With escalating tariffs shaking investor confidence, personal finance expert Suze Orman has a message for anyone worried about their portfolio: Don’t panic, and hold steady on your long-term investments.
“If you are contributing to a retirement account, do not stop,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. “Stay the course. Keep investing steadily. That consistency is your power.”
Markets have been rattled by tariffs, sending stock indices plunging. As of Tuesday morning, the S&P 500 is down around 6% since the start of April. And a recent spike in the volatility index, a closely watched measure of market volatility, underscores how emotional the downturn has become.
It’s the “highest it’s been since the spike in August,” Orman wrote. When it’s this high, “it means fear is overwhelming logic.”
Instead of letting your emotions drive decisions, Orman recommended staying grounded and resisting the urge to speculate on stocks. “Stay diversified,” she wrote. “Don’t get angry. Stay smart.”
That advice is echoed by other financial experts. “Don’t panic and make some crazy, rash decision that veers away from your game plan,” certified financial planner Lee Baker, owner of Apex Financial Services in Atlanta, recently told CNBC.Â
Investors who panic-sell during volatile periods often miss the recovery, leaving money on the table when the market rebounds, he said. In fact, some of the best days in the stock market have historically occurred during bear markets, according to Fidelity.
A downturn in the stock market could be a benefit
In the meantime, long-term investors may benefit from a bear market, Orman wrote in a follow-up post on Monday. That’s because stocks are essentially “on sale,” letting you buy more for less and potentially gain more when the market recovers.
And historically, some of the strongest returns tend to follow steep market declines, according to an analysis by Bank of America.
But that doesn’t mean trying to make a one-time bet on the market’s lowest point. Stock prices are unpredictable and trying to time the perfect entry point can easily backfire, said certified financial planner Eric Roberge, CEO of Beyond Your Hammock in Boston.
“We never recommend timing the market, mostly because it is impossible to do without simply getting lucky,” Roberge recently told CNBC.
Instead of trying to guess the right moment to buy or sell, financial planners often suggest consistent strategies like investing a fixed amount regularly, which can help smooth out market ups and downs over time.
Overall, “I want you to breathe,” Orman wrote on Friday. Even with an economic downturn, “markets will eventually recover. But not all at once.”
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