A listener writes into the show -- what should she do with her investments in this market? Each week she is seeing the value of her portfolio go down, and she is losing as much value as what she puts in each month. Ouch! Jesse reminds us not to panic, and to go back to your written investment plan (you have one of those, right?).

Why are you investing in the first place? What is your time horizon? Do you think the economy will grow in the (long-term) future? If yes -- and this has been historically true over a long time horizon -- then a broad market index will also grow over the long run, and sticking to your investment plan is the thing to do.

Jesse has another recommendation: look at the number of shares you own, not the value of those shares on paper. If your number of shares is going up, then your portfolio is still growing by an important metric!

Investing books mentioned in the show:

• The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by Jack Bogle
• A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
• The Bogleheads Guide to Investing
• The Four Pillars of Investing by Bernstein

Send Jesse an email at:

askjesse@ynab.com

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