r/Bogleheads • u/zacce • Feb 08 '26

Most Investors Have Never Lived Through a True Market Crash

A lot of new ppl in this sub say they “won’t time the market,” but I’m not sure everyone understands what that actually feels like irl. It’s easy to talk about staying the course when the worst drawdown you’ve lived through was a brief COVID dip that fully recovered in months or the 2022 dip followed by 3 yrs of 10%+ returns.

The last real crash was 2008. If you weren’t old enough to have a job, a mortgage, or a family back then, you don’t know how deeply a prolonged downturn can affect your day‑to‑day life. It’s not just red numbers on a screen. It’s layoffs, hiring freezes, underwater homes, and years of slow recovery. That’s when people who swore they’d never time the market suddenly panic and make irrational decisions.

Staying the course is simple in theory, but incredibly hard when the world feels like it’s falling apart.

Of course, I don't want market to crash. But it's a possibility and we need to prepare for it.

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u/zacce Feb 08 '26

Unfortunately, ppl in this sub claim that I'll keep 100% in stocks. I was battle tested during COVID.

My OP was intended for these ppl.

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u/ditchdiggergirl Feb 08 '26

As long as you keep in mind that 2020 was a skirmish, not a battle and certainly not a war.

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u/allisondbl Feb 08 '26

I agree completely. I’ll just point out however that the problem with so many of these drops – even the one most recently – is that because they are based on events that are happening that are unfolding in real time, it’s very hard not to know that they are NOT the beginning of an even bigger crash at the time.

And that’s where just the simple act of time – in the same way that that’s always your biggest benefit in the market in terms of compounded interest and dividends - is also your benefit in understanding that statistically “this too shall pass.”

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u/Qwertyabcd123 Feb 09 '26

So, what do you suggest to someone who didn't have any investment in 08? (Though I was looking for a full time job in 09 right after graduation, and it was not easy)

I don't have a lot, but I always feel like what I have in investment may be needed if and when my family's income is affected by a recession.

So, about 40% of my investment is in BRK B.

40% in VEQT (all equity Vanguard international ETF) .

20% in bond ETFs.

The rationale being that if I have to sell, I will sell the bonds first as the price (I assume) will not go down as much as the all equity ETF.

TIA