Should I move to something more cautious for a while to slow down losses on pension?

[Steven Barrett]

The bigger Mercer pension I no longer contribute to. My current Aon one in new job, I am trying to pay as much as possible into. % salary plus AVCs My intention is to build this up quickly. So far in 1 year in new job with Aon pension, its in the negative

You have 12 contributions in that 1 year. One of them is invested for 1 year. One of them is invested for 1 month, 1 for 2 months etc. You need to give your investments time.

When it comes to time, investing and gambling are polar opposites. With gambling, you are more likely to win in the short term but the longer your gamble, the more likely the house wins. It is the opposite with investing. You have a greater chance of losing in the short term but the longer you leave your money there, the less likely you are to lose.

I see the general advice here is to hold tough and wait for upswing, but I'm understandably jittery with this advice.
Thanks for all responses. I really appreciate this platform.

Were you in the wrong type of fund in the first place? It's very easy to invest in equities when you are getting double digit returns. You only truly find out your true risk appetite when your fund is falling in value.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)

 

[interested21]

As someone that is still accumulating my retirement fund, I'm trying my best to think of this table from A Random Walk Down Wall Street, where it lays out how regular investments into a volatile market that doesn't even rise can in some circumstances lead to better returns than a market that is steadily rising. Obviously this is only one way the scenario can play out, but it does demonstrate the power of being able to buy a larger number of shares during down periods.

 

[TRS30]

As someone that is still accumulating my retirement fund, I'm trying my best to think of this table from A Random Walk Down Wall Street, where it lays out how regular investments into a volatile market that doesn't even rise can in some circumstances lead to better returns than a market that is steadily rising. Obviously this is only one way the scenario can play out, but it does demonstrate the power of being able to buy a larger number of shares during down periods.

Never seen that before, illustrates my point much better then I did!

 

[lff12]

Forgot to mention Age 51!

Ah shure you've plenty of time. Remember if you are still putting in money you'll get the benefit of lower prices. Its a bit swings and roundabouts.

 

[garbanzo]

You have 12 contributions in that 1 year. One of them is invested for 1 year. One of them is invested for 1 month, 1 for 2 months etc. You need to give your investments time.

When it comes to time, investing and gambling are polar opposites. With gambling, you are more likely to win in the short term but the longer your gamble, the more likely the house wins. It is the opposite with investing. You have a greater chance of losing in the short term but the longer you leave your money there, the less likely you are to lose.


Were you in the wrong type of fund in the first place? It's very easy to invest in equities when you are getting double digit returns. You only truly find out your true risk appetite when your fund is falling in value.


Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)

The bit I’ve highlighted above is a brilliant insight.

Thanks Steven

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