Everyone and no one knows what the next four years will bring. The prediction machine is running overtime on a narrative for the markets and country that fit with Tuesday’s results. Yet, nobody really knows. So take it all with a grain of salt.
So what does this mean for your money? Emotions are running high. Self-control is key.
If you’re investing for the long term, the next four years are a small fraction of your long term. There’s no sense in blowing up your portfolio over the results. Your goals probably haven’t changed in the last few days, your portfolio shouldn’t either.
Besides, history shows the market performs equally well regardless of which party sits in the White House. Here’s Vanguard:
There are a lot of factors that influence returns but political preference is not one of them. The market is agnostic. Your money should be too.
Beyond that, I don’t see a point in trying to decipher what happens next. If you’ve ever been through an election cycle before, you should know by now that alot of promises are made. Most are never delivered.
This time is no different.
Sure there will be a Republican controlled House, Senate, and soon to be President. Some change is possible with gridlock off the table. But what changes and how it might impact businesses, the economy, and markets are unknown.
The only certainty is that four years from now, we’ll repeat this process a 59th time, like we have for the last 228 years.
Source:
Election: Markets are Nonpartisan Long Term – Vanguard
Last Call
- Afraid of What Comes Next for the Markets and Economy? Read This – J. Zweig
- What the Election Means for Investors – J. Rekenthaler
- Trump’s Win Yields Investing Wisdom – B. Ritholtz
- Harnessing Momentum With Indexes – Morningstar
- Outperforming by Underperforming – Newfound Research
- Why the Math Behind Passive Investing May Be Wrong – W. Grey
- Marks Memo: Implications of the Election (pdf) – H. Marks
- Hellish Choices: What’s An Asset Owner To Do? (pdf) – GMO
