Don't Just Do Something, Stand There

Please take a moment and read this latest article from author Dan Solin.

Mr. Solin gives us a brief history lesson about past market downturns and the subsequent results of those that had the discipline to stay the course.

This following excerpt from his article addresses what many, including financial "experts", fail to understand:

The markets have absorbed the Pearl Harbor attack, the Cuban missile crises, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the invasion of Kuwait, and the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The lesson learned from this history could not be clearer: Investors who did not panic prospered.

I fully understand the anxiety and even panic of investors in these turbulent times. However, there are lessons to be learned from behavioral finance, which examines why investors behave the way they do.

So, while I understand that every instinct tells you that you should be doing something, as long as you have a well-diversified, low cost, strategically allocated portfolio in place, the best thing to do is absolutely nothing.