You're navigating a volatile market. How do you weigh short-term gains against long-term stability?

Pick your poison. With respect to financial assets, you might think about this as a choice between short-term security or long-term security. You really cannot have both. It comes down to how we should define "risk". Unfortunately, "risk" has become synonymous with volatility. But these are different things. Over the long-term, the more volatile asset (equities) is arguably (and I would say definitively) LESS risky than lower volatility bonds. For example, the person who invests their money solely in "low-risk" bonds is far more likely to die broke than the person who invests their money in "high-risk" stocks. Dying broke? That's a risk I want to mitigate. So pick your poison. And pick wisely.

Market timing is near impossible. One thing we do with clients is try to keep some cash available for the inevitable market pullbacks that occur throughout the year. If we see a more substantial one (15-20%) then we are more likely to be "market timers" and try to get in at a discount. That is if the client has a long enough time horizon to add that risk.

This is a proven strategy and one I have personally found very effective. Once I identified some stocks and funds that I found sound, wanted to purchase and hold long-term, I setup a an auto investment with my broker. No more thought on my part and my investments continue to grow at dollar-cost averaging. Every six to 12 months I reevaluate what I am investing in and make changes accordingly.

Market timing is impossible, and anyone who successfully swings it does so only by fluke. The only market-timing strategy i recommend is constant dollar cost averaging into a suitable, diversified portfolio

I worked with a couple who vigorously prepared for an early retirement. They had big goals to go see the world together while they were still young enough to do it. They did all the right things - had plenty of cash in the bank, had a solid investment stockpile, paid off their mortgage, etc. Unfortunately, now I only work with one of the two as my client's wife passed from an aggressive form of cancer. As a planner, I learned a rough lesson from this. I should have pushed them more to enjoy the ride. If you ask any client I work with today, they will probably say I've urged them to take the trips now even when it may seem inconvenient. Planning is important but only if you keep your eye on what the real important things are along the way.

All portfolio decisions should, in my opinion, be goal-oriented. Define the goal first, and build the portfolio to suit it. If it’s a short-term goal, stability needs to be key even if it means lower long-term growth potential. I am also a conservative advisor for long-term goals - how much growth do you need, and what’s the least amount of risk we can take to get there?

Have a set figure in mind beforehand and stick to it, this helps takes the emotion out of any decision making. Once you reach that figure, act fast and stick to the plan, not easy sometimes.

Removing emotions from investing may be the hardest thing to master. It will always be there regardless of who you are, but not allowing it to force your actions is key. The best piece of advice I can give is to only invest in things you have a high level of conviction in. If you see it go down you may think this is a good time to buy more. If you see it go up then you aren't worried it's overvalued and going to come crashing down. If you think the opposite at any moment you may want to reconsider where you allocate your funds.