Stop Saving or Double Down?

When bear markets hit, retirements savers discipline is frequently tested. It can be discouraging to see your account balance go down despite adding to it with each payroll. We easily forget the decade plus of gains that we have achieved and we use our high water mark of our account balance to figure out what we have "lost". There are a few fundamental truths that we must remember however:

1) The stock market always recovers (sometimes it can just take a long time),

2) For many investors, tomorrow's prices are more important than today's,

3) Bear markets vary in length. 2020 lasted only 33 days. The bear market of '73 and '74 lasted 630 days.

4) Bear markets present opportunities.

The prices you were paying for many of the same companies just prior to the bear market have been slashed. By continually putting in money to your plan, your acquisition price of those same companies is coming down. Even for those nearing retirement, the free lunch of an appropriately diversified portfolio will continue to work over the course of their retirement. For those still saving, if you can afford to save more and increase your savings rate, there is no time like the present. Like the character Mike in Swingers, sometimes you just have to double down.