Jorie Goins of the Chicago Tribune sought out Lazetta's advice on good investment choices during the coronavirus crisis.
For beginner investors, 2020 is offering up plenty of unnerving moments.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down a chunk of the U.S. economy and sent markets plunging. Initial jobless claims of more than 16 million in the past few weeks have shocked many.
At the end of March, stocks closed a quarter of major losses not seen since 2008. The S&P 500 closed down 20% for the quarter, its worst decline since 2008.
At this time, it’s tough to remember that the market always eventually corrects itself and has historically returned an average of 10% annually, before inflation. Those who ride out a recession or depression often come out better than they started, but it’s still difficult not to have investing jitters, especially for those who were too young to be in the workforce during the last recession.
Every situation is different, but there are some ways to make good investment choices during the coronavirus crisis. According to Ashley Fox, the CEO and founder of Empify, which shows adults and children how to build wealth, this is a good time for new investors to learn, not to panic. “What they do wrong is look at it as a trial and tribulation that they cannot get through … versus looking at it as an opportunity to ... learn, to ... grow and to also monetize and take advantage of other … stock markets,” Fox said.
Fox said that the average beginner investor is a working professional who may not come from money and may not know how to do more with his or her income. “They’ve internalized ... ‘I just don’t know where to go and I don’t know if I can do it myself,’” Fox said. Lazetta Rainey Braxton, a certified financial planner and the co-CEO of 2050 Wealth Partners, noted that this downturn, while steep, has been a long time coming, given that the economy had been on the upswing since 2009.