I admit it — the last year in the market has been rough for everyone. No one wants to look at their account statements. I have been getting more questions lately from concerned clients, friends, and family asking if they should continue to stay invested or finally throw in the towel and get out for a while. These questions have been coming from different people in various professions, at different stages of life, and with different levels of wealth, so if you have had these same thoughts and concerns, rest assured you're not alone. There is still a lot of uncertainty out there (will the Fed continue to raise rates? will inflation start to slow down? will we enter a recession?), and the market (and thus investors) does not like uncertainty.
We have been through rocky markets before and we will go through them again. Warren Buffett once said, "Be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy." This can be a helpful mantra to keep repeating to yourself during times of market volatility. I also like "this too shall pass."
Remember — it's time in the market that counts, not timing the market.
To see why staying invested is so important, check out this short video on The Cost of Trying to Time the Market.