It’s no secret that we are in a bull market now. As equity and crypto markets keep making new highs, it’s easy to let it get into your head if you have been investing for a while. Either you positioned yourself correctly during the past market crashes (in 2022 and more recently in Apr 2025) and are making lots of profits. Or you positioned yourself wrongly and missed out on those profits.
If you fall into the 1st camp, you start congratulating yourself for being so smart and reading the market so well because you were prepared. It’s tempting to start showing this off to everyone around you. If you fall into the 2nd camp, you start kicking yourself for not being aggressive enough, not reading the market well enough because you were not prepared. And you start retreating into yourself to ignore the market highs. I have found myself in both positions before.
And I feel it’s better to stay neutral, quiet and objective regardless of whether you are in the 1st or 2nd camp. Instead, you should take the current bull market opportunity to have a closer look at what you did well and what you did badly. Which ETFs, stocks and cryptos in your holdings are the ones that profited a lot from this bull run and which ones did not. Should you take some profits? Did your reasons for hanging on, averaging down or even continuous buying of them work out over time? Why did you not take positions in the winners that have benefited greatly? Why did you hang on to the losers that continue to do badly?
There are so many questions you can ask yourself. Do you need to rebalance your asset portfolio split between cash, bonds, equities, cryptos and retirement funds? Were you holding on to too much cash or too little cash during the significant market event? Did you not take action because of fear or because you had a different view of what may be its outcome? Calm yourself down as you work through these difficult questions.
Don’t congratulate yourself if you are in profits. Don’t beat yourself up if you are in losses or missed out on profits. Once you have analysed the cause and effects of the current bull market, take the actions needed to position and prepare yourself for the next significant market event. Then get on with your daily grind because that’s the most important part of your life. If you start thinking investing is going to save or improve your life, it’s going to do the opposite and ruin it. Because if you don’t find a way to be happy with your daily grind, you are not going to change yourself in the way it matters to improve your life.
As I get older, age has put this in perspective. Even more so with kids. Every day is a chance that I decide whether to just get through my routine or find a way to make it better. It’s not about being more efficient or effective in running the routine. Although that does make a big difference on improving it. I’m talking about appreciating the routine just a little bit more. Or even slow it down and enjoy being in the routine.
I understand life is about choices. I made some good ones and some bad ones. But I’m still here and have the chance to try again. Don’t waste it. It’s funny how the older I get, the way I use money has evolved significantly. I no longer dine out as much and eat more home cooked meals. My portions of food have also shrunk and the mix & taste is simpler and healthier. I no longer drink as much alcohol or even go out at night. I sleep better and longer hours because of it. And I even take naps in the day. I exercise more now and try to prioritise my well-being over work. A job gives me salary income and a professional network, nothing more than that. It takes time to make good friends but family is forever. Prioritise your family that treats you well and it will be all the motivation you need in life. Everything else is a bonus. And hope that you don’t get into a health crisis or accident.
In short, whatever your elders (or what we call old people) are telling you is true. It’s coming from a place of life experience (both good and bad), mistakes, regrets, satisfaction. I can use money to buy more time saving for my family so we can spend it together. But I can’t use money to buy more time. If I don’t find a way to be happy with what I do every day, I’m going to get into trouble sooner or later. So I better start working on myself daily.