Anyone else have a Dad that has been out of the market for decades because the “big one is coming”?

I feel like this is such a common theme I hear with people's Dads. My pop got laid off in 2008. He came from a country where the government could just take all your money on a dime's notice. So naturally he has an insane mistrust for the government.

But the irony is he is smart guy. He is good with money. Has a tiny bit of real estate. Has mutual funds etc.

But the amount of times and money this man has pulled out of his investments into a "safe" account because "this time is different" absolutely blows my mind. When Trump1 happened, my Dad immediately pulled out. Trump reminded him of all the corrupt authoritarianism my dad had experienced earlier in his life.

I tried explaining to him that everyone in the US had their retirement savings pulled, we would be in a much bigger conundrum than losing our investment money…

I also tried explaining the power of DCAing and yadadada all the graphs showing how time in the market always wins etc etc. It never worked.

Now with Trump2 my dad pulled out even more money when Trump was elected and basically missed all of the 2025 gains. And even now with the dip I am trying to explain how he can essentially just "buy the dip" in a safe way with weekly recurring transactions etc etc. Basically all the basics you hear on Boglehead etc.

Anyway. I know my efforts are pointless and honestly in the end, he is gonna be OK. But it is just so funny how I hear so many similar stories about people's Dads. I feel like with age, there comes this sort of defiant bitter stubborness us men develop. I can feel it happening in myself too as I age.

But dam, sometimes I wonder how much money my parents would have if they had just followed basic investing advice over the last several decades (which in their defense was INSANELY gatekept before the rise of the internet). We are definitely a lucky bunch in this day in age to have access to reddit etc.