2022 Investment year in review

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - As many of you may have noticed in your 401k statements or online portfolios, it was a rough year for some investments.

For some looking to retire comfortably in 2022, it might have been a tough decision. But how bad of a year was it for Wall Street..pretty bad according to some.

“There was really nowhere to hide in the markets. Looking back probably the last market that was similar as far as losses, was in 2008 when we had ‘The Great Recession’,” said David Wald, with Securian Financial.

Record-low interest rates were reversed as the Federal Reserve fought to control record-high inflation rates. Some experts expect more interest rate hikes as we enter 2023.

“If you are an interested buyer, I would move sooner rather than later, if you’re not working with cash. If you’ve got cash, you can do anything you want, but if you’re needing the payments to match up with you your rates are going to start affecting your payments considerably of what you can have,” said Eugene Graner, President of Heartland Investor Services.

2022 also brought skyrocketing gas and grain prices flamed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The big standout that affected the marketplace and more specifically commodity markets, you know the crude oil and the grains, was the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That of course occurred in the later days of February, exploding the wheat values to $14 a bushel,” said Graner.

In 2023, Graner and Wald say it will be important to get in touch with your financial advisor to see where your investments are at and where they are positioned for the next year.

“Talk to their advisor talk to their professional, and from there get a game plan for 2023, so that you’re ready for the markets if it does have a choppy start to 2023, or if it turns around you want to be ready for both of those,” said Wald.

As we close the books on 2022 and look into 2023, the jury is still out on how the markets respond to rising interest rates, and how commodity markets will react. Both advisors said inflation will play a major role in how 2023 shapes up.

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