And Then Brexit Happened

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've no doubt heard that Britain voted in favor of leaving the European Union. Yeah, they voted to do. I'm not going to get political in this post as I'm not current on all of the political ramifications and it's fallout is still unfolding. However, one of the things I'm most concerned about is how it affects the global economy.

I've got my investments in low-cost index funds at Vanguard; in a Roth IRA and a brokerage account. I keep VTRIX in my Roth (that's an International Value Fund) and VGTSX in the brokerage account (which is a Total International Stock Index -- soon to be Admiral Shares). These international funds tend to help with the market volatility. When the S&P goes down, my international funds have gone up, offsetting some of the loss.

However, with Britain's big move to leave the EU, global markets have felt are feeling the pinch. All of the markets are reacting negatively and dropping quite a bit. And it's not over. When the market opens on Monday, we may see further decline. It's not the first time, nor will it be the last.

I've already seen people online asking whether they should sell before the decline to mitigate their losses. In essence, what this boils down to is trying to time the market. This is stupid!

The Bottom Line:

What every investor should be doing right now is holding onto what they have. If anything, continue to buy funds. Keep investing. After all, there's a sale going on. Stock prices are falling, which means you can buy more shares than you could previously. Once the market begins to rise again (whenever that may be), your increased shares are only going to earn you more money.

So, how will you react during this down turn? Will you holding steady? Are you planning to buy more funds? Or are you going to roll the dice and try to time the market?