[Zipporah Sandler – Ambassador]

I have to preface this post by saying that I’m a gambler who’s learned to be more conservative. I still have this get quick rich mentality (I just love playing blackjack), but at the same time I realize that I have a good chance of losing it all if I bet my investments that way. Spending a few dollars on a night out is one thing, losing my life savings is another.

Over the years, I’ve learned that rather than pick individual stocks, to leave that to the mutual fund managers, who are much better than I am at choosing winners from losers. I’ve also laddered my CD’s, buying every 6 months in case I find that there might be a better place to put my money (and something always seems to be coming due).

Before the election, I wasn’t quite sure how to best invest and I decided that being conservative and buying bonds was a good idea…then the stock market went UP, UP, UP. Talk about having buyers remorse. Then the market made a correction last week and came down a bit.

While I’m completely ferklempt (confused) as my grandmother used to say, I still have the feeling that by diversifying conservatively that I’ll be better off. That doesn’t mean that I won’t take a little of my “mad money” and buy a stock that I love every now and then. But, I use so little that if I lose it all, it’s not going to make a big difference.

My Easy as 1-2-3 plan for these turbulent times

1. I made a plan and I’m sticking to it. I feel that by “staying the course” that I won’t make any crazy investment moves that will hurt me in the long run.

2. I have an emergency fund that never gets touched and I keep liquid

3. I’m sticking with a balance of CDs, bond and mutual funds. While I won’t get rich quickly this way, I’m also covered no matter which way things swing.

My husband is retired and collecting social security and I am old enough to begin, but will put it off as long as I am healthy enough to work so that I can collect at a higher rate.

I’m sure there is more that I can be doing. What tactics are you using to try and keep you investing on course?

[Sum180 Lead Coach]

That’s a good plan, Zipporah. We had a few thoughts on this topic that we shared on the SUM180 Weekly Webcast this past Wednesday. Let us know what you think?

The main tactic we recommend is “stay the course,” for a lot of the reasons you talked about. Assuming someone has the right overall allocation of stocks vs. bonds vs. cash vs real estate for their age, historical data shows they are best off to stay invested for the long term.