Southern Arizona finacial advisors give advice for reactions to market crash

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Following one of the biggest stock market drops seen in years, financial advisors here in southern Arizona aren’t pressing the panic button just yet.

“Right now there’s been a lot of people scared, a lot of people panicking, because this is something that really hasn’t happened for maybe a century,” said Drew Blease, President and Founder of Blease Financial Services.

Blease said he hasn’t seen a market drop like this since early March 2020, which was a result of the pandemic. It’s created concerns among Tucsonans specifically about what this means for their 401ks.

With many vigorously checking their portfolio and seeing major drops this week. However, Blease said not to get discouraged right away and that the focus on 401ks is only exacerbated by the news of the market drop.

“(People) tend to not look at it when it’s doing well,” he said. “They look at it more when the markets tanking.”

13 News asked Blease how each type of southern Arizonan investor should react to these changes.

“Usually, people want to buy things when they’re on sale, except in the stock market, people get afraid when it goes on sale,” Blease said.

The word “fire sale” is how Blease said Gen Z workers who just started contributing to their 401k should look at this stock price drop.

“Stocks are on sale. There’s no doubt about that,” Blease said. “I’d try to maybe up your percentage in your 401k. Don’t be afraid. It’s a good buying opportunity if you’ve got the right time horizon and can handle the volatility.”

It’s a similar concept for those millennials in the workforce who still have a lot of time to invest. But the larger amount the more seasoned workers have saved may make them hesitant to hold onto to their depleted stocks.

Blease says that for those people, how you react now is how you should plan your future investments.

“If they panic when the market goes down, then they should definitely take less risk,” Blease said. “Add some bonds, get more diversification, because you don’t want to be panic selling.”

Time is the ultimate luxury in these market downturns, especially for the younger generations. However, it’s a view that changes the longer someone works.

“In the long term, you trust the stock market that it’s going to go up, it’s going to go down. But in the short term, do we have an opportunity for it to go up enough to sustain us?” Tucson resident C.T. Revere said.

Revere said he is planning to retire within the year and the market crash is something he was worried about. Now, seeing the extent of the drop, it makes his plans for retirement even more nerve wracking.

“We’re pretty close to retirement and we can’t afford to take the risk of losing it,” Rever said.

Luckily for Revere, he diversified his portfolio to more low-risk bonds and stock options months ago. A decision Blease said he hopes many Tucsonans have already done as they are near retirement.

But Blease said if workers haven’t, it’s not too late.

“If you’re down more than you want to be, use the next rally to diversify a little bit more. Pick up some more conservative stocks, maybe some more bonds,” he said.

For the Baby Boomers who are living on their savings instead of contributing to it, Blease said it’s extra important not to panic and look for low-risk options for investments and more savings moving forward.

“Today will be one of the worst kills that we have, probably this year, you know, so you don’t want to panic,” he said. “Selling is, you know, it usually never ends well, unless they’re going to stay on the market.”

One alternative some may look into is target date funds, which invest differently based on your age.

But Blease said investors should diversify their portfolio themselves to give you more knowledge of the market and increase the upside.

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