Hi, it’s your Money Mavens with Hendershott Wealth Management, and yes, we’ve also seen the news…
Inflation is at a 40-year high in the U.S…
Market conditions are more uncertain than usual with looming talks of war…
Heartbreaking updates and images from Ukraine…
Unemployment, ongoing pandemic concerns, economic and civil unrest…
Even more tax increases are in the wind…
*whew!*
That’s the sound of all of us taking a deep breath.
Headlines can be scary for one key reason…
Fear is one of the most powerful attention stealers.
It can drive us to act in ways we’d never thought we’d act.
Did you know that the same part of the human brain lights up when we’re running from a bear in the woods as it does when we’re watching our investment account balances fall?
It’s our fight, flight, or fright response – and all it immediately tells us is “DANGER!”
And right now, that little voice might be screaming at you, “Don’t just stand there! DO SOMETHING!”
It might even be your first instinct to ask your financial advisor to ‘go to cash’ – sell all your investments, sit on cash in your portfolio, and try to ‘time the bottom’.
We get it – you want to know your money will stay safe.
But those types of knee-jerk reactions are what Charles Ellis, dubbed Wall Street’s wisest man, called “The Loser’s Game”.
Investors who go rogue tend to underperform a simple buy-and-hold of low-cost index funds.
Not only that, but every time the stock market goes through a negative returns period, thousands of investors get nervous and sell out.
This not only locks in losses, but it puts you in a position to likely miss out on the recovery days!
Markets go up and down and no one knows when the best performing days in the market will be.
State leaders around the world come and go.
There will always be plenty of bad news in the headlines warning about disaster ahead.
Our team at Hendershott Wealth Management has over 50 years of collective experience as financial advisors.
We’ve guided clients through highly profitable time periods and very (potentially) costly time periods.
We pay close attention to the stock market, the economy, and the factors that may impact your investments.
Are we nervous? No, we’re not.
Are we worried? No, we’re not.
Do we sleep at night? If we don’t, it likely has little to do with financial headlines and more to do with having kids or being a lifelong insomniac.
The best advice, truly the best thing to do when the headlines say the sky is falling, is:
- Make sure you have an evergreen financial and investment plan in place, and then…
- Rely on your plan. Trust the plan, not your emotions.
In other words, don’t just do something – STAND THERE!
If you don’t have an evergreen financial and investing plan, now might be the time to get one. If you do, lean into it confidently and refuse to act on your emotions.
Remember: when it comes to investing, our emotions tend to lead us astray.
With the right plan, you have a much better chance to weather whatever the market throws your way.
To your prosperity,
The HWM Money Mavens
Disclosure:
All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. There is no guarantee that any investment plan or strategy will be successful. Advisory services provided by Hendershott Wealth Management, LLC (“HWM”), an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. All written content in this article is for information purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of HWM, unless otherwise specifically cited. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources and no representations are made by our firm as to another parties’ informational accuracy or completeness. All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation.
