If someone told me that in my lifetime I would live through a global pandemic directly affecting me, my family, society and country, I would not believe it. I would think they are just a crazy conspiracy theorist with a death wish. Yet here I am experiencing first hand a pandemic the world hasn’t seen in 100 years.
Investing in stocks for the long haul
I am sometimes surprised at myself that even during these crazy times, I am a stock investor. These are the exact scenarios that scare people from investing in the stock market, and yet here I am, after twenty years of investing, sticking to my wits and investing more now than ever. Is it a good idea to invest in stocks during a pandemic? Maybe I’m the crazy one?
I’m so grateful I have a job that can be done from home but there is a nagging feeling of insecurity. It would come as no surprise if the project I’m working on gets cancelled, or delayed by a few months. After schools got cancelled, stock markets crashed, playgrounds were cordoned off, gyms shuttered, all international flights cancelled, and our shared border with the US closed to non-essential travel, there is nothing left that can surprise me. Our lives have turned upside down within a couple of weeks. Nothing is the same, except for the laundry.
After a crash, is it a good idea to keep investing?
When the stock market started to crash this year, I told myself to start getting excited about investing in stocks. Here comes an opportunity of a lifetime to get in at the ground floor. I try to train my reaction to the stock market to be opposite of what one would expect. I don’t want to fear another stock market crash again, I want to embrace it.
How past experiences inform me about investing in stocks
I’ve seen this before in 2008 and I was an emotional wreck for a few nights but I’ve learned from that experience. Look at this Maclean’s headline: Canada’s stock market collapse is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Like nothing we’ve ever seen before? In the 2008 crash when the Dow went down 50% and down 27% in the 2001 crash, while the NASDAQ crashed 44% in the Dot-Com bubble. Crashes happen in the stock market, and sometimes they happen for no reason at all. How about this headline for amping up the fear factor: A Hellish Week for Markets Isn’t Over Yet. Interestingly, the headline predicts there will be more ‘hell’ to come, but no one actually knows. We only know what happens in hindsight. Let’s think about the negative use of the word ‘hell’. When your favourite shoe (let’s say Nike) is in a clearance sale of 50% off and they have your size, would you describe that as ‘hell’? HELL YA more like it. So next time the stock markets crash, say it with me, “HELL YA!”.
Invest in your health and your family first
I shouldn’t belittle the grim fact that trillions of dollars were lost in the stock market, but this time around I feel numb to the volatility. It’s just money and I’m certainly more concerned about the health of my family and extended family, and friends more than anything else in this world. My portfolio has taken on an abstract meaning and pretty much just does what it does. I don’t have control over market swings so I try not to waste time worrying about it. I will continue to invest what I can in stocks during these tumultuous times but as always, I should be putting a priority on my health. The 80s movie Princess Bride had some great lines and here’s one. Get some sleep. If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.
Stay safe, take care of yourself, we will get through this.
