Like most people, I'm finding it very hard to distance myself from the grim news that has dominated the financial headlines over the past few months. Everyday seems to bring another story of a European bank or country on the brink of failure, the U.S federal government's fiscal issues leading the country to the verge of financial meltdown and more and more bad news on the economic front. It's safe to say that all of this is leading to heartburn for many investors, particularly those who are most exposed to equity markets and have thus received the brunt of the market's move to the downside.
We will thus hear the requisite talking heads on CNBC and other financial news networks extolling the virtues of "buying aggressively" or from the opposite end of the spectrum "moving assets into cash, Treasuries, precious metals and other safe havens". My advice to you is relatively simple and may seem to go against the grain but it's battle tested and makes sense: simply stay the course, continue with your investment plan and let the market work its issues out.
As soon as we become reactionary and allow market movements severely dictate how we invest in the here and now, we have let our emotions get the best of us. This is not to say that we shouldn't put some more funds to work since stock prices are low - in that case, it may make sense to buy some more shares of your index funds to better dollar cost average - but avoid any actions that run contrary to what your investment plan is. If, for example, you contribute 10% of your pre-tax pay to your 401(k), it may make sense to up that percentage to 15% or so if you can afford to do that. However, slashing that rate to 0 or upping it to 30% simply doesn't make much sense. Believe me, that type of reaction to current market gyrations occurs a lot more frequently than you realize! As the legendary John Bogle noted, "Don't do something. Just stand there."
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