August 2023. Six months in. The boiler had packed in, the car needed new tyres, and we were looking at a portfolio down about 4% from where we'd started.
Oliver said it first: "What's the actual point right now?"
We weren't in financial trouble. But we were stretched, the portfolio was in the red, and the monthly contribution felt like throwing money into a hole. Stopping would free up £200 a month and the portfolio losses would stop mattering.
We nearly did it.
What the numbers actually were
The loss was £129 on £3,240 contributed. In cash terms, less than a tank of petrol. But it felt bigger than that. When you're watching a number go down every week, it doesn't feel like a percentage, it feels like a mistake.
The argument we had
Vikki wanted to pause contributions but leave what was invested alone. Oliver wanted to stop completely and pull the money out. Neither of us had a strong factual case, we were both going on feeling.
We ended up looking at what the S&P 500 had actually done historically over any rolling 5-year period. The number that stopped the argument was this: there has never been a 5-year period in the S&P 500's history where you ended up with less than you started with. Rough years, yes. Multi-year stretches of red, yes. But over five years, every single time, the index recovered and then some.
We weren't five months in. We were five months into a five-year minimum commitment. The 4% loss was noise.
What we decided
We kept the contributions going. We didn't touch what was invested. We dropped the amount slightly, from £200 to £150 a month, to take some pressure off while we dealt with the boiler. That felt like a sensible middle ground: not stopping, not pretending the financial pressure didn't exist.
By October 2023, two months later, the portfolio had recovered and grown to £8,557. We sold it for the house deposit. If we'd pulled out in August we'd have locked in the loss and missed the recovery entirely.
The people who lose money in the stock market are mostly the ones who sell when it's down. Staying put feels passive. It's the hardest thing to do.
What we'd tell someone in that position now
A few things actually helped us in that month:
- Stop checking daily. We were looking at the app every morning. Each red number felt like a fresh loss. Checking weekly instead made it much easier to zoom out.
- Separate the portfolio from the pressure. The boiler was a cash flow problem. The portfolio was a long-term investment. We'd conflated them into one stress. They weren't related.
- Reduce, don't stop. Cutting contributions to £150 felt like a decision we were in control of. It wasn't defeat, it was adjusting. Stopping entirely felt like giving up.
- Look at the actual history. Not opinions, not predictions. Just what the index had actually done over long periods. That data is freely available and it is genuinely reassuring if you spend five minutes with it.
Module 9 covers investor behaviour, why people sell at the wrong time, what the data says about staying invested, and how to build a strategy you'll actually stick to. Three modules free to start.
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