You have a substantial retirement portfolio. You’re an accomplished investor. You’ve done truly well selecting stocks. You probably already own a couple of Zacks Top Retirement stock picks like:
AbbVie (ABBV), Amgen (AMGN) and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY).
If that sounds like you, should you actively trade your own retirement assets?
Perhaps…if you’re the “one in a million” investor who can expertly manage risk and maintain unflinching emotional control in volatile markets. But for most, there may be better strategies to achieve long-term retirement investing goals.
That’s because the risk – reward scenario and investing approach is completely different for long-term wealth building and active stock trading.
Managing Retirement Investments: Stock Picking vs. Diversification
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%.
For even the most talented stock pickers, the odds for long-term success are slim.
Is it Possible to Invest “Rationally”?
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%.
It is worth noting that this period included the 1987 crash and enormous bear markets in 2000 and 2008, and the positively trending market of the 1990s as well.
This study suggests that one key reason for investor underperformance is trying to time volatile markets – and that irrational behavior biases tend to compound investor mistakes.
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 Key Takeaway for Retirement Investors
Your retirement portfolio ought to be dealt with a technique of performance over decades – not days, weeks or quarters. Most self-coordinated investors will in general miss the mark with regards to long-term outcomes.
We’re not saying you should not trade at all – far from it. If you enjoy trading, perhaps you should put 10% of your investable assets to work in short-term investments to seek alpha and 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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