Fear and Greed Rule the Day.

PositionEMOTIONAL INVESTING

He was a successful dentist who managed his own money his entire life and prided himself on his financial acumen. When he retired, he saw no reason to change. Instead of kicking back and enjoying a well-earned life of leisure, he became not only financially invested in the markets, but emotionally invested, much to the detriment of his personal life--and his money.

"He would wake up early and seclude himself downstairs with three screens," says Brian Decker, founder of Decker Retirement Planning Inc., Kirkland, Wash. "He would look at research before the market opened. He would be grouchy when the market closed if he hadn't done well that day. Even if he went on vacation, he was tethered to Wall Street."

That is no way to invest--and it certainly is no way to retire, Decker maintains. Yet, plenty of retirees and pre-retirees let emotions--particularly fear and greed--dominate their financial decisions. "Fear will keep you out of the market when you should be in. Greed will put you in the market when you should be out. It's hard to buy low and sell high when you're operating strictly on instinct with no strategy."

Emotional investing especially is problematic in retirement...

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