Since this year’s market is expected to continue to be volatile, I want to remind you that in times of market volatility, going to safer alternatives is tempting but can be costly. Safer alternatives should only be used for money that you want to use in the short-term and not as a response to potential market downturn fears.
We would all like to miss market drops (Bear market) but avoiding short-term declines by exiting the market often results in missing large market increases (Bull market). In fact, if you missed the market’s 10 best days over the past 30 years, your returns would have been cut in half. And missing the best 30 days would have reduced your returns by an astonishing 83%.
S&P 500 Index Average Annual Total Returns: 1993–2022*
*Past performance does not guarantee future results. [Data Source: Morningstar 2/23].
The bottom line – “Good Days Happen in Bad Markets” and exiting to safer allocations due to fear usually results in significant losses.
Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS