Page 7 - Kiplinger's Personal Finance - November 2018

INVESTING

What’s Your

Next Move?

Now is the time to dial back risk in your portfolio and protect your bull market gains.

BY TOM PETRUNO

“Set it and forget it” has been an
elegantly simple—and lucrative—investment
plan for the past nine years. The U.S. econ-
omy has rolled along, the stock market has
soared, and interest rates, though rising
since 2015, remain historically low. Just sit-
ting still with a well-diversified portfolio has
worked very well for many investors. // But
nothing lasts forever, least of all economic
and market trends. Although the timing
and severity are unknown, the next reces-
sion and the next bear market in stocks
are out there somewhere. A little planning
today could sharply reduce the risk of heart-
ache later on—especially if the markets
take a sudden, serious hit from something
unforeseen. // Let’s be clear: We’d never
recommend trying to time the markets with

48 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE 11/2018 ILLUSTRATIONS BY NIGEL BUCHANAN

K11I-BETTER INVESTOR.a.indd 48 9/21/18 3:02 PM