This isn't a chart of returns; it's a chart of who had nerves of absolute steel. Be honest, who here has actually lived through a major dip and not been tempted to smash that "sell" button?
I don't get tempted to smash the sell button during major dips, I get tempted to smash the buy button. The only time I smashed the sell button was during the stock market bubble in 1999.
I wanted to buy during this year's dip but I took a look at my asset allocation and I was still way overweight in US stocks compared to my target so I couldn't justify it. Hopefully people freak out even more next time.
I think the same could be said of anyone who has successfully traded regularly over several years.
To do that kind of business you have to have mastered yourself or set up systems where the emotional rollercoaster ride doesn't change your choices.
> I wanted to buy during this year's dip...
The Stock market hasn't had a real crash in quite a long time as evidenced by a number of things including the PE values and stock buybacks, lack of general price discoverability towards chaotic whipsaws and the indexes topping all time highs.
People are going to lose the shirts off their backs when it does come, and it will come suddenly without warning. Best to keep that in mind when greed might try to lead you astray. Greed is both a friend and a trader's worst enemy.
Printing money enrolls participants in boom bust cycles. We've had a boom for the last 10+ years nearly straight. The stock market is way overdue for a crash. Its an avalanche prone area with a massive snowpack built up. There's always some chaotic trigger that gets everything moving again.
> I don't get tempted to smash the sell button during major dips, I get tempted to smash the buy button.
Same. Not quite dollar-cost averaging, but when I'm confident in the long term outlook of a company, if they dip, I like to buy more.
Just before the COVID lockdowns, I sold everything and went to cash for a month or so. Bought back all my previous positions right about the bottom of the dip. Massive gains on that one... hard to time things that well all the time though.
Edit: One additional thing is that you can't be emotionally invested in the investments. That's just a recipe for poorly thought out choices, and ultimately a disaster
>Be honest, who here has actually lived through a major dip and not been tempted to smash that "sell" button?
Honestly, I've lived through four (1987[0], dot-com, 2008 recession, 2020 coronavirus) and was not tempted. For the first two, I was much too far away from retirement to worry about it, and for the third, I was still over ten years away from even beginning to think about retirement distributions, and because of my experience with the first two, again was not tempted. The fact that my investments for much of that time were in pre-tax accounts helped me avoid feeling some pain as well.
Nowadays, I try to keep, in addition to an emergency fund, about a year's worth of retirement distributions in money market equivalents, even inside my IRA.
rufus_foreman|8 months ago
I wanted to buy during this year's dip but I took a look at my asset allocation and I was still way overweight in US stocks compared to my target so I couldn't justify it. Hopefully people freak out even more next time.
Stock market crashes are my happy place.
trod1234|8 months ago
To do that kind of business you have to have mastered yourself or set up systems where the emotional rollercoaster ride doesn't change your choices.
> I wanted to buy during this year's dip...
The Stock market hasn't had a real crash in quite a long time as evidenced by a number of things including the PE values and stock buybacks, lack of general price discoverability towards chaotic whipsaws and the indexes topping all time highs.
People are going to lose the shirts off their backs when it does come, and it will come suddenly without warning. Best to keep that in mind when greed might try to lead you astray. Greed is both a friend and a trader's worst enemy.
Printing money enrolls participants in boom bust cycles. We've had a boom for the last 10+ years nearly straight. The stock market is way overdue for a crash. Its an avalanche prone area with a massive snowpack built up. There's always some chaotic trigger that gets everything moving again.
marklubi|8 months ago
Same. Not quite dollar-cost averaging, but when I'm confident in the long term outlook of a company, if they dip, I like to buy more.
Just before the COVID lockdowns, I sold everything and went to cash for a month or so. Bought back all my previous positions right about the bottom of the dip. Massive gains on that one... hard to time things that well all the time though.
Edit: One additional thing is that you can't be emotionally invested in the investments. That's just a recipe for poorly thought out choices, and ultimately a disaster
PopAlongKid|8 months ago
Honestly, I've lived through four (1987[0], dot-com, 2008 recession, 2020 coronavirus) and was not tempted. For the first two, I was much too far away from retirement to worry about it, and for the third, I was still over ten years away from even beginning to think about retirement distributions, and because of my experience with the first two, again was not tempted. The fact that my investments for much of that time were in pre-tax accounts helped me avoid feeling some pain as well.
Nowadays, I try to keep, in addition to an emergency fund, about a year's worth of retirement distributions in money market equivalents, even inside my IRA.
[0]My employer started a 401k plan prior to 1987
unknown|8 months ago
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