Key insights
- The author recounts near-losses from attempting to time the market during periods of volatility (post-Liberation Day and during the Iran conflict). Remaining invested led to recovery and gains, highlighting the risks of market timing. This serves as a cautionary tale against reactive selling during market downturns, suggesting a potentially bearish signal due to the emotional decision-making that can negatively impact returns.
Last April after liberation day I was so close to selling everything and taking a huge six figure loss
Just went on vacation for a month and the market recovered mostly by the time I got back
Then after the Iran war I felt the same anxiety and wanted to sell everything as recent as 2-3 weeks ago and suffer a decent loss but I just stayed put
Since then my portfolio went from a decent loss to a decent gain
Had I sold during those times, I would have 50% or less of my current net worth
Hope this helps anyone reading this for their future decisions and not trying to time the market