Green or Blue?

Given the ongoing turbulence in the economy and markets, it is more important than ever to make sure your strategy is best suited to realize the future at which you’re aiming. Otherwise:

“If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else.” 

 - Yogi Berra  

As it relates to your investment goals, that someplace else might have you checking in on your account balance daily. Promise yourself not to make this part of your routine.  

Being the stats nerd that I am, the data suggests the more often you review investment performance, the more likely you’ll see negative returns compared to the previous period:

Looking daily, the odds of a positive outcome is about as bad as red or black at the casino – 52% of the time you’ll be higher than the day before and 48% you’ll be lower.   

However, over the last 50 calendar years, nearly 80% of the time the markets are higher: 

Times like these, it is easy to lose focus on the green bars and only see the blue dots. Take the 2020 calendar year as an example, the stock market dipped 34%, but managed to fully recover and closed up 16% by year-end.   

With the current (short-term) volatility, does your investment strategy have you focusing on green or blue?