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On this episode of the Planned Solutions Incorporated Podcast, The Coronavirus has caused an increased interest in life insurance and estate planning. Many people who have been putting off planning are now rushing to apply for additional life insurance and to set up an estate plan. This has caused a surge in life insurance applications and visits to websites that specialize in creating estate plans. While many of these people are unlikely to die from the Coronavirus this time spend planning is a smart move. And, There are a number of strategies that investors can use to their benefit when the value of their investments accounts decline in value. The two most common are tax loss harvesting in which holdings are sold at a loss to create a tax deduction and then reinvested and Roth IRA conversions when account values are lower and therefore the tax due on the conversion is reduced. Also,It is impossible to call a stock market bottom in the best of times. It is even more challenging now given the current uncertainty about the extent of the damage that the COVID-19 virus will do to the global economy. Therefore, investors should avoid focusing on identifying the bottom and instead focus on their time horizon (when they will need to sell stocks to fund their financial goals) and estimated stock values at that time, which is likely years in the future. Plus a look at the Planned Solutions Incorporated Office Bulletin Board- In these uncertain times investors, along with everyone else, are constantly searching out good sources of information about the fight against Covid-19 and the longer-term impact it may have on the economy. Historically, the stock market is considered a forward-looking economic indicator as it has a pretty good track record for quickly pricing in economic and financial data. These days investors seems to be largely taking their cues from the data showing the rate of Coronavirus transmission. One great source of data is website that uses data reported by Johns Hopkins http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/ The website breaks down the number of cases by country and by US state. The focus is on the transmission rate and the percentage increase in cases from the previous day. It can be helpful to compare countries that have been dealing with the virus for longer periods to the spread in the US. For example, as of April 6th Italy was on day 42 of the virus and the growth was 1.03x (cases increased 3% from the previous day). Meanwhile, the US was on day 32 and the growth was 1.09x (cases increased 9% from previous day). When Italy was on day 32 its growth rate was 1.08x. This is just one data point comparison but it does provide some hope that we can continue to flatten the curve and reduce the spread to low rates by day 40 as other countries have done. So far, the stock market seems to be responding positively to this data. To subscribe to the Personal Finance Review (the written form of all the content we discuss on the podcast) please e-mail Katie@PlannedSolutions.com The Personal Finance Review is published and distributed on a biweekly basis by Planned Solutions, Inc. for informational purposes only. Please seek the advice of a qualified financial planner before taking any action. Planned Solutions, Inc. ADDRESS: PHONE: 1130 Iron Point Road, Suite 170 (916) 361-0100 Folsom, CA 95630 (800) 750-2111 E-MAIL: FAX: Shannon@PlannedSolutions.com (916) 361-0191 WEB SITE: www.PlannedSolutions.com #finance #invest #investment #stocks #estateplanning #bonds