It’s time to get real and talk about our cash. Raise your hand if your investments dropped and you’ve lost money in your portfolio over the last few years. My hand is up, yes it happens to the best of us. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, if anything I’m proud of the way I reacted.
HELLO my name it Tahnya Kristina, I am a Certified Financial Planner and my investments dropped in value. But you know what? I’m not mad at them. I should be, but I’m not.
Yes they lost money, yes they didn’t do as I asked and yes they are changing every single day. If my investment portfolio was a man we would have broken up a long time ago. However all the rules go out the window when it comes to money and saving.
These are all the reasons why I’m not mad that my investments dropped and why I’m not selling them:
It’s only a paper loss right now
The worst thing you can do when you check your account balance online or get a paper statement in the mail is overreact and sell your investments. When you look at the value it’s only a paper loss, a numerical value on a piece of paper or computer screen.
Only when you sell those investments do you actually take the physical monetary loss. My advice is to sit tight and remember the market works in cycles. If you don’t like seeing the value of your investments go down then don’t look at them, but selling is not the answer.
I’m saving for the long term
The way to make money in the stock market is to buy low and sell high. If you sell after the market drops you are taking a loss and that’s not good. Before you decide to sell your investments ask yourself, why am I doing it? If you’re selling because the value dropped that’s the wrong answer.
My investment portfolio is for retirement and since I’m only 35 years old I don’t need the money – not anytime soon. When I see the value of my investments decline I just keep telling myself “Don’t worry it’s only temporary. Don’t worry you don’t need the money for a long time.”
Market fluctuations are normal
If you’re saving for the long term you don’t need the money right now. It’s normal for the market to fluctuate, that’s just a part of investing. Trying to buy in at the exact lowest point of the year and selling on the highest day is not a strategy that’s ever worked.
Just invest in a well balanced portfolio that you’re comfortable with and leave it at that. Be conscious that the higher risk you take the more the value will fluctuate, if you’re not comfortable with the ups and downs then maybe you need to invest in something that’s a little more stable.
If you need a little bit of help deciding which investments are right for you Sandy and I offer individual money coaching sessions. Sometimes getting a second opinion is the best way to decide what’s right.