Volatility is part of the process.
Picture this: It’s a Tuesday morning in the south of France. The sun is starting to spill over the tiled rooftops, the chickens are clucking in the garden, and I’ve just sat down with a fresh croissant and a strong café crème. The world feels still, calm, and grounded.
Meanwhile, back in the financial headlines, markets are on a rollercoaster ride. One day it’s inflation, the next it’s interest rates, followed by tech stocks tumbling, oil prices soaring, and a newsflash about a political scandal that might change everything, or nothing at all.
It’s noisy out there. All the time.
And in my work as a cross-border financial planner, I see how this noise affects people. I chat with British expats in Houston, South Africans in Cape Town, French nationals in London, and just last week, a client in Chile who was watching the market volatility and wondering if it was time to pull out of his investments.
This is where calm comes in.
Because while you might feel like the markets are crashing around you, the truth is, volatility is part of the process. The key is not to let your emotions do the steering. That’s where having a clear head, and a long-term plan, matters most.
One of the most powerful things a financial planner can offer isn’t a magic fund pick or secret market timing formula. It’s perspective. The ability to zoom out, look at your long-term goals, and remind you that the blip on today’s graph is just that… a blip.
And when you work with a planner who understands the complexity of expat life, things like tax residency, pensions spread across different countries, and currency fluctuations, you get something even more valuable: clarity.
Markets rise and fall; this has always been true. But if your investments are aligned with your goals, your risk profile is well matched, and your cash flow is planned properly, then a bit of market noise shouldn’t keep you up at night.
So, what’s my initial advice?
Tune out the media frenzy; it’s not designed to serve your financial wellbeing. Reconnect with your goals. And next time the market wobbles, take a breath, take a walk, or if you’re nearby, take a croissant and a coffee in the French sunshine, and remember what really matters.
If you need help building that kind of resilience into your finances, or if your portfolio feels more panicked than planned, give me a call. Let’s make sure your strategy is sound, your mindset is strong, and your life, wherever in the world you are, is more croissant and calm than chaos and concern.
