How to Stay Calm When Markets Crash: Bunny’s Resilience Story
Learn how Bunny built emotional strength for stock market dips - with chai, clarity, and Investing Uncle.
“Uncle, mere Mutual Funds, sab RED me aagaye hain…”
Bunny’s voice was trembling. He wasn’t crying. But his Equity Mutual Funds were.
It was 09:15 am on Sunday.
He sat on the bench of the garden with me, staring at his blood-red portfolio on his phone like they were his board exam results.
He wasn’t scared of markets.
He was scared of never recovering from the recent fall.
A middle-class boy trying to do the right thing. SIP kiya. Long-term socha.
But when the market dipped 20%, it felt like paisa na milega dobara.
Our Hero: Bunny – An Emotional Investor who wants to do the right things.
Guide: Investing Uncle – calm, wise, and your neighbourhood uncle.
The Problem:
“Main toh bas Long Term wealth banana chahta tha…
Lekin market ne toh meri mental health kharab kar di hai.”
Bunny looked exhausted. Like he had lost 20 kgs of hope.
“Bunny, Tum stress mat lo,” I said, pouring him adrak wali chai.
“It is very common, market girti hai aur saath me girta hai Brand New Investors ka self-confidence.”
Bunny blinked. “matlab?”
I smiled.
“Bunny, market se wealth banani hai toh SIP karne se pehle patience build karna padta hai.”
Uncle continued:
“Tum mujhe ek baat batao.
When you go to the gym for one week and don’t see six-pack abs, do you cry?”
Bunny: “Nahi…”
Me: “Toh phir market se financial six-packs banane hain to, usme bhi time lagta hain. Equity Mutual Fund is NOT A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME.”
Bunny laughed listening to ‘Financial Six-packs’.
Plan Given to Bunny for Building Market Resilience:
Step 1: Understand the Game you’re Playing
Market is a voting machine in the short term, and a weighing machine in the long term.
Tum long-term player ho, ya short-term speculator?
Step 2: Prepare for Downturns BEFORE They Come
Resilience isn’t about reacting. It’s about pre-deciding, in your mind.
“Agar market 20% gir gaya toh main kya karunga?”
Will you panic sell? Or continue your SIP like it’s a discounted sale?
Step 3: Create a Money Buffer
“Market girti hai toh Bunny ka dimag nahi girna chahiye.”
Keep 6 months of expenses in liquid funds or emergency savings.
Step 4: Revisit Why You Started
“Tum SIP kyun kar rahe ho?
kissi ke saamne show-off karne ke liye ya financial six-packs banane ke liye.”
Write your why on a sticky note and paste it on the screen of your phone.
Step 5: Do Nothing and keep enjoying your Sundays.
“Panic is not a plan.”
If you have a good portfolio and asset allocation, doing nothing is doing everything.
Over the next few days, Bunny followed the plan.
He stopped checking his portfolio daily.
He focused on his work, not Stock Market.
He re-read my previous blog: “The Simple Path to Wealth – Indian Style” and finally understood why “wealth creation” is not a daily report card.
He came to my house after a month. Smiling and with a clearer mind.
“Uncle, I don’t panic now. In fact, I am not buying the newly launched iPhone and instead, I topped up my SIPs.”
I almost dropped my chai and replied, “Now you are acting like a Wisdom induced investor!”
Bunny changed.
From “Is market se kuch nahi hoga…”
To “Yeh toh normal hai. Discount mila toh aur lena chahiye.”From “Mera paisa doob gaya…”
To “Mera patience grow ho gaya.”
You i.e. Our Reader = Hero:
If Bunny can go from breakdown to bounce-back, so can you.
Market downturns will come.
Resilient investors don’t avoid them… they prepare for them.
You don’t need a finance degree.
Just chai, clarity, and Investing Uncle ki thodi si baatein.
“Bull market paisa banata hai.
Bear market humhara character banata hai.”
If today’s blog made you smile and feel stronger - share it with your SIP buddy.
Or better, send it to that friend who sold all his mutual funds during the last dip. Poor soul.
Aur haan… agar abhi tak padha nahi toh zaroor padh lena:
The Simple Path to Wealth – Indian Style
Catch you same chai-time, next Sunday at 09:15 AM
Your calm investor,
-Investing Uncle
Hope this blog adds real value to your long-term investing journey.
If YES, Maybe you treat Uncle with a cup of Tea?
Disclaimer: Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully before investing. The past performance of the mutual funds is not necessarily indicative of future performance of the schemes. Investors are requested to review the prospectus carefully and obtain expert professional advice with regard to specific legal, tax and financial implications of the investment/participation. This blog/Website is for Educational purpose only. Any reference should not be treated as any form of Financial Advice.
Any person referred to in this post is purely coincidental. The characters, names, and situations mentioned are for illustrative and educational purposes only and are not intended to represent any real individual.
‘Investing Uncle’ is NISM Series V-A Certified (Mutual Fund Distributor’s Certification Examination) conducted by National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM)
Investing Uncle is not SEBI/AMFI Registered.