Letting Emotions Dictate Your Portfolio

Chart of the Week | November 19, 2012 | Topics: Investing for Income 

Do Your Emotions Lead You Astray? - This chart shows growth of a hypothetical 00,000 investment in the S&P 500 Index over the last 15 years (1997-2011)

Investing can be emotional. After all, the money you invest may provide for your family's education or retirement – in other words, the necessities. However, be careful that emotions do not drive buying and selling, as they rarely signal the "right" time to do so. Indeed, oftentimes, our emotional instincts will tell us to do the exact opposite of what we should do.

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