Another headline flashes across your screen: ‘Markets Plummet!’ Your stomach tightens. Should you act? Should you change something?
Take a breath.
If you’ve been investing for any length of time, you’ve been here before. The market rises and falls, sometimes gently, sometimes with a jolt, but always in motion. And yet, despite every dip and downturn, long-term investors have always come out ahead. The key isn’t predicting the waves—it’s knowing how to ride them.
The Market Moves, But Your Plan Is Built to Last
Imagine you’re standing on the shoreline, watching the waves roll in. Some are small, some are big, and every now and then, one crashes harder than expected. But the ocean itself? It’s vast, deep, and steady beyond the surface. The stock market is like the ocean—sometimes calm, sometimes stormy. But if you focus only on the crashing waves, you miss the fact that the tide always comes back in.
Over the last century, we’ve seen wars, recessions, inflation spikes, and global crises. Each time, the market responded—sometimes with turbulence, sometimes with growth. And each time, those who stayed in the water, who didn’t run for dry land at the first sign of a storm, found themselves better off when the tide rose again.
Fear is Loud, But History Speaks Louder
The financial media thrives on urgency. It makes money by keeping you on edge, making you feel like action is necessary. But the truth is, the most successful investors don’t react to headlines—they rely on history.
History, not headlines, should guide your decisions. Because history tells us that markets recover, that patience wins, and that time—not timing—is the greatest tool an investor has. Selling when the market drops often means missing out on the recovery, and those who try to jump in and out almost always miss the best days.
You’re Not Investing for Today—You’re Investing for Decades
If you’re retired or nearing retirement, these market swings can feel even more personal. You might wonder, “Do I have time to wait for a rebound?” The answer is almost always yes—because retirement isn’t a single moment in time. It’s a journey that can last 20, 30, even 40 years.
This is why many investors rely on a strategy that prepares them for both the highs and the lows. When the market is strong, withdrawals can come from the growth side. In downturns, withdrawals shift to more stable, conservative assets.
This approach helps avoid selling stocks at a loss, easing the impact of market declines. Typically, the conservative portion holds 3-5 years of living expenses—long enough to ride out most market recoveries based on historical data.
Want to see how this approach provides flexibility in uncertain markets and helps investors avoid selling at a loss? We break it down in this post.
The Best Plans Don’t Panic—They Prepare
A strong financial strategy isn’t based on reacting to the news. It’s built on principles that have stood the test of time:
- Stay the course. Market declines are temporary, but losses become permanent only if you sell.
- Focus on what you can control. You can’t control the market, but you can control your reaction to it.
- Keep perspective. Zoom out from today’s headlines and look at the bigger picture. Remember the COVID market crash in early 2020? At the time, it felt like a financial free fall. But just months later, markets rebounded, and today, that drop is nothing more than a blip on the radar.
Confidence doesn’t come from predicting the future—it comes from having a plan that’s built to withstand uncertainty. The next time you see a headline predicting financial doom, remind yourself: this moment is just one wave in a much bigger ocean. Stay steady. The tide will rise again.
