What the Greek Crisis Means for Your Portfolio

As you might expect, I've received lots of calls and e-mails asking what to do about the Greek crisis. So I thought I'd share my thoughts.

The first and most important point is that if you have a well-developed investment plan, it will have anticipated crises and incorporated that they'll occur. During the financial crisis of 2008, I developed a talk titled "When Will Things Return to Normal?" The key point I made was that frequent crises were the norm. I showed that from 1973 through 2008, there had been at least 15 other crises. I also showed the evidence that stock returns weren't normally distributed, and then point out that this is actually good news. The frequency of crises and the resulting bear markets (such as the three in that period with losses of about 50 percent) are why the equity risk premium is so large: Investors are risk averse and demand a large risk premium to accept the high volatility of investing in stocks.

I conclude the talk by noting that there are only three things we don't know about bear markets:

• When they will occur
• How long they will last
• How deep they will be

So, returning to the Greek situation. Yes, this crisis creates the potential for another financial "meltdown." Because of the huge exposures of European banks to not only Greek debt, but also to the debt of the other PIGS (Portugal, Ireland and Spain), it's possible that we could see a contagion spread across Europe, and financial markets could once again seize up as they did in 2008. If that were to occur, we would almost certainly see a flight to quality and liquidity, and the correlation of all risky assets (not just stocks) would likely rise towards one again. The potential for this occurring is why the Treasury bond market has defied Bill Gross's forecast that rates were sure to rise.

The problem is that we don't know what will happen. The crisis could be resolved, or we could see a default, the end of the Euro and who knows what. If your stomach is growling and you're losing sleep worrying about the outcome, you likely either don't have a well-developed plan or you were overconfident about your ability to deal with bad economic times. If the former is the case, then you should immediately develop a plan. If it's the latter, you should probably rewrite your plan and permanently lower you equity allocation, because this likely won't be the last crisis you'll have to deal with.

In summary, investing in stocks is always risky. A well-developed plan, one that anticipates crises and takes appropriate risk, provides you with the greatest chance of achieving your goal. If you either don't have a plan or take too much risk, the next crisis may cause you to sell and present you with a new set of problems. You won't know when to get back in the market. There's never an all-clear signal telling you when it's safe to buy stocks. Never.

Remember that market timing is difficult because you have to get it right both times:

• When you sell
• When you buy

Photo courtesy of archer10 (Dennis) on Flickr.
More on MoneyWatch:
Lessons Learned from the Greek Tragedy Why the Unrest in Egypt Doesn't Matter for Your Portfolio Are Stocks Really Less Volatile in the Long Run? Stay Focused on Your Plan During Good Times, as Well Merrill Lynch Clients Stay Despite Not Trusting the Firm
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