REASONS TO SELL

If you're a stock market investor of any kind, you're probably feeling some uneasiness after the last few weeks. Honestly, it would be hard not to. Let's be honest, emotions are always high coming out of an election cycle, and this time around, it feels even more so. The S&P 500 actually just experienced the fifth-fastest 10% decline since 1950. If you own any individual stocks, there is a good chance they are down 20%+. (This is why we keep our portfolios diversified)

Having written about this topic numerous times over the years, I'll keep this short and to the point.

Always a Reason

There is and always will be a reason to want to jump off the investing ship. It's just the nature of the stock market that there will always be risk and volatility. If you take a close look, the S&P 500 has returned an average of 10% per year since 1928 despite an average intra-year drawdown of -16%. There's no upside without occasional downside, no reward without risk.

TUNE OUT THE NOISE

It's hard to near impossible to do, but in times of market volatility, it always pays off to tune out the noise. I've seen headlines after headlines the past few weeks about Tariffs, Inflation, DOGE, etc...

I'm a big watcher of CNBC every day, and typically during these times, we get the CNBC special "Markets in Turmoil". I haven't seen it yet, but a wild stat is historically if you are a buyer during turmoil, you are rewarded with positive returns.

WHAT TO DO

If you are in the accumulation stage or even just starting to invest, these types of moves down offer great opportunities. The market 3 weeks ago was getting a little stretched when it comes to valuations, and a cool down was needed. P/E ratios have come down a bit, which is good progress and makes investing in companies more attractive long term.

If you are in or nearing retirement, then it's a great time to review your overall plan. Ideally, your portfolio and income plan are positioned to handle this type of volatility. If not, it's a great time to get prepared for the next storm as you ride out this one.

As always, Marathon Wealth is available to review your overall plan. Stay the course and tune out the noise. There is always a reason to sell, but long-term investors are always rewarded in the end.

Sean Gray