With the recent extreme market volatility, I had been receiving a number of calls from clients with regard to their portfolio. Although everybody knows that investing is long-term, but it seems everybody has forgotten about that when market is down.

1. Stopping their RSP plan. One client started RSP only for 4 months only to give it up and turned speculative trader and market timer. The original plan that I have done so “perfectively” initially has gone down to waste. If the person had followed my plan, we will be rejoicing now because RSP works marvelously when the market is volatile because of the opportunity to catch the bottom. (This is in contrast with another client who started RSP on Dec 2006 is earning 11.39% in absolute return despite the terrible market. I am very proud of this client for strictly sticking with the RSP plan)  
2. Changing from relative return to absolute return. Although I had explained so many donkey times initially that the portfolio is a relative return portfolio, many now demands absolute return. The annual return on year on year can be negative or positive (this is relative return) but now people demands absolute return. Changing investment objective depending on market sentiment is bad.
3. Having being emotionally charged people was asking me why I did not update them. However, as long-term investor there isn’t much to update actually other then to be patient. Should I update and repeat what the newspaper already publish? I receive nearly 10 copies of newsletter from fund managers and should I forward these to them? All these newsletter says nothing other then the market is good and their fund is the best. It is always the same story. Should I be like a stock broker telling people to buy/sell just because the XYZ index has drop by ABC points? The difference between a trader and an adviser is that the former looks at short-term gains whether adviser works towards achieving long-term goal. Long-term goal isn’t one year nor two years. It is going to be at least 10 years.