Ian Munro:

Many of the families we work with often begin the investment process asking questions like, how much stock should I own? How much cash should I hold? And when should I put my money into the market?

Randy Yozipovic:

Sometimes they're worried about investing right now as they believe the market is going to experience a correction any day.

Ian Munro:

And this confusion can best be mitigated by following a basic three-step process, which can be illustrated by the three buckets example. The buckets can help you determine what monies are needed when and how to invest them accordingly.

Randy Yozipovic:

Bucket one is for cash you need to spend in the next couple of years. This is money we know that's going out the door, so this money should always be in liquid investments that do not fluctuate. Keep this bucket simple all the time.

Ian Munro:

Bucket two is for money you need in the next two to three years. These funds can be balanced, some in stock, some in bonds, or even some in income notes. They can fluctuate, but not as much as the broad stock market.

Randy Yozipovic:

Bucket three is your portfolio allocation geared for growth. This bucket should include discipline stock strategies, your work pension, your stock options, and the value of your private business and any investment property you have. This bucket should be expected to fluctuate, and when it does like the financial crisis in 2008 or March 2020 during COVID, you won't need to worry because your near term needs are met by bucket one, and it'll give you the peace of mind to let this bucket mature for the longer term.

Ian Munro:

And the result of this system means that bucket three can stay invested for the long-term growth, giving it time it needs to mature.

Randy Yozipovic:

The fact is, market fluctuations do happen. And though it's easy to say that we're going to be mentally prepared, the fact is we have to establish in advance how we are going to behave when we see that our portfolio moves down from a million dollars to 660,000 in March of 2020 during COVID. That was a 34% market correction pullback that also recovered extremely quickly if you stayed the course.

Ian Munro:

And a pullback like that gets your attention and the media will play off of your fear and you're more likely to act drastically if you haven't been prepared with bucket one and bucket two. You're much more likely to stay true to your plan if bucket one is full for your near-term needs.

Randy Yozipovic:

Following this three-bucket process always gives you enough liquidity to sleep at night, while at the same time growing your money for the future. That really is the only way to realize the real-world growth possibility of sensible strategies that are designed for long-term growth. It's critical to remember, nobody knows what the market's going to do in the short term, so following the bucket process will give you a sensible plan on how to allocate capital that will help you achieve your goals.

Ian Munro:

It is possible to own top-rated investment funds and still not get wealthy, if we fall victim to our emotions and chase manias, or sell when we think the world is going to end. If you think about it, what we tell our kids is true. The only thing that we can control is our attitude. Likewise, in investing, the only thing you can control is your behaviour. That is truly where we should focus our limited energy, managing our behaviour during market fluctuations. Unfortunately, most investors focus their energy on things they cannot control, inflation, interest rates, government debt, last year's top 10 stocks, and the latest news story about the crisis of the day.

Ian Munro:

In addition, other investors often share their winning stories. Yet what people rarely tell you, are the harrowing stories about how they got swept up in emotion and bought or sold at the wrong time and lost real money that hurt them financially and emotionally. People bury those stories.

Ian Munro:

After being on the front lines and making our own mistakes, we are here to tell you that investor behaviour, like the foundation of a skyscraper, is the cornerstone of sensible wealth cumulation and staying wealthy. We are also here to remind you that true wealth comes from peace of mind, which is an attitude that must be learned. Peace of mind can be gained by recognizing and taking to heart this basic truth. Markets go up, markets go down, and markets historically always recover to new all-time highs.

Ian Munro:

Why does such a simple, powerful concept continue to be panned by most as irrelevant? Because humans are emotional. We are not computers. We like to think we make decisions just with our own heads. But our gut feelings often get in the way. We are prodded by the media daily, about worries of get rich quick schemes, followed by stories of fear, both of which continue to resonate the most, as unfortunately, no one wants to hear the boring truth about good investing.

Ian Munro:

What is the antidote to this itch to do something and the key to good investor behaviour? Establish a wealth plan, review it, and stick to it, and stay disciplined. Take a media fast, take the news with a grain of salt, and avoid reactive decisions based on fear or greed. Be a long range optimist. Things just work out and we don't have to understand how it's going to happen. It just does. And know this truth, if you feel you must do something right now that contravenes your wealth plan, walk away and let cooler heads prevail.