Okay... so... since the last couple of months the markets have been going down.. and everybody seems to be in a panic... but, is it really smart to be taking out all the money from the markets?? My answer: NO...

Here's a very simple analogy that we should think about... We've all flown on a plane here.. and every single time we've flown, there's been SOME sort of turbulence... now.. what do we do when there's turbulence? do we go up to the front and tell the pilot to move over, so we can fly the plane? no.... do we grab a parachute and jump out of the plane? no... what do we do? we sit there, buckle our seat belts, and hold on tight.. eventually the turbulence comes to an end and we reach our destination safe and sound..

Right now, the markets in a time of turbulence... same way, it doesn't make a lot of sense to pull out all our money now... a knowledgeable investor will know that this is in fact a great opportunity to put more money into the markets... prices are down -- "the markets on sale" -- when we go shopping we don't buy things when the prices have been jacked up, we buy them when they're on sale... so why should the markets be any different?

relax everybody... this is just a regular market cycle.. its healthy for the market... we all have to realize that the markets will ALWAYS go up and down and up and down and up and down... but they will always go in an upward direction.. since the 50's, there has never been a decade with LESS then 10% return in that one decade.. and i don't think its about to start now.. we've had FAR worse situations in the market (i.e. early-mid 80s... 91.. etc...) and we've always recoverd... this is a REGULAR and HEALTHY market correction... they will go back up in due time...

for a person to pull out all their money now, they'd be losing money... when we know history has indicated that the markets will recover nicely and then some... i would recommend putting more money in the markets if possible.. however, it wouldn't be un-wise to perhaps 'change' some of our investments... for example changing from US market to something more balanced (I really like the BRIC {Brazil, Russia, India, China} Funds, because that gives foreign exposure {partially balanced} with a high potential of growth)... however, please consult ur friendly neighbourhood spiderman, i mean financial advisor before makin any rash movements

also remember that due to certain events that are happening (i.e. elections in BOTH Canada and USA over the next 2 months) there is a little bit of iffy-ness in the market... but history shows that after every Presidential election, markets have recovered nicely..

Andexcharts.com - Large View of English Wallchart

Please view this chart.. now i know for most people it will be very confusing.. but, especially those that have money in the markets, it would be good to take a look at it.. there's a whole bunch of things there.. but u will also notice certain places where major events are marked on.. (i.e. wars, presidential elections, other world events).. and u can see the reaction of the markets to those events...

anyways.. the key to successful investing is to:

1.. Invest Early
2.. Invest Regularly
3.. Stay Invested...

So... Investors... Buckle Up and stay seated, we're in for some turbulence

__________________

Thanks for addressing my comment HS. My fear though is that my money took 8 years to get where it is now and its dropping by the thousands. SO it seems to defeat the purpose of those 8 years if its gonna take another 8 years to climb back up.

Mine is split between Canadian and US equity funds and its the US one that's making my dollars disappear, I know this much. Wouldn't I be safe just to move it all over to Canadian? LOL actually I was looking at the Precious Metals fund the other day. High risk but never disappointing.

__________________

Don't put all your eggs into one basket, JC... Diversify your portfolio. Canada will be GOLD in the future, but don't have all your investments just here... America is in a terrible shape right now, but most sectors will recover (not all) fine... I dunno if you contacted my associates, but if you want some investment advice, give them a call.

I personally think the Canadian commodity funds will do very will in the next decade or so.. China, India, Russia, Brazil, and other fast growing economies around the world are all revamping their infrastructure... Canada has a HUGE amount of resources and in a lot of those resources we're among the top producers...

I would suggest having a good portion of your portfolio in foreign markets.. every year there will be different winners and losers in the world markets.. for example... 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 the BRIC (brazil india russia china) Equities have outperformed everybody else... however, the 4 years before that, they were close to the bottom.. there's no pattern as to which Indices will outperform which in any given year.. which is why its best to diversify

__________________

Hmmmmmmmmmm guess its time to make that appointment. I've always had a certain marker in my head over the years, where if my money dropped below that I would do something about it. Well Probably by tomorrow I will have hit that mark.

Thanks so much for all the tips.

__________________

http://www.franklintempleton.ca/ca/r...versify_01.jpg

good reference.... shows why we should diversify...

__________________

LOLOLOL OMG can I get the english version please???

__________________

sorry.. i think i posted the wrong one before.. i edited my post...

http://www.franklintempleton.ca/ca/r...versify_01.jpg

basically.. what this chart is indicting is the best to worst performers in the market in the lats 20 years... basically its to show that every year there will be different top performers... you can see where some asset classes did very poorly for a couple of years, but then jumped up to become among the top performers in years after...

__________________

Posting so I can come back and read this later.

yes.. please give ur input

__________________

__________________
.

Amen to that girl.

__________________

indeed..

__________________

__________________

__________________
.