Because of socio-economic-political uncertainty in the age of Trump. The financial markets have their bear and bull cycles, everybody knows that, but I'm farting onto my fence over here like an asshole, anxious about this overpriced market and afraid to go all in.
Meanwhile… I'm missing out on gains trying to stay sane. Is there a tried and true strategy to combat the FUD?
Posted by Hamlerhead
22 Comments
Step one: Learn to be okay missing gains.
Nope. Either DCA or set your limit orders and wait. One of those two strategies will work.
Yes, DCA whatever timeframe you choose. And you’re not losing money if you’re not invested. Your buying power just decreasing with inflation.
We’ve been on an epic bull run for 3 years straight now. S&P up close to 60%. What have you been waiting on? On 9/14/22 VOO was $362.73… dipped all the way to 445 in April. It’s $604.48 now.
Blaming others is the reason you’re losing money.
Please respond here when you finally start buying so we can know when to start selling
Timing the market < Time in the market
It’s really simple honestly, put the money in, diversify and remove emotions. Make sure it’s adjusted to your risk tolerance.
If your 20 then why does today’s volatility matter for funds your intend to use in 30 plus years?
If you’re 90 then why would you have more than 10-20% in equities and not stable income focused investments?
Get off reddit and use your brain. Anything you hear on here about the market is most likely the opposite of what you should be doing.
Things are different now. Everyone is just DCA’ing on a weekly/bi-weekly basis not worrying about market fluctuations, knowing that even if it crashes (2008, or COVID 2020) it will bounce back sharply. The wealth is concentrated in such a small handful of companies (S&P 500), that the market only has one way to go over the long term. The thing Trump hates the most is to be ignored, just ignore him, and you’re all good.
All you have to do is put your money in and hold. Easy as that.
I like how everyone is paralyzed by Trump admin 2 when literally we already had Trump admin 1. We might even have a Trump kid as president in distant future. Seriously if everyone is paralyzed everytime a Trump is in office then you are simply going to fall behind for retirement and end up working longer.
How on earth is this a Trump thing that caused your problem? Markets are at historical highs.
Honestly, I’m the same as you. What helped me was getting a financial advisor. Probably not the highest return possible, but she gives me the push I’d never manage on my own.
Sure, some people will say you can do better without one, and they’re probably right, if you’re not constantly overthinking every move like I do.
The other thing is to take it slow. After the fact, there’s always a “logical” reason why the market dumped or rallied, but you can’t predict it ahead of time (e.g., rate cut happens: market goes up, because it’s good news for stocks. Or market goes down, because it was already priced in and people sold the news).
So I’d say give it a try, don’t check every day, and keep some cash aside: that way you’re not panicking if the market tanks. And if it tanks…well, buy the dip and don’t look for the bottom. That’s how I missed opportunity (for example, when my FA was telling me to go all in after liberation day and I told her she was crazy 🤣)
Lmao do not manage your own money. This is good advice.
Spread it out and control your fears. We’re all a bit nervous.
Whatever dry powder you’re sitting on, put 1/3 in right away Monday, hold a 1/3 for a week or a month for a dip, even if it’s mediocre, hold the other 1/3 for your own piece of mind to throw in with confidence later.
At least you’ll know you got in and stayed out at the same time.
“Don’t just do something. Stand there!”
~ John Bogle
Experience. I’m afraid getting burned a few times is what most people do to smarten up. Once your many years in this stuff doesn’t phase you. But I remember at first yeah I did it here and there. More fomo than selling out of fear but yeah. Experiencing it all is what makes people emotionless to it.
You watch YouTube and shop online. That means google and amzn. Why is investing more complicated than that? May be you seek fud to believe in.
You believe you are losing money because of socio-economic-political uncertainty because of Trump. I don’t think you would benefit from more research due to your s-e-p beliefs. You should DCA average buy VTI or a similar fund and just commit to contributing on a regular basis.
You might also benefit from a hobby or practice to help with your anxieties. I am not endorsing Trumpanomics in any way. You need to do some redirection
I just looked at the Trump 2.0 inauguration party room. If that wasn’t a cheat sheet to insider trading for retail investors, I dont know what to say.
We’re in a new age of own assets or get left on the curb with everybody else.
Proceed how you please with that.
I would recommend reading about behavioral finance and psychology around money.
* *The Psychology of Money*, by Morgan Housel
* *Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics*, by Richard Thaler
* *A Random Walk Down Wall Street*, by Burton Malkiel
The best way to understand our fear and not be driven by it is to educate ourselves on the topic of our fear.
With investing it is about finding the balance of assets that allows you to compound, while not causing panic.
Pick better stocks, work on your timing. ⏱️