There’s never an easier time to be an investor than during a big bull market. When stock prices are hitting all-time highs and it seems like every stock ticker chart is up and to the right, it’s easy to feel confident. You might feel like an investing genius, like everything you touch turns to gold.
What happens when the markets go south? During a bear market, will you still feel so confident and prosperous? Or will you panic and make fear-based moves that might feel safe in the short term — but are bad for your long-term financial future?
I’ve seen some things during my life as an investor. I’ve lived through the dot-com bust, the global financial crisis, and the pandemic. I know from experience that stocks don’t always go up. I know how it feels to watch your investment account plummet along with the lines on the charts. It’s easy to talk a big game and try to sound brave before you’re faced with the moment of crisis.
But if the stock market crashes in 2026, here’s what I’ll (hopefully) do: I’ll keep buying more stocks.
Let’s look at why a future stock market sell-off, or even a major crash and bear market, is nothing for long-term investors to fear.
Image source: Getty Images.
The one mindset you need for the next stock market crash
Stock markets are fascinating because they’re powered not just by money and numbers, but by human emotions. Greed. Fear. Excitement. Hope. Panic. Euphoria. Dread. The stock market is where people go to try to build the future — taking risks, seeking rewards, trying to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing. It’s all on display in the markets every day.
Here’s one emotion I try to keep in mind as an investor: humility. I don’t know what’s going to happen next with any stock’s price. I don’t know which industry sector or exchange-traded fund (ETF) is going to beat the others. I have my opinions, I do my research, and I hope for the best. But I approach investing with a spirit of trying to be humble — and quietly confident.
There’s good reason for my confidence: I’m a long-term investor. I’m not trying to make money in the stock market “today” or “tomorrow,” or even “this year or next.” Every dollar I put into stocks in 2026 is hopefully going to be left alone to grow for the next five years, 10 years, 20 years, or more.
So when the S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.66%) is down 5%, 10%, or more? That means “stocks are on sale.” A bear market is a buying opportunity. It’s not bad news if stock prices go lower today, because I want them to go even higher in the next 20 years after I buy more stocks.
Stock market crash? Keep buying more
Every time the stock market has crashed, it has bounced back. Even if you buy the S&P 500 at the “worst possible time,” you’re still likely to make money if you hold on to those stocks for the long run. The index has delivered average annual returns of about 10% for the past 98 years. In the past 10 years, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO +0.68%) has delivered average annual returns of about 15.3%.
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That 10% annual return average isn’t a sure-thing every year. Sometimes the market crashes or goes sideways for years. But in the long run, if you can leave your money in an S&P 500 ETF and let the market work for you, you’re likely to see a significant gain on that investment — better than any bank account.
