MoneyMerc

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last two weeks (or last year, for that matter), you know some serious stuff is going on in the US and World financial markets.

Here are some tips to navigate in this type of environment:

• Worry about the things you can control – are you more likely to have no money because your stocks went to zero, or you didn’t save enough in the first place?  (from a recent article by Ramit at iwillteachyoutoberich.com).  Take a look at your savings % and spending habits if you haven’t in a while.  As I’ve mentioned previously, I recommend using Mint to track your spending.
• Think about your investing strategy – it should NOT be: “sell after large declines”.  In fact, head over to Google Finance and look at the most popular S&P index fund from Vanguard.  On the bottom of the graph, you can see the prices since 2000.  Between 2000 and 2007, where on that graph do you WISH you could have bought this investment?  At the bottom, of course, somewhere between Q3′02 and Q1′03.  In terms of your current portfolio, down markets are times to look AHEAD, not BACKWARDS.  You can only change the future… and right now, Mr Market is having a huge sale.
• Resist the urge to speculate.  If your co-workers are like mine, every day they are discussing which single stocks they are (or say they are) buying, which are going to make them a lot of money.  Your chances of losing your shirt are MUCH higher with single stocks (look at recent glaring examples – LEH, AIG, Fannie/Freddie…)   The S&P is down a good measure in the last year – 22% (Sept 26′07-Sept 23′08).  That is a lot less than 98% down, like many stocks these days – in the S&P, you still have 80% of your money (despite “the worse economic crisis since the Great Depression”)!  This is why I believe that individual investors should only invest in index funds, and in some cases mutual funds.
• Follow the news, but don’t obsess.  I’ve previously touted “turning off CNN“, but have to confess I’ve been reading the WSJ every day following this crisis.  I blame it on the fact that I work for a bank.  It’s fine to stay current – but if you’ve looked at your 401k and brokerage account values more than once in the last month, it’s too much.  Checking the balance every day will just disappoint you, and make you question what you know is the right thing to do – stay the course.  Be in for the long-term.