Who needs a pyramid scheme or a crooked money manager when you can lose money in the stock market all by yourself. If you want to help curb your loss potential, avoid these 10 strategies.

1. Go with the herd. If everyone else is buying it, it must be good, right? Wrong. Investors tend to do what everyone else is doing and are overly optimistic when the market goes up and overly pessimistic when the market goes down. For instance, in 2008, the largest monthly outflow of U.S. domestic equity funds occurred after the market had fallen over 25% from its peak. And in 2011, the only time net inflows were recorded was before the market slid over 10%.1

2. Put all of your bets on one high-flying stock. If only you had invested all your money in Apple 10 years ago, you’d be a millionaire today. Perhaps, but what if, instead, you had invested in Enron, Conseco, CIT, WorldCom, Washington Mutual, or Lehman Brothers? All were high flyers at one point, yet all have since filed for bankruptcy, making them perfect candidates for the downwardly mobile investor.

3. Buy when the market is up. If the market is on a tear, how can you lose? Just ask the hordes of investors who flocked to stocks in 1999 and early 2000 — and then lost their shirts in the ensuing bear market.

4. Sell when the market is down. The temptation to sell is always highest when the market drops the furthest. And it’s what many inexperienced investors tend to do, locking in losses and precluding future recoveries.

5. Stay on the sidelines until markets calm down. Since markets almost never “calm down,” this is the perfect rationale to never get in. In today’s world, that means settling for a minuscule return that may not even keep pace with inflation.

6. Buy on tips from friends. Who needs professional advice when your new buddy from the gym can give you some great tips? If his stock suggestions are as good as his abs workout tips, you can’t go wrong.

7. Rely on the pundits for advice. With all the experts out there crowding the airwaves with their recommendations, why not take their advice? But which advice should you follow? Cramer may say buy, while Buffett says sell. And remember that what pundits sell best is themselves.

8. Go with your gut. Fundamental research may be OK for the pros, but it’s much easier to buy or sell based on what your gut tells you. Had problems with your laptop lately? Maybe you should sell that IBM stock. When it comes to hunches, irrationality rules.

9. React frequently to market volatility. Responding to the market’s daily ups and downs is a surefire way to lock in losses. Even professional traders have a poor track record of guessing the market’s bigger shifts, let alone daily fluctuations.

10. Set it and forget it. Ignoring your portfolio until you’re ready to cash it in gives it the perfect opportunity to go completely out of balance, with past winners dominating. It also makes for a major misalignment of original investing goals and shifting life-stage priorities.

For more information or any questions regarding this topic, contact certified financial planner Dustin Rinaldi or call (239) 444-6111.

1Sources: ICI; Standard & Poor’s. The stock market is represented by the S&P 500, an unmanaged index considered representative of large-cap U.S. stocks. These hypothetical examples are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended as investment advice.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 70% of people turning 65 can expect to use some form of long-term care during their lives. But less than one-third of Americans who are 50 or older have begun saving for long-term care.

Long-term care includes a range of personal daily living services. Most long-term care isn’t related to medical care, but rather assistance with daily bathing, dressing, using the toilet or eating. Other types of long-term support include help with housework, managing money, taking medication and shopping.

Many Americans mistakenly believe that Medicare pays for the bulk of long-term care. In fact, Medicare only pays for long-term care if you require skilled services or rehabilitative services, and it will only do so in a nursing home for a maximum of 100 days (the average is 22 days), or at home for a much shorter period.

Long-term care insurance can be expensive, but not having it may endanger your retirement and other savings.

Here are some tips to consider before you buy:

Don’t buy more insurance than you think you may need, or too little. You may have enough income to cover the bulk of your costs and so may only need a small policy to cover the remainder. Family members also may be willing and able to provide support. It is also far more difficult to increase coverage than decrease coverage, especially if your health has deteriorated.

It costs less to buy coverage when you are young. The average age of people buying long-term care insurance is about 60, but it’s significantly less expensive if you buy it in your late 40s or early 50s.

Research and consider different options, and talk with a financial advisor before finalizing your decision.

For more information about the basics of long-term care, its costs, and guidelines to help you make a decision, please contact us.

Disclosure: This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal or investment advice. LPL Financial and its advisors are providing educational services only and are not able to provide participants with investment advice specific to their particular needs. If you are seeking investment advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own, separate from this education material.

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© 2014 Kmotion, Inc. This newsletter is a publication of Kmotion, Inc., whose role is solely that of publisher.

The articles and opinions in this newsletter are those of Kmotion. The articles and opinions are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Nothing in this publication shall be construed as providing investment counseling or directing employees to participate in any investment program in any way. Please consult your financial advisor or other appropriate professional for further assistance with regard to your individual situation.

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For more information or any questions regarding this topic, contact certified financial planner Dustin Rinaldi or call (239) 444-6111.

Most stock market investors are looking for the same result: strong and steady gains of their investments.

Dealing with a period of sustained falling stock prices is not easy. All too often, investors react to a sharp drop in prices by panic selling or digging in their heels despite deteriorating fundamentals. But more thoughtful investors see a correction or downturn as an opportunity to review the risks in their portfolios and make adjustments where necessary.

When confronted with any adverse market event — whether it is a one-day blip, a more lengthy market correction (a decline of between 10% to 20%), or a prolonged bear market (a decline of more than 20%) – take time to review your portfolio. Dealing with volatility can be difficult. Here are some suggestions to help you and your portfolio survive market turbulence.

Keep a long-term perspective. The only certainty about the stock market is this: It will always experience ups and downs. That’s why it’s important to keep emotions in check and stay focused on your financial goals. A buy-and-hold strategy — making an investment and then holding on to it despite short-term market moves — can help. The opposite of buy-and-hold investing is market timing — buying and selling investments based on what you think the market will do next. Market timing, as most investment professionals will tell you, is risky. If your predictions are wrong, you could invest when the market is on its way down or sell when it’s on its way up. In other words, you risk locking in a loss or missing the market’s best days.

Organize and review your financial records. Crisis events highlight the importance of knowing where your assets are and maintaining organized financial records. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, markets closed for several days and many records in the heart of New York City’s financial district were destroyed. Yet the nation’s financial systems were up and running in a matter of days, and your securities accounts were safe even when the stock exchanges were closed. While you cannot trade investments or access your assets during a market shutdown, securities firms maintain backup facilities and have contingency plans to help them service customers when trading resumes.

Talk with us. A financial professional can help you separate emotionally driven decisions from those based on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Researchers in the field of behavioral finance have found that emotions often lead investors to read too much into recent events even though those events may not reflect long-term realities. With the aid of a financial professional, you can sort through these distinctions, and you’ll likely find that if your investment strategy made sense before the crisis, it will still make sense afterward.

It’s important to remember that periods of falling prices are a natural part of investing in the stock market.

While some investors will use a variety of trading tools, including individual stock and stock index options, to hedge their portfolios against a sudden drop in the market, perhaps the best move you can make is reevaluating and limiting your overall risk position.