1 Simple Trick to Double Your Retirement Portfolio

At some point, every investor will be looking at some shocking loss in his or her portfolio. For the Fool's Austin Smith, it was SUPERVALU, a company that he thought was too cheap to ignore but that promptly crashed after he'd purchased shares. Rather than have faith in his research and conviction, he backed out of the position and sold at a sharp loss. From that point forward, shares have doubled.

The following video below shares the shocking outcome from two model portfolios -- one that assumed investors sold their biggest losers, as Austin did, and another that assumed they had the conviction to double down on those stocks.

While no portfolio grows at this modeled linearity, and you may be closer or further away from retirement, the principle of the story remains the same: If you still have a high level of conviction in your research and the market hasn't agreed with you over the short run, be patient. Mr. Market can be irrational, and in the short run there's a disconnect between a company's true value and what is reflected in the share price.

If you're looking for your next high-conviction buy, The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

The article 1 Simple Trick to Double Your Retirement Portfolio originally appeared on Fool.com.

Austin Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. Jeremy Phillips owns shares of Amazon.com. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com and Netflix and owns shares of Amazon.com, Netflix, and SUPERVALU. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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