Market Notes:Turmoil and your Portfolio

An update from Cedarmill Financial Founder, Tom Aylmer

These are the times where your risk tolerance really gets tested. Tariffs, anti-trust cases, and a White House in contempt are not the harbingers of economic success you normally look for, no matter where you may be on your wealth journey.

At Cedarmill Financial, we advise holistically on your entire wealth paradigm. Our personal balance sheets will always recommend you include your home and any privately held enterprise. We believe in looking at your entire financial picture. The stock market represents only one piece of your overall wealth.

For some, like those who load 20% into a 401k each month, and live paycheck to paycheck on their regular salary, the stock market poses risk to individuals and families who depend on market stability to meet their annual withdrawals and charitable goals.

What happens when your child is going to Stanford next year, but your 529k is still entirely invested in equities and the balance is 50% of what it was last year?

What happens when you want to retire at the age of 65 but the 40% decline in the S&P500 leaves you feeling like you have been gut punched?

Naturally, the stock market is an extremely convenient way to amass wealth, and it is a system that has performed quite well over the long haul. But there are risks inherent with investing in the stock market.

1) It only provides exposure to public markets.

2) Market performance may not coincide with withdrawal needs.

3) Indices can be affected by global instability.

4) Bond markets are subject to interest rate risk.

5) Relationships with advising experts are pricey, and their true cost often hidden.

For all the above reasons, most of our readers make their privately held enterprise a significant part of their overall financial picture. For those lucky enough to take on and be successful with a closely-held venture, the rewards can provide a nice alternative to traditional professional career mindsets, and also help significantly balance out the risk that comes with the "bet-it-all on the degree" approach.

The Cedarmill Financial Roadmap

Q+A with the founder Tom Aylmer

Where is Cedarmill Financial currently at?

While the original intention of Cedarmill Financial was to provide a traditional client based relationship style format, I now believe that a financial technology company-- aka "fintech" play-- will best provide the level of financial wherewithal at an appealing price point.

So is it like a do-it-yourself powered personal finance engine?

Yes, that's exactly right. My goal is to let the entrepreneur types in the age range of let's say 30-45 really amass the level of financial freedom they are looking for.

But why Cedarmill Financial?

I think the goal is to speak to some really important values of our time and let what you do speak for itself. And also really promote financial freedom. I think the tools on the platform will be an easier and more accessible approach to what is currently offered in traditional advising markets.

I think success comes from really simple ideas, and having the stamina to execute them on a continued basis.

What about investments?

Cedarmill Financial was never about the stock market. While it's a great and easy way to invest, there are platforms out there that let you punch a few buttons to get a well diversified portfolio. Why pay $5 grand a year for a guy that is basically trained to have a beer with you, when you could go to St. Lucia for $5 grand and have a Cuba Libre with a fellow entrepreneur. That's basically the mentality I am working with here.

What else do you stand for in addition to the prospect of becoming wealthy?

A lot. Everything I do has purpose to it. It's not something I even do by choice, it's just how I have always operated. I won't get excited about something unless it's a win win. I am a global thinker and attempt to build things that help people in a positive way. It's not an easy thing to do. I guess people aren't as idealistic as I would hope they would be.

How do you plan on pricing?

Strongly leaning towards low monthly pricing. I view personal finance as a continuous process, as such, the monthly pricing probably best reflects how people ideally would use the platform.

What kind of content will you have?

Well I have a magazine, which helps provide financial and family related content. This is really important. It's hard to be financially literate when you don't know the vocabulary. But the magazine is really there just to talk about ideas....

More concretely, I am building some tools like a rental property model that tells you what your CAGR is over a period of time. Ultimately, financial success comes down to rate of return. There's a lot of barriers in the way to understanding what that is, so these tools help you get better with that automatically.

Do you accept feedback?

Always and forever. That's part being a technology company. A constant feedback loop with our platform users keeps us on our toes and building tools that are easy and profitable to use.