VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Paulmichael Youngmills is used to giving advice, but when financial markets start going through their up-and-down cycles in days instead of the usual months and years, more people have been seeking that advice.
Youngmills is a holistic fiduciary financial advisor and Navy veteran specializing in helping active duty military and veterans protect as much of their income and savings as possible.
The Morningstar Market Index in the first quarter of 2025 had U.S. stocks down 4.6%, with tech stocks having their worst first quarter in five years.
“My best advice is definitely hold,” Youngmills said in an interview this week. “Everyone sees something bad happen and they jump on this [notion], let’s abandon the train. The ship’s going down. What they have to understand is when the market’s going down and they jump out, they are accepting that loss.”
Youngmills said nearly every market downturn has been followed by a rebound.
The military equivalent of a 401(K) is a TSP, or Thrift Savings Plan. Like other online accounts, a TSP makes it simple to buy and sell your holdings. But Youngmills said sometimes it can be too simple.
“TSP makes it look like you’re just moving things around. It makes it feel very easy,” he said. “You’re not thinking about it as buying and selling shares, but you are.”
And that leads people to end up telling Youngmills how they got out once they started seeing their account balance dropping, and then he has tell them the bad news — they just locked in their losses.
Youngmills has specific advice for older veterans, those who are at least 59-and-a-half, the age when you no longer pay an early-withdrawal penalty from a retirement plan.
If you need cash, go for a withdrawal instead of a loan, as you’ll pay interest on the loan even though you’re paying yourself back. And then you’ll pay tax on the same money later on when you withdraw it.
“It’s all right to seek professional help,” Youngmills says. “I always tell people even surgeons have surgeons. Nobody wants to do surgery on themselves.”
Youngmills said active duty and veterans can learn more about financial help at the upcoming American Legion Post 327 fish fry, taking place at 5 p.m., Friday, May 2. The American Legion is located at 705 Lesner Ave. in Norfolk.
