​5 Tips to Help Your 401(k) Weather the Turbulence

Watching the market’s crazy swings and its corresponding effect on your retirement savings is enough to make anyone a little seasick. Unfortunately, market volatility is just part of the process when you have a 401(k).

But the good news is that usually, even the most bearish of markets is only temporary, although it might feel like it’ll last forever.

Here are some tips to help you take more control over your 401(k) during these turbulent times:

• Don’t panic. It’s easy to watch the market’s erratic ups and downs and obsessively check your 401(k) balance or decide to stop contributing to your plan completely. Neither of those courses of action is optimal. Instead, aim to check your balance only monthly or quarterly. And while it may be tempting to want to stop your contributions until the market recovers, remember that you’re in this for the long haul. Stopping your contributions now doesn’t give your 401(k) as much time to grow. Also, it’s tough to predict when the market might recover, and you might miss out on some big gains if you guess wrong.
• Reconsider your risk tolerance. If the market’s current volatility is giving you too much anxiety when it comes to your 401(k), it’s probably time to re-evaluate your portfolio to decide how much risk you can live with. That’s not a bad thing. Every investor is different, and it’s important that your portfolio reflect your comfort level.
• Decide if it’s time to rebalance. If you never or only rarely rebalance your portfolio, you might want to consider doing so more frequently to accommodate the asset allocation shifts in a wild market like the one we’re currently seeing. Talk to your financial advisor first to see if that’s a good strategy for you and your 401(k).
• Consider increasing how much you contribute. If you have some flexibility in your budget, upping the amount you contribute to your 401(k) can mean there’s more for you to gain once the market starts to recover.
• Get some good advice. The market’s wildness can be off-putting and a little frightening. But you don’t have to go it alone. Reach out to your financial advisor to get some sound advice to make sure your portfolio — and your state of mind — are in a good place.

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