"Investing is inherently complex and fraught with uncertainty. What's important is learning how to deal with uncertainty." - David Booth

In just a few short weeks, Americans will head to the polls to elect the next President of the United States.

While the outcome is unknown, one thing is for certain: There will be a steady stream of opinions from pundits and prognosticators about how the election will impact the stock market.  As explained in the below graph from Dimensional, investors would be well-served to avoid the temptation to make significant changes to a long-term investment plan based on upon these sorts of predictions.

Additionally, this short 4 minute video from Vanguard aids investors in shifting their focus from the short term impact of the election to focusing on the long term.  Decades of historical data tell us that presidential elections typically don't have a long-term effect on market performance.

This data does not suggest an obvious pattern of long-term stock market performance based upon which party holds the Oval Office. The key takeaway here is that over the long run, the market has provided substantial returns regardless of who controlled the executive branch.

For more resources on this topic, please contact us.

By now, schools are back in session across the country and many parents are likely thinking about how best to prepare for their children's future college expenses.  In fact, it's not far off to say that most, if not all, parents have thought about future college expenses before their child was even born.

In the following issue brief from Dimensional, they give you a glimpse at some of the facts and questions that you should address with your trusted adviser when constructing a plan that incorporates higher education costs.

Education planning is a complex issue. Our investment counsellors will not only help you sort through the complexity, but they will help you to create a disciplined approach to saving and investing that can help remove some of the uncertainty from the planning process. 

Once your children are in college, our investment counsellors will help you construct and execute efficient spending strategies based on the assets at your disposal.  With a comprehensive college spending plan in place, one can help keep their retirement savings intact.

As always, contact your investment counsellor with any questions.