SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — As the closing bell brought an end to a tough day on Wall Street, metro Detroiters were among those checking in on their investments.
Clodie Martin of Southfield is a retired public school teacher. She says market downturns are always a concern.
“I'm a retiree, so I have to watch all my funds wherever they are, and this back and forth gets a little scary," Martin said. "You hope that you have enough to live out the rest of your life comfortably and I think that’s the biggest worry for seniors. They don't want to be dependent on their family members or children.”
On the flip side, Jonathan Marshall is a married father of three. He’s been keeping an eye on the market and says inflation, along with fears of a recession, keep him on a tight budget.
“Yeah, it's been pretty rough the last couple days. I'm hoping things settle down at some point. I know there's a lot going on with the tariffs,” Marshall said. "Hopefully, this doesn't end up in a recession, just a little volatility in the market is what I'm hoping for.”
“The important thing right now today is to not panic," financial adviser Cullen Prena said. "A 10% pullback is normal throughout a market cycle. In fact, we’ve been overdue.”
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Prena is a certified financial planner and adviser with Advance Capital Management in Southfield. He points out the market was up 53% before the recent pullback. He advises not to sell off the market but instead diversify investments to assume less risk.
“That's what we've done so far is take a more conservative approach on the stock side and then really hone in on what bonds we're owning to make sure were maximizing the total return of client portfolio,” Prena said. "Trying to sell out of the market into cash and then move back into the market is frequently a losing game. You’ll end up way behind your colleagues to do that.”
As for those we spoke to, besides keeping a budget and watching their 401Ks, there's no major changes for now.
“I'm still kind of weathering the storm for now," Marshall said. "I guess we’ll see how long this goes on, maybe we’ll have to make some allocation changes.”
“I'm just kind of letting everything stay as it is," Martin said. "I don't know what the next few weeks or next few months will bring for that but right now, it's just where it is.”
