Phil Cannella • Phillip Cannella

Phil Cannella – Phillip Cannella Blog: A few years back Phil Cannella self-published a book to give it away at educational events. In that book he wrote, quote, “Through history, securities have proven that if you’re on the stock market for 20 or 30 years, you’ll come out ahead. So if you’re in the beginning or middle of the accumulation phase, you have nothing to worry about. Just hunker down and ride it out because history points to a rosy future.” Phil Cannella realized it was naïve to say that. He felt that he made the mistake of buying in to the market’s (self-serving) image and allure.

Phillip Cannella • Phil Cannella

What if you’re at the end of the accumulation phase, or worse, you’ve just entered or are in the middle of the retirement phase, the phase in which you will be drawing from those accounts? There’s the problem. Older Americans don’t all have 20 or 30 years to recover should their nest egg get cracked somewhere in the cycle. In fact, they may need to tap into those retirement accounts the day they retire.

In a more recent relevant statement, Phil Cannella insists that, ”you don’t want to be anywhere near securities or risk when you’re drawing down these accounts, because if the market takes a dive, you’ll compound your problem.