HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — After seeing some gains Tuesday morning, the markets closed in the red, continuing a trend of sinking stock prices that is leaving many people wondering about their investments.
“We do get a lot of calls when the markets are acting the way they are now with people who are just concerned about their balance going down,” said Michael McGlaughn, an investment advisor representative and the COO of Trilogy Wealth Management.
McGlaughn works primarily with people planning for retirement, and he said they are worried about having enough money to live on when they retire.
When facing an uncertain market, McGlaughn said the worst thing you can do is panic.
“We can’t time the market, and our emotions typically make us do things that feel good at that point in time but maybe are not necessarily the right thing to do from a financial standpoint,” McGlaughn said.
He said the market will eventually recover.
When it comes to investments, McGlaughn said you have to decide how much you are willing to risk. He said your assets fall into three categories: short-, mid- and long-term.
Short-term assets are the money you need right now, and those investments should be less risky. Mid- and long-term assets are going to come into pay in five to 10-plus years.
“Money that you’re counting on for that period of time, this is where we would say if you’re positioned correctly in terms of your risk and your time horizon, you can kind of ride through this rough patch and things will kind of level out,” McGlaughn said.
He said, if you are planning for the future, do not derail that plan because of what you are seeing in the market today. While it is too soon to tell how long this could last or how serious it will be, he said, historically, economic downturns have lasted between three to 18 months before the market recovers.
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