We all know that panicking is one of the ways investors lose money.
Panic selling during the 2008–2009 global financial crisis may have put some investors into the permanent underclass. Not only did they lose money, they weren’t able to benefit from the incredible recovery since.
Panicking during the March 2020 lockdowns caused many people to lose tons of money instead of making money that year. Meanwhile, panic selling at the start of almost any war has generally been a losing proposition over the long term as well.
If you want to become a competent investor, you must learn not to panic when the world becomes uncertain. But not panicking is easier said than done when you’re watching your portfolio rapidly lose value.
Dealing with emotion is why we practice asset allocation, so we remain diversified enough to withstand whatever life throws our way. It’s the undisciplined investor with poor risk management who tend to blow themselves up.
But how does panicking make us lose money in a non-investment way? I’ve got a recent example to share.
How Panic Lost Me Money
Despite feeling purposeful while painting a newly installed door at my rental house, I ran into a snafu. I needed to first prime the door before applying the exterior and interior paint.
Instead of going to the store to buy new primer, I remembered having a gallon in my other rental property nearby. So I walked over and punched in the garage code, which didn’t work. I then emailed my tenant for the correct code, but she didn’t respond. So I texted my wife, who gave me the right code. Cool.
Once I was in the garage, I immediately found the gallon of primer on the side shelf and exited. But when I pressed the Enter button on the keypad to close the garage door, it would only come down a couple of inches before popping back up. I tried several times before noticing the laser sensor at the bottom was missing.
I checked the control panel inside the garage, and the display said “sensor warning” as well. Even when I pressed the inside button, the door wouldn’t close either. Frustrated, I walked back to my other rental property to continue priming while sending my tenant another email asking where the sensor was.
Everything was working fine before they moved in. So I assumed their car might have knocked the sensor off and broken it. But of course, I couldn’t accuse my tenants of breaking the sensor because I had no proof.
The Start Of Panic
I decided to continue priming while waiting for her e-mail response. After about 10 minutes, I started feeling anxious. I was hoping the garage door would close on its own, but when I popped over to check again, it was still open.
At the same time, I didn’t want the paint on my brushes and trays to dry. They were sitting outside in the hot sun, and I had forgotten to bring Saran Wrap. I also wanted to finish the job quickly because my tenant was working in the next office. He’s nice, but I get a sense he’d rather see me as few times as possible, which is great.
Hmm, what to do.
Given I didn’t want to leave the garage exposed – since there was some of my tenant’s stuff in it and a door leading into the house – I decided to call a garage door service company and text my tenant to explain the situation. My tenant still hadn’t responded so I needed to make an executive decision.
She apologized for not getting back to me sooner, saying she had been in a meeting. Totally understandable. She said fixing the garage door was already on her list of things to do, and that to close the garage door, she just had to hold down the inside button continuously.
Darn. Why didn’t I try that? All I had done was quickly press the button several times.
I then told her I had already called a garage door service company and was wondering whether to cancel, since there was a $95 service charge plus parts and labor if anything needed fixing. Because the garage door had been working fine before, I wanted her to pay for the full repair. But I also wanted to be fair.
So I came up with a compromise. I simply asked if she’d be willing to split the cost 50/50.
Initially, she said she’d prefer to handle the problem herself. But she quickly realized that me paying half and getting the issue fixed ASAP while she was at work was a no-brainer. It saved her time and money, especially if they were the ones that broke it.
The Surprise Fix
I thought the garage repairman would arrive in about 30 minutes, so I went back to my other rental property to finish the priming.
But only about seven minutes later, I got a phone call saying he had arrived. So I put down all my painting equipment and went back.
He quickly checked the problem and found the missing sensor behind the rail, buried under some cobwebs! Ugh, why didn’t I look more thoroughly?
He said he could replace the sensor for $275, but I’d need to move the car so he could reprogram the motor above. Since I didn’t have my tenant’s car keys, that wasn’t possible.
The next solution was simply to tape the sensor to the support arm and see if it worked. With no other choice, I told him to go with the taping option.
In under four minutes, the sensor was working again, and the garage door closed properly with one press on both keypads.
He then wrote up the invoice for $95. I asked if he could cut me a deal since the job was so quick. Nope.
Ugh. I felt so dumb for spending so much on a job a 5-year-old could do in the same amount of time.
To make myself feel less stupid, I walked back to painting my side door for another 35 minutes, cleaned up, and drove home before texting my tenant the receipt and the good news that everything was fixed. She was thrilled and sent me an additional $47.50 with the next rent payment.
Taking Your Time Is Important
If only I hadn’t panicked and called the garage repairman.
I should have closed the paint lid, used up the paint in the tray, saran wrapped my roller and paintbrush (which I did not have) and spent just three minutes looking around for the sensor. I would have likely found it myself and taped it back into place, saving $95.
Instead, I let my mind spiral about two things: the paint drying and someone stealing something out of my tenant’s garage.
When you don’t have enough mental bandwidth, your brain loses the ability to think rationally. As a result, you sometimes spend more money than necessary.
How To Avoid Panic And Make Better Financial Decisions
Panicking rarely leads to good financial decisions. Whether it’s investing, running a business, or dealing with everyday problems, rushing usually costs money.
Here are a few ways to reduce panic and make better decisions.
1. Pause Before Acting
When something goes wrong, take a short pause before making a decision. Even a 5–10 minute break, if time allows, can calm your emotions and help you think more logically.
Most problems are less urgent than they initially feel.
2. Try The Simple Solution First
Before calling a professional or spending money, spend a few minutes troubleshooting the problem yourself.
Look around. Test a couple of options. Many issues have surprisingly simple fixes.
3. Avoid Artificial Time Pressure
Much of panic comes from feeling rushed. In my case, I worried about the paint drying and the garage being open. I probably had closer to 20 minutes before the primer dried on my brush and roller. And if I took 15 minutes longer, I don’t think my tenant would have cared.
Meanwhile, the homes were in a quiet neighborhood with little-to-no foot traffic. The likelihood of someone going into the garage to steal anything was less than 1%.
4. Give Your Brain Enough Bandwidth
When you’re juggling too many tasks at once, your ability to think clearly declines. Multitasking often leads to expensive mistakes. Sometimes slowing down actually saves both time and money.
5. Remember That Most Problems Are Temporary
When something unexpected happens, our brains often jump to worst-case scenarios.
But most problems are small and temporary. Taking a moment to zoom out can prevent unnecessary financial decisions.
The ironic thing is that panic rarely solves problems faster. It usually just makes them more expensive.
The next time you feel the urge to rush into a decision, pause for a moment. You might save yourself a lot more than $95.
Readers, have you ever had a non-investment related panic scenario that cost you money? How do you learn to stay calm under uncertainty to make better decisions?
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