10 Apr Should I time the market or stay the course?

Q. With the uncertain markets, do you folks recommend keeping your 401(k), 457(b) or 403(b) accounts still mostly aggressive? If the market takes a hit, will certainly lose value but at the same time, one’s account is buying more shares.
— Investor

A. Your question is a common one when there’s volatility in the market.

Investors ask: Do I wait it out with a buy-and-hold philosophy or do I bolt and try to time the market?

Timing the market rarely helps the investor in the long term, said Bill Connington of Connington Wealth Management in Fairfield.

He said your portfolio should be based on your goals for the money, your risk tolerance, the potential reward and your time frame.

“If you take these into account when allocating your portfolio and you are committed to it, then you should ride out market fluctuations as you will have time to grow the portfolio by buying shares at lower prices,” he said. “It is better to have time in the market than timing the market.”

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This story was originally published on April 10, 2019. 

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