The theme this week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast is: How To Use Stock Market Volatility In 2022 To Your Advantage

Today, I’m talking about the #1 rule to using volatility to your advantage..well, 2 rules actually: Rule # 1: Don’t Panic. Rule #2: Don’t Forget Rule #1. 

You can’t think straight or act appropriately when you’re freaked out and panicking over the stock market. Keeping your cool is the most important basic first step. You must be able to remain calm and think clearly during scary volatile time periods in the stock market if you have any hope of profiting from this current environment.That’s why I’m starting here this week, and not just diving right in to taking advantage of volatility, which I’ll transition to tomorrow.

But for today, how do we stay calm and collected when the world around us is going bonkers. 40-year high inflation, interest rate hikes on the horizon, a war in the Ukraine…now that Covid is fading, the next several shoes have dropped and the stock market all of a sudden doesn’t like any of it. 

Much of remaining calm comes down to some combination of temperament and experience. Most of you listening have been through many stock market periods like we’re in now, and so it becomes easier to deal with as time goes on. When you get closer to retirement, you have more at stake and so that counterbalances the benefits of your experience, and if you’re always worried and anxious about most things, including your investments, that’s also going to make it more challenging to stay calm, and you’ll need to work harder to not let your emotions control your investment decisions. 

What about the things you can control? For me, this starts with limiting the quantity of the news I consume. Trust me…the headlines today won’t matter much tomorrow. And the more news we consume, the more uncertain and scary the world feels and it’s easy to get stressed, panicked, hopeless, and that’s when our fight or flight response kicks in and you start making some really bad decisions with your investments.

It’s not just the amount of news you consume, it’s the quality as well. It’s important to stay away from the sources of news that stress you out the most. 

If you like Tucker Carlson, but your blood pressure is through the roof after watching him every night, then turn it off. [Reading vs. watching]. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the Retirement Quick Tips podcast. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance