Wealth Health Blog

The Winklers had over $500,000 in their retirement portfolio – the result of a frugal lifestyle and saving every extra dollar they could. They would have to trim expenses further to make it work, but they were exhausted and ready to retire. The year was 2007. We all know what happened next. The stock market plummetted 53%. The Winkler’s portfolio – conservatively invested (or so they thought) – did much better and only lost 23%. Still, $128,000 disappeared and with it any chance to retire for many years to come.

The “Buy-and-Hold” approach to portfolio investment is often cited as the best way to manage investments. Unfortunately for you and most unsuspecting investors, it is far more likely to cause you harm than to help you, at least over the next 20 years.

When bad stuff happens in the investment world, be a Stock Market Martian.

Mark Watney is left for dead and abandoned on the surface of Mars. He figures out how to survive for years on a planet where nothing grows and and the atmosphere is toxic to humans. Needless to say, he is forced to improvise or, as he says, “science the heck” out of his problems.

While Watney’s story takes the context to much higher level, even on Earth life is full of stressful unknowns. There are two ways to deal with them: reaction or readiness. The Martian explores and contrasts both approaches in extreme conditions. Really bad stuff happens in space. While Watney does flirt with despair and other non-productive, fear-based reactions – he is human after all – he survives because he takes the readiness approach drilled into him through years of training.