4th Quarter Fallout
Mistakes 401k Participant Might Make After Reading Their Latest Statement
Passions routinely lead to bad decisions. Retirement savers must control their passions. They must possess the discipline to sit quietly when everything in their heart (not their brain) tells them they must act. “The single worst decision someone who is saving and investing for retirement can make in a period of sustained market volatility is to make emotional decisions with their investments and savings,” says Lloyd A. Sacks, Managing Director, Sacks & Associates Wealth Management, Bridgewater, New Jersey. “It is generally very easy to get scared out of a position, and emotions can override rational reasoning, common sense, and the logic that we used to make the investment decisions in the first place. I am always reminded of what Darcy Howe, a VP with Merrill Lynch, once famously stated about investing: ‘I’ve always felt that investing is like a bar of soap. The more you handle it, the smaller it gets.’”
