Dear Valued Client,

In this rapidly changing situation, I want to assure you Woodmen Financial Resources is maintaining regular business operations to ensure we continue to serve you. First, I wish you, your family, and your community well during this unprecedented time. The health and safety of our communities are of the utmost importance, and we encourage you to be safe and stay well. I reiterate what has been said many times in recent days: we will get through this together.

Our goal is to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees while maintaining high levels of service for our clients. You can continue to reach the Woodmen Team through normal business hours: Monday – Friday, 8am – 4:30pm CT and receive assistance by phone, email or chat. I also extend my personal cell 920-360-4158 for voice but call the work line if it is business hours. Please make sure you identify yourself on my cell as I don’t have everyone’s phone number programmed into my cell phone address book.

Woodmen Financial Resources will no longer be doing Face to Face meetings until the COVID-19 crisis passes. This is for the safety for everyone. Our staff has also been making plans in the event our state Governor decides to quarantine all non-essential employees. I don’t know what specifically will happen but looking at what the other states are doing they do allow the financial personnel to still commute to their workplaces. Our office building is quite spacious and we have no more than 5 personnel in the building and we work in our own offices and practice careful hygienic measures so for now we feel safe commuting between home and the workplace and minimizing our exposure.

In the event we are fully quarantined within our homes, our staff will have communications set up so you can still contact us. Fortunately most of the information is accessible to us via secure online access but there may be historical information not available as that will be in the paper files. We’ll figure this out if and when we get to this situation.

The financial markets have taken a hit with this pandemic which in turn has effected everyone’s accounts. I will be reaching out to many to discuss your accounts. I am observing a lot of irrational investor behavior as many (though not my clients) are responding with fear or panic. I want to make a couple of points:

  1. We will get through this crisis. I don’t have a crystal ball when but in our history we have been met with challenges and in the end we will get through them.
  2. It is impossible to time the market. All of you were set up with a long term investment strategy to meet your individual needs based on face to face discussions and risk assessments. I am asking you to stay the course and not decide to get out and think you can determine when you can get in.
  3. I suspect that with this fast drop in the market – as soon as we hear some good news there market will react quickly in a positive rate that you may have been better off not getting out of the market if you did.
  4. Call our office if you have concerns.

One more thing I want to say personally… The reality of what is going on in the world is very overwhelming if you spend too much time dwelling on it or listening to the news. Yes – please keep advised on what is going on but do not let this consume yourself in anxiety. Think about things you can be thankful for. Exercise. Communicate with friends and family on the phone or online. Practice you spirituality beliefs if you have them. But do not sit in front of the news all day and get depressed. The country has been in bad situations below like the Great Depression, World War II, Cuban Missile Crisis, 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, and the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009, as well as many others. In each of those times there were thoughts of despair but we overcame the crisis and learned something more about ourselves. Please feel free if you want to also talk about nonfinancial issues with me if it makes you feel better.

We will get through this together.

Rich

Richard A Balch, CFP, CLU, RICP