Recession Prep Form

Prepare for Good Times and Bad

Is Your Retirement Ready for a Recession?

The decade previous to 2020 experienced a very strong economic expansion and one of the longest bull markets in history. However, the first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst in the history of the stock market. We have experienced a significant rebound in investment returns since then, but if current conditions worsen — and the occasional recession is inevitable — are you prepared for another market downturn? No one can truly time the market to always buy at the highest points and sell at the lowest points, so you must be prepared for both without getting overly emotional about either outcome.

Have you reviewed your financial situation considering a potential downturn? Have you thought about what changes could be made to lessen your downside risk? Brown and Company has created a proprietary tool called a Recession Prep Scorecard™ to help us assess your situation. The result of the analysis is an individualized score from 1 to 10 that reflects your preparedness for volatility.

How the Recession Prep Scorecard™ Works

Step 1: Make the most of the things you can control but also evaluate factors that are somewhat or completely out of your control. You have total control over your asset allocation and discretionary expenses; some control over your tax burden, available assets and liquidity; and no control over market returns and tax policy/legislation.

Creating “Dry Powder” — Be opportunistic in the event of a market downturn.

Incorporating Alternatives – Consider incorporating hedged/non-correlated asset classes now.

Reviewing Stock to Bond Exposure — Consider historically low rates for bonds.

Cash Flow Planning — Know what you want to spend.

Evaluating the Comprehensive Balance Sheet

Recommend debt be paid off.
Complete a liquidity study.
Turn on cash flow from annuities or pensions.
Evaluate “secret weapons” that can be used in time of need.

Step 2: Utilize our innovative tools to evaluate the effects of various strategies and contingencies on your situation.

Withdrawal Stress Test™

Construct a portfolio that is customized to meet your goals.
Create an allocation that corresponds to your anticipated withdrawal rate as a percentage of your portfolio.

Retirement Balancing Act™

Understanding and establishing the right mix of risk tolerances, objectives, timelines and external factors allow us to shape a personalized retirement strategy suited to your priorities and your preferences. Our Retirement Balancing Act™ provides a steady and measured method for effectively managing the numerous factors impacting your retirement.

We collaborate with you and build a plan by evaluating the effects of those factors over which we have total control (discretionary spending and portfolio allocation) and those over which we have some control (income in retirement).

Retirement Tax Filter®

Understand how taxes work as you transition from earned income in your working years to passive income in retirement.
Pursue proactive cash flow management strategies that seek to max out lower brackets without creeping into higher brackets.

Retirement Shock Absorber®

We work with all of our clients to model hypothetical downturns and determine if your plan can withstand substantial market volatility.

View a Sample Recession Prep Scorecard^TMDownload Now