If you followed the news about Hurricanes Iselle and Julio approaching the islands of Hawaii this past week, you were likely glad not to have been there.  The residents and tourists of the islands were flocking to Costco in chaos along with every possible grocery store for food and water.  Additionally, roads closed early, schools and churches and government buildings shut down all together, and hotels boarded up windows and literally screwed doors shut.  I know all of this, because I was there on vacation and I can tell you, at least on the island of Maui, it was a non-event.  The storms dissipated before they arrived to the island, and all in all, we received 15 minutes of rain.  Planes left on time and nobody was hurt or injured.  Oh, we did lose our power and Wi-Fi for an hour at the hotel!

So, was all of this preparation a waste?  For Costco and the bottled water companies it was certainly not!  But perhaps it is a good reminder not to wait for the hurricanes to hit in order to get prepared.

Perhaps the same consideration should be made with your retirement planning.  Is it too early to prepare for a downturn?  I believe not.  While I believe in riding the markets as long as they will continue to climb, I also believe it makes sense to have plan for when they turn and to be proactive in harvesting some gains. Therefore, while I rarely encourage people to view talking heads on TV, I did see an interview with someone this morning who I thought provided a level headed perspective in response to this exact question.  Although I was on vacation, I always say, money never sleeps.

Have a great week!