By Jamie French

When markets drop, we tend to hear from clients all wondering the same thing: Does this change anything for me? They’re usually less concerned about one particular investment and more concerned about what the market decline means for their retirement, their income, or the plan we’ve built together.

That’s where preparation comes in. Handling market volatility becomes much easier when you’ve already made decisions about how much risk you’re comfortable taking and what your money needs to do for you. Here’s how we help clients prepare before markets get rocky, and what we look at when they do.

Why Does a Falling Market Feel So Personal to Disciplined Savers?

If you’ve spent decades building your savings, watching the balance drop can be unsettling. You remember the years you contributed to your retirement accounts, the purchases you passed up, and the decisions you made along the way. Seeing a large portion of that progress disappear on a screen in front of you can make a market decline feel very personal.

That concern can be even stronger when you’re approaching retirement or already taking withdrawals. If you need income from your portfolio while investments are down, you may have to sell more shares to generate the same amount of cash. That’s when market volatility can start to feel less like something happening on the news and more like something that could affect your retirement plan.

How We Build a Plan That Expects Volatility

Our financial planning process is built with market declines in mind. We can’t predict when they’ll happen or how long they’ll last, but we can decide ahead of time how much of your money needs to be shielded from short-term swings.

For clients taking income from their portfolios, that often means keeping money they’ll need in the near future in more stable investments, while money they won’t need for several years can remain invested for longer-term growth. We review that mix with clients twice a year and adjust when needed. That way, when markets do fall, we’re not starting from scratch or making important decisions in the middle of the uncertainty.

We Give You Context Before the Headlines Reach You

We’ve found that understanding what’s happening in the markets can make periods of volatility easier to navigate. That’s why our team publishes a weekly Market Update video and hosts quarterly economic update events across Central Pennsylvania. We want clients to have context for what they’re seeing rather than trying to make sense of every headline on their own.

That same approach carries through the resources in our Education Center, where you’ll find our Market Update videos and article library. When markets fall, our clients already have a place to turn for perspective that connects what’s happening in the market to their financial plan.

We Coordinate With Your CPA and Your Attorney

Market changes can affect more than your investments. Sometimes they create tax or estate planning questions too, which is why we coordinate with the other professionals you already have in place.

For example, a market decline may create an opportunity to sell investments at a loss for tax purposes or convert part of a traditional IRA to a Roth while account values are lower. Those decisions can have tax consequences, so we may bring your CPA into the conversation. Changes in the value of investments you plan to give to family or charity can raise additional planning questions as well.

Our role is to help connect those decisions. We work alongside your CPA and estate attorney so that changes to your investment strategy are considered in the context of your taxes and estate plan rather than handled separately.

We Reconnect the Decision to Your Purpose

When clients are worried about the market, we generally bring the conversation back to what the money is ultimately there to support. For many of the families we work with, that includes their own retirement as well as helping their children, supporting their church, or giving to causes they care about.

Two of our advisors hold the Certified Kingdom Advisor® designation, and that perspective influences how we approach these conversations. If your portfolio is designed to support decades of retirement and giving, a difficult quarter doesn’t change the purpose behind the plan. Remembering what the money is meant to do can provide valuable perspective when short-term market movements start to feel overwhelming.

Market Volatility Is Easier to Face When You Planned for It

We can’t predict what markets will do next, but we can design a financial plan that accounts for the fact that difficult markets will happen. That means:

• Deciding ahead of time how much risk makes sense for you
• Helping you understand what’s happening when markets move
• Coordinating with your other financial professionals when changes affect taxes or estate planning

It’s easier to manage market volatility when you already know how your plan is designed to respond.

Has it been a while since you reviewed how your financial plan might hold up during a market decline? We’d be happy to take a look with you. We’ll spend an hour learning about your situation, and even if we aren’t the right fit, we’ll point you toward a firm that may be. Call (717) 525-9535 or send us a message online.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I sell my investments when the market drops?

For most long-term investors, selling into a decline converts a temporary drop into a permanent one, and it adds a second hard decision about when to buy back in. The smarter step is checking whether your near-term income needs are already held in more stable positions, which removes the pressure to sell at all. To follow how our team reads current conditions, our advisors publish a weekly Market Update video.

Are there any tax advantages to a down market?

Sometimes, yes. Declines can create opportunities to harvest investment losses that offset gains elsewhere, and converting part of a traditional IRA to a Roth when values are lower may reduce the tax cost of that conversion. Both depend heavily on your income and your timeline, so they call for coordination between your advisor and your tax professional. Our article on tax-deferral strategies covers how these account types interact.

How often should I review my plan if I’m worried about volatility?

We meet with clients semi-annually, which is frequent enough to adjust for changes in your life and infrequent enough to keep short-term market noise from driving long-term decisions. Checking a portfolio daily during a volatile stretch usually raises anxiety without improving outcomes. If you want a broader framework for handling money with steadiness, our piece on the 7 habits of being a good steward is a good starting point.

About Jamie

Jamie French is a Wealth Advisor and Managing Partner at Advent Partners, where he specializes in helping families and thrifty savers in Central Pennsylvania navigate faith-based planning and tax strategies. He views financial wellness as a tool for generosity and is dedicated to empowering clients through authentic partnerships and intentional steps toward financial freedom.

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