Hello, everyone!
The investing question(s) of the week goes as follows:
“Should I reduce or stop contributions to my 401(K) at the present time considering the uncertainty in the stock market and the economy?”
-And-
“Should I stop adding money to my investment accounts until things are back to “normal”?”
I received these questions from a few people over the past week or so. Below are my two cents.
The first thing I want to say is this: Personal finance is VERY personal.
The decision to continue adding money to your investment accounts and/or keeping your 401(K) contributions the same during current times is 100% a personal decision.
It depends on each individual and should be based on where you stand financially at the current time.
With that said, here is my honest opinion on this and what I would tell a loved one:
If you are someone that is blessed to still have a paycheck coming to you and have your finances in order, why would you want to stop investing during current times?
Investing should be an ongoing thing. That’s how wealth is built. It is not something that you do only during the “good times.”
If you haven’t lost your job, have emergency savings, and are comfortably able to cover your core needs – you should be keeping your investment contributions just as they are.
As a matter of fact, some people go as far as increasing investment contributions during market volatility. Why? Because that means they’re buying more of the investments they previously had but at a deep discount.
I still clearly remember back in 2008 when the economy and the markets were going through severe turmoil. One of my co-workers at the time told me he actually increased his 401(K) contributions. He knew that once things turned back around, his investments would benefit 10-fold.
It took time and patience, but that initial “sacrifice” paid off for him later.
I learned a lot from that co-worker.
The same applies if you have a self-directed investment account that you personally add money to, maybe every 2 weeks or every 30 days.
I would keep those contributions the same.
Why? Because having new cash entering your investment accounts means you’ll have fresh cash to take advantage of market opportunities.
What do I mean by that? Although the market seems to have been on recovery mode, we do have those occasional days when market indexes drop significantly.
That means you can seize those opportunities and grab some high-quality stocks or funds “on-sale”. If you have cash sitting in your investment account waiting to be invested, you’ll be able to take advantage of those random “market deals.”
With that said, what I am saying above depends on each person’s financial situation. As noted earlier, this is very personal and can depend on various factors.
Are you trying to make ends meet, lost your job, and are having a difficult time covering core life expenses? Then reducing or pausing investment contributions at this time is likely the right thing to do.
However, if you know in your heart that you can continue your investment contributions, why would you stop now?
As I mentioned earlier:
Investing should be an ongoing thing. That’s how wealth is built. It is not something that you do only during the “good times.”
And that’s all! Thank you for reading 🙂
Thoughts? Share in the comments!
Cheers to HEALTH and Profits!
Mabel
*****
Upcoming Courses & Resources:
Understanding Your Investing Options: Starter Guide for Beginner Investors: New to investing and not sure where or how to begin?! This guide is for you! Check out details here.
Ready, Set Invest: A Crash Course on Being Ready to Invest – The April edition of this workshop completely sold out. To be notified of upcoming workshops, make sure your name is on the waiting list.
GOTM Investing University: Looking to learn a valuable skill during current times? Check out all the courses we have to offer.
Girl$ on The Money 