Financial Freak Show

This post is a personal “Thank you” to all the folks who decided to pull their money out of the market as soon as the media scared the crap out of them.

Thanks to the action that was taken by so many of you I was able to purchase much more in my investments in the last 12-24 months due to the across the board drop in stock prices. True, my existing investments took a hearty blow to the groin but I figure with my discounted 401k and Roth IRA  contributions over the last 18 months it will more than make up for it over the long haul.

Remember there’s a significant difference between investing in the market and playing the market.

Investing takes a long term approach and over time will likely produce positive results if you’re properly diversified. If you are “playing” the market the results become much less predictable.

Playing the market, without question, sounds a lot more exciting when you’re chatting it up at some cool swanky cocktail party or favorite charity benefits but if you’re in the market to build financial security it’s rarely the best strategy. So if you find yourself caught up in a conversation with somebody flaunting their next (or last) great trade pour yourself another scotch and make a mental note to track this guy down on Facebook in a few years and see how that strategy worked out for him over time.

Many people approach the stock market with no investment strategy so they often go scared turtle, pull their heads in, close their eyes, and wait for the things to return to “normal.” As many of you know a recovering market will often provide the best returns possible. Remember recovering means the market is going back up – that means you make money if it’s invested there – got it? In my opinion if you don’t have a solid long term diversified investment strategy your shooting yourself in the foot and missing the recovery all the while complaining your not making a good return in your money market fund. Don’t follow the normal lemmings over the cliff. Invest like true a FinancialFreak and buy when things go on sale and let your account balances climb with the market over time. 

What’s your long term strategy for the markets? Are you getting investment advice from your broke coworkers and friends or are acting like a Freak and throwing everything you can into the battered discounted market waiting for the upswing?