How to grow a nest egg while protecting it from inflation and market drops

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There is nothing more agitating for everyday investors than markets falling out of bed and rising inflation eating away at their wallets.

Certified financial planner Douglas Boneparth offers his best advice for how to quell that agitation with a smart, long-term investment strategy

A reader from Maryland asks: How do I grow the money I have and hedge against inflation and the next market correction?

DOUG: Two things make investors nervous about the future: Inflation eroding their purchasing power, and a market correction suddenly shrinking their portfolio. They feel like different threats, but a well-constructed investment strategy can address both at the same time.

Let’s start with inflation. The best long-term hedge against inflation historically has been owning assets that grow faster than prices do. That generally means staying invested in stocks because they have outpaced inflation over long periods more consistently than almost anything else. Beyond that, assets like real estate and commodities can provide additional insulation, though they have their own risks and complexities.

CNN Photo Illustration/Photograph by Sylvie Rosokoff

Now, about market corrections. Corrections are normal. They happen regularly, they feel terrible every time, and they have historically been followed by recoveries. The best hedge against them isn’t trying to time your way out of the market. That’s a game almost no one wins. Rather, it’s having a diversified portfolio that matches your time horizon and risk tolerance, so when the market drops, you’re not forced to sell at the wrong time.

Both concerns point to the same solution. A diversified, long-term investment strategy that you don’t abandon when things get uncomfortable. The investors who get hurt most in corrections are the ones who panic. The ones who stay the course, and better yet, keep investing through the dip, tend to come out ahead.

If you don’t already work with a financial advisor, this is a good time to consider it. Creating a strategy that balances growth and protection depends on your timeline, your income, and how you handle stress when the market is down 20% or more. Those are conversations worth having with someone who can help you build a plan and stick to it.

When it comes to how much money you should save and how you should invest, the best answers are based on your needs, preferences, temperament and timeline.

Sure, it’s good advice for most people to save at least enough in a 401(k) to get their full company match and ideally more than that. But how big your own nest egg should be depends on personal factors, like when you retire, whether you’ll have a pension and how much you plan to spend.

So forget aiming for some nebulous “best.” Instead consider what your own “enough” is and aim for that.

And bonus: If you already find life complex enough, you don’t have to soak yourself in the intricacies of the market and multiple investing strategies to reach your goal. In fact, you may get where you need to go using a simpler approach and sticking with a few low-cost index funds that track market performance over time.

CNN图片插图/Adobe Stock

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对于普通投资者来说，最令人焦虑的莫过于市场暴跌和通货膨胀加剧，侵蚀他们的钱包。

注册理财规划师道格拉斯·博内帕斯就如何通过明智的长期投资策略来平息这种焦虑情绪提出了他的最佳建议。

一位来自马里兰州的读者问道：如何让我的钱增值，并对冲通货膨胀和下一次市场调整的风险？

道格：有两件事会让投资者对未来感到担忧：一是通货膨胀削弱购买力，二是市场回调导致投资组合缩水。它们看似是不同的威胁，但精心构建的投资策略可以同时应对这两种风险。

我们先来说说通货膨胀。从历史经验来看，抵御通货膨胀的最佳长期策略是持有增长速度超过物价上涨速度的资产。这通常意味着继续投资股票，因为股票在长期内比其他任何资产都更稳定地跑赢通货膨胀。除此之外，房地产和大宗商品等资产也能提供额外的保护，尽管它们自身也存在风险和复杂性。

CNN图片插图/摄影：Sylvie Rosokoff

现在来说说市场回调。回调是正常的，它定期发生，每次都让人感觉很糟糕，但从历史经验来看，回调之后往往都会出现反弹。应对回调的最佳方法不是试图择时离场，因为几乎没有人能赢。相反，最佳方法是构建一个多元化的投资组合，使其与你的投资期限和风险承受能力相匹配，这样当市场下跌时，你就不会被迫在错误的时机抛售。

这两种担忧都指向同一个解决方案：多元化的长期投资策略，即使市场出现波动也不要放弃。在市场回调中损失最大的投资者往往是那些惊慌失措的人。而那些坚持到底，甚至在市场下跌时继续投资的人，往往最终会获得成功。

如果您目前还没有聘请财务顾问，现在正是考虑的好时机。制定兼顾增长和保障的策略取决于您的投资期限、收入水平，以及在市场下跌20%甚至更多时您如何应对压力。这些都是值得与专业人士探讨的问题，他们可以帮助您制定计划并坚持执行。

至于你应该存多少钱以及如何投资，最好的答案取决于你的需求、偏好、性格和时间安排。

当然，对大多数人来说，在401(k)账户里至少存够公司全额匹配的金额，最好能存得更多，这当然是明智之举。但你的退休储蓄应该有多少，则取决于个人因素，例如何时退休、是否有养老金以及计划支出多少。

所以，别再追求什么模糊的“最佳”了。相反，想想你自己的“足够好”的标准是什么，然后朝着那个方向努力。

而且，还有一个好处：如果你觉得生活已经够复杂了，那么你无需费尽心思钻研错综复杂的市场运作和各种投资策略就能实现目标。事实上，你或许可以通过更简单的方法，选择几只低成本的指数基金，长期追踪市场表现，就能达成目标。