History Shows

This excellent graph produced by ANZ Investments (which they have done for many years) shows that investments increase in value, even when there are big events that might be 'yelled about' in the media, and that might engage your human instincts to withdraw all your money.

Sometimes it takes longer for the markets to get back to where they were before the event, but the other thing that you should note, is that if you have a well diversified portfolio, across different investment types, markets and investment styles, your portfolio could rebound even quicker than the general market indices.

Having said that, as you are getting closer to retirement, your risk profile might change, as you don't want the markets all falling when you are about to start drawing down on your money.  Moneyworks recommendation to our clients is to keep a minimum of 2 years spending funds separate to the portfolio, and each year to top them up, so that there is certainty of cash flow regardless of what the investment markets do.  There are other ways of managing this as well - by using an annuity investment, by drawing down your portfolio gradually.

The important thing to note from this graph is that things change continually, and over the long term, markets keep going up, even with 'shocks'.

The button below lets you download this for your own reference.