If you think it has been painful that the market has been down each of the past four weeks, your nest egg hasn’t seen anything yet.

The 2022 investment year is now well underway and financial advisors and investors would be well advised to not, as the old saying goes, “fight the tape” of what is shaping up to be a difficult year for the stock market.

As investors and financial advisors approach the end of 2021 and consider their annual recalibration of portfolio mix for the coming year, they would be prudent to factor in some difficult economic realities that can no longer be ignored–that will alter stock and bond performance into and well past 2022.

Everyone was eager to put 2020 behind us, yet the Covid hangover lingers.

Dysfunction in Washington is amplifying market volatility and exposing investors to unacceptable risks. Those who adhere to traditional 60/40 portfolios are foregoing the necessary protection from a recession and the bear market that will follow.

The last month has been a particularly choppy one for markets, with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) spiking more than 80% during October. It’s clear the combination of rising interest rates, mounting trade tensions and looming recession fears are setting in.