Now is the time for New Year’s resolutions. Aside from going to the gym more often or sticking to your new diet, let’s talk about investment related resolutions.
Consider these two quotes: “It’s not timing the market, it’s time in the market” and “investments are like a bar of soap: the more you touch them, the smaller they get.”
Sage advice for sure. So, a strong resolution could be to do less tinkering with your investments. We realize that the current economic environment is not really conducive to remaining calm and sitting still. Europe is a big question mark for the stock market–sending the market up significantly on one day and down significantly the next.
The U.S. economy is in pretty good shape. Our companies are strong and much better prepared for the current conditions. Our economy is growing slowly, but growing nonetheless. We expect that trend to continue for the next year.
Think about this, for 2011, the stock market (as measured by the S&P 500) ended essentially flat. That is after a tsunami, major government shakeups in the Arab world, all the turmoil with Greece, the U.S. downgrade, more turmoil with Greece and Europe. For the record, our crystal ball didn’t see any of those coming.
Looking ahead to 2012, we aren’t seeing anything like that–but who knows. It is likely, that we will continue to see ups and downs, but historical long term trend for stocks is up. So, it makes a lot of sense to take up that resolution and not tinker with your portfolio.
If we can help you with your New Year’s resolution or any other investment related issues, please let us know.
If you have questions, please feel free to give us a call at 1-866-848-0258.
