As I write this it is Monday January 4, 2016. The Green Bay Packers are no longer NFC North Champions. The equity markets have started the year in a very negative way. Many investors are getting nervous. Of course, the mood here in Green Bay is not a good one anyway given last night’s Packer loss.

Many are asking for explanations. Why is the market down so much the first day of the year? Is this the sign of things to come this year?

The financial news media is telling us that the Chinese manufacturing numbers were weaker than expected. Or was it result of the Middle East turmoil? (Of course, this could be an excuse nearly every day of the year.)

As I have mentioned many times before the equity markets are random and unpredictable. There is no way to consistently predict what will happen next. Anyone who tells you they can predict the future is delusional and you should run not walk away from them.

It is important for all investors to understand. There is no free lunch. You cannot earn stock market returns with Treasury bill risk.

And equity risk is just one of many risks we face on a daily basis. Most notably inflation risk. The risk that your investments will keep pace with inflation. Will your investments maintain their purchasing power? The equity markets allow us to maintain our purchasing power as well as grow our wealth.

I think a good analogy is how you accumulated your wealth in the first place. For the vast majority of us we had to work to accumulate our wealth. It included sacrifice to save for the future. We needed to forgo purchases that we ‘really wanted’.

But think about this. During your working career were all your day’s good ones? Were all your days UP? Were all your months, years….good ones? For most of us the answer is no. There were times some short and some extended where things did not go our way. But we persevered. We went on. Because we knew that in the long run things would work out. If we continued to work hard and work to improve ourselves.

There was/is a price for success. Dealing with the good and the bad.

The same can be said for investing in the equity markets. We know that there will be good days and bad days. If we persevere, in the long run we will succeed. You cannot panic at the first sign of market adversity. Because in the long run the good days will outnumber the bad days. And success will be ours.

Your investor coach will help you thru these ‘bad days’ so you can realize the good ones.

The Green Bay Packers on the other hand………….