VOLATILITY. ... Wow, what a week!

Unfortunately, I was sitting on the lily pad where I've been since the bottom of the big October drop. To make matters worse, I've been catching much more of the drops than I have the gains this year. That hurts for anyone, but especially for people like me who are already retired or quickly approaching it.

Right now, volatility absolutely has my head spinning. So I find myself thinking and reading a lot about how best to navigate it. At this point, I mostly have questions. When will we return to a more stable/less volatile market? What should I do in the meantime? Should I just sit in G and accept the fact that my account won't continue to grow since my withdrawals will outpace my earnings? Should I change the timing strategy I've been using for 8 or 9 years with good results until this year? Should I pull my money out of TSP and roll it over into an IRA where I can have the greater flexibility that comes with fewer restrictions on IFTs? And so on. Lots of questions. All of them difficult with no straightforward or easy answers.

This morning I happened across an article about "volatility" that struck me as possibly providing valuable perspective. While I haven't fully digested it yet, it seems relevant to informing the answers to some of my questions. It's premise is that the market only feels extremely volatile because we've been enjoying a long stable period for about a decade now. In other words, historically, market volatility like we are seeing now is not that unusual.

At any rate. here is the article for anyone who may be interested. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Yes, market moves are more extreme. But it's not the apocalypse. Bloomberg News

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savi...L1g?li=BBnbfcN