As you know, the coronavirus situation continues to hammer the markets. All over the world, investors large and small are facing a level of uncertainty we haven\u2019t experienced in over a decade. But I\u2019m proud to say that, based on the conversations I\u2019ve had with you and my other clients, there may be no group of people in the world who are handling this situation better. The majority of my clients have all told me some variation of the same thing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not fun, but I\u2019m not stressing about it too much. I know the markets will recover eventually.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, they know that, while what goes up must come down, what goes downwill eventually bounce back up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was also proud when a client asked me a very simple, but very smart <\/em>question the other day:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen this is all over, what will I wish <\/em>I had done?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This question really got me thinking. Investors are bombarded every day with opinions (informed or otherwise), data (informative or misleading), and news (real or fake). As a result, many investors have panicked. When the coronavirus pandemic resolves and the markets rebound, what will they wish <\/em>they had done? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are my answers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. They\u2019ll wish they had focused on the long-term instead of the short. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Investing, by its very nature, is a long-term activity. <\/em>Even people who are close to retirement are still investing for the long-term. That\u2019s why, while bear markets are uncomfortable, they\u2019re also somewhat overrated. Markets fall over days, weeks, and sometimes, months. But history has shown that they rise <\/em>over the course of years and decades, which is good for us, because we\u2019ll be investing for years to come! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Investors who forget this, who think that what\u2019s happening now <\/em>will happen always, <\/em>are falling prey to recency bias. <\/strong>And that never ends well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. They\u2019ll wish they had double-checked our asset allocation before all this started.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Asset allocation \u2013 the process of spreading your investments across different asset classes \u2013 is one of the most important things an investor can do to balance risk versus reward. During bear markets, the investors who get burned the most are the ones who \u201cput all their eggs in one basket.\u201d That\u2019s because they didn\u2019t stop to think what would happen if they let their basket drop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Investors who have spread their money across a variety of asset classes \u2013 who have truly diversified <\/em>\u2013 know they have plenty of eggs left to cook with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. They\u2019ll wish they hadn\u2019t tried to take shortcuts. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of the last time you were caught in a traffic jam. You\u2019re sitting there, idling in traffic, when suddenly, the lane next to you starts to move. So, you quickly merge into that lane, only to get stuck again. Meanwhile, the lane you were just in is now moving\u2026and all the cars that were once behind you are now speeding ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maddening, isn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n When bear markets hit, investors often panic. Instead of sticking to their long-term strategy, they sell, sell, sell \u2013 at a time when everyone <\/em>is selling. This means they are selling low. In other words, they try to change lanes in the middle of a traffic jam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But again, we\u2019re in this for the long-term. The road we\u2019re on stretches for miles. <\/em>Sometimes, the speed limit is 75 miles per hour. Sometimes, it\u2019s only 25. Trying to take shortcuts just leads to longer delays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. They\u2019ll wish they had positioned themselves to take advantage of when the markets rebound. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It happened after the Great Depression. It happened after the stock market crash of \u201987. It happened after the dot-com bubble burst. It happened after the financial crisis of 2008. It happened after the fourth quarter of 2018. The markets recovered \u2013 and climbed to new heights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as bear markets are inevitable, so too are bull markets. Investors who don\u2019t think long-term, who try to take shortcuts, who don\u2019t try to balance risk and reward, will not be positioned to take advantage of the next one. Which means that when this is all over and the markets rebound, when they look over at the lane next to them and see people zooming ahead, they\u2019ll be wishing they had done things differently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But here\u2019s the good news: When this is all over, we won\u2019t <\/em>be wishing we had done these things. Why? Because we\u2019re already doing them! So, while headlines probably won\u2019t be pleasant over the next several weeks, we can take comfort in this very simple fact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When this is all over, we won\u2019t need to look back and regret. All we\u2019ll need to do is keep looking forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what headlines you see over the coming weeks and months, always remember that my team and I are here for you. We\u2019re here to answer your questions. We\u2019re here to keep an eye on your money. We\u2019re here to help you hold to your long-term dreams and plans. So, if there\u2019s ever anything more we can do, please don\u2019t hesitate to let us know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because we\u2019re here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As you know, the coronavirus situation continues to hammer the markets. All over the world, investors large and small are facing a level of uncertainty we haven\u2019t experienced in over a decade. But I\u2019m proud to say that, based on the conversations I\u2019ve had with you and my other clients, there may be no group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_statement":"","post_description":"","post_cta":"","post_button":"Read More","post_button_url":"","compliance_id":"","post_disclaimer":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1969,"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457\/revisions\/1969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garrettandrobinson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}