I am about to share my personal thoughts on this topic. These do not represent the company I work for nor should they be taken as personal advice to every person out there. You should contact your financial professional for a review if you are concerned...see my disclaimer at the side bar...talking about money makes me nervous in this type of a setting, however, this is on my mind. I am so upset at the media during times like this and it drives me crazy that they are scaring people who are simply innocently unknowing about how things work...that is my rant for today! :-)
I shudder to think of all of those people selling at a loss because they are afraid thanks to those who are looking for a news story!
The media is doing its best to bring gloom and doom to our financial markets and to bring a recession to the States.
Are you listening?
Are you afraid?
Whether you need to fear depends on a few important things...
How are you set for emergency funds? It is wise to have some money set aside in case an emergency should happen...three to six months worth is good.
If you are invested in stocks or bonds is it the right mix and risk level for you?
I had a client for a long time who would panic each time the market fell. I would encourage her to hold on until prices came back and then we could move them to something less prone to the changing of the markets. However, when the prices were up she would not move that money...she loved the growth...so the cycle would continue. How are you when the market fluctuates? If you are in it for the long term and are continuing to invest on a regular basis you should be rejoicing during the "down" times. You have just hit the motherload of sales. Each dollar going in now is purchasing more shares.
If you are in the process of taking money from your retirement accounts, this drop in the markets is scary. I like to place my clients retirement into a few different accounts. A more stable returning fund for the money to be drafted from and then a couple of more agressive funds for the longer term growth. If you are set up in a similar way you need not fret the downturns that are healthy in a market.
Can you imagine a stock market that went only up? Pretty soon no one would be able to afford to invest. We have seen trends where the pricing has gotten pretty high.
History has shown that fluctuation in the markets is to be expected and is healthy.
As for a recession...are we headed for one? I don't know. One thing I am fairly certain of right now is that this is not it! We have only seen a slowing in the growth pattern...not the losses that must continue for a certain period of time before it is actually a recession.
Yell at those talking heads on the TV
any time they talk about this recession!
I do!
Work on eliminating debt...but not at the expense of growing a retirement account. It is possible to do both at once.
A review of your budget would show us the debt load and the income stream.
Oh, I had better save this discussion for another day...It deserves it's own post!
Love to all of you...
Fear not!
Do take the time to review
your plan
and make sure you are not
going to be hurting in case of
a severe downturn.
This should be a call to action
not a time of panic.
If you are not planning to pull money
from your retirement in the next five years
or you have enough money in the account
you are pulling from for about three years...
relax and invest all you can afford to put away...
after you have a little nest egg set aside
for the unexpected leaky roof
or the expired furnace.
