[转贴] How to survive fiscal cliff

ranchgirl

How to survive fiscal cliff
Should I get out of the stock market?
Ross Levin, president of Accredited Investors in Minneapolis, said that many of his clients are especially concerned that going over the fiscal cliff could spark a stock market sell-off.
For those particularly worried about investment losses, Levin has been shifting their stock and bond holdings. While a typical portfolio has 70% stocks and 30% bonds, he said in some cases he will scale back the stock investment to as little as 55%.
But he says it's a bad idea to do any drastic repositioning. "As an investor, you need to be comfortable with uncertainty -- it is that uncertainty that allows you to have returns," he said.
For clients who were already planning on selling a stock next year, however, Levin said he may advise them to do it this year instead, in order to take advantage of the lower capital gains tax rate.
Related: What will happen to stocks if we go over the cliff
Otherwise, planners are telling clients not to panic.
"Some people want to take drastic actions like go to all cash," said Paul Jarvis, a CFP and portfolio manager at Bell State Bank & Trust in Fargo, North Dakota. "Investors are worried that if the fiscal cliff negotiations fail, they'll have a significant loss."
Along with making modest portfolio adjustments, Jarvis advises people to put aside enough money to last one to three years. And stash this money in an FDIC-insured savings account -- not under a mattress, Levin recommends.
Ballou said she doesn't have any clients who want to get out of the stock market completely, but she said that many have thought about selling their dividend-paying stocks because they're worried about dividend taxes increasing.
"We have to tell clients, 'Your portfolio is designed to get you where you need to go in life irrespective of tax law, so there's no rush to go out and start selling things because you think you're paying lower tax rates now."