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A Message From Our COO, Renee Farida

Dear Valued Client,

As we welcome the vibrant bloom of March, it’s a time of renewal and growth—not just in nature, but within our personal and financial lives as well. At Householder Group, we see this season as a perfect opportunity to reflect on our progress and to spring forward towards new goals and aspirations.

Change is a constant, especially in the world of finance. As we adapt to the evolving economic landscape of 2024, our commitment to your financial well-being remains steadfast. We continue to leverage the latest insights and strategies to ensure that your financial plans are robust, resilient, and responsive to change.

Just as we often take time to declutter our homes, this season is ideal for reviewing and refreshing our financial strategies. We encourage you to consider:

Revisiting Financial Goals: Are your current financial plans aligned with your long-term goals? Let’s ensure your strategies are on track.

Evaluating Investments: With the dynamic market conditions, an investment review can be crucial to optimize your portfolio’s performance.

Assessing and revising a proactive tax plan: What steps can be taken in your investment accounts that may impact your next tax return? Instead of the could have done or should have done reactions, strategize now and implement changes before the year-end deadline of 12/31/2024.

Updating Estate Plans: Reviewing your beneficiary designations and ensuring your estate planning documents reflect your current wishes is essential for your peace of mind and your family’s future.

Our commitment to fostering enduring relationships with our clients is grounded in the principle of focused growth into your future. By prioritizing your long-term financial prosperity and stability, we provide a foundation of trust. Our approach is tailored to ensure that your investment strategy not only aligns with your current needs but is also adaptable to your evolving financial goals. We are dedicated to guiding you with strategic foresight and integrity, ensuring that every step we take together is aimed at building a secure and prosperous future for you and your loved ones.

Your trust in Householder Group empowers us to strive for excellence in everything we do. As we navigate the opportunities and challenges of 2024, our focus is unwavering: to support you in achieving your financial aspirations with integrity, transparency, and unwavering dedication.

We are here to assist you in any way we can—whether it’s a spring financial review, exploring new investment opportunities, or simply answering any questions you may have.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your financial journey. Here’s to a fruitful and prosperous spring and beyond!

Warm regards,

Renee Farida

COO

All-Time Market Highs – Too Rosey?

Key Take aways

The US equity markets, as measured by the S&P 500, reached all-time highs in January 2024.

While this may make some investors uncomfortable, all-time highs in equity markets are consistent with a growing economy.
In our view, equity markets at all price levels have the same fundamental drivers – growth, interest rates, and inflation – and the outlook for those drivers looks pretty rosey.

All-Time Highs

In January of this year, the S&P 500 reached an all-time high of 4,928, eclipsing the previous high set on January 3, 2022. Understandably, this caused many investors to question whether an all-time high in the equity market is warranted. While all-time highs can pose some short-term risk, future returns depend largely on what happens to key drivers in the economy, like growth, interest rates, and inflation. The current outlook for those drivers appears pretty rosey at this point.

Size of the US Economy

People experience the economy in different ways. That experience can vary widely, depending on their individual circumstances, like income, demographics, and location. The most common measure of the health and size of a country’s economy is its gross domestic product – the value of that country’s goods and services. By that measure, the US economy is at its largest size ever.

Corporate Earnings

As you might expect, corporate earnings follow a similar upward trajectory as the economy. However, corporate earnings tend to be more volatile than the broad economy.

This is because US corporate earnings are more exposed to short-term factors (like interest rates and foreign exchange rates), tax policies, and economic growth outside of the US (for example, about 35% of sales of S&P 500 companies come from outside the US).

Despite the more volatile nature of corporate profits, you see in the chart that corporate profits reached an all-time high in 2022 and are currently within 1% of those levels today. Given the all-time highs we are seeing in the economy and close to all-time highs we are seeing in corporate earnings, record highs in the equity markets are not unreasonable, in our view.

Market History

Looking at US market history, we find that macro-economic factors, like growth, interest rates, and inflation, tend to drive future equity market performance more so than whether or not equity markets are trading at all-time highs.

The US economy has experienced relatively strong economic growth over its history. Consistent with a growing economy, US equity markets have traded at their all-time highs about 40% of the time. However, there have been long periods during which markets trade at levels below their previous highs. These periods have tended to occur after the market has experienced a steep sell-off, typically caused by a macro-economic (the asset bubbles of 1999 or 2008) or geopolitical event (the oil crisis of 1973).

Today, the macro-economic picture looks reasonably rosey, in our view. Despite the drastic tightening of monetary policy, economic growth and employment appear sound. Inflation is finally coming down and appears to be approaching levels consistent with the Fed’s inflation target. This has led many to speculate that the Fed may lower interest rates sometime in 2024 – another tailwind for the equity markets. We believe this is one of the reasons equity markets rallied at the end of 2023.

There are two areas we are keeping an eye on. First, the elevated geopolitical risk in the Middle East could impact the economy in two ways: 1) higher oil prices and 2) higher shipping costs. Both can have detrimental impacts on growth and inflation. Secondly, there may be some technical or psychological “resistance” to all-time highs. However, history shows that all-time highs are not to be feared. Equity markets have actually experienced above-average returns when trading at their all-time highs.

How to Put Your Cash to Work?

In uncertain times, it’s understandable for investors to hold on to excess cash. However, investors should be aware that holding excess cash isn’t going to build wealth over time, comes with lost opportunity cost, and is unlikely to beat inflation over the long term.

Investors who are ready to put the excess cash to work but waiting for the “perfect time” to get invested could find the task daunting and may become stuck with indecisiveness. In reality, there is no perfect time to invest. Instead, consider dollar-cost averaging, which allows investors to take market timing out of the equation and invest that excess cash steadily over a regular time period.

Important Information:

This is for informational purposes only, is not a solicitation, and should not be considered investment, legal or tax advice. The information in this report has been drawn from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed, and is subject to change. Investors seeking more information should contact their financial advisor. Financial advisors may seek more information by contacting AssetMark at 800-664-5345.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Asset allocation cannot eliminate the risk of fluctuating prices and uncertain returns. There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will outperform a non-diversified portfolio. No investment strategy, such as asset allocation, can guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Actual client results will vary based on investment selection, timing, market conditions, and tax situation.

It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Indexes are unmanaged, do not incur management fees, costs and expenses and cannot be invested in directly. Index performance assumes the reinvestment of dividends.

Investments in equities, bonds, options, and other securities, whether held individually or through mutual funds and exchange traded funds, can decline significantly in response to adverse market conditions, company-specific events, changes in exchange rates, and domestic, international, economic, and political developments.

Bloomberg® and the referenced Bloomberg Index are service marks of Bloomberg Finance L.P.L and its affiliates, (collectively, “Bloomberg”) and are used under license.

Bloomberg does not approve or endorse this material, nor guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information herein. Bloomberg and AssetMark, Inc. are

separate and unaffiliated companies.

AssetMark, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and

C24-20871 | 02/2023 | EXP 02/28/2026

The Elusive Balanced Life

“You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?”—Mr. Miyagi

Few have said it better. Balance is something we all long for. It’s intrinsic to productivity, contentedness, and fulfillment. But it doesn’t come easy to too many of us. Our nemesis, life and all the directions it pulls us, is a master of getting in the way. We end up as jugglers, knowing eventually a ball or two will get dropped.

Less an achievement than a continuous striving, balance is best looked at as a stream we want to run parallel to our lives, or an interwoven thread that can keep our me-ness together—and our we-ness possible. Because we humans are such instinctual seekers, balance is one of the most studied topics in history. And there are a lot of great perspectives you can mine. It’s all about finding what works for you.

Recognizing the Pillars of Your Foundation and Keeping Them Strong

Numerous studies and theories talk about balance in terms of pillars1—the key, universal aspects of our lives that form and hold up our foundation.

Mental: It is important to develop a mindset that helps with clarity, confidence, the ability to learn and grow new skills, be creative, and think independently.
Physical: When we take care of our bodies properly through nutrition, exercise, and sleep, we help them to function properly and increase energy levels.
Emotional: The way we feel has a huge impact on our motivation, actions, behaviors, and results. When we acknowledge and embrace our emotions it gives us the ability to understand ourselves and cope with the challenges of life.
Spiritual: It’s critical we don’t neglect what gives us meaning, value, and purpose in life. What makes us feel peaceful, joyful, and centered is up to us, but it needs regular attention.
Social: The relationships in our lives have a lot to say about balance. When we surround ourselves with positive, supportive people who add meaning to our lives, we feel safe, respected, and accepted.
Financial: Our relationship with money, how we manage our expenses and responsibilities, is often a big source of stress and anxiety, so it’s important we take the time to plan, budget, save, invest, and build, giving us time to spend on what we love.
Occupational: The career we choose, and the boundaries we set around it, enable us to find work-life balance. Despite what a lot of us have been taught, it’s possible, with practice, to grow and feel fulfilled in both.

The Journey and the Destination

Live in the present! It’s all about the destination! We hear both all the time as if they are opposed ways of thinking, but a balanced life is all about making them inextricable. We can be mindful of what and who is around us in the now, taking it in and giving back, while still focusing on the path at our feet and over the horizon.

On one hand, outcome-based thinking,2 the mindset that focuses on what we want from something (education, career path, relationship, hobby, etc.) is essential for growth and maintaining purpose. On the other, living in the moment and being present,3 is how we learn most effectively and enjoy things the most fully. They have to go hand in hand down the path—when they don’t, we get lost on our way to the destination.

The Essential and the Nonessential

The line between what we need in our lives and what we just accept is often a very fuzzy one. Things get added and added until it all feels like one big heap that we just

keep managing. What once felt like a concerted effort to balance our responsibilities sneakily becomes a broken scale that doesn’t seem like it can be fixed. Finding balance is often a reclamation project where we have to simplify our lives by weeding out the nonessential. These are activities, habits, practices, people, places, or things that add little or no value to your life. Pruning them from your life means allocating

more time and energy to the essentials—activities, experiences, and things that spark joy, peace, and calm in your life.4

One Last Thing About Balance…

When we try to make healthy changes in our lives we often default to the common guidance “Learn how to say no more.” And this is definitely important to live a more balanced life, but it’s also important to remember most of life is about compromise. If we say no too much, that rigidity comes back to bite you, inevitably leading back

to imbalance. It’s not an easy thing to navigate, but make sure you give yourself the grace to both say no to less important things and compromise on the more important ones.

1. The Balanced CEO: The 8 Elements of a Balanced Life

2. Mindful Mind Hacking: Using Outcome-Based Thinking to Get Un-Stuck

3. PsychCentral: How to Live in The Moment And Be More Present

4. Hive: Life Is Short. Relentlessly Prune The Non-Essentials

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

This material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. There is no assurance that the views

or strategies discussed are suitable for all investors. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, please consult your financial professional prior to investing.

Investing involves risks including possible loss of principal. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee return or eliminate risk. Indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment and does not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

This material was prepared by LPL Financial, LLC. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however LPL Financial makes no representation as to its completeness

or accuracy.

Unless otherwise stated LPL Financial and the third party persons and firms mentioned are not affiliates of each other and make no representation with respect to each other. Any company names noted herein are for educational purposes only and not an indication of trading intent or a solicitation of their products or services.

Asset Class Disclosures –

International investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors. These risks are often heightened for investments in emerging markets.

Bonds are subject to market and interest rate risk if sold prior to maturity.

Municipal bonds are subject and market and interest rate risk and potentially capital gains tax if sold prior to maturity. Interest income may be subject to the alternative minimum tax. Municipal bonds are federally tax-free but other state and local taxes may apply.

Preferred stock dividends are paid at the discretion of the issuing company. Preferred stocks are subject to interest rate and credit risk. They may be subject to a call features.

Alternative investments may not be suitable for all investors and involve special risks such as leveraging the investment, potential adverse market forces, regulatory changes and potentially illiquidity. The strategies employed in the management of alternative investments may accelerate the velocity of potential losses.

Mortgage backed securities are subject to credit, default, prepayment, extension, market and interest rate risk.

High yield/junk bonds (grade BB or below) are below investment grade securities, and are subject to higher interest rate, credit, and liquidity risks than those graded BBB and above. They generally should be part of a diversified portfolio for sophisticated investors.

Precious metal investing involves greater fluctuation and potential for losses.

The fast price swings of commodities will result in significant volatility in an investor’s holdings.

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer. Member FINRA/SIPC.

Not Insured by FDIC/NCUA or Any Other Government Agency | Not Bank/Credit Union Deposits or Obligations | Not Bank/Credit Union Guaranteed | May Lose Value

For public use.

LEG-000376FLY36-1123W Tracking# 520151 (Exp. 12/25)

All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however LPL Financial makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy.