https://vimeo.com/323188263

Wheneverthe market tanks, the financial media goes into overdrive, stoking fear andanxiety.

This headline on CNBC is typical:  Cramer feels ‘powerless’ after Fed hike, tells investors tobuy gold.

There’s no evidenceCramer or anyone else can predict the direction of the market.

There’s also noevidence that Cramer or anyone else knows whether gold will increase ordecrease in value in the short or long term.

Gold and othercommodities should be part of a diversified portfolio.

You should beskeptical of advice telling you to dump stocks and overweight your portfolio ingold.

Instead, focus on factors you can control.  Here are some of them:

• Your asset allocation (division of your portfolio between stocks and bonds)
• Broad diversification of your holdings
• Keeping costs and fees low
• Deferring and eliminating taxes, when possible

Ignore anyone predicting anything.  They could be right or wrong. 

If they’re right, it’s because they got lucky.

Don’t rely on luck to meet your retirement goals.