Maybe you’re a seasoned investor and have a good track record with stock-picking. And you may have a robust retirement portfolio – perhaps including some Zacks Top Retirement stock selections such as:
AbbVie (ABBV), Amgen (AMGN) and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY).
If this sounds like you, then here’s a question: With your background and skills, should you manage your own retirement investments?
Maybe…if you’re an exceptional investor who can expertly manage risk and keep up perfectly resolute emotional control in the face of market volatility. Be that as it may, for most investors, there might be better ways to accomplish long-term retirement investing objectives.
That’s because the risk – reward scenario and investing approach is completely different for long-term wealth building and active stock trading.
How Diversification Differs from Stock Picking
While stock picking can potentially generate outsized returns, its excessive concentrated risk can present huge perils for retirement investors.
In fact, a study done by Hendrik Bessembinder revealed that only 4% of equities produced all of the stock market’s gains over the last 90 years. All other stocks “broke even” with the increases of 38% canceled out by the losses of the bottom 58%.
Those numbers reinforce that, even if you are an experienced and talented stock picker, your chances of success over a long period are very slim.
Is Successful Investing a Mind Game?
Investors think they can make rational decisions, but research shows that the opposite is often true. A recent DALBAR study tracked investors from 1986 to 2015 and found that the average investor substantially underperformed compared to the S&P 500. Over 30 years, the S&P 500 returned 10.35%, but the average investor return was just 3.66%.
Importantly, this period included the 1987 crash and big bear markets in 2000 and 2008, but also the bull market of the 1990s.
This study indicates that one key explanation behind investor underperformance is attempting to time volatile markets – and that irrational emotional biases are likely to compound investor botches.
Curiously, even experienced traders tend to underperform since they can’t resist the emotional urge to make impulsive investment choices. They might be overly self-assured and miscalculate risk, get attached to a price target, or perceive a pattern that does not exist. This behavioral fallacy, over the long-term, can be disastrous with potential underperformance of a huge number of dollars disrupting your retirement.
The Bottom Line for Retirement Investors
Your retirement portfolio should be managed with a strategy of performance over decades – not days, weeks or quarters. Most self-directed investors tend to fall short when it comes to long-term results.
Does that mean you should quit trading? Not really. One plan is to take 10% of your investable resources and trade to create alpha and look for outsized returns.
But the bulk of your wealth – those assets earmarked for retirement – should be invested using a more measured, conservative, risk management approach to generate steady, compounded returns so you can safely reach your retirement goals.
Do You Know the Top 9 Retirement Investing Mistakes?
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If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click the link to download our free report, 9 Retirement Mistakes that will Ruin Your Retirement.
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