The stock market, as well all know, is in the midst of a panic, plummeting heavily as the overwhelm of COVID-19 is taking hold. Headlines suggest that some of the world’s biggest companies are in crisis, especially those that rely on the travel industry like Boeing, who has just asked for US$60B in bailouts, as well as countless hotels and restaurants. The New York Stock Exchange and the Dow Index are closing at record lows, some calling the situation closer to the 1929 crash than to the drops experienced in the global economic crisis of 2008.
But now is not the time to change direction quickly or to panic. It’s actually a time for pension members to take a deep breath, and wait.
Bad times are good tests for the strength of pension security. Worldwide recessions, our view of the economy, and global events that drive panic and challenges to our collective confidence will always be tests for the quality of pension resilience.