To view this post as a video go here. Let’s take a look back at 2023 and the investing year that it was. I mentioned in my March, ‘23 video the concept of “sideways trading,” which we saw at a couple points throughout this year. Again, “sideways trading” is when the market is up, down, up, down with no real direction either way. We certainly saw one direction (insert Harry Styles reference here) over the last couple of months, with the market – as measured by the S&P 500 – shooting up over 15% since the end of October. I know your retirement portfolio appreciated that.

If you’ve read my previous posts, I’ve written multiple times about how the market moves quickly, so you want to stay invested in it every single day, so that you don’t miss out on those big market run-ups. I’m going to share a quote from my March post: “Before this market takes off again, use this sideways market as an opportunity to get your IRA, 401(k), and other retirement contributions into their respective accounts. The market is currently presenting you with a great opportunity to get in before it takes off again.” I knew it was going to take off again, I just did not know when it would start.

Did you get those contributions in when I told you to? Never forget, we get the best returns when we feel the worst about the market. Hopefully this Q4 rally is an indicator of a strong stock market for 2024 as we finally dig out of the hole 2022 left us in. If you didn’t take my March advice because you were too worried to invest when you felt uncertainty with stocks, reach out to me, I can help so you don’t miss out on the next market run-up. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in ’24.