Thin(k) About Your 401(k) Plan: Long-Term Investing – Election Year Volatility

I can hardly help allowing the uncertainty that comes during a Presidential election year from creeping into my investor mindset.  I know many factoids about the market performance every four years when we elect a President.  Volatility is a certainty.  Typically markets perform well during election years and worse the year after, but nothing like this is written in stone.  In the short-term, anything can happen in the stock and bond markets.

We also observe that partisan government favors the markets in general.  It stands to reason that a President’s ability to enact legislation depends upon whether or not the House, Senate and President share the same political party.  Further, a President’s ability to push through radical policy change has many hurdles based upon the makeup of Congress.

Myriads of research and articles are available on the topic of the markets during and after election years.  Here is a link to an article I recently found interesting.

Here’s How The Stock Market Has Performed Before, During, And After Presidential Elections

Yet, I still find it difficult to not let the worry of the future creep into my mind.  I found the table below to be a helpful reminder of the impact maintaining a long-term view during short-term volatility especially during Presidential election years.  I’d be interested to know if this is helpful to you.

 

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