Decide what you’ll do in a market drop — before it happens

Most people decide what to do about a drop in the middle of one, when the feeling is loudest and the thinking is quietest. How strongly that pull hits you, and what you’d actually do about it, is a read on the kind of investor you are — not a test you pass or fail.

So instead of reaching for someone else’s playbook, you write your own rule here while you’re calm — a plain if-then, settled in advance. Two people can land on completely different rules and both be right. The point isn’t to predict the market; it’s to know how you’d respond before the moment asks.

Picture your portfolio just dropped…

Your honest first instinct is to…

Years until you need this money

years

For retirement, this is years until you start withdrawing.

The rule you want to commit to — decided now, in the calm:

Your plan

If my portfolio drops 30%, I will keep contributing on my normal schedule. I'm deciding this now — with 20 years before I need this money.

Your instinct is to sell some to take risk off, but your plan is to keep contributing on your normal schedule. That gap is exactly what a written plan is for — when it's real, the rule decides, not the fear.

There's no single right reaction here — a cautious investor and an opportunistic one can land on opposite plans and both be right. What matters isn't which you picked; it's that this one is yours.

On this timeline, a drop has years to recover — the open question is whether you'll stay invested long enough to let it.

Your first instinct and the rule you commit to come from different places — one from the moment, one from the plan you made in the calm. The gap between them is worth seeing, and it’s a read on the kind of investor you are.

The worst time to decide what to do in a drop is in the middle of one. A rule you wrote while calm doesn’t make the fear go away — it just means the fear doesn’t get to make the call. That’s self-knowledge — about how you react, not what the market does.

This tool reflects a plan you wrote — not financial advice, a recommendation, or a risk assessment.

Continue exploring

Curious whether your crash instincts match your investing temperament?

How you'd react to a drop is one signal among several. The archetype quiz surfaces the fuller pattern — how you process risk, weigh advice, and make decisions across the board.

Take the archetype quiz

Want to practice following your plan before real money's involved?

Time Machine paper trading lets you face historical drops with nothing at stake, and the built-in journaling captures whether you actually held to your rule when the chart turned red.

Try Time Machine

Common questions

Is it normal to want to sell when the market drops?: The urge is common — but how strong it is, and what you'd actually do about it, varies a lot from one person to the next, and that variation is the whole point. Your honest reaction is a signal about the kind of investor you are, not a test you pass or fail. The aim isn't to feel what a 'good investor' is supposed to feel — it's to notice your own reaction and build a plan that fits it, so the feeling doesn't get to make the call for you.
Should I sell when the market crashes?: There's no single right answer here, because there's no single kind of investor. The move that fits someone with a 25-year horizon and a steady temperament isn't the move for someone two years from a down payment. This tool won't hand you a one-size answer — it helps you write the rule that fits your timeline and how you actually operate.
How do I stop myself from panic selling?: Willpower in the moment is the weakest tool; a plan you wrote in advance is the strongest. Generic advice like 'just hold' tends to fall apart in a real drop because it ignores who you are — a rule you wrote around your own timeline and temperament is one you'll actually keep to. Checking your portfolio less while things are volatile helps, and so does a 24-hour pause before any move: it gives the feeling time to fade and the thinking time to come back.
Why does a 30% drop feel so much worse than a 30% gain feels good?: The brain weights losses more heavily than gains — a loss tends to feel about twice as bad as an equal gain feels good — and a falling balance is vivid and immediate while cash quietly losing ground is invisible. But how loudly you feel it differs from person to person, and knowing how loud it is for you is exactly what lets you plan around it instead of getting caught off guard.
Do different investors need different plans for a drop?: Yes — and that's the whole premise. The right response depends on your timeline, what the money is for, and how you actually react under pressure. A cautious investor and an opportunistic one can both be right with opposite rules — same drop, different plans, neither one wrong. There's no universal correct answer, which is why this tool helps you build yours instead of handing you one.
Does writing a plan actually change what I'll do in a real drop?: The gap between how composed people expect to be and how they actually behave is well-documented — plenty who'd swear they'd hold through a 30% drop sell during a 15% one. A rule you committed to in advance, built around your own timeline and temperament, is one of the few things shown to narrow that gap. The value isn't predicting yourself perfectly — it's making the choice that fits you the default, before emotion gets a vote.

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Decide what you’ll do in a market drop — before it happens

Common questions

Is it normal to want to sell when the market drops?

The urge is common — but how strong it is, and what you'd actually do about it, varies a lot from one person to the next, and that variation is the whole point. Your honest reaction is a signal about the kind of investor you are, not a test you pass or fail. The aim isn't to feel what a 'good investor' is supposed to feel — it's to notice your own reaction and build a plan that fits it, so the feeling doesn't get to make the call for you.

Should I sell when the market crashes?

There's no single right answer here, because there's no single kind of investor. The move that fits someone with a 25-year horizon and a steady temperament isn't the move for someone two years from a down payment. This tool won't hand you a one-size answer — it helps you write the rule that fits your timeline and how you actually operate.

How do I stop myself from panic selling?

Willpower in the moment is the weakest tool; a plan you wrote in advance is the strongest. Generic advice like 'just hold' tends to fall apart in a real drop because it ignores who you are — a rule you wrote around your own timeline and temperament is one you'll actually keep to. Checking your portfolio less while things are volatile helps, and so does a 24-hour pause before any move: it gives the feeling time to fade and the thinking time to come back.

Why does a 30% drop feel so much worse than a 30% gain feels good?

The brain weights losses more heavily than gains — a loss tends to feel about twice as bad as an equal gain feels good — and a falling balance is vivid and immediate while cash quietly losing ground is invisible. But how loudly you feel it differs from person to person, and knowing how loud it is for you is exactly what lets you plan around it instead of getting caught off guard.

Do different investors need different plans for a drop?

Yes — and that's the whole premise. The right response depends on your timeline, what the money is for, and how you actually react under pressure. A cautious investor and an opportunistic one can both be right with opposite rules — same drop, different plans, neither one wrong. There's no universal correct answer, which is why this tool helps you build yours instead of handing you one.

Does writing a plan actually change what I'll do in a real drop?

The gap between how composed people expect to be and how they actually behave is well-documented — plenty who'd swear they'd hold through a 30% drop sell during a 15% one. A rule you committed to in advance, built around your own timeline and temperament, is one of the few things shown to narrow that gap. The value isn't predicting yourself perfectly — it's making the choice that fits you the default, before emotion gets a vote.