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If the recent stock market volatility is driving you crazy, SeekingAlpha.com contributor David Crosetti has some comforting advice. He thinks people on the verge of retirement or already retired should "relax and enjoy the ride." He says an investor who is 65 years old today can easily meet the 10-year buy-and-hold test because he is likely to live another 30 years.
"Volatility is here to stay. Make it your ally," Crosetti says. "Identify the companies that you want to own and look for buying opportunities on larger dips. Place limit orders so that you don't have to be watching it all the time -- but have a plan and work that plan. Remember, many of us are looking at a 30-year time horizon."
I like Crosetti's retirement planning style. He's 61 and lives on a 600-acre farm with pigs and chickens and a solar roof that provides his electricity. He flies his own plane. He retired from one business and works part time for another, but mostly he sees himself as "CEO of his portfolio."
He says he's already made $2 million in the market, and he'd like to make $2 million or $3 million more, so he can create nest eggs for his two grown children, which will allow them to afford to take jobs that aren't high paying. "I want to be a mini-Kennedy family," he says with a laugh.
He's not a college graduate or a professional investor. "I just have common sense," he says.
"I don't do a lot of technical analysis. I buy and sell when things smack me as good opportunities. And I don't get caught up in making the perfect move -- there are no perfect moves."
