Author Archive
Evan Shear Named to Forbes 2024 Best-in-State Wealth Advisors List
HEATHROW/MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA, April 23, 2024 – CrossleyShear Wealth Management (CrossleyShear), a team of premier financial planning and wealth management advisors, announced today that CrossleyShear founding partner Evan Shear has once again been named to Forbes’ prestigious list of Best-in-State Wealth Advisors. This is the seventh consecutive year that at least one CrossleyShear founding partner has received this distinguished honor, an important recognition for the entire team.* The selection process is very vigorous, with nominees carefully vetted through research and interviews and ranked based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative criteria. Forbes received approximately 42,108 nominations for 2024 and only 8,507 advisors received the award.**
“This is an tremendous honor for the entire CrossleyShear team and a testament to their tireless passion and commitment to our clients. Most importantly, this recognition is a tribute to our clients and the trust they place in me, Dale (Crossley), and the entire team. We appreciate their continued partnership and confidence. We never take it for granted,” said Evan Shear, Co-Founder and Branch Manager of CrossleyShear Wealth Management and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
To learn more about CrossleyShear Wealth Management and the team’s financial planning and wealth management solutions, visit CrossleyShear.com. For more information about CSsports, visit CSsports.net.
About CrossleyShear Wealth Management | Since 1998, CrossleyShear Wealth Management has served as a premier financial planning team dedicated to helping provide clients and families with innovative financial solutions and wealth management strategies. With offices in Heathrow and Merritt Island, Florida, the company’s tailored customer care philosophy and customized planning process helps empower its clients to achieve their financial goals and financial independence. Their professional athlete division, CSsports, is exclusively dedicated to serving the unique needs of sports professionals before, during and after their playing careers. Visit CrossleyShearWealthManagement and CSsports.net to learn more.
1515 International Parkway, Suite 2019, Heathrow, FL 32746
407.215.7575
2395 N. Courtenay Parkway, Suite 201, Merritt Island, FL 32953
321.452.0061
CrossleyShear Wealth Management and CSsports are not registered broker dealers and are independent of Raymond James Financial Services. Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC.
Investment advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design), and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
*Membership is based on prior fiscal year production. Re-qualification is required annually. The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of advisor’s future performance. No fee is paid in exchange for this award/rating.
** The Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors 2024 ranking, developed by SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria, mostly gained through telephone and in-person due diligence interviews, and quantitative data. This ranking is based upon the period from 6/30/2022 to 6/30/2023 and was released on 4/3/2024. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of seven years of experience, and the algorithm weighs factors like revenue trends, assets under management, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criteria due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Out of approximately 42,108 nominations, roughly 8,500 advisors received the award. This ranking is not indicative of an advisor’s future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients’ experience. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors or RIA firms pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. Raymond James is not affiliated with Forbes or Shook Research, LLC. Please visit https://www.forbes.com/best-in-state-wealth-advisors for more info.
Is It Too Late to Start Investing?
Is It Too Late to Start Investing?
Investing is a great way to get your money working for you. With a solid investment strategy, you have the potential to increase the money you originally put into your investment, possibly making it easier to cover the cost of retirement, college, and more. However, many people worry that it might be too late to start investing, especially if they're aiming for retirement savings. Even if you're nearing retirement age, you can still take advantage of many types of investments that may improve your savings.
The Investment Time Horizon
An investment time horizon is the amount of time you expect to hold an investment before you cash it out. Your time horizon may be different depending on your specific goals and the length of time until you meet them. For example, if you'll be sending a child off to college in ten years, you may have more time to invest than if you're planning to send your child to college in just three or four short years. Likewise, you have a longer time horizon for retirement investments if you start investing in your twenties and thirties than if you're playing catch-up in your forties and fifties.
Risk Versus Return in Investing
Risk and return often directly correlate when you're choosing an investment strategy. High-risk investments may have the potential for a higher yield, especially in the short term. But they also have a much higher potential to decrease in value. Sometimes, that decrease can be substantial.
Many investment professionals recommend decreasing your overall risk level as you get closer to the time when you will need to take advantage of those funds. For example, if you're within five years of your retirement, you may want to decrease portfolio risk levels to help ensure that your investment remains stable until you're ready to retire.
Start as Early as Possible
Ideally, when you're launching an investment strategy, you want to start as early as possible. The longer your money remains invested, the more potential it has to gain for you. Compounding interest means that after several decades of investment, your money may be much greater than your initial investment. An early start also helps ensure that you have more to set back over time. When you prioritize investing early, you're often in a better position to keep investing.
It's Never Too Late to Get Started
Even if you started your investment strategy later than you intended, it's not too late to get started! There are several investment strategies designed to help increase income for your existing funds. Furthermore, even though you may not be able to take care of the compounding interest you could have otherwise earned, getting started now may mean higher interest than if you put off getting started with an investment strategy.
What to Expect If You Start Investing in Your 50s or 60s
If you start investing in your 50s or 60s, you will have a shorter time horizon to hold onto those investments and allow them to generate income for you than if you had started investing in your 20s, 30s, or 40s. However, you still have the potential to make substantial money through your investments, including funding your retirement account.
Some things to consider:
- You may want to make fewer high-risk investments since you have less time for your portfolio to balance.
- You likely have a better understanding of your personal risk tolerance and your overall financial portfolio.
- Also, you may have better starting investment amounts since you have had more time to accumulate wealth throughout your lifetime.
- You may want to consider the benefits of short-term investments.
By working with CrossleyShear Wealth Management, you can get the help you need to improve your investment strategy and create a plan designed to help you maximize your earnings. CrossleyShear Wealth Management can help you develop the right financial plan regardless of when you begin. Reach out today to discuss your financial planning options and learn more about investment strategies that will fit your needs, regardless of your age.
Timely Thoughts from Evan and Dale
“What’s the market going to do?” “Why is it going down?” “What is making money?’ “Its up 500 points, should we be buying?” “Its down, should we be selling?”
All of these are legitimate questions we have always received but recently the questions have turned more aggressively rhetorical with some clients.
Dale and I have been working with clients for over 25 years. Never in those 25 years have we experienced the rapid back and forth on a minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day basis. For many months now we have seen the markets and almost every sector within these markets sell off. We have had days where we start down 1-5% only to turn around for no reason, or the inverse. We have had days where everything looks great and we rally, only to give it all back within minutes or the next day. It is never enjoyable to lose wealth, even if it is temporary or if its giving back some gains. The toll this volatility is taking on our clients, our team and ourselves is reaching unprecedented levels. Some days it feels like we are capitulating, a term that references when most people are throwing in the towel and selling anything not nailed down. Other days, people are buying with both fists everything regardless of what we tell them. In a world where bonds, stocks and alternatives are all down double digits, its tough to find a more stable place to go.
What I want to reiterate to everyone is that nobody can be perfect in this business. Nobody has all the answers all the time. Including the talking heads on TV, your family, friends, or coworkers. Everyone likes to talk about their winners but not their losers. Absolutely no one knows where or when the bottom is, or the top. Anyone who thinks they or their adviser can be is fooling themselves. What we do know is that over the last 25 years, our team has developed, refined and gone back to the drawing board to create investment strategies that attempt to mitigate downside risk as much as possible, while allowing a client to reap rewards when the markets allow for that to happen. They are not going to be perfect. The markets will go up 70-80% of the time and pull back 20-30% of the time. One of our primary goals is to mitigate the impact of market crashes to client portfolios. (defined as declines 20% or greater in the S&P 500 lasting at least one year) which are imminent but not permanent or unmanageable. The last three crashes were -57% in 2007-2009, -49% 2000-2002, and -27% in 1980-1982.* We utilize a disciplined process combining fundamental, tactical and hedges to help further this mitigation goal but that is often not enough to sidestep common but painful pullbacks (defined as 15% or greater declines in the S&P 500). In light of the recent market deterioration, we have been revisiting our asset allocations and tactically favoring cash alternatives. If we knew where the markets would go before they went there, we would have clients positioned that way. Or we would be off somewhere sipping umbrella drinks out of a golden shoe. None of which is happening. We can’t promise much except that we and the entire CrossleyShear team are working our tails off for you.
We are going through a period of rising interest rates that have been in the wings for the last decade but on hold for a litany of reasons. We have seen a 12 year bull market with loose money across the globe inflate asset prices and now we are suffering from the hangover of inflation that ultimately comes from asset bubbles. We have had a global pandemic that has taken over 1 million souls in this nation, some very close to us. That same pandemic and the global response to it has also created a massive supply chain disruption, which has exacerbated the inflation we are seeing. Throw the cherry on top with a war in Europe and a continuous, rolling lockdown in China and things just keep getting crazier.
If you are stressed about your account and the market’s volatility, we need you to know we are as well…X 600. One of the things we have always stressed is that we treat our clients’ money, as if it were our own. So please know that we too lose sleep, get sick to our stomach and even get emotional over the gyrations of this market. However just as “hope” isn’t an investment strategy, neither is “fear.” We will continue to manage this environment to the best of our abilities, with the tools of experience, research and non-emotional investment moves. While most of our clients have been supportive and understanding in this chaos, some have been less courteous and we understand your frustration. If you wish to chat, we welcome it, but we ask that you try to be professional, just as you would expect from us and our team.
I the end, we know all of these challenges will pass. The markets will eventually reach new highs, as they always do. We could be headed for more back and forth until…it stops. When it does, we are prepared to succeed for you, our trusted clients because we have processes and time tested strategies in place. We don’t move on fear or hope, we move on facts and math. Hang in there and keep yourselves and your family healthy and all things in perspective.
Sincerely,
Evan M. Shear, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™
W. Dale Crossley, JD, Financial Planner
