Let’s face it—watching the market dip isn’t fun. When headlines are screaming about losses and your account balance drops, it’s totally natural to want to do something. But more often than not, the best move is the one that feels hardest: staying put.

At Totemic, we’ve seen this movie before. And spoiler alert—it usually ends with the market recovering and investors who stuck with their plan coming out ahead.

This Year’s Market Rollercoaster

Just to give you a real-time example: the S&P 500 started the year strong, then dropped close to 19% as inflation and interest rate fears spooked the markets. That kind of drop can rattle even the most seasoned investors.

But here’s the wild part—it’s bounced back. As of mid-May, the S&P 500 is slightly positive for the year (yes, really)¹. So if you stayed invested through the mess, your portfolio likely weathered the storm just fine.

Pullbacks Are Normal. Seriously.

It might feel like this kind of volatility is unusual, but it’s not. According to J.P. Morgan’s Guide to the Markets, the S&P 500 has had an average intra-year drop of 14% every year since 1980. Despite that, it still finished positive in about 75% of those years². So these temporary dips? They’re just part of the ride.

In fact, history shows us that the biggest gains often come shortly after the biggest losses—which is exactly when most people are tempted to jump ship.

Missing Just a Few Days Can Cost You Big

This is the part that really hits home: a chart from J.P. Morgan’s Guide to Retirement looked at a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 from 2002 to 2021.

If you stayed fully invested the entire time, your money would’ve grown to over $61,000.
But if you missed just the 10 best days in the market? That number drops to $28,000.
Miss 20 of the best days? Now you’re down to $16,000.

And here’s the kicker—seven of the 10 best days happened within two weeks of the 10 worst days. Six of them came immediately after the worst days³. So pulling out during the scary moments often means missing the bounce back.

It’s Not Timing the Market, It’s Time In the Market

We totally get why people want to hit the brakes during a downturn. It feels like a way to “protect” yourself. But in reality, making big moves based on emotion is usually what ends up hurting the most.

This is why we focus so much on building a solid plan upfront—a strategy that’s designed to ride out the volatility, not react to it. Diversification, smart tax planning, regular check-ins… it’s all part of helping you stick to a process that works, no matter what the market is doing.

Let’s Make Sure You’re Set Up to Ride It Out

If the recent market swings made you a little uneasy—or if you’re not sure your current plan is built to withstand the chaos—we’re here to help.

Schedule an intro meeting with us and let’s walk through your goals, your portfolio, and how we can help you stay confident through whatever the market throws your way.

Because investing isn’t about avoiding the waves.
It’s about learning how to surf them.

1. S&P 500 Year-to-Date Returns. Slickcharts.com. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500/returns/ytd ↩
2. J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Guide to the Markets – U.S. Edition. Historical intra-year declines and annual returns data. Accessed May 2025. https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/outlook/market-outlook ↩
3. J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Guide to Retirement, 2022 Edition. “Impact of Being Out of the Market” chart (2002–2021). Provided via PDF: Impact Of Being Out.pdf