It was the Best of Times, and Worst of Times

In our last newsletter we referred to the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, a historical novel by Charles Dickens – “It Was The Best of Times and The Worst of Times” because we thought it aptly applied at that time.

A Tale of Two Quarters

Looking back now and over the last two quarters, those words again echo true. Now we call it The Tale of Two Quarters.

The following table shows the performance history of indexes for the preceding two quarters – 4th quarter 2018 and 1st quarter 2019.

2018 4Q and 2019 1Q Index Performance History

The tale of the two quarters shows that over the short term, markets are unpredictable and can cause severe whiplash for unprepared investors.

The lesson: Don’t get caught up in short term performance. Stay focused on personal goals that drive decisions on how your investments are to be deployed. This approach is a more predictable way to achieve your long-term goals, such as Financial Independence planning.

It also helps you sleep well at night.

When was the last time you reviewed your investment portfolio? Contact me to review your financial and investment plan. Click here to schedule a meeting.