If watching the news, makes you crazy (it does to me), then turn it off and do something else.
Last year, our office was exceptionally busy. Clients were adding additional funds to their investments and many new clients were being referred to us. People were excited to invest. About 5 weeks ago, it all stopped! Why? With the market corrections, slumps, volatility, fear of inflation and recession, people are scared.
If you wanted to invest when the DOW was at 37,000, why wouldn't you want to invest when the DOW is below 33,000? The same is true with the NASDAQ and the S&P 500.
Even though there is a lot of uncertainty and I don't agree with the political decisions affecting the economy, I do have faith in American business. Whatever the politicians mess up, businesses will adapt and when adapting becomes impossible, there will be political change. Long term, I'm not worried about the market. You should not let short term fluctuations deter you from your overall investment plan. When planning for retirement, the inevitable ups and downs of the market should be taken into consideration.
While past performance is not a guarantee of future results, we do have a history and it's normal for the markets to make 10%, 15% and even 20% corrections.
Depending on your situation Even though you may think you don't have a long term time horizon, you might. An 80 year old woman has a life expectancy of 10.1 years, while an 80 year old man has an 8.7 year life expectancy (https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/longevity.cgi). 8 - 10 years might be considered long term. Time horizon is a big factor in determining a person's tolerance for risk. Does an 80 year old person have a long term time horizon? You decide.
If you're drawing income, continue to do so at a reasonable rate appropriate for your situation.
Your investment portfolio in our opinion should be:
- Diversified
- Professionally Managed
- Personalized for you
- Invested for the Long Term
- Not traded on emotion
- Liquid enough for your needs
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks.
- The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy.
- The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.