My granddaughter just completed her first year away at college. It was a good experience and I’m proud to say she got great grades. Unfortunately, the college experience hasn’t been so great for many students across America.

I suspect what’s going on at numerous campuses will cause a large number of students to transfer over the summer. And we already know that many large donors have announced they are terminating their generosity. I wouldn’t be surprised if college enrolment decreases next fall.

With all the campus chaos, the ongoing FAFSA fiasco, continuing inflation and a highly politically divided nation going into an election, it’s no wonder so many people are feeling anxious. So let’s look at some ways you can help ease that anxiety.

First, double down on your efforts to control your spending. In times of anxiety, households should be a bit more cautious with their spending. Uncontrolled spending can quickly lead to financial peril.

Even the small stuff can be problematic. It adds up faster than you might think. Take coffee for example. A $4 coffee four days a week adds up to $16 and that turns into about $800 per year. So what you might have thought was a small, insignificant expenditure is a meaningful amount over time.

In these inflationary times with prices rising everywhere, bills can add up quickly. Monitoring your spending is a must in this environment.

And then there’s investing. I can’t say it enough. Diversify and stay diversified. Nobody knows what the future will bring. Diversification may not be an ironclad strategy, but it certainly provides an element of protection.

Diversifying simply means having your investments in various asset classes, not all in one basket. There are many ways to do that. High-tech stocks, for example, are relatively popular.

But a diversified portfolio would also include other classes such as domestic blue chips, small- and mid-caps and perhaps some international stocks.

If you would like assistance putting together a diversified portfolio, I encourage you to meet with a professional. An experienced financial advisor can guide you through the financial maze and help you combine the right ingredients based on your age, risk tolerance, knowledge and comfort.

Another good way to fend off anxiety is something I’ve ponded home for decades. Can you guess? Yes, it’s having adequate cash reserves set aside. I can’t say it enough. You just don’t know what the future will bring. No matter how well you plan, life is likely to hit you with something unforeseen. Hopefully it will be something minor. How much should you stow away? An advisor can also help you with that.

My final piece of advice may be the hardest to follow, but it’s entirely in your hands. The advice is simply to be patient.

To be a successful long-term investor, you need to have an iron stomach. Based on history, I suspect we might experience some financial turbulence that will require lots of patience. The worst thing you can do during turbulent times is to totally abandon your investments.

There are many investors today who still have not recovered from abandoning their investments during the turmoil of 2008. Fine tuning and adjusting are significantly different than abandonment. Yes, a financial advisor can help you with that too.

Email your questions to kenmorris@lifetimeplanning.com. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. Society for Lifetime Planning is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS. https://kestrafinancial.com/disclosures.