Ramit Sethi watched disciplined investors on the Bogleheads forum panic and sell during the 2008-2009 crash when the market dropped 1-3% daily for weeks. Those who sold never fully recovered financially. Staying invested through downturns matters.
And if you scroll online, the panic genuinely feels real. People are posting, I can't take it anymore. I'm cashing out. One of the most haunting examples I will never forget is reading the Bogleheads forum during 2008, 2009. This is a forum that's focused on sensible, low-cost, long-term investing. They're like the most boring people you could possibly imagine in the best possible way. They just invest for the long term. They do not get panicked. But guess what happens when you see the market going down 1%, 2%, 3% every single day for weeks and weeks and weeks? You start to get scared. You start to question the very beliefs that you held dearest. And that's exactly what happened. We saw otherwise sensible people snap and sell everything. Those people will never financially recover.
