After forty years in the marketing business, Sam Hirschman was supposed to be retiring at the end of this year. But now, he's putting it off because. "I'm watching the investments that I made go down in value," Hirschman says. Which means he'll wait at least until next year to hang em up, in hopes his investments will regain recent losses. A 62 year-old Boomer, his anxiety about retiring is likely to shared by many. "The news is not exactly really good, as far as the economy, in fact, it's pretty much replaced most of the other news," he says. Financial advisors say there's cause for concern, but as hard as it is, take a step back. "When you look at the media, you hear about three hundred points up, three hundred points down, it's a roller coaster, it's volatile. The fact is, the companies that you're invested in, the mutual funds that you're invested in, may be doing alright," says George Conboy, the president of Brighton Securities. He uses a driving analogy to explain his point. Outside the front windshield, the long term view, he says all appears calm. But outside the side windows, the short term view, it appears much more hectic. His point? Don't panic because of what's happening outside the side window. But it wouldn't hurt hirschman's retirement plans if the market calmed down. "It's hard not to almost panic even though they say not to, because day after day you're getting one wave after another of bad news," Hirschman says. The best thing to do, conboy says, is to make sure you have money in stocks or mutual funds that offer cash dividends, so you're not relying only on the current price of your stock.
