Chesapeake Wealth Management Advisor Steve Cornwell answers your most commonly asked retirement and investment questions.
How often should I review my retirement plan?
Reviewing your plan helps ensure your current choices align with your investment objectives, time frame, risk tolerance, and market conditions. Review your plan when you receive quarterly statements, but remember, retirement is a long-term plan so don’t worry yourself by checking in frequently.
Are there “red flags” that indicate it’s time to make changes?
Changing jobs could be a great opportunity to consolidate accounts for simplicity and efficiency (rolling over 401Ks to existing IRAs*). Life events like births, marriage or divorce are other instances when reevaluating your current choices is in order. Before you make any major adjustments, it’s important to consult a qualified wealth manager for advice.
How should I react to market fluctuations?
Monitoring performance is important, but I would caution clients to not make rash decisions based on short-term fluctuations. Because of the long-term nature of retirement plans, the volatility one may experience in the day-to-day market is typically a blip in the overall accumulation of retirement wealth.
Is it ever important to not make changes to your retirement plan?
Yes, it can be advantageous to not make changes to your plan based on market volatility or “noise” in the current environment. If your selections in your retirement are solid (i.e. a diversified portfolio spread out among many different asset classes**), downturns in the market should be looked at as an opportunity, not a time to panic.
Think of the market as “going on sale,” and if contributions continue on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, you’ll be buying more shares of your retirement plan choices at a bargain***. And who doesn’t appreciate a bargain?
*Available could also include leaving the 401(k) alone, rolling over into another employer-sponsored plan, cashing out. **Diversification is a method of controlling risk. It does not assure a profit or the avoidance of loss. ***Dollar cost averaging does not assure a profit or the avoidance of loss. Investors should consider their ability to continue a dollar cost averaging program in declining markets.
Securities offered through INFINEX INVESTMENTS, INC. Member FINRA/SIPC. Chesapeake Wealth Management is a subsidiary of Chesapeake Financial Shares. Infinex is not affiliated with either entity. -Not a deposit -Not FDIC Insured - Not insured by any federal government agency -Not guaranteed by the bank -May go down in value
