FYI: Volatile markets can be incredibly stressful, and they can also force compromises that most investors would rather not make. Young accumulators may confront the reality that they'll have to save more to reach their long-term financial goals; the market will do less of the heavy lifting for them. Large portfolio declines can force pre-retirees to push back their planned retirement dates, while people who are already retired and drawing from their portfolios may begin contemplating whether they need to scale back their spending.
Yet there's at least a small silver lining to market volatility, and it's one that investors haven't been able to take too much advantage of in recent years: tax-loss selling. By selling securities from your taxable account at a loss, you're able to use that loss to offset gainers elsewhere in your portfolio, or up to $3,000 in ordinary income.
Regards,
Ted
