The Globe and Mail – By Dianne Maley
Being frozen with fear
After so many months of volatility and falling prices, people become paralyzed with fear, says Ngoc Day, a financial planner and portfolio manager at Macdonald Shymko & Co. Ltd. In Vancouver. “They get scared and just sit on the sidelines.”
You may spare yourself some short-term gyrations, but it’s unlikely you’ll catch the market on the way up. “By the time you realize it’s rebounding, the train is long gone.”
Not having a plan
“The biggest one for me is that people don’t have a plan,” Ms. Day says. They have an idea of where they want to go but no road map. “You end up falling into the hottest and latest” investment products, she says.
Investors with a plan will be able to more clearly see the opportunity in a weak market and rebalance.
“Canadian equities are low so that’s where I’m going to put my money,” Ms. Day says. “Having a plan forces you to be disciplined. You buy when things are on sale. That’s very hard to do,” she says.