A Letter From Your Future-Self

Amar Pandit , CFA , CFP

October 8, 2024 | 5 Minute Read

Dear Present Self,

It’s me—your future self. I know you’re feeling the weight of the market decline right now. The media is screaming headlines. Your phone is buzzing with notifications, and everywhere you look, there are voices telling you to panic, sell, or run for safety. It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. But take a deep breath. I’ve been through this before, and I want to remind you of what you already know but may need to hear again.

Market declines are a natural part of investing. Every market has its ups and downs. Sometimes, the drops feel dramatic, like the ground is shifting beneath your feet. But these moments are neither new nor unexpected. You’ve seen them before (in fact every year), and you’ll see them again. What matters is how you respond. Remember, it’s not the market that determines your outcome—it’s your behaviour.

In the past, you have behaved so well.

Don’t you remember the decline of February and. March 2020? What about the Global Financial Crisis of 2008? And the so many declines that happened between 2010 and 2020?

You treated every decline as an opportunity…and have you not been rewarded for being goal focused, planning driven?

Every historical market decline looks like an opportunity. You’ve seen how you and those who had the courage to buy during these times ended up winning big. You’ve seen how the market always bounces back after a temporary decline resuming its up move, and how you and other long-term investors were rewarded for their patience. But I also know that when the decline is happening right now, it feels different. It feels risky. It feels personal. You’re not alone in this—most people feel the same way.

But here’s the truth: emotions are powerful, but they’re not always accurate. Our brains are wired to react to fear. They tell us to seek safety, to escape danger. That’s why, when the market starts dropping, your instinct is to pull back, to become more conservative, to protect what you have.

The best part is that you are prepared…You have prepared for this very moment. You have a long-term plan…You have reserves…You have a strategy that will help you to take advantage of such moments. And you have the counsel and wisdom of a real financial professional.

Present Self, I want you to recognize that the market’s behaviour is not something you can predict. It’s a complex system influenced by millions of emotions, transactions, and beliefs all happening simultaneously. It doesn’t follow a logical pattern. Sometimes, it’s up when the economy is down, and sometimes it crashes even when the fundamentals are strong. That’s because the market is an emotional beast. It reacts to feelings just like you and me but magnified by billions. It’s like many on social media—irrational, impulsive, and unpredictable. The best thing you can do is accept that you’ll never fully understand why the market moves the way it does.

And that’s okay. You don’t need to understand it to succeed. You just need a plan. Think back to what you know about parachute training: you don’t wait until you’re in the air to learn how to pull the cord. You train on the ground, long before you ever jump. The same applies here. Before any market decline, you must have a strategy in place. You need to build a diversified portfolio that can weather the ups and downs. You need to allocate your assets in a way that balances growth with safety. And you need to have a reserve of cash—something to fall back on when things get rough.

Now, you might feel tempted to change everything, to react to the noise and adjust your strategy based on today’s headlines. But I’m telling you—don’t. Stick to the plan you’ve built. It’s easy to make decisions when everything is going well, but the real test is staying the course when things go south. Don’t let the market’s irrationality become your own. You’ve prepared for this. You know declines will come, and you know that they will pass.

 

Think about past declines. You’ve seen how they look like opportunities in hindsight, haven’t you? It’s easy to say, “I should have bought more then.” But when you were in that moment, it felt like a risk. It’s the same now. This decline will one day be another opportunity you wish you had taken advantage of. The challenge is seeing it that way while you’re in the thick of it. It’s hard, but that’s where growth happens—by embracing discomfort.

Here’s what I need you to do: resist the urge to panic. Remind yourself of your long-term goals. Why did you start investing in the first place? It wasn’t for short-term gains or instant gratification. It was for long-term wealth, for building something meaningful over time. It was to maintain your lifestyle and to build multigenerational wealth. It was to leave a legacy. And the truth is, long-term success in investing often looks boring. It’s not about chasing the latest trend or picking the next big stock. It’s about making steady, rational decisions over years, even decades.

Future gains are built on moments like this. The market is giving you a gift right now—an opportunity to buy quality assets at a discount. But you can only take advantage of it if you’re prepared. If you have the courage to ignore the noise and stick to your plan. If you can train yourself to see these declines not as threats but as openings.

One of the most powerful tools you have is memory. I want you to write yourself a letter, or record a video, and capture how you’re feeling right now. Capture the anxiety, the doubt, the temptation to sell. Then, when the market recovers—and it will—you can look back at this moment. You’ll see how your emotions tried to sway you, but how you held firm. And the next time a decline happens, you’ll be even stronger, even more prepared.

It’s easy to let the media dictate your actions. They thrive on fear because it grabs attention. But you don’t need to be a part of that cycle. You can break free. By putting a plan in place now (if you don’t have one or if you need to update your existing one), by training yourself to react calmly in the face of market turbulence, you become the pilot, not the passenger. You control your course, no matter what storms come.

I know the path ahead might seem uncertain but trust me—your future self is already there, and it’s brighter than you imagine. You’ve prepared for this moment. You have the tools and the knowledge. You have a real financial professional in your life. Now, you just need the patience and the discipline to stay the course.

Remember, the market isn’t your enemy; it’s your ally when you understand its nature. It will rise and fall, but your job isn’t to predict when it will do either. Your job is to invest in quality assets, diversify your risk, and give those investments the time they need to grow.

In the end, it’s not about timing the market but about time in the market. The longer you stay invested, the more likely you are to turn these short-term declines into long-term gains. You’ve got this. Trust your preparation. Trust your plan. And most importantly, trust yourself.

With patience and wisdom,

Your Future Self