What Do We Do When The Market Drops?

It was another terrible day for stocks with the S&P 500 losing more than 1.5%, the Nasdaq 100 in correction territory and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 14-month lows. 

Guess what I did?

You bet your ass I bought some VTI (the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) in my IRA at $125.

I also bought some HDV (the iShares High Dividend ETF) in my brokerage account at $83.

AND

I set limit orders to continue buying if the market drops into the New Year.

As I’ve written before, when the stock market drops for silly reasons – rate hikes, government shutdowns, even to a certain extent the ongoing tensions regarding tariffs and trade – it’s a great time to buy some stocks.

Since these are accounts that I contribute to gradually throughout the year, I only buy a little bit at a time, particularly focusing on buying when the markets are low, in hopes of maximizing my long-term returns.

I stayed out of my Robinhood account (where I currently invest in single stocks) as I only make moves in that account on a quarterly basis.