Did you know that recession announcements tend to be extremely late? Often by the time they are called, the stock market would already have bottomed and is on its way to recovery.

After a depressing 2022 for investors, many prepared for the most widely anticipated recession in history. And yet, markets have defied the bad news by having a decent 1H 2023, with double-digit returns for global stocks.

The market actually does worse before a recession as compared to during a recession itself, and if you’re holding the right assets, a recession is nothing to be scared about.

An overwhelming number of recession forecasts do not necessarily mean a recession is certain, but if major recessions of the past has shown us anything, it’s that investments still can make decent and even better returns.

Lately, financial media have been pushing out opinions from billionaires, banks, investment managers and just about anybody who wants to appear smart, on the breadth, depth and scope of the “upcoming recession”. So what does all of this mean to you and your money?

Whether it is tomorrow or 5 years from now, if you are investing in a way that enables you to capture all available market returns without having to make forecasts, then the threat of a looming recession or job losses or wage decreases or a whole bevy of other worries should not sidetrack you.

When people think about impending recessions and its effects on the markets, the response is rarely a positive one. But can data provide a case for the silver lining of recessions?

The stock market has seen its worst start in 50 years — people are asking: Are there more declines coming? What about recession? When’s the best time to invest? Perhaps past events can provide some perspective.

Barely two years out of the pandemic recession, we are met with negative market returns and an aggressive interest rate hiking plan by the US Federal Reserve. Knowing how markets work during these circumstances can provide some perspective and allow you to make the right decisions for your portfolio.

In early April, investment strategists and the financial media were buzzing with what they determined to be a recession signal. In this data-rich world, we find ourselves asking, this yield-curve-inversion, is it important?

Volatility and downturns are part and parcel of investing, and it happens more often than you think. As long as you are holding a diversified global portfolio, staying put throughout the turbulence would have given you a long-term return over 7% in SGD terms.

With investors scrambling to add different asset classes into their portfolios to equal their returns to that of 10-20 years ago, they may be exposed to higher volatility than the past as well.

One of the best times to plan for an economic downturn is when markets are behaving normally, investors are feeling bullish, the economy is on the mend, and we have clarity of thought.

Stock prices just crashed. What should you do?

Volatile markets can be a time of opportunity rather than devastation.