The traditional advice is to hold on to investments during turbulent times but a new MagnifyMoney survey finds that some investors are going against the experts. Due to the current events of the past year, nearly 40% of investors say they have pulled money from the stock market, with many regretting their knee-jerk reaction.

Key Findings

70% of Americans say world news and current events factor into their financial decisions.
63% of consumers cited inflation as one of the top current events that impacted their financial decisions and 51% cited the coronavirus pandemic.
Across Americans who said current events impact their financial decisions, 46% focused on building up emergency savings.
The survey found that younger investors are more likely to pull money from the stock market, with 67% of Gen Z investors and 57% of millennial investors doing so. However, if these investors are in it for the long haul, they possess one of the most valuable assets, time.

"Time is the ultimate weapon when it comes to investing," says Matt Schulz, Chief Credit Analyst at LendingTree. "It gives younger investors a huge advantage over their older counterparts. Unfortunately, however, Gen Z and millennials risk squandering that advantage if they pull their money out of the market when times get tough. Their best move is to stay focused on the future, leave their money in the market, ride the wave and trust that better times are ahead because history has shown that when it comes to the stock market, they almost always are."

Not waiting it out could be why a large number of young investors are more likely to have regrets. Approximately 45% of Millennial investors who withdrew from the market wish they hadn't, along with 39% of Gen Z investors.