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Let's not sugarcoat it. The news has been a lot lately. I actually have consciously taken a step back from social media and the news. I have two small daughters and I want to stay present and hopeful for them. Taking a break every now and again for your own mental health is okay!
As for the financial headlines: Interest rates remain somewhat high. Markets are throwing tantrums. Geopolitical headlines are reading more like a disaster movie script. You'd be forgiven for looking at your brokerage account, whispering "not today, Satan," and closing the tab.
But here's the thing: that instinct to quit, while deeply human, is one of the most expensive financial decisions you can make.
The chaos isn't new. The feeling of "this time is different" is as old as the stock market itself. And yet, history keeps doing the same stubborn thing: recovering.
So before you park your money under a mattress (or worse, in a savings account earning 0.01%), let's talk about why staying the course isn't just brave, it's smart.
"The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient." - Warren Buffett
The market has survived everything you're worried about. Wars. Recessions. Pandemics. Political upheaval. Presidential scandals involving things we'd rather forget. Every single time, long-term investors who stayed in came out ahead of those who bailed. Not because they were braver, but because they were bored enough to do nothing.
Panic selling locks in your losses. A paper loss only becomes a real loss when you sell. If you bought shares and the market drops 20%, you haven't lost money yet, you've just got a temporarily sadder number on a screen. Selling turns that sadness into a receipt. Don't print the receipt.
Nobody can time the market, not even the pros. If you wait for things to "calm down" before investing, you'll be waiting forever. Markets don't ring a bell at the bottom. The best days in the stock market are often clustered right after the worst ones. Miss those days, and you miss a lot of the long-term gains.
Down markets are actually sales. This sounds cliché, but only because it keeps being true. When stocks drop, you're buying the same companies at a discount. If your favorite store had a 20% off everything sale, you wouldn't boycott it. You'd go shopping. Volatility is the market's version of a sale rack.
Doing nothing is still doing something. Staying invested through turbulence is a deliberate, active choice. It's not passive. It's not burying your head. It's trusting the process, and the data, over the noise. That's an investment strategy. A really good one, actually.
Now, none of this means you should ignore your portfolio completely or invest money you can't afford to leave alone for a while. If your emergency fund isn't funded, fund that first. If your timeline is short, your strategy should reflect that. Personal finance is, annoyingly, personal.
But if you're a long-term investor who's feeling the urge to hit pause because the world feels a little unhinged right now. Please take a breath. Go for a walk. And then do absolutely nothing with your investments.
Sometimes the best move in a chaotic market is the one you don't make.
As always, this newsletter is not financial advice. It's financial encouragement and hopefully a little education. Keep your head up and hug your loved ones.
Until next time, Villagers,
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