In the last week, I have seen countless posts of people panicking about their portfolios, asking internet strangers if they are doomed, or seeing if others are panic selling so they can justify doing the same. When markets are going up, investing is EASY: You buy VOO and chill—at least that's what people on this app do. When we see a correction, everyone starts losing their minds. The reality is that investing HAS been figured out. You buy low-cost, globally diversified ETFs and wait. Hold through the good times and wait through the bad times. The truth is that a lot of you can't do it. There is a reason why retail has vastly underperformed the S&P 500 over the last 20 years... even though we have seen maybe the greatest bull run in the history of the world. People here love telling others that a financial advisor is a huge waste of money. Guess what, advisors outperform retail investors by over 2% annualized WITH a 1% advisory fee. That 1% fee does compound to a ridiculous amount of money over multiple decades, but who cares, you are gonna panic sell anyway and then FOMO back in when there's a bounce.
STAY THE COURSE. Fund managers get paid millions, literally millions of dollars every year attempting to outperform the S&P 500... and they are unable to do it. Keep buying low-cost, broadly diversified ETFs. Or hire an advisor who also invests in low-cost ETFs for their clients. STOP SABOTAGING YOUR RETURNS.
Keep DCAing, keep contributing to your IRAs, and focus on your life outside of your brokerage account. Good luck!