Buckle up.
We buckle up when we travel in our cars and on airplanes.
You should also buckle up when investing.
Why? Because you never know when bumps and turbulence might come.
For example, even in the recent string of years where stocks have had some of their best returns ever, there were dips along the way.1
Will Operation Epic Fury mark the end of this stock market run? Maybe.
But, as JPMorgan shows, the market effects of these kinds of events tend to be short lived.2
Another potential headwind may be the impact of mid-term election years. Typically, these tend to be more challenging for markets than other years in the election cycle.3
The silver lining, as shown in the above yellow bar, is that we’ve had two negative midterm election years in a row and we’ve never had three in a row.
You should always be prepared for market corrections, though.
First Trust shows that market drawdowns are an ordinarypart of investing throughout history.4
Since World War II, declines of 5% or more tend to happen throughout the year. Market corrections down 10 percent or more happen every year and a half or so. Yes, worse happens too, though spread out more.
Am I making a prediction to try and scare you? Of course not.
Challenges are always a part of a journey, and the S&P 500—thus far—has always gone back up.
The takeaway: no matter what is happening in your news feed, you should always be prepared for market pullbacks.
It’s not a matter of if, but when.
Most of all, make sure your portfolio is guided by your financial goals and risk tolerance and not by today’s news.
Many times the biggest risk to your investment portfolio is you.
Morgan Housel, a bestselling personal finance author, put it this way:
People spend so much time talking about how the market is risky and how financial advisors charge too much in fees. Both of those absolutely pale in comparison to the pain investors cause themselves.5
You need an investment portfolio you can handle that doesn’t cause you to unbuckle your seatbelt and give up before you’ve reached the target destination of your financial journey.
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Sources:
1. Chart taken from Andrew Sarna Substack “Fading Headlines” via email on March 5, 2026.
2. “The US and Israel strike Iran: what it could mean for markets”, March 2, 2026. Accessed online: https://privatebank.jpmorgan.com/apac/en/insights/markets-and-investing/tmt/the-us-and-israel-strike-iran-what-it-could-mean-for-markets
3. Page 7 of Blackrock’s “Student of the Market”. Accessed online: https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/literature/investor-education/student-of-the-market.pdf
4. First Trust “Client Resource Kit”. Accessed online: https://www.ftportfolios.com/Commentary/Insights/2026/1/2/markets-in-perspective-client-resource-kit---fourth-quarter-2025
5. Quoted in the following interview with Chris Reining: https://chrisreining.com/morgan-housel/