who are watching from home, as the favorites. Volatile times lead us to go back and examine why we are investing. It reaffirms our belief in segmenting money based on the time you expect to need the funds available. Our approach typically consists of an emergency fund containing a multiple of six months of expenses with some variability depending on stability of income. These funds are not expected to grow much, but we count on them to be there in an emergency. We then look at maximizing retirement plans and are more comfortable taking risk, due to what can be decades, until the last of the money is needed. Everything else falls in the middle with the risk level dialed up or down depending on the client's comfort level and potential use of the money. If there is no identifiable goal, we aim to keep ahead of inflation over the long term.