When you are focused on your goals, you are better able to focus on your portfolio and how you might need to rebalance or adjust based on changing conditions of the market — and the emotional toll they can take. Regardless of how far away your goals are, the markets will have their ups and downs along the way. This is why we encourage you to take a long-term approach to investing for each of your goals. It is also why we measure success not based on last quarter’s performance, but dependent on your time horizon on how well you are progressing toward achieving your goals. An approach that balances risk and reward will help you make steady progress toward the goals you have set and will help you stay on track to long-term success.

In times of uncertainty, it is only human for emotions to take over. With uncertainty in the economy and large swings in the stock market, some of you may have been thinking that you need to get out of the market or sell your investments. Others may be uncertain about what to do. These emotional reactions are normal, but can also be dangerous. For the same reason that feelings of euphoria can result in heightened financial risk in an upward-trending market, feelings of despondency are just as risky in a downward-trending market. The risk in both cases is making decisions based on emotions — instead of fundamentals — and deviating from a disciplined investment approach. While we can help you make disciplined investment choices and provide you insights and advice to help you focus on the long term, the foundation of a disciplined approach is having an action plan in place — one that takes into account your investor personality. That is what we are here to talk about today.

At Merrill, we have a disciplined process in place that can help you create — and stick to — a personalized action plan that can help you make steady progress toward your goals.

•       It starts by focusing on what matters to you; taking stock of what is important to you now and what you want for the future. It also means prioritizing your goals so you can evaluate tradeoffs that may increase your chances of achieving them all.

•       Armed with insight into what you want to achieve, we can work together to design your path and your plan — a personalized approach paired with advice and guidance that truly supports you.

•       With an action plan in place, we can then help make it happen — setting your strategy in motion by drawing from a wide range of financial solutions and adapting the strategy in real time as your circumstances change.

•       And finally, we can help you review your progress by tracking your milestones and modifying your personalized action plan when expected — and unexpected — events mean a change is needed. This flexible approach is grounded in regular communication and review and can help you stick to your strategy for the long term.

Let’s take a moment to dive a bit deeper into what we mean by prioritizing your goals. While all of your goals are meaningful, some may be more important to you than others. That is why once you have established your goals, we go further to prioritize them to determine which are essential — like saving for retirement — and which are important or aspirational — like purchasing a vacation home. Your prioritized goals can be used to consider different strategies and trade-offs, so you can make informed decisions. It also helps us truly personalize your investing approach to how you think about your life and wealth.

Based on your goals — and how you prioritize them — we can focus on building a personalized action plan that will help you work toward your goals. There are a number of ways you can approach investing, so we take time to look at your choices and find an approach that works for you, your investor personality and your larger financial situation. During this process we will:

•       Explore scenarios based on your current financial situation that can help us define the possible paths you could choose from to pursue your goals.

•       Look at trade-offs you may want to consider to increase the probability of success, like changing your target retirement age or increasing your savings rate to build your portfolio more quickly.

•       And finally, designing a tailored plan that can be implemented in a way that allows you to balance risk and return and put you on the path toward pursuing your goals.

And along the way, we will be here to answer questions and provide you advice on whatever financial topics arise.

Implementing your strategy will likely draw on a mix of financial solutions — each supporting a different goal. The right mix will depend on your action plan and the evaluation steps we just discussed. To help you make your action plan happen, we offer a range of investing solutions from Merrill and banking and lending solutions from Bank of America. We strive to provide you access to top-quality financial solutions so you have the flexibility to implement a tailored approach — supported by our ongoing advice.

Advice is not the only thing you get when working with us. We view every client relationship as an ongoing dialogue. We stand ready to answer questions, offer advice and discuss your plan whenever you want. We will take time to meet to:

•       Review how you are progressing toward your goals.

•       And evaluate how the things outside of your control — like the markets — may have impacted you.

By reviewing your progress, you will be better able to know where you stand, and we can make changes to your plan and your investments to adapt to changing conditions and keep you on track.

One of the ways we can help bring your plan to life is by using Merrill Personal Wealth Analysis. This tool helps us build and document a personalized approach that is based on your goals. We can use it as we work together to focus on what matters most to you, set and prioritize your goals and review your financial picture in light of what you want to achieve — all while documenting a personalized strategy that is all about you.

Merrill Personal Wealth Analysis helps guide us through the process we just talked about, and offers a number of benefits. It can help us work together to:

•       Focus on what matters most as you share information about your finances and your feelings about investing that will be used to inform your strategy.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

All recommendations must be considered in the context of an individual investor’s goals, time horizon, liquidity needs and risk tolerance. Not all recommendations will be in the best interest of all investors. 

Asset allocation, diversification and rebalancing do not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

This material does not take into account a client’s particular investment objectives, financial situations or needs and is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or investment strategy. Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select. For more information about these services and their differences, speak with your Merrill financial advisor.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed, or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, Member SIPC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. Investment products: Are

Not FDIC Insured, Are Not Bank Guaranteed, May Lose Value]

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