Over the last 12 months or so, the market appears to be down. In fact, when I logged into my own Vanguard account in January of this year, I discovered that one of my funds was down -8% and the other -10%.
I did some quick research and realized that over these past 12 months, there have been four separate times when the market dropped -10%+. That’s enough to get anyone’s blood pressure and anxiety levels up! And rightfully so! If you are in, or nearing, retirement, those drops mean a lot more to you than someone who is younger and still working. The bottom line is that it is very hard to make up what you’ve lost, especially if you are taking withdrawals from your retirement savings.
And when this pattern happens enough to drive us crazy, we do what many people do. We get fed up and stick our money under our mattress. I don’t mean our literal mattress. I’m talking about leaving your money sitting in cash.
We can all agree cash is safe, but it doesn’t pay anything! If you consider inflation, then holding cash is probably costing you money, but that’s another story.
So is it going to be the market or the mattress?
Tell them both “no” because there are options that will give you the best of both worlds. To find out more, call me at 617-630-8787. Or visit us on the web at www.justdontlosethemoney.com.
