Economic strains in Greece to have little impact locally

If you're wondering how the ongoing financial crisis in Greece might affect your personal investments an ocean away, local financial advisors' advice is simple: don't panic.

"We don't see any major global implications from what's going to take place," said Chad Horton, financial advisor at Wells Fargo in Jefferson City.

Greece has made international headlines recently as the country's leadership tries to secure a bailout agreement with the creditors it is indebted to, particularly the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. The country's government remained in bailout discussions Saturday. If an agreement is not reached, Greece is in danger of leaving the 19-country eurozone and switching from the euro to its own form of currency.

Where worry may have arisen for people in the United States is that their investments, such as mutual funds and 401(K) and IRA retirement plans, may have a stake in international companies.

"Today's retirees, if they're not paying attention and just kind of doing a "set it and forget it' on their portfolio, are invested in Greece and they don't know it ... or companies that do business in those places," said Andy Beshuk, owner of Providence Financial in Jefferson City.

But Greece's economy is relatively small in the worldwide market, and fallout of the country's financial trouble likely would have little long-term effect here, advisors say.

"The impact from any negative Greece headlines is really much more emotional and psychological and less really fiscal," Horton said. "It doesn't change our opinion that the European economy is actually improving and in a good situation ... along with our U.S. markets. Although it may temporarily derail things, the longer-term recoveries really shouldn't be impacted all that much."

The most noticeable impact local investors might see is a short-term decrease in value reported on their monthly retirement plan statement.

"All that is is a snapshot of what it's worth on the day that statement was printed, if you wanted to sell everything that day. For most of us, we're not planning on selling our 401(k) in the next month," Horton said. "For your long-term investments, there's really nothing that you can take from this situation and apply it to your investments."

For young investors, there's even less to worry about.

"It's almost irrelevant to a young person. A young person is a long-term buyer," Beshuk said. "If the stock market crashes and the price goes down, you buy more cheap. It all comes down to buying low and selling high. These young people aren't selling for 30 years."

Any call for caution at this point is directed more toward those in retirement age.

"My clients are older, and they're on a fixed income; and it's devastating if you have a portfolio that takes a 40-percent whack when you're in retirement," Beshuk said. "For retirees, it's a time to be more safe than you normally would."

The advice for people in or near retirement really isn't any different than it normally would be, though.

"People in or near retirement ... they should be protecting more and more of their assets," Beshuk said. "I think retirees are not going to regret being more cautious in the stock market that we're looking at right now."

Beshuk is more cautious about what the situation in Greece could foreshadow on a larger scale.

"I don't expect the problems in Greece to cause a worldwide tumble ... Greece is a tiny prelude to, I think, a bigger problem," he said. "Greece is a tiny little picture of problems everybody has. ... Italy has a lot of problems; Spain has a lot of problems. Those are huge economies."

But local advisors agree the time for concern is not now.

"Don't panic. Don't make any investment decisions based on news headlines," Horton said. "If the past week has taught us anything, it's that tomorrow could be different."